Pictures of Success

After months of intense anticipation, I finally moved into my apartment in Isla Vista! To all you who don't know, Isla Vista is the little college town adjacent to UC Santa Barbara. To put it simply, it's about a square mile or two nearly completely populated by beach-loving, carefree, bike-riding, blatantly-indulgent college students. In other words, paradise. Also known as my home :) I am especially stoked about living so close to the ocean this year, my second year of college! I didn't officially move in, which won't be happening until next week; but I did load up a truck full of furniture, clothes, and art supplies to bring to my apartment with my papa. It was a shame that both my roommates were elsewhere this weekend. I was really looking forward to seeing them! Special thanks to Christian for helping load the truck and Dustin for assisting me in the unloading process. And of course to my dear ol' dad Randy, who made today possible!

The second we arrived, I felt at home. With the car window open, I was delighted by the breeze that Walnut, my home town, has been greatly lacking. The weather is honestly perfect up there. I feel at equilibrium with my environment when I'm in Santa Barbara. The moving process wasn't too bad either. I'd say, the easiest move of all past experiences. Probably because I barely unpacked after coming home for summer, which saved me loads of work. I even got to catch up with my homegurl TerBear. We engaged in a fat gossip sesh as my dad assembled my bed, after he forbade me from assisting him due to my many earlier assembly fuck-ups. Woops! I didn't bring my camera to document my trip, because 1) I was bumming it big time today :p and 2) I don't want to take pictures until every detail of the move is complete. In the mean time, here's a little camera phone tease:

After a grueling (I'm just being dramatic~), but worth it, couple of hours, Pops and I had dinner at Silver Greens. Love love love. I had a seared ahi tuna salad and a fresh squeezed berry lemonade. Even more love! To complete the feel-good atmosphere, Hang Me Up To Dry by Cold War Kids came on while I chowed, and I started having serious flash backs to last year. That song was a huge staple in my freshmen college experience. As I ate, I reeled through thoughts about how successful today was :) However, I was somewhat dreading the long 132 mile drive home.

To my surprise, the trip back was quite satisfying, all thanks to Cronus! That is, my iPod touch. It's name is meant to signify the Greek name for Saturn, the sixth planet. The symbolism lies in the fact that Cronus is my sixth iPod. Yes, I realize that sounds ridiculous, but keep in mind two out of those six were free warranty replacements. I've gone from a green iPod mini, to three separate black iPod videos, and then to two iPod touches. My ipod track record is a tragic and lengthy tale, whose details I will spare you, but I digress...

Back to the reason Cronus made my day complete. Is it just me, or does the quality of songs on shuffle often correspond to the nature of your mood? Today was a great example of that. After listening to, and subsequently getting sick of, my iPod playlists, I decided to give shuffle a chance. Good move. I didn't press next once, not once! For me, this was a rare occurrence, as well as an indication of happiness :) I don't even think it was my mood that caused me to appreciate every single song that came on. It was honestly the best sequential bunch of shuffled songs I've heard in a long time. So many of my favorite feel-good songs and artists kept popping up that I couldn't help but smile with each and every song change. I feel compelled to post the exact list of songs that got me through that long dark ride home. Enjoy!

1) Hallelujah - Vitamin String Quartet
2) Get Your Freak On - Missy Elliot
3) P.Y.T. - Michael Jackson
4) Morning After Dark - Timbaland feat. SoShy & Nelly Furtado
5) Kids (Afterschool Dance Megamix) - MGMT
6) Mr. Blue Sky - Electric Light Orchestra 
7) Help! - The Beatles
8) Who Says - John Mayer
9) Reckless - Crystal Castles
10) Faker - Miike Snow
11) Web 20/20 - The Roots
12) Cooler Than Me (Skeet Skeet's Ay! Edit) - Mike Posner
13) German Love - Starfucker
14) Tiny Vessels - Death Cab For Cutie
15) Can't Take My Eyes Off Of You - Lauryn Hill
16) I'm Just A Girl - No Doubt
17) So High - John Legend feat. Lauryn Hill
18) Mr. Me 2 - Asher Roth
19) Bonkers (Club Mix) - Dizzee Rascal & Armand Van Helden
20) Somebody To Love (A Tribute to Queen) - Vitamin String Quartet
21) Pictures Of Success - Rilo Kiley

I was so incredibly and genuinely happy when Pictures Of Success came on. It was literally the perfect song to end the day. Not only is it one of my most cherished Rilo Kiley songs... ever, but it was tremendously appropriate.

I'm ready to go
Ready to go
Ready to go
Ready to go
I'm ready to go

These are times that can't be weathered and
We have never been back there since then

I'm ready to go live my life in Santa Barbara this coming school year. I honestly couldn't be more ready. These are times that can't be weathered, times known as my college years. Years that are supposed to be the best years of my life. I'm ready to fulfill that notion. I'm ready to go and leave my old life in my parents' sheltered home. I'm ready to go live in "My First Place". A new life, on my own, in a real apartment, like a real adult. My teen years are coming to a close in exactly 6 months. It's all so surreal. But I know once I do some more growing up this year and find myself quickly approaching adulthood, I'll be able to look back on my childhood and say "I have never been back there since then".