Pursuit of Happiness

Last night, one of my best friends said I’m the happiest she’s seen me in a long time.

When’s the last time anyone’s said that to you?

I should go buy her something pretty.

The pen is mightier than the heart

The other night, I was doing a little spring cleaning and a piece of folded paper fell on my lap. It was a copy of a love letter I’d written years ago to a boy who was moving away. It was beautifully composed (in my humblest opinion), with a delicate balance of emotion, honesty, vulnerability and age-appropriate cheesiness. As I read it, I was quickly transformed into my 27-year-old self who carefully penned that heartfelt tribute and even more carefully, quietly left it in a Pepperdine University envelope on the recipient’s bedside table the morning of his one-way-ticket flight. His closet was empty and there were two large moving boxes on the bedroom floor.

Anyhow, that relationship wasn’t meant to be but the words and emotion expressed on that paper are very much alive, or rather, they come to life when they’re read. The memories and bittersweet feelings of sadness, longing and acceptance all flooded back… but dissapated as soon as I refolded the letter.

Much of my life is documented in writing, from innocent childhood stories to angry adolescent poetry to the “What’s it all mean?” journal entries I keep to this very day. Most make me laugh, others cause me to cringe, some I just don’t remember… and then there are those that are still too painful to read.

Raw emotion on paper is sometimes just too real.

I don’t know what I’m going to do with it all. I’ve said that they should all be buried with me because I don’t ever want anyone to read them. At the same time, the writer in me says there’s a story in there somewhere. Until I can wrap my brain around it, the plot continues. But whenever I want to take a trip down memory lane to learn a lesson from my past or to keep things in perspective, all I have to do is pull one of those papers, notebooks or journals out of my secret hiding place and read.

Time travel is possible.

Just Say “Yes”

For two days during an amazing, random getaway to the ultra-luxurious Grand Del Mar Resort in Del Mar, California, not a single “No” was uttered to us. Top-notch customer service with a smile.

Q: “Can we surf in the less kelpy water?”
A: “Yes.”

Q: “Can we have late checkout?”
A: “Yes.”

Q: “Can we go in the pool even though it might be after hours?”
A: “Yes.”

Q: “Can we have a ride in a golf cart?”
A: “Yes – in our LUXURY golf cart.”

Q: “Can I have your crank-powered keychain light?”
A: (as he hands it over) “I’m not supposed to but I can’t stop you from taking it.”

Plus, even without asking we were so graciously given free champagne (just because they overheard us making fun of the name), free wine (because the first glass was sooooo divine) and free MAGICAL truffle oil fries.

Cue the heavenly music.

Me Time

Long drives. Phone turned off. No computer. Dropping off the face of the earth.

Once in a while, you just need to hit reset.

Acting Like a Tourist

Whether it’s talking to out-of-towners, wearing jeans to the beach or a first-time visit to a popular attraction or area of town, acting like a tourist in your own backyard provides a newfound sense of appreciation for the city in which you dwell and so easily take for granted.

Surprises

I’m not really big on surprises.

I like planning my own birthday parties because I don’t want to be disappointed. I don’t mind knowing how a movie or book ends before I watch or read it because suspense can be a gut-wrenching process. And I actually prefer knowing if any of the movie’s main characters die because then I know not to get too attached.

I’m not a consummate planner or a total control freak. I like to roll with the punches… I just like to have an idea of the direction they’re rolling.

However, I also relish being completely and pleasantly caught off-guard, whether it be a chance meeting, a spontaneous confession, a second glance, a bad night ending beautifully, or an unexpected delivery. The majority of life’s most thoroughly delicious moments happen when you aren’t looking for, planning or expecting anything.

Waking Up

Because it means the nightmares about shooting people, kicking the s*@! out of someone’s head, being stalked and watching blood run are OVER.

Horror movies suck… even stupid ones.

I shoulda put up a bigger fight.

Cheeseball Movies

I’m usually one of those people who declines offers to watch goofball/stoner/laugh-out-loud/grossout comedies, saying that I’d rather wait until they come out on DVD or HBO. I know, I know… I’m so stuckup, but I might change my mind after last night. 

When the mood is right or you can get yourself in the right mindset, cheeseball movies are the quintessential antidote to an odd day or short-yet-seemingly-long week.

Seriously, if I was a member of the academy last night, I would’ve given Oscars to Blades of Glory and Forgetting Sarah Marshall.

This isn’t to say I’m a total princess when it comes to this genre of flicks… Beerfest, anyone? And if you haven’t seen Grandma’s Boy, your life is meaningless.

En*dor*phins

For the life of me, I can never remember the word “endorphin,” the feel-good hormone released during exercise or other strenuous physical activities.

But after a day of being stuck inside my own head, stressing about the past and trying to predict the future, I started craving that  certain feeling… the high that combines out-of-breath satisfaction with pure, physical exhaustion; the feeling of supreme accomplishment that doesn’t really require brain power.

Simply put, I needed to f@$#in’ ruuuuuuuun.  

And I feel so much better now. With my kicks on, my gaze soft and my iPod bumping, I sweat out my angst. Other people vanished. Problems slipped away. The constant inner dialog disappeared. It was just me focusing on what my body needed me to do in order to keep going: straighten my back, adjust the speed, fix my headphones, drink some water, increase/decrease the incline, etc. But most important, I had to remind myself to just breathe, something we often forget to do on and off the treadmill.

Now I’m just basking in the afterglow of my endorphin-induced high. Life is pretty simple.

This Never Gets Old

USC 38 – Penn State 24

Rose Bowl champs three years in a row. 

Pac 10 champs seven years in a row. 

The cost to bask in the glory? $120,000 in student loans, scholarships, grants and federal work study. 

Totally worth it though.