Missing In Action

Kaixo my dear friends,

It's been... too long. And a shame. I honestly have no other excuse than being swarmed with work. At least, I gotta say, this semester feels better than the last. I have recently started a certificate in translation at the university that makes me feel very confident about jobs outside academia! Not that I don't love teaching, I do (my students are still absolutely HILARIOUS), but I get tired of doing work ALL day EVERY day. So let me recap what has happened in the last month in my life.

Halloween:
Whenever Halloween is coming, I get very worried about my costume. Is it gonna be good enough? Will I have an original idea? This year I had SO MANY ideas that would be great for Halloween back home, like culturally relevant stuff, but I know for a fact that no one would get it in Champaign if I dressed up in those. These last two years I think I've done a killer good job with my choices:

Regina George: 2013 Halloween was one for the (burn) books. My dear friend A, who works for a major engineering company, was sent to Milwaukee for some training for 3 weeks, so she drove all the way to Champaign to visit me! It was 4 days of debauchery fun, showing her around the U of I campus and shopping. My costume was SO EASY to make. I had the black tube skirt and shoes from a long while ago, so all I did was to go to Forever 21, get a cheap tank top and a simple JC Penney cardigan, a purple bra, and I was golden. If I had a dollar for every time someone in the street shouted "MEAN GIRLS!" at me that weekend, I wouldn't be in grad school. And I got plenty of secrets signatures in my Burn Book.

French Kiss: 2014 was "punny." And VERY COLD too. Thank goodness I came up with this awesome idea. I bought the beret and handkerchief at Ragstock, and spent some money in makeup. And that was it. Because honestly, what girl on earth doesn't own a bateau shirt? My biggest fear was how to take off all that make up after the night, considering I had worn make up from 9am (taught in disguise y'all) till the early AM of the next day... But I was very lucky and I enjoyed it SO MUCH!

So this year, I had to make sure my costume was as awesome or even better than the previous two. Honestly though, they were hard to beat. But suddenly, I had an epiphany. I had thought of this costume many times but I always ended up choosing something else. In any case, this year was the year. I become my childhood idol, BRITNEY SPEARS in "Baby One More Time":

Needless to say, they played the song at every place I went to, and I got multiple compliments. I really did feel on top of the world wearing this, so I think my mission was accomplished. I am planning on a post on how to make this costume, which honestly, was the easiest thing ever! Hopefully it doesn't take me another full month...

My Birthday!!
That's right, I turned 24 ten days ago! I think it's a hideous number myself, but there's nothing I can do about it so #suckitup Ane. Birthdays have always been a huge thing in my family. My parents used to wake me up that day and hug me with a warm "Zorionak!" (happy birthday in Basque), and I loved starting the day like that. Every year my mom would say "OMG you were so tiny when you were born, and look at you now!" I've been celebrating my birthdays abroad for the last 3 years (funny that my 21st was in Spain while all the rest birthdays in my 20s have been in the US... Shitty destiny I know), which make me a little gloomy the days before. However, as usual, my friends here make me feel very special.

I started my day off at the gym at 7:30 (#fitnessgoals, although it's still a struggle for my night owl self), and when I got home, my roommate had a huge teddy bear and breakfast for me in my bed with the sweetest note. I LOVE HER SO MUCH! <3 After that, I stayed home talking to family and friends back home on Skype and went to class, where my 3 classmates and professor (#gradschool) wished me a happy birthday. After that, I went out to dinner with some friends, and honestly, the turn out was fantastic, I felt very special. :)

Since my birthday was on a Tuesday, I couldn't do much partying, so we celebrated that Saturday with another November friend at my apartment. It was PACKED. And I had SO MUCH FUN!! I wish I could express my overall satisfaction and delight about the party, but alcohol ran like rivers, so my memory is basically a turmoil of party songs, selfies, twerking and gossip. In any case, I am proud to say my roommate and I are the best party hosts in da worlddddd #bragging #wakeupflawless.

Ma people!

I love these girls!

Meet my awesome roommie <3

After that, my days have consisted of library hours, sugar and caffeine, but I am extremely excited because a) it's finally THANKSGIVING BREAK, and b) I'm going somewhere on holidays... It's green, with mountains, and one of my BFFs lives there. It's also a very hipster place. Any ideas os where I'm going? ;)
Love,

- Ane