The Carefree Diaries

I've had a long enough hiatus from this blog, wouldn't you say?

Today's list will be a personal journey. OK, it's really not that sappy. Or maybe it is. Either way, you're getting this list, so keep calm and carry on.

My long-awaited, late-blooming graduation is now only three months away. And while I'm ready to relax and don sombreros in Mexico with my homegirls, it's not all fun and flan just yet. I have 18 units of absolute chaos to feel my way through first, balanced with a handful (read: three) of part-time jobs that keep the creditors away. And the group projects! So many group projects. I realize that's the case in the "real world," since I've been in it for some time, but more often than not, the real-world colleagues I'll be working with post-graduation don't ignore emails altogether and no-show to meetings. Le sigh.

Speaking of which, I have begun the incredibly intimidating, potentially life-altering process of applying for my re-entry to the real world, via internships and jobs that fall within--gasp--the field in which I want to work. I can't help but feel like it's a make-or-break moment for me: Will I work to live, or live for my work?

My point is this: I'm pretty overwhelmed at the moment. So in order to save myself from myocardial infarction, it's best to pull a Julie Andrews and simply remember my favorite things.

To round out this slightly stressful blog beginning, here's a relaxing end: a list of some of the strange and fanciful stuff that bring about my mellow. Feel free to comment and add yours; there's no such thing as too many of these.

1. Crayon-scented Volkswagen interiors

2. The Commodores' "Easy (Like Sunday Morning)"

3. Garrison Keillor telling me stories through my vintage radio/record player cabinet speakers

4. Road trips with good friends

5. Reading on a patio or porch (sublist: currently reading The Picture of Dorian Gray, Dante's Inferno, and Keith Richards' and Lucille Ball's autobiographies)

6. Theme parties

7. Bossa nova

8. The opening sequence to Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory, with the assembly lines of candy

9. Hiking with picnics at the end

10. Bob Ross

11. Golf and tennis tournaments playing softly on a TV in the background

12. Naps in the sun

13. Art museums

14. How my hands smell after I've been picking tomatoes from a garden

15. That wet musty asphalt smell reminiscent of log rides

16. Movies with balanced characters and ambiguous endings

17. Crossword puzzles

18. Coloring books

19. Knitting

20. The nostalgic feeling that winter always brings