living in solitude(ish).

 

dear crazy cat ladies and hermits of the world: i get you.

i get it! the whole ‘living on your own’ thing. it’s the caterpillar’s spats (thanks you google search: ‘synonyms for “the bees knees’ …i think?). there is a certain kind of beautiful that can only be found in a clean, organized fridge. carrots, cucumbers, tomatoes, and other various veggie tales protagonists all squeezed nicely into the bottom shelf; strawberries, grapes, apples, and cherries in the right drawer. lactose-free almond milk…bottles of diet pepsi (it’s a new phase, sorry mom!)…leftovers, my leftovers…bliss, bliss, bliss!

i can stay in my rutty, white robe all day and just…lounge. at any decibel at any hour. FREEDOM! if the place is messy, it is my mess; my hair in the drain, my laundry on the floor, my cheese-encrusted dishes. i love my messes so much i could lick them up.

the best part: the naked barrier? gone. fart barrier? thing of the past. anxiety over having to sneakily steal condiments…and cereal…and fancy dryer’s ice cream (my jana-roommate always bought the expensive stuff! s’mores ice cream, are you kidding me?!)…no more!

now, how wonderful is that?

here’s to one more week of living in solitude! then it’s off to idaho…home, sweet home.

p.s. ummm…hello? my name is brooke and i am apparently the world’s easiest target? ha. whatever, if someone tries to snatch me, they will have to cross the barrier of the non-fart-barrier barrier…you know?

alone time irrationalness.

are you ever met with sweet, sweet moments and you are so excited over them that you act irrationally and spoil everything? was that too specific? like, for example, maybe your friend makes you your most favorite kind of cake and in a moment of hyper enthusiasm you decide to dump the cake on your head instead of eating it? or maybe you meet your most favorite celebrity and instead of asking for their autograph and taking a picture you decide to sprint away and scream your brains out?

i had one of those! i spoiled my sweet, sweet moment!

my lovely roommate avery’s mom is in town for the weekend and, as is customary when moms are in town for the weekend, avery has been bunking at the hotel. there is something that is magical about not sleeping in the dorms and waking up in a big, clean hotel room with a continental breakfast.

this means that i have the dorm all to myself. a rare occasion that should be savored and taken very seriously.

my first night of being alone in the room went…not as well as planned? i went to sleep on tuesday, excitedly planning my alone-in-the morning time for wednesday morning; what should i do? sing songs really loudly? read a book super quickly? try on all of avery’s clothes and lay in her bed? (juuuust kidding) oh, the options!

when the alarm sounded on wednesday morning, i popped out of bed! alone! immediately i turned on the light and stripped off all my clothes. i don’t really know why, perhaps simply because i could. after a few minutes of standing there, i realized that, as of late (…as of three years ago…), i wasn’t looking in tip-top condition; here and there was looking…portly. and i don’t even like the sight of my own body anyways! i shamefully picked up all my clothes off the ground and put them back on, grimacing at the wasted ten minutes.

next i decided to work out. i browsed youtube for the best at-home pilates videos on the internet and decided on one by a lady named jenny ho. or was it cho? no matter. i set my computer by the door on some books and turned up the volume as loud as possible…because i could! because i was alone!

five minutes into the video i realized that, for the people outside, it sounded like i was indulging in some…erotic videos. jenny was huffing and puffing and telling us to “juuuuust keeeeep going! you’ll be shivering with happiness by the end of this! come on! come on! come ON!”

…jenny, you bad girl, you.

exhausted from my flurry of excitement and disappointed that i had ruined my hour of solidarity, i got dressed, inhaled a waffle drenched in syrup and peanut butter, and made my way to class…shivering with happiness that i had finished the pilates workout.

wallace.

this is wallace, lily’s new little bunny friend.
say “hiiiii wallace!” 

…and no, i have yet to hold him…i am still skeptical of all things under three feet.

birthday pt. two.

 

the rest of the my birthday just served as an affirmation that i have some of the best and most sweetest friends in the whole world of wide (accidental fat joke). i feel like i am a portly man dating a superstar supermodel; i have no idea what i have done to deserve these friends but i am so, so grateful for them.

as i was getting ready for the night, lily, rach, and avery walked in and sang me happy birthday and presented me with the sweetest gift ever: 19 things that i love for my 19th birthday. the gift included sweet nothings like chocolate covered almonds, a gift card to mcdonald’s, cosmopolitan, nail polish, and a picture book entitled ‘hot guys and baby animals.’ they know me all too well.

after i had opened the gift and gushed over everything, we picked up ally and syd and headed over to spark–a hilariously ironic and suave non-alcoholic lounge. there we ordered drinks and split food and soaked in how suave and grown up we were (“i feel like i’m TWENTY right now!”). 

when the last of the drinks had been slurped, we ran down the stairs and shoved our checks at the waiter. i was really curious as to why we were in such a hurry but thought that maybe everyone was on the same cycle? or really sick of me? or the hour my mom had paid for them to be my friends was up? something to that extent.

we then piled into lily’s car, blasted christmas music, and sped off to ‘the chocolate’ where a surprise was awaiting.

when we arrived, i thought things were a little bit weird. sydney and ally were nowhere to be found, the man behind the counter was sheepishly smiling at me, and lily, rach, and aves refused to walk up the stairs first. ummm…okay?

as i walked up the stairs, the first people i saw were my brother and his wife and my friend and her boyfriend…was this some weird group date that i was barging in on? i awkwardly smiled at them only to be met with a loud ‘SURPRISEEEEE!’ coming from the next room. 

a surprise party.

for me!

the next hour was filled with hugs (and i’m not a hugger), excitement, and complete awareness that i had apparently peed my pants during the car ride over?  

thanks so much to everyone that helped make my birthday so great (or: thank mom, for paying my friends so well). i love you all more than you will ever know…ever, because i’m not the affectionate type.

so far, 19 is pretty kick-a.