In short; trains, wine, and toilet paper.

Hey there, readers.

It's been quite a while since my last post. As you can imagine, adjusting to my new routine has been quite the, well, adjustment. It has taken time and a little bit of tears. (Okay, a lot a bit.) Regardless, I have slowly but surely gained a foothold in this East Coast way of life. Not to mention, I'm still working on gaining my foothold in this University way of life. It is much more difficult than community college ever was. Which is to be expected, I suppose. But I think the whole riding the train to the light rail to finding your way around a fast-paced city thing (especially doing all of these things for the first time) adds a certain layer of "difficult" to the already "more difficult".

Nonetheless, I am adjusting. However, I miss home more since school has started than I ever did in those first 7 months of living here. Which seems strange- right? Shouldn't my unbelievable ache for home happen during the time when I have nothing but time to think about how unbelieveably much I miss home? Now, I'm so busy I have to hold my breath because there's no time for irrelevant things like breathing and I miss home even more than I did before. 

It's the worst when I'm on the train. Sometimes I look out the window, listen to music, and pretend to live out my very own music video fantasy. Mostly, though, I just think about my mom's warming ways, my family's lilting laughter, and my beautiful bestie. All of whom I miss something fierce. Everytime I say or think this lately, I feel like such a broken record that I annoy myself. Like, okay, I get it. I miss home. Blah...blah...blah... But I did choose this, remember? Do you remember that part of it, self?

I chose to uproot my entire life and move across the country. Therefore, no matter how badly I miss home, I have to keep moving. I have to keep riding the train and avoiding the bums. (At least the ones who rudely get in your face when you tell them you don't have any cash on you... HELLO! I'm not lying! I'm a college student. If it weren't for FAFSA, I'd be on that curb with ya, Pal.) I have to keep paying attention in class and doing all of my assignments. I have to keep trying to appear as though I've got it all together, even though this couldn't be further from the truth. At least, most of the time. Sometimes I do have it together. Like when I'm shoulders-deep in a hot, candlelit bubble bath with a mason jar full of wine. That would be an occasion when I would say, yeah, I've got my shit together. Sure.

When I'm running to catch my train or walking in to my Management Skills class with toilet paper stuck to my shoe... Not so much.

Until I'm bursting with inspiration and too much to say...

Xx,
City Girl from Cali

A lazy, quiet, Saturday.

It is a bright and beautiful summer day here in New Jersey. Living on the top floor of our two-apartment house, we leave all of the blinds open during the day. It allows the sunshine to dance on the hard wood floors and every time you look outside, all you see is trees. Sometimes I pretend we live in a tree house. It's so sunny and warm that it makes it hard to believe just 3 and half short months ago there was still snow on the ground. It also makes it hard for this California girl to believe that in just about 4 months, there will be snow on the ground again.

My handsome fiancé and myself were supposed to pack up the ice chest full of snacks, beer, and excellent decisions and head to the beach today. I'm trying to get as many trips in as I can before school (aka: the mayhem) begins. But after working a 70 hour week, a machine called "The Wheel" decided to break (again) and he had to go into work on a SATURDAY to fix it. It's just criminal, I tell you. But he took it like a champ, got out of there by 11, and took me to do one of my favorite things in the world- shop for more school supplies. I say more because I've already gone once this week. Now I have two stylish binders complete with brand new pens and pencils and little dividers and folders for each of my classes. Nothing can cheer me up quite like the stationary aisle at Target can. We plan on trying for the beach again early tomorrow morning. Early (sigh) because we want to get a good spot.

It is nearing 2 in the afternoon now and Jason is napping. Not surprising after working more than 70 hours in only 5 and a half days. I, on the other hand, decided to distract myself with my favorite pastime- writing- because however exhausting it may be to work 70 hours in one week, I would suffice it to say that it is almost as exhausting to be completely alone for 70 hours in one week.

Well, that's not fair. I'm not alone anymore. I now have my kitty cat Augustus who keeps me wonderful company, if I do say so myself. He yells (meows) at me when I'm doing something wrong, cuddles me when he's waking up from yet another nap, and has no problem letting me know when he wants to play fetch no matter what important show I'm watching or book I'm reading. Yes, my cat plays fetch. He admittedly plays fetch better than any dog I've ever played fetch with, in fact. He stays very focused. He only stops going to get the ball after over 20 times of bringing it back to me because he is suddenly oh so exhausted and falls wherever he is standing to take, you guessed it, another nap.

I love him.

Yeah, life is pretty good. I miss home, sure. Especially on long days like the ones I had this week where the waiting never seemed to end... Waiting for Jason to get home, waiting for the weekend, waiting for my birthday in New York, waiting for school and my life to start... A lot of waiting. I feel as though I've spent the past 7 months of my life waiting. Which draws quite an excellent parallel to our lives, I suppose. Aren't we always waiting for something?

Voltaire said, "We never live; we are always in the expectation of living."

However, on the 2 week home stretch of this 7-month excursion of which I have found myself, I am declaring, right here and right now, to live. I will finish the book I'm writing. I will go to the beach. I will read and nap and enjoy the downtime I have left. Because I have a feeling 17 units of classes will quickly make me miss all of this expectation of living.

Until next time.

-City Girl from Cali