Why Panda Express Isn't Always a Good Choice

This time tomorrow, I'll be all moved into my dorm room, and will probably be shuffling myself down to the music building to get some practicing done before my ensemble auditions. These will be the second of two auditions I've done at the University of Michigan- the first one being the actual audition to get into the School of Music, Theatre, and Dance.

I was completely scared out of my mind for the first one.

It started with a trip to Panda Express. If you aren't familiar with this chain of fast-food style Chinese food, I suggest you educate yourself, because Panda Express is pretty flipping awesome. I was already slightly nervous about the day, but my actual audition wasn't for another two hours, so when my mom offered to go for lunch, I was eager for something to do to keep my mind off of everything.

Weighing in at slightly over 2000 calories, and containing 150% of my daily sodium intake, the Orange Chicken Bowl was what I decided to have. It was beautiful comfort food, it silenced my fears, probably drowning them in its nectar-sweet sauce. It was bliss, it calmed me. It tasted really good.

And then, out of nowhere, puncturing my perfect post-Panda world, came the first little burp.

It was a noncommittal burp, but then more burps happened. I was terrified I'd unleash the post-Panda-Express-tummy fury during my audition, in a process I'd feared would go something like this:

"Alright, let's hear it."
"Buuuuuurp."
"Alright... now let's hear it."
"BuuuuuuUUUUUuuuuurp."
"Let's-"
"Burp."

Luckily for me, my esophagus got it together, and I managed to get through my audition without horrifying my professor. It was the happiest day of my life, when I got my acceptance letter to U of M, and I thought back to my audition, my orange chicken, my terror, and my stupid body.

Before my ensemble auditions, I will most definitely be Panda-ing.

August 25th
In Order to be a Successful Adult, We Must Wear Successful Shoes

Today I had a footwear-related adventure, and I'm here to tell you all about it!

I thrift-shop a lot. And by 'a-lot' I mean darn near every week. The shop employees know my name, my shoe size, and that unhappy little noise I make in the dressing room upon discovering my butt is too big for a certain pair of pants. They know I prefer canvas or leather boots, and that I find, when I wear moccasins, that my feet look like little potatoes.

But today, boys and girls, I ventured from the thrift shop to DSW Shoes. If you don't know what that is, picture a giant building filled with shoes and happiness and joy and no pain or suffering or sins.

And lawdy-lawd, did I have a successful trip. I bought sandals, and they make me feel like Beyonce. These shoes and I had a cosmic connection, and, instead of making them look like little potatoes, they make my feet look like Beyonce-feet.

And that is a very, very happy feeling indeed.

3 days till music school, where I shall strut my stuff in my Beyonce-shoes. I'm real excited.  

My Adventures Trying to Create a Successful Blog/Post/Status/What even is this?

Hi, team!

We're 16 days from college, which means I have 16 wake-ups in my comfy bed (if we're going to be poetic about this, my bed is a fluffy mass of feathers and fairy-dust whereas my dorm room bed will probably be a tenth of a step above a poorly filled air-mattress), 16 walks with Belle- the beagle extraordinaire- and 16 more midnight snacks that I'm not required/coerced into sharing with anyone.

And then music school happens!

Kalamazoo has been great, 10/10 stars, would recommend to a friend. I've made so many great memories in this city, and I'm a feeling a little wonky about leaving it, but I'm definitely excited to flap my little wings to Ann Arbor. Ann Arbor has lots of restaurants where I can get myriad types of ethnic food to stuff in my face, and a football stadium that is really enormous, which I can go to because season tickets, that's why. Ann Arbor has really overweight squirrels who are rumored to be incredibly friendly, and there are also an abundance of libraries with little cafes in them, so I can get tea or yogurt or whatever else my little heart desires.

Ann Arbor also has U of M's SMTD- School of Music, Theatre, and Dance- where I get the privilege to study horn for the next four years! I've met many members of the horn studio, and they're fantastic players and people! I'm taking so many music classes next semester, and I'm really excited to see how being immersed in music changes my little life. I hope that people there will like me... So, as a friendship-building strategy, I think I'll just bring lots of food everywhere and be a human vending machine, only instead of exchanging money for food, people will exchange friendship. I think that will probably be successful...


I'm so excited to move and meet everyone and have adventures and eat really tasty food, but right now I'm really hungry so I'm going to go eat some tasty snacks and watch Netflix. Don't you dare judge me, trying to be a successful adult is hard sometimes.

Toodles!