March

After having a meh start to the year, I'm happy to report that March was exponentially better. As you may have read, I was feeling uninspired and stagnant. To remedy this complacency, I decided to note special or exciting events of each day - forcing me to always do something.

March 1: Treat Yo Self to Molly Moons (because it sounded so good)

March 2: Squid ink pasta and drinks at Flowers with Alec

March 3: Columbia Tower Starbucks studying with Hunter; Capitol Hill night with Crystal, Sharon, Winnie, and Sung

March 4: Studying with Anna at Herkimer; Finnish spinach pancakes and soup with Chef Sharon and Sous chef Winnie; LANY on repeat

March 5: Seattle Creatives Brunch

March 6: U Village Shopping; Picked up Aaron from the airport

March 7: Edmonds Marina field trip; purchased Capitol Hill Block Party tickets

March 8: The Future is Female: International Women’s Day

March 9: The last brutal Thursday of winter quarter and the last day of the quarter!

March 10: One of the best and funniest study sessions with Hunter, Maggie, and Anna (for the invertebrates final)

March 11: Baked a cake (spice cake with cream cheese icing)

March 12: Met up with Shreya when she was in town for coffee

March 13: DONE with winter quarter finals

March 14: Wrote a paper with Josh and Hunter at Storyville

March 15: Late night packing sessions with the Sharon, Anna, and Winnie for Europe!

March 16: Frankie & Jo’s with Alec

March 17: SPRING BREAK and my preflight frosty and fries

March 18: The cutest Airbnb in all of Copenhagen

March 19: Copenhagen: cute colorful houses, amazing brunch, and the coolest conservatory

March 20: Prague: stumbling upon Old Town Square right as the astronomical clock chimed

March 21: Prague: brunch at Cafe Savoy and the lookout from St. Vitus Cathedral

March 22: Prague: Thai massages, Hotel U Prince rooftop dinner, and the largest nightclub in Central Europe

March 23: Prague --> Helsinki: one of the best plane rides in my life

March 24: Helsinki: design museum

March 25: Tampere: the best doughnuts, bird’s eye views of the city, salmon dinner, the Finnish sauna

March 26: Tampere: a very Finnish day, going to the summer house with Sharon's family

March 27: 30 hours of travel with Hunter

March 28: Seeing my final round of quad cherry blossoms as an undergrad

March 29: Dinner with Crystal, Anna, and Winnie, and the last week 1 Wells outing

March 30: Ran into a bunch of friends on campus, an hour long phone call with Lauren, working out and dinner with Anna

March 31: Watching all of the prospective students on campus and realizing that was four years ago for me

What it turned into was a daily awareness of the little things like how I love cooking with my roommates or I'm still friends with loads of people from freshman year. But, yeah, if you really look hard at it, my life revolves around FOOD and TRAVEL. Oh, yes, I also went to Europe for spring break with Hunter and Sharon...classic. Stay tuned for those posts!

From all of this, I've gained a much needed appreciation for where I'm at. I want to take my time and enjoy this final quarter (side note: it's crazy to think I've already completed eleven quarters). To me, this means going to classes and studying more in Suzzallo in the reading room and at the cute coffee shops; working out at the IMA; while it's still "free"; making dinners with my roommates and friends when were only a few blocks away from each other in the U District instead of spread out across Seattle, the U.S. and the world.

I mentioned early that I had walked past throngs of tour groups and noticed the new freshmen with their purple lanyards and bags. Had I been that fresh faced and young looking? Probably. I vividly remember touring here four years ago and never imagined I'd end up here at that time. But I'm SO HAPPY I did. I have a great appreciation for all of the things I've accomplished, the hardships I've endured, the seemingly endlessness nights of studying, the days full of laughter.

Take a moment out of your day to pause, it does truly help. Hopefully you've enjoyed this little diary like commentary.