Surprise: My Hometown Doesn't Suck

For a long time, I really thought Waterloo had nothing going for it as a place.

Moving back here felt like a huge retrograde after college. I was born here, raised here with my parents. In he same house, same street, same everything.
However, it wasn't until I moved away to school that I feel like I did a lot of growing up. Living away from home, on your own, you find out a lot about everything from your own eating habits, sleeping patterns, house cleaning (or messing), and your own personality. You begin to know who you are as an independent, instead of part of your family unit.

So moving back to the town where I lived for 18 years felt like a pretty big setback. I've had a couple of big anxiety attacks concerning it. I've had all over grey days where I just felt as though I was stagnating here. "What am I DOING WITH MY LIFE!?" Style panic attacks.
The pattern of work. sleep. work. gym. computer. coffee was okay, but I'm like the Little Mermaid. I want more.

Well, recently, I found more. I've re-friended my buddy Dave, who I was tight with in the old days, all the way back in primary school. Then, we were in-class friends in the final years of high school. (Like work friends...but in Media and Writer's Craft instead.) Now we've started hanging out in real life, which is cool. Dave's world is world I didn't know existed in my boring home town. This is awesome for me, because it means I get invited to do cool things. Folks, I have officially gotten a life. Or maybe, half of a life.

Thursday, Bek and I ended up in Café Pyrus, a local vegan cafe. We watched four different bands rock the house. (One of them was Mark It Zero, Dave's band!) I've dabbled in listening to punk music in highschool, but the awesomeness of seeing it live is way better. Watching people do something they enjoy, and being really good at it... That makes me happy. The hardest part was being psychotically self aware that I was A) New on 'the scene' B) Psychotically self aware. I'm sure no one was paying me any mind, but I felt like I was standing outside of a big fish bowl. A big hip fish bowl, not yet swimming. The music was good, if nothing else! Eventually the tension rolled off and I was able to just sit back and enjoy.

I took 20 pictures, but this one of Junior Battles is the only one that was useable!

I bought two tapes and got a 7" album for free. (The guy selling Merch asked me if I had a record player like it was totally normal. Even my PARENTS think having vinyl is weird. I knew I was more or less home at that point.)

The very next night, we ended up at Comedy Night at the Princess Café. (Just assume we is Bek and I, because...well. It is.)

The Princess Cafe and Awkward Comedian Extraordinaire Ben Stager
For five bucks, we got to see a bunch of comics do stand up. Some of them were hilarious, others just chuckle worthy, but we had a good time all around. Nothing quite like laughing your butt off in a room full of people. I have such huge respect for live comedy, because I know it's SUPER hard to make people laugh. The pressure would probably make me barf.

ANYWAY, that's what I've been up to.
Also: going to the gym.
Also: wrapping gifts and watching Christmas specials. (Elf, Home Alone, Santa Claus is coming to Town...)
Also: ending this blog.

Topsy Turvy

Today I've been up making Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Stuffed Cupcakes for Kacy's 19th birthday tomorrow. I had to make her something TOTALLY cray cray and over the top-- what else are bake-happy older sisters good for? I'm also going to meet up with some college friends tonight for some food and drinks in celebration of my friend Tyler's birthday. (Tyler, of I'm-trying-not-to-cry-next-to-you-in-127-Hours-this-is-awkward fame.)

BUT, yesterday Rebekah and I got to do something else totally boss: we went to see the local Busker Festival. Our city has one every year, and it fills the downtown area with street performers who complete amazing acts and crowds of people to see it all go down. We saw the end of an acrobatic act and then watched an escape artist escape from a straight jacket 20 feet in the air. COOL stuff. The other amazing thing about live street theatre is seeing this stuff up close. The performers clearly LOVE what they're doing and there's a lot of audience interaction. You're going to get heckled by them if you're on their cellphone or if you're standing someone clear and obvious in their sight. There's a nervous energy about it that you don't really find in other kinds of theatre.




Fun lights are fun.

Oh mother, where art thou?

I know I already made my mother's day post, but I wanted to include some pictures from the big day, because I was so excited about it. My mama doesn't like going to the spa and we weren't sure what to get her for a small gift. I know it's not supposed to be about about buying your mother things, but showing her you appreciate her. My sisters and I ended up taking her out to lunch at a nice local restaurant called Solé. If you happen to live in Waterloo and you're looking for a place with a little class and a tasty lunch, look no further.

It came highly recommended on Urbanspoon, and it didn't disappoint. It was a three course fixed menu, and by the end of it, we were stuffed and happy about it. Mama gets particular about restaurant food, since she likes to cook and feels bad about shelling out cash for something she could make for cheap at home. However, the dishes were nicely plated, and complex enough that you probably COULDN'T make them at home without shelling out tons of cash for different ingredients. (I had braised beef brisket on ciabatta bread with caramelized onions, three year old cheddar and New Orleans style barbecue sauce, WHAT? Insanity.) As you can see, the dessert was beautiful too:

Carrot cake with bourbon caramel sauce.

Taking my mom out to eat was the perfect plan because around the house she does so much of the cooking around the house. We really wanted to treat her to a nice place so she could enjoy very bite without working for it, and without the dishes afterwards!
Since it was a nice place, I dressed up a little, and snapped a few outfit pictures. The red and the blue were opposite and fun to play with, especially with the neutral base of the dress. This outfit was kind of an experiment though, so I'm interested to know what y'all think. I'm not completely sure of it but I acted like I knew what the heck I was doing, and really, confidence is the best accessory, isn't it?

Cardigan & Leggings - H&M
Dress & Gold bracelet - Forever 21
Shoes - Local shoe store
Necklace - Gift from my mother from New Orleans