Hunchback Skype chats and "The Dance"

So, here's the thing about the weather in Chicago...yeah. It's cold.

Snow in October. SnOctober. NononononononononononononononononononoNO. STOP. It's OCTOBER. Hasn't this city seen the movies? It starts a week before Christmas, almost ruins Christmas and then it starts magically snowing a beautiful soft snow on Christmas Day. (I've seen a lot of Hallmark movies, I know how snow works.)

I pulled my first official all-nighter this week. That wasn't one of my best decisions. By all-nighter, I mean I drank coffee at midnight, which led to me singing Meet Virginia while prancing around my living room. Because college. So incase you were worried,  I haven't gotten any less awkward. The more I meet people the more I realize that. And I, much like my father, take a long time to process things. Is this something I should be doing? How do I feel about this? While everyone else is like, I don't know, Danielle. It's just lunch, make up your mind! It takes me a solid three weeks to warm up to people and I have definitely implemented the whole, "If you need an answer now, the answer is no." rule. I just really wanted to solidify my reputation as being the 23 year old with the personality of a 74 year old. And that's where I'm at (my motto for right now and the title of the book Scott and I are writing.)

I hate change. I really do. I'm the worst. My parents got a new fence in our backyard about 10 years ago and I'm still adjusting. Which is probably why I have friends for so long. I haven't really grasped that sometimes people aren't meant to be in your life forever. I like to think I'm really good at picking them, so why would I want to see them go? Something I really pride myself on is the ability to maintain friendships. Near or far, I like to think I'm good at keeping up with people, but there's a time when you have to let it go. I'm happy here. Genuinely happy. It's freezing cold, I wear nothing but frumpy sweaters, my dresses are packed away, and I still found my happiness. At some point, I need to realize some people can find their happiness without me. Stings, right? Like, that's not possible. I bring the Christmas cheer and sassy year round, there's no way someone is happy without ME. (Don't pretend you haven't thought it.) Then I realize, I want them to be happy. I want people to feel how I'm feeling, even though 94% of the time I'm really not sure what emotion that is. Hashtag WritersLife.


Also, in a (stupidly unsuccessful) attempt to avoid writing a paper, I got an Instagram. Always fashionably late to the party. Or, I'm there to help clean up...which seems to be the case this time.

Bring It All Back..SClub7 Style

First and foremost, I got (preordered) the new Gavin DeGraw and John Legend albums....if you're in the need for some good music that will make your heart happy, I'd recommend that. Gavin is back, y'all.

Let's talk about making friends. I'm in a new city, right? Making friends is part of the territory and let me just say that it is HARD. I'm the person that instantly invites someone over to my house...apparently that's not socially acceptable, it kind of makes you seem like you're crazy. I'm also a restless person; I need friends, and don't get me wrong, I've been making them, but it has made me appreciate my longterm friends that much more. In the scope of friendships, you have your Tuesday afternoon friends (the ones only good for lunch), the Thursday evening friends (when you watch your favorite TV show and make dinner), and your Saturday middle of night blew-a-tire-come-pick-me-up friends. All of them are great and needed! People say that a good friend will get you out of jail and your best friends will be there with you...No. That's wrong. Your best friend would talk you out of doing whatever dumb stuff you're plotting. I've come to realize that best friends are the people who will hate everyone you hate and help you plot their demise and then bring you back to reality. They let you be irrational and crazy and then say, "alright...so, let's reign it in now." I learned this when I was ranting to my best friend this week and she went right along with it and then brought me back to my Jesus lovin' roots. Best friends are people who know your internal monologue and still love you. So for that I say thank you to my best friend of 19 years, Joanna, and all the other pieces of my heart floating around out there that understand me better than I ever thought anyone would: Zac, Scott, Shayna, Alyssa, Justin, Calvin, Holly, Roland, Melissa and Carissa Ro. Thanks for allowing me to be angsty, hyper, pensive, and forgetful; for loving me on days I make you listen to instrumental music, Drake, System of a Down, Frank Sinatra and Kelly Clarkson...in a one hour time span; for letting me try cooking random meals; for letting me boss you around; thanks for letting me freak out over everything, because I do, and for being patient and walking me through basic life things; thanks for listening to me ramble like a crazy person over nothing and then saying, ok...feel better? shut up. go wash your face, go to bed; thanks for putting up with me when I don't have coffee in hand; for teaching me about myself; for listening to my random rants about nickels or cheese; thanks for listening to my church ramblings, and for letting me talk an hour after EVERY tv show I watch because I need to discuss human behaviour and writing plots. Thanks for letting me be awkward and 80. Thanks for watching Golden Girls and West Wing with me and for having conversations made up of only quotes from those tv shows. Most importantly, thanks for giving me more encouragement to be out here doing what I want to do. You all made it so I had no choice but to come here and you also made it impossible to want to say goodbye. I love you all more than you could ever know. 

JD

CuddleBunny

Mer-lissa

Roomie

The Fambam (minus papa bear and Dustin)

Scottifuss/JoshGroban

Ro-ro

  

Zachariah

Herrrly

Sticky/Wife/Joie

Kreesha

Calvin2/Calvinsquared (as my dad would say)

Broken Bad.

Breaking Bad, 5k and bars. OH MY.
These past couple weeks have resulted in me feeling all the feelings. ALL. THE. FEELINGS.

My friend, Malynda, is a one of those friends that convinces you to do things you wouldn't normally do. Sometimes you find yourself eating a vegan meal, going to Boys town at 2AM or paying someone to let you run...for the record, she convinced me to do all of those things..aannddd they all turned out really well. Boys town in Chicago could be it's own tv show, easily. MESS. My first trip I saw a guy get kicked out of a bar for letting an underage guy use his military ID and I witnessed, what I can only assume was, a tribal mating ritual. Wowza. Let me tell you...whoa. That night was shortly followed by the happiest 5K ever, THE COLOR RUN! It was awesome! I jogged. Let that sink in. Apparently, my trips to the gym have been paying off! Unfortunately, I still can't walk up 10 flights of stairs without breaking a sweat. Don't worry, not that much has changed, my dear friends.
Let's talk about Breaking Bad (no spoilers.) Uhm, I'm so in love with Bryan Cranston. The love I have for him is frightening. And Walter White. I don't care about his past (Daddy, I love him!) He's just the best. I am so pleased with the ending. I can't think of anything I would have changed (well, I can, but it's just because I'm a sap. Not because it was bad.) There was a huge hole in my heart after that fateful Sunday night when we said goodbye to one of the sweetest and most interesting love stories I've heard in years, but fear not!! Robin Williams TV show Crazy Ones and Allison Janney's show Mom are here to rescue you. Are these shows anything like Breaking Bad? No. Not even close. BUT, I feel (pretty much) equal amounts of love for all these actors; these shows are the only things keeping my heart in one piece.

COMPLAINERS. WHY. Y U DO DYS!? Nothing makes me want to kick in my own knee caps more than people who can do nothing but complain. Being here I have heard  so many people slowly become more and more negative. Uh, yeah, the water is out in our building for a few hours, but uh, we also live in a really nice, secure apartment in downtown Chicago for a good price....so maybe the world isn't shutting down (though the government is...EEK.)

I'm terrible at being a 20something. The worst, really. "No, I don't want to go out AGAIN. Didn't we just go out last month? Ugh. But Golden Girls reruns start in 15 minutes!" This is pretty much my thinking anytime anyone wants me to do anything. I will go camping, hiking, out to dinner, a show, whatever, don't make me go to a bar. I don't know how to interact with the bar creatures. There's something about a bar, people are so much more confident once they've had a few drinks, it's like they think they're wearing a Cloak of Ammunity or something. I'm also the worst at being hit on, which is what drunk people do. I'm always blown away that I've ever dated anyone. How did it happen? Because I'm the worst at pre-dating rituals. Anytime I get a compliment I get SO uncomfortable and my face shows it and last night I SERIOUSLY heard myself say, "Well, I mean, from a scientific standpoint they're genetically comprised..." Stop right there. Whatever we were talking about, whatever I was about to say, STOP. This is not how you do this, Danielle. BUT, I can't stop. This is my fate. This is my destiny. I'm really glad my niece and nephew are the perfect kids because if I keep using "genetically comprised" as my go-to flirting material, my parents are never getting more grandkids.

I'm a sucker for music. I know how much it affects me and I still let myself listen to the sappy stuff anyway. (Who let me listen to anything Michael Buble?!) I realized, as much as you can love a new experience you're having, you get to the point where you miss where you've been (I mean, unless that completely sucked.), but I've hit that point. I miss it, I truly, truly miss it and theeeennn I listened to John Mayer's song In Your Atmosphere, and I realized that's exactly what would happen if I went back home. I would burn up. You can't turn back because it's not comfortable all the time. Life would be much easier back home and a lot less scary, but I'd lose it. I have these realizations weekly. Stay with me. They'll stop eventually. ;)