Moving Madness

These past couple weeks have made my head spin. Busy, busy, busy. I just haven't felt like there were enough hours in the day to get things accomplished, which makes me feel very anxious. I'm a perfectionist, so when I don't feel like I can cross off everything on my to-do list, I'm like an obese woman trying to ween herself off Phen Phen.

The big news of the week:

1) I'm headed to Washington D.C. tomorrow at the butt crack of dawn to have a fun reunion with my study abroad girls. Oh, how this mini-vacay is so needed, although flying is kind of freaky (at least my flight is non-stop - I'm praying for a good movie and cheap booze!).

2) I'm signing the lease for my new apartment next week! This will be the first official time I'm living alone and paying for everything myself. Well, I have lived alone a couple times - 1 was when my freshman-year college roommate left school early, leaving me with a huge dorm and bathroom all to myself, and the other time I lived in the Bay Area, but with the help of my parents. At least I know how to live alone - it's not hard at all. Kind of nice, actually. Now I get to move into my own place here in Roseville and do it all by myself! Well, financially, that is. My dad and sister are coming next weekend with the truck to help me move stuff. We're going to become the Clampett family again - yeeeehaw!

Let's hope this moving session is better than my last one, which involved almost dropping my queen-sized mattress on I-280 in San Francisco, rain that soaked all my crap on the 2-hour drive to Roseville, and some creepy guy at an SF gas station saying over and over, "Awww hell nawwww....helll nawww," when my mom and I asked him if my mattress was secure enough on top of my dad's truck bed tied to the lumber rack. Needless to say, that day sucked.

Moving days have always been hellish for me, whether it was leaving all my Sacramento friends and moving to BFE in Nevada or bawling my eyes out when my family moved me out of my dorm freshman year of college, only to have my dad ask in the car, "Are you excited to come home?"

Yes, moving is always traumatic for me, so let's pray for good weather next weekend and for my dad to be in a good mood! (Love you, dad).

I'm excited to decorate the new place and have people over. I'm going to keep it spic-and-span, and I won't have to worry about a dog doing its business in my closet, room and bathroom every day! No offense to Maggie - she's adorable, but I just can't live with her. Thankfully my roomies Brian and Kate understand. It's time for a new chapter in my life, and I can't wait!

But first off, visiting my man Obama! Woo hoo! Can't wait ;)

Ode to My London Ladies

(*Note: I was told that my blog appears to only be an outlet for my bitching, but I'd like to prove this assumption wrong and post something positive! Bitching to resume shortly).

Before my senior year of college, I studied abroad during the summer in London. It was hands-down one of the best experiences of my life - not only is the city amazing (the history, the shopping, the landscape, the people, the accents - I could go on for days!), but I also met the most amazing people.

There were 3 girls with whom I bonded instantly - I call them my London Ladies, and here they are below (from left to right: Erica, Sandra, Katie and me).


This was taken after we saw "Cleopatra and Antony" in Shakespeare's Globe Theatre.

I've always enjoyed watching coming-of-age movies featuring close-knit girlfriends ("Now and Then," "Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants," to name a few). I was always so envious of these girls because they got along and were always there for each other - very little cattiness and competition. Yes, I know they are Hollywood movies, but I couldn't help but wonder what it would be like to experience that type of female camaraderie.

Don't get me wrong, I have some great girlfriends in my life. The only issue is that they are scattered throughout the country given that I've moved 4 times into 3 different states since I was 11.

When I met my London Ladies, we all clicked instantly. Erica and I were the West Coast girls, Katie and Sandra the East Coasters. Although we only knew each other a short time, we got super close, and that has always stuck with me these past 3 years - everything from eating the crazy breakfast at our school to taking buses around the city to the time at Stonehenge when I wouldn't stop pissing and moaning about the rain and Erica yelled at me, making me cry shortly after (we resolved it like 20 minutes later).

The exciting part is that I decided to e-mail the girls and catch up a few weeks ago. We had about 3 years worth of catching up to do, and after exchanging long e-mails, we decided we'd better meet up for a reunion ASAP. And that's exactly what we're doing come Labor Day weekend!

We're all headed to meet at Katie's place outside of Washington, DC! I couldn't be more excited to see my traveling buddies and reconnect. And while we're not trading around some pair of jeans, I still think our bond beats any movie any day.

Buckingham Palace