so then we grew a little and knew a lot

my life is actually coming together for the first time in a really long time and i'm not quite sure what to do with myself. waking up smiling every day feels beautiful. life is so short. my bestest asked me on the phone before how it feels to not be joining everyone back to school this week. it feels AMAZING. i can do anything i want. i love finally having control over my life and doing things for myself. i wake up everyday and go to a job i love, and i spend the nights with people i love. growing up isn't the worst after all i guess.

thoughts.

i can't really believe that this summer is almost over. in a way my summer will be extended far into october. fall doesn't really start here until mid october, and with my first fall approaching without school, i don't know if things will really feel much different. without saying too much, this has been an intense summer of loving and losing and running around. i've spent it in 5 different countries, and started my full time job. i lost a best friend, but i gained more. i think i really saw how caring and compassionate people can be. when my life got twisted upside down, i received overwhelming love and support that made it pretty difficult to be upset for longer than 5 minutes. and when i needed to sit down, they understood, and when i needed to cry, they understood. at the end of the day, those are the types of things that are important.

can't stop.

random cool site to check out of the day

WANELO

there are just so many cool things in one area i don't even know where to start. good thing i have a lunch date in the city or i would be sitting on my computer looking at this for a majority of the day. besides for just being able to find cool, new shit, i always use sites like this to look for new trends or style ideas. it's amazing how one small thing can inspire you. some of my favorite new products that i found today: 

feelin' rich

my anniversary was this week and my boyfriend surprised me by taking me to the new york yacht club for dinner. his friend chris is the chef there, so we got to dress fancy and use a lot of silverware. john gave chris all of the ingredients i love, and he made the most amazing 7 course meal I've ever had in my entire life. it was such a cool experience and i loved every minute of it. i've always been more of a casual girl, but it's fun to experience things like this! many thanks to chris for the wonderful meal and the time he put in, and to my amazing love for being so thoughtful!

one world, separate lives.

it is amazing to me how different the world looks from other parts of the globe. i've spent my entire college and graduate career studying other cultures and places different than my own, but nothing compares to going into another place and experiencing it. i can't even say that i had enough time to really even begin to understand any other culture than my own, but i could see stark differences. 

everything just seems so petty right now. i guess going into social work we are schooled in that. when you see huge world problems, smaller issues seem pretty insignificant, even though we know they're not. i always refer to my favorite quote from the perks:

i think that if i ever have kids and they are upset, i won't tell them that people are starving in china or anything like that because it wouldn't change the fact that they are upset. and even if somebody else has it much worse, that doesn't really change the fact that you have what you have. 

                 
i mean, this quote holds a lot of truths. but after seeing some of the sights i've seen, and hearing some of the stories i heard, i feel conflicted. i think my issue lies not in the fact that people have personal issues that make them upset, even though they have a roof over their heads and clothes on their backs, but rather the lack of compassion i see everyday for those around them. it's easy to get wrapped up in your own issues, who hasn't? but the state of the world is a clear indicator of people only caring about those who look and think like themselves. how would the world be different if colonization didn't occur? i've heard people blame religion & barbarity but the roots have to be stronger than that. is it better to just try and do the best we can with the current system, or really try and change the system? to think it's impossible is foolish, but to think it will be easy is naive.   

return to normalcy?

whatever bego. awesome surf teacher & human

my tips became purple

first friend in bali. his burger joint was inspired from his time spent in california. if you're ever in bali, check out "five monkeys." DELICIOUS!

temple on a cliff.

i'm back from my 3 week long excursion to south east asia. it was such an unbelievable trip. i saw & learnt so many things about myself, other cultures and other people. i met people i will probably never run into again in my entire life, but the things they taught me will never leave. my phone (and camera source) got stolen in bali, so i do not have a lot of photos to post. once my friends get theirs up i will share more.