PNW & PALMS: Date with Alex

Last night I had found myself with nothing to do. Brett was at a birthday party for a co-worker and the plans that I had with a friend fell through. I started the night feeling lame that I had no friday plans (FOMO is real, right?). But after letting myself wallow for about 5 minutes, I decided that I needed to turn my mood around and enjoy the time with myself.

I think so often we are always worried about what to do next. We are always thinking ahead, worried about being stuck with nothing to do on a Friday night. And social media does not help. I mean how many times do we think "I have to get at least one Instagram-worthy picture before the night ends!" I am totally guilty of this. But this makes us forget the importance of spending time just with ourselves.

In high school, I was never alone or independent because I just had too many things to do all the time. I was being shuttled from 7 hours of school, to 3 hours of swimming, to homework for all my classes, and to extracurricular clubs every single day. On the weekends, there was always a swim meet, a dance, a football, or a sleep over with my friends to keep me busy.

Once I got to college, I joined a sorority. Living in one house with 100 girls (true story, in my sorority you moved in on bid day and lived there at least until junior year) does not foster independence. There was always someone around, someone to hang out with, or even just go to the library with. If the house was empty, my parents lived 30 minutes away.

It was not until I studied abroad spring quarter of my junior year until I started getting a taste of doing things alone. Don't get me wrong, most of my study abroad was jammed packed with weekend trips, program outings, and exploring with friends. But I finally found myself with moments of downtime in a city that did not feel like home (at least at first). I couldn't rely on the backup plan to go to my parents house. I was living in an apartment (not a sorority of 100 girls). By the end of my time in Rome, I found myself craving those moments to myself where I could go explore and do whatever I wanted, on my own schedule.

Last night was a perfect reminder to enjoy the night with the person who gets me most -- me!

Date night with myself consisted of --