I hope all of you have had relaxing spring breaks and spring holidays. I ate maybe too much candy and ham, but I feel like everyone deserves to treat themselves when they're on break. I've started a new quarter with new classes and I am eager for spring and warmer weather. Sadly, Chicago never gets warm, so I'm wishing on mother nature to bring in some sun. I've realized a few things I want to get done and accomplish this month before the end of school arrives.
01. I've been very lacking on exercising, and I blame that on spring break a bit and my trip, but I am really wanting to get more motivated to go workout and do more than just cardio at the gym. I'm missing out on yoga since I froze my membership, so I am interested in trying out some different fitness classes and have to push myself to go this month.
02. I'm excited about my new classes this quarter, I'm taking a Buddhism class and a caveman class! When do you get to do those? I have been really interested in all things Buddha like yoga, so I am excited to learn more about the religion since it is a requirement for my degree. And also, cavemen? Neanderthals? My freshman focal point is also a requirement for graduation and I just happened to choose it. I've always been curious about evolution and anthropology; this class will definitely be engaging every session.
03. My goal this month is to also visit more family and see people that I need and want to see. I would say that I make it a priority even if I'm the only one traveling to see people that I care about and spend a lot of time with them. I just had some family friends over this past weekend and I missed them so much. Now that I can travel alone, there's no big reason for me not to besides financial things and school.
04. Now that I am more comfortable at college, I have realized that I am really strict with myself sometimes and I don't say yes to things much. Not bad things, but I never stay at school on the weekends enough to develop more connections or relationships because I work when I go home sometimes. I need to let loose sometimes (without losing my dignity or integrity at that). I just need to go with the flow more and be more spontaneous—what I learned from my recent trip to Miami.
05. This month I also want to not worry so much about what other people are doing. I know it's kind of cliche or very written about, but lately, I have been looking for places to live next year, worrying about not having a roommate, doing internships, studying abroad, and working. There's been too much on my mind about the future as school comes to an end, and I can't believe it. I have to gear my focus back to my work and what I am currently doing.
I know these are only a few things that I may have stressed in the past, but I want the start of spring to be relaxed and not as high strung as winter was. I think this will be my only post for this week to refreshen my inspiration and my overall mood at the beginning of this last quarter. What things do you do to refresh your mind?
Part of me is still kind of in shock, it was only two weeks ago when I thought about getting a tattoo. Never did I ever think I would go through with it at this young. I'm 18, so it's totally legal and up to me, but part of me still can't believe it happened. I texted my best friend and told her Miami was when I was going to get it and that's it. It was only going to go down then and there. At the time only my roommates and my two best friends knew. I was not planning on telling anyone in my family, partly because I didn't want their opinion to sway my thoughts or decision on it.
When I was thinking of what to get and where to get it and how I was gonna get it, I knew I wanted my first tat to be small and minimal. Excuse my arm hair haha. I ended up picking out a waning crescent and just a simple black outline. I was going to get stars, but the tattoo artist and I decided we just liked the moon. There's no specific significance of it, I just liked it a lot. I think that's a very viable reasoning for getting something you like and won't regret later.
I'm interested in space and I read online that the waning crescent symbolizes getting rid of the bad stuff in your life, so I guess I'll have that on my wrist as a reminder. As for where I wanted it, I originally thought my ribs would be a good place, but my best friend suggested a place like my wrist so the pain wouldn't be so bad. And it wasn't for the most part. I have a pretty high pain tolerance and I described the pain as a pen vibrating and scratching your skin for like two minutes.
I would recommend for other people who are getting their first tattoo to find a quality place that knows what they're doing. I had a great experience at this place called Oriana Tattoo in Miami, Florida and my artist's name was Ruben. Super sweet and made my whole tattoo experience relaxed and comfortable. He was open to ask me about designs and help me with taking care of it after that.
I know that tattoos can be a controversial topic for some people and put permanent ink on your body is something that should not go unconsidered and well thought out. They're basically wounds in your body so I would make sure that it's something you really want and talk to people who have experienced it and are knowledgeable about the process.
My whole family was not extremely surprised. My mom thought I was joking and my dad was like, "whaaa", but they all seem to like it and where I put it. My sister has a couple tattoos, so I guess they weren't as new to it as I thought they would be. This might be my eye-opening to getting more tattoos in the future, who knows. Getting it will be a moment I will have forever.
My spring break is officially over and if you have not seen my posts on Facebook or Instagram, then you do not know that my best friend Alyssa and I planned a weekend trip to Miami, Florida. Now in none of my thoughts did I consider going on a beach vacation with my best friend for the first time. Alyssa's mom and my mom were with us when we were discussing spring break plans and we both had time off over St. Patrick's Day weekend.
We kind of threw a dart on the map and chose one of the warmest places south of us. My freshman college spring break happened to be in one of the most popular locations and I wasn't mad about it! Living in Chicago, it still feels like December, so I was eager to fly out and meet Alyssa at our quaint Airbnb.
This trip was definitely a trip of firsts. It was the first trip I actually planned alone and had to figure out where to stay and as far as our itinerary was, the beach was our main goal. Transportation was the main hiccup because we just planned to walk as much and Uber as much. I don't think I've Ubered more in my life—it really saved us, though. You can only walk all over South Miami for so long.
We had perfect beach days and spent the first day at Hollywood Beach and ate at this awesome Mexican restaurant called Mamasitas, and all of the waitresses performed a dance routine for St. Patrick's Day. We got really tan (and sunburned), ate some ice cream on the beach, and enjoyed seeing all of the art deco architecture and neon signs which was something I fell in love with down there.
We ordered sub sandwiches on the beach and laid out for a couple hours until we got too hot and swam in the ocean. This was actually my first time swimming in the ocean and it was pretty salty, but reminded me of Lake Michigan in terms of how calm the waves were. Also, I found a rotten coconut and would advise to not crack it open as it smells of rotten eggs and was an all in a bad idea to begin with.
Besides the fact that it was much clearer and we saw a manatee wading in the shallow end, I was so happy with how we picked the beach to go to and avoid the crazy partiers. In the picture, you don't see anyone in the background swimming. The first night we decided to go to a nice restaurant for dinner called Billy's Stone Crab Grill which I got a plate full of scallops, more than I have ever eaten.
I also was not aware that wall art and murals were really big down there, and I obviously had to take a photo in front of at least one. The first day Alyssa and I had walked all the way to downtown Hollywood from our Airbnb, stopped at a garage sale for some lemonade, almost stepped on some lizards, and got an energy smoothie for breakfast at this really swanky gym downtown.
One thing we both really wanted to do was be immersed in some of the Cuban culture that is prevalent in southern Florida. We stumbled upon this restaurant called Havana on Washington Avenue. It was the perfect place to have our last dinner. They had huge mojitos and plantain chips. It was covered in twinkly lights and set the perfect hoorah on our last night there.
We wished a little that we had started in Miami and stayed there, but being more north in Hollywood where our Airbnb was kind of showed more of the residential area of Miami and southern Florida. I was happy to see a lot of people speaking Spanish, as there is a large population of Hispanic people in Florida. I used my knowledge of the language to my advantage and met some really nice Uber drivers and locals.
I will always remember this trip with my best friend and am so grateful that we got to share this adventure together. I feel more independent and empowered to travel alone now and can rely on myself to figure things out when I'm in an unknown place. It's amazing how fast trips can fly past when you're enjoying it. Alyssa and I were on the beach when she said, "We're gonna be on a plane home in a day," and I almost slapped her (haha). I enjoyed every minute!
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