a magical life

"I wish there was a way to know you're in the good old days, before you've actually left them."
-Andy Bernard, The Office finale

Hi, friends. Did I just quote something really cheesy? Yep. Did I just come back from a long hiatus with no explanation? Yep. Is anyone still out there? Eh...

Regardless, here's an explanation: I just had the best summer of my life. I am in no way exaggerating.


In short (though this summer deserves much more), I have loved every moment of the past few months and am sad to see it come to an end, although autumn is my favorite time of year and I am not looking forward to another Chicago winter right around the corner. But, summers can't last forever.

As you can imagine, a lot has changed in the four months since I last posted. For anyone still out there, I'm sorry! I probably owe half of you reading a long phone chat, and for that I am going to try my best in the next three weeks before school starts up again to make those catch-ups happen.

Last spring, I thought a lot about the prospect of summer. You can probably gather that I'm a romantic, and not just in the 'romantic' love sense of the word -- I'm sentimental about pretty well damn near everything, and this is all compounded as a writer. I find poetry in every day, waiting for the bus, taking out the trash. My head is usually in the clouds and I always have a lot of emotions about everything. So, summer has always been the magical season to me.

How much has already been said about the prospect of summer? "Long", "hot", and "careless" have always been the words, whether in Paris, France or in small Texas towns when school finally lets out. It's the same in suffocating urban jungles where come mid-June, you can feel the pulse of all people and you resign yourself to sweating in apartments, cabs, clubs. In Chicago, everyone says there's nothing like a summer. I've found that it's been rare and something that lives up to the hype -- I know I'll remember this time for the rest of my life, being 20-something and on my own and living the hell out of life.

Basically, I have so many wonderful memories that I am going to cherish from this hot, amazing summer: there were weddings, old friends and new, sports, books, late, boozy nights. Sun tans, weekend getaways, fireworks, birthdays, festivals, and concerts. Hellos and goodbyes. Firsts and lasts. I've smiled so much with my friends that I thought my face would break, and spent a lot of happy hours with a sweet guy. I want to hold tight to all these memories, because it all happened so fast and I couldn't believe how lucky I was to be so carefree and happy.

A lot has changed, but above all, I'm thankful that I've reached this point personally. It felt like forever to get really settled in this new phase of my life, and this summer was a total 180 of all the loneliness and uncertainty  and everything else I felt. It was everything I could have imagined and I wasn't really expecting it at all.

There have been new developments in my life--and in those close to me--that are not ideal at all, and out of respect I won't get into too much detail in a public manner (although I know only friends/family really read this!), but I will say that it has put my happiness, fortune, and gratitude into perspective. I am that much more appreciative and determined. Life is short and that much sweeter. And, I have felt crazy and down at some points, but things would be too perfect (boring) otherwise. But honestly, it's been like living in a movie. I can only hope that life continues to be this way, but I'll forever look back on this summer as sweet, perfect memories.

Looking forward, I am back to school and being pretty busy again. Still working part-time, and picking up Korean language courses again. I'm at the end of graduate school, and have (sort of) begun the Big Girl job search. Financially and career-wise I'm feeling pretty stressed, but I am usually good at managing those aspects of my life--if not keeping things in perspective. I try.

Happy summer to you, and here's to (hopefully) more posts! Someone's been having too much fun, and that someone is me :P