#I made this so long ago and just found it going thru my Google photos

[taylorhawkins]

behold the funniest live alanis footage I’ve seen

[catthecoder]

tag game - get to know me

tagged by the awesome @orangenfrottee - thank you, i haven’t done one of these in ages and these questions sound like so much fun! 💕

1. what is the color of your hairbrush? it’s grey on the back with black handle

2. name a food you never eat - hmm, i used to be such a picky eater but i recently slowly started eating a lot of food i used to despise... if you asked me a few months ago, i could write up a rather long list, but right now? the only thing that comes to mind are picked cucumbers 😬

3. are you typically too warm or too cold? too cold, 100%. somehow, my body stays cold even when it is like 30 degrees, which is hella weird.

4. what were you doing 45 minutes ago? eating lunch! i made bagels with ricotta, ham, cheese, egg and avocado and i had a couple of baby cucumbers along with it (mind you, not pickled ones) and it was super delicious.

5. what’s your favorite candy bar? i think twix is my favourite? or perhaps this slovak bar called ‘horalky’, which is basically wafers with peanut filling and sides dipped in chocolate... god, now i want one so desperately.

6. have you ever been to a professional sports game? i used to watch hockey a lot and i’ve been to a couple of games.

7. what is the last thing you said out loud?  huh, i think it was my order when i went for coffee a couple of hours ago? (i got a latte and a piece of apple crumble cake, in case anybody’s wondering)

8. what is your favorite ice cream? i could eat ben&jerry every day, so it’s probably their ‘half baked’ or ‘phish food’. also, i’d die for a good mango sorbet.

9. what was the last thing you had to drink? plain old water

10. do you like your wallet? i like how small and practical it is..... i’m trying to recall the last time i actually took it out of my backpack and i’m coming very short.

11. what is the last thing you ate? the bagels from question 4!

12. did you buy any new clothes last weekend? i bought a pair of new masks last thursday and they arrived on monday - does that count?

13. what’s the last sporting event you watched? haha, does the bake off count as a sporting event? if not, i think it would be some skiing competitions (slalom) last winter - my parents follow them rather closely and it kind of rubs off on me when i’m home with them.

14. what is your favorite flavor of popcorn? salty mixed with sweet!

15. who is the last person you sent a text message to? my boyfriend.

16. ever been camping? does setting up a tent in friend’s backyard and sleeping there count? if so, then yes.

17. do you take vitamins? not really... i sometimes take c during autumn for immunity, but i haven’t bought any this year so far... oh, i am taking probiotics right now, though i’m not sure whether that counts as vitamins.

18. do you regularly attend a place of worship? no.

19. do you have a tan? no, if i try to tan, i just turn pink (or red). though i’m pretty sure my skin is marginally lighter underneath where i wear my watch.

20. do you prefer Chinese or pizza?  if going out, pizza; if i’m cooking, chinese.

21. do you drink your soda through a straw? if there’s ice in it, then yes; otherwise, i tend to skip the straw. 

22. what color socks do you usually wear? black or white.

23. do you ever drive above the speed limit? gonna be honest and say yes. not by crazy amounts or anything like that, but if i know the road and i can see quite far around and ahead, i will go 10ish% above the limit easily. not gonna lie, it’s especially easy on highways (though i nearly got fined last time i drove, so who knows how i’ll feel about it the next i’ll sit behind the wheel) 

24. what terrifies you? haha, like i’m going to share that.

25. look to your left, what do you see?  a shelf with alcohol bottles, glasses that don’t fit into our kitchen cabinet, an assortment of cameras and other photography equipment and a scanner. oh, and a window.

26. what chore do you hate most? taking out our organic waste bin - it starts smelling very bad very quickly plus the bin for it downstairs hadn’t been taken out in a very long time and it’s always covered by fruit flies and smells veeeery bad and i’m feeling yucky just thinking about it.

27. what do you think of when you hear an Australian accent? i think - hah, that person is australian, how cool.

28. what’s your favorite soda? i love san pellegrino. limonata is my go to, but i recently had lemon & mint and my god, that one is amazing.

29. do you go in a fast food place or just hit the drive thru? i go in, even if i drove there - i don’t like eating in my car.

30. what’s your favorite number? i’ve always had a special connection to number three, so let’s go with that.

31. who’s the last person you talked to? depends on what you mean by talked to - actually spoke to, with my voice? the bartender at my favourite coffee shop. had a meaningful conversation? probably with a customer service employee who’s helping me resolve an issue. just chatted to, without much of a point? my boyfriend.

32. favorite meat? hmm, probably ham?

33. last song you listened to? i’m currently listening to ‘cigarette daydreams’ by ‘cage the elephant’, though that’s going to change in a minute and half.

34. last book you read? ‘renegades’ by marissa meyer! it was so. good! i started the second book, ‘archnemesis’ yesterday and i’m even more in love. 100% recommend if you’re into superhero stories with secret identities and enemies-to-friends(-to-lovers). such an amazing series.

35. favorite day of the week? what even are days?

36. can you say the alphabet backwards? only crazy people can.

37. how do you like your coffee? oat latte with a bit of honey.

38. favorite pair of shoes? i own way too many shoes to be able to pick a single favourite pair.

39. time you normally get up? between 8:30 and 9:00.

40. what do you prefer, sunrise or sunsets? sunsets.

41. how many blankets are on your bed? none. there is one on the couch though.

42. describe your kitchen plates? we found this kitchen set in tesco after eating from paper plates for at least a week after moving in - there are four bowls, four small plates and four big plates (a year layer, we found two extra big bowls matching our set) - the bowls are grey from outside and white on the inside; the small plates are grey on the top and white on the bottom and the big plates are white on top and grey on bottom.

43. describe your kitchen at the moment: very small - a third of it is a stove (with two heating pads? circles? whatever), another third is a sink and the last third is workspace with a small shelf for spices, cutlery etc, and a cutting board and knives stand. most of the workspace is taken up by a cutting board i used to cut avocado and cucumbers for lunch and there is a tiny pan (and i mean really tiny, like one egg sized) leftover on the stove. i’m probably going to do the dishes after i finish answering these.

44. do you have a favorite alcoholic drink? i’m not that picky, i’ll drink almost anything. i think i prefer fruity drinks though - i really like french martini or sex on the beach.

45. do you play cards? we used to play cards a lot with my parents and sister (and grandparents as well) - i love playing canasta, but you need four people for that, so i haven’t actually played in months... we also played a lot of joker and i taught my boyfriend to play this summer (not that he didn’t know how to play, he just wasn’t particularly good)... and we also play poker with a couple of our friends here from time to time

46. what color is your car? this is going to sound so bad, but i am actual not sure? we ended up finding quite a good deal on a car we wanted to get after uni, so we bought it - however, it is back in slovakia and both me and my boyfriend are stuck in uk right now. it’s either black or very dark blue, but for the love of my life, i can’t remember and the photos i found weren’t helpful at. all. (if it weren’t for covid, i’d be able to answer this question a lot better). oh, and the car i had before (my mom’s old car) is red.

47. can you change a tire? i like to think i’d be able to (after enough googling and youtube videos), but if there was somebody else with me, i’d gladly let them do it.

48. your favorite state or province? like in usa or what? i guess new york.

49. favorite job you’ve had? i don’t think i’ve particularly enjoyed any of the jobs i had so far - if i had to pick, i’d say working in an ice-cream shop, because if there is one thing that could make work during a very hot summer even slightly bearable, it’s the fact that every so often, you can nibble on a bit of an ice-cream.

i’m tagging @stonerbughead @strangenightsofdaydreams and @i-know-you-can - i know there is like 50 questions and that’s a lot, but they were actually a lot of fun? 

[shutupbrain]

sus, last 6-12 months

Suddenly opened a new, separate individual bank account which he said he made to better track his finances. All his commission checks go in there. I was very caught off guard only because we've had joint finances for over 9 years and have made all our major financial decisions together. He says he got it to better track his finances.

Makes "he" not "we" statements more often now I think about it.

He goes from buying himself a bunch of new gym equipment for our garage (which he used daily for some time) to saying he needs to workout at a gym every single workday instead. His reason being that he doesn't have what he needs at his home gym.

Bought and began wearing name brand cologne (has never worn cologne in our 11 years prior), new watch, investing much more effort into appearance. Explanation could be that he is just trying to have better self esteem after struggles with that in the past, feeling more confident from working out.

Stopped using the sharing feature we set up in Google photos with me.

After guilt tripping me for so long because I got to WFH, his job gave him a nice raise and told him he could now WFH because they want to do whatever they need to keep him. That was about 2 months ago and he's worked at home twice.

1 day he wouldn't give me the pin to log into his phone when I just wanted to Google something since I didn't have mine. He was cooking and said that he "doesn't remember it" and "only uses face ID." I thought that was bullshit and gave him side eye but brushed it off. I then realized after cooking that he came and swiped the phone up off the table and disappeared upstairs to "poop." Convenient..

Both of his phones are on total lockdown, I have no way to access them. He says it's because of how I've reacted to porn and porn subscription services he'd paid for in the past that I found. His computer is on lockdown too and he keeps a guest account for me to use if I need to on the rare occasion. He uses the same excuse he has for the phones for his PC. So he's hiding something on all devices without a doubt, but what exactly and the seriousness of it is anyone's guess.

He has suddenly expressed interest in getting a full sleeve tattoo, to cover his hand as well, which he was not very into when we discussed getting tattoos in the past. He also used to say he hated acrylic nails and when I got my hair done but now he's all for it. Suggested we take couples dance lessons which shook me but I thought was a really great attempt to reconnect. With all these other coincidences now though, I don't know. Personal growth or something else?

He has a girl he works with that he talks about on a daily basis. He's always told me about the office drama and coworkers which I like to hear about! But in the last few months he has said her name in conversation almost daily and together they talk about me and her fiance based on stories he's told me. He recently, unprompted mind you, told me they're like "brother and sister." He said he tells me all this to be more open so I don't worry or feel unfortunately. See my other post about how she's a total dime which he never mentioned.

He has been calling me a bitch frequently which is not a normal thing for us. When we were drunk the other night and having fun, we lost the keys and got into an argument. He looked me dead in the face and yelled that "you ain't shit! We all know who is paying for the locksmith and new keys, that's right, it's me!!"

I laid it all out for him tonight about how I'm feeling, that I may very well be crazy in this but I need to know if anything is going on. If there's nothing to hide, please just let me see your phones to ease my mind. He is taken aback and reluctant, it's obvious. But he gives me the personal one and logs me in while I follow him up the stairs to get the work one.

He tries to stall but I'm right up on him because I won't be able to feel at ease unless I can look at his phones without him having time to go thru and hide or delete anything first. He won't let me have both at once and trades me for the work one which I'm most curious for because of the situation. I see there's no texts with her, he's deleted them because I know they've definitely texted because he told me they do. There were many other conversations (mine included) so I know he's specifically deleting his conversations with HER! My heart drops to my stomach. This lack of text trail says so much. I go to the call logs and see some short calls with her too but those can be explained as work related. When confronted about the deleted texts, he says he always deletes the group texts with them it's never just with her. There were several other group chat message trails clearly there though and not deleted sooo.

When you've been in a romantic relationship as long as ours, spouses share everything with each other and want to because of their bond and friendship and closeness! Privacy in this stage is for things like planning surprises, time alone for whatever "you time" that's needed (showering, hobbies, not wanting to have an important work interview listened in on, etc.) Deleting messages isn't privacy, it's SECRECY. You are hiding something!

[firstdegreefangirl]

It took me way too long to actually get all of this finished, but I used my road trip with @flyawayrachel for a video assignment for my TV class. Here’s that video, which I LOVE ((and that hardly EVER happens when I make things)), and the world’s longest highlights post -- including all three days of the trip, and also show notes -- is under the cut

Monday

Me walking from Rachel’s apartment to her campus because I needed a bathroom. Then the first building I found ((which did have a bathroom, thank GOD, because //someone// forgot to go while I was stopped in LFK)) being the one she’s traumatized about and can’t go into, forcing me to wait for her in a building where she weren’t, just because I needed to pee.

“I placed ‘toilet’ very high on my priority list”

We hadn’t seen each other since like July, so there was SO MUCH to catch up on

Side note: no more of this three-months-separated thing. We missed too many stories and it’s not OK.

Me texting Madison like “this is crazy but come to Denver with us right now today”

When my dad found out we went to KFC for lunch, the first thing he said was “I’ve eaten at that KFC with your mom before!”

That gas station I made Rach stop at so I could take another bathroom break. Y’know, the one with two stalls in one room and NO DOOR, just a little half-wall between them? Yeah, that one.

“Do we like Frank? Cool, I’m on Team Frank then.” In the words of one of my kids, “VILE FRIENDSHIP!”

“There we go, that’s an appropriate Hitler joke.”

“Do … something cute with the maps.” “Out here? Where people can see?”

Me: “This is gonna sound crazy, but let me text my dad. I think we stopped at this rest stop when we went to the Grand Canyon. I remember the museum.” ((closure time: I was right, we did. That trip was four years ago.))

Checking into the hotel on my corporate rate and then dissecting the agent’s check-in skills in the elevator.

Wandering into the hotel next door because it’s the chain I work at and I wanted to scope out the competition.

Then the look on Rachel’s face when I straight up told their agent “I work at another *brand name* and wanted to see what y’all have going on.”

Snapchatting my GM about the hotel we stayed at and her saying “I bet their FD girl isn’t as amazing as ours.”

Especially when she found out that we had to do the lobby wander of shame because no one told us where the elevator was.

Our hotel room had a little curtain separating the bed and the fold out and Rachel was SO EXCITED ABOUT IT ((see the video)).

Watching all of Indoor Boys in one sitting because it only takes like an hour and a half and Rachel needed to see it

How excited I was about the bedspreads being cuter than the ones in my hotel ((theirs are polka dot AND match the towels in the bathroom; my property’s are houndstooth and the towels are just plain white))

Me briefly thinking the bathroom had no door before Rachel saved the day

Rachel wanting a Frosty at 11 p.m.

Which was easily solved, because there was a Wendy’s in the parking lot.

A much harder one was my sudden and intense craving for curly fries.

Arby’s closed at 10, but Jack in the Box is 24 hour and has curly fries.

So off we went.

ONLY THE ONE WE WENT TO HAD A HANDWRITTEN SIGN ON THE DRIVE THRU THAT THEY CLOSED AT 10.

I called another store and the dude was high key judgmental that I didn’t just //know// they’re 24-hours, as if I hadn’t just been betrayed by a store that should have been and wasn’t.

But they did have curly fries, so I got my curly fries.

Also we went to 7/11 so I could try the Captain Crunch Crunch Berry Slurpee. Which tastes EXACTLY like the cereal. You decide if that’s good or not. I thought it was, Rach decidedly did not.

Tuesday

I literally ate just a bowl of oatmeal toppings for breakfast. No oatmeal, just the toppings bar.

Rach stayed up in the room and slept in, so I brought her some yogurt. Only I wasn’t sure what flavor she’d want, so she got both peach and blueberry fruit on the bottom.

OUTLET SHOPPING. Do you have any idea how long it’s been since I’ve been able to just leisurely wander around a mall and shop? Like without having a place to be at a time and/or a list of exactly what I did and didn’t need to buy?

Sam’s Lunch! ((which was then a total bust when they only had like two samples out))

“So hindsight, the Ulta looks further from here than it did from the highway.” “Yeah, you think so?”

The decision to ramen for lunch, which was then overridden when Tokyo Bowl was only one dollar sign on google and the ramen place was two.

Which was totally OK because the food was both fantastic and inexpensive

The part of the car ride where I caught up with my best friend since I was literally a year old.

High Street being just a little bit too fitting in Denver

The candy factory tour!! I’m a sucker for both free tourism and demonstrations. Especially when there’s free samples involved.

Fun fact: the flavored part of the fancy candy canes is NOT the striped part. It’s the inside layer.

Also that little kid in the group with us. “Do they send candy to Idaho? I am from Idaho.” “Do they help the elves make the candy?”

“Should I buy a whole pound of marshmallow scraps?” “It’s only five dollars.” “Right, but then I’ll eat the whole pound of marshmallows and we both know that.”

BRO-dway!

Me forgetting the theatre sharpie in the hotel room and making you circle back to get it, even if it was only two blocks

Our high-quality karaoke sessions in the car. What we lack in training, we more than make up for in enthusiasm.

Just the amount of screaming when we drove by the tour bus

Circling the block twice before we could get into the parking garage

We stopped at a fun little art exhibition thing between the parking garage and the theatre, literally just because the sign said “Under Study.” Then I looked at Rach and said “well, we always say understudies need more appreciation.”

I panicked as we crossed the train tracks NOT in the crosswalk, then again when we crossed the next set in the lines but I could distantly hear a train coming

((side note: Katie is NOT cut out for mass transit))

Tour bus photos are hard, but we made it work and they’re awesome!

I’m now the proud owner of my very own DEH cast hoodie, which I “conveniently forgot” to take home this weekend so mom can commandeer it until Christmas

Backstory: Katie is both afraid of heights and suffering altitude sickness, which results in lightheadedness and shortness of breath in … oh, I dunno, mile-high elevation

We had an extra ticket and decided to RAK it to someone who was sitting in an upper balcony so they could join us closer to the stage.

Which was/is a great idea, except that it required going to the upper balcony. Via the stairs. So by the time we got up there, the altitude sickness meant I couldn’t breathe. Leading me to step out to the little patio thing for some fresh air – usually slightly easier for me to breathe – while Rach scouted around for people.

Lack of forethought: BALCONIES ARE HEIGHTS.

So the first time I meet our new friend, it’s me zipping up behind Rachel and saying something about how I sure really would like to go back down in the elevator and get back to ground level.

Which we did, because Rach knows I’m like this and she’s wonderful and amazing

That made things … a lot better, and I was able to enjoy having a new theatre friend.

Which was wonderful, and she’s wonderful and that was such a neat thing to be able to do.

The Show

So we’ll start this one from taking our seats TEN ROWS FROM THE STAGE.

We’re gushing about how close we are to the stage and how great the view is and everything when I see someone coming up the back aisle who looks kinda familiar.

“Hey … is that Pasek and/or Paul?” “Nah, I don’t think so. Wait … YES IT IS!”

Cue us freaking out and shoving Rachel to the front of the group because I’m incapable of approaching people.

Long story short, we got autographs from Pasek and Paul, pics with Paul and Alex Lacamoire, and at intermission we got signatures from Michael Grief.

People kept asking us like “who those guys were” and we just went “they created the show!!”

Now this is where things are gonna get incoherent, because I spent 15 minutes gushing out thoughts as soon as the show ended and I got home, and I’m just going to type them out here.

Ben Levi Ross’s Evan and I do the same lil hands on face/neck/ears thing when we’re anxious.

Merrick’s Connor did the same little finger gesture thing I do at work when I give people directions to the elevator in my hotel during Sincerely, Me and I basically just DIED.

BLR’s Evan seemed so much less worldly than OBC, but Zoe was grown up AF

Larry was STUNNING and AMAZING

Tbh I got hella Leslie Knope vibes from Cynthia

Larry’s arms around Cynthia and his hand on her shoulder when they talked to Heidi and literally just Larry

Marrick’s rubbing and then sudden/intense nipple twist in Sincerely, Me

Everyone was SO GRATEFUL we were there to see the show

BLR hit the stage door in this amazing vintage pinstriped blazer. I told him I loved his jacket and I don’t know which one of us was more excited about that moment.

Rachel and I crushing each other’s hands the entire show ((it’s been five days as of this writing and the bruises are just now mostly healed))

Marrick missed a cue and the poor bab looked terrified

One word BLR said gave me like alarmingly intense vibes from the cast album, and it’s something I noticed right away, but now I can’t remember what word it was. But it sounded JUST LIKE Platt, in a very shooketh way

BLR tied the tie perfectly onstage and I’m shook. When I wear my tie to work, I have to get up 15 minutes earlier to have time to get it tied the right length

Jared’s Jared was 20/10. Amazing delivery and fantastic comedic relief

There were all these little costume changes from Broadway, since so many things had been thrifted

IT TOOK ME WAY TOO LONG TO NOTICE but Connor is wearing Evan’s hoodie, not the other way around, and I can prove it.

It’s on Evan’s bed during Anybody Have a Map?

I heard a voice behind me during Act Two, and my first thought was my usual “what kind if imbecile …” But then I realized it was Michael Grief, and like it’s his show, so he can do what he wants.

Same thing when Justin Paul used his phone as a light source so he could take notes on the show.

We mentioned to Arron at the stage door that we skipped two days of school and drove nine hours to see the show and he goes “It’s your life. You gotta live it.”

BLR finished the stage door line before Christiane did, so he passed behind her on his way back into the theatre and 10000 percent patted her ass football-style.

In For Forever I totally thought the original lyric was “life will be alright for forever,” not “LIKE WE’LL be alright for forever” and that hit me harder than it should have tbh

Dude, Larry hit me so hard at the beginning, like he recites part of the letter and it took me until now to realize how many times he must have read it over before that moment

Zoe’s wardrobe was so classy

Evan straight up hugging into Connor’s chest at the end of Sincerely, Me

At the stage door, Phoebe almost fell off her heels and said “that’s what I get for wearing stilts. But I’m out here with all these dudes, like I’ve gotta assert my dominance.

It was a Moment, especially when I replied “I don’t even need stilts to fall down. It just happens sometimes.”

FREE OPENING NIGHT HATS. I’m not a hat-wearer, but this hat might just make me into one.

We made friends with an eighth grader at the stage door, and she was so wonderful honestly.

The three of us referred to ourselves as “trash” and her mother looked so concerned

Post-Show/Wednesday

Rachel and I parted ways as soon as she dropped me off back at the hotel, so you’ll have to hit her up for her Wednesday stories.

But we were at the stagedoor when @crazygoblinfreakoutnoise just texted me like KATHERINE *lastname* so I replied like “can I call you and scream?” because that felt safer than texting her in mass caps while we walked alone in the dark in an unfamiliar city.

Then I woke up Wednesday at 4:30 a.m. ((kinda, I had so much post-show rush that I didn’t actually sleep much at all)) and ate my leftovers from Tokyo Bowl before I called an Uber.

Chattiest Uber driver EVER. It was a 45-minute ride and by the end of it, I knew about his divorce, how long his family has had season sports tickets, why he doesn’t go to the games, all the major highways in Denver, everywhere he’s ever traveled … the list goes on. But he did get me there safe

I’d left hella early because the TSA said Denver was super busy and had lots of delays at security. So I’m to the airport a full 150 minutes before my scheduled flight, full of excitement about being enough of an adult to manage my own road trip travels.

Then security took maybe half an hour. Not even that, but I’ll be generous.

Point is, I had lots and lots of time to explore.

And then they delayed my flight 40 minutes.

So I dropped seven bucks on a cup of coffee, trying to combat the two non-consecutive hours of sleep I was running on.

I did get to see the sun rise over the mountains with airplanes in the background though, and that view was incredible.

By the time I got to board, I really needed to pee, but I didn’t have time, and then both of my row-mates fell asleep before we even took off.

Also we sat on the tarmac for almost an hour. So by the time we landed I REALLY had to pee.

Finally got to a bathroom, and made it out to meet my dad, for a ride back to Rachel’s place to pick up my car.

We went for lunch before we did that, and longtime followers might remember the fries that changed my life back in April. I had more of those, and they’re still amazing.

I had to use two of my last four percent cell battery ((look, it’d been a really long day)) to re-reschedule a test. The plan had been to take it when I got back to campus, but then delays happened.

Happy ending: took the test the next day, set the curve with a 94 percent.

[americanauthor]

Chicago by way of San Francisco.

After a particularly busy Saint Patrick’s Day and mandatory day of vegetative rest, I packed my bags and headed off to start round 3 of Open Days for work. The first time I participated in these events was March 2016. I was a Senior at American and it was essentially a five day, unpaid interview over 3 states which consumed all my Spring Break that year.  In 2016 I volunteered at the Spring Recruitment events for the college in Washington D.C., New York and Boston. In 2017 I staffed the events in Boston, New York, Chicago, Washington D.C. and Philadelphia. In 2018 I  staffed the events in San Francisco, Chicago and Philadelphia. Open Day’s week is generally “Holy Week” for me. 

Monday March 19th I got to Union Station, where I took the train to BWI airport station and took the shuttle to my Virgin Atlantic evening flight. Six hours and a slew of Ryan Gosling movies later (thanks inflight entertainment system) I arrived to San Francisco. Because it was special enough to get to go to California for work, I took a day extra before work began to meet up with my mom (who had been traveling in New Mexico). On Tuesday March 20th she drove us to Monetary, California -- about two hours away -- and we had a delightful jaunt around Cannery Row. 

Here she is mounting the bench at my behest for the following shot.

Then it was her turn. I did not need a bench because I am not an elf. 

We wandered in the rain amongst sock shops, souvenir stores and even one fairly sketchy looking old-timey photo place where after spontaneously deciding to get a novelty photo of ourselves,  the girl working the desk took us back to a row of changing rooms and said “Okay, tube tops are there and shorts are in that bucket.” Needless to say we did not end up pursuing that activity.

I do love a good novelty [religious] tee, though. 

We had lunch at Bubba Gumps and watched for animals in the Bay, then after a quick jewelry shop stop to commemorate our date with a silver otter necklace (”Aolysius”), mom drove us off to “17 Mile Drive” thru Pebble beach. In the pouring rain.

Here is the lovely “Bird Rock”, so named because birds like to hang out there. 

And the “Lone Cyrpus” which has stood on this rock for over 250 years. 

Had to get our photo with a local celeb like the “Lone Cyprus”. 

Day one ended with a jaunt thru a town called “Carmel” and chai lattes to stave off hypothermia from the fact my suade boots are not, though I continue to wear them in the rain, waterproof. It was two hours back to San Francisco from Monterey, so to break things up we stopped for dinner in Palo Alto, near Stanford, and plotted our next day in San Francisco City. 

After a filling Starbucks breakfast and forty minutes of traffic, on Wednesday March 21st, we set off to explore San Fransisco’s Fisherman’s Wharf. 

We spent quite a bit watching the sea lions on Pier 39 bark and wrestle, before taking a stroll down the boardwalk and again ending up in Bubba Gumps for lunch (again). 

Note Alcatraz behind mom. Not a bad view, and delicious coconut shrimp.

On our walk to Ghirardelli’s, stopped to take in some classic (cloudy) shots like the Golden Gate! 

On our walk I also found arguably my favorite fountain ever. Introducing, “Merbaby”.

Did you know that when you to Ghirardelli’s they give you a free sample? Did you know when you go to three different stores they give you three different samples? I do now.  

It worked on mom though because she ended up buying a tin of chocolate bunnies filled with caramel that I’m fairly certain will not make it back to Pennsylvania per her snacking. 

It’s a tradition of mine when I visit a city to try and find at least one cool bookstore; I was recommended to find “City Lights” and enjoyed a while perusing the shelves there.

Here’s the view of the famous building who’s name I kept and keep forgetting, from “City Lights” door. I believe it is the Trans America Pyramid. 

Tired and tourist-ed out, we headed back to the hotel to recharge phones and rest the legs before Mom started googling dinner options nearby and found the mythical, majestic soup dumplings. I love soup dumplings. They are arguably one of my top 3 favorite food groups. You can imagine I was elated.

Thursday morning, March 22nd, Mom headed off to the airport and I went to connect with work colleagues before our evening event. One short 40 minute Uber ride later and I was once again in San Francisco city as the rain poured. Not ten minutes later, however, the clouds cleared and blue skies -- yes, BLUE SKIES -- appeared. 

Had just enough time to pop into Buena Vista -- the first U.S. home of the Irish Coffee -- and for very affordable $10.50. Irish Coffee’s are an acquired taste for certain; I don’t think I’ll be having another for a while but it was cool to sit at the long counter with the bartenders in white blazers and watch them craft this. I mean it was 10:00am so maybe next time I won’t start drinking Whiskey before noon, also. But experience! 

After my morning cocktail, I stuck my head into the Cartoon Museum where I got to see the original drawings for the John Lewis Graphic Novel, “March”. Two years ago Sam and I volunteered at the Washington D.C. National Book Festival and worked the Graphic Novel pavilion, where Congressman John Lewis  was talking about “March”. Seemed very timely. 

Headed back to the hotel for an hours rest before getting dressed -- read, make up -- and heading over the High School for to wrap up the fun touristing and get started on the work. This is what will happen after a four hour event when someone on the team encourages “creativity” in posing. 

It turns out that Mom’s flight was cancelled so I got a roomie for another evening. We ordered pizza to bed and watched Netflix before sleep. The next morning, Friday March 23rd, I was up bright and early for the team flight to Chicago. 

After arriving in Chicago we took the train from the airport to the hotel and had about forty minutes before an event scheduled that evening. A quick shower and slathering on of makeup and out the door I went. We ended up having dinner (well, I had a coke of grilled brussell sprouts) at a bar called “The Gage” next to the University Club of Chicago. Bit strange to have drinks with a Professor who four years ago was signing my forms for Study Abroad class approval, but so is life. 

Then it was off to bed and up early the next morning for a Chicago day. It was so bitterly cold that Saturday, March 24th, that I even contemplated buying a sweatshirt to layer. I own one sweatshirt; I am not a sweatshirt gal. But I was that cold.

If my case hadn’t been so packed already I would have but thankfully after getting some errands done for most of the day I decided to seek shelter at a coffee shop called “The Goddess”. I had a delicious sheep truffle, chai latte and read some of the novel I picked up in California. 

By midday the nerves about my presentation on Sunday hit -- I headed back to the hotel, peeled off my layers and turned on the Kardashian’s while I started typing up the notes for my slides the next day.

Coerced from my hotel room with the promise of pizza, I joined half the team on an expedition to find deep dish. I do like Chicago, more than Boston or New York. And it’s not like D.C. in any way so I can separate and love them for different reasons without a conflict of interest. 

  And finally, after three trips to Chicago, got my picture with The Bean. It was much more fun to do that part with people, rather than being alone. I’m not being on needing to be in a group when traveling; in fact, I sometimes prefer to set my own path and wander. But with a belly full of warm deep dish I gave in to the adventure. 

Sunday March 25th it was up early and out the door to the high school for the last Open Day event before Philadelphia the middle of the next week. The Irish headed back to Dublin that evening, with myself and Isabella dividing between Minnesota and D.C. I was thankful I made it through my presentation in one piece.

My bag, however, did not make it back to D.C. with me. That’s another saga for another time, but as a week straight of travel wound down I spent two hours with a man named Melvin at DCA trying to solve the mystery, on a Sunday night, of how my name got stuck to the bag of a Mr. Chen who ended up in OH and my case was no where to be seen. 

Life, my friends, is never dull. And if you think it is, you’re not doing it right.