Fall Break

Because school is obviously so painful, 

my university gives us an extra Friday off called Fall Break. 

Usually I mope around my apartment and eat copious amounts of fish sticks, but this year I took advantage of the three day weekend to visit Los Angeles (where Helena lives) & my hometown (to see my family). It was a nice breather from the intense overload of studying I had to do for weeks. Plus I was super sick of being stuck within a 1 mile radius of the school. Those brick buildings can only be "breathtaking" for ever so long. 

So, at the butt-crack of dawn, Joseph dropped me off at the super sketchy train station. He waited around with me until the station opened and made sure that I boarded safely (what a good friend). And from there, my mini vacation began. 

The train is probably one of my favorite ways to travel. I get internet. I get food. The only downfall is how shaky the train can be. It makes my academic productivity go down by 5 notches. 

I always forget how beautiful the Union Station in LA is. My favorite part is watching a diverse and eclectic group of people waiting around for their train to come, ordering food, falling asleep, meeting with lovers & friends, and looking disheveled.

I had some time to take pictures while I was waiting for Helena to pick me up. I asked this dude if I could take his picture since he looked so interesting to me. And thankfully, he agreed. He probably thought I was a wierdo, but whatever!

Helena finally came and we went on our cat-dog friend date at The Grove. I was so excited to see her! We have been separated for months to the point where I felt like she was just my internet friend that I talked to via Facebook and text. But seeing her again reminded me that she is actually real!

So us being us,

[1]we window-shopped

[2] ate delicious food

[3] took discrete outfit pictures

[4] crashed on the last 5 minutes of happy hour

&

[5] enjoyed the warm southern California weather and each others' company

Where's the food?

Eff it.

Food was bomb.

Drinks were bomb.

Helena is bomb dot com.

Feeling all sorts of sads leaving one of my good friends after a great day.

For the rest of the weekend, I practically just ate myself into a food coma and studied away. But it was really nice to see my mom, sister, best friend from home (Kristen), and my other mother (Cat). Although I didn't take anymore pictures during this trip, I figured this bowl of homemade pho summarizes the rest of my travels!