Recapping October .

"I'm so glad I live in a world where there are Octobers."

-Ann Of Green Gables

October -- the last month, for the next few, in which we see leaves on the trees.

 Tippy and her princess pillow.

 This was the first full month that I spent at my new job, at a dog daycare, which meant that I learned new responsibilities such as "running the front" and taking the dog-laundry to the laundromat.

 One of the best parts about this October was when my mom came up to visit.
We went for a walk around my apartment, ate lunch at Panera, and then finished off the day with Starbucks. It felt like it was summer all over again.

 The other best part about this month arrived via mail.
My incredible boyfriend, Jake, sent me flowers when I was having a rough couple of weeks.

October was full of temperature and weather fluctuations.
Somedays it was 80 and sunny, other days it was 60 and rainy.

 Leaves gradually changing color.

 As my trip to Milwaukee was approaching, I had to drive around downtown so as to verify where my bus was going to pick me up. Ironically, I didn't figure it out that day, but I did stumble upon this lovely sign: "You are beautiful. Yes you."

 Last month it was baby cows, this month it was alpacas.
My roommate and I concluded that alpaca wool (if that's even the correct term) is so fluffy that if you press your hand onto it's back, it will sink in like a Temperpedic mattress. It was pretty awesome.

 Something else new I tried this month was bowling on campus.
This is something I've been wanting to do since my freshman year, and I finally got around to doing it. I only played one game with my roommate and close friend, but needless to say I shall be going back (hopefully) soon.

 I also managed to give blood this month.
Blood banks were drastically low (as in, in the negatives) on my blood type.
So, I drove to the closest blood center (which is about a 15-20 minute drive) and decided to donate.
I was worried about my hemoglobin level, which has been lower than normal a few times now, but I ended up having a really great hemoglobin level. Higher than it's ever been before. I don't really have much proof of my giving blood other than my post-blood snacks.

 This last week in October was when things really got tough. I had three exams, compared to last month when I had all four, but every exam was still incredibly difficult. And, of course, each exam was one right after the other (one wednesday, one thursday, one friday), leaving little to no time to study in between. I was a stress-ball. So, to calm my nerves, and help me focus, I decided to have some study time in a nearby Starbucks with my current favorite Starbucks drink: a chai tea latte.

 After I took my last exam, I had to rush home so I could get to work.
Thankfully, my job doubles as puppy therapy, which was much needed after my exam today.

 However, there is no greater therapy than just relaxing at home with my own dog.
While most college kids are out and about on Halloween, all I wanted to do was curl up on my couch, eat candy, and not think about school whatsoever. And for the most part, that's what I did.
My roommate and I made taco salads (which seems to be our unintentional go-to holiday meal) and cookies to celebrate getting through the week.
And of course, seeing as it is Halloween, Tippy had to wear her pumpkin sweater.

October was stressful, yet wonderful.
Here's hoping November is promising.

♥K

Milwaukee Adventures .

As you might have seen from my last blog post, I recently took a trip on a Greyhound Bus to visit my boyfriend. And while I'm very used to traveling to see my boyfriend, this time the destination was different; this time I was going to Milwaukee.

Here is (pretty much) my entire trip documented via cell phone camera.

It all started with a 5.5 hour journey on a Greyhound bus.

Since I didn't arrive in Milwaukee until late Friday evening, we didn't really have much to document. Although I will say that we went to Culver's for dinner, which is the first time I've been, and I ate cheese curds, which was not for the first time. It was heavenly.

The next morning, we overslept and missed the hotel breakfast.
So we went out to a restaurant called Perkin's which serves breakfast all day.
As you can see, for the most part, I did not spend much time documenting my food.

After breakfast/lunch, we decided to hit the city and go to the Milwaukee Public Museum.

 However, if it isn't my luck that the ONE day we go to the museum, it was in the process of closing so as to prepare for a special gala event. But I still managed to take at least a couple of pictures before heading out the door.

 Thankfully, Milwaukee is not short on museums.
We debated back and forth whether we should go to the art museum, or a place called "Discovery World" instead.

We went with Discovery World.

The building was immaculate and had a beautiful view of the lake. 

 A robot tic-tac toe player.

 Needless to say, Discovery World was amazing.

 Part of the Milwaukee skyline through colorful glass panels.

 One of my favorite parts, oddly, was that Discovery World also had an aquarium.
After taking a course on fish, I've come to find them less ugly and more interesting.

Perhaps one of the cutest/happiest turtles you will ever see. 

The best thing about Discovery World was how interactive it was.
There were tons of things to do and see.
Jake and I both go to lie on a bed of nails, though we have no pictures to prove it, and we made our own sick beats with "Reactable".
Despite being there for hours, I'm sure we didn't even see half of the whole museum. 

But we had other places to be.

 The outside of the art museum, which was equally as beautiful.

 After Discovery World we headed to Jake's friend's apartment for a bit,

and then all three of us went to a Greek restaurant for gyros.

However, we were on a bit of a time crunch, so we had to get the food to go, where I, admittedly, stuffed my face while Jake drove us back to the hotel.
Once again, I failed to capture this moment on camera, but let it be known that I now like gyros.

After stuffing our faces and changing into concert-wear, we headed back to the city for the Bastille concert. Bastille is one of my favorite bands, so this was a big deal for me.

The opening was a band called Grizfolk who Jake describes as an American Bastille.

I liked them a lot and cannot stop listening to their songs "Vagabonds", "Hymnals", and "The Struggle". 

 But then Bastille came out and I was in heaven.

 Dan's dancing makes the concert, to be honest.

 This was no doubt the largest concert I've ever been too, and Jake's as well.
We had no idea what to expect with this size theater and, as you can see, we weren't particularly close. However, I had a clear shot of the whole stage which is all I could really ask for.

 When they played "Oblivion" and everyone had their phones out -- magical.

 This concert was incredible and I would definitely love to see them again, and again, and again.

 Post concert: we had to park at the VERY top of the parking garage, but it gave us the most gorgeous view.

 On the last day, Sunday, we once again overslept for hotel breakfast. We had just missed it by 15 minutes or so. But we compensated by eating Fun Size Snickers in bed while we watched TLC. Not a bad way to start the day.

However for lunch, we had to do something new.
We stumbled upon this ADORABLE pizza place in a downtown looking area.

 Excuse me while I shamelessly share how handsome my boyfriend is.

 The verdict: so. delcious.
the pizza was amazing, and I got half a salad (you know, to make up for the Snickers) which was also very tasty. 10/10 would eat here again, granted that I'm ever in Milwaukee again.

 After lunch, it was time to part ways once more.
I feel as though we've gotten to the point where I don't usually get outwardly emotional when we say goodbye anymore. Maybe just because I know that we will see each other again soon.
Although I will admit that saying goodbye this time ALMOST made me tear up.

Back on the Greyhound I went.

 Chicago skyline through a Greyhound window.

Overall the trip was amazing.
Milwaukee is a beautiful place, the concert was incredible, and I wouldn't want to spend these memories with anyone else.

♥K