Celeste Dylan

Today was beautiful. I woke up naturally at 8 am, watched movies, cleaned my house, did laundry, and went to work. On my way to work, I stopped at Fedex Office to try to get one of my collages packed and shipped to a friend of mine who lives in Georgia. Because of the size and because of the glass in the frame, they were going to charge me 70 dollars just to pack it! I feel like that’s just a little bit ridiculous…. so I think I’m going to try to pack it myself…
AND a boy gave me butterflies today. I haven’t had butterflies since the 8th grade. Love those butterflies
I have to get to bed because I work early tomorrow morning….. life is so good.

I LOVE sleeping in! I love not having to set my alarm! It is absolutely glorious. This morning I didn’t have to work at the Bux, so I slept until noon. I felt like a high school kid; it was amazing. I rolled out of bed, wasted time on Facebook, then I got ready for work. The blinds were closed, so I didn’t realize until I walked out the door that it was raining! Northern Californian weather is so bipolar… haha, yesterday it was all sunshine, and today it was rainy! But, at about 5pm, the sun came out and the rain stopped. We took the kids out to play (of course they gravitated towards the puddles), and it was the perfect temperature. I was standing there listening to the giggles and playful screams of the kids, feeling the sun warm my face, and breathing in the fresh, post-rain air. The grass was vibrantly green and the sky was an explosion of angry grey clouds with the beautiful blue California sky peeking through. Life doesn’t get much better than this. I have the best job in all the world.

I was supposed to babysit tonight, but they cancelled on me which actually turned out to be fantastic. I have the whole apartment to myself tonight! I love it when that happens! AND, I don’t have to wake up early tomorrow… I get to sleep late two days in a row! I’m pretty sure it’s a movie night tonight. I have quite a few courtesy of my movie pirate friends. I also rented “New York, I Love You.” Here’s to a couple bottles of Shock Top, some good movies, and comfortable pajamas. The perfect start to a great weekend.

I really feel like a good cry right now. I’m not upset, or sad, or depressed. I am really very happy because I have such a good, rich life filled with wonderful friends and family. But sometimes it just feels good to have that release that tears bring. I was just watching a movie with my friend, and there was a sad part and I really wanted to cry, but for some reason the tears just wouldn’t come. So I sat there and really tried to cry. I focused on it. Nothing. Now, I’m frustrated, and all I really want to do is let loose and weep for a little bit. Cleanse my aura.

So, here’s the plan…. I’m going to plug in ‘A Walk to Remember’ and get the tissue box ready. It is impossible to not cry while watching that movie….

You know what I really don’t like? That horrible crash back to reality after a wonderful vacation. It’s like I’m floating in the clouds, happy, loving life, everything is a peach. I’m seeing new places, catching up with good friends, eating great food, living the DREAM. And then WAAAAAABBBBBBAAAAAMMMMMMM! Waking up early, work, more work, laundry, bills, and cleaning all gang up with super strength and slap me in the face.

Ouch.

Ok, so it was a really weird day. All I have to say is:
What the HECK?
I’m tired, I want fried rice, and I have to go return movies at Blockbuster. Until tomorrow….

Yesterday, it felt like I was traveling forever. I really just wanted to be home. I hope one of these days that someone invents an instantaneous way to travel. Wouldn’t that be AMAZING? I did have a very interesting layover in LA though. I had two hours at LAX to kill before I my final flight into San Jose. I decided to sit down and have dinner at this grille place. Seating was pretty limited so it wasn’t long before I had to share my table. A middle aged woman with fiery red hair took a seat across from me. I really tried to avoid conversation— I tried to implement as much “I just want to eat my food and relax by myself” body language as possible. When I’m traveling and in a less that excellent mood, I like to just be alone. I really don’t like to deal with people during those times. Just leave me alone, seriously. But she had one of those persistent, bubbly personalities, and she drew me in. I almost felt like she had so much to say that it was bursting inside of her and she just had to find someone that was willing to listen. Laura was her name and she proceeded to tell me about her college experience, about her career, about her travels. She would ask me a question, I would reply with a few sentences and then she would expound for several minutes on whatever struck her chord. By the end of the conversation, I was so engaged and provoked in thought that I really didn’t want to leave her. I wanted to stay and pick her brain, ask her questions, listen to this successful woman who had 20 more years of experience than I—this woman who was living the life that I want.

One of the ideas that she brought up is the concept of real beauty. What is real beauty? From her travels to Europe, she compared the very different views from that of North Americans and Europeans (particularly women). Laura talked about how this French man that she knew asked her, “What is with these American women? They all want to look the same… skinny, blonde hair, dark skin… why don’t they see the beauty in themselves?” She talked about how Europeans aren’t all weird about their bodies. They embrace their differences and have confidence in their own personal beauty. In North America, there is a certain type of beauty that is marketed to us through airbrushed, photoshopped, manipulated advertisements, TV, magazines, and movies. Little girls grow up being inundated with this marketed beauty and the image problems that that creates is extremely destructive. It causes eating disorders and other forms of self-abuse, depression, frustration, stress, lack of confidence, you name it. Most women aren’t naturally a size 2– most women don’t have blonde hair and they don’t have perfectly tanned skin. Everyone is different. Everyone possess a beauty that is uniquely theirs. That is real beauty.

It is interesting to think about the people that cross our paths everyday. Some of them are around for a lifetime, some for a few years, some for a few months. Then there are those people that only cross our paths for a matter of minutes. I spent about 45 minutes with Laura, and she made a deeper impression than some people do that are present in my life for years.

I’m always a day late and a dollar short…. Haha. What ev. Such is life I suppose.

Yesterday was a great day spent with my friends in Jersey. I woke up way too late. NYC really wore me out—we did so much in so little time.

We went to Harold’s New York Deli for lunch— the food was incredible! It was the most interesting deli I’ve ever been too. The sandwiches were HUGE (I mean one of the sandwiches can literally feed 3-5 people), and the restaurant even had a pickle bar…. Whhaaaat? I ate a lot of food and drank a lot of root beer. The root beer came in frosty mugs! Yessss. It reminded me so much of my grandma because one of our favorite things to do together was go to A&W and drink the root beer out of those amazing frosty mugs.

After lunch, we went bowling and I even won one game! I got a couple of strikes, too. It was great because while we were there it was cosmic bowl….strobe lights, black lights, glowing bowling balls. My friends were making fun of me because of my approach—it isn’t technically the proper way to play, BUT if I get strikes, who cares right?

We went to the mall afterwards to get some ice cream, and I found some pretty great sales at American Eagle. I bought some jeans that I refer to as my “skinny jeans.” I’m going to give myself a month to fit into them, and then I’m going to buy a smaller size and repeat that process. I feel like if I have a visual reminder, a physical goal, then it will be easier for me to say no to bad foods and yes to the gym. I have a couple of weddings to be in this year and I definitely want to look good for them (I just got the call today that one of my friends got engaged and I get the honor of standing in her wedding, congrats Joanna!). There is nothing worse than being the big bride’s maid. Grosssss.

Then we came home to a fantastic meal made by my friend’s mom (who is wonderful by the way). It was so nice to sit down to a meal all like a family. We had some pretty great conversation. I love laughing, and I feel like that’s all I have been doing all weekend. After dinner, we played Rock Band again (I was getting pretty good at guitar and vocals). I went to bed pretty late again… still not used to the east coast time thing…

This morning I woke up too late to go to Sunday school…. Well, I guess I would have been fine but when I was in the shower I accidentally washed my hair. I hate when that happens. I wash my hair every other day because it’s healthier. I was so messed up from the time zone and from the fact that I went to bed so late, that I ended up washing my hair. As soon as my hair hit the water, I was like “Ahhhh man!” It takes me 40 minutes longer to get ready when I wash my hair—so much hair that takes FOREVER to dry and straighten. I did end up making it to the main church service. We went to lunch afterwards (so much eating!) and then we went home and I packed up my things, checked in with my airline online, and my friend’s husband hooked me up with some movies for the flight home. It was so sad to leave my dear friend. I love her so much, and I only get to see her once every blue moon. I need to make a more conscious effort to visit not only her but also my other cross-country friends and family.

Now I’m on a packed out flight EXCEPT for my row. I’m pretty sure we are the only row that has some empty seats. My seat buddy and I are living it up with the extra room. Spread out! It has been quite the weekend. So many memories. So much fun. Life is REAL good.

New York City is a new dream for me.

As soon as I took my first step onto  the sidewalk outside the Penn Station, I was inspired. That moment took my breath away. That moment I fell in love with New York City. My senses were overwhelmed— there was so much to take in. The buildings shot forth from the pavement and towered over me. Looking up was almost dizzying. The architecture that surrounded me captivated me; it drew me in. My friend had to keep reminding me to not look up so much so I wouldn’t be a target for a mugging or pickpocketing; but, really, how could I not just stare? How could I not take every moment that I had to imprint these images into my mind? The advertisements that decorated buildings were astonishing. A huge Sarah Jessica Parker advertising for Macy’s welcomed me to the city. So many colors, images, structures. I used to think that the best place to people watch was in the airport, but I stand corrected. New York City has the most interesting people to watch from all walks of life.

There was so much energy and just walking the streets made me feel so much more alive. It’s almost as if the city has a heartbeat, a pulse, life flowing through it. I wanted desperately to fall into the cadence, the flow, the rhythm, the beat.

We spent time walking around, seeing the sights, buying must-have souvenirs. We took a ton of amazing pictures which are really and truly priceless. The M&M store was really cool… who knew there are so many M&M inspired things you can buy? I loved just walking around because it gave me a chance to take in the sights and sounds of the city. It was almost poetic.

Before dinner, we stopped at a Starbucks (because let’s be real, I can’t go a day without it), and I met the man that should have been the random stranger I was supposed to kiss while vacationing in NYC. His name is Moe, and he has the most beautiful eyes AND he even has the full-on, in-your-face New York accent. It was amazing. I am kicking my self for not throwing caution to the wind! What a great picture that would have made, right? Times Square in the background and me making out with Moe. PRICELESS.

We decided to have dinner at a pizza place. There is nothing in the world like New York pizza. It is huge and amazing. I don’t even know how else to describe it… well other than the fact that you need to fold it in half to fit it in your mouth. From the pizza parlor, we saw the city slowly transition from day to night. The lights came on, and new life burst forth. More people, more energy, more color, louder sounds. INCREDIBLE.

We walked around some more and went into more shops. It was in one of those shops that I fell in love with a black hat that I couldn’t live without. But somewhere between dinner and buying that hat I lost my purple scarf that I bought earlier that morning on a pre-NYC shopping trip. What a shame! Though the life span of that scarf was a matter of hours, it will live on forever in the pictures we took.

At about 7 pm, we made our way to the Minskoff Theatre on Broadway to see The Lion King. I have been wanting to see that show for 8 years, and I finally got to do it! It was nothing short of incredible. The costumes, backgrounds, music, actors…. everything was breathtaking. There was so much to take in and so much to look at that it was hard not to miss somethings. I feel like I need to see it again just so I can get everything. But, in the opening scene, the diva of a man in front of us decided to switch seats with his wife. He actually stood up during one of the most powerful scenes in the show. I was a second away from whapping him in the head, for REAL.

During the show I kept thinking, “I don’t want this day to end…. oh, how I don’t want this day to end.” It was one of those days that make life extraordinarily beautiful. I was sad to take those steps back down to the Penn Station and get on the train back to New Jersey, but something inside of me tells me that this won’t be the last I’ll see of NYC….

If a picture is worth a thousand words, then I have 30,000 words for you here. Today was one of the best, most amazing days that I’ve ever had. I would definitely put it in the top five, for sure! There is so much to write, but it is nearing 2:30 am here on the east coast, and I am exhausted from the day. Enjoy the pictures for now…. more to come and a detailed catalogue of today’s events tomorrow. Good night, New York!