My Latest Obsession......Thailand!

DAY THREE: What you think about love.

Well, I've never been IN love so I can't speak to that. However, I can say that love apparently makes people cray cray, as evident by the murders people commit or other ridonulous things people do in "the name of love." Can't wait to see how I act when I'm in love....shall be interesting. However, I do LOVE my family more than anything in this world. I do LOVE my dog Haze unconditionally. And I do LOVE myself.

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Sometimes before bed, I put on a movie on Netflix to help me fall asleep. A couple weeks ago, I put on THE BEACH, starring Leonardo DiCaprio, in all his beautiful, post-Titanic glory, as a young American backpacker in Thailand who acquires a mysterious map supposedly leading to an island paradise and sets out to find it. I don't want to give away the movie, so you can just watch the trailer below...

Watching the movie only strengthened my already sick obsession with backpackers. The movie also made me realize just how insanely beautiful Thailand is! There was one scene in the movie where the music + the beautiful imagery was so unbearable, I found myself shedding a tear. Yes, I'm weird like that. Yes, it doesn't take that much for me to cry. But anyways, Thailand is DEFINITELY on my bucket list of places to visit ASAP. Whenever I go back to Australia, I most certainly will be making a pit stop in Southeast Asia. I mean, check out some of these pictures....insane....

So I want to be a flight attendant...

DAY TWO: How you introduce yourself to new people.

"Hey, I'm Natasha" "Where am I from? Jersey. North Jersey. Union County...little town called Springfield."

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Every summer, all major TV networks give a Fall Preview of the new shows they have lined up for fall. Being the TV geek that I am, the other day I was going through NBC, ABC, CBS, etc. websites and watching all the trailers for the shows and keeping record of which ones to watch on my Shows List (yes, I have a Shows List). While on the ABC website, I came across an upcoming show called Pan Am, a dramedy which chronicles the glamorous lives of the Pan Am stewardesses of the 1960s. (Watch the trailer below...)

Watching the trailer immediately got me thinking back to this old CW reality show called Fly Girls that followed 5 young, hot, Virgin America flight attendants as they jet setted around the world, attended Virgin-sponsored parties, and canoodled with rich businessmen in first class. I’m sure no one knows what show I’m talking about right now because I was probably the only person on Earth watching it (or the only person to admit to watching it). But I remember watching the show and feeling the same pangs of jealousy and intrigue that I felt when I watched The Hills (or any show featuring young hotties living the high life) and I remember thinking, “I could do that! I should be a flight attendant!”

Watching the trailer for Pan Am has reignited that dream! Being a flight attendant might actually be kinda cool. Now, the ONLY airline I would work for would be the hip and trendy Virgin Airlines. They’ve seemed to set a standard when it comes to their flight attendants…long story short: you have to be young and attractive. I remember boarding my V Australia (Virgin’s newest airline) flight to Sydney and being immediately greeted by two leggy modelesque Aussies with huge smiles on their faces. It was certainly a big change from the rather aged stewardesses you see on Delta and, to be honest, their spunky attitudes, cool accents, and pretty faces made me anxious and excited to board the plane. I mean, check out this Virgin Airlines commercial. Can it get any cooler than this...

So I’ve done some research and it seems like Virgin America is the only Virgin Airline I would be eligible for (apparently you need a European passport to apply for Virgin Atlantic and at least an Aussie accent to work for V Australia). They’re not hiring for “in-flight team members” at the moment, but I’ll be keeping an eye on their job page : ) And think how happy I’ll make my parents! UPenn grad + $50,000/year tuition = Virgin America stewardess!

Now I know what you all are thinking. You just graduated from an Ivy League university and now you want to make a career as a stewardess??! So much for shooting for the stars! My answer is…of course I don’t want to be 50 and a flight attendant! But it would be a cool job to have for like a year or so, right? Think about all the pros…the hot pilots, the celebrity run-ins, the chance to travel the world and for free, the chance to shmooze with rich businessmen in first class and possibly meet my future husband, the chance to make a gay BFF with a male stewardess. And the only cons…the lame uniforms and the actual responsibilities of being a flight attendant (i.e.: assisting people with ridiculously oversized carry-on luggage, dealing with rude passengers, going over boring safety and emergency stuff). Call me crazy, but I think the pros DEFINITELY outweigh the cons on this one!

24 Hours in the Life of a College Grad!

DAY ONE: Your views on death, how you cope, etc.

Geez, way to start this 28 Day Challenge on a happy note! My views on death...well, I've thankfully never had someone close to me die unexpectedly. My grandparents have passed away, but they both died well into their 90s so I could only be but so sad about their deaths. How I cope? Well, I cry just like any normal human being, I think of good memories, I look at pictures, and remember the good times : )

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Being an unemployed University of Pennsylvania grad on summer vaca is tough work! This past Thursday was super productive! Let's take a look at 24 hours in my my shoes...

12am - After spending all day slaving in the kitchen, testing out recipes I found online, including Red Lobster biscuits (click here!) and fried ice cream (and here!), I settled into the TV room with my brother (also home for a lil R & R) and turned on Real World: Las Vegas, which we DVRed. We share our mutual admiration for Leroy, debate our disgust for Nany, and laugh about Dustin's black man mannerisms when he gets mad.

1am - Flip through the 200 movie channels and struggle to find something to watch.

"WTF, they made a new Predator?" "Wait, is that Adrien
Brody??! Damn Adrien, what happened?"

Keep flipping through the channels...land on DAHMER, a biopic on serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer. Watch 20 minutes, then realize the only reason we're watching this movie is to see a killing scene. Laugh about what disgusting individuals American Society has turned us into and then continue watching the movie. Share our disappointment over the rather anticlimactic killing scene and the overall lameness of the movie. Dahmer killed 17 people and the movie shows only one murder?! Come on!

2am - Nothing appealing is on TV. We see some movie called CHLOE coming on, starring Julianne Moore and Liam Neeson. Seems promising.....thennnnn, there's a lesbian sex scene between Moore and Amanda Seyfried and I'm over it.

4am - Walk past my parents' bedroom and laugh over the snoring symphony echoing from their room. Hop in my bed and stay up another hour schizophrenically hopping around the internet:

- Facebook stalk
- Look up flights to Vegas for my friend's birthday weekend
- Randomly Wikipedia the French Quarters in New Orleans
- Thought back to when I was making fried ice cream and my dad mentioned another dessert called the "Baked Alaskan" that I should try making. Look at various recipes.
- Decide I want to go clubbing this weekend and research Greenhouse nightclub in NYC. DJ Flowfly is DJing Saturday. I check out his Myspace page and Twitter stalk him.
- Look at the new items on UrbanOutfitters.com and Lulus.com. Eyes start to burn. Close laptop and go to sleep.

12pm - Wake up naturally, as in I didn't set an alarm before going to sleep because my phone died and I didn't feel like looking for my charger at 5 in the morning. Brush my teeth, wash my face, oil my hair, plop down on my parents' bed with my laptop and let the Internet surfing begin...

1:30pm - Check my daily blogs: Bossip, Media Takeout, Just Jared, People.com, The Sartorialist, Karla's Closet, Under the Button. Look up travel options for our mother-daughter trip to Mexico, as well as flights to Vegas. IMDB that movie CHLOE and try to figure out WTF was going on in that movie last night.

2pm - Skype with friends. Talk about summer plans and a possible trip to Greece in August. Continue researching nightclubs for the weekend and Facebook stalking.

4pm - Start working on a blog post. My brother comes home from the gym and we eat and watch all the judge shows, from Judy to Joe Mathis. We watch some 80s music countdown on VH1 and sing along to the Swedish band Europe's "The Final Countdown." We discuss May 21 doomsday.

7pm - Two of my friends come over and we watch Real World: Las Vegas (yes, again for me) and Grey's Anatomy. I hop on the treadmill for 30 minutes...the first time since March (damn shame).

10:30pm - We hop in the car and embark on an impromptu trip to Sonic. After watching years of Sonic commercials and drooling over their burgers and slushies, one has finally opened near my house, and by near I mean a 35 minute drive away. I order a bacon cheeseburger toaster and mozzarella sticks and eat myself into a food coma.

12am- Come home, watch some episodes of Martin and part ways with my friends.

2am - Come upstairs and watch TV with my brother. He tells me a story about his friend's cat who was "in heat" and the day his friend came home to find his precious Meow Meow whoring herself out to what seemed like every Newark street cat in his neighborhood.

2:30am - My mom randomly appears at the doorway, rubbing eye boogers out of her eyes. Our family friend's daughter is having her college graduation tomorrow and she forgot to tell me. It's at 10am. We're leaving the house at 9am. FML! Say goodnight to my brother and peace out to bed early (2:30am is Grandma-status for me).

SOOOOOOOO, evidently, if TV, my brother, and my laptop didn't exist, I'd be one bored, sad, little child.

28 Day Challenge!

Blogging is fun. MY blog is fun (if I do say so myself). But in order to make this blog successful, I've GOT to blog more often! So, I'm subjecting myself to the 28 DAY CHALLENGE! At the beginning of every post for 28 days (hopefully 28 days straight), I'll challenge myself to write about a random tidbit about myself. Here's what you can look forward to...

Day One: Your views on death, how you cope, etc.

Day Two: How you introduce yourself to new people.

Day Three: What you think about love.

Day Four: Write about someone you love.

Day Five: A list of things you fancy doing.

Day Six: Recommend some books to read.

Day Seven: Write about the arts (music, art, dancing, etc).

Day Eight: Write a poem.

Day Nine: Photo of your favorite pillow.

Day Ten: How you wake up in the morning.

Day Eleven: Write about your sibling(s) or what it’s like to be an only child.

Day Twelve: Your relationship with you parents.

Day Thirteen: Write about what you believe in, be it God, yourself, etc.

Day Fourteen: What you do for Valentines Day.

Day Fifteen: Write about the best gift you ever received.

Day Sixteen: Write another poem, about the weather.

Day Seventeen: Post your favorite gift.

Day Eighteen: Your plans for tomorrow.

Day Nineteen: Write about something you fear.

Day Twenty: What do you eat for dinner last night?

Day Twenty-One: Your favorite thing to drink.

Day Twenty-Two: How you take your coffee or tea.

Day Twenty-Three: Your favorite thing to wear.

Day Twenty-Four: Another poem, about the shoes you wear most often.

Day Twenty-Five: Write about where you live.

Day Twenty-Six: Your favorite smell.

Day Twenty-Seven: Your thoughts on the internet.

Day Twenty-Eight: Write about how you feel today.

10 Things I WON'T Miss About College

I am officially a University of Pennsylvania graduate! Thank you, thank you! I’m accepting any and all monetary gifts to my home address, as I’m now home, unemployed, bumming around the house, not doing a damn thing, and actually loving it! A life of zero responsibilities is what I call living!

They always say that once you hit the real world, you’ll start to miss college desperately. Well, I haven’t exactly started paying bills or getting up early in the morning for a job I hate…I’m still living the life O’Riley over here, so the pangs of college nostalgia haven’t exactly kicked in yet. But I do know that being home in my pajamas all day, watching TV and reading random entries on Wikipedia is going to start getting old probably…hmm…tomorrow! HOWEVER, to make myself feel a little better about being wholly unproductive and dreading the real world, I do know there are a few things I definitely WON’T miss about college! Here goes…

1. The residents of West Philadelphia: Most Penn students sadly do not exit the Penn bubble or even know that there is a world beyond 40^th street. But no worries! Because the people of 40^th Street and beyond, our beloved West Philadelphian neighbors, found their way to us! From the bubble jacket wearing/Philly bearded men to the hoards of seemingly parentless 12-year-olds who populate 40^th and Walnut on Friday nights to the ratchet and wreckless regulars at Drinkers, you will not be missed.

2. Seeing lovey-dovey couples everywhere: When you’re single,

you notice just how many people are happy and in love and you're not. On a confined college campus, your patheticness is only heightened! You WILL run into the guy you have a crush on who is in love with someone else. You WILL have to walk past couples going on Valentines dates as you pick up your Campusfood.com order from the delivery guy. Currently in the real world, I can thankfully avoid all the lovers and go back to watching them on TV in romantic comedies where they belong.

3. Frat parties: I haven’t missed frat parties since I stopped going to them in sophomore year. The sticky floors, the smell of beer, the people spilling drinks all over me had its season. But for now, I’ve moved on to bigger and “better” things (i.e. rude bouncers, $18+ mixed drinks, and creepy old men hitting on me).

4. Class participation: There’s nothing worse than hearing your alarm go off in the morning, knowing you barely got any sleep, and now having to shelp across campus to class and contribute to the class discussion on readings you didn’t do on a topic you can care less about, for the sake of getting class participation points because its worth 30% of your grade!

5. Locust Walk: While this is a Penn-specific aspect of college I most certainly will not miss, I’m sure most people can relate to a part of their campus that by senior year, you’d mapped out ways to avoid in order to protect yourself from running into basically anyone you just don’t feel like seeing or talking to. Whether it’s the person from your class who sees you and you see them, but you both wonder whether your relationship status as “classmates” requires either of you to actually say hello. Or the guy who you had a drunken encounter with who you’d prefer never to see again, but of course the very second you step foot on Locust Walk, there he is walking right towards you. God loves to play sick jokes on people and Locust Walk was his playground. Locust Walk, you most certainly will not be missed.

6. Group projects: Along with annotated bibliographies, group projects are just about the worst assignment a professor can assign. The last thing I want to do is see my inbox flooded with emails from four different group members or spend my Friday at 9pm in a seminar room working on a project because for some odd reason this is the ONLY time everyone is free. Unfortunately, I’ve heard group assignments follow you into the real world, but let’s at least hope people have developed some common sense by then.

7. Drunk munchies: I realized I was at rock bottom when Jose and Juan at Allegro’s Pizzeria became my BFFs and were providing me with doggie bags of leftover pizza to eat for breakfast. While Jose and Juan and their musings on Penn students WILL be missed, that reluctant walk into Allegros or Crackdonalds to satisfy my gluttony will not.

8. Doing readings for class: I am a magazine junkie. I still subscribe to Marie Claire, Details (yes, the men’s fashion magazine), Glamour, Vanity Fair, and US Weekly. However, I barely ever found time to read any of my magazines because the readings I had to do for class NEVER ENDED! Like being forced to participate in class or work on a project with 4 other people, doing readings for class had become a painful chore by senior spring. I’m glad reading academic journals and chapters from textbooks are a thing of the past!

9. Being broke: I guess the one good thing about the real world is having a real job and making real money. My microscopic $8/hour paychecks from working at the housing assignments office barely ever made it past a weekend. Forcing myself to eat the poison at the dining hall instead of buying food in order to save money, was never fun. Moreover, in a sick and twisted way, the one thing I can really look forward to about the real world, is paying bills! Once you can afford to start paying bills, that means you’re probably making some real money. And then I can just look forward to being broke again.

10. My neighbor who lived in Harnwell 402: This year, I lived in a pretty dope single apartment with my own living room, kitchen, and bathroom. Although I lived alone, it sometimes felt like I had a roommate. Two roommates actually…them being my neighbor and his girlfriend in the apartment next door. Between the lovers quarrels consisting of his girlfriend screaming and crying pathetically to them watching TV and laughing until the wee hours of the morning, don’t let my pimped out swank single apartment fool you! Times were indeed rough when living next to these two. Let’s hope paper-thin walls are unique to Penn housing!

I Should be on The Real World!

I came up with the perfect plan to avert the real world…I should be cast on The Real World! This precious gem of a reality show has been a staple in my nightly routine since hmm…I was like 7. Yup, I basically grew up watching The Real World and I must say, it has taught me a lot! I learned to:

- Never open somebody else’s mail or suffer being called a “stupid bitch” while being looked at dead in the eye (Thank you Dan from Real World Miami)

- Never call out a closeted gay man for being gay or risk being the brunt of the “slap heard around the world” (Thank you Stephen & Irene from Real World Seattle)

- Never “galavant” with a coworker or risk being fired (Thank you Cyrus from Real World Boston)

- Never leave a guy I like around a black chick with blue eyes or risk losing that man forever (Thank you Jonna from Real World Cancun).

Now finally after seasons of stock characters and boring storylines, MTV has finally stepped up its casting game with the latest Real World: Las Vegas—everyone’s Wednesday night guilty pleasure. And so far, I’ve learned quite a bit…

- Do not have unprotected sex with a man whore as he will get you pregnant and he will give you a STD

- Do not tell a raging alcoholic to stop breaking stuff in your house as it will only make him break more stuff

- Be weary of any guy you come across as there is small chance that he was once a participant in gay porn

So why should I be on The Real World? I didn't come from a broken home with drug addicted parents or grow up in foster care, I don't have anger issues, I don't have boy drama, I get along with other girls, I have an education, I can hold my liquor...but I do have this burning desire to live in a sick house for 4 months with no responsibilities, good looking people, free food, and partying!! If only a "burning desire" was enough to get you on TV these days : ( Hmm, now if only I could figure out a way to develop some sort of mental illness...

Penn Regrets: 10 Things I'd Do Over If I Could

1. See more of Philly: There’s absolutely no good reason why I’m going to Magic Gardens, Reading Terminal Market, and walking along South Street for like the first time ever this weekend. I saw more of Sydney in 5 months than I have of Philly in 4 years. Fail.

2. Get more involved on campus: I probably shoulda joined a dance group. I probably shoulda joined some black organization. Instead, I was a quasi-member of Dzine2show and The Walk since freshman year before becoming “Mother of the Models” just this year.

3. Live in the Quad: Bottomline, DuBois sucked, in every way possible.

4. Visit my friends at other colleges: Trips to visit friends at Villanova and Duke have been on my list of things to do since freshman year…..yeahhhhh, never ended up going. Now I won’t ever know what life at a real college is like! Darn.

5. Make "he who shall not be named" fall madly in love with me: I, along with the other 5,263 girls on this campus pining over this dude, will dwell on this forever.

6. Eat at the food carts: I just realized how much money I’ve wasted over the years on a dry ass bagel and OJ from Au Bon Pain, when apparently Bui, a food truck here, has steak, egg, and cheese breakfast sandwiches for like $4?!?! WTF?!

7. Make Drexel & Temple friends: Drexel and Penn’s campuses virtually blend together and yet I’ve never made a single Drexel friend and trips to Temple freshman year only meant being squished against a wall at a sweaty, black party. Kinda wish I actually made some friends there so I could have a reason to escape Penn’s bubble. Oh wait, but then again, I probably should have made some friends at Penn first!

8. Not minor in cinema studies: Looking back, my cinema studies classes were mediocre at best. I kinda wish I just stuck with my comm. major, finished up early, and taken some other cool electives I’ll now never got to take : (

9. Not buy textbooks: I WASTED SO MUCH MONEY ON TEXTBOOKS! SO MUCH MONEY! I wish I never bought a single one! What I SHOULD HAVE done was been that chick who lived in the Rosengarten Reserve and photocopied everything.

10. Punch those 2 frat boys from sophomore year Halloween: My blood still boils thinking about Halloween night sophomore year when these 2 frat boys at 4040 WALNUT wouldn’t let me and my friends into their shitty little party, threatened to call the cops on us if we didn’t leave, and OH did all this while blond hair/blue eyed Becky and Abigail came up from behind us and skipped along into the party without hearing a word. Gotta love Penn racism!

*BONUS: Go to a state school: I love Penn, I really do. I mean, I applied early decision for goodness sakes. But when all is said and done, we all know we woulda had a much better time had we just gone to the University of Texas.

Yet ANOTHER Bucket List: 101 Things in 1001 Days!

So I am the queen of making lists! To-do lists, lists of movies I have to watch (now currently a 3 page long Excel spreadsheet), lists of songs I need to download (a blue stickie on my desktop), lists of activities I want to do in Philly before I leave….Lists, lists, lists! I also currently have a whopping 3 bucket lists: 1. My ultimate life bucket list of stuff I want to do before I die, 2. My senior year bucket list of stuff I want to do before graduating (sadly, I haven’t accomplished even half of the stuff on the list), and 3. BEST OF ALL, MY NEWEST “101 Things in 1001 Days Project"!!

So I came upon this website, during one of my 5am-can’t-put-my-laptop-down-for-the-life-of-me-even-though-my-eyes-are-bleeding sessions, called DayZeroProject.com. Basically the challenge is to complete 101 preset tasks in a period of 1001 days (about 2.75 years). This list is better than and different from a regular bucket list, which has the ridiculous deadline of YOUR ENTIRE LIFETIME, and you’re able to put more specific, pro-active, and realistic tasks on there, for example: #39 – Start a blog.

It took me FOREVER and a day to come up with my list of 101 Things, but here are some of my favorites:

3. Crowd surf at a concert (for the record, I HATE crowd surfers at concerts, but I’ve always secretly envied them)

6. Live in a city and own/ride a bike (again, I HATE cyclists, but always envied how free/cool they look)

9. Go skinny dipping (didn’t get a chance to in Sydney although it seems like the rest of my 29 roommates did at some point...)

42. Get a thai massage (click here to see what I'm talking about)

56. Try absinthe

58. Learn the “Single Ladies” dance

61. Travel back to Sydney (well duh!)

72. Learn to parallel park

75. Treat a homeless person to dinner and learn their story

86. Adopt an accent for a day

93. Go wedding dress shopping for kicks and giggles

94. Chatroulette with randoms while drunk (if you’re not familiar with chatroulette.com, check it out and prepare yourself to see a strange man or two’s hairy genitalia)

I encourage you all to make a "101 Things in 1001 Days" list!

The Current State of My Life

Like I’ve said a thousand times before, SYDNEY CHANGED MY LIFE. Shoutout to my older brother who prophesied that before I even went to Sydney when he said, and I quote: “Sydney will change your life!”

Pre-Sydney Natasha was a flaming loser. Yes, I had friends, I went out quite a bit on the weekends, my friends knew me as being fun and bubbly and warm, but I knew better and honestly, I was pretty miserable with the state of my life. I felt pretty invisible around Penn. I wasn’t really involved in any activities, my social network was basically limited to like 3 people, I never spoke up in class. I pretty much sat on the sidelines and watched (aka Facebook stalked) as other people went out in big groups with all their friends, were leaving a mark on campus, and seemed to be having this amazing college experience that I just wasn’t.

My freshman year at Penn, I was this shy and reserved and scared little girl. Here's an excerpt from my journal from freshman year to show just how much of a miserable loser I really was…

one- speak up in class more
two- stop ordering campus food all the time…eat in the dining hall alone if I have to
three- try to work out everyday
four- try to speak to more people
five- go to center city instead of parties every weekend
six- study in the library more often instead of alone in my room all the time
seven- become more active on campus-- like in clubs
eight- attend more on-campus events

The sad thing is, by junior year, I hadn't really made much progress...

urgggh junior year is about to start. sophomore year was a bust. i feel like i accomplished nothing. i went out and stuff but nevr with like a big group of people or anything.. i walked to class and back no talking or activities or anything n between. i just got lazy. didn't stick with my clubs, nothing. this semester has got to be different. i gotta strech my social circle, im a junior, im half way through college and i have like no friends. i need to do activities, meet new ppl on my own, try new things. i wanna start this year off on a good foot. maybe set goals for myself each day? i dunno, with australia in the spring, i have this one semester to set penn on a good foot. situate myself. meet ppl, dont be such a loner. like actually just put myself out there. its a damn shame that ive been so closed off this whole time especially last year and feel like i have nothign to show for myself. urgggh

I wasn’t lying people! I had issues!

Sydney gave me a little taste of freedom, it gave me a glimpse into what life is like when I STOP being a shy, pathetic loser and actually OPEN myself up to people and to new experiences.

Excerpt from my diary on one of my final days in Sydney:

i just keep thinking back to the first day i arrived a kurrawa. the house was quiet and empty, i was excited yet nervous. unpacked my stuff then slowly met everyone in the house...met all these ppl who became my family, i feel so completely comfortable around everyone, ive never acted myself or had such confidence around a group of people like this since high school, i havent had such a large family of friends since then, this has been the best semester of college period, im so greatful for this experience. i wish it didn't have to end. i just wanna go home for like 2 weeks, see everyone, eat everything, and just come back. i feel memorable here, like people will remember me and think of me as a friend all their life while i dont think ive made such an impression at penn. i really needed this experience in my life and im so greatful for it.

So, this is why I’m in my current dilemma—I feel like I JUST finally figured out the kind of person I’m capable of being and I’m just NOW getting used to being this person. I’m not ready to get trapped in some job and enter the real world…I want to continue living in the dream world I was in while in Sydney! How do I do that that + make money + convince my dad I’m not a hippie who doesn’t appreciate the million dollar education he just paid for? This is what I need to figure out!

How Sydney Ruined My Life

Studying abroad in Sydney was the best and worst thing that ever happened to me. Pre-Sydney, I had plans! I had my entire life laid out! I was gonna graduate college, move to NY or LA, work as someone’s assistant at some TV or film company, live the whole “young and broke in NY or LA” lifestyle, kiss ass and climb up the ladder in the entertainment industry…it was gonna be great!

Thennnnnn I studied abroad in Sydney, where I met an interesting species of homo sapiens known as: “the crazy, free-spirited, backpacking Europeans.” These unique creatures were 18-30 year old world travelers who have seen more of the world than most adults have and, as corny as it sounds, sincerely lived in the moment. They lived according to a “yes!” mentality, were adventurous, gregarious, fearless, spontaneous, and soaked up every bit of everyday. Meeting these “crazy, free-spirited, backpacking Europeans” really did a number on my entire outlook on everything! These people took off school, took off work, saved money, left their friends and families behind, and traveled to Sydney and beyond…many of them alone…for an adventure, a chance to meet new people, have good times, and just live! The urgency to finish school, look into grad programs, network, start building a career, please their parents…NONE of that was even a care…even a mere sliver of a thought in their minds! They selfishly came to Sydney to be young, dumb, and have some fun and I secretly worshipped them.

For five months in Sydney, I at least got to pretend to be just like them. I partied 4 nights a week, explored every crevice of Sydney, road tripped New Zealand and lived off of ham sandwiches and nutella for a week, went skydiving, bungy jumping, and sowed my wild oats (<-- isn’t that the weirdest phrase ever?). Basically for five months I got a taste of what “living” was like.

An experience like the one I had in Sydney is bound to change a person, right? How does one come back from THAT and slip right back into “graduate, move to NY or LA, become someone’s bitchass assistant for 2 years, work up the ladder, blah, blah, blah” mode? The minute I came back from Sydney, any semblance of a life plan I ever had immediately became completely and comprehensively unappealing. Yes, I still love TV and movies more than anything, yes, a huge part of me still wants to live that young and broke lifestyle in NY or LA, but a HUGE part of me also wants to NOT do any of that. Why? Blame the “crazy, free-spirited, backpacking Europeans”! They’ve messed with my head!

Anyways, within the next few days I obviously have to, if not figure out my life plans, figure out what the hell I’m doing for the summer! I told myself and my parents that I want to enjoy my summer. Even if that means lying on my parents’ bed with a box of Dominos pizza and my dog Haze all summer, I absolutely refuse to even entertain the idea of seriously looking for a job until the end of the summer. Spoiled little rich kid much? But whatever! I’ve sacrificed every summer for the past 4 years in the name of “getting my foot in the door” by working as an unpaid intern and building a pretty bomb-ass resume (if I do say so myself…). So I think I deserve a little R & R this summer. Hopefully in Europe? That is still to be determined…

Anyways for kicks and giggles, My Ultimate Dream Life Plans: Travel around Europe for the entire summer, then move to Sydney for a year or so and make money bartending, waitressing, and basically doing any job that to most people sound unappealing but to me, I’ve always wanted to do. Live in my old stomping grounds of Coogee Beach and one day meet a hot Australian surfer who, whatdoyaknow!, is a mega millionaire, proposes marriage to me, and helps me get Australian citizenship papers! Then one day, by some incredible laws of nature, the nation of Australia floats all the way to the North Atlantic Ocean (great weather and beaches in tact) and WOW, is only an hour plane ride away from New Jersey, so I can be home for Sunday dinner any time I want! Then I score a job at HBO and somehow manage to bypass being someone’s assistant. I produce a couple award-wining and critically-acclaimed shows, grab a few Golden Globes here and there, quit the industry when I’m on top, and then open up my own business of some sort and become my own boss!

Ahhh, life…