The Great Minnesota Get Together

Phew. Made it home alive. On the food list for MN State Fair 2012: mashed potatoes on a stick, fried pickles, dairy building soft serve, apple cider pops, cheese curds, mini donuts, roasted corn, pronto pups, and Sweet Martha's to go. I must say Allie and I made an impressive load today at the fair, but we were good in that we shared everything and paced ourselves well throughout the day. We also hit almost everything exciting: baby animals, cows, horses, llamas, sheep, goats, horticulture building, merch mart, coliseum, craft building, midway, skyway ride, and walking, walking, walking. We were there from 10:15ish until 5:30. Only one fail when we were in the midway and went in what we thought was a funhouse called "Rave" but was actually supposed to be a dance party but it was awkward and we left and wasted 5 tickets each. Little win was this beeswax headache remedy stuff that we bought and makes your head tingle. Full day and my dogs are barking.

Tonight we're thinking of carrying on the fair theme by not eating healthy, if we eat at all, since I made these peanut butter bars last night and we also have chex mix and baked cheetos. House time, but I discovered yesterday that disc 1 of season 4 is missing! I have no idea where it is and I'm really sad. So we just started last night with disc 2 and are onto disc 3 tonight. So tired. And so peely. After we got home tonight I was changing and noticed my entire stomach was bubbly and starting to peel. Yuck. Lotion.


ALSO THIS IS MY 50th POST which is exciting for me because I'm OCD and like even numbers.

2370 Miles

Home Again

Hello gang. Sorry I've been off the grid lately, but it's been a busy couple of days!

I left off last Friday, after Brandy. They had given us a 30% off discount online for just waiting in line, so once we got back to Natalie's room I ended up buying 3 tops for $30 woooooo. Saturday was move-in day for all of the new freshmen, so we decided we wanted to hit the road and be out of the way when all the newbs arrived. So Nat, her friend Claire, and I went to Venice Beach for the day. It was really great people watching, and really great sun. I did end up getting pretty burned on one leg, awkwardly, and on my stomach, but it's mostly faded by now! Just a little pink. It doesn't matter because no one sees my stomach anyway, right? After a few hours on the beach, making friends with our neighbors Freakshow and Daniel and their 3-month-old kitten Beer, who had been hitch hiking around to 7 states, we walked the boardwalk. We stumbled on an American Apparel outlet and I found a pair of high waisted jorts for $30 instead of the usual $60, so that ruled. After we got home, we lotioned up our burns, showered, and watched A Cinderella Story. Super solid day.

Sunday we slept in, got lunch with some of Nat's friends in the Oxy Marketplace, and went to Hollywood Blvd that evening. We hit up the Walk of Fame, Chinese Theatre, and finally Madame Tussaud's, which was really fun. I had been to one in London when I was little, but I forgot how fun/creepy they are. Like, there were multiple occasions when I almost asked a wax person to take a photo for us. Strugs.

Monday was my last day, and I met Natalie's roommate and other people who were moving in on normal move-in day. We were lazy and got awesome Red Velvet cupcakes, and then drove to the airport, which I was super anxious about the whole time because of the horrible traffic. But we made it in time! I did not miss my flight! I got in at about midnight and Natalie's mom drove me home. I've spent the past two days watching a lot of TV, unpacking, organizing photos, making lists, and working on this collage for my room at school. Tonight I went to Allie's apartment for the first time since she moved in, and it looks really good. All of the furniture fits in really well, and she found a nice table and entertainment unit at Ikea. We got King & I Thai takeout and watched The Hunger Games, and then Bend it Like Beckham on HBO. I'm home now, and tomorrow I probs will have to mow the lawn (blech) and then Allie's staying over before we go to THE STATE FAIR ON FRIDAY!!! I'm so excited. On my must list: Pronto Pups, Sweet Martha's, Red Velvet Funnel Cake, and lots of other food. State Fair. So excited. Great Minnesota Get Together. Ok, now I'm gonna post photos from the trip!

Unpacking outfits

Comfy sweater for fall: H&M

Top: Forever 21, Shorts: American Apparel

Turquoise ring from Durango

This is what I actually ended up wearing today. Top: H&M, Skirt: super old from Urban

Events and Adventures

Busy couple of days! After the two days of orientation, we spent Wednesday evening in old Pasadena walkin' and shoppin'. Zara was having a sale which made me real excited, but then it was pretty picked over already. We ate at a little Italian restaurant and got cheesecake factory cheesecake to go. Ate some red velvet cheesecake and watched Accepted.

Yesterday we spent the day at Universal. It was so amazing. We started with the Special Effects Show, then got in line for the studio tour. This is where we were about 15 people behind Christine and 5 of her kids from Sister Wives. After taking some creeper photos, we went on the super cool studio tour. My favorite parts were definitely Bates Motel and Jaws. We went on all the rides, including the new Transformers, except for Shrek. Them we stopped for food at a diner and about 20 minutes later Natalie had a small allergic reaction to a veggie burger that apparently had nuts in it. We were whisked to First Aid, then got to ride in an ambulance to the hospital. She was fine after a few shots and we left 2 hours later, stopping at Target on da way home.

Then today we went to Santa Monica for a big huge Brandy Melville sale with Natalie's big, her bigs friend, and her bigs neighbor. Alas we got there and the line was ridiculous. We waited for a bit, Nat and I went to the pier for the ferris wheel, and got a call that they had left the line after they heard the sale was too picked over or something. I did not get the best vibe from these girls; they were nice to Natalie but basically ignored me the whole day. A little shopping and lots of traffic later, we got back to Oxy and passed out. Don't know what we're doing tonight, but hopefully something fun that could include watching The Hunger Games for the second time this week.

LA Livin'

We made it to LA! Got in at about 4:30 yesterday afternoon to Eagle Rock. The past few days have been hectic and exhausting, hence my lack of posts. I will then return to Saturday to talk about Zion.

We got up early on Saturday (like 7am early) and drove the 4 or 5 hours to Zion after an awesome breakfast at the Pancake Haus of Moab because the hotel we were staying at didn't have free breakfast. Once we got to Springfield, the town outside of Zion, we figured out how to park and ride the shuttle in. We got on the waiting list for the 3:30 hour long trail ride, took the shuttle up to the Zion lodge, for some ice cream, and then were able to get on the ride. It was a blast- I forgot how much fun horseback riding is. I was on Bridget and Natalie was on Maynard the mule. They were in love and it was adorable. After the ride we took an hour long or so hike around the lower emerald pools, and left. It was cooler by the time we were hiking which was very nice and necessary. Got Jimmy's for dinner and passed out early.

The next day we slept in and got breakfast at the Black Bear Diner where I was able to get the exact omelette I had been craving for days! It was perfection and hit the spot. Then we drove the 2 hours to VEGAS and pulled in to the Venetian around 1 pacific time. We had 2 hours to kill before check in, so we got lost for a while in the grand canal shops before hitting the strip to find the half price ticket booth. We ended up getting tickets for V- the ultimate variety show and heading back to check in/ wander around. Our suite was amazing. Those beds were so much more comfy than my one at home. We went to the pool for about an hour before gettin ready for dinner and the show. We went I a restaurant in the hotel called Zine, that was an Asian noodle restaurant. After some delicious pan fried noodles with pork, we walked the mile down to Planet Hollywood for our show! We ended up getting good general admission seats because we were there early enough. The show was fun, and actually had a lot of variety. We saw a balancing act, a comedy duo, a hula hooper, a magician, aerialists, another comedian, and a roller skating act. So much better than I thought it would be. We meandered back to the hotel, stopping in Caesars Palace along the way, and got a ton of "you ladies coming out tonight? Come to our clubs!" Alas, we are not 21 and cannot get into your clubs. Womp. I took a shower and watched tv at the same time (!!) and we passed out.

Yesterday was pretty chill. We drove straight to LA only stopping once for gas, toured Oxy a little, unpacked a little, grabbed dinner with one of Natalie's friends, and watched tv. Solid.

Today Natalie has her orientation for tour guiding, so I've been watching Gilmore and unpacking/organizing. Sups exciting. Also being back on a college campus is weird.

On the Mesa

Another exciting day in the life of a road tripper. We left Durango this morning and headed to Mesa Verde. After driving half an hour to the visitors center, we decided to go to Spruce Pine House and the Balcony House. Spruce Pine was self guided, and really neat. You could even climb down into a kiva (underground living space) and look around. Then we drove around to Balcony House for the guided "adventurous" tour. We climbed down some stairs and learned about the Pueblos' food, water, and shelter situations. We climbed some ladders, learned some things, and then I got really dizzy, light headed, and fainted. Scary since I was standing next to a kiva/on a cliff... But after resting and drinking a lot of water, some from nice strangers, we were able to move on safely. Luckily Jill, our ranger leader was also super helpful.

Next we moved on to four corners, which was cool but not as exciting as we thought. Them we got to Moab tonight, ate, and are watching SVU. So tired and about to pass out (sleeping wise). Fun day! But stressful

Apparently I forgot to post yesterday; we went from Glenwood Springs to Durango, stopping at this really cute town named Ouray in the mountains. Driving was stressful and slow around mountain curves, but beautiful. in Durango I bought a turquoise ring and we ate at a wild west saloon themed restaurant.

Lots of Ish

Phew big day! I am now resting comfortably in bed in a Glenwood Springs hotel waiting for pizza to be delivered, but it has been a doozy.

We started off this morning kissing Nebraska goodbye. On our first go around by the "Welcome to Colorado" sign, we missed it, and so Natalie insisted on driving an extra 10ish miles to loop around and then be on our way. After minimal stops in northeast Colorado, we made it to Denver. The first sign of real human life in over 24 hours! How anyone can live not in/around a big city is beyond me.

Then we went to the most wonderful place in existence: Casa Bonita. This place was full of wonders. It's probably the biggest restaurant I've ever been to, seating 900 people max. They put on shows every 15 minutes and have divers dive through their waterfall. There are grottos, arcades, old time photos, sopapillas, oh my! It was awesome. We spent like half the time eating, and half the time exploring. It ruled.

Next we hit up dinosaur ridge, which was also rad. We took the guided tour and learned about dinosaur life in Colorado and how the rock formations came to be. Also how these fossils were discovered/excavated. After some excellent photos with dinosaur statuettes, we went on our way for mountain driving.

I was driving for the mountains, and it was really exciting, terrifying, and beautiful. Going so fast around and through mountains was really something. We made it to Glenwood Springs in 2, not the proposed 3, hours. This gave us time to go to the lovely hot springs pools and get frustrated looking for a casual restaurant. The only options were upscale or fast food, so after wandering around for 45 minutes we came back to the hotel with the idea of ordering a pizza, when our room key didn't work. Now we're in the room, the pizza was just ordered, I'm not even hungry so I never cared what we got for dinner, and that is all moot. I'm now crabby an stressed out about something that doesn't even matter to me, as I will pay $9, eat one piece of pizza, and fall asleep. Ugh good could've just eaten the food we have in the car but whatever.

Ogallala or Bust

Sorry Nebraska, you are not the place for me. We drove over 11 hours today from Minneapolis to Ogallala, Nebraska. It was kind of rough, so much driving in one day is exhausting. Why is it that traveling makes you so tired when you're just sitting all day?

After taking off before 8 this morning, we drove to the MN/IA border and took some photos. Our next stop was Mason City where we were going to stop at Music Man square and Meredith Wilson's boyhood home. BUT it wasn't open when we got there so we just sketched around outside... Womp.

We skipped through Des Moines and stopped next at the DANISH WINDMILL aka a really cool place in Elk Woods, IA. Apparently this town has the highest concentration of Danish people outside of Denmark, and so they brought an authentic windmill from the homeland. Rad

I took over driving then and we hit up Omaha for a late lunch, before driving for 5-6 hours with one gas station stop. Oufff. Driving through Nebraska was like driving on a track where the same backdrop keeps repeating itself.

Tomorrow we're gonna hit Denver and end up in Glenwood Springs. Hooray natural hot springs!

Hittin' the Open Road

We're taking off tomorrow for our trip cross country! I'm so so excited, but also keep getting nervous that I'll forget something.

Snacks we brought: goldfish, fruit snacks, applesauce, apples, bagels, mini cinnamon roles, twizzlers, 100 calorie packs of some cookie items, oreos, and this beautiful brownie/cookie/glorious creation I made today that layers chocolate chip cookies, oreos (I used golden), and brownies together to make an awesome chunk of goo.

Clothing preview:

From the Salem finale on Sunday wahh. For show makeup we just did simple lining an highlighting aka my usual daywear (if I put on makeup...)

My newest attempt at nail art

I'm also not bringing my laptop on the trip, so I'll be posting from my phone. Some mups will be had but the majority of pictures will come post-trip once I'm home!

Pintrosity

I joined Pinterest today. I don't know if I'm actually going to keep it up or not, but it's a nice way to waste time. I was very careful not to make a food board because I missed lunch again today :/

Last night I think we had our biggest crowd yet! The theatre was at least half full I would guess (and in a big space like the Rarig, that's pretty good). We've also gotten more reviews so hopefully for Sunday we'll have a big ol' crowd and maybe get the encore? Who knows?

After the show I met up with my friend Josh and his girlfriend Molly. They've been dating for 11 months and I had never met her before. Funny thing is, I was with Josh when his friend messaged him setting them up. We Facebook creeped. I approved. She's my age (Josh is a year younger- cougar status?) and goes to Carleton. She was really sweet, but it was a little jarring to have her there. I had to put on my oh-be-charming-meeting-someone-new face, and not just my with-an-old-friend face. It was good though. I got home around 8:45 and then skyped with Alex for a bit, WHILE I CLEANED MY ROOM. That's right. There are no more clothes on the floor. It's an August miracle!!! We didn't Dead Files though because Allie was being antsy about wanting to watch House, so we'll probs do that Monday.

Once again I'm pulling the casual Friday card and wearing yoga pants, mock-Italian-soccer-jersey-T-shirt, sweatshirt, flip flops. Sorz couldn't get out of bed this morning.

I'm going to Nat's after work to finish planning the road trip!! The past two days I've been planning, planning, planning at work, and got those AAA guidebooks yesterday to use while we're on the road. As of right now, our basic route looks like:

Day 1: MN to Omaha
Day 2: Omaha to almost Denver
Day 3: Spending the day around Denver
Day 4: Outside Denver to Mid Utah
Day 5: Zion National Park
Day 6: Zion to Las Vegas
Day 7: Las Vegas to Los Angeles

with lots of fun activities in between! I can't wait. We're leaving on Tuesday, which means I have a free day on Monday (took work off because I thought we were leaving then) to pack and prep! Gonna buy so many snacks...

Then tonight Als and I are getting Jimmy John's for dinner and probs making s'mores again whilst watching House. Originally, the movers were supposed to be coming today but they rescheduled to next week, and my parents are going out to a dinner tonight, so we have the house to ourselves. Maybe we'll throw a biker party, we'll see.

What Even is Sonic? Pass

Apparently I never look at my hands in the morning until I get to work, because today I found a cut that had clearly been bleeding on my left ring finger. Also the popcorn stain isn't completely gone even though I showered and scrubbed. Curses!

J. Crew sweater handed down from my sister, Paige jeans, shoes from Heartbreaker

Don't look at my toenails!!! I'm begging you!!

But yay shopping! Pretty good night last night, although I still haven't found the high waisted jorts that have eluded me all summer! I have a black pair but I want a blue denim, more loose fitting pair. There are some at American Apparel but I just can't justify spending $60 on a pair of shorts when I spend $40 on a pair of pants, and shorts are smaller than pants- therefore they should cost less. Right? This makes sense! Why should I spend more for less material? Also I don't wear shorts as much because 1) this summer I'm working in a freezing office and have to wear pants as often as possible because otherwise I'm shaking the whole day 2) it's cold most of the year, and during fall/winter skirts and dresses are still acceptable in my book because you can pair them with tights/boots to warm up, but it's harder with shorts unless you're going for a grunge-hipster look, in which case you add some flannel and bada-bing we're in business 3) they're smaller than pants!!! Come on!
I get pretty intense during shopping trips to MOA, which is why I usually do them on my own (because the last time I went with my mom and sister they were literally shocked at how I could go for so long and not get overwhelmed). For me, it's a matter of putting blinders on and taking each piece for what it's worth. Going with Natalie was fun but I think she, too, was exhausted by the end of the night.
My spoils from the trip were:
   H&M
      Denim shirt (I have a long chambray shirt, which I was wearing yesterday, but not a regular denim shirt that I could pair denim on denim, or over a dress or skirt)
      Burgundy open knit sweater
      3 crop tops in blue/white/burgundy (they were $4...!)
   Urban Outfitters
      Levi's high waisted cropped-leg jeans in a lighter blue color (not denim)
   Forever 21
      High waisted to the knee tight sweater skirt in navy
      White/black color block graphic dress
   Nordstrom Rack
      Paige jeans- peg skinny which I'm wearing today!
All for about $200- not bad, right? The jeans were by far my biggest purchase, but my other 2 pairs of designer jeans are my favorite pants, and the amount of times I wear them balances out the price in my opinion. We also went to regular Nordstrom so Natalie could get a pair of Tom's, and I just about died passing the St. Johns and Prada displays. Every time I go into that store I realize I need to just make a shitload of money so I can buy these things. Or work in fashion so I can get samples for free :)

After work today I'm gonna be scooting to AAA to pick up those guidebooks before getting downtown for Salem #4. Hopefully there's not a long line! But this also gives me an excuse to leave at 3:30-3:45. Yayayayay! I don't think I have any people I know coming tonight, which will be a little weird, but I'm just hoping we have a bigger crowd. We're at 5:30, which is the earliest slot for weeknights, and on Tuesday the group was mid-sized, comparable to opening night. People come to our show! Give us reviews! Then after the show I'm getting dinner with my friend Josh, who I haven't seen all summer and is leaving for his freshman year of college while I'm roadtripping/in LA, so this was our last chance to get together. In fact I should probably figure out where we're going so I can plan accordingly on my dismissal from Rarig. And now Alex is texting me to watch Dead Files after that so it looks like I have a full night planned! While watching Dead Files I WILL CLEAN MY ROOM. I really have to. And I'll work on trip planning. Maybs I'll do some of that now- werk.

Popcorn Stain

We had a major faux pas last night. I was at my aunt Meg's house and we always eat popcorn and watch movies etc. So I was going to make popcorn and she said "hit the popcorn button 3 times." I thought she meant, hit popcorn then start 3 consecutive times. Well let me tell you, I was very wrong. After the second time it looked pretty good to me, but she said 3 times so I did it again. about a minute later we got an intense burning smell and grabbed the popcorn out of the microwave. Steam exploded everywhere and stung your eyes and we rushed the popcorn into the trash in the garage. We opened windows and doors and luckily it was a nice temperature last night, but the smell pervaded through the entire house via A/C and refused to go away. We then made a good batch of popcorn, where I learned that you hit the button 3 times in a row, then click start. When I woke up this morning and was getting ready, I noticed a slight hint of the burnt popcorn smell on my hand from where I opened the bag, but I didn't look at it. It was only just now, hours later, that I discovered that my index finger on my left hand is discolored/stained by the popcorn. Embarrassing.

Other than that (even including that), last night was a pretty good night. After putting on my makeup in the office via photo booth and no one noticing, I headed to uptown to get myself a bubble tea, then to the Rarig to finish getting ready/for the show! I had forgotten my tights as I left that morning, but luckily my friend Sam had an extra pair. She's quite a bit shorter than me, though, so they were a little small/awkward fitting. I managed, perseverance! I also got an apron to add to my costume-ensemble. At our show either tomorrow or Sunday I'll get some sassy Salem pics taken. The show itself went pretty well, comparable to last Sunday's performance. Afterwards I went to dinner at Rojo with my mom and family friend Debbie who were at the show. It was awesome after not eating all day to mow on some chips, salsa, and tacos. Plus lemon cake dessert at aunt Meg's. Plus popcorn.

Today I'm rocking my ultimate lazy girl outfit and bun. This is one of my go-to's that I grabbed out of my clean clothes hamper (because obviously I haven't put away my clean clothes from a few weeks ago and they are all still sitting in my hamper while my dirty clothes are on the floor) for today because I didn't have time to pick out real clothes when I was packing yesterday morning. Just gotta get through work, and then this afternoon Nat and I are gonna hit up MOA for pre-trip-end-of-summer-fall-clothes shopping! I need to make a list of things that I need, which ideally would have me going through my closet and cleaning it out, but I think we'll be heading there right after work which eliminates that as a possibility. Things that come to mind right off the top of my head are: nice jeans (Nordstrom Rack is my best friend), nice leggings (I have 2 pairs of Hue leggings that I LOVE- I have like 3 or 4 crappy pairs from Target/H&M/hand-me-downs but they're just not as comfortable/opaque as I like), a camera case. Those are my specifics, but then I also have the more obscure ideas of what I want, like just more clothes that actually fit and fall trends (my favorites are military, leather, burgundy, mixed textures/patterns).

Also, I just got my first call of the day and it had almost been 2 hours since I got here- phwoar!

Update: it's now 12:01 pm and I just got to level 14 in bubble town for the second time ever!!! CELLY

Update 2: NOOOOO it's 2:27 and all of my webpages just reloaded for NO REASON and it sent me back to level 1.

Indoor Girls

I really need to paint my toenails. I managed to clip them the other day because one had broken at an awkward angle, but I'm still at the point where 3 nails have chippy paint on them and the other 2 are basically nonexistent. I suppose I could have done that last night, but instead I was choosing a cover photo (Facebook finally forced me to switch to timeline- curse you Zuckerberg) then watching House with Allie while making s'mores over a candle. Jolly good.

Having my hair straight is so nice. It's so much less of a hassle to deal with. Like, I don't have to put it up or braid it to go to sleep and can just brush it out in the morning and go. How easy! Alas, after the show tonight it'll be gone until this weekend when I blow-dry/straighten again (this will add up to one show tomorrow with an unruly bonnet). Our show has been getting really good reviews so far. We have a rating of 4.5/5 stars, and even the unfavorable reviews had specific things they didn't like (the dance...) while saying the talent is good (that's all that really matters to me). So I'm feeling pretty good about this show! Hopefully we'll have a bigger crowd tonight, but the theatre we're in is so large that filling up all of the seats would be a feat unto itself. Dare to dream?

After the show tonight, I'm staying over at my aunt Meg's house, since originally we had planned something for next week but with the road trip now imma be gone. We're most likely going to watch Lifetime's "The Pregnancy Pact" and eat popcorn. In haste this morning when I was packing up all my stuff for the show and overnight, and because I've been feeling like I've been eating too much lately and not working out because of my schedule, I didn't bring a lunch for today. Hopefully I won't get hungry, just have to fill up on coffee and water until dinner. Womp.

Gas prices can suck it. I was planning on filling up today, when I was driving to work yesterday/picking up lunch for Gerry, it was at $3.61-3.65. Then as I was leaving work, the usually cheap gas station that I drive by was at $3.85. What the what?? You can't just jump 20 cents in 3 hours! I checked my gas buddy finder thing, and saw one place was still at $3.63, so I headed there. I couldn't see their sign until I pulled into the parking lot, and by then it was too late! I was obligated! And I was afraid that it would go up more today. $3.83 per gallon. I'm really mad, I got cheated out of at least $2, with my total at $40 and some change. Ridiculous. I have a bug, not an SUV.

Drams on Drams on Drams

I am completely incompetent with technology. Maia just started a blog and I cannot for the life of me figure out how to follow it. When I looked it up in the googles, they said click on the following widget- however, that does not exist in her blog. And so I'm at a loss.

Bonnet shmonnet. Me and dis chick Sam at rehearsal on Friday.

Well this weekend was just as busy and drama-filled as I anticipated. The wake and funeral went as well as those things can go. After the funeral on Saturday I scooted home and had the perfect amount of time to shower, blow dry my hair, straighten it, eat some lunch quick, pack up my stuff, then run to dance. I was nervous about being late, especially when they had a lane closed on 394 and traffic backed up, but THEN I did something really clever: I was "that guy" who went in exit lane that bypasses traffic and then just got back on the highway. I'm not even a little bit sorry. I skipped the entire slowdown and made it to class on time.

I just went through a lot of trouble on google maps to try and figure out how to get a visual for this. Makes more sense? This isn't what the highway looks like anymore since they remodeled it like a year ago, but it's the same concept. 

That was one of my big triumphs of Saturday. I was living a little bit in struggle city at dance since I hadn't been there in two weeks and apparently they had learned a new combination the week before. So I had to learn the combination from last week plus the add on that we were learning this week. It wasn't pretty, is all I can say. But the class was small because a lot of regulars didn't show up, and so I had space to flail. I went to Natalie's house afterwards to avoid driving all the way home then back downtown, and so we chilled for a bit and looked up more road trip destinations before getting ready. We met up with my friend Sara and went to The Old Spaghetti Factory for dinner, because apparently it's 5 minutes away from the U and specifically the Rarig? I had no idea, I was shocked and dismayed when mapquest told me that. But it was true! Win #2 of the day: paid $1.50 for parking. WOOP. Ate a whole lotta pasta, which was probably not the best idea right before a show, but it sure was delicious. Then I scooted off to the theatre, got my costume, and got makeshift dressed and hair in the bathroom. Our entire cast had taken over the bathroom, and every time someone would come in they would make an exclamation like, "Oh look! All of the pilgrims have come to town!" or "Looks like I've entered Salem!" Clever, Minnesotans, clever. Opening night went pretty well, minus a couple mistakes in the dance (and by a couple mistakes, I mean my friends told me it was painful to watch and the girl was just not holding her own with the guy), and we were a little tight on time, but we made it! The house lights were not brought up on us! Afterwards I chatted with my parents and Nat and Sara, and it was decided that Natalie, Sara, and I were gonna stay over at Sara's lakehouse for a post-show celebration. They ran to Sara's house to pick up pj clothes, and I stayed with my parents, got changed into normal clothes, and left. Win #4: didn't have to pay for parking; as I was leaving the ramp, the blocker thing at the end of it was open and so I just drove on by. I'm feelin' pretty good about everything and here's where the drama starts:

A little backstory first, a few weeks ago I had posted in the Friends feed that my group of girl friends from high school has on Facebook just being like, oh my show opens in a few weeks! I would love if any of you could come! And then Natalie commented on it just saying, "Sara and I are going on Saturday the 4th! Come with us etc etc" Apparently then Natalie and Sara had sent a message to some of the girls who are in town just saying, hey we're going this night, maybe we could all get together and go to dinner, the show, and then hang out afterwards. It would be nice and Lizzy would really appreciate it. Then my friend Noelle had written like, my cousins leaving the next day so I can't go to the show that night, but would I still be able to hang out afterwards? And Sara said yes. Flashforward to Saturday. I pull up to Sara's lakehouse and they're not there yet, so I'm about to call them when 4 cars pull up behind me. I was really confused because I didn't think anyone was coming but me, Sara, and Natalie and they were driving together. Out piles 4 of my other friends, who had chosen not to come to the show but made it excruciatingly clear that they had nothing better to do and jumped at the chance to come to Sara's lakehouse. It all just felt like a big screw you aimed at me, and granted none of them are really into theatre, but it doesn't seem like that big of a sacrifice to waste 60 minutes of your life at what is actually a pretty good show. They did give me the courtesy of asking, "how'd it go?" Oh wow! You remembered! My show opened tonight that I've been rehearsing for 3+ hours everyday for 6 weeks and, while you couldn't get your ass out of bed to sit and watch it for 1 hour, you could ask me how it went. Thanks, friends, I really appreciate it. Once Natalie and Sara finally got there, I went in a different room and hung out with them. Noelle came too, and said she's planning on coming to the show another night with her mom, which made me happy. I stayed for a while, but then just decided to go home before midnight because I was crabby and exhausted after getting up at 7 for the funeral and running around all day. When I got home I complained and cried in bed with my mom, then passed out for over 12 hours.

After waking up yesterday at 1:40 in the afternoon, I felt a lot better. The thing about these girls is they can just be really bitchy. If you have somehow "wronged" them in any way, they will do their best to hurt you back. I've never really gotten along super well with 2 of them who were there, but the other 2 were really surprising to me. Apparently one was mad at me because I didn't talk to her enough when we all went to dinner at Chino Latino? The fact that she wasn't sitting next to me couldn't have anything to do with me not talking to her, of course. I don't know. I have 3-4 really good friends in that group, and honestly the rest I'm less attached to. I spent the afternoon watching lots of tv: chopped and then SVU. Got ready for show #2, which started at 7. When 6 o'clock came around, I was ready to go. Alas, my dad had called earlier and asked if I wanted a coffee, and I did. 6:10 comes around, still no dad. 6:15, still no dad. I call and he says he's in his car. 6:20, he pulls in after taking his sweet time with a cigarette hanging out of his mouth (blech) and I'm off like a bullet. Made it from Wayzata to the Rarig, what is normally a 25 minute drive, in 15 minutes. I was going between 80 and 90 mph most of the time. It was pretty exhilarating, if not stressful. I pulled into the parking lot and speed walked from my car, and yet who do I pass on my way but the Russell fam, aka our directors. I felt less bad about being late, then. My hair was already done and I was wearing my dress, so I just had to bonnet up and set the candles, but someone else had already done that for me. Phew. My friend Hunter had brought a flask with him (lawl) so we cheered to Salem and took a pre show swig. I think the show, and dance specifically, went better on night 2. The initial jitters were gone and people were more comfortable in the space/with their costumes. Home after the show, and then Allie got back from her weekend Bachelorette party trip. They went to a pole dancing class on Saturday, and she was so sore that she could barely move. Like, she literally walked like a 106-year-old woman. It was pretty hilarious. Took some melatonin and managed to fall asleep around 11-11:30.

Not my best today. I've been having major closet blues, just not enjoying my options. My mom always says, "You need clothes like you need a hole in the head." But I disagree. The majority, or maybe 50%, of my clothes are old and too big. I need to clean my room and my closet again to see what's really there! I did earlier in the summer but it would appear that another sweep is necessary. Missed the Anniversary Sale :(

DER. Managed to get my hair straighter than I have in a long while. I think it's because here I can used my mom's awesome Chi iron, and also we have this heat activated spray that has kept it straight and luscious (does that descriptor apply here? I don't know).

I just have to get through this week of work, and then I have a 2 week breather of the road trip/LA. I'm SO so excited. We might go to AAA today to get those guidebooks, but we already have some winning stops lined up. Apparently there's a Pretty Lights concert around when we'd be in Colorado, so we're thinking of going to that. Also we were looking at shows in Vegas, since we are under 21 and cannot gamble (I still think that's crap. We can gamble here in MN if we want! And vote! And get married! And join the military! Let me gamble in Vegas, dammit). We're thinking Cirque du Soleil or a magic show or Chippendales (lawl again) or some combination of the three. And zip lining. I just can't wait. I've done like nothing fun this summer and now we're gonna go all out. Plus I get to help organize her dorm room! I'm such a nerd but organizing is fun.

Stress and Comfort

Well well well lookie here, the end of the week has arrived! If only this weekend was actually a break and not a continuance of the busy/chaos. Yesterday was pretty rad because I got to leave work at 1:30 to go to lunch with my mom at OPH. Not only did I get an apple pancake, but I also got to leave sups early! Win-win. After that we both went home and semi-napped for a long while. Then I had to go to rehearsal, but we got out slightly early after finishing our two runs. SOLID. I got home in time to see the Lochte-Phelps 200 IM showdown, and the final floor routines of Gabby Douglas, Ali Raisman, and the Russian girls. Go team USA!! Right after the Olympics ended for the night, I rolled over on the couch and passed out until my mom woke me up and told me to go to bed. Average evening.

Now today/this weekend is anything but average. Today after work I will be scooting home to change into something nice, then heading to New Brighton for the wake of my step-grandma. She passed away earlier this week after never really recovering from a surgery she had a few months ago. She and my grandpa hadn't seen each other in a while, since he has been living in a home specializing in Alzheimer's care and she has been in recovery. I actually haven't seen either of them since Christmas, so this is all a very weird and surreal process. This weekend will be a lot of dealing with family I don't know (her kids and grandkids from her first marriage) without a lot of the buffer of my family. Both of my sisters are out of town this weekend on trips they planned months ago, and only 2 of my cousins will be there because the rest are also out of town. My mom's really stressed out about it all and is afraid that the other side of the family will be snotty that not everyone dropped their plans to come; we'll see how it goes... The funeral is tomorrow morning at early o'clock and is a full Catholic mass.
Not to mention this is opening weekend of Fringe/our show. I'll only be able to stay at the wake for about an hour before heading straight to our final rehearsal. Similar story tomorrow after the mass, I'll be running home to get ready before going to dance, and then a short break before our show! It's just a lot to take in at one time. It'll be a busy week, but a good one hopefully.

Then a week from Monday Natalie and I are leaving on our road trip! It really snuck up on us quickly. My dad's booking a flight home for me as we speak (or as I type...) I'm sooo excited to just travel around for a while, and to see Denver, Las Vegas, LA, and, of course, Omaha, Nebraska. Destination hotspots! My mom and I are going to go to AAA to get some guidebooks with more activities, but as of right now we'll be hitting up Minnesota's Largest Candy Store, The Roller Skate Museum, Zion National Park, the aforementioned cities, and all of da naturez in between. My plane ticket is now booked and the trip is a go! yayayayayay roadtripsummeradventures

Reaching hot mess status- running around so much has reduced me to ignore the fact that it is indeed summer and don my most comfy leggings and a t-shirt. Tonight I will most likely be in uncomfortable conservative clothes, and so I wanted to get the comfort factor out of my system (what? does that make sense? no)

I wore my most favorite Target maxi dress yesterday but I didn't take a picture, so instead here's a picture of me wearing it 4 years ago with Allie in Italy...

I feel like this guy right now (eeeee baby sloths!!!!)

Lunch Drams

Today has been a day of ups and downs so far: first, I was planning on having lunch with my mom at OPH today after she met the plumber at Allie's apartment. However, she got hung up there because she realized we had to take off all the tape and edge the bathroom, so she cancelled on me to work there today (we'll probs go tomorrow, so it's all good). BUT then, I hadn't prepared a lunch for today, as I was not expecting to need one! I had my PB&J that I brought yesterday, but didn't eat because of the gyro, but I had nothing to go with it because I ate my grapes yesterday! An old PB&J on its own would not be great. BUT NOW it's free lunch day! Even though it's not a Friday! I am still very confused and surprised but so please because it could not have come at a better time. Pulled chicken sandwich heading my way!
Phew that was a stressful experience. Work today couldn't be going by slower, unless I didn't have internet again. I read our latest MSP Magazine this morning, then started looking up pictures of our clearance stock on lighting websites. I've made it about halfway through my list of inventory, so I figure that's enough for today... gotta save some work for the rest of the week, right? So tomorrow I'll finish finding those pictures, and Friday I can finish the inventory that I need a ladder for and find those pictures. Solidly splitting up the work, holler.

Luna and I, just hangin' out

After work imma be heading over to Natalie's house so we can start planning the road trip! One stop that is a must: Minnesota's Largest Candy Store. How I never knew this place existed, just like 45 minutes south of the Twin Cities in Jordan, is a mystery. It looks INCREDIBLE. I just, I can't, too excited.
We'll plan our route and figure out which day I'm flying back, and then the stops we want to make along the way. This should be fun because I love planning...

It's our last day with Nugget :( I really don't want to give her back. Can't decide if it's a better idea to go home after work quick and snuggle her or just leave it- Nugget goodbyes are hard! Just look at that little face!

Rehearsal tonight at 7 until 10 again. Last night was fine, just long. It's a little weird because all of our set is in the space now, so we're like pantomiming benches and podiums and stuff that you think we would need in the last week of rehearsal? I don't know, it'll be fine, it's just strange. Still no word on when we'll get our costumes... I'm antsy, I just really want to see them! Most likely it'll be like a black and white dress, but who knows.