Adventure Time: Pip the Pillow Pet, Dranks, Shopping and Too Much Dancing

I am writing this on the plane ride back to Minneapolis, so bare with me on this...

Also, I apologize for the crappy iPhone photos, even though I brought my DSLR with me I never even used it!

If you know me, you know that I travel a lot, and that I freaking LOVE traveling. I started flying out to Maryland semi-regularly a few years ago, and this past weekend involved another trip to Towson, Maryland. It was my best friend Livy’s 21st birthday last Monday, so I flew out for the weekend to celebrate with her! My original plan was to fly out Thursday evening or Friday morning, but because of the snow-pocalypse that was taking over on Thursday, my plans quickly changed. I ended up switching flights last minute, and by the time everything was set I had two and a half hours to pack for the weekend and get my butt to the airport! I decided to surprise Livy, and told her that I wouldn't be flying out until Thursday evening or Friday morning, but because of the snow I wasn’t sure if I would even make it.

My friend Dan picked me up from BWI (Baltimore-Washington International airport) a quarter after 11 p.m. Wednesday and we drove back to Towson, where Livy lives. Dan called Livy and said that he needed to “drop off a late birthday present”, and long story short, I don’t think I’ve ever seen someone so surprised and happy to see me!

My trips out to Baltimore have always been fun, and I’ve loved every one of them. I love the East Coast, there’s just something about the atmosphere and Towson University itself that I absolutely love. Of course, seeing my friends is nice too…I guess… :)

Kidding. I freaking love my friends from the East Coast, I don’t know what I would do without them.

As I was saying, I love my Towson friends. We are so crazy and weird together, it’s so perfect, haha. Livy and I have several traditions together, and I can honestly (and somewhat shamefully) say that most of them include shopping. We always make a point to go shopping at Marshall’s - no exceptions. Ever. I’m actually wearing my purchases now: floral top and Guess jeans (amazing deals, let me tell you)!

Livy and I (& Co.) have a tradition of making shopping trips to our favorite food places: Einstein Bagels, Baltimore Coffee House (they have the most amazing flavored coffee beans ever!), Chipotle (because DUH why wouldn’t we?!), and Mom’s Organic Market for our vegetarian cooking nights. We especially LOVE Field Roast's vegan Italian sausage links! They taste SO amazing! Plus they have the texture of actual meat - the first time I had a bite I thought I triple checked the packaging to make sure it was in fact vegan, haha!

No matter what I seem to always come back home with at least one interesting story, like that one time when Megan set Dan’s apartment on fire…

                      Yeah, that was a fun night. :)

To summarize the highlights of my trip, Livy and I got our hair done on Friday morning and then went shopping in Towson afterwards, and Dan gave me a pillow pet and chocolates (thank you!). I also got to spend some much needed time with my boo Megan, and went to an LKT Presents event to watch some cool films some of the brothers shot!

A few of us went out on a bar crawl on my last night in Towson to celebrate Livy’s 21st birthday! After some yummy drinks and a lot of fun dancing, Livy and I ended the night in her apartment eating a chocolate peanut butter cake we baked earlier.

Livy and her Fishbowl drink - complete with

    her tiara of course!  Click here for the

  Fishbowl drink recipe, it's super yummy!

All in all I had great time (like usual!) with my friends, filled with amazing quality time bonding over our weirdness, hanging out with the people I’ve missed terribly and amazingly delicious food. Of course, I can’t wait to go back out there to be with my peoples, but it will be nice to be back home in the tundra where people are Minnesota Nice. :)

Until next time, enjoy this photo of Pip my new pillow pet :)

Don’t Think, Just DO.

2014. It happened over a month ago, and where has the time gone? A post about the New Year and resolutions is a little overdue… Better late than never though, am I right?

Back in 2012 my best friend Livy and I started a tradition of making a list of goals we each hoped to achieve in the new year.

(Little bit of a back story… I met Livy in the fall of 2012 when I studied at Towson University in Maryland through a study abroad program at my university. We were both taking a mass communications class, and one day after class we decided to study for a project together. We clicked instantly, and we’ve been best friends ever since.)

(Pictured above: Livy (left) and me (right) just before heading out to the Imagine Dragons
concert at the Merriweather Post Pavilion back in September)

2013 was a great year - don’t get me wrong. I accomplished a lot and I have a lot to be proud of! But we all endure difficult times and ride the struggle bus.

Let me tell you, there have definitely been times were I am driving the Struggle Bus. All aboard?!

Needless to say, I am ready to take the lessons learned from 2013, move forward with 2014, and have a great year! New Year’s is always a refreshing time of the year. Granted, you can make changes, goals, resolutions (or whatever you choose to call them) any time of the year. It seems to be the one time of the year that stares us in the face, causing some angsty reflection of the year to gauge where we are, where we’re heading and if we’re heading is where we really want to go. Of course, this forced self-reflection, augmented either by a post-Christmas overextension of family tie, alcohol, or both, can very easily lead to a magnification of what we’ve decided are our most glaring shortcomings and a masking of what we too easily forget are our greatest strengths.

“If you cannot do great things, do small things
in a great way.” --Napoleon Hill

Whether it be caused by my adventures over J Term, too much Pinterest, YouTube or spending too much time online in general, I have dubbed 2014 as “Year of the Goals”. My list of goals turned out to be much more ambitious this year than it has in the past, and that is very exciting for me…or scary. Sometime I feel very ambitious and I get intensely motivated to accomplish goals (or get homework done), and then there are days where it’s a struggle to motivate my self to look presentable for the day (mascara is a constant battle, let’s be honest). The thing with setting goals for yourself is to not set yourself up for failure. Start small and work your way up. If you set goals beyond your capacity, you will probably end up unmotivated and defeated, sprawled out on the floor.

So when I say that I may or may not have written
“Don’t think, just DO”
as a goal, you know it’s real.

(Granted, that doesn’t really make a lot of sense,
and it doesn't really apply in this situation… I’m strugglin’ here…)

The moral of this post? Goals are good. They have to be, goals are motivating. And I mean, people often say that motivation doesn’t last. But then again, neither does bathing. And that’s why it’s recommended daily. Or at least often, otherwise that’s pretty gross. (Although I’m sure you are a lovely person and smell delightful au natural...)

Now go shower, 'cause you probably stink (no offense).