Sunday, May 21, 2017

May 21

nWe're made our flight! The past few days have been fun & filled with good folks and good convos.

I made it into philly wed morning & grabbed some hang time with stephanie before we joined her other Chelsea for a showing of The Fifth Element (I'd never seen in and fortunately, neither had stephanie). I now understand a lot of pop culture references that I should now, notably all the times justin & jondra would threaten to do the opera scene. But let's be real, if I got nothing out of the movie but the "buzz bzzzzz!!" I still came out as a winner. Chelsea suggested a pier mosey & some exploring, which led us to some hammocks and a chucky cheese style net that you could climb on over the water. Stephanie & I went back to her place & crashed, which was wowzers so nice. 

Jumped on a trolley & a train the next morning to meet veronica and her sister caroline & her partner Sebastian for breakfast at a local diner. It was sweet to be on a double date & feel like we would continue doing this well into the future. Ya know, some good mush for you to roll your eyes. We spent the rest of the afternoon preparing for Caroline's graduation and spending time with the Dress crew. Graduation was roasty toasty hot & I 100% sweat through my clothes which was not ideal, but a masters degree is worth sweating for. Also, we proudly had one of the loudest sections which felt great because caroline is well deserving. Got dinner with the rest of her cheering section before making home, where I admittedly tapped out around 830pm. Adulthood is treating me well.

Veronica and I went out to breakfast with Veronica's dad & his partner cathy, at a diner called Daddy Pops. It was exactly what you would hope for from a Philly diner ❤️ after breakfast, we jumped in Caroline's car with Sebastian to meet up with Veronica's mom in Chestnut Hill which is the WORLDS CUTEST. it's filled with cobble stones, thrift shops & earthy co-ops, and holy wow was it cute. We went back to her mom's place till dinner with Veronica's friends Andrew & Kathleen. Most of the night was spent laughing at some of our own stories of unearthing ourselves and realizing that maybeeeeee the reasons our past relationships hadn't worked was by whoops maybe some of us weren't straight whoops again. One of the things for which I am most grateful for in my relationship with veronica is how seamlessly our friendships converge. Makes me think we're onto something & I'd say that something is pretty damn good.

 We parted ways & went to a Laura Marling concert. I've been to about a billion concerts (rough estimate, might be more, dontchya know) and it was honest to God, one of the best I've been too. It was simple, proficient, responsive but all almost entirely music. Save a round of Laura asking each band member to give a fun fact (and we all know I'm a sucker for a a good fun fact), there was very little stage talk. It was all music and it was amazing. She's a master of her craft and knows exactly who she is within it. Ughhh can't stop replaying it in my mind. We scrambled home & finally walked in the door at 130am (woof).

Woke up slowly this morning (also, holla at your girl for doing a final load of laundry AND setting up an automatic payment for one of my bills 👏) and met stephanie for breakfast at a place called Honeys. I'll admit that even on my best days, I don't like biscuits & gravy, but then I tasted Stephanie's and I take it all back. I'm actually drooling a little as I think about it on the plane as I type this. 

After lunch we rushed off to catch a bus to catch another bus on our way to the airport. As some one who has just enough dyslexia and has butchered enough dates and time margins, I get a weeeeee bit anxious about not having my ducks in a row for big things, aka today. Despite my anxiety and the cosmos' occasional chaos, we made it to the airport on time which was a huge relief. Veronica would also like me to tell you that her backpack weighed 5kg less than mine did; she's very proud of this so feel free to do something with it. We had enough spare time to make a few calls and grab dinner before getting on the plane. Unfortunateeeeeeely, for whatever reason, even though I booked our tickets next to each other AND we checked in at the same time, we had to sit separately. And despite some extroverted attempts at making friends, no one would move, so that was a bummer. But it's only a 5.5 hour flight since we have a layover in Iceland. (And a wee salty moment: yours truly is 6ft tall with some gangly legs. Dude in front of me pushed his seat all the way back to sleep, roughly 20 minutes into the flight. If you are a human who likes to recline, feel free but help a human out and ask first! Salty rant over... At least until I see you in person and bring it up again, I have this tendency, whatevs) we're about 2 hours into the flight and though I am optimistic about sleep, I'm not totally hopeful bc historically I can't sleep sitting up. But you & I both know that this is 100% my problem, not yours. Oh well.

Alright, that's all I can think to say. If you're reading this, you're probably a great human, so carry on & have a great day.

Peace & blessings y'all❤️

xx V&C 

May 20



Yesterday was magic. I took an Amtrak to meet Hannah and her fiancé brandon in Richmond. I think I spent something like 12 hours in Richmond, but those 12 hours were honest to God perfect. It felt old and new and cemented the gut feeling that Hannah and I both had when we met; "I think I'm going to be friends with this person forever." 



Hannah and I met freshman year in college. I thought her Pokemon backpack was cool and she thought I was terrifyingly tall. She reached out to try and hang and the rest has been stomach clutching hilarity. 9 years later, it's still the best, and we're better versions of ourselves for the lives we lived.

We spent the evening moseying around Richmond, and giving me time to get to know brandon since they're getting married in September. Spoiler, he's so great and I love him. After dinner at Pepe's we tried to stop by an ice cream shop but hey we're closed. Not to be deterred, brandon and I scampered off to the grocery store, collecting our treasure and jumped back into Hannah's car to head to some overlooks to watch the sunset.


It doesn't get much better than that, ya know?

Got back to the house where brandon watched tv and hannah and I shared our thoughts on mindwanderings on a thousand different things. Same as college, same as grad school, same forever. I look forward to when our partners get to meet, and our wild futures since we always be in each other's.


I left Hannah's at 4am (😳 I know) to catch a plane to philly, where I am currently. I'm meeting my friend stephanie for some good shenanigans until I meet veronica for breakfast with her sister tomorrow. Cheers y'all! ."

Tuesday, May 16, 2017

stuck on a train.



Check out that pack! Shout out to Lydia for my lunch bag.

Last night, I left my gaggle of folks in a smoothed out frenzy to catch a plain to Raleigh. I spent most of yesterday running errands to get ready for our trip. Bri jumped into my day and graciously helped sew (read: actually sewed, in entirety. I did nothing but pop into the living room occasionally) while I did a last minute trim down of my backpack. (6 weeks of Europe came to about 30lbs, some of that weight in the form of gifts ❤️) 

Veronica made dinner and katie mixed a few beverages while I made some Chex mix with jenna. I wish I'd taken a picture of the scene, it was cute and encouraging and it definitely reminded me of the whole, "it takes a village" adage.

Bri finished her stitches and jenna took over the cooking so veronica could take me to the airport. I was pretty anxious but excited. Veronica & I rode to the airport, departing for a few days until she meets me in Philly for her sisters graduation. Fortunately, the airport was pretty empty so I made it to Lydia & Dustin's before midnight. At breakfast with Lydia at chickfila, resembling the many Friday
breakfast dates we shared while she was in college.

And now, I'm chilling on some train tracks about 30 miles outside of Richmond. On the first leg of the ride, I sat next to a kind (polish, I believe) woman on her way back from her granddaughters graduation. Talking with her and skimming the train map in the seat-back pockets reminded me of how important it is to travel if you have the means. That's littered with privilege, i know. But my God, watching the trees and swamps pass by, peppered by the subtle accent of a Eastern European ex-pat was unreal. She told me stories of her family packing 5 children + tents + backpacks into a station wagon to through camp portions of the east coast. She said it was certainly an adventure, but she would gladly do it again. I hope that in my older age, I too will be a warm crinkle eyed woman quietly staring out he window, resting in the gift of simultaneous stillness and movement.


From here, I'll get to meet up with hannah Vaughn (AND meet her fiancé!!!) before I catch my early ass flight to philly. It's finally happening & holy wow, I'm excited about it. Veronica and I will get to adventure through the UK and navigate the terrain of being long distance for a month or so. It'll be grand and wild and full. And for that I give great thanks.

Sunday, May 14, 2017

Euro2017

It's here now! Tomorrow night, I leave on my first leg of a 6 week Europe trip. It's unreal and a little nerve wracking, but I think all of that is normal.

For the first two weeks, my girlfriend and I will traipse across Scotland & Ireland. Veronica & I will meet in Philly on Wednesday, and leave for the UK on Saturday. She's finishing up most of her packing as I scribble away here. Below is my packing list for clothes and though I think most travel blogs are overrated (and poorly written) I do appreciate the visual of a pack list.

Tomorrow, I'll spend the day tying up loose ends & finishing my Irish passport application. And making Chex mix for the first leg because we're both snackers.

Welp, everyone needs a good crappy into, so this is ours. Join us on our wild adventure!




Tuesday, November 15, 2016

2am and i must be awake (not lonely)

oh saint clarity, won't you sit and keep watch with me
over those who weep and watch and wake
in this unslumbered night of clattering possibilities
resting between my lungs and me is the steady beat of the i am, i am, i am
and i have been, i have been, i have been
nearer to you than my skin could've known
settling just beneath the synapses
like pulses, steady and ready to quick fire
we are here in the uneasy newness and nowness of every waking moment...

Wednesday, July 27, 2016

good news.

each night
for the last week
i have come home.
i sit on my porch 
in the seductively cool night
watching the sky flash and dance
i am waiting for october
i listen to julien baker croon
the songs are just beyond my range
so i reach for them any ways
and the only way to hit the notes
is to sing through them
to fill my lungs with swelling breaths
and scrape every last molecule of oxygen
into the shape of meaning
to breathe deeply
like my heart is beating
because, my God
my heart is beating.

Sunday, July 24, 2016

when you are wanted

there is an unnamable warmth 
that occurs when your whole person is deeply wanted.

it is not entirely foreign 
& it is not even rare. 
but when that feeling nestles in 
& climbs into its rightful seat at my soul's table,
 i am flooded with light and warmth in ways i cannot comprehend. 
it is like having the galaxy,
resting between your lungs.