I'd Do Anything

This past week was my & J's first week back to USF. While we are excited to get this semester underway, we are both a little nervous because we've both taken on a lot more this spring. I'll be writing for CollegeFashionista again, interning with the Dean's Office and taking an accelerated class schedule so that I can graduate in May and J just accepted an internship with Clear Channel, is still doing NO WAVES RADIO every Wednesday night & scored position as an entertainment writer for our school paper, The Oracle.  

In case you missed it, let me just repeat that this is my LAST SEMESTER OF COLLEGE. I know, I'm breaking into a cold sweat just typing this...

Anyways, we thought that having a good, old-fashioned adventure weekend was just what we needed to prepare us for the impending doom of this semester. On Friday night, J took me to the Fun-Lan drive-in to see Anchorman 2. The drive-in is one of our favorite places to go because we bring a huge blanket, snacks & can talk as loudly as we want during the film. We even brought our pal, Bentley, along.

Saturday was one of the best days I've had in a while. J came over around noon to take me to AMC Veterans so that we could watch the  new Spike Jonze film, Her. I love seeing artsy movies like that with J because we get all weird & nerdy and start pulling out all the lingo we learned in the film classes we took together. 

And I mean, how #punk do we look dressed up in all black accidentally? Sometimes, it's tough to hide just how funky the two of us are. So simpatico.

Then we drove over to Seminole Heights so that we could eat at a pizza place that we've been absolutely dying to try called Cappy's. We popped into Microgroove Records beforehand to check out some vinyl. J walked away empty handed as usual but I found a few gems that I was pretty excited about. 

One of the things that bring J & I together is our mutual adoration of the band, Simple Plan. They were my favorite band as a pre-teen(...and teen and also as an adult, if you could even classify me as one of those yet). I literally had a Simple Plan birthday cake when I turned 12. That's true dedication. So you can imagine my excitement when I walked into the store & saw their first album "No Pads, No Helmets...Just Balls" sitting right on top of the CDs. It was only .99¢. That is a steal, people. I also snagged two 7"s: Electric Avenue by Eddie Grant & Take On Me by a-ha. I know, I'm weird.

Cappy's was brilliant. Their kitschy, 80s-esque decor was right up my & J's alley. They had little dated trivia cards that we played with until our food came, which could have been exciting if either of us had actually been alive in the 70s. We split a Diet Coke and ordered cheese bread with marinara sauce & a pepperoni and sausage pizza which suddenly seems ridiculously redundant to me because isn't cheese bread with marinara sauce basically just pizza...? Yup. It was all so delicious though & they played classic 80s hits the entire time. I was living in a dream world of carbs & dated pop music.

Afterwards, J took me to St. Pete so that we could check out this zine fest that he heard about. If you don't know what a zine is, they are just little paper books that people put together full of cool stuff. They can be filled with anything from poetry to art to photography. We got there & immediately felt like we were the weird ones because of how normal we were compared to everyone else. It was cool to check out a scene that we aren't really familiar with but the over-powering smell of patchouli oil made it absolutely necessary for us to leave after about 20 minutes. 

To make the best out of our trip, J & I looked up a little dessert shop called Everything Dolce. We split the most delicious tiramisu and a cafe con leche & read some of the little zines that we picked up. On the drive home, we blasted the Simple Plan CD. We both know every single word of it. It's moments like these, when I'm screaming lyrics full of teen-angst in unison with J, that I feel so lucky to have someone who just gets me. He accepts me for all of my weirdness. He lets me listen to Electric Avenue while I'm getting ready, no questions asked. He picks out lame 7"s from the 80s that he knows that I'll like to show me if he's looking through bins that I missed. He takes me to the drive-in. He makes these little detailed mental notes about what makes me happy & then does those things every day. He gives me room to grow but gives me unending support. That is love & I am just so lucky to experience it in this way, with this wonderful person.

I am simply mad about you, J.

Love,

A 

To the (Lazy) Moon & Back

 After hyping it up for a whole year, J finally took me to Lazy Moon while we were visiting Orlando last weekend. We've always wanted to go together but ended up bailing out last minute for some reason or another. I'm glad that we finally took an extra 45 minutes to drive there because it sure was delicious. 

Let me make it known to you that although J talked about Lazy Moon non-stop prior to our visit, no amount of build up could have prepared me for how amazing it actually was. One slice of pizza could easily feed a small village & was practically un-eatable without the help of a fork & knife. J got what I like to call 'The Jake', a slice of pepperoni pizza & I switched it up with a pineapple and ham. To our surprise, it was 'Free Dipping Sauce Friday', so J delved into classic marinara & I had the best ranch I've ever eaten. In typical A & J style, we cleaned our plates without a problem.

Lazy Moon kept us happy & full all the way through The Vaccines show that we went to at The Social later that evening. It fueled us through yelling lyrics, dancing like fools & finally meeting one of our favorite bands. I highly suggest driving out of your way to check it out, it will be well worth your time & your belly will thank you.

Love,

A

Lack-of-Labor Day Weekend

J & I were joking all weekend about how Labor Day weekend should really be called Lack-of-Labor Day weekend because we tried to do as little as we possibly could. Last week was our first week back at USF and we were pretty excited to veg out summer-style for a few more days. I know it sounds easy but sitting in class listening to your professor read every single word of the syllabus can really eat away at your soul...

On Friday we did what J & I do best and had a dinner // movie date. We went to Boston's, where I introduced J to the amazing world of crunchy green beans & he tried their new #PIZZABURGER. Then we went next door to Veterans & watched You're Next. It was gory & had a good plot twist, so naturally J & I walked away happy.

Saturday was a day full of last minute adventures. At first the natural planner in me hated the idea of impromptu plans, but J quickly warmed me up to them with his skills of persuasion. We started the day with a yummy little lunch at Panera Bread & wandered over to Microgroove Records where I found New Order's Blue Monday on vinyl for $2.99. On our way home, we spotted the quirkiest little comic book // music store on Hillsborough called Green Shift. As Jake & I wandered around the store that looked like it might be on next week's episode of Hoarders, he told me all about his days of comic book collecting. Watching him stare in awe at all the old vintage microphones and amps made me remember why I fell in love with Jake in the first place. He's passionate about so many things & can find beauty in even the rustiest old equipment.

Later on J persuaded me to go to the first USF football game of the season. While football isn't really my cup of tea, I had fun people watching & yelling at the players with Jake. Even later that evening, we decided to go to the Tampa Pitcher Show to check out the live action performance of the Rocky Horror Picture Show that they do every Saturday night at midnight. As RHPS 'virgins', Jake & I were pretty much clueless the entire time. Let's just say my favorite part about going to the Pitcher Show was the Shrimp Fra Diablo that J & I ate. It was "exxxtra diablo".

Sunday has become our favorite day of the week lately because of one thing: BREAKING BAD. We got some homework done during the day & came back to Jake's dorm to have a little Breaking Bad watch party with some friends. We ordered some pizza & ate some wings while we anxiously waited for Walter White's next move.

Even though we spent the majority of the morning tackling more homework, Monday was great because J & I were just happy to not be at school. We lounged around during the early afternoon & grabbed a late lunch at PDQ. In the late afternoon, we took a little trip up to Orlando to meet up with my family. On the way up, J put together a little playlist full of our favorite songs (get Spotify Premium, it's the seriously the coolest). I swear that the best times I have with Jake are when we're listening to music together and talking about anything. I haven't been able to keep my mouth shut around him since the first time I opened it. He's just the greatest when it comes to conversation & it's just another thing that I absolutely adore about the boy.

Although we are sad to see this weekend go, we're surprisingly excited to get back into the swing of things at school. We both love our classes so far & this semester seems to be full of new adventures. September is going to be the best month yet & I am so ready to see what the future holds.

Love,

A

Instant Attraction

 Okay, so I know that most sane people would probably think that I am absolutely bonkers for owning an instant film camera in this day & age. I mean I get it, I have an iPhone with Instagram which weighs a fraction of what the Fujifilm Instax 210 Wide camera does & I can take // edit photos all day long with it...FOR FREE. But you have to admit that in a world where everything is so digital, there is something charming about holding a physical photograph. Sometimes I hide away in my attic for a while, going through boxes of old childhood photos because there is something comforting about thumbing through a stack of photographs rather than swiping through a Facebook album on your iPad.

My father bought the Instax 210 camera for me when he was visiting Tampa for my brother's graduation in May & I immediately fell in love with it. I opted for the wide version versus the mini because I like taking landscape shots & it's perfect for taking couple selfies of Jake & I. The only downsides to the easy-to-use camera are the price ($92 at Urban Outfitters) & the cost of the film ($24 for 20 photos). At a little over $1 per photo, it's hard to snap random photos of everything, so we use the Instax camera for capturing special memories like when J & I's families met for the first time, our adventure to Bonnaroo & our road trip to Weston with my puppy, Bentley.

Hopefully, someday when J & I are old and gray, we will have a big ol' box full of memory snapshots of us playing in the sun, adventuring to new places & just being crazy in love with each other. At the end of the day these are the things that matter, these are the things that you'll hold onto forever. So why not document it along the way?

Love,

A