Alicia goes to the movies!

The world's oldest movie theater is located not too far from where I used to live [a.k.a. where I lived two weeks ago. Or one week ago?] and on week nights it plays movies [current movies, but only one per week] for $5! And it sells booze [as does EVERY entity in St. Louis]. Ok, it's not really the oldest but according to their website it's been around since 1922 [oh, and the world's biggest Amoco sign is at that intersection...so I was right about the world's something-est being around]. This is also the location that two of my friends and I went to wait in line to meet Tippi Hedron and see "The Birds" for the first time. [The free seating was already taken when we got there.]

Anyway, the point is I went to see a movie [Water for Elephants], the first movie I've been THIS excited to see in awhile and it was pretty darn good. Of course it wasn't as good as the book, BUT Christoph Waltz is a GREAT bad guy [he has perfected the really-pissed-and-evil-while-smiling look] and, because the character in the book was a redhead, I didn't imagine him nearly as attractive as Robert Pattinson [I didn't imagine him attractive at all, just not ugly], so that was a bonus in the casting. Oh, the elephant was really good, too.

The cherry on top for me was that the guy we paid at the ticket window was kind of cute. Now, that might not seem like a big deal, but in the seven, eight months I've lived in St. Louis, I have seen very few cute boys. VERY FEW. So when I find one that's even kinda cute I just want to stare at him for a few minutes [which I did last night while my friend was in the restroom].

Monday, funday?

I have so many things to look forward to today!

1. I woke up half an hour before my alarm so I get to leave work early today.
2. I didn't make it to the grocery store this weekend so I get to go to PANERA! for lunch.
3. I'm going to see "Water for Elephants" tonight, which I've been waiting for since I heard they were making this movie, and
4. I have a coupon for a free popcorn and soda, and
5. we're going to a local theater that sells tickets for only $5 on weekdays!
6. And finally, I have a Reese's egg sitting in my purse.

This is the best Monday EVER!

Eddie Bauer Man

Today I'm wearing my one and only Eddie Bauer shirt. While this shirt doesn't make me feel like the rugged mountain-climbing nature woman that I someday hope to be, it does make me think of this:

In college I had a friend who either received this catalog or would find it discarded by someone else near the mailboxes and together we would scan the pages in the lunch line, ogling Eddie Bauer models, like this one. And every time I wear this shirt (which isn't very often) I start thinking about those men. The shirt I have doesn't look cool on me at all, but it's a decent work shirt and it was a free hand-me-down (tags still attached). But at least wearing this shirt gets me one step closer to getting me one of those Eddie Bauer men, right? RIGHT???

Moving again...

Well, whadya know? I'm moving sooner than I thought. My "long-term" plan is to move in with my mom in Tejas as soon as my current temp gig is over so I can regroup my finances and find a legit job, maybe add another degree to the list. BUT it turns out that I will be moving before that, to another temporary location until I get to Texas: with my best friend!! My best friend has agreed to let me be a squatter in her spare room (and I get my own bathroom!!!) until I move to Texas. She's super busy so we might not get to see each other much before I leave, unless we live together. Plus, she won't mess with my STUFF and nag about the dishes (hopefully, haha). Either way, we're closer so we can communicate about things in a much better fashion. I'll just bitch slap her if she touches my stuff and she'll hold my face under water if I get too mouthy. That's what BFFs do. It's harder to do those things with a stranger you're living with.

As long as I've lived in STL (a little over seven months), I have yet to feel like I'm not a guest in my own house. And that's a really weird feeling when you don't really know the person you're living with, and everything in the house is hers, and she's all settled, and she feels she has the right to move your stuff around. SO, I figure, living as a guest with my best friend for three to four weeks has to be better than that, right?

Now if only her pool was already open....then this situation would hit an all-time high.

The crazy thing is, I have spent almost as much time at my BFF's apt (with or without her being there) as I've spent in my own house. I prefer to only be home for sleeping and getting ready for the day. All other times I would try to be with friends, at the gym, at the library, shopping, volunteering -- pretty much ANYWHERE else. Except that one time we had Netflix. Then I didn't mind sitting at home all day watching X-Files. And I have had a key to my BFF's apt since before I moved out here, so I can just pop in whenever. When I was unemployed for a couple weeks, I spent every day at her apt, using her computer, searching for jobs. I didn't feel like sitting next to some crazy at the library, using germ-infested computers that I had to sign into every hour. Call me picky, whatever.

What to do

For those of you who know me well, and even those of you who know me a little, you know that I have seriously varied interests. And I constantly go through phases of passionate interest for each thing. One summer I was addicted to everything Beatles. They're all I listened to, all I read about, all I Googled, all I TALKED about. While the Beatles are still my favorite band, my obsession has died down to a normal level of interest in the band. Recently I was gung-ho about writing a memoir based on the crazy things that have happened in my life in the past six months and the decisions that have been made because of said events. Now I just think that I will write a current blog about the things going on, rather than go full on into writing a book. One summer I taught myself crochet; this past year I was an embroiderer. I think that life is too short to do one thing and one thing only. Try everything! And do it passionately! In college and after I thought I would be a marketer, then a writer. Now I'm trying my hand in the animal kingdom, hopefully pursuing an additional bachelor's degree in Fisheries and Wildlife so I can pursue my lifelong dream of being a dolphin trainer - or at least working full time with animals. And I hope to combine my animal knowledge with my writing skills in the future, either in books or articles that are pertinent to what my career is.

2010 - The year of travel.

2010 was the year of travel for me. In January I went to Wisconsin to do social media for Concordia University, Nebraska at a basketball tournament. In April I visited my family in Texas for Easter. A few short weeks after that I spent a weekend in New York, visiting the city and a friend. Then in May I visited another friend in St. Louis and attended my first Cardinal's game. In August I visited family and a friend in Minnesota for a week or so. A couple weeks after that I spent some time in southern California visiting my dad and some family friends. While staying with my Godfather and his family in CA we went to Las Vegas, NV, and saw Hoover Dam, adding Arizona to the list of states visited. In September I moved to St. Louis, MO. For Thanksgiving we visited Nebraska. In December a friend and I traveled to a wedding in Oregon. We took the train from St. Louis, through Chicago and added numerous other states (WI, MN, ND, MT, and WA). Oregon is where we ended 2010. So I was in at least 15 different states at various times in 2010.

While I'm not starting an annual trend for myself, I do have the habit of ending up in places I didn't expect. I have no idea what the rest of 2011 holds. I started it in Oregon and am going to Nebraska this weekend, and moving to Texas in a few weeks - so who's to say I won't end up in other places before 2012?

I should have started this last year, with all my crazy traveling, but I wanted to start some sort of travel blog to let people know where I'm at. The most common question I get when I'm catching up with someone is "So where are you at now?" Here's the answer to that question!