^{I have so many variations of pictures like this.}

I'm not a huge partier anymore, so after puking for a few hours my first full day in town, I was pretty much over getting hammered at all... in the city where it seems like that's all people do? I noticed that unlike Philadelphia, which has a pretty decent mix of entertainment for tourist and non-tourist crowds in general, everything in New Orleans seemed geared toward visitors. I did find a small corner of boutiques on Magazine and one decent vintage store off Frenchmen, but most shops just seemed to feature "GREETINGS FROM NEW ORLEANS" paraphernalia or mardi gras style masquerade masks. Learning curve!

I honestly wasn't sure how to write about my trip here so this is largely pictures. I didn't get to see as many (any) sights like graveyards, spooky tours, and museums as I would have liked to because I waited around for other people instead of going off on my own in the beginning of the trip, and the end of my trip got rained out; I don't think I will be returning to New Orleans in the near future to remedy that though, as my overall experience left me more bitter than a vacation should. What I did see of the city was gorgeous and bright; even the buildings that had been left abandoned had a beauty to their decay. There were plants EVERYWHERE, and I wish I could've snuck them all back in my carry-on, but I unfortunately packed 4 too many pairs of shoes.

^{Just left to its lonesome; they even left their boat! I wanted to lay in the branches of all the trees I kept seeing just covered in moss.
Blue Dream Vintage Boutique. kinda pricey but I was just stoked to finally find a decent store I actually bought stuff. Art from a gallery I passed. Unfortunately I didn't write down the artist's name. This rad bar called the Dungeon off Bourbon that you can miss if you aren't looking for. Really. It's a little hole in the wall bar that plays metal music and is lit up in all red light. You're not supposed to take pictures in there but no one listens anyway. See? Dreamy Weenie - Pothole Dog: Potato salad, chili & cheese! So much green, I was just aching to curl up in some moss A crazy Halloween party at this weird old money plantation house that looked out of a movie.
I was way too sober to properly enjoy it but the place looked cool. John and Steve playing pacman in The Other Bar We spent Halloween at a strange Mermaid themed warehouse party.
I didn't take enough photos here because I felt like nothing properly conveyed the atmosphere. Partial Halloween reflections. Napoleon House - Cheese boardt Napoleon House - Ratatouille Calzone A night market off Frenchmen we stumbled onto.} I took a lot of photos the handful of times I was able to get out so it looks like I had a much more eventful trip than I did, hah (I guess that's the nature of social media though, right?!?) By the end I was truly ready to be back in my own bed, in my own town. My only advice is this:

If you're getting an airbnb in a city you've never been to, double and triple check your friend's suggestions. What you may save in cost by being slightly out of the way you may end up paying in transportation (we spent at least $200 on uber in 3 days. $200.)

If you want to go see things, do it.

Landed in New Orleans last night for a week long trip to visit my friend Cheyenne for Halloween. I didn't get to do a lot of exploring into this picturesque place yet because I woke up feeling like death from a daiquiri (I was greeted with one right when I got picked up from the airport! What!) and shots/beer/everything hangover, but I'm excited to check this place out over the next week. I still feel like I'm getting punked by the open container laws here but here's to more public drunkenness (in better moderation).  

If you've ever been a server you'll understand what I'm referencing when I say "server voice"; the artificial nice voice you use with customers to portray this false image of being a really upbeat person who actually cares if they want an extra side of mayo with their burger. That server voice is how I feel I've been portraying myself via this blog since I started it. And that false voice is why I needed to take a step back for a bit.

I've never had an issue with how I portray myself offline, in any type of interaction. I'm a fairly upfront, no-nonsense type of person who won't shy away from confrontation and don't care how people interpret me. I dropped out of high school, I'm a loner, and I'll always be some sort of artistic weird that I'm perfectly okay with. But in creating a space online, you open yourself up to an entirely different audience, which I found myself catering to for no reason. It's really easy to find yourself keeping up with the Joneses (or in this case all other bloggers) when they're a click away posting their pinterest-tailored highlight reels. I don't care about weekly topic posts or superficial filler nonsense, and it's silly to pretend I do.

I'm gonna try harder to not try so hard anymore. I'm a 26-year-old (who still hesitates with where the hyphens go) that just figured out how to handle her finances (r/personalfinances is a godsend, ps), can't get her diet straight, and starts more things than she finishes. And that's totally okay.

Unfortunately the change in weather from Summer to rainy season seems to have hit me harder in the emotion department than I anticipated and I've spent the last few weeks (hence the hiatus) mostly scrambling to feel more like a person and less out actually doing things besides feeling like I'm wading through jello; as such, I don't have a compilation of my favorite things from September to share with you. Instead, I've put together a playlist of chill, upbeat songs that have just felt appropriate for those mornings when I really need something to dance around my room to, or when I need something in the background while floor painting/attempting to clean. There's some new and some old on here and I think they really work well together. I suggest you listen to the playlist on shuffle because I had no particular regard to order, just how the songs made me feel. :)

(click here to open in spotify)

Because it's the first of October and the start of a new month, I've decided to try to really kick myself in gear this month (here's hoping I can hold onto that feeling still in a week!). Just last night I discovered the subreddit "r/getdisciplined" that seems to have a lot of tips that could be useful; I'm still perusing for ideas but figured it might be worth a share!

xx