ten things

Alternately titled: 10 things I didn’t tell you that happened in the not too distant past.

ONE: For graduation I gave myself a trip to South Carolina. For years, I’ve wanted to do a solo-adventure and I thought that this would be a great opportunity to give myself that experience.

I hated it.

I mean, I LOVED South Carolina and the beach. But, I definitely hated being by myself. My sweet friend, Theresa from massage school, connected me to her Aunt-in-Law who generously offered to let me stay at her beach condo for ten days [what is this life?] and it was amazing. I was literally 20 steps from the beach. Theresa came down from Durham and I spent the weekend with her and her partner, Sara’s, family. It was so good to see them! Then they left. I was alone. On the beach. Errrrry day.

Alone.

Also, we went out one evening before they left to the end of the pier and saw sharks swimming around. My imagination may have run wild and I freaked myself out about swimming in the ocean without anyone by my side to get eaten first.

Lesson learned: I’m going to need to vacation with people. Alone vacations may not be for me.

Second lesson learned: I'm going to need to try to make that waffle pictured above.

[Did I just write a whole post on number 1?]

TWO: The Niece eating ribs:

THREE: I made this:

This was the collage I did for my graduation cards. I’m a little proud that my vision actually came together, but mostly I really like it. (-:

FOUR: I was on Match.com and OKCupid for approximately one month. It was awful. Why is online dating so terrible? Where are the normal men? Please help. I say this every time and yet, I can’t stop, I keep going back. It’s because I think I’ll meet someone in a better [i.e. real life] way, but that doesn’t happen so I resort to the interwebs. The internet seems like it should be filled with people, but where are the normal people? I’m [fairly] normal. There have to be some [fairly] normal men out there too, right?

FIVE: This summer, I totally loved that the venti Starbucks cups matched my sunglasses and I’m pretty sure I took a selfie every time I got an iced coffee.

SIX: I love this:

[No clue where it’s from, otherwise I’d give some credit.]

SEVEN: These are two of my favorite pictures I took this summer…and I took them with my iPhone because I hardly ever get my big camera out any more.

EIGHT: My current favorite place to walk in Indianapolis is a cemetery. SarahB and her family told me about it and it’s lovely. I mean, it’s a cemetery, so dead people…but it’s also quiet and filled with trees and has interesting sculpture and there aren’t [many] cars to run you over.

NINE: I started meal prepping. It’s AMAZING. I know, meal prepping is a pain in the butt and takes a bunch of time and…UGH. Do I really want to eat the same thing for multiple days in a row? YES. Do you know how awesome it is to grab your little container out of the fridge and be ready to go with your packed lunch? Totally worth it. Especially if your chosen [or allergy friendly, for that matter] diet is a pain in the bum.

Veggie patty, 1/4 of an avocado, halved cherry tomatoes, salsa, and a handful of arugula with the juice from half a lime over everything. So tasty.

TEN: THIS WALL. I want to take everyone’s picture by this wall. It’s so graphic and geometric and those colors! Gaaaah. I love it. Come to Indianapolis and let me take your picture!

Other people see a corn cloud, right?


xoxo

week one down [many weeks to go]

So, I’m one week into my first grown-ass nursing job.

I’m happy to report that I haven’t killed anyone yet. It’s my daily prayer, and I feel like God is totally with me on this one. [You think I’m joking, but I’m not.]

I have two preceptors for day shift. [I’ll have a night shift preceptor too, but that’s not for a few more weeks.] Preceptors are experienced, partner nurses who teach you things and help make sure you don’t kill anyone. They are beautiful, smart, patient, delightful people. I grovel at their feet and revel in their wisdom. They make sure you learn things you may not know.

The things I don’t know are plentiful.

I mean, I pretty much feel like I learned NOTHING in nursing school. It’s definitely painful to the ego. I spent quite a few hours in this exact same Emergency Department, but I’m pretty sure something in my brain has been cleaned out between then and now. That’s the only logical reason, right? It’s not because I’m spending 95% of my time comparing myself to nurses with years and years of experience and I have, oh, a few weeks of experience, right?

It IS probably because I spent most of school saying, “I’m going to be a midwife, that doesn’t matter to me! I’ll know a little and that will be enough!”

Well, that joke is on me.

I’m still reading my textbooks.

Now it's [past] time to get down to business.

That’s my quick update on life. I’m only working three days a week and I still feel like I have no time. I’ll get used to it eventually, right? My poor brain is having a rough go.

fancy dinner

I'm a fan of extravagant meals. If you know me, you also know I'm cheap thrifty [and maybe a little poor from the student life I've been in for the past 3-ish years], but I will still spend more on dinner than I will a pair of jeans I wear four times a week. Priorities.

MegB convinced me to splurge on a trip to Washington, D.C. the week before I started my grown-ass nursing job. It didn't take much convincing because I love people in D.C. My complete list of things I wanted to do while I was there: 1. Go to Shake Shack, 2. Go to Spa World.

Megan's one request: Go to Rose's Luxury.

I wasn't 100% convinced that we needed to eat at this fancy-schmancy restaurant where President Obama had his birthday dinner, but I was willing to force myself to eat there. It was quite a sacrifice. I also read this Bon Appétit article, and fell in love a little with the concept of restaurant happiness.

And, y'all, you can feel it. It's for real.

The people who work here here appear to be happy, and the guests are happy, and the place is happy. Shooooo, that's a lot of happiness.

The pasta above was one of my top two favorite courses. Yes, we ordered one of errrr-thang. 

Let's talk about dessert because, well, it's kind of my favorite course. I mean, 95% of the time I don't actually need any other courses. Apparently I am a child.

We ordered two of the fancy desserts. We started with an eggplant tart puff pastry. I wish I actually knew the name, but I do know the fabulousness of it. OHMYLANTA. The whole eggplant-in-your-dessert thing may sound a little weird, but I assure you: IT IS NOT. It is amazing and if you argue with me I will cut you. [Then I'll nurse you back to health because we all know my threats are empty and filled with love.]

The other course we had was a corn crème brûlée topped with blueberries. I CAN'T EVEN. GAH. It tasted like sweet, creamy corn milky-ness with a crunchy, sugary top. Then when you eat it the blueberries burst in your mouth. I CAN'T EVEN. Did I say that already?

I'm inspired to add more vegetables [is corn still considered a vegetable? I think it is?] to my desserts.

Our server was Patrick. He was fantastic. Plus he brought us a third [we needed THREE desserts? YASSSSS!] dessert of birthday cake ice cream with candles. Loved it.

So...would I go back? Would I wait in a line 45 people deep on a Thursday at 4:30 pm waiting for 5:00 pm to roll around just so we try to get a table? [For the record, I was about number 32ish.] Would I spend money on every small plate on the menu again? [Probably not, but I'd get every vegetarian one. *heart eye emoji*] Would I eat raw onions in the best soy-sage habenero peanuts and lychee salad even when I hate raw onions?

YES.

Why would I do it?

Because everything was, well, awesome.

Even the bathrooms.

ten things

1. I start my new job next Monday! Right now, I'm mostly excited about dressing up and joining the ranks of all my nursing school peers. Since they're basically 95% done with training and I'm just starting, I'm a little behind. Also, I don't know any other new employees at my hospital, so this could get interesting. [and by "interesting" I mean "lonely" and I can't decide if I want to make friends or not. OK. FINE. I'll make friends.]

2. I went to Our Nation's Capital/Capitol last week and visited MegB. She took me to a public pool where we set our sights on the beautiful Ethan.

Of course, his name isn't actually Ethan. He just swims at that pool regularly and last summer MegB&Co gave him a name. He may or may not be the most beautiful man I've seen in real life. I'm not even joking. And then he spoke [not to us] and his accent just sent him over the top. I would like to take a moment to acknowledge how ridiculous and superficial I am. I would also like to state that I have a strong appreciation for all the work he's done for that bod. *sigh*

3. I quit facebook.

I've been thinking about it for YEARS and a few weeks ago I impulsively just did it. And you know what? I don't miss it. I may write a whole post on my reasoning and blah blah blah, but not right now.

4. The only problem with quitting facebook is that I can't post blog posts on the facebook blog page. [And I can't interact on that page either, so I don't even see any comments.] Maggie graciously offered to post for me, but if I blog more I feel a little annoying asking her every time. Just check around if you don't want to miss anything. Or maybe you'll miss things, that's OK too. (-:

5. I'm trying to drink more water and I realized I drink more when I have a straw, so I got myself the 32 oz Contigo [at Target in one of their eleventy-thousand water bottle sections]. The only problem with the Contigo is that when it gets hot or you have a pressure change it can cause water to come out when you flip up the straw.

Yesterday as I was flying, we were about halfway to Indianapolis from Washington, D.C. and I flipped up my straw to take a sip. WATER SHOT STRAIGHT OUT OF THE BOTTLE AND HIT THE CEILING, THE SEAT NEXT TO ME, AND MY CLOTHES. I'm pretty sure I lost 8 oz of water in the course of 2 seconds. Luckily the plane was mostly empty so no one was sitting in my row. I don't even think anyone saw it. I silently giggled as water dripped down from the ceiling. Laughing by yourself just isn't that much fun.

6. When my parents were out we at the Strawberry Rhubarb Pie. I don't want to brag, -- I totally want to brag -- but it was AMAZEBALLS. That Deb Perelman from Smitten Kitchen knows her business.

7. I got my hair trimmed while I was out of town and I had to go through my whole "I like my hair. I like my hair texture. I wear my hair curly." tirade four times. Then the stylist kept asking if I wanted random pieces cut because they were "sticking out."

UH. NO. My hair is curly, it does that. STEP AWAY.

It was terrifying.

8. I'm starting a new list of things to blog about. I'm so excited to have time again.

9. My current album on repeat is After it All by Delta Rae, here's my favorite song:

10. I love this picture of me taken by SarahN. 

Happy Wednesday! 

xoxo

apple pi

In the summer of 2001 I loaded all my worldly possessions [they fit in the back of a blue Buick along with all my brother's things, so let's not exaggerate what "worldly possessions" means] and headed from central Kansas to northern Indiana to start the next part of my life at Manchester College [now Manchester University]. Over the course of four years, I changed my major multiple times, added a music minor, deleted that minor, took 8 semesters of voice lessons, spent 24 months throwing heavy objects for sport, went to a total of about 7 parties [I was crazy], lifted a lot of weights, worked several nights a week, streaked monthly in the middle of the night [I said I was crazy] [only once in the snow, that was just stupid], went to Europe twice, ate 3 meals a day in the caf, and basically had the best time ever.

OH, and I made friends with these hooligans and we created a fake sorority.

These are the Apple Pi's [full fake-sorority name: Apple Pi Omega], there were a few others but this core group has stayed connected.

One of our Apple Pi sisters got married last weekend and she happened to schedule it on campus, so we all gathered and reminisced about the good ol' days.

You may think I'm joking, but I'm not. My eyes may have teared up when we went into the dorm and it smelled exactly the same. We piled into our old rooms and took pictures by the doors and made our way to the bathroom. Community bathrooms are EVERYTHING when you're a freshman in college and looking for friends. Imagine our HORROR at discovering that MEN are now living on our floor and using our bathroom.

NO. NO. NO. NO. NO.

It was so much fun to see everyone and it was extra special to be in this place where we first started and nurtured our friendships. These are women who build each other up and encourage and listen and stay present for each other.

I hope you have people like that in your life. It's amazing.

I met this booger-eyed farm cat on a farm and I want him.

xoxo