Final Four

I cannot figure out where the time's been going. I did a little "what have I done lately that I can post on the blog?" mental excursion and came up with "Aha! March Madness!" Then I actually looked it up and oh boy, that was three weeks ago. Well, I hope you'll bear with me anyway. I will admit that not having cable means not following basketball as closely as I'd like, but I'm still a staunch UNC fan. Once they were out of the tournament, I started doing what any good UNC fan would do and rooting for any team playing Duke. That...didn't go well.
I happen to work right near where the major Final Four activities were occurring and this beautiful thing went up about a week before the games.
To appreciate the size of this Marriott, you unfortunately kind of had to be there, but check out the teeny tiny cars in the parking lot! I was so enamored with this majestic site that it almost made me forget about my poor, destroyed bracket.
As part of the Final Four festivities they have a little music festival, where this cool Ferris wheel was housed. We didn't get a chance to go on it, but it was a pretty sight all the same.
And last, but almost certainly best, was the music itself. This brilliant light show is courtesy of Imagine Dragons, who put on an amazing show, despite that it was cold, rainy, and windy the evening of the concert. I came home with muddy boots and the kind of clarity that only comes from commiserating with strangers at concerts and went to bed so content.....until Wisconsin broke my heart a few short days later.

Trapped in a Room with a Zombie

A couple weeks ago (okay, okay, nearly a month, nobody judge me), was N's birthday. He had been wanting to try this cool live-action collaborative puzzle/game-type thing called Trapped in a Room with a Zombie for a while, which you may have heard about if you watch The Big Bang Theory. Anyway, the closest one was in Chicago, so a trip was planned!
So, even though I had read and re-read the website, I didn't really know what to expect. I was worried it was going to be impossibly hard or way too easy or absolutely terrifying. Fortunately, instead, it was AWESOME. Also, I apologize in advance for the quality of the pictures I obviously took with my potato.
When we first got there, we were introduced to our "group of strangers" who would be working together on our escape and were presented with this decidedly depressing board of statistics and the understanding that the zombie was attached to a chain and the chain would get progressively longer with time. Thankfully, we were also told that someone who worked there would be in the room to make sure nobody killed each other and that she would give us hints if we were heading in completely the wrong direction with clues.
And so we entered the zombie's territory and scrambled around for clues as fast as we could. I'm pretty certain I signed something that said I legally can't tell you anything about the puzzles, but those aren't important anyway. The important thing was that we ESCAPED!! #TEAM33PERCENT! Let me tell you, it took a lot of teamwork (and they could probably sell this as marital therapy), but the adrenaline rush of solving those clues and unlocking the right things, including eventually the door to the room, was unbelievable.
I mean, look at those giddy smiles! I'm sure I wouldn't have loved it so much had we not escaped, but if nothing else, it far exceeded my expectations. It was the perfect difficulty level and wasn't scary at ALL (and this is from someone who won't watch The Walking Dead). They have these all over the U.S. and in some international locations as well, so if this sounds up your alley, I would HIGHLY recommend checking it out!

Veterans Day

First of all, Happy Veteran's Day! Big thanks to those brave men and women who fight to protect our country and people. I hope I am not being insensitive or making light of the magnitude of what our veterans do for us, but I thought this would be a good time to highlight two other issues (of public health) that are extremely near and dear to me.
The first is mental health. We know that veterans experience an extreme change in their social, physical, and emotional demands upon return from active duty. Due to these changes and higher chances of physical and emotional trauma in the field, veterans are at very high risk for developing mental health problems (including PTSD, depression, anxiety, substance use disorders, among others) that impact their relationships, ability to re-integrate, and their general health. While there are many important actions being taken to improve the state of mental health in this country, the rate at which progress is occurring is slow. Please consider making a donation to your local VA Hospital today or calling your newly elected congressperson to highlight the importance of improving mental health care (not just for veterans, but for everyone) and decreasing stigma surrounding it.
The second is vaccination. What does vaccination have to do with Veterans Day, you ask? Good question. Let me ask you this: Why do we support our troops? Naturally, the answer is because they fight to protect us and our freedoms. In short, we respect and value their sense of civic duty, and their commitment to protecting their country. Vaccination is really fulfilling this same civic duty on a smaller scale. Veterans put their lives at risk constantly, which makes them a full three or four tiers more reverable than those of us who get vaccinated (for which the risk of long-term adverse effects is literally one in millions), but by doing so, you or your child are protecting others in your community who are not able to get vaccinated. You are, in a sense, performing a service to your country and to your community because you are capable, so those who can't perform that service (the elderly, very young children, people with chronic illness, people with poor immune systems) are still safe and protected. I know that as vaccines become more common, we don't see many of the diseases they prevent, but losing that high level of vaccination in the community makes all of us vulnerable, much the same way that lapses in national security do. For every story I've heard about someone that had an adverse event after vaccination (whether caused by the vaccine or not), I've seen countless videos of babies blue in the face from coughing with pertussis and feverish and listless covered in measles rash. It's not just a matter of protecting yourself and your own children, but a matter of civic duty. Doing your part to your community and for your friends. So I urge you, there are an abundance of sites out there trying to give accurate information about vaccines. One of my favorites is the Vaccine Education Center at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. Learn everything you can about these diseases and their vaccines and get yourself and your child vaccinated today.

What I Know For Sure

I am a 23-year-old Master. It's strange to even say. I feel not much older and not that qualified to call myself an expert and young and insignificant and more than a little bit scared. But Nicole Bates of the Gates Foundation spoke at my graduation about how a column in Oprah's magazine had helped her learn how to think about the future and new phases of life. I feel a little jumbled now, but these are the Things I (think I) Know For Sure.

For the first time in many years, I got to spend Mother's Day and my birthday with my mom, for which I am grateful. My family, regardless of whatever it may seem to me sometimes, has my back, and I am lucky to have their support.
I have been fortunate to have some amazing friends, roommates, and colleagues, and when that's the case, one should make every effort (i.e. more than I have been) to keep up with them.
I often find it inappropriate to get sappy like this on the blog, but I know for sure that I've found a wonderful partner in N and a relationship like that is worth putting in a possibly inordinate amount of time and love into. Also he gets me awesome gifts and I should probably look into stepping up my gift game.
And finally, to always celebrate with much gusto times that are certain and have been good and the people who have stepped into your lives and unknowingly changed it forever. The last week or so has been a time I have both looked forward to immensely and dreaded mightily. I can't say for sure what's next yet, but I am glad to have constants in my life I can depend on to help me through the scary times and create and celebrate the best times.

Halloween!

Three guesses who we were!
Halloween was awesome this year! I sewed my entire costume....like from yards of fabric (a first for me), so that was pretty legit (even if the sewing was actually...rather poor). A number of people actually recognized who I was, so that was another plus. And I got to costume/people watch at one of the biggest Halloween festivals in the US. Favorites included Venom from Spiderman, a girl dressed as Gru and a bunch of male Minions, and counterfactuals! Did you see any cool costumes this year?

Best Coast Weekend

A few weeks ago, I visited northern California for a friend's wedding. There were the added perks of seeing two of my absolute best friends from college that I hadn't seen in a year and getting to be in one of the best cities in the world. I had a day in SF, where I got to see the Transamerica building up close, enjoy a coffee and some crocheting in Union Square, see some old friends and get green chile apple pie, and visit the birthplace of Beat poetry, City Lights Bookstore!







Then the next day was the actual wedding, which I was supposed to be attending with one of aforementioned besties. In classic Mugdha-Loni fashion, we both assumed the other person would have brought the invitation and ended up with our other friend driving us around lost for over an hour. After about half a million frantic calls to basically everyone we knew, a trip to the hotel guests were staying at, and then playing Jenga in a random bar until someone called us back, we finally made it to the reception, and nobody seemed to mind too too much that we were ridiculously, epicly late....and embarrassed. It was nuts, but I wouldn't have expected any less of an adventure from my best friends.


Amidst all the madness, I still managed to have some totally kickass real Mexican food, see some wonderful people, and even get a tiny bit of work done.

Till the next time, best coast!

Birthday Ballet!

About 2 weeks ago, it was my birthday. Normally, my birthday is a BFD, but I was in such a rush moving things into storage, getting vaccinated for yellow fever and typhoid, and packing for Durban, that I completely forgot to write about it! The boy was visiting and, after not as much convincing as I thought it would take, agreed to go to the ballet with me!
Let me tell you, I love the ballet. As I get older, you can bet that I'm gonna be one of those people that goes so often the theater knows my name. The production we went to see was Giselle. A classic, and I'd never seen it before! My favorite thing about ballet is the precision. I enjoy the super-synchronized movements and, having done a little ballet myself, appreciate how difficult some of the moves are that seem so effortless and graceful. It was a wonderful birthday if there ever was one (plus, I got to get all dressed up and see N in a suit)! And afterward, we hung out in downtown Raleigh for a bit and had the most delicious desserts and wine. Couldn't have asked for more.

Mardi Gras!

This past weekend, I got to unwind a little from the stressful couple weeks I've been having. One of my friends here is a native Louisianan, so we had a little Mardi Gras party on Saturday!

I did my nails accordingly, of course. We made gumbo, which turned out pretty good! Sadly, I have no pictures of it, but that's okay because we thought it would be fine to use jambalaya mix instead of gumbo mix...so unfortunately the rice expanded a ton (but don't you steal the name gumbalaya, because we're patenting).
I was introduced to the tradition of King Cake. It's more or less like a giant glazed cinnamon roll. There's a little figurine of a baby hidden inside it and apparently, the tradition is that whoever gets the baby in their piece buys the next King Cake. The baby in ours was definitely male and more than a little creepy, but the cake was delicious.  We also had some delicious biscuits and beer and cheese grits, so really, what more could a girl ask for, right? Turned out to be a really fun, relaxing night! But now...back to the grind.

Elections!

Hey!

Don't forget to vote tomorrow!

That is all.

Unrelated side-note: Those of you who guessed Carmen Sandiego on the last post were spot on!  Way to go!

Halloween!

Chapel Hill, NC has one of the biggest Halloween celebrations in the country, so you can imagine my excitement that I got to go! The costumes were insane and creative and cool and it was a great experience with great friends!
Last year people came from all over and there were about 30,000 people at this thing! Not sure about this year, but it certainly seemed like there were about that many or more. I don't have much more to share, except this awesome photo with my new best friend, the Doctor:

Take a guess on who I was!

Graduate

A lot of you asked what I ended up doing with my graduation cap after my post about decorating, and since I'm leaving for India tomorrow and might not be able to blog for a long time, I thought I'd share that now!


Initially, I was going to make it "Oh! The Places You'll Go!" themed, because Dr. Seuss is a huge part of my university, having been the main donor to our giant spaceship library and many other buildings on campus. Then, I was trolling through quotes and came across one by JK Rowling and it hit me that, duh, Harry Potter is way more near and dear to me! So, probably to none of your surprises, I went with that. And then topped it off with a ton of glitter, because everything is better with glitter.


"Let us step into the night and pursue that flighty temptress, adventure" -Albus Dumbledore. Fitting, right? For those new phases, trips around the world, grad schools, and fun adventures ahead of all of us!


I am so fortunate that I went through four years of college with these girls. In fact, almost our whole freshman suite (of 15 girls!) still hung out together regularly till the very end, which I've heard can be rare. But, these two, Loni and Dorth have been suitemates, roommates, best friends, study buddies, movie buddies, and everything in between these last years, and I'm going to miss the crap out of them as we head in different directions. But, no worries, because grand plans will be made and adventures will surely be had, as they always were in the past, in the future.

That All-Blue Yankee

I'm decorating my graduation cap today! This seems like one of those moments that should be perfect and personal, but I am completely blanking. Hence I've turned to that almighty bringer of inspiration, Google, for some ideas.

Definitely lovin' that last one, obviously. But did you guys decorate your caps? And with what? Ideas would be much appreciated!

Birthday Week!

Today is my birthday!!

Can you guess which one from the picture, haha? I get childishly and stupidly excited about my birthday. I think it's because I'm kind of a youngin' amongst my friends, but this year I feel like I have good reason at least. Yesterday, I kept having to stop and take moments cause I think I was freaking out a little, haha. My best friend, Amy, is visiting all week and we have fun plans! And then there is our school's huge music festival on Friday and a Team Starkid concert on Sunday! Between all those things and work and planning for a trip to Vegas next weekend and for my trip to India in a month (oh man, it's in a month! how did that happen?!), and packing to move out of my apartment, I am going to be crazy busy for a while. Apologies, again, if blogging gets the short end of the priority-stick for a little while, but I will hopefully have lots of fun pictures and memories to share after!

Mother's Day

I was thinking of a post for my mom today, but I was stumped because I did that last year, and I wasn't sure I could top that post. Then, as I was thinking about it, I realized, I don't have to top my previous posts or presents or reverence of my mom every year. Sometimes, it's not about winning, it's just about caring and loving and recognizing what you have and how much it means to you. I constantly have to remind myself of this, especially since my brother and I are incredibly competitive (and he pretty epically won Mother's Day last year, as much as it pains me to say it).

I love my mom so so much, and even though we don't get along sometimes, I am so grateful to her and for everything she's done toward raising me right and making me strong. She's actually the best.


So, to my mommy and to all you mommies out there,
Happy Mother's Day!

3.14159

Happy Pi Day!
(math jokes are always funny. esp when they give you an excuse to eat pie)

Leap

I hope this leap day



You're doing something special or productive



Because unlike the time we waste on other days



You get four whole years to feel bad about this one.



So go forth and enjoy!