Thinking, that's all.

I've been unmotivated and upset lately. Perhaps that's why my diet blog only has 2 posts...
I'm trying to figure out a career path, which is probably the original reason i started this blog. i have no idea what it is, but i'm going to do whatever keeps me happy in life until i can figure that out. the problem lately, is that i'm not even finding things to keep me happy.
my job is the pits. yes, it could be much worse! but so what? what isn't the pits is waking up, having a goal, dressing up, meeting new coworkers, and learning on this job. i'm stuck in this pro equals cons stage of this job and am not motivated to look for anything different

my website is going well. i've got a lot of people interested and i've got a lot of visitors and users. im scared it's going to get old soon. i'm not motivated to change anything and progress it. my photographs and skills are improving, and i'm extremely happy with that. my mindset going into this was to improve business skills though, and i'm doing nothing on that end.

i can remember the happiest 2 years of my life were when i let go and went with the flow and figured out problems when they came along. it's hard to live in that mindset though. when i realized i was running out of money, i was stressed. when i realized i was going nowhere in a career, i was stressed. when i realized partying everyday may be easy now, but that work when i'm 35 with a family, i was stressed.

i wish there was a way i could balance a carefree attitude where i do what i want when i want, but with knowing my boundaries. i'm too concerned about what people are thinking and why things aren't happeneing, rather than just waiting for things to happen and fall in place. what sucks is that this isn't an attitude i can work on-it's the exact opposite of that. it's giving up on my concern and stress and mainting a positive attitutde despite everything.

hannah sent me a photo blog and it had some great advice. it also hits home with my own way of thinking:
"I have always believed in the power of coincidence. Serendipity. Whatever you choose to call it. I love chance. I love taking chances. Maybe I take too many, but I believe in leaving room for happy accidents, for the “meant to be.” I believe that sometimes we get what we need in ways we could never plan.

I’m on the island. I’m sitting by the sea wall in front of the cottage on a cool, cloudy day, waiting for another ship to pass. It will come in its own time, as yesterday came when I needed it, not before. Inspiration comes, not necessarily when it is needed, but when we’re ready to receive it."


Perhaps one thing i can work to change is surrounding myself with positive attitudes and people that inspire me even if they don't know they're doing it.

Day...2

Well i got sick with the flu/a severe cold/i'm not really sure, so maybe my food problem feeling was due to the illnes.

to start again, today i ate:

oatmeal at 9am....felt fine

flavored pretzels at 11:20 am....a little bloated, but mostly felt alright

lobster/cauliflour puree soup and chopped salad 2 rolls at 1pm...felt very bloated after the soup and roll. felt like the food was just sitting on top of my stomach

Diet Blog

Sorry if you come across this blog expecting something witty....as ALL of my previous posts were...but I know have to turn this in to a 'i think i'm hypoglycemic/should watch my diet of doritos in beer/this is how i'm keeping track of it' blog.

So....DAY 1:

2 scrambled eggs @ 10:20
oatmeal @ 11:05

....feeling fine!...

cheese curls and reeses peanut butter cup @ 1:00

...feeling alright...

mashed potatoes and a bit of pork leftovers @ 3
sprite @ 3:45

...shaky, lightheaded, hot, faint, tingly...

fiber 1 bar @ 4:15

...still feeling lightheaded, nauceous...

popcorn @ 6:45

...laid down, feeling a bit better, got up and walked around...

indian mushroom/chicken/cauliflower and brown rice dinner

...neaceous, lightheaded...

mac n cheese tv dinner @ midnight

...feeling better, but ready for bed...

Happiness is all the rage

I read a lot of my old posts yesterday....cause i do a lot at work....a lot were about how incredibly happy i was in vegas. and then the posts when i wasnt happy. then i started to think about when i really happy last year in pittsburgh, but how now i'm not.

And i came up with these common threads:
A retail/easy/bullshit/random schedule job. It didn't mean a lot of money, but i had time off to do my own thing, there was not a lot of stress, and i met a lot of people my own age.
A few very close friends that were so happy i was new to the city, that we dedicated our time and energy to each other.
A newness to the city and an excitement to discover so much about it.
Warm weather.
Singleness.

I think that's all i came up with. I'll dissect the job thing later, but for now, i feel like going into my single life. There were many posts about how i met a new, cute guy. But he was a drug addict. Or irresponsible. Or an alocoholic-whatever, you name it, it was vegas. But then i met paul and really settled down. It wasn't better or worse-it was just my life. I've tried to stay single the whole time i've been here (Tried, i know my sister's laughing. hey-i have been on a few dates!), because i feel like it helps me grow as a person, and i feel like i discover the city more when i'm on my own.
But when i first moved here, i realized something was different. maybe it's the east coast guys. Or maybe it's guys that are actually older than me-but really, here's to all of you: wtf???
I'm single and ready to mingle. That means some night i might like to go home and have a one night stand. That means some night, after a couple of months or years of friendship, we might drunkenly hookup. Whatever the case may be, i'm not trying to 'boyfriend you' 'marry you' or even try to 'hookup with you' again! Maybe i accept that we aren't fit for each other, and i just want to hang out and make new friends in a new city!
Every guy i met and hooked up with last summer, completely disregarded me as a person when i saw them out. Barely a hello, and certainly not a 'hi how are you? how have you been?' i get it, we did it on the first date-im not the girl you take home to your mother. well guess what? you're not the guy i want to take home to my mother either! I want to have friends and i want to be around people who i enjoy the company of. But all of you guys just aren't having it.

So i changed my outlook. after 2 attempts at hanging out with a guy and no response on his end-number is deleted. if i see you out, a head nod is good enough. i dont have time to waste on men or on friends like that. But as i read my blog yesterday, i realized i met more people and i learned about myself when i gave people a chance.

So i decided to try my old way again last night. After not hearing the response i wanted, i could have closed my phone and deleted the number for good. but i thought 'hey, i need friends' so i kept chatting and ended on a good note (even if that note isn't us hanging out). As im telling hilary this, she reminds me that guys who hookup right away were never looking for a friend in the first place. They dont want to hang out again, because if they wanted to be friends-they never would have made it just about hooking up. i tried to deny, and counted on one hand the guys i know that have been able to do that-and decided to partly agree with her. She also said if a 'friend' is worth that much trouble to convince to go out, they aren't worth friend time at all. So as much as i'd like to keep giving this new way a chance-damn is it annoying. maybe i will agree with her and go back to my old way.

amazing

i'm not one to complain.

well that might be a lie-but at least i call it venting.

i am one to say if you hate your life, do something to change it though. but really?

i just put $900 in my car, after paying it off 2 months ago, and the gears started slipping as i pulled away from the mechanic's garage.
i feel like i have lost my best friend of 4 years and that i'll never meet someone like that again in my life
my 'vacation' was supposed to be a blast and a good time, but it turned into a babysitting trip of my drunk friend who misplaced my chi hair straightener, a fight with my ex boyfriend who ditched me for a new girl, and cold weather
i dont think i've ever lived somewhere where people talk about each other and gossip about friends as much as here
my credit card company pretends that i dont pay my bill every month and wants to charge me $40 for that
i dont like my job. at all. but i realize unemployment will not pay my bills and there's not much else available right now in pittsburgh
i dont like my hair right now at all
im looking forward to starting my business, but have been such a perfectionist about it that i think i'm a bad photographer and no one will enjoy the pictures
i can't decide if dating a guy that's been nicer to me than anything other guy i've ever met is a good idea or not. i think being by myself is a better choice-why?
and i hate complaining

haha full circle there. oh well. at least i have a company to start. and my mom has actually been really awesome lately-and my family in general! and i have a place to live with a best friend roommate. and it's summer.


whatever...'blog venting'

to be single or not to be

i've been pretty sad lately. can't tell if it's 1. the job i can't stand, but can't quit, because the economy is terrible. 2. friends who i'd like to count on but who make relationships their priority. no, not priority-their life. so i can count on, well, fingers-maybe about 2 or 3 fingers, who i can rely on and have a good time with at this point in my life. 3. my constant search for a city where i enjoy myself and finally feel where i belong.

i'm gonna go with number 2 in this case, just because my coworker and i were talking about it today. i like to think of myself as an open-minded person, and if i'm being judgemental about something, or i dont understand someone else's perspective-i work damn hard to better myself and understand it. well my friend, my engaged friend, brought up to me the point that i get so upset at my married or relationship friends who just enjoy their time with their significant other and spend very little time with me. that as a single person, i go out to fill some void in my life and constantly find something that i don't have. when you have someone at home that you love and enjoy, you'd much rather be at home enjoying their company. going out is alright-but you want their company all to yourself and don't want to split your time with them at all.

i thought about it. i thought back to my relationships. and yes, i did want to spend a lot of time at home watching movies. or pass on a crazy night out because i was completely content falling asleep next to my man with law and order playing in the background. i'm the first one to say i'm most comfortable around guys i've been with because they know my intimate ins and outs, and i know theirs, and the comfort of being that relaxed and not having to judge them is a freedom that i just can't experience with my friends. so needless to say, i started to feel really bad that i even get mad at my relationship friends for ditching me.

but is it comfort? or content? i remembered the times in my relationships when i still met sarah at open bar, or i went to sami's house parties. or i went to the bar without chade the spade. i'd still have my faggy girl nights while watching sappy movies, and i'd still call up my sister to see what was going on in her life. all in all, i dont go out to fill a void in my life, unless that void is called 'having a good time.' sometimes i go out to hook up and sometimes i grab a beer because it's been a bad day at work. but most of the time i go out with my friends because they make me happy, they make me laugh, and they help complete my life. so someone correct me if i'm wrong, but that's still possible even when you're in love. there are still movies, or dinners, or phonecalls. if you sit around in this bubble of relationship-ness, how do you expand your mind? or grow as a person? getting to know the love of your life is an amazing feeling, but there's more to life-there are other people and other personalities in this world that will make you grow into a more sensitive and interesting person.

i guess my priority to costantly learn from different settings and different people differ from the priority of people who don't really care about that.

sad to say-i'd just like to meet some close friends who can be my relationship. peolpe i can count on, stay home with, be there for me, and don't dump me when something new comes along. maybe that will be a man-the most interesting man i've ever met and i will never have to leave the house. i hope not.

it's been awhile-that's rude enough

i'm sure we've experienced all of these once in awhile, or better yet-people do some of them!

Party Poopers When you receive an invitation to a dinner or party--whether by Evite, voicemail, or casual email--RESPOND. Yeah, that’s what that little “RSVP” thing means. Everyone knows it, yet it’s amazing how many don’t respond. Even for weddings! Planning a party or event requires a lot of work, so do the host a simple favor and let them know if you're coming or not.

Nickel & Dimin’ How annoying is it when you go to dinner with four or more people, the check finally arrives, and one of your meal companions begins to divvy up the check down to the last penny? Sure, we get that Sally had a shrimp salad, and Janet had two iced teas, while Beth only had water, and you ordered a slice of peach pie (a la mode, which is extra). The point is, if you go out to dinner with a group, be prepared to split the bill more or less evenly. If there's an outstanding cost differential, fine, estimate it and be done with it. The person who spends twenty minutes dividing the bill to the dime comes off as a cheapskate –- and kills the festive mood.

The Line-Up Lines are a fact of life. At the post office, the supermarket, just about everywhere these days. For starters, moaners who huff and gripe about standing in a line of three people for all of five minutes are tops on our list. Get over yourself -- if you don’t have a few minutes to wait to buy that loaf of bread, then pick it up another time. Another thing: Don’t show your impatience by creeping up so close to the person in front of you that they can feel your breath. Crowding those around you will not get you to the front any faster, so give them some space. Finally, cutting in line or trying to ignore the fact that there IS a line –- stop it! Everyone’s time is valuable.

The ME Show It’s great to hear all the crazy, wacky, wonderful things happening in the lives of others. Jobs, engagements, breakups, boyfriends, puppies, pregnancies, vacations — very good stuff, all of it. But once you’ve listened to a friend, family member, or colleague spout about their own fabulous life for an hour (or two), it’s normal to expect them to ask, “So, what’s going on with you?” Those who blab on about themselves while you listen intently, then don’t ask a thing about you in return are just plain rude.

Baby Biz Changing a poopy baby diaper around others is nasty -- and we're moms. Changing the other kind of baby diaper in public is one thing, but still should only be done when absolutely necessary!

Mobile Madness As much as we love the modern age, there are days when we long to go to a coffee shop, movie theatre, bookstore, or post office and not hear some teen queen dishing to her friend about last night's hot date with Todd or eavesdrop (unwillingly) on a screaming family feud. Mobile phones are essential, but please, people, pleeeeeeease, use a little restraint on the when's, what's, and where's. We're happy that Todd is "totally built" but we're going to have to start walking around town and slapping people with "TMI" tickets (yes, too much information).

Smokes Everyone has a right to smoke in public, but be conscious of whose face your smoke is blowing into. Are there kids nearby? And we just might kick the butt of the next person we see throwing their burning butt on the ground without putting it out. Really, find an ashtray or trashcan where you can extinguish and dispose of it properly -- that thing is garbage, not decoration for our streets and sidewalks.

The Pee & Flee Public bathrooms get used by everyone -- yup, they're public! So, making a mess of the toilet seat, and then prancing out without bothering to wipe it up -- not cool. Leaving a mess for the next visitor is completely unacceptable (and disgustingly unsanitary, of course). Take 10 seconds to rip off a piece of toilet paper, toilet seat cover, or a paper towel, and do your due diligence!

Stealing...a parking spot, that is. Yeah, you know who you are. If someone has their blinker on and is patiently waiting for a spot, it's theirs. And if you've already passed a spot up, it's gone. Treat others as you expect to be treated, and the parking goddesses will smile down upon you... eventually.

Belly Baring Men, women -- anyone who's passed puberty, everyone who isn't lounging poolside or oceanside -- resist the urge to bare those bellies. They may be beautiful, Buddha-like, jolly, but sometimes they can be flabby, hairy, and not ripe for public consumption. If you're jogging, fellas, t-shirts or tanks won't hurt your workout, so throw one on. Gals, midriff fashions are never really on our "Do" list, and that goes double if your age doesn't contain the word "teen." There are plenty of ways for all of us to flaunt what we got without sharing our tum-tums with the world.

Spitting This gets especially yucky when it's one of those enormous globs that looks like it could be alive. Some people (males, in particular) think it's kind of a cool-guy thing to do. We're here to tell ya that no one wants to see you hock a big gooey one out of your car, onto the sidewalk, or anywhere else for that matter. Try a tissue.

Honking Problem People who honk too often, too unnecessarily, or just to express their emotions are on our list of Most Etiquette Challenged. If you're trying to warn someone about a collision or problem, fine, otherwise it's not that serious. Give it a rest!

More interviews

Well I had about 3 last week and 3 scheduled this week. I ran into a friend from York County and she mentioned going to a very revolving door type place where I can get commission on non-profit telemarketing. Sounds alright for awhile. I also have an interview for some insurance company, but considering it's 24 7/365 I'd have any shift they decide to give me. I interview with Ulta tomorrow, as a make up artist. Well, no experience there, but since i've had experience so far and can't get a job maybe that'll be a blessing! I interviewed for a great position with the convention center here yesterdday and would be awesome for it, but I guess I'll have to wait that out.
Other than that, I have 2 guest bartending spots coming up in the next month. And i've decided what to be for halloween.

Things are looking down

I am having a completely terrible time finding a job. You would think with years of experience in some of the hippest (the word is kind of gross) retail stores, shops might give a shit to hire me. Well...then you would be wrong. I can't even get Urban to call me back even though i was there for like a year and a half.
But my quest to actually find a career job instead of some shitty place is not ending! I've officially tapped into my savings and realized spending $2000 during the month of August just on going out may not be my best options right now.
I've had about 2039482034 interviews a week. I've interviewed with Juicy Couture, have yet to hear back. I had a great opportunity with a corporation here doing event planning, but I suppose someone was better qualified than me because i haven't heard back from that either. I even emailed about a 'matchmaker' and 'trivia host' position. Well the trivia guy wanted $5000 up front so i decided not to do it.

it is dropping down to the 60s or 70s at this point, which is just too cold for me. but winter is like hibernation extreme. so i can definitely say i had an absolutely amazing and awesome summer. sami and dom have become very close friends to me and they are my champion drinking buddies for sure. it's weird that it's practically an iup reunion whenever i go out, but i've managed to meet a good base of people.
i have no plans to leave pittsburgh, which is the exact opposite of what i thought would happen when i moved here. but there's a good amount of things to do, a good amount of culture, and people that actually give a shit about you. But everyone's right in saying stylewise-pittsburgh is 10 years behind every other city

717!?

Todd emailed me worried about my last post so i suppose i should have written that it actually turned out to be one of the most hilarious stories ever.
After talking it over with all my roommates and friends, we didn't feel bad at all about what happened. So somebody is pulling some pranks in the neighborhood, but it's very obvious that the cops are friends with our neighbors and are just trying to scare us or make us angry. So even though Sami OWNS our house, the neighbor tattled on us to her parents. Like she can't handle herself.

Ironically enough, my roommates car got fucked with the next night. And i was woken up by some drunken people on my street and a car alarm. hmm.........


In other news, it's very interesting to be applying for jobs that i need a college degree for. It's nice going into an interview where people are happy to see that i attended IUP instead of it not mattering. But in bad news, salaries in Pittsburgh are ridiculously low.

Cops

You know when cops came and used a helicopter to search for my friend Liz i excused it. I excused the face that they put my friends and i in handcuffs for wearing black and having tattoos because we went slip n sliding. I'm sure that's a huge offense and one of the worst things you could do on an elementary school's grounds in Las Vegas...
But really. Maybe I was being mouthy to them because I found it very offensive that they would accuse us of stealing or breaking into the school because we were young and wearing black. But that's when I learned to shut my mouth around cops.
Or maybe when the cop called us out on being the only young, white kids in our neighborhood and the reason we got robbed is because it was an 'inside job'. I mean forget the fact that my roommates are sitting there wearing their military uniforms. It couldn't be any of the poor, violent, underpriveleged kids that live there-it had to be us. An inside job
But I am not going to fucking excuse shit today. I woke up at 7:30 am to our neighbors banging on our door. Not my biggest deal-it was almost time to get up and continue my job search. But they accused somebody in my house of 'breaking into' their jeep. (i questioned, was anything stolen? they were offended at the question and said. ugh, no...but it was played around with) when one guy left my house to go to work, they chased him down and said he had to wait until the cops got there. really? an illegal house arrest by my neighbors?
point being, when the cops got there, insisted on taking my info (apparenlty a passport isn't as good as license. and god forbid my phone number area code does not match my living address). and only heard my neighbors side of the story. some guy in a white shirt opened a jeep with an automatic lock, played with the club inside the jeep, shut the door, and then walked down our alley way.
I tried to say 'our alley way is always unlocked, it clearly could have been someone else' or 'have you seen anyone here yet that was the person you saw in the car?' but it didn't matter what i said. the cops kept cutting me off saying 'i know you're hiding your friend in there that did it. and you just wait-when you get to be 50 years old and your kids are living with you, you won't want this shit to happen. you're still in school and you do'nt get it!'
really?? cause we all have jobs. we all have to wake up at 8 am for our jobs. so because we're 25 and fresh out of college and have tattoos and are shocked at people banging on our door at 7 am we're obviously the fucking culprit.

I get so angry when people look at me and think i'm an idiot because i'm young. I have absolutely no time to explain that I have a college degree. I graduated with a 3.9 Does that mean something? Absolutely. It means don't call me an idiot like you do. Don't talk down to me because you think age makes a difference in respect. It doesn't. I will never get along with authority figures that think they have a right to boss me around because they're an authority figure. A cop pulls me over because i'm speeding? Absolutly I will respect that. My house party is too loud? Call the cops on me-I deserve it! But fuck people that accuse me of shit because i don't 'have the right look' or i'm not 'of the age' to understand what's going on.

I got my first paycheck in 2 1/2 months!

It's been a little bit over 2 months since I officially moved and left. I've started work and it's interesting to see how waking up in my house, putting on a work outfit and getting ready, and walking downstairs for my day of work will work out. It's lonely and boring because no one is around all day so i like it when friends come over just to sit in the next room and watch tv. And i did just buy a boombox so i can listen to the rap station and have it be like my old job.
Pittsburgh has also been pretty good. I'm really into finding different (and free) things to do around the city to discover the culture. Last weekend we went to a galley crawl. There's also movies every sunday night in oakland which has an amazing view. I tried to go to a free PSO in the park concert, but it got rained out.

We had a house party this weekend which was pretty fun. I was a bit dissapointed that it wasn't anywhere near the ragers we had in Vegas, but nothing seems to be as wild and crazy as Vegas was.
I'm looking forward to Todd's visits so I can go to some of the museums and galleries and I can't wait to go to a Pirates Game!
I love the location of my place, I can walk to plenty of bars, restaurants, a movie theater, vintage shops, and all my friends houses.
There's a lot to discover here, but unfortunately everyone i know has lived here their whole lives so it isn't too exciting for them. I guess i'll go out to eat by myself or just wait for visitors so I can find all that's great in Pittsburgh

The trip of summer 08

I've been way too lazy to write this blog because I thought it would take too long. Buuuut most pictures are up on myspace or on my flickr

Since i blogged almost everyday, i'll just do a short rundown now that i've been to 14 states and another country in the last 2 months.
I started out heading to San Diego. I stopped at some rad photo spots on the way-Tio's Tacos and Queen Califah's Magic Garden. I met up with Crum that night and he took me out in Pacific Beach. I'd been there before and had a good time but it was a little dead that night. The next day i woke up and headed to the san diego zoo! i loved the polar bears, but there were a lot of birds and monkeys, which i don't care about. the zoo wasn't the massive place i thought it would be-good, but much more of a spectacle when you're in 3rd grade on a field trip. After that i headed to Oceanside which is an hour north of SD. I met up with sarah and hung out where she does which was fun. The next day i left to ride up the Pacific Coast Highway. This was one of my favorite parts of the trip-the scenery was absolutely amazing, it was pretty empty so you just pull over wherever you want to get out and look around and the weather couldn't have been better. It was just green grass, mountains, and clear blue water. I stopped by a really cute town called San Luis Obispo for some more photo-ops and then continued on the PCH up to Big Sur. This is where colored flowers start to come in. The drawbacks though-there are no gas stations for hours so fill up ahead of time! And going 25 miles an hour so your car doesn't fall off the cliff gets really annoying after 8 hours. I loved the view, but i was getting sick of nature by the end of the day. I ended that drive by heading to the Monterey Peninsula. I did the 17 mile drive there and saw some golf courses, Pebble Beach, amazing houses, crazy trees, and the ocean. I wish i had more time to explore there, it was beautiful. Then i spent a couple days visiting Chad in San Francisco and having a good time. I went to Napa next which was another one of my favorite parts of the trip. I took a shuttle with 7 other strangers and we went to 7 different wineries. I learned about making wine and actually know a bit more about what i like and what i don't when it comes to vino. My bed and breakfast was overpriced and i had to eat breakfast by myself in my room (it sounds as lame as it was). But i woke up real early and had a 15 hour drive to see Mikey Mike in Oregon. I drove through the Redwood Forest and was definitely getting sick of going slowly through all the windy roads at this point, but of course it looked amazing. I almost ran out of gas in the forest-another place where there weren't gas stations for hours!! Luckily a station appeared when I was on mile 17 of my empty light being on. I stopped by North Coast Brewery to pick up some of their belgian beer but the place sucked. Then i headed up to Eureka, CA to go to the loast coast brewery which was really rad! People there were friendly, it was a huge hippie/gutterpunk area, and things were real artsy. I definitely liked it. I discovered those 5 hour energy shots actually work (but it give me a stomach ache) and made it to Mikey's by 1 am.
I met up with Morgan in Eugene, OR and we walked around a kid's amusement park called Enchanted Forest. Then we headed up to Portland where i expected hipster kids riding fixies on every corner. Well it wasn't exactly that, but i spent a few days seeing where she worked, met her friends, and realized everybody likes to be real healthy there. i had some great food and saw Voodoo Donuts, and loved how you can drink everywhere-like salons, movie theaters, etc. They even do a naked bike race in Portland!
Aaron and i headed up to Washington after that. It's definitely awesome scenery-I can see why the pacific northwest is a huge backpacking place. Seattle seemed really awesome-we didn't really know where to go or what to do, but we went to the Market area, the shopping district, and all around the water. It was great seafood and I really liked the style of the city. We took a ferry to another part of Washington and "camped" with my old high school friend, Leslie. Then we went to Vancouver, which I had really high hopes for. It definitely wasn't as cool as Seattle. There were more homeless people than I've ever seen, if I had shopped I would have spent 2 times the amount on a purse or shirt, our hostel wasn't incredibly friendly, and nobody was out doing anything! We finally found people from around the world at another hostel and ended up making our own fun that night.
I drove through Idaho, which was completely boring and my least favorite state the whole trip, just to get to my hotel at a hot springs. There were hot springs all over the place in the midwest, so it was pretty cool to just relax in this huge hot tub with a cement bottom for awhile. This part of the trip started me being alone and not knowing anyone for about a week-but I was really exited to finally get some time to myself. I netflixed a movie that night on my laptop and fell asleep. The next day I drove up to Wyoming through Jackson Hole. The town is so cute, I loved it. People were so nice, and it was warm enough to not wear a coat but i could still see snow on the grass. I headed to the Grand Tetons and there was a huge tornado in Colorado which knocked all the credit card machines down. So-no $25 entrance fee! The tetons were beautiful and I got my favorite shots of my trip there. The drive through to Yellowstone took an hour and then once I got in Yellowstone it was all snow. The lake was frozen over and i just drove and drove waiting to get out of the snow. Well I finally did-there's sort of a loop and it's about 20 miles to each cool spot on the loop. Well i was really looking forwarding to seeing all the wildlife that Yellowstone is known for-but no. Nothing. I was actually kind of dissapointed that it wasn't as amazing as it looks in brochures or postcards or pictures. I did go to the Yellowstone Grand Canyon and saw a pretty awesome Waterfall. I think the park is named after all the stones which turn yellow from minerals. then again that could be a made up conversation i overheard. I had another 6 hours to my hotel that night so I got moving and stopped in Cody, WY for some steak and to see a really western town. I know it's all for tourists-but the places in the midwest were awesome. Real saloons and streets lined with flat buildings that really look western. There were gun fight reinacters, and i think i fit in because i had my cowboy boots on the whole time. I had the worst drive of my trip that night-I hit Big Horn at Sunset and as my altitude got higher and higher, I was driving around these windy forest roads where there was so much snow I couldn't see grass. Add to that no lights on the roads, and then the fog started. I was driving in the middle of the road because the only thing I could faintly see were the yellow lines. I couldn't pull over because i might have fallen off a cliff! I was moving 5 miles an hour for hour, and then I saw a car in front of me. Well their headlights helped me relax a little bit, we sped up to 10 miles an hour, and after another 60 minutes we were out of the forest!
The next day I woke up early to go to South Dakota-which was another huuuge favorite of mine!! The sites to see are all real close so it's an easy drive. I stopped by Bedrock City-the Flinstones themed trailer park. Well it was $9, totally not worth it, but i got some funny pictures. It was raining on and off that day, which sucked, but it started after I went into the Crazy Horse Memorial. The carving is crazy-it started I believe in the 50s and only the man is worked on, not the horse. I can't imagine when it will be finished. I did learn a bit about the native american history there, I'm still confused though...guess that's why history was my worst subject. I went up to Mt. Rushmore and they didn't accept credit cards so I got out of paying as well-but i thought karma would catch up with me so I went back and gave the lady money. In case you didn't know, it's pretty massive. I think the artist had wanted their bodies and hands from what i saw on the original mockups but that obviously didn't happen! The area where people stand it pretty far away and way lower than the mountain, but i thought the museum there and everything were really pretty and very good for a tourist spot. I didn't get to drive through Custer State Park because I was so tired, so I just drove up to Deadwood which was where I stayed. I didn't get any pictures, which is a shame, cause it was my favorite overnight stay the whole trip. Rich had tipped me off to this place-which is a gambling/western/touristy spot. Just look at this to get an idea. Well my hotel was really cute, I played some table black jack, and the whole place was just really fun. I definitely would have had a good time if somebody was with me there.
The next day I drove across South Dakota which is the most broing 5 hours. Luckily there's stupid little things for road trippers to do to break up the day-like Wall Drug-this huge drug store in the middle of nowhere where coffee is 10 cents and you can get a bunch of souvenirs. The next random spot was 1880 town-my favorite tourist trap! It was a town preserved from 1880 (i think) and you could put costumes on and sit in the saloon if you wanted! I made it to Corn Palace-which I really thought was going to be a building made of corn. Well it wasn't-it just had murals made of corn. The people there were pretty rude-I never experienced the extreme friendlyness that's supposed to make up the midwest. I made it to the Mall of America that night-and talk about another dissapointment! I guess this place was awesome when no other malls existed, but it didn't have any cool specialty spots like I thought it would-just your average stores.
The next day i headed to Minneapolis. It was pretty dead because it was Memorial Day. I have a feeling I would really like the city if i knew what to do there. It seemed very artsy. There were bridges between all the building so you never had to walk outside in the cold. I met up with Tom and we had some drinks after i made him see the Queers with me. The next day I drove through Wisconsin. I stopped by Leinenkugel Brewery which I was very excited about. It was my first brewery tour and I got to sample their Berry Weiss and Summer Shandy-I'll stick with the Sunset Wheat. I made it to Madison that night-again, totally dissapointed in the place. The guy at my hostel was really awesome but no one else was friendly. I just seemed like a college town to me. I did try going to Gumby Pizza-but they weren't open!
I went to Milwaukee the next day which I totally loved! I went to a Brewers game and saw them win while drinking some Miller.
I headed to Chicago the next day and stopped by the most entertaining restaurant of the trip-The Choo Choo. A little toy train delivers all the food! Chicago was awesome, i realized how cheap it was and I loved the Wrigleyville area that Brian and Terry live in. There were so many places to go and things to see-I'm really thinking about moving there.
I headed to Michigan to see Mark the next day. Ann Arbor is really cute and Detroit is not at all. Then I went down through Ohio to see relatives.
I arrived in Pittsburgh and stayed for about 4 days. I know I'm going to have a lot of fun and I already know so many people there. I just want to meet different people and make sure that I get a lot out of living there. Which means I'm going to be at a lot of Stillers games.

So, in short, if you're taking a roadtrip through the midwest, or anywhere I did, the PCH is a must! Yellowstone isn't the greatest, but Jackson Hole is. The Black Hills area in South Dakota was my favorite spot. And I love Seattle and Chicago!

Day 24

I left Milwaukee yesterday after trying to explore some of the different neighborhoods. I went to the third world market and walked around to a couple different boutiques. I headed to Chicago but made sure to stop by the Mars Cheese Castle and pick up a cow-shaped batch of cheddar and ate some summer sausage. then i went to a restaurant that brought me my grilled cheese by train!! (pics coming soon). i went into chicago and met up with terry. we had martinis at the specialty lounge. well it wasn't called that but something close. it was on the 96th floor of one of the tallest buildings downtown. i drove through lincoln park and then met up with brian in wrigleyville. we got some cheap scalped tickets for the cubs game and went there to drink old style all night. we made sure to stop by the cubby bear bar on our way back for a full chicaaaago experience. after being a bit hungover this morning, i walked around his neighborhood and actually realized this is exactly where amy and i were the last time so i just shopped around. i'm headed over to terry's to grill and tonight the penns are not playing (totally dissapoitned, but i will be detroit for the game tomorrow), but hopefully we're all going to weiner's circle tonight!!

Day 23: I Think i like this place!

It was a short drive from Minnesota to Madison. I got to stop by one of the best parts of my trip-the Leinenkugel beer tour! I got 2 free samples, so i tried the berryweiss and it tasted like sparkling wine and i tried the summershandy which was like a lemonade beer. ick...ill stick to my sunset wheat. anyway, they've been around since the 1800s and make everything right there on sight. miller now owns them, which i guess works out well because i can get it anywhere. I stopped by a cheese shop and got some pepperjack cheese curds. im not sure if they're the right thing-they just look like little chunks of cheese. i got to my hostel in madison totally not in the mood to have 5 roommates for the night, but that's alright for 23 bucks. the guy running it told me of some good bars so i headed downt to the hippyish/co op area. i can definitely tell the town used to be full of hippies! at least there were people out and live music on a tuesday night. i headed to some divebars and found myself in a gay bar. clearly nobody was in the mood to talk to me there so i walked into a punk bar. since i was sick of not talking to anyone the whole night, i spoke to some madison folk. turns out they've all grown up and lived there their whole life. hey, maybe it's a much cooler place than i experienced. after waking up way too early the next morn, i tried to find a bagel in the town, but i think the midwest hates bagels!!! there's a gumby pizza in the town but they weren't open. i also stopped by ella's deli-it has a carousel and all these ridiculous animated toys in the windows. well that wasnt open either.
I headed to Milwaukee and stopped by the mustard museum! It's really just full of hilarious mustard advertisements. It had mustards catoragized by fruit, vege, beer, pepper, etc. flavors. I picked some up and then i headed to the Pabst Mansion!! I learned a lot about dear ol' Capn Pabst. He used to own a fleet ship and then married someone in the beer business and made the pabst name what it is today! the mansion was pretty damn amazing. then i headed to miller valley! man was it miller time there. it takes up 82 acres or something ridiculously large like that. i didn't realize miller made old english, sparks, mickeys, fosters, and peroni. i now understand a little more of the beer process. i sat down with a bunch of young guys to try our 3 samples. yes, i got to sample miller light, mgd, and then peroni. it was miller time!!
i got back to my hotel and waited around for a bus to take me to the brewers game. after an hour of sitting in the 50 degree weather, i just drove. turns out i didn't have to pay for parking, but i walked in during the 6th inning. miller park was pretty awesome but the retracting roof was covered. it was a pretty good game and the brewers won at the last minute. the beer was way cheaper than the dodgers but the hot dogs were way worse. i got back to my neck of the woods and there are a good amount of german bars. i walked into the hofbrau house and had a hefeweissen. some guy ran up and gave me a beer and said he bought it for me. i said, half of it is gone! so he just left it on the table and ran away. haha. anyway, i'm really excited about exploring the different parts of town today. i love the german atmosphere and that everyone loves beer here! it's definitely a cool city.