Starting today, I have a weekly collection of five things that I find interesting, exciting, or generally entertaining. This week's topic is simple: five things that made me happy this week.

1// Spending a night in Syracuse with a great friend, pretending to be the Log Lady.

2// The fact that it's mostly been raining instead of snowing - with a few small exceptions.

3// Salsa dancing into the early morning hours with friends from work, on a Thursday.

4// Being told I seemed like a more "seasoned" interior designer by a product rep.

5// Having ample time to catch up on my reading despite a crazy schedule.

Silver & Gold

For some reason, being suddenly and violently cast into adulthood has made everything from childhood way more awesome and cool than I thought even as an over-excited ten year old. Call it nostalgia or call it denial, but there's just something wonderful and familiar about getting home from work, throwing on your best 90s boy band playlist and creating a masterpiece in a jumbo Toy Story coloring book. Don't even try to act like you're above that - we all know better...

Anyway, a rather unfortunately large part of becoming a fully employed and productive member of society tends to involve letting go of things. Sleeping in becomes a thing of the past, having a massive network of locally centralized friends becomes harder to come by, and even binge watching entire seasons of Friends in a night can seem like a tall order when all you want to do after the 9 to 5 grind is have a glass of wine and go to bed.

You remember the song, Make new friends, but keep the old. One is silver and the other is gold? Yeah, that's another one of those things I distinctly remember singing while wearing my totally 90s, kick ass, OshKosh B'Gosh purple corduroy overalls (I know, throwin' it way back). Well, that little blast from the past has been at the forefront of this whole keeping my cool in the big bad world thing.

If you've ever moved somewhere without knowing a soul, you certainly know that it can be frustratingly difficult to meet people. Sure, you have your work circles, but that doesn't always translate into much of a social life. However, if you're smart like I am you've planned ahead for this and got yourself a feline friend to hang with. Regardless, I've found that one of the easiest and most forgotten about ways to keep your sanity is to pick up the phone and call your friends - or email/Facebook message them...if you're into that type of thing. Chances are pretty good that hearing from a friend is exactly the type of thing that'll make their day too. Catching up over more than a few blips on a phone screen is fantastic, and just might be the reminder you're not completely on your own in the big bad world. (:

And with that in mind, here's a wonderful video that my not-cousin-Matt (as I like to call him..don't worry about it) directed and produced. It's called Call Someone You Love, and it's one of three great pieces you can see on his website here.

Call me!

A Weekend According to my iPhone

1. Maple apple pie from scratch

2. Spending the weekend with this cool kid

3. Lazy Sundays and eggocados

4. Exploring Durand Eastman Park

5. The finished product (see photo 1) 

6. Piper as a furniture model

7. Sunny skies in the ROC

Me, Myself and I

As I mentioned in last week's post, I recently moved to start a new job (yay!). What I neglected to mention is that I accepted a job offer, found an apartment, moved into said apartment and started my job all within the span of two weeks...phew. For obvious reasons, those two weeks were thrilling and extremely stressful all at once. With so much going on, there was very little time to sit down and really embrace what was going on. There were a million and a half things going on and reflecting on my current life stage was not one of them.

Once that initial phase had passed, I found myself totally and all at once overwhelmed but anything and everything - that stale new apartment odor, the hefty costs of uprooting my life, the fact that my cat will never fully understand me (erm...I meant what?). Most of all, I was overwhelmed by the fact that, for the first time in my life, I was actually going to be alone. 

I'm going to be honest here - I'm horrible at being alone. Or at least I was. If you're anything like me, you probably place higher value on relationships and being with others than giving yourself some quality one-on-one time. Because of this, making the transition from college to the "real world" became even more daunting. How do you go from such a concentrated and constant amount of interaction with friends and acquaintances, to a city where nobody knows your name? 

*Disclaimer: I have since made friends with a handful of wonderful people. So fortunately, my days do not solely consist of sitting at home with my cat while eating Annie's Mac & Cheese and binge-watching Netflix. Just FYI*

While the idea was (and truthfully still is) terrifying, it's something that almost any experienced adult will tell you is part of growing up and is only going to make you a better, more successful person. And you know what? So far, they're right. 

Just check out this fitting little video called How to Be Alone. It perfectly sums up all the reasons being alone can actually be wonderful.

Great right? Cheerful music and adorable illustrations aside - this video is chock full of encouraging thoughts and pro tips on how to be alone. From spending time in public where people tend to act in solitude, to picking back up on a new or old passion, there are countless ways to fill up your free time and learn a lot about yourself. My personal favorite bit of advice? Take the perspective you get from being one person in one head. And while I've had my rough days, I certainly can say that learning to be alone has been overall wonderful for me. You remember what they all said growing up? That in order to love others, you have to love yourself first...right? Well it's absolutely true. 

So remember - it's okay to be alone. Be patient, and embrace it.

Until next time,