The Best Burger Coma We've Ever Had

In the maybe 10 or so years since moving out of Dartmouth, I have managed to keep in touch with maybe only 1 or 2 friends successfully. While 2014 proved to be a difficult year, I am happy to say that it has brought one of my best friends and I even closer and reunited us through many tears and shenanigans. As we move forward into this new year, I am incredibly thankful for truly feeling like I have gotten one of my best friends back in so many ways.

To celebrate the end of a crazy week, it was inevitable that I ended up in Boston for a night of burgers, brews, and a room full of hipsters (I'm looking at you Bent Shapes and your fabulous birthday show at Lillypad in Cambridge). Boston Burger Company stole my soul....I'm almost not kidding. After ordering this monster....

((For your own safety, please hold on to your jaw as you view the picture and caption below.))

"Homemade potato chips, melted cheddar jack cheese, coleslaw, chopped pickles, drizzled with two types of BBQ sauce, & topped with pulled pork, bacon, and sausage with homemade ranch on the side"

...We then decided to go for broke and order burgers. I got the Vermonster-"maple mayo, sharp cheddar cheese, caramelized granny smith apples, red onions, maple syrup, and bacon." with a minor alteration-a veggie burger substitution which I did not regret. Fun fact, I still got the bacon...on the side, which got brought out on its own separate plate to further add to the fat-kid fest happening at our table for two. The sweet and savory combination of the veggie burger, melted cheese and delicious granny smiths was worth Olympic gold and then some.

((Again, I beg you to hold on to your jaw if you know what is good for you))

As we sat there in our food-induced highs, many interesting statements came out of our mouths. Along with not believing that we would ever be so ridiculous as to order that much food, out true feelings-that we are glad to have picked exactly the right friend to go out and order this nonsense with and that my outer body experience had led me to feel that I was "outside of my body watching myself eat this burger, tasting myself taste this burger." A statement I'm sure I will never recover from uttering.

Next time we go (aka my next available moment to sneak up to Boston) I am daring to try the King burger whipped up with peanut butter, bacon, and fried bananas dusted in cinnamon and sugar. Judge me if you want, but it was listed in the top 25 Burgers by Boston Globe so I'm game.

xoxo

Thinking of bacon? Think of me!

My love of bacon is not a secret, especially not to my co-workers, any guy who spends more than 3 seconds with me on a date, or anyone who notes how much I talk about bacon on Facebook. That's what made being tagged in this post such a hilarious start to my day.

#baconsistahs #godblessthebacon #blesthebaconguy

Notes from Spain

Having friends who are living awesome lives abroad fills me with intense jealousy, but it also gives me a fantastic reason to continue travelling. I am so incredibly thankful that keeping in touch with friends no matter where they or I may be has become so simple because sometimes nothing can beat the awesome messages you wake up to.

My love of travel, my tendencies to be fairly adventurous and a bit of a wanderer, and my ultimate life goals of just going from place to place helping humans cause a lot of people accuse me of being a bit of a "hippie". While I'd love to put these rumors to rest, I probably can't. So when my friend left me a message saying....

"My roommate wants to go to India and I told him you studied there and he goes, 'is your friend a hippie?'"

I obviously couldn't help but start my morning off laughing.

:)

Motivation to be an Awesome Woman...

"It's a beautiful notion, the idea that we are all connected: That what we do, our actions, affect our friends and neighbors down the block and on the other side of the world; that we must be responsible for each other and for this planet we are all riding on."

Kiss a Ginger Day....

Let it be known that January 12th is my all-time favorite holiday, at least according to the internet....

Here's to a promising weekend!

Sorry, Not Sorry. My Parents>Yours.

Today I came across two hilarious things I have documented my parents as having said last year.....I couldn't not share these moments of absolute gold.

"The only boy she ever trusted and loved, and he went and cut her f**** wings off."

-My Dad on the movie "Maleficent"

"It's like gin."

-My mom describing mango, the fruit, not any sort of alcohol whatsoever

#mangotheginoffruits

        =

Finding closure in awful dating stats...

God knows your early 20's are not for picking winners. Thankfully, I haven't been one to get sucked into the world of "serious dating" (Let's face it: at this point in my life I feel that my passport is the best travel companion a girl could ask for and people are always very happy to let you pet their dogs when all else fails) because I would hate to be the girl who....

Thus far in life has made dating choices which stack up to...
50% sociopaths
75% dependent on some sort of substance
50% casual sellers of drugs
25% addicted to multiple, pretty serious, drugs
25% incredibly questionable choices in employment
25% cheated on me
50% required restraining orders at the end of other relationships
25% have done jail time (as far as I know)
75% never graduated from college
25% never graduated high school or got their GED


Even at that, I've left finding someone at the hands of my friends...eventually.....if I ever decide to stop moving around because I am allowed to make 0% of those decisions on who I date. (I mean come on, I've heard the horror stories!)

That doesn't mean I haven't shared a beer with some...characters though. Jokingly, in response to whether or not I am a halfway house, my friends respond with, "Yes, for poor, very lost souls."

There's nothing like a good bout of honesty from your best friend.
:) <3

The First Girls' Weekend of 2015

I had an incredible weekend in and out of Boston (which I fully intend to make my new home*). In a complete spur of the moment, what was supposed to be a fun night out with only one best friend turned into a Girls' Weekend with two of the loveliest ladies I know. I think I speak for all of us when I say that we definitely had a blast. The night really kicked off when I got a bit creative cracking open beers without a bottle opener....

While the bar in Cambridge may have been a bit more hipster than we could handle, we did set off on our own adventure to Harvard Commons for one more drink before last call....where we obviously proceeded to awkwardly judge matches on Tinder (one of which happened to be at the bar...).

On our trip home to the Cape to watch the Patriots narrowly (but still completely) defeat the Ravens, we had a lot of long discussions about how we label people, whether or not we identify as feminists, and how we can move away from compartmentalizing ourselves so much. It was great to be able to have a good, lengthy, and insightful conversation-something I sometimes feel I lack in my day-to-day life. I also shared some of the really incredible slam poems I had listened to throughout the week that were relevant to our conversation.

In typical Dachelle fashion, I also made new friends! I will forever be grateful for my fellow patrons on the Red Line, who, after being made incredibly uncomfortable by two men who seemed pretty unsavory, was welcomed onto the next car with high fives and even an apology for speaking to me after a stressful situation. Everyone on my new car was incredibly friendly and welcoming and seemed to want to make sure that I felt safe. I owe an extra special thanks to the one kind Gent who I actually had a really awesome conversation with and ensured that I made it safely to my destination at the end of the evening. As promised, I have already begun sharing some of my dating haikus with him!

This also happened Saturday night:

I took full claim over my adulthood by spending $7.50 on incredibly huge Reese's cups, which we then turned into delicious dessert. I was inclined to do so mostly because they were on sale, but even for $15 it would have been worth it. I decided that this was the best part of being a grown-up: being incredibly satisfied with my decision to buy disgustingly large candy.

I am pretty sure that we spent the entire weekend laughing (well, when my GPS wasn't finally proving to others that she completely screws up my routes, probably on purpose, and causes me to get lost for 20 minutes within 5 minutes of any given destination. At one point her instructions were actually to just follow the signs to Newton. Like, thanks GPS but if I could read signs and no where I was going, you would be homeless on the street.).

I would like to round-up this post with a few very important, largely unanswered questions which are just largely inside jokes:

1. #swallowsnortspit?

2. What on God's Green Earth is Burbonaise?

** it has been decided that the official hunt for the Boston Best Friends' apartment/love shack will begin in September. Potential sites of the futurehome include Boston' South End (not to be confused with Southie), or the Cambridge/Somerville area relatively close to the red line.

Happy, happy, happy girl.
xoxo

6 Days into 2015...

It is not even one full week's worth of days into 2015 and already I am throwing my hands up. It has been a rough day, to say the least. Tackling the in-s and out-s of always trying to do the right thing and realizing that sometimes things just don't work out were the big lessons of the day, but, that being said, some really fantastic things also happened that made me incredibly grateful for the people I choose to be surrounded by.

1. I am endlessly grateful for the two lady-friends that really came through in the clutch today when I needed some real-talk girl advice. There are times when I feel like maybe I don't have enough friends my own gender because my idea of a girls' night consists of me and one or two other friends getting cocktails and then there are times when I'm happy that I don't have a ton of female friends because of how overly dramatic it can get, but today, I was incredibly happy that when I needed them, at least two of my girl friends were there and both offered the same advice.

2. Speaking of lady-friends, I am always always always happy that I met my fellow #ladyplayah over a year ago and that ever since we have been bonded for life. I always know where to go for solid advice, a good laugh, sharing in a new song obsession, and having someone read me a bit better than I can read myself most days. So thank you for putting it all into perspective, because let's face it, we all need the friend who tells us that we were settling for someone who probably wasn't worth it and who will help you get back on your feet with a couple of cocktails.

...And while we're on the topic of friends...
3. Sometimes it's nice to hear from old friends as well and just laugh about the silly times from when you first met. They say the sign of true friendship is that you can go a long time without talking or seeing each other but can always pick up where you left off and today that felt really true. There was even a location chosen for a 2015 reunion (which you are definitely being held to) in Philly (a compromise of almost half way, but more in my favor so I can knock "get a Philly Cheese-steak" off of my 2015 bucket list...thanks Roomie!)

All in all, what the universe tried to deem as an awful (or at least incredibly off) day (as far as days in my life go because they generally aren't even that bad, thankfully) turned out to have its perks as well.


And one last thing!
In my strong attempts to be a somewhat real grown-up this year, I made a giant leap forward and purchased my own car coolant, managed to pop the new Volvo's hood open, and...wait for it....this is really big news here......put the coolant in the car myself. Thank you. #biggirlstatus.

xoxo,
D

Jan. 5, 2014

 Being the incredibly spoiled (and by that I just mean lucky) [still very much a] child that I am, I still cannot resist my nana's Chocolate Cream Pie. Judge me.

YUM!
D

Ringing in 2015: A Testament to My Wandering Soul

For New Years' Eve, I was torn between two excellent plans: visit my old Burlington roommate, April, in Burlington, VT or journey south to Virginia to ring in the New Year with my best friend Kate. After many internal battles and a bit of debate, I decided to head up to BTV for a bit of nostalgia.

While both decisions would have lead to fun times, I do have to say that my choice to go to Burlington was an EXCELLENT one. I had a blast seeing my old roommate, our old friends, ringing in the new year, eating delicious food, and even managing to make some new friends along the way (anyone who knows me will find it shocking that I managed to make new friends yet again....**sarcasm**).

After spending a few days more than I planned in Burlington, I left fairly late in the evening and decided that I would meander down to NH to see one of my oldest friends, then make one final side-stop in Boston before FINALLY making it back home. Even at 23, my mother still worries when she hasn't seen me for a few days ;)

That being said, here are the things I was grateful for on my journey to ring 2015 in and the few short days after:

1. Ringing in the new year in Burlington with April and our old friends

We were all ready to kiss 2014 good-bye

The glow worm hat, ladies and gents.

2. Stealing a New Years' Kiss (fulfilling 20-year-old me's nearly 3 year hope of making that happen.)

3. Wine & Beer tasting in Shelburne at Shelburne Vineyards and Fiddlehead Brewery with Kara & Spinner (who invited me to visit them in Maine btw!!)

4. Seeing the whales' tails as the ultimate sign that you have FINALLY made it close to Burlington

5. Stopping in NH to see Katherine and ALMOST bearing witness to her roommate Caity adopting an adorable kitten (there were a few bumps along her road to adoption, but by the time I had reached home, she had successfully claim this handsome little devil as her own!)

6.Stopping on my trip home to share Fiddlehead IPA in Cambridge
7. Successfully driving in my 1st snow storm (my usual rule is to not drive when it's snowing like crazy out, which I've managed to do well for the past couple of years)
8. The happiness to coming home to a super excited BabyBru (you can really see how excited he was here....)

Give thanks, get happy.
xoxo
D

The Gratitude Jar

Leading into the new year, there were endless posts and ideas about "how to be a better you" in 2015. With endless options for New Years Resolutions (eat healthier, exercise more, lose 15 pounds, join a gym, spend more time with family, do this everyday, avoid doing that all the time, only have cocktails 2 days a week, drink more water, clean out your closet more) I set out to do 2 things: 1.) Keep and pursue a bucket list of items I wanted to accomplish in the new year and 2.) Keep a gratitude jar- A mason jar filled with slips of paper noting things that made me happy, smile, and laugh throughout each day.

Knowing that I plan to venture away from home frequently, I sought out "Gratitude Jar" alternatives. I thought about keeping them in my journal (Yes, I've started to keep a journal with me at all times. Not only did I feel that it would be a great place to house my Bucket List for the year, but I also figured it would be great for me to have a place to write down my random thoughts since I am forever searching for a piece of paper or notebook throughout the day. The story behind the journal is, of course, a testament to my never-ending ability to make friends anywhere. Thanks Stephanie at Tisan Coffee Express in Cambridge. Not only did The Pedro serve up a great Americano that chilly December day, but your friendliness and journal-gifting has lead me on this new journey!) but knew that I would feel a bit awkward having all of my silly little "thanks" so accessible to the world before I was ready. Besides, being an awkward planner-I figured that I'd run out of space in my journal and not be able to use it for all of the other Bucket Lists I am planning to keep on future endeavors.

So keeping a portable Gratitude Jar in my journal was out of the question. Then I thought...What about a blog! I had been thinking about beginning a new blog since the days of Sarees, Sorries, and Saint Petersburg have long passed, but didn't feel that I had much to write about in my day to day life. WRONG. I am buckling down and will be posting all of my silly little Gratitude Jar slips and photos here in my "virtual jar", which I can thankfully access in most places I plan to venture this year.


HAPPY 2015 Y'ALL. MAY IT BE ONE THAT LEADS YOU TO DREAM, LOVE, AND DISCOVER.
xoxo
D