Blog Everyday in May - Day 31

Today's topic: A vivid memory

For some reason, my entire year of grad school is one extremely vivid memory. The rest of my college years all run together, but grad school feels like it was yesterday.

I remember every night out, every day of class, every hour wasting away in the library studying for the CPA exam.

I remember sledding down the dike by the lake in a kayak and breaking into Death Valley (Clemson's football stadium) on the night it snowed.

I remember 11 of us enjoying our last spring break ever at my parent's beach house in Litchfield.

I remember the crazy, fun summer. Hours spent in the library, and then hours spent relaxing at the lake and by the pool (even if it did mean taking my CPA flashcards with me).

And I remember it all being worth every. single. second.

Blog Everyday in May - Day 30

Today's topic: React to this term: Letting Go

This topic makes me laugh.

I am the queen of not letting go.

I'd like to think I learned a few things after taking 2 years to get over the boy I dated before Ryan. But I'm not sure that's the case.

All I know is that time heals all.

If only you could just fast forward sometimes.

Blog Everyday in May - Day 29

Today's topic: Five songs or pieces of music that speak to you or bring back memories.

Poison & Wine by The Civil Wars


Incredibly beautiful song by one of my favorite duets.

Windows are Rolled Down by Amos Lee


Reminds me of summer. And grad school.

Free Fallin' by John Mayer

 
I could listen to this song all day long.

Footsteps by Nelo

 
Thanks to Jordan and Bobby for introducing me to this band.

Right Above It by Lil Wayne

 
I can't tell if I should be embarrassed that this is the most played song on my iPod. Again, it reminds me of grad school. I had some of the greatest memories from that year.

Blog Everyday in May - Day 28

Today's topic: Only pictures.

Italy.

London

Brussels

Paris

I want to go back to Europe.

Blog Everyday in May - Day 27

Today's topic: Write a letter to your readers.

Well this seems awfully silly to do, considering I have about 25 followers and the only people I know of who religiously read my blog are my mom and sister. But I'll play along anyway.

Dear Readers,

Thanks for listening to me ramble. I started this blog for me, to keep a journal of my travels and life in the "real world". I love being able to look back in time and remember the good and not so good things. Thanks for coming back to get a little glimpse of my everyday life.

And to my blog friends who I've had to pleasure of chatting with outside of just posting comments, Jess, Anna, Amy, and Melissa Jo, y'all are awesome and I love getting to talk to you on a daily/weekly/monthly basis! So glad I've met y'all through blogland!

Blog Everyday in May - Day 26

Today's topic is relatively simple: Something you read online. Leave a link and discuss.

I read a lot of articles on Thought Catalog. Sometimes they're funny and make me laugh, and others are serious and make me think.

I can't find the original article because it was a few weeks back, but I liked the article enough to write down a quote out of it and save it on my phone.

"So, instead of worrying about The One, forget about that and be The One You Would Want To Be With. Go running every night, smile at every person you meet, pick up that James Joyce novel you've been putting off, start writing again, join a support group to work out your issues, go back to get another degree, help old ladies accross the street, take Tai Chi to learn to let go, get involved at the local community center and/or take a cooking class. Push yourself to get out and be better; you can't control who you meet, but you can control who you are when you meet them. You probably won't find perfect. However you might find the thing you didn't know you were looking for all along."

I waited as long as possible to write about this on my blog, but this is a journal of sorts for me so it didn't feel right to not mention it at all.

A little less than a month ago, Ryan broke up with me. After a year and a half, he walked into my apartment and blindsided me with the fact that he wasn't happy. Apparently, busy season was not fun for him either and I wasn't fun to be around anymore.

While I don't entirely believe that things are over forever (he wants space and time, I want to work on managing my work-stress a little better), I know I need to change some things.

And man, I loved this quote from this article. It's so true.

I love my job. I really do. But sometimes I have to remind myself why. When I'm working 12 hours a day for 4 months straight, it's kind of hard to remember why I'm a CPA and why I decided to do this voluntarily.

It's all about attitude. I can't expect Ryan to be sunshiney and positive when I come home from work grumpy and cranky and snapping at him about every little thing.

This has been quite the wake up call. But like all things in life, they happen for a reason.

And on a lighter note, as I'm coming up on my 25th birthday, this article made me smile.

Blog Every Day in May - Day 25

I was so looking forward to this challenge when Jenni first announced it back in April. But sometimes life happens and I couldn't dedicate time to my blog every day this month. But because I'm finally catching my breath at work and in life, I thought it would be fun to participate for the last week of the challenge, so I've scheduled posts ahead of time while I'm frolicking through Lake Tahoe/San Francisco/Napa!

Today's topic is: something someone told you about yourself that you'll never forget (good or bad).

I had to think about this one for a while. And not because I'm at a loss for memorable things people have said to me.

I have extremely wonderful parents who tell me they're proud of me often. I have amazing bosses who are never at a loss with words of encouragement and praise.

I'm very very lucky.

But one thing I'll never forget is when someone told me I care too much. And not in a good way. Yes my friends and family are important to me and I do my best to care for those I love. Maybe a little too much.

In college, I worried about everything. More specifically, everyone. When we were all out drinking, being college kids, I worried about how everyone was going to get safely home. I had to be everyone's "mom." I had a friend tell me that it was okay to let other people (my friends) make mistakes, and learn for themselves. For some reason, this was extremely hard for me to do. But once I took the weight of worrying for everyone else off my shoulders, I felt relieved.

And one good thing: recently, when Ryan and I were riding in the car somewhere, I was singing along to the radio. He looked over at me and said, "You have a really pretty voice." And for some reason, that little compliment made me smile for the rest of the day. My parents are very musical. My mom and dad sing in the choir at the church I grew up in. But I never really thought I had a nice voice.

Sometimes it's the little things that can brighten your day!

Snapshots

Here's a little snapshot of life lately:

Top Row: Peonies from my grandparents' memorial service | The gang at Lauren's birthday dinner | Lauren's sweet potato (birthday) cake from Brick Street Cafe

Second Row: The most adorable dog in the whole entire world (he unfortunately belongs to my boss)  | Sarah, Lauren, and I at Sip | Who doesn't love rooftop wine bars?

Third Row: The view from our condo in St. Simon's Island for work | Gotta love fresh oysters | Nothing like retail therapy - I bought a new Mac!

.......................................................................................

I'm so ready to be on vacation. I'm off to Columbia tomorrow for a grad school friend's wedding, then I'm leaving on a jet plane for the west coast.

Look out for some posts for the next week for Jenni's blog challenge!

Happy Holiday Weekend everyone!

New Orleans Jazz Fest

It's been quite a few weeks since our little road trip to NOLA for Jazz Fest, but I just had to post a recap!

It started out Thursday after work with a very long road trip to NOLA. My sister was flying from SF and was already in bed when we rolled in at 2 am. I crashed the second my head hit the pillow.

We started Friday off right with brunch at Elizabeth's in the Bywater. The praline bacon was worth the hype, and the bloody mary didn't hurt either!

We then headed to the French Market to wander around. We picked up some daquiris at The Organic Banana and then walked to Jackson Square. It's hard to say if the city was crowded for jazz fest or if it's like that all the time, but it definitely has a party atmosphere everywhere you go!

Then it was time for Jazz fest!!

One of the main reasons we went to Jazz Fest was to see John Mayer. My sister has a tad bit of an obsession. We got there around 2 so we could get a good spot at the stage where John was playing at 5:30 pm. We even made friends with the people standing around us (her name was Coco and she was awesome)!

Then John Mayer came on stage, and all was right with the world.

After the concert was over, we went back to the hotel to shower, then hit Bourbon Street!

We had dinner at Acme Oyster House. We were dying for some po' boys! We spent the rest of the night bar hopping with NOLA's finest (Bourbon Street has fabulous people-watching)!

We decided to skip out on Jazz Fest on Saturday and instead spent the day drinking exploring the city since none of us had ever been!

We first had brunch at Emeril's restaurant NOLA, which was fantastic! I highly recommend eating there if you're in New Orleans!

The food pictured: Stuffed Chicken Wings, Mussels, and Red Chili-Abita Shrimp and Grits

Next stop on our city tour:

Cafe Du Monde. Enough said.

As if that wasn't enough food, we had to stop for some quintessential Louisiana food: gator bites.

We found a stand in the French Market with the nicest man who told us all about alligator. And I have to say, the bites really were delicious!

We waddled out of the market and wandered through the French Quarter. New Orleans reminds me of an older, dirtier Charleston. It has a lot of neat architecture.

We made our way to Pat O'Briens, home of the infamous hurricane, and spent the rest of the afternoon on the patio. 

We some how ended up hungry again, and stopped at Oceana Grill off Bourbon Street for dinner. I loved all the fresh seafood! We stopped by the hotel briefly to freshen up and had every intention of going back out again, but everyone I was so tired I could hardly keep my eyes open. We crashed before midnight. Party animals.

We woke up to a rainy day for our last day of Jazz Fest. We weren't quite prepared for rain, so we had to make a few pit stops before heading to the fairgrounds.

Frozen Daiquiris? Check. Ponchos? Check.

We found this adorable little breakfast place, Cafe Fleur De Lis, and tucked inside just in time for a downpour.

After breakfast, it was time to brave the rain and head to the festival. 

We got there pretty early, so we stopped to see Calexico play before heading to the stage to get ready for Dave Matthews. Ryan and I had just seen Dave in December, but seeing him at Jazz Fest was completely different. It started pouring right when he took the stage, which was weirdly awesome. Standing in the pouring rain while singing "Grey Street" at the top of my lungs might go down in history as one of my favorite memories. Dave played a completely different set list than he did in December, which I was so happy about.

We stopped by the Blues Tent just in time to hear B.B. King play a few songs.

And this last picture will sum up our final day at Jazz Fest quite nicely:

Mud Fest 2013.

Oh, the memories...