Lost Voices and Whispering Friends

I have a habit of ignoring my body's needs when I get sick. For example, that one time I got sick my freshman year of college and went to class with a fever. (I probably don't need to tell you not to do that, but just in case: don't go to class with a fever. It's no fun.)

Estrella and I had been trying to work out a time to see each other that would work for both of our schedules for literal MONTHS when the universe finally aligned for us the first weekend in December. You can imagine my unhappiness when I woke up the Wednesday before my trip with a sore throat and a low fever. I took a day off work to rest, but as soon as I wasn't feverish I went back to work and tried to convince myself I was fine. The morning I left for Santa Barbara I actually did feel fine--but I had lost my voice.

This is probably where a rational person would have realized that they should stay home and heal properly, but that is not what I did. I went to Santa Barbara anyway.

No regrets!! It was a much-needed trip; I hadn't seen Estrella since JULY! So we whispered to each other all day, and her mom made me soup and lots of lemony tea. The only downside was that my immune system was tired of me ignoring its needs and I woke up the next morning feeling much worse. I ended up going home after just 24 hours but I'm still glad I went.

Forever thankful for someone who will whisper with me all day <3

Riding the Rails

Last Monday I went on the most spontaneous mini-vacation I've ever planned. It might not actually count as spontaneous, since Estrella and I had been trying to find a time that worked out for a visit for practically the entire summer. The longest-planned most spontaneous trip ever? I think it still counts as a spur-of-the-moment trip because I decided to go the day before, and I bought my ticket just over 12 hours before my departure time.

Anyway, last Monday was finally a perfect storm of schedules and I made my way to Santa Barbara via train. I'd never taken the train in this country before (not that I can recall anyway, I think my mom may have mentioned that we took a train trip once when I was a toddler), and I was surprised at how easy it was. And shocked at the amount of leg room I got! I caught my train at Union Station and a few short hours later I was reunited with Estrella in SB.

I don't have many pictures to show for the trip because Estrella is camera shy and I just wanted to spend time with her. Next time!

I only stayed in Santa Barbara overnight because I had to be back in LA to start my new job (!) but I'll definitely be making the trip again with some more time.

<3