(By the way, 1) you really actually need to watch this video. Watch for sunglasses in the bathtub. and 2) I never got what this song was about until… now. [Facepalm here])
I feel like I am just bursting with excitement lately. I’ve got so much to look forward to, and it makes even the little things even more exciting. It kind of feels like this really great spillover from one aspect of my life into all of the other ones. So what am I excited for lately?
The Big
Grad School! Most of my friends said they thought it was a given, and I had a feeling I was as good as in, but you just never know! Finally having my acceptance makes me so happy and takes a huge weight off of my shoulders. Especially since I, uh, only applied to one school.
Moving to DC this summer! Obviously I’m excited about school itself and studying Public Health, but I’m incredibly pumped about where I’ll be studying it. After graduating (almost five years ago — how did that happen?!), I had planned on getting out of the midwest, but it just didn’t happen. Don’t get me wrong, I’m a midwestern girl at heart, and always will be, but I knew I needed to see the rest of the country. So here’s the first step! I also feel like it’s such a vibrant, passionate city, and I cannot wait to be a part of it.
Being closer to my sister. My little sister/BFFAEAEAEAEAEA lives on the west coast now with her husband. But this summer she’ll be on the east coast too! Not right next door, but close enough for weekend trips. I cannot wait to see them both more often than once or twice a year.
The Little
Being home in Michigan this week. I was so happy to be home, hanging out with my parents this week. They came to Chicago for Easter and I just hitched a ride back. There’s just something so comforting about being in the house you grew up in and sleeping in the bed you did in high school (although the whole twin bed thing is not so great anymore). And being around my parents for the whole week is great because I’m making up for all the hugs I’ve been missing out on in Chicago. They really don’t mind when I ambush them for a squeeze. Also, DRIVING. City folks without cars get it. I don’t drive in Chicago and won’t in DC, so this is great that I get to practice (I really am terrified that I’ll forget) and not feel at the mercy of public transit.
Seeing my best friend this weekend. My BFF Meggie and I have known each other since third grade, and I am so happy that I get to see her! The last time we spent much time together was her wedding this past summer, so I’m excited to have a girls’ night with her … and maybe her husband. He and I are actually good friends, and I introduced them (call me Patti Stanger) a few years ago, so it will be nice to see them both!
Having friends. That I make plans with. OK, so I’ve always had friends, but I feel like I keep running into old ones and meeting new ones! This may seem a little silly, but I am on a ROLL with my social life lately. But, to be fair, I think I’m just making up for about two years in Chicago where I didn’t want to go out ever and never accepted invitations because I was in my own little black hole (more on that and how I fixed it later). So really, this is 24 to 36 months rolled into about two months, which is all I have left in Chicago. I also can’t help but think that this is an upward spiral — I’m so positive and happy about everything that I’m attracting new and old friends into my life, and then of course, having friends and people to reach out to and hang out with makes me happy, and thus the cycle continues.
The Michigan spring football game. I bleed blue. I really do. I am so obnoxiously proud of where I went to school, and I don’t even care that this is precisely the reason the other Big 10 schools roll their eyes at us. I was raised on Michigan football, but I’ve never been to a spring game! So on my way out of town, my parents and I are going to the Big House. Hail to the Victors, baby.
Working my new haircut. So, I’ve got a big post coming about this later, but I recently cut my hair. And not a trim. I went from long, flowing Kardashian-minus-the-extensions hair to an angled bob, donating 12 inches in the process. I didn’t actually want to cut it that short, and I cried when they turned me around in the chair. But now I am SO happy I did it. I’m more confident, more professional, more carefree, more everything. I’m ME on steroids (I mean, figuratively). And I’m getting hit on more too, which shocked me. So…win for the bob, I guess.
I mean, maybe I’m getting too excited about everything, but at this point, I just don’t care. I feel like myself for the first time in a looooong while, so I’m going to run with it. In the past few years following college, there were too many times where I didn’t look forward to anything, and I couldn’t have gotten worked up at all, even if you waved a check for $1,000,000 in my face. So now, I’m soaking up every single second of this feeling and just living every day with every excitement, every letdown, and everything in between.
I’m so excited, and I just can’t hide it. [Insert cliche Saved by the Bell joke here if you’d like.]
The Verbal Filter 