Life

Life in Kansas is DIFFERENT! I keep walking around just saying everything is so different here. Really there is nothing similar to California. Some examples of differences include:

• There is no traffic. Literally we took Ally to the airport at 5pm in Kansas City and there was no traffic. Love it.
• People are obsessed and I mean obsessed with their sports, specifically KU. Every store you go in here whether it be WalMart, a furniture store, 5 guys, whatever at least 50% of the people have some sort of KU gear on. Don't even get me started on how many stores sell KU gear.
• There are four way stops that only have stop signs on 2 sides. The next block it changes. Uhh ok.
• It is so hot here! Temecula (my home town) gets hot but not this hot. Today its 102 with a heat index of 110. Nope not leaving the house.
• The thunderstorms. Oh my the thunderstorms. The first night I stayed in my house alone there was a huge thunderstorm. I was extremely freaked out and really thought it was just because I was a Cali girl. Come to find out it was the worst of the season. 70mph winds...not good.
• People in stores are so friendly. They genuinely want to talk to you, help you out, whatever you need. Its refreshing.
• Also, I have a basement in my house. Never ever have I had one of those.

Well that was quick update for you all. I will write more this week, especially about classes, clinic, and my new home.

Here are a few pics from our day trip in Kansas City. I have to drive there (about 45 min) for class 2x a week. Kinda sucks.

Last night my roommates (the two sitting on either side of the guy) took me to a local bar called Sandbar. It was a great place full of fun fruity drinks (my kind of place). Anyways, we're sitting there chatting and all of a sudden my roommate starts freaking out when these two extremely tall guys walk in. I of course have no idea who they are. Well turns out this guy is Nick Collison and he used to play for KU and now plays in the NBA. And then there was another guy with him, Scot Pollard, who was also a big time KU player. It was a very big deal for them. Again I felt clueless but hey I got to meet a local celebrity. And he's definitely not too bad to look at either =)

Lauren

Today is the day...

Today is the day that I don't do fashion friday (because I took pictures this week but don't have my camera cord to upload them...fail). Today also happens to be the day that I pick up Ally for our road trip to Kansas! So because of this I am going to tell you all about this awesome girl.

Here we are!

• Since senior year number one (yep Ally and I both did not graduate in the standard 4 years) we have been using the phrase, "Today is the day, today is [fill in the blank] day." For example this was when we were obsessed with Lost so we would every Tuesday say, "Today is the day, today is Lost day!"
• We both love love country music. Its going to make this trip so awesome. She just bought the new Brad Paisley cd, I bought the new Luke Bryan cd. Awesome.
• During our undergrad Ally and I took all but I think 2 of our major classes together. We are quite the study buddies. I'm still not sure I can do grad school without her.
• We love adventuring together, especially in LA.
• We are both new to the blogging world.
• We talk about silly things that we think only each other get. We are about to have 26+ hours of this.
• We've already road tripped together. It was a blast and full laughs, this should be no different.

Lauren

T -6 Days

So I leave in approximately 6 days...yep only 6 more days in my beautiful state of California. I have so many things to complete and so many people to see. I literally feel like every night this week I have plans to see people to say good bye to them. This is really starting to be quite bittersweet. I am so so excited to go but I also am really going to miss so many people.

Last night I spent my time saying goodbye to two girls from work, Kelsey and Cynthia. Ok seriously I cannot even express to you how awesome these two are. I wish we had become friends sooner than we did as I am now really going to miss them. They were so sweet to me yesterday. They planned this awesome night of going down to Huntington Beach pier for dinner at Ruby's Diner. They wanted to make it a very California night and I loved it. They also bought me presents and paid for my dinner! Really it was too much and I felt very loved and missed! Unfortunately, I didn't take any pictures as I left my phone at home otherwise I would share them.

So lately I've been reflecting on everything that I am going to miss about living in CA/LA. Here is some of the list:

• I'm really going to miss Splash (I know shocker!!) and my coworkers. Here's a few pics from our Splash trip to the fair last weekend.

• I'm really going to miss the weather. All summer its in been in the 80's for the most part. Beautiful and humidity free.
• I'm going to miss going into LA whenever I want. Dodger games, all the yummy food, The Grove, TV tapings, and exploring.
• I'm going to miss having my mom and dad around to spoil me =). Seriously I am one lucky girl when I'm at home.
• I'm going to miss my sisters. Lacey and I have gotten really close since I graduate in December and man I'm going to miss that hilarious girl.
• I'm going to miss being able to see my Biola girls whenever I want.
• I'm going to miss my Splash tan. I love my bronzy color.
• In-n-out! Need I say more.
• Fresh and Easy. I can't live without their under 400 calorie, under $5 salads.

Now while there are so many things that I will miss there are also things that I won't miss one bit or that I am really looking forward to in Kansas.

• TRAFFIC! I will never miss LA traffic. Sometimes it takes me 50 minutes to drive the 15 miles between work and home. Lame.
• I also won't miss all the rude adults that come into my work. Yes, you are mature when you flip me off for telling your kid to put a lifejacketon.
• I am so excited to do school again. I know I'm kind of a nerd. But really I love structure, I love the fact that I am one step closer to being an actual speech therapist and that I will soon be making a salary.
• I am so excited for a real fall with changing leaves. Not so excited for the winter though.
• I'm really excited to move into my own room and not have to break the bank to do it! Rent is so cheap in Kansas, love it!
• I'm also so excited to meet my new roommates. They seem awesome!

Ok well now that I've let you know all this I should probably get to my to-do list.

And these are only the things I can remember that I need to do in the next 6 days. I know there are way more. If only I could remember all the mental notes I make as I do my river walk at work. Hmm I need to work on that one.

Lauren

8/5 Fashion Friday

Ok can I start with saying that I cannot believe it is already August 5! Where has the summer gone? I leave one week from tomorrow and I have nothing done! This next week ought to be interesting!

So this week I really had no exciting outfits to share with you all. Seriously, the most exciting thing I did all week was go to InCahoots for a little line dancing. However, I failed to get a picture of that nights outfit, which just consisted of a shirt, denim shorts, and my cowboy boots. Really nothing exciting.

So because of all this you are getting a real surprise today...

Ready for it...

Here it goes...

My Uniform!!!

I am sure that was so exciting for you all! Oh and would you look at that wallpaper. That is the room I've lived in all summer. Can't wait to decorate my own room in a little over a week! Yay!

Lauren

7/29 Fashion Friday

This weeks Fashion Friday outfit features my outfit from last Friday.

If you read the post about the Maroon 5 concert it is actually from that day and therefor you got a little sneak peak.

Really I had no other noteworthy outfits this week unless you want to count my uniform.

Or maybe you like athletic shorts and a t-shirt, my other summer uniform.

So here is the outfit.

Lacey (my little sister) called it edgy ha! I'm so not an edgy person.

Blouse:

Loft (similar here)

Pants:

They're true jeggings. Yep they feel like pajama jeans. I'm ashamed. They're C&C California. I bought them at Marshall's.

Jewelry:

All from Forever 21.

Boots:

Not pictured here but they're BP Nordstrom.

Here's a pic of my awesome new boots that I picked up at the Nordstrom's Anniversary sale. Yep I decided I had to have them. I am moving where it is cold and boots will be worn most days!

You can totally tell that I have jeggings on in this picture.

And finally here is a picture of me and Lacey together so you can see the full effect.

Goodbyes

Today is the start of many goodbyes that will be occurring in the next 2 1/2 weeks. Tonight I am having a goodbye dinner with my grandparents since they will be gone in Texas when I leave for Kansas. It is kind of a bittersweet thing as it marks the start of something new and exciting but it also will be a little sad leaving everything and everyone I know behind. I do have to say though that I am getting more and more excited to move to the midwest. Seriously so ready for a new pace of life.

P.S. Be on the lookout for my new feature called Fashion Fridays this Friday! Since, I know I'm not stylish enough to do an outfit post every day Fridays will be the one day I share with you all my favorite outfit of the week, which in summer is quite hard to do. My summer clothes mainly consist of my guarding uniform all day and then shorts and a tshirt or even pajamas when I get home. Exciting. I know.

P.S.S. I have a cold right now. Who gets a summer cold? That's right apparently me.

Lauren

3 weeks...

In 3 weeks from yesterday I will officially be on my way to Kansas with this girl in tow. This also means that I have approximately 20 days to do quite a few things. Here is the list so far:

1. I need to finish packing. I have packed about half my stuff already so I guess that's good.

2. I have several pairs of pants that need hemming before I leave. I decided to start buying slacks since skirts for clinic probably won't cut it anymore you know since there will be snow and all.

3. I need to get my hair done. It is looking nasty. Lacey (my youngest sister) told me it felt like I had horse hair since my ends are so dead. Guess what...thats what happens when you work EVERYDAY at a pool.

4. I need to see ALL my friends at least once more before taking off.

5. I need to go to the beach!

6. I need to figure out what else I need to get done because I am sure there is much much more to do.

I have however been trying to make the most of my time left here, that is the times when I am not at work. Friday was spent in San Diego with the fambam at a Gavin DeGraw/Maroon 5/Train concert. I sure am going to miss The concert was amazing. I am pretty sure I am in love with Adam Levine. His dancing and tattoos are so sexy. Plus my dad bought us amazing seats so it was quite wonderful. Here's a quick pic of the from right before we headed out:

Today was a day spent in LA. I'm also going to miss LA, but definitely not the traffic. We started the day off with a Dodger game in which they won. Truly a miracle these days. Then we headed over to the Grove for a little shopping and an amazing Italian dinner. I picked up these amazing pumps at Nordstroms. I kinda think they'll be a perfect clinic shoe as they can go black or brown and they seem quite comfortable.

Finally, I should mention that my wonderful friend Ally wrote the nicest, most perfect blog about our upcoming road trip together and I think you should check it out. Find it here.

Lauren