A week in the life of an unemployed person.

You know... new clothes, dates, banana bread, and dog parks.

Casual outings...

xoxo

Spontaneous Beach Day

The day after the museum night, we pulled ourselves out of bed and headed separate ways. Two of us hung together & decided to get some lunch. So we took off to our new favorite place- Good Dog. Basically gourmet hotdogs and homemade fries and ketchup. Deliciousness in a cute little neighborhood place. Can you tell I'm a fan?

Afterwards we were planning on hanging by the pool as I had been missing summer like crazy, thanks to NZ winter! But we decided to take it a step further and head back to the beach. Because why not? We stopped by my friend's house and I reunited with her cat. Do you remember Ronald? He is still a little creep.

It was a perfect little afternoon- followed up with Torchys and a movie. Of course.

xoxo

The night at the museum.

If you are going to have a girl's night there are a few things you need to do in order to have a perfect night. First of all it needs to be somewhat unplanned. Start with a good venue (like the houston museum of natural sciences) that is having an interesting event (try a dance party with the dinosaurs). Next you're going to need to get a glass of wine (or two because the line is too long to get back in- it's okay to double fist if it's wine and everyone is doing it, right?). After that a couple of things will happen.

You will inevitably end up in a conga line. Embrace it.

There will be a goal set to get the coolest selfie possible. In the bathroom & with the DJ might work.

You'll probably end up getting a stranger to take a real photo of everyone while you suck down water after all the dancing.

Then you will probably squirt way too much hand moisturizer out & have to awkwardly put it all the way up your arms at the end of the night.

Also, don't forget to floss at the very beginning. That is very important.

Girl's night = success.

xoxo

Back when I was job-less.

I didn't have a job for the first month that I was home in Houston. This left a lot of time for me to see friends, work-out, eat a lot, and repeat.

One of the best things that happened when I got home was that one of my best friends got engaged! She was out of town when it happened but our reactions were pretty great:

There was trivia playing:

There was reuniting with puppies:

There was giggling:

And then there was working out:

That's pretty much what I did for a month.

Yep.

xoxo

A perfect summer day!

My first Sunday back in Houston, my friends aided me in something I'd been dying for all summer (winter in NZ). They took me to the beach!

Of course, I've been to beaches in New Zealand that are way more beautiful and stunning (sorry, little galveston, but it's true), but there is something about being home with your friends at an empty beach. It was cloudy when we left home, and doubt started creeping in that it might not be the perfect beach day we imagined. But as we crossed over the little bridge to Surf Side, the sun appeared.

It was the perfect beach day. Effortless, not too hot, empty beach. We listened to music and tanned and jumped over waves. We even ran down the beach a ways. These are the days that can't be replicated, so we savored it!

xoxo

Second Week Home!

During my second week home (time flew!) I got to do some things that I very dearly missed. Chick-fil-A welcomed me back with open arms. I was so full that it made walking around the mall difficult. Good thing I wore a loose dress. That was the moral of the week- wear loose clothing to fit in all the food. Tex-mex, how I missed you.

After leaving Auckland, where I had to walk up and down hills at least 45 minutes everyday, I was determined to exercise when I got back to lazy Houston. So far, so good. Maggie likes to lay on my hair after I exercise, so we now each have our routines.

I've gotten to catch up with my favorite pets and favorite friends, so all is well here in Houston.

As you can see my bags are still packed incase I change my mind to go back to Auckland. ;)

xoxo

On Turning 24 & Back in Houston

I turned 24 nearly two months ago now, back when I was in Auckland in the midst of our short film shoot. Every year I dread the upcoming birthday. I'm the baby of the family and all of my friends, so maybe I have some sort of young complex. But this year, amongst break-ups and new friends and new places and perspective changes, I found myself looking forward to 24.

I'm in the midst of job searching and finding myself in Houston again. I'm updating my resume and my CV and finding it hard to be professional while talking about myself. I want to tell them that I am the girl who was terrified to drive on the left side of the road, but did it anyway, and was rewarded with the most incredible coastal views of New Zealand. I am the girl who broke up with a boy after 7 years and turned out just fine. I am the girl who bungy jumped, and rode horses, and hiked through New Zealand's south island with my best friend. I am the girl whose no longer afraid of traveling alone. I am the girl who was terrified of coming home and having to face reality, but whose been here a week and is surrounded by incredibly supportive people and is having a relatively easy time adjusting to a new life. I am the girl whose no longer afraid of being cheesy.

Because this is cheesy, and I'm doing it anyways.

I'm not sure how to incorporate this into my relevant experience, but I'm sure going to try. ;)

So here's to my 24th year. So far my goals are to find a job that inspires me, to learn guitar, to make new friends (but keep the old- you know how the girl scout saying goes), to join a new church, to get my own place, to travel again, and to stay healthy and feeling whole.

I think it's going to be a good year.

xoxo

To see my 23rd year post- click here. 

PRODUCTION WEEK

The longest week ever finally happened in the last week of July (aka my birthday week!). We had our shooting week that lasted from Sunday-Friday. It was wild. I got to work with a professional Art Director to design our sets that took place mostly in a boxing gym. We constructed a kitchen out of trash! Working with creative people is so inspiring and I am so blessed to have had the opportunity to work with such cool people. AND they made me a fake birthday cake for my american birthday (I got to celebrate twice!). So cute.

One day I had to run down the street to buy some things for our set and I stumbled in to the midst of a rally. It was really intense and mind-opening to see all these people on queen st.

While we were all stressed and tired, we managed to have a lot of fun during shooting. I think we'll eventually look back on all of it with fond memories. One day. Ha!

xoxo