Ok so, no, life hasn't exactly slowed down yet

and I've been in NYC for about 5 weeks now.  Albiet, 2.5 of those weeks were attributed to some intense apartment hunting!  It paid off though, I now have a room that's about the size of my entire bed.  BUT! It's 4 blocks from IAB (International Affairs Building) where all my classes are, has tons of natural sunlight, a huge living room, and my apt-mate cooks a lot and is a black belt in martial arts in case someone breaks in!

Plus, a small room forces some creativity in decorating skillz, like an abusive use of safety pins.

New York, or SIPA to be exact, is really bad for my restless, anxious, impatient disposition.  It exacerbates it ten-fold.  I can't even sit still for 10 minutes without checking my email and finding out some new opportunity has come along.  Want to write for the school paper? Meet at lunch! Job fair with a major banking firm? Tomorrow at 1pm!  Panel on human rights in Latin America?  I'll be there!  Free screening of a documentary on Microfinancing?  Writing a paper on it!  Class on the Euro-crisis with the former Prime Minister of Hungary?  Taking it!  Dinner party with fellow foodies?  You know it! Networking opportunity for women in the energy field?  I'll probably be late... but I'm gonna show up!  I can't let an opportunity slip by unexplored.  And that's why I've gotten probably 10 hours of sleep in the last 3 days.  And basically have been sleep deprived since I moved here.

Homework is kinda on the backburner, even though it should be a priority.  I'm trying to figure out which opportunities I'm NOT interested in, and that's nearly impossible and extremely problematic.  I tick off all the thinks I need to do the next day in my head before I sleep, and can't sleep anymore by the time I run through it all.  I even wake up early just to organize my thoughts in my head even further.

And yet my brain is still a mess.  I don't think there's a way to fix that.

I love it though, as crazy as it is.  The mix and mishmash of people and ideas and possibilities... That's what I came here for!  To be stressed and tested and pulled and stretched in every way.  I'm still trying to figure out a chaotic schedule that works for me. it will happen!  And it will be messy!

My posts will be more specific once life settles down a bit, and I can actually think and fathom and comprehend the fact that this is happening, this is real life that I'm living, and these are real events and not just a blur of moments and time.

For now, when it gets hectic and messy and frenzied, I temporarily escape to 2 weekends ago when I was in Delware/Pennsylvania visiting Mike's family, and it was literally one of the most nostalgic and beautiful places I've ever been to.  I'll elaborate more later!

Heading to Connecticut this weekend, excited!! Maybe I'll actually see some leaves change colors!

Ah who am I kidding... I miss LA weather already!

I do, I do, I do do do do do do do do!

Trying to remember everything I do is tiring.  Instead of the usual layout of pictures and explanations, I am going to take a hiatus from complete sentences!  After these two.

OC Fair and Fun Run (Walk), Funnel Cake, Philly Cheese Fries, Candy, Popcorn, Petting zoo, Carnival Games, Giant Stuffed Husky, Downtown Disney, Andy Grammar, Colbie Caillat @ House of Blues, 3-course meal @ The Catch Restaurant in Hotel Del Mar with Oceanside view, Bru’s Wiffle’s DECLICIOUS waffles, Anna Karenina, dim sum @ NBC 8am weekday, jogging @ Santa Monica & Venice, Vivoli Cafe farewell Dinner, Crystal’s house drinking tea, AYCE Mongolian BBQ @ Mogo’s, Lesbian Night @ The Abbey in weho, cooking, baking, PB & Banana French Toast makin’, Tim Burton Exhibit @ LACMA, painting, yoga, writing, Orochon Ramen Spicy #1 in Little Tokyo, Chang’s Garden, Pastrami @ the Oinkster, Baked goodies @ Auntie Em’s Kitchen, vintage candy & soda @ Galco’s Soda Pop Shop

cleanse

I'd like to explain my first hardcore backpacking-through-the-mountains trip in detail, but I think it would be simpler to share the gorgeous pictures of the panoramic forestry and clear blue glacier waters, cold refreshing mountain air, and heart-stopping view of stars hanging from the night sky, that I was rewarded with for hiking up 11,000 ft in elevation, suffering from 50,000 mosquito bites, swimming in freezing lakes, and taking care of business in 6-inch ditches.

I hope you enjoy these pictures as much as I enjoyed the landscape!  My phone died by day 3 and I really wasn't as focused on the photography as I was enjoying Mother Nature in the moment, but by day 3 we were basically at the top! that's where most of the pictures are from:

I'm going on a "cleanse" (don't worry, only mentally and emotionally).  Since moving out of LA, I've realized how much crap I've accumulated, and how many things I hold on to, not just externally but also internally.

I've been collecting, hoarding, and clinging to all the memories, trinkets, people, moments, etc. because I've strongly believed it's my past and part of who I am now, and I've been holding on tighter than ever because my life is about to change drastically.

But I think it's time to unload and let some things go that need releasing.  What I need is closure, and room for a new start.  Besides memorabilia, ties, bonds, doubts, fears, hesitations, negative energies, antagonistic emotions, whatever they may be, it's time to clear them out and move on.  Some things just aren't meant to be carried into the future, and it's time to prevent them from weighing any part of me down, whether they have in the past, or may possibly do so in the future.

I've always been an avid fan of history, but I'm realizing that moments like these, opportunities for progress and possibilities, are also moments for making changes and letting go.

There are priceless valuables that I will forever hold dear to my heart and never let go of, eternal treasures to keep.  Don't get me wrong, this isn't a dump truck operation.

But certain things are better left as pieces of the past.  And I'm OK with that.

This is my week + half to cleanse and freshen up.

It'll do me good!