The Adventures of Kinky Reggae: A Vagabond for Beauty

It's not how it sounds. I'm a good girl, remember? Things have been pretty crazy. My trip out here involved crazy storms, cockroaches in my hotel room (don't worry, I changed hotels immediately and then had to pay $200 for my room that night), and a flat tire between Oklahoma City and Amarillo. When the tire went flat, I looked around and thought, "I am so screwed." I was in the middle of nowhere, a crazy storm was coming, and I was about to pee in my pants. Luckily roadside assistance was very helpful, the storm held off till the tire was changed, and I peed by the side of the road while waiting for help. So it all worked out. The movers came last Tuesday, but my stuff didn't actually leave Chicago till this Tuesday night. So it's on its way and should be here in a few days. In the meantime, I've been staying with friends and in a hotel with my birthmom. I'm anxious to get into my new place, but I've been having fun in the meantime. I

I thought this was going to be a really difficult week, but surprisingly, it hasn't been. Monday was filled with packing. I was too busy to be sad. The movers came Tuesday morning at 8:00. Then I went to my going away lunch, thrown by my fabulous friend Nicole. I just met her last year, and we were talking the other day and saying how we're sad we didn't get more time together; we think we would've ended up being really close friends. The lunch was so fun. There were like 20 of my favorite coworkers there. It was great to see everyone one more time. I told my friends I'm going to be a good girl when I go to Phoenix, and they were placing bets on how long that would last. I'm not really sure what constitutes being "bad," but I'm not going to do it! I spent Tuesday and Wednesday nights with my friend Kris. This is what really made things easier. I had a great time with her! We ate ice cream and went for a walk down to the beach and saw the

I am super excited about moving. Here is a playlist I made for my road trip: 1. "Already Gone" Sugarland 2. "American Honey" Lady Antebellum 3. "Baby Girl" Sugarland 4. "Born to Fly" Sara Evans 5. "Break Away" Kelly Clarkson 6. "Don't Forget to Remember Me" Carrie Underwood 7. "Fly Away" Sugarland 8. "Long Time Gone" Dixie Chicks 9. "The Long Way Around" Dixie Chicks 10. "Mama, I'm Alright" Miranda Lambert 11. "New Strings" Miranda Lambert 12. "Party in the U.S.A." Miley Cyrus 13. "Ready to Run" Dixie Chicks 14. "Unwritten" Natasha Bedingfield 15. "Vegas" Sarah Bareilles 16. "Who Wouldn't Wanna Be Me" Keith Urban 17. "Wide Open Spaces" Dixie Chicks My favorite is Miranda Lambert: "I'll grab the wheel and I'll point it west Pack the good and leave the rest And drive until I fin

My dad had to make two trips to the city yesterday to bring me stuff for the movers to take. As he was leaving, I thanked him and said, "I'm sorry you had to come to the "goddamn city" twice." (He hates the city and used to call it that all the time.) "That's okay," he replied. "That means I get to leave the goddamn city twice."

One of my favorite parts of the summer is going to see Paula in Iowa. We were college roommates, and she and her family live out in Portland. When she comes home to visit her parents, I go out to Iowa to see her. Paula’s mom babysat her daughter on Wednesday night, so we went to Beaver’s, the local bar. We met an… interesting guy who seemed into us. He wasn’t bad looking, but he had “Thug Love” tattooed on his fingers. And he wanted to talk about politics, and he kept saying, “I mean, it’s the United States of America.” I kept flirting because he was just so entertaining. The next day we went to the Field of Dreams baseball field in Dyersville. It’s a big pickup game of baseball; people show up and just jump in. We were lucky enough to get the field to ourselves for a little while and had fun running the bases and batting. It was so beautiful. I definitely need to watch the movie again. I just love being in Iowa. Thursday night, Paula and I sat out on the patio and watched the firefli

I got another tattoo. This makes five. It's a phoenix. But not because I'm moving to Phoenix. Because, you know, that would be lame. Like, if I were moving to Daytona, I wouldn't get a beach tattoo. It's a phoenix because I've always thought they're cool as hell and love what they represent, and it seemed like a good time in my life to get something like that.

Me, Rachel, and Anna drove up to visit Kelly in her new adorable town, Afton, Minnesota. (This is Kelly's apartment. The downstairs is a biker shop, and she lives upstairs.) When we arrived on Friday night, Kelly had a beautiful table set and dinner waiting for us. After dinner, Kelly took us on a tour of her new town. The St. Croix River (which separates Minnesota from Wisconsin) is practically in her backyard. She showed us her private little beach. We got dolled up and went to the biker bar down the street. I had high hopes of flirting with a biker, but sadly, there was hardly anyone there. We were there till closing, which was midnight. Then we stumbled down to the dock and laid there looking at the stars, having heart to heart chats. Saturday we went on an expedition to see the Mississippi River headwaters four hours away. I’ve always wanted to jump over the beginning of the Mississippi River. My grandpa’s family is from that area, and my dad told me you could straddle it.

My brother is very funny. Don't believe me? I present to you Exhibit A, a text I received from him while picking up some stuff we needed at Target: "I need some maxi pads, too, extra wide. I have a wide set vagina." I had a great time hanging out by the pool with him and Jen yesterday.