• New camera a la future step-father
• Reisling, Mini-strawberry shortcake cupcakes, & bowling with Amanda, Kaitlyn, Anthony, Danica, & Jimbo
• Coffee shop/library/airplane/USC studying-15 hrs.
• Got all my best friends on board and ordered a ticket for LADY ANTEBELLUM’s show June 1 in the Cleveland area. Omg.
• Nail polish & Lipstick shopping
• Skype with Bri
• Smoothies-oh, how I’ve missed you
• Manicure/pedicure + watched documentary Killer At Large
• Monday morning, almost-4 hour coffee date with Carrie!
• Red Lipstick Life. 

Trip to Los Angeles! 

• finished Gulliver’s Travels; Tried On the Origin of Species. Gave up. Started Virginia Woolf’s Jacob’s Room instead
• Morning tea & reading Virginia Woolf on the sunny balcony
• USC campus tour
• Bobby’s Sense & Sensuality in Indian Religious Literature class
• Blueberry Mint Lemonade & Pumpkin Milk Chocolate cake for lunch at Lemonade
• Studying undercover as one of the masses in the Fine Arts Library/on sunny benches/etc
   
• Feminist Pride Day/International Women’s Day
• Thrifting: found this Maggy London dress at Southern Cal Goodwill 
• Downtown LA Art Walk! Syrup: Sweet Summer grilled cheese sandwich, featuring: strawberries, munster cheese, orange spread, mint, & turkey on light flaky cuban bread; Colin, Fraternity Row.
   

Philosophical Question of the week: What is more strange in human beings: Involuntary Asexuality or Voluntary Chastity?

Weekend Wishlist:

• Venice/Beach; Santa Monica; LA Live
• lunch from a food truck?
• Hollywood
• Salakot Sizzle & Grill
• Zip car-ing around L.A.

On New Year’s Eve, my friend Molly told me that she has started referring to working out as “writing a love letter to yourself” because “that’s what you’re doing; telling your body that you love it.” I like that. 

At 4 o’clock this afternoon I picked up my sister who was coming home from a weekend trip to OSU with friends and she asked me why I was wearing high heels. I told her it was New Year’s Day and I had to look fancy. 

I read this list from Gala Darling, check it out: 10 Fantastic Ways to Get Ready for 2012!

I’ve been thinking about the new year all day long, as most probably have and I’ve been journaling like crazy the most random things. I didn’t make resolutions, but I’ve made a lot of lists and things regarding how I want 2012 to go, goals I want to accomplish, and things I have to do to make them happen. Among them is a list of things I want to practice in 2012:

• unplugging from ALL things electronic (cell phone, iPod & Kindle included) - minimum 2 consecutive hours in a day (when I am NOT sleeping)
• budgeting & using cash rather than credit ($40 a month for eating out, $30 on thrift shopping, $150 for gas/toiletries/groceries; $20 alcohol; I know this seems small, but when I am at school it is plenty) - I used to do this and do it well, but I’ve gotten lazy lately. 
• eat more salad, drink more tea, drink more water; eat less bread, drink less coffee, drink less alcohol, eat less milk chocolate; gomeatless as much as possible
• more pleasure reading - minimum 15 minutes per day
• more (free) writing - minimum 15 minutes per day
• more consistently writing love letters to myself - 4x per week, 1 hour per day
• afternoon walks to get sunlight & fresh air - minimum 15 minutes per day, rain/snow/hail/ice storm be damned
• be more aware of plastic pervading our lives & trying to reduce my contact/consumption/purchase of plastic products
• regularly scheduled de-cluttering sessions - possibly monthly, with the question in mind, “have I used/touched/wore/thought of this in the last six months?
• not letting things pile up: it’s amazing how little time and effort it takes to keep things clean/organized if you do something, like hang your jacket in the closet, as soon as you think of it/walk through your door. 
• spend more time looking fancy - even if it doesn’t seem like there is much of an occasion for it
• driving in high heels (this is really hard!)

• Last minute Christmas shopping/stress/buying more things for myself than for the people on my gift list. 
• Tried Leinenkugel’s Fireside Nut Brown Beer; Blue Moon’s Winter Abbey remains the winter seasonal brews champion for me, but this might take second place. 
• Culinary Adventures: Sweet Potato & Califlower Soup, Saag
• Filipino Christmas Party
   
• Gifts with Mom and Sister = 1 Nautica Nautical Throw Blanket, 1 “Watermelon Dress,” 1 Anchor shirt, 5 pairs of underwear, 2 pairs of silk “long underwear,” a set of 4 anchor placemats for the future apartment
  
• Christmas morning = sleeping in. Breakfast = 1 fried egg, 1 banana with peanut butter & honey, 2 slices cinnamon sugar toast, & chai green tea in a mug from my Starbucks holiday collection. 
   
• Christmas early dinner with Grandma and cousin at Chinese Restaurant. This is my kind of Christmas. 
• Successfully wore “funeral formal” to every Holiday/Christmas gathering I attended. 
• Christmas exchange with A.Dew = Cool Shooters Ice Tray, Glittery Wallet/Clutch, souvenir shot glass, wool scarf. + Wine goblet decorating for New Year’s Eve + Black Swan (Swan Queen, what are you!). 
• Post-Christmas shoe shopping at Payless = 1 pair brown flats, 1 pair nude, closed-toe heels, 1 pair (nautical) navy blue wedges for $29.42. Score. 
• Finally, some snow!
• Watched Plastic Planet with sister: “These chemicals do not kill you. These chemicals harm your quality of life.” Scary. 
• $201.06 for 17 Spring semester books
• Grades in: excellent semester!
• Finished A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man

Weekend Wishlist:

• Sipping champagne from my glittery, gigantic wine glass on NYE, in my gold dress & my spirit hood with my best friends
• Fully functioning new transmission, pretty please!

• Flowers in the Attic the movie with Amanda. FABULOUS.
• TWINChristmas. Received a Ke$ha hood from Twin!!!! 
   
• The Strange Night of the Reslife Holiday parties. 
• Brunch at Southside Diner & Twintrip to Toledo!
• HOME!
• Planned trip to LA with sister - coming March 6-13, 2012
• Thrifting with sister. Bought: one sweater, one sweater dress, one Betty Boop doll for grandma, and whatever domestic ladies call these things shaped like books. 
   
• Finished reading The Scarlet Letter
• Listened to Tranquility du Jour #227: Carnism and #230: Friendship Fix. Interesting.
• Culinary Adventures: Vegetarian Spaghetti, Cranberry Guacamole
• Late night dinner with Thomas at the Irish Pub: we do not recommend the Winter Sangria, but the Pub Chips, Cornucopia Burger, and Cranberry Jack were yummy. 
• Troy Holiday Party & this dress that possibly came from the 19th century
   

Weekend Wishlist:

• Filipino Christmas Eve Party
• finally meet Jeff, Harrison, and Michael
• Culinary adventuring

• Catching up with M. Troy & K. Croak over pizza, cupcakes, chex mix, hummus, & white merlot. Catching up with all those HS personalities, unbeknownst to them. 
• Coffee with B.T. & a little bit of shopping. 
• Ordered “Jam Session” purple vest from NY&Co. for $20 with Free Shipping!
• Subway: Twin Thanksgiving Dinner tradition
• Submitted applications to OSU & Wisconsin’s Ph.D. programs!! The waiting begins. 
• Gym 3x
• Hours & hours on end in the prison-like library & getting stuff done.
• Finished 715-page Russian novel; intelligently discussed Faulkner; contributed to discussion in PoliSci class for maybe the third time this semester. 
• Rebecca Traister’s Women in Politics talk 
• Won ebay auction and got $70 boat shoes for $17! Hey!

Weekend Wishlist: 

• Accomplishing so much stuff
• Taste of the Real World
• Cultural Connections

• Found Cupcake Vineyards Chiffon Vodka in the liquor store. Yummyumyum.
• Great haircut
• Back To School Shopping and Thrifting
• Cauliflower-Sweet Potato Soup with White Zinfandel
• Pretty dresses
• Pizza & Singapore Slings with Thomas at Jojo’s Pizza
• Shark Bite Sangria to end Shark Week and Breakfast at Tiffany’s
• Five-year old child in Grandma’s neighborhood said “Hi! You’re pretty!” to me as I walked up from my car :)
• Dark chocolate cake with peaches, amaretto and an almond topping, mmmm.
• Handling best friend crises
• Dinner and Drinks with Best Friends
• Cupcake Date at Cake in a Cup
• Move-in day at Kenyon and CA Training…CPR certification, too!
• Porch-sitting and Taco bell on a 55 degree summer night :)

Weekend Wishlist:

• Sleeping and reading
• Decorating my residence hall

That is all. 

• Polish festival with Ruthanne: pierogies, kielbasa, nesting dolls coffee mug
• Received postcard from A.M. visiting San Francisco. 
• Filipino food
• dinner, wine, dessert + live band at Manhattan’s with Thomas — barely noticed the two+ hours passing, until band started packing up; wore that little black dress from Mom’s closet, with long pearl chain & white peep-toe heels (no pictures, fail); stargazing from inside the jeep with the top off
• Culinary Aventures: Homemade guacamole, Avocado carbonara, Tiramisu Cupcakes, Chicken Burrito Bowls 
• Yoga 3 times
• Bring your own coffee at the park
• GRE - lots of practice, not much progress.
• A.M. arrives in Toledo for visit!

Quote of the Week:
“Is Reba married? Reba could be my cougar, if she’s not.” -Thomas, lately obsessed with country music.

Weekend Wishlist:

• stargazing on the water
• successfully pull off surprise birthday party for mom
• Woodchuck Cider Summer Brew
• find a spot downtown to watch the Mud Hens’ fireworks show

Sometimes we forget to appreciate the people who most deserve our appreciation. We get caught up in the day-to-day and we get contended with their presence. They answer our phone calls, they send us silly text messages, they meet us for coffee every week. We forget that we should say thank you. We forget to acknowledge that we would go crazy if that person didn’t listen to our complaints and grievances, wipe our tears, ask us about our days, listen to our good news, stay up until 4 am talking about nothing and saying everything at once. 

Just pause for a minute. 

I appreciate you.