2014 in Review

Wow there, long time no talk! I took a blogging break because I wasn't really sure where I wanted my blog to go, what I wanted it to be, and I had a small fear that it was just super self centered of me to be talking about myself all the time. But as I go into 2015, I realized that I should stop thinking about all of that and instead keep the blog for myself - as a place where I can document my year, share my pictures (I just got a new camera and I'm really excited to start learning the ins and outs of photography), and write about my day to day life so that I can go back and look on it in the coming years and remember what I did all the time. So today, as the last day of 2014, I'm going to be reflective and look back onto all the craziness that was 2014 - some super highs and some really low lows.

Here are my biggest moments of 2014:

1. I am half way done with law school!!!
2. I can run 10 miles (something I never thought I would hear myself say)
3. I am still loving life in Los Angeles with Brett, new friends, and old ones too!
4. My parents got divorced and it was not easy to deal with.
5. My childhood house that I grew up in was sold.
6. My brother came and visited me and we went to Disneyland 2x, which was the best thing ever.
7. I visited San Francisco and San Diego.
8. I went to my first Seahawks game (that we lost).
9. Finally going to Pullman, WA to see WSU and the Huskies win the Apple Cup (in 10 degrees)
10. The Seahawks winning the superbowl.

2014 Recap.

January
I started the new year off at the same place that I will be ringing in 2015 tonight - in the shadow of the Space Needle surrounded by most of the people I love. I traveled to Whistler with my dad and brother for our annual ski trip which was so much fun and provided a sense of normalcy into the beginning of a weird and uprooting year. I got my grades back - for better or for worse - but in the end was mostly happy about my first semester of law school.



February
Lilly came to visit me in LA and we had lots of fun. The Seahawks WON THE SUPERBOWL in the most boring game of all time. Brett and I hosted our first party in our apartment for the games and had tons of fun. Brett's dad and stepmom came to visit and we went exploring - to the Getty Museum and to Huntington Library. Brett and I went on an LA brew tour, which was really fun! I also started looking for summer jobs - and started experiencing a lot of rejection/frustration.



March
Peyton came to visit for the first time and I had the best time showing him LA. We went to Disneyland from open to close, rode space mountain multiple times, and watched the light show at California Adventure for the first time and had a blast. Brett and I celebrated spring break by amusement park hopping - Knotts Berry Farms and Magic Mountain. I got over my fear of crazy roller coasters, so theres that!

April.
I turned 23 during finals time of school, which was not exactly the best birthday ever but I had donuts and a yummy steak dinner, so I can't complain. I celebrated Easter without my family for the second time in my life, but Brett and I went to church at St. Monica's in Santa Monica and then brunch in Westwood.

May
Finals finals finals, but I finished 1L Year! I celebrated with my friends by (literally) burning our notes in Sarah's backyard. I reveled in having nothing to do for about a week before I started work. This was also the month I found out my parents were divorcing. I also did a week long write on for law review - and then didn't make it on law review. Going back, would I advise doing that? Probably not. May was probably a month I wouldn't care to remember.

June
First day of work at the City Attorney's office! My dad came down to visit and we explored Malibu and went to Magic Mountain (again). Brett graduated from UCLA with his masters in Structural Engineering and got a big boy job. Kelsey also came down to visit and we discovered Newport Beach. Brett and I celebrated our 5 year anniversary with a trip to San Diego for the night.

July
Peyton and my dad came back to visit (again) and we went to Huntington Beach for the US Surf Open! It was so much fun. We also went to Disneyland. I went to San Diego again to visit my bestie Angela, who was in Pacific Beach for her birthday! We went to the beach, went out by the beach, and ate tacos and acai bowls by the beach. Lots of beach. Brett and I went to a Mariners game at Angel Stadium and a Dodgers game in the same week.

August
Melis moved to LA! I explored with Melissa and started my job search (for next summer). I had a week filled with interviews in LA, and then left for Seattle for a week filled with more interviews. After far too many interviews, I took a job in LA for this coming summer (and I'm super excited!). Brett and I went back to Seattle for our annual Lake Chelan trip and I got to go to the first home UW football game in the Coach Petersen era. School started again, and just like that I was a 2L.

September
Lilly came down to visit Melis and I and we went bike riding, out downtown, and went hiking to the Hollywood sign. I jumped back into school and got busy with extracurriculars - I became a part of the Women's Law Journal, an events planner for the American Constitution Society, and began preparing for my moot court competition. I was going back and forth from Seattle to LA basically all month for various reasons and to help my dad sell our house.

October
I tried to embrace fall in LA - but I didn't do some of the things I usually try and do (pumpkin patch, anyone?). Instead October was SOOO jam packed with school things that I barely remember it. I went to San Francisco to go see the UW v Cal game and to visit my bestie Lilly. I also had to turn in my moot court brief the morning of the game. Brett's mom and stepdad came to visit the weekend of my moot court oral competition (which was terrifying but also really fun). For halloween, I went out with Sara and Sarah to a club in Hollywood with other law students.

November
I went back to Seattle for the UCLA v UW Football game with my dad, which was heartbreaking but fun. Peyton came home too so I got to hang out with them. I went to my first Clippers game in LA. I got ready for finals and then came home to Seattle for thanksgiving. I went to Apple Cup in Pullman. I did my last blog post (oops, sorry blog). I enjoyed a yummy turkey day dinner with my dad, brother, grandma, and aunts and uncles. I also enjoyed the thanksgiving night NFL Seahawks game against the 49ers fourty-whiners.

December
Finals! They were not as brutal as the previous two, so I am thankful for that. I think I kept my cool a lot better too - no panic attacks this time! But I did have tension headaches for most of the month. I volunteered at a Girls on the Run 5k which was super fun, went to Seattle for half of the month, caught up with old friends, went into the mountains for a night with my pledge class, did an annual Seattle downtown Christmas night, ate yummy food, ran through my favorite parts of the city, hung out with my family, read a lot, celebrated Christmas a little differently than in years past since it was the first one with divorced parents, but it was okay.

All in all, I'm thankful for another year, but also extremely happy for what the future is going to bring.

See ya next year! :)

Nice to meet ya, 2015!

New year! Fresh start! Clean slate!

I'm all about all of those things. I can't WAIT to see what 2015 brings and all the exciting things that will come with it. I just have a feeling that it's going to be better than 2014, and I'm so very excited. So to start the new year, I'm going to be all cliche and share with you my new years resolutions and what I'm looking forward to.

2015 Resolutions: 
More efficient study habits - I can easily go down the internet black hole while studying and then things take twice as long as they should. I really need to get better about that and it will help me have more free time.
Explore LA by studying - It can be hard to have time to see different parts of LA while in law school, so I'm going to try and go see some new places by way of study spots. Plus, I study better when I'm not at my apartment anyways.
Drink 8-10 glasses of water a day - never can hurt, folks
Keep in better touch with my friends, near and far - It can be hard when school takes over, but I need to get better about that. One way I want to do this is by writing more snail mail, because who doesn't love getting a card in the mail?
Keep running - I'm proud of myself for keeping to a pretty strict running schedule while I'm training for the 1/2 marathon in February, but I want to make sure that I keep it up once it's over as well. I think I might sign up for another 1/2 at the end of the year too. And maybe, just maybe, 2016 will hold a full marathon in the cards for me???!
Eat at least one veggie every day - Some days I love eating my salads, but some days I can go an entire day without eating a single vegetable. I've tried to get better about this in the past few months, but I need to keep working. How is the suggested serving 3 a day!?
Read one book for fun a month - also trying to read each night before I go to bed because it clears my mind and helps me sleep better 

Blog more

Take a second of video a day

What I'm looking forward to: 
Whistler Ski Trip with my dad and brother next week
Cruise with my law school friends in January
Starting my new job at UCLA as a research assistant for a professor
1/2 Marathon on Superbowl Sunday
Going to NY and DC over spring break!
Starting my summer job in June as a summer associate
Going camping this summer
Taking another trip to Disneyland with my brother
Learning photography

Reading more

Trying to live more stress free! 

Thanksgiving Break

Took a blog hiatus for a little bit there. School has been crazy and finals are looming. This weekend has been my "last hurrah" until December 16th, when I will reemerge from the craziness of studying and finally be actually able to enjoy my most favorite time of the year!!

I went home to Seattle for break and made my first trip to Pullman, Washington for the apple cup! Huskies dominated, of course. It was 10 degrees and soo freaking cold. I've never been to a football game so cold and it was quite the shock, especially since it was 85 degrees in LA on Monday before I left. However it snowed and I'm not complaining because I love love love the snow!!! 

My little brother goes to WSU for school and so I finally got to see where he lives and what life is like at my rival school. 

Photo dump from my weekend:

(Have you ever tailgated with bonfires? I have never but I can say it was awesome.)

Running High

Monday I ran 7 miles on a treadmill. Three months ago I could barely run 3. And if I did actually make it to 3, I would stop at least twice. Monday, running 7 was almost a harder challenge to me than I think the half marathon in February is going to be. Mainly because running for over 30 minutes on a treadmill is SO BORING. But I did it. I mean, it wasn't fast. And it wasn't pretty. And I stopped once. BUT afterwards I felt so happy and accomplished. And it made me reflect on the past year a half. 

I've always been a goal-oriented person. I define my own success by achieving my personal goals. Once I reach them, I set new ones. And I've been pretty lucky thus far in my life because most of my biggest goals that I set for myself I accomplished. 

Once I got to law school, though, I had one of those *news flash* moments - everyone here is just like me. Everyone has super high goals. And everyone works really hard to achieve them. (I am not at all saying that the people in my life before law school didn't set goals because they totally did. And everyone I've been close to in my life has without a doubt helped shape me and push me to reach my goals). But this was one of the first times that the people I was around were working towards the same exact goals as me. 

When everyone is working towards the same goals, that means that not everyone can necessarily achieve them. Because there are only so many slots for those goals. And in law school, it's usually called the curve. Since all classes are on graded on a curve, that means only a very small percentage of people can get A+'s. Or only a small number of people can land that prestigious U.S. circuit court judicial externship after law school. And law review only has small number of spots. And landing a biglaw job as a 1L is basically like winning the lottery. 

Basically, what I am trying to say is that it is easy to get discouraged in law school if you don't accomplish a goal that you sought out to accomplish. And usually, people are disappointed more than one time during their 1L year and many more times before they graduate. Therefore, it can be easy to fall into a funk where you almost forget the good feeling of accomplishment for a few months on end. This is perpetuated by the fact that the only feedback you get is on your final - so you really don't have any idea how well you are doing for 4 months out of the semester. 

But running 7 miles on the (effing) treadmill brought me back to one of those accomplishment highs that I have so craved for the last year and a half. And it really made me realize that this half marathon is something that I need to do for myself, for my personal and mental health. It's centering me and reminding me that I can do anything that I put my mind to. And I also think that it will help me in school because it will bring me that sense of accomplishment and confidence that I have seem to sometimes forgotten. 

So for that, thank you, treadmill. 

I swear that I ran 7. But I accidently ended the run .5 miles in so I had to start over.

Life is Precious

One of the most loved teachers at my high school passed away tonight from cancer. He is survived by his wife of only 5 months, another teacher at my school. He is also survived by his 2 daughters who are only in middle and elementary school. My heart aches for them and all of the people that Mr. Connors touched. 

Be true, be kind, be brave. 

Rest in peace Mr. Connors. 

http://www.gofundme.com/Chris-Connors

Most Embarrassing Moment of my Life?

You know when you are in a situation where it's great to have a "most embarrassing moment"?  Whether it's an icebreaker or it just comes up in a random conversation, sometimes it's great to just have one in the back of your pocket. Well, today I realized that sometimes I would rather not have one because it just sucks to actually experience the "most embarrassing moment". Sooo here's the story...

I was sitting in my first class. I sit in the very front row (but against the wall, so that is sort of my saving grace). It was during a period when my professor was asking a student a question and so there was a little bit of a break while the student was re-reading a problem in the book. Naturally, I took this as my time to check social media.

So I look on Twitter and I see Chelsea Handler has tweeted something along the lines of 'this is cute' and so naturally, I thought she was talking about her adorable dog Chuck. And so I clicked the instagram link to see Chuck. Turns out IT WAS KIM KARDASHIAN IN THE FULLY NUDE.

No, it was not the butt picture. It was the full-frontal nudity picture of Kim Kardashian and all her greased-up glory.

Did I mention I was sitting in my law school class in the front row?

This means everyone behind me saw.

I was so embarrassed that I turned bright red for the remainder of class and I couldn't turn around and face the people behind me.

So how was your Thursday?

Half marathon - halfway there!

It's time for the half marathon training update! The half marathon is currently 11.5 weeks away, so most people who follow the standard 12 week training schedule have already started. 

I'm feeling pretty good actually. This weekend when I was home, I ran 7 miles with my mom. I think I've mentioned this before, but my mom is an avid ironman triathlete and coach sooo lets be real she's 55 and WAY more fit than me. And way faster than me. But she ran at my pace and was a good motivator. But before we get to that run... Let's go back in time 2 weeks.

Sunday - 6 mile run part 2. I did another 6 miles (night run, eff you daylight savings time). It felt good! Except for the last mile: that hurt. But the scenery was pretty... Until the sun went down 1 hour before it was supposed to. Seriously I could bitch about daylight savings forever. 

Monday - spin class. Where I died. 

Tuesday - rest day because I stupidly decided spin after a 6 mile run was a good idea 

Wednesday - I was STILL sore so cross training swim. I've been a swimmer my whole life but it's so hard to go swim laps by myself because i get bored without someone yelling and screaming at me, telling me what to do. I swam for 45 minutes and probably did 2,500 meters (ugh long course, ammiright?)

Thursday - rest day (but really I have

class all day so let's be honest by the time I get home I'm too lazy to do anything so I just make myself feel better by calling it a rest day).

Friday - gym workout. 3.2 miles on the treadmill (descending mile time) before I had to run and catch my flight to Seattle. 

Saturday - 3 mile fast run around my most favorite place to run ever, Green lake. It's the most wonderful park/lake in Seattle. It's 2.8 miles on the inside loop and 3.2 on the outside loop. It's 2 minutes away from my high school, so for freshman PE we had to run the lake as our midterm and final each semester and we had to run it in under 30 minutes. I think my fastest time in high school was a 23 and on Saturday I ran a 24. But in high school, I was swimming 2-3 hours a day, 6 days a week soooo im not gonna dwell on that. Don't we all wish we could go back in time to our most athletic/energized days? 

(Greenlake)

7 mile run (Sunday) It was hard. It was extremely hilly. At one point, I'm pretty sure a hill was a full mile long. This girl does not do hills well. That is exactly why I signed up for possibly one of the flattest 1/2 marathon courses out there (it's basically right next to the Pacific Ocean the whole time - hence flat.) So when my mom and I were running up that hill, my pace was probably above an 11 minute mile (I had accidently pressed pause on my Nike app so I didn't get accurate splits). But I'm so proud I finished and so I am happily admitting i was running at an 11 mile pace.

Monday was my rest day/ travel day. 

Tuesday - I did 20 minutes on the stairs and 15 minutes on the elliptical for cardio. Then I lifted weights for another 30 minutes. 

Wednesday - 5 miles around UCLA campus. I was only planning on doing 4.5 but I felt good when I was supposed to be done, so I kept going. Don't you love it when that happens? Doesn't happen all the time but when it does, it's so motivating. When I finished that run, I felt so great and I was so happy. The feeling you get after a great run makes all the other bad runs and runs you really have to drag yourself to do soo worth it.

(Splits from the 5 miler - mile 2 was also a hill. Another example of how this girl and hills so do not mesh). 

But the best feeling of finishing a run - 

(Ignore mismatched socks) 

Thursday (today) - another gym day. 

As for the rest of the week, I'm going to try and get in 2 more runs to make the total up to 4. I'm not going to increase mileage this week though - I think I'll stick to 7! 

ITS ALMOST FRIDAY :) 

Weekend in the Evergreen State

I went home to Seattle this weekend for the UW v UCLA game and to visit my family. Fall in the Pacific Northwest is honestly the most beautiful thing ever. It was perfect for the weekend because I got to experience the cool, crisp mornings, wet leaves on the ground, and go puddle-jumping in the rain. But then I get to go back to sun tomorrow with amazing memories of the great weather; whereas if I was actually living here, I would probably be over it by now.

But no matter how many times I come home or how long I've lived here, I am constantly in awe of this beautiful place. When I'm driving, even if it's down the freeway, my breath gets taken away. I wanted to share some of my weekend and the vibrant colors that surround this amazing state - especially at this time of the year.

But first, I wanted to show you this video my little brother took on his drive from Seattle to Pullman, WA (basically he drove all the way across the state). It's so crazy how the scenery changes so drastically!

(For mobile devices -https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2eo1KRj0Pvs)

The first stop when I get home - visiting my favorite pup Cooper : )

Greenlake, Seattle - my favorite park 

Saturday meant Husky Football! My brother came along to tailgate (and he even wore a UW shirt)

My longest thus far!!! I died because it was SO HILLY but nothing ever feels better than finishing your longest run yet. 

My dad and I had to go visit our favorite holiday store after the Hawks game 

Finally, I ended my weekend at Kerry Park in Queen Anne with some of my best friends. The best way to end a short and sweet trip.

I'll see ya in 2 weeks, Seattle

November Ramblings

November 1st might just be my favorite day of the year because it means I can finally start celebrating my favorite time of the year - the holidays!!!! This includes Thanksgiving, Christmas AND New Years. I lump them all together because 1) it makes my best friend less mad at me for listening to Christmas music before Thanksgiving 2) its all a season and so its all part of the same happiness and 3) if thanksgiving music or thanksgiving trees existed, I WOULD GLADLY PARTAKE OKAY!? In NO way am I overriding Thanksgiving - I love thanksgiving as much as the next girl. Actually, I probably like thanksgiving even more than most girls because they involve my two favorite things in life -food and football (and family I guess...sorry family). In honor of the beginning of my most favorite season ever, here are some of my favorite things right now...

1. The episode of New Girl from last night - the Nick comedy was on point. (PS when I was searching for the best GIFs to use, I cracked up almost as hard as I did the first time)

2) This weekend, IT RAINED IN LOS ANGELES!!!! It happened on Halloween. And I didn't go out the actual night of Halloween but I stayed up until midnight just so I could go outside and spin in the rain. 

3) The fact that all the news people are saying that it's still supposed to be an El Nino year this year because for Southern Cali that means MORE RAIN! And that means, LESS DROUGHT. It's so depressing seeing how bad the drought has become in the past 3 years. If you haven't seen this pictures, let me show you: 

Note that the red is Extreme Drought and the maroon is exceptional drought. This is scary people. And people say global warming isn't real? Okay...  

3) Speaking of Halloween, recycling costumes is the best. For most of college, I was a ballerina. People started to make fun of me, but I'm a firm believer in spending the least amount of money possible when it comes to Halloween costumes. Sorry, I'm in a lot of debt okay? So this year, I decided to re-cycle the ballerina tutu since I haven't worn it in law school. I was a pig. It worked out nicely.

This year! 

And for some fun throwbacks- 

This is the tutu's first debut. Sophomore Year (2010) 

Here we are senior year (2012) 

4) THIS BOOK BECAUSE ITS AMAZING AND EVERYONE SHOULD READ IT. No, I am not biased because it takes place in Seattle. I am also not biased because it is about the crew team at my alma mater. But in all seriousness, I didn't think I would like it that much because no offense to crew people but it's not my fav. sport. But I can't stop thinking about it. 

5) The fact that my lovely home state (Washington State) just passed the toughest background checks for gun ownership in the whole entire country. Hell yes, you GO glen coco! I am so proud. Not to mention Seattle passed a universal preschool requirement. 

6) I just turned in my first draft of my "substantial analytic writing" requirement (basically it is a thesis) and it is required by the American Bar Association. It was 30 pages. With footnotes. And it was the longest paper I've ever written by myself. And the hard part is now over!

So I will be back to blogging more frequently now :) 

HAPPY HUMP DAY! 

A Day in the Life...

Typical Tuesdays. I love it when bloggers post about their days. I think it's cool to look into the lives of other people and see their routines. It makes me realize we are all a lot more alike, even when we think we aren't.

Woke up at 7AM. I usually try to wake up 7AM every weekday morning so I can have about 40 minutes of "me time" before my day really starts. This is when I drink my coffee, catch up on blogs and morning news, and update my own blog.

At 8:00-9:00, I went to the gym. I attempted to run 3.5 miles, but I reallllly wasn't feeling it. My legs still felt like jello from my 6 mile run the other day. So I eventually stopped and lifted weights instead.

From 9-10, I walked back to my apartment and got ready for school.

At 10:05, I have to leave for the bus to catch it up to the law school in time for my 10:35 class.

This is the building where I spend most my time...

Selfie on the bus. Because duh. 

10:35-11:50 - Evidence class (my favorite class in law school thus far. Due in large part to the fact that my professor is amazing)

Creeper pic of my classroom (yes it's so ugly) 

11:50-2:00 - Lunch. I didn't have any food at all so I went to the best place to eat on campus (which is of course located at the business school) and had a salad. It was yummy.

As I walked past this part of campus, I realized that in 1.5 years, this is exact spot I will be when I receive my J.D. CRAZY!?

2:00-2:30 - I had a meeting with my evidence professor to go over my midterm and talk about study strategies for this semester. I cannot believe that finals are slowly creeping up on us. Ughhhh.

2:30 - 5:00 - I ran errands. I usually have class at this time, but it was cancelled this week. When I woke up yesterday morning, I knew that my day wasn't going to be as productive as I wanted. It was just one of those days. So I attempted to go run errands in order to be a little productive. I also sort of failed. I tried to look for a halloween costume but nothing came up. I did go grocery shopping though, so at least I have food again?

Pretty Westwood Village 

Trader Joes Staples 

5:00-7:30 - Drove to school again (lazy). And had class for 2 hours.

7:30-11:00 - Outlined for my business torts (again, ugh finals are looming)

Notice the wine and chocolate? Necessary

11:30 - Bedtime

Today I vowed to make my day more productive than yesterday! I'll update you :) 

1/2 Marathon Training Update

As I type this, my legs are still jello from the 6 mile run I went on 2 days ago. I was supposed to go to spin class yesterday, but that definitely didn't work out. Oops. This past week was busy because I had my first moot court competition and Brett's parents were in town visiting, so my training schedule had a few too many rest days thrown in there. But I'll be back at it this week.

Heres what my schedule looked like last week:

Monday - Spin
Tuesday - Easy 3.5 Miles
Wednesday - 4.5 Mile loop around UCLA Campus (aka hills of death)
Thursday - cardio
Friday - rest
Saturday - rest
Sunday - 6 miles!!!

The 6 mile run was actually one of the best that I've had. I was so nervous because 6 miles used to seem so daunting to me. But honestly it went so well. I timed it so I was running right before sunset in Santa Monica. I ran to Venice on the beach, while the sun was setting, with the most perfect playlist. I'm pretty sure I looked like an idiot the entire time because I was smiling as I ran. And there were so many other runners around that it motivated me to keep going.

I tried to take some pictures to capture the wonderfulness, but they didn't exactly turn out..

But OMG I WANT THIS DOG - 

Race Date = 14 weeks away!

PS - is anyone else shamelessly listening to Taylor Swift's new album? Cannot wait to add that to my runs this week :)

Wait, I can't stay in school forever?

School has been what I've done for the past 18 years of my life (going on 19). Once I graduate law school in almost a year and a half, 20 years of my life will have been spent in a classroom for 9 months of out every year. I can't even believe that - and they expect me to go out into the working world in full force? How will I ever survive??

I honestly don't know. Going to work every day, never having random breaks in my day for working out or running random errands or just watching Netflix in the middle of the day? NO NAPS? Most importantly...NO MORE SCHOOL BREAKS! The thought that I would have no more spring break, christmas break, summer break, etc. anymore is so sad! Thus, I decided to take matters into my own hands and make the most out of the 2 more winter breaks and springs breaks that I have. I also run on the mantra that the best strategy is to make sure that I have things to look forward to in order to survive the stressful times. So here is what is in the cards for the next few months:

Trip home to Seattle next weekend to watch the UCLA Bruins lose to my Huskies :). Gotta stay true to my alma matter (sorry UCLA).

Thanksgiving Break in Seattle with a possible road trip to the middle of no-where Washington (aka Pullman) to visit my little brother and watch the Huskies crush the Cougars at the Apple Cup

Christmas Break (or winter break...sorry I've been raised in Catholic School all my life) in Seattle

January Cruise with my law school friends to Mexico!! We got a super cheap deal and decided we needed to take advantage of the fact that our winter break is 1 full month long this year!

Spring break in NYC AND DC! I could not be more excited because I have never been to either city. Brett and I just bought our flights/hotels yesterday. We will be traveling on the biggest budget ever, but I cannot wait. I can survive on bagels and street hotdogs the whole time.

As you can see, it's hitting me big time that I will not have time to just take random, short vacations whenever I want when I get done with school. YOLO! (Nope I didn't just say that...) SO my advice to anyone who is coming up on the end of their years as a student, whether that be undergrad, law student, grad student, or something crazier like PhD, start planning!!

Training Update

The past two weeks were a 1/2 marathon training fail. I was so busy with school so I just took a 1.5 week break from exercise. Before my break, I was up to 4.5 miles. So to get back into it:

Sunday - 3 miles, 1 mile warmup, 6x45 seconds sprint, easy 1:00 in between, cool down 

Monday - spin class (where I DIED)

Tuesday - 3.5 mile run 

Wednesday - rest

Thursday - 4.2 mile run (treadmill) 

Friday - cardio & strength

Saturday - 5 mile run 

Today I ran 5 miles for the first time IN MY LIFE! I was so proud of myself. Next week is 6 and that is quite terrifying to me. 

This was how I motivated myself to run: 

I ran at the beach! As much as I miss Seattle right now for its seasons, running at the beach in the sun in October is THE BEST!

And this is part of the reason I felt so accomplished after my run:

As I sit here drowning my sorrows in pizza & beer (because UW is losing VERY BADLY to Oregon), I don't feel as guilty. Perks of running. 

Here's a picture to remind myself of how I felt last week at a football game, happy because we were winning....

Praying for a second-half miracle... 

Mental Health Day

These three pictures totally sum up my day yesterday - 

Sometimes, you just need to take a mental health day. A friend from grade school's mom called them this and it's stuck with me since. I haven't really realized the need for them until law school though. Yesterday I woke up and just wasn't feeling Wednesday. I had planned to wake up, go on a 4 mile run, and get a lot done. I woke up feeling hungover, even though I haven't had any alcohol since Saturday. So I woke up, got my coffee, and sat down on my couch. And didn't move. For 7 episodes of Gilmore Girls.

It started out with me doing citations and watching Gilmore Girls at the same time, so you know, I was being 50% productive. But 11:00am, my headache was getting worse and I was worried that it was the beginning of a migraine (ugh, something that also hasn't happened to me until law school started. I blame the law and genetics, aka my mom). If anyone has gotten a migraine before, you know how awful they are. And (for me at least) they are usually brought on by stress. It was at that point I decided I should just give up on my productive day and take care of my mind. No running, no going anywhere, and no worrying about the fact that I wasn't doing anything productive.

And it was amazing.

I continued watching Gilmore Girls well into the afternoon. I own every single season, but the fact that it's now on Netflix just makes me want to re-watch it with the rest of the world. So I started at the very beginning and made it through episode 7 (and I'm not even ashamed to admit that).

I then read a book (not law related) for about an hour. My current book is Boys on the Boat, which is about the University of Washington Men's crew team that won the Olympics and beat out Hitler's prized German team. Since 1) I went to UW 2) I love reading about WWII 3) I love learning about what Seattle was like 90 years ago, it's so far been amazing. I'm 200 pages in and would highly recommend it to anyone.

I did a little laundry (this was necessary because I had no clothes).

I made my favorite meal for dinner - breakfast for dinner! I made homemade breakfast potatoes on my new Iron Skillet (sooooo good), scrambled eggs, and a pumpkin pancake.

I never got out of my PJs.

All in all, it was an amazing day. I think mental health days really are necessary. Even though it can be hard to stop thinking about all the things you SHOULD be doing, your body needs rest. Your mind needs rest. By the end of the day, my headache had subsided and I felt good. I think it was my body's way of warning me that I needed to make sure that I wasn't stressing myself out to the point of exhaustion. School is important. Extracurriculars are important. Exercising is important. But taking one day off once in a while is perfectly fine.

I think I will start scheduling more mental health days into my future :)

My Los Angeles Bucket List

I moved to LA one year and two months ago. So far, I feel like I've done a fair amount of exploring (given the little time that law school allows for that). But there are still lots of things that I want to do. The boyfriend and I have a list of places we want to go and food to try, so I thought I would share. They include things in the greater LA area, but also around California

1. Disney at Christmas 
2. Burgers at Fathers Office 
3. Day trip to Santa Barbara 
4. Visit the LACMA 
5. Skiing at Mammoth or Big Bear 
6. Malibu falls hike
7. Go to Calabasas and find a Kardashian 
8. Visit the Ghetty Villa 
9. Go to a Lakers game @ the Staples Center (or a Clippers game, because I like them more) 
10. Go to a concert at the Hollywood Bowl 
11. Paradise Cove Beach
12. Visit the LA Arboretum 
13. Go get a sprinkles cupcake from the sprinkles ATM
14. Road trip to the Grand Canyon 
15. Shop on Rodeo Drive (so far, I've only driven down it. This one will probably have to wait until after I am out of law school thousands of dollar debt) 
16. Eat breakfast at Huckleberry 
17. Get up early enough to watch the sunrise at the beach 
18. Take a surf lesson
19. Go on a hike at Joshua Tree 
20. Go see an outdoor movie at the Hollywood Cemetery 
21. Go camping at Big Sur (northern CA) 
22. Road trip to Vegas 
23. Be an extra in a movie 
24. Go ice skating outside during LA winter (because does that even exist?) 
25. Try Korean BBQ in Korea town 
26. Go to Laguna Beach 
27. WB Studio Tour
28. Eat at the Farmers Market (adjacent to the Grove) 
29. Go to a movie premiere (since they happen in Westwood)
30. Try the Griddle 

Things that we have already done that were on the list:

1. Weekend trip to San Diego
2. Rent beach cruisers and ride along Manhattan Beach 
3. Go to Huntington Beach  
4. Go to Magic Mountain & Knottsberry farm 
5. Go to the Grove 
6. Concert at the Staples Center 
7. Eat at Pink Taco 
8. Hike Runyon Canyon 
9. Hike to the Hollywood Sign 
10. Go watch a football game at the Rose Bowl 
11. Go to a rooftop bar DTLA (downtown LA)
12. Ride the roller coaster on Santa Monica Pier 
13. Eat at Roscoes Chicken & Waffles 
14. Go to a Dodger's Game 
15. Go to an Angel's Game 
16. Check out Venice beach 
17. Go to Huntington Library (amazing) 
18. Go to the Ghetty (also amazing, mostly for the views)
19. Find a pumpkin patch in LA 
20. Try Diddy Reese for cookies & ice cream

So far, that's all I can remember. I'll keep you updated on my list. Happy hump day!!