Yesterday I sat at my computer and Gmail-chatted with one of my very best friends for a nice long talk. Caroline and I lived together for three of our four years at Longwood University. If you haven't read about me and Caroline and the legend that is 849, you can catch up here and then come back.

Ready?

I tried to remember the last time I had sat down to catch up with her for more than two minutes and honestly couldn't even remember it. I found myself pleasantly surprised every time we changed the subject. Neither of us had anywhere to go and we had time to actually catch each other up and make plans to see each other soon.

There was a time in our lives when we didn't even go three hours without speaking--most of the time when we did speak, it was face to face in our apartment. Text messages were exchanged constantly. Lunch together every day, dinner together every night, walking around campus together every afternoon. I had a friend with whom I was so inseparable, we'd go home and share half of an apartment together.

Where did that world go?

2006: Caroline and I at Hampden-Sydney. 

We made random freshman-year friends who lived 

in what ended up being Rob's junior year dorm room three years later. 

How's that for a coincidence?

There are times when I feel very adult. And then there are times when I am flooded with absolute panic at the thought of what "real life" must be like. It's exhausting sometimes, living life in this liminal space between undergrad years and a master's degree and, somewhere off in the distance, a career.

I have to say that while I miss the life of academia--of actually living in your studies, reading for countless hours, where your work was constantly guided and improved--I miss the life of 849 even more. I miss things like celebrating everything for any reason at all and nicknaming people we would never actually talk to.

Last month on New Year's Eve, Caroline texted me and said "I had a dream last night that we lived together with our boyfriends. It was weird but also kind of nice," to which I responded, only half-kidding, "That sounds like the dream."

Peter Pan bothers me as a character. Sometimes when I start thinking like this I'm reminded of him. He needs to grow up, you know? I'm not Peter Pan. I know I have to grow up. I think that's where the nostalgia comes from.

Hug your friends who live nearby. And call the ones who are further away. Do it today. 

Apparently we really can't all live, drink too much, and get naked in fountains together forever.

A few weeks ago, I had convinced myself that every week, I would share a "What I Wore" post with you. Preferably, it would be on Wednesdays, because I like alliteration, but only when it's subtle. I wasn't going to tell you it was What I Wore on Wednesday With Something Else, because come on. Who do you think I am?  Anyway, it worked for a few weeks, but then it didn't, because sometimes I come home from work and put on yoga pants and don't actually leave the house again.

But, sometimes I do. You don't actually get to see a full shot of this dress because the lovely zipper actually completely came apart when I was reaching for something. I guess one of the great things about finding clothes for $4 in a Goodwill is that, if it falls apart/doesn't fit, you can get it fixed/altered and still pay less for it than anything else in your wardrobe.

I'm still really new to thrifting because I love new clothes and I'm not always that patient, but I feel like I could get into it.

Dress: Thrifted in Lincoln City, Oregon

Tights: J.Crew // Shoes: J.Crew

 I can't decide whether this dress makes me feel like I'm going to Prom in the 80s 

or having tea with Alice in Wonderland. 

Either one is pretty good.

After the recent holidays, I feel like I've barely actually stayed at our apartment in Charlottesville for a weekend in weeks. But this weekend, we stayed put. We spent time together. I cooked a lot. And baked! Our apartment is spotless and amazingly, we managed to keep it that way. I've never been so proud.

I made breakfast. I went to work. We went out to lunch. I made dinner. We watched LOST. I read. I woke up early and worked on my thesis. I made breakfast again. Shawna and I went for another run--we're on a roll! And then Rob and I spent Sunday evening in sweatpants with takeout from Buffalo Wild Wings. He watched a football game on television and I looked on from my computer. Then the Red Carpet coverage of the Golden Globes happened, which reminded me that I care way too much about some celebrities. We then watched the awards, ordered some more food, and went to bed.

We were lazy this weekend. It was nice. Sort of the perfect way to spend the last weekend before Rob starts class again and our apartment building fills up with noisy undergrads returning from winter break for another semester. 

A weekend morning at home means I finally got to break out my new espresso maker.

Cutting carrots for beef stew.

Paleo-friendly Brownies. I can't stop eating these. Recipe courtesy of The Paleo Project.

Sunday morning productivity. Word document is open. Just doing a little research on Mean Girls.

Sunday morning procrastination. I made all this food for the two of us after I started getting antsy at my computer.

B-dubs on the couch and some football. Rob's really cute. I like him.

What did you do this weekend? Do you have work or school this MLK Day?

Happy birthday, Dr. King!