A good life

When I was in college, I couldn’t wait to graduate. I was positive that life was going to improve in a major way once I stepped away from academia, homework, and the pressure of being a student; life had to get better. I had some serious nay-sayers in my life telling me that “real-life” is actually 100 times worse than college, and that the days spent in a university setting are as good as it gets, and that I would be sorry when it was all over.

Those people were so wrong.

I love being NOT a student. It’s not that I don’t enjoy learning – on the contrary, I love feeding my mind and learning new things – but I like doing it on my own terms. I love the freedom that comes with simply living life – the ability to set my own schedule, working but not slaving… To me, “being a grown up” is, for the most part, exciting and fun. I feel like I’m at a point where I am able to embrace the good and deal with the lame.

Somedays, I think, “Life is so great.” Today is one of those days, for the following reasons:

1) For the second day in a row, I am wearing a dress and boots. I’m pretty sure that when God created me, this was what he intended me to wear – because I feel oddly satisfied and triumphant when wearing a dress and boots.

2) I spent a couple of hours at Cafe Ladro in Fremont today, and brought along my home office (laptop, iPod, camera, phone, Annie Dillard) in order to make the time productive and soul-filling. I feel incredibly spoiled, simply because I own all of that stuff. I also brought left-over sushi for lunch, so honestly? Could life get any better?

Oh yes. It could.

3) As I was walking through Wallingford today, I remembered that Bella Cosa has free tastings on Saturday afternoons. So I popped in and was treated to 3 different wines, delicious olives, and DUCK SALAMI. Be still my fluttering heart.

4) I vacuumed my apartment. With my own vacuum. I own a vacuum! That’s so cool! I also dusted, did my dishes, made my bed, hung up all of the clothes on my floor, wiped the bathroom counter, and rearranged the fresh tulips from a friend in a new vase. I’m pretty sure that housewifery will become me… you know, someday. After I’ve toured with Shania, written a book, and been on Oprah.

5) I have really awesome friends, and am seeing a lot of them in the next 2 weeks. Happy hours, walks, late-night drinks, lunch dates, coffee engagements, and general malarkey.

All in all, life seems to be burgeoning with possibilities and options. And now that the sun is peeking out, I’m going to go on an adventure and experiment with a 1980 Olympus that uses an archaic material called “film.”