This really isn't a revelation, but as it turns out, camaraderie really DOES make a big ol' difference in my perception of the world. Last semester, for example, I was hermitous, only getting social interaction at school, when visiting my local haunts (gym/Starbucks/Trader Joe's) or flying home. Lonely a lot, I didn't really enjoy my time in Cactus Land, instead I desperately wished to be home in the golden state. As fate (and schedule changes) would conspire, this semester I started to see people more often and now I actually have good friends in this vast desert. While I wish I could transplant everyone to California so I could have my T and friendsies, too, I'll settle for not hating it here.
One lovely byproduct of having friends who understand the madness of grad school is coming together to kvetch, and what better way than over sugar and drinks? For the last couple months, the ladies and I have been visiting Oregano's every other Saturday afternoon. They know us there now and it makes a wonderful distraction from studying. Here is us decidedly NOT doing homework. ;)
Katie's front yard has the coolest freakin' cacti!
Katie, moi, The Cookie & Kristin
The Cookie.
The key to good mojitos? Have Kristin flirt with the bartender. And by "flirt," I mean "challenge mojito-making masculinity."
Okay, back to the paper.
xoxo,
shawnaLabels: Cactus Land, friends, school
