Andrea Goes To NYC…

…and has an awesome time!

I went to NYC last weekend and it was great except my friend who was going to meet me couldn’t come. It did give me a chance to make a new friend though and she was a ton of fun! I saw 2 musicals on Broadway: SIX and Moulin Rouge. The whole trip was based around seeing Aaron Tviet before he left the show and he was AMAZING. Swoon worthy for sure. He makes his talent look so effortless – I know it’s not. He was everything I dreamed and I am so glad I got to see him perform live. Bucket list item checked off. I loved both shows but I gotta say i enjoyed SIX more as a show. It was bright and funny with amazing performers. All about girl power and ‘herstory!’ Absolutely AMAZING. I went to two museums: The Met and the American Museum of Natural History. I only had about two hours in both and definitely didn’t see everything. What I did see what great. I saw the In America An Anthology of Fashion exhibit. AMAZING. So beautiful and powerful. Stunning and worth waiting in line for. I blew through a few other exhibits as well. I spent a lot of time in the Nat in the human origins exhibit. I had studied so ‘Lucy’ throughout my undergrad and it was amazing to see the real deal on exhibit. Also went to see the dinosaurs so I could send photos to my nephew. Had to see the blue whale so I blew through that section too. I had a couple of good meals: gnocchi mac and cheese which was rich and delicious was my high light (other then the bagel but I knew that would be amazing). Had a cosmo of course! Had to. I had my new friend for the shows but most everything else I did by myself. I thought I would be nervous but really I felt independent and strong. I got to through the museums at my pace without worrying about another person being bored. Ubers were my big unexpected cost. I was running short on time and it was pouring rain most of the weekend so I ended up ubering a lot more and walking a lot less then expected. Worth it though! I got the saver tickets on Alaska airline but got really lucky with a aisle seat both ways and an empty middle seat on the way back. my roomie watched Marty so I knew he was in good hands which meant I could enjoy my trip. Tax refund put to good use 😉 It was wonderful and I can’t wait for my next travel adventure.

I Let Go…

…or at least I started to.

I was offered my old job for less pay, less hours, and less benefits (probably more work). I am quite sure it is everything they could have offered me in their current position, but I declined it. It’s not that I don’t appreciate the offer, but I just couldn’t go back to that level of stress for less then before (or what I had before). I gave so much of myself and my thoughts and stress to my old job that is was slowing taking pieces of my life outside of work (or not so slowly). I just can’t deal with that level of stress and no room for growth. I realized how horribly stressed I was with it once I didn’t have that job anymore. I have a new job where I am starting over, from the ground up, but I like it a lot. I get to teach again and there is room for growth. Plus, who doesn’t want to hang out with cool animals most of the day? They treat me well, train me, and ensure I am okay too. The commute is nuts, but I can move eventually to fix that. There is so much to learn at this position too! Once I leave that job, I get to leave it there – I don’t take it home and think about it all the time and stress dream about it all the time. I feel a little sad, a little scared, but mostly hopeful. My life thus far has been about taking leaps of faith and chances – why stop now? Here we go again! I do love it my life of leaping though 🙂

I will of course help put the person who takes it over onto the best path I can. I don’t want all of mine and my teammates hard work to be lost. Hopefully it helps them be in a better position then when we built it from the ground up. They need a person who needs the experience and learning factor, and will do that much work for the offered pay. That isn’t a bad thing. I was that person. This job gave me that experience. I am grateful. I am just ready for the next adventure.

Life is an Adventure to Be Lived in the Moment…

…small or big – take your adventure!

I have had quite a few adventures in my life big and small. I pride myself on being adventurous. I have moved to different cities without even seeing them, went to grad school and got an apartment by myself, traveled to London, Hawaii, and Colorado.

If you follow my instagram @setmyownp.e.ace you saw my adventure to San Diego to see my mom ans hang with my dude. It was so great. I hung out with my mom, went flip flop shopping, saw my dude surf for the first time, ate good food, and had a new experience at the roof top movie. This adventure was only two days and 60 something miles away, but it was grand. Reflecting on it has reignited something in me to live for the moment and not worry so much about the future.

I haven’t been doing a good job of this prior to the trip or just after. I had my internal ultrasound scheduled and it was REALLY freaking me out. I suppose the worry of future medical bills, pain, and worry took my brain over and it spilled into other areas of my life. I do think that I did a better job of putting the breaks on allowing it to spill into other areas post adventure, but there was some small spillage. (Have to celebrate the small wins in life).

APPLYING THIS TO MY LOVE LIFE: I have been so worried about the future of my relationship with my dude that I am forgetting to enjoy the now. He was so sweet during my freak out about my health. He just held my hand, kissed me, and told me it was okay and I would be okay. I have been so worried about holding his hand forever that I am forgetting I am happy holding it right now. I think I have been looking for signs of a guarantee that this relationship will work but, that isn’t how love and relationships work. There is no guarantee – you just have to jump and know that if that jump leads to a crash, you will heal and be okay. The jump might result in flying as well. What if that happened? I want this adventure so I am going to take the opportunity as best I can. Here’s hoping we grow some wings (if you are him you get that joke) and enjoy being in the now together.

Until I see where all of my adventures lead, I am going to try to do better with enjoying the moment I am in. That really is my point of this whole blog, isn’t it? Enjoying the stage of life and love you are in! What are you enjoying right now in this moment?

A Magical Escape…

…when life and setting my own p(e)ace isn’t working out.

If you follow me on Instagram, setmyownp.e.ace, you know that I went to the Harry Potter Symphony event last night. Beyond having a wonderful time in a beautiful setting with a slytherin I am taking a chance on, I wanted to share what the Harry Potter series means to me.

People tend to think that Harry Potter is a fun following (and it is) but it’s more then that to me. The Harry Potter books have allowed me a world to completely escape to when my real world has been falling apart. When I needed to run from my world and the exhaustion of keeping up with life, I would go to Hogwarts, hunt horcruxes, attend hte Yule Ball, or just hang out with the gang in the common room.

Identifying as a Hufflepuff is actually a really big part of my identity. I consider a huge chunk of my personality and a sort of moral compass. I try to live by the values of loyalty and hard work, offering acceptance to anyone who has ever felt left out. I am quite proud of making this a part of who I am on a daily basis and wearing my Hufflepuff gear proudly when the occasion allows.

I really don’t know what I would have done in those times without Harry Potter and his adventures. So when I get emotional at events like this it’s about more than just being a nerd. I got to share that with someone on Sunday and it was really nice so I wanted to share it with all of you!

What is your go to escape when setting your own p(e)ace is overwhelming?