Mercury in Retrograde

President of the Sad Girls Club

Things have been...weird lately. I've had two moods for the past week--sad or mad and it's made being at work very difficult since the majority of my job is me being a smiling face to greet everyone and help them with their problems. But what about Courtney's problems, huh? What about that? Thank the gods I have a handful of really good friends that I've been able to talk to about my moodiness this week or I wouldn't know what to do. As I've gotten older (and wiser) I've gotten to the point where it's easier to identify who my true friends are. I may have my down days but I love myself enough now to know when I'm not being treated right. I was talking to my friend at work and she was telling me that I'm way too smart of a lady to allow anyone to make me feel like I'm not good enough or successful enough to be their friend. And although I know this in my heart it's good to hear it from someone else, ya know? Once I turned 30 something inside me just clicked and I was just done with people's bullshit. I can't stomach phony people anymore. I only want to have people in my life who are real and who I can really share things with. I don't have time for "fair weather" friends who are only there when things are good. Life is hard and you need to have people in your life who you can count on and who can rely on you. I heard a quote once that said, "A good friend will help you move. A true friend will help you move a body." Now that's a little extreme, but you get the idea.

In other news, last weekend Michelle and I went on our first "new bf 2k15" mission and it was kind of a bust. Hanging out at her house and talking before we went out was awesome but then we went to The Duce. Normally we go in a group of 4 or more people but this time it was just the two of us and it was a totally different vibe. First we just sat down and chatted because we weren't feeling the song that was playing. While we were sitting there two guys approached us and I just got really weird and uncomfortable. Maybe it would've been different if they'd been cute but idk, as soon as they approached us all I wanted was for them to go away. That's when I realized that maybe this isn't the best route for me to take. Having one of my best friends witnessing how awkward and shy I get around boys was the WORST because I'm a totally different person with my friends than I am around strangers (especially male strangers). Eventually a song we liked was playing so we danced for a bit but then they played a lousy song and everyone dispersed from the dance floor. I did a quick scan of the place and didn't fancy any of the boys so we decided to check out Crescent Ballroom instead. There wasn't a DJ or any shows going on so everyone was hanging out on the patio. I got a bottle of Coke like a major dweeb and we found a spot to hang out and chat. Again, I just felt uncomfortable and out of place. Bars just aren't my scene and I felt like I wasn't able to give Michelle my full attention because I was trying to patrol for cuties at the same time. Michelle is one of my favorite people in the whole world and I started to resent this bar for taking my attention away from her and our conversation. Anyway, I got home around 1am and in a pretty discouraged mood.

I try to be in tune with the Universe and be conscious when it's trying to communicate something to me and I felt very strongly that night that bars and clubs aren't the place I'm going to find my match in. But where the heck is he? I was talking to Melissa about this quandary and she said that this dude needs to put in some bloody work too, that it shouldn't be 100% my responsibility to find him. I'm a very special girl and I shouldn't have to work so hard to find a decent man. However, then I think to myself, "Maybe the reason I keep running into dead ends with men here is because I'm looking in the wrong place. Maybe there's a reason I've developed such a wanderlust lately. Perhaps I'm meant to meet my person during my travels." (I can be a hopeless romantic at times).

So anyway, the moral of this story is that I've discovered bars aren't the way to go but not to lose hope entirely. I think for next month's outing we'll try joining a Meetup group or something.

Before I close, I'd 'd like to list 3 things that have happened recently that have made me happy since this happens to be Mental Health Awareness Week:

1.) It's a small victory but I beat my buddies at Mario Kart three times in a row last night. It made me feel really good after having such a poop day.
2.) I bought myself some super cute sandals that look just like a pair I had when I was little.
3.) A senior at work told me on Tuesday that I was one of the kindest people she knows

Well, that's all for now. I hope you are enjoying your Thursday and in case you're not, hang in there! We've almost made it to the weekend :)

Operation New Boyfriend

Okay, I'm going to be real here (I'm always pretty real but now I'm going to be extra real)...my love life is not something to be desired. If you look at me and think that I'm the kind of girl who has to shake men off with a stick, well, you'd be wrong. It's not like boys don't pay attention to me, I do tend to attract a fair number of men but rarely is it someone I'd actually be interested in dating (like I'd have a better chance at being abducted by aliens and then dating one of the aliens tbh). If you want to know the truth, I've only ever had one boyfriend and since then I've had a difficult time trusting men (it was a p toxic/emotionally abusive relationship). The few men that I've gone out with since have been pretty cruddy at best. Most of them were just using me to make other girls (ie ex girlfriends) jealous which is 100% uncool. It's just been one disappointment after another until I got to the point where it felt like a waste of my time. That's when I decided to find happiness on my own and not rely on a man to make me happy. In that respect, the last few years have been very successful. I started my own business and found an art form that I love, I've made lots of new friends both in real life and online, I've started travelling the world and seeing places I once only dreamed of, and most importantly, I really started to love myself. I've struggled with depression for most of my life and was once riddled with insecurities but these years on my own have been years of self acceptance and discovery. I'm on the path to becoming the woman I always wanted to be and now that I'm doing so well in the Courtney department I've realized how nice it would be to meet someone truly special at this stage of my life.

But here's the problem...

It's hard to meet someone when you work two jobs, help take care of your elderly parents, exercise regularly, have innumerable hobbies, and lots of friends (for once) who you devote all of your spare time to. Thinking back on it, I don't think I've been on a date since August...of 2013! That date was so bad it really put me off dating, well, until now. But idk, I just don't meet a lot of boys my age in my everyday life. It doesn't help that I'm naturally kind of a homebody either...

So I decided that something has to be done about this situation. The hermit life isn't working for me and the online dating scene hasn't worked for me either so it's time to try the old-fashioned way of actually leaving my house and socializing with other human beings. That sounds so Sci-fi!

My dearest, Michelle, has agreed to be my wingman(woman?) and at least once a month we're going to go out and check out some new places. I've done some research on some cool places to hang out in the valley so we've got some venues to peruse for the next few months. I don't know if this experiment will actually result in a new relationship but it couldn't hurt. And this way I can say that I'm at least putting some effort into meeting someone new. So cross your fingers for your friend, Courtney, that the Universe has somebody in mind to be her new sweetie. It would be a crime for such a cutie to be single FOREVER.

Thank you, bbs! XOXOXOXO!

Birthday Baby

Birthday Princess

Yesterday I turned 31 years old and it was a very good day. It doesn't feel like an entire year has gone by already since my last birthday (which I was lucky enough to spend in Europe with my best friend). Looking back, the year I turned 30 was probably the best year of my life thus far. In one year I visited 6 new countries and had countless adventures. Before this past year I'd never been out of the United States but now I'm a world traveler! I have fallen madly in love with adventure and I think this love affair will last for the rest of my life. There are so many places I want to see and cultures I want to experience firsthand. But for now, I'd like to take some time to reflect on some things that I learned in my 30th year on this planet.

#1.) Love yourself. This is VERY important. For most of my life I've struggled with truly loving myself. I was always my worst critic and put so much pressure on myself to be "perfect" (which I know is totally unrealistic but is pretty common for people who have anxiety disorder). But this past year I decided to really try to love and accept myself the way that I am. I've been trying to see myself how your best friend sees you. When my friends tell me about all their insecurities and things they don't like about themselves I'm always shocked and want to tell them how beautiful and perfect and amazing they are. I don't see these flaws, I just see a person who I love and think is pretty terrific so I've been trying to see myself that way too. It's weird how your entire perception of life changes when you decide to start loving yourself. In the past when I'd look at my reflection all I could see were things I wanted to change. My ears were too big, my skin had too many imperfections, my hair color was too boring, my bust was too small, etc. But now...Now when I look at myself I see princess, a goddess, a celestial being who is just oh-so-CUTE! I wonder how did I ever see anything otherwise? Of course there are days when I feel negative but they're much more infrequent than they once were.




Birthday Dress & Flower Crown

#2.) Surround yourself with positive people and remove any toxic relationships from your life. The truth is that life is very short and you only get to do it once, so if you're not getting what you need from a relationship and that relationship is no longer adding to the enjoyment and quality of your life, it might be time to let it go. Relationships like people, change over time and just because you've been friends with someone for a long time doesn't mean that you're always going to be compatible. This past year I had to remove some negative influences from my life and although it was hard, I think it was ultimately the right decision. These people weren't treating me the way I know I deserved and weren't making me feel good about myself when I was with them. They made me feel like I wasn't good enough and that I needed to change who I was. Since these people have exited my life, I feel like a tremendous weight has been lifted from my shoulders. For the first time in my life I'm surrounded by people who I truly love (and who love me) and enjoy being around. These people support me and inspire me everyday. They make me laugh and are also there for me when I'm feeling down. It's important to find friends who are there for you even when life gets complicated. As a person who struggles with depression, I need people in my life who understand that I'm not always going to happy and bubbly. There are days where I'm going to be a bummer but it means so much to know that even when I feel moody or sad that my friends still love me and are there to talk when I need them. They say that misery loves company but I think that the same can be said about positivity. Surrounding yourself with positive people can really help you to become a more positive person. I've noticed that now that I'm hanging out with positive folks that my attitude has changed a lot. I've absorbed their good vibes and positive energy and instead of just complaining about everything like I used to, I'm laughing and dancing and having fun. It's pretty awesome :)

#3.) Collect experiences, not things. Now this is the hardest one and I'll admit I struggle with it daily. Like I said earlier, people are continually growing and changing and as an artist, I like to express those changes externally with the clothes and makeup I wear. But there comes a point where you realize that with only two days off a week, how are you physically going to be able to wear all of this stuff? And I've heard that the average person only wears 11% of their wardrobe anyway so I need to get a hold of myself and stop buying so much clothes. I come from a family of hoarders so it's going to be challenge to stop collecting things and spending my money on junk I don't really need. Ideally, I'd like to start living a more minimalistic lifestyle and spend my money on travel and not stuff. But as I said, it's not going to be an easy task but now that I've started traveling I'm seeing how much happiness I'm getting from those experiences vs acquiring more material possessions.

So yeah, some very heavy life lessons were learned this past year and I'm hoping to continue to develop and grow this year as well and am very much looking forward to all of the adventures to come.

Baby's First Art Fair

This happened forever and a day ago but since I hadn't finished my travel stories yet, I thought I'd wait to blog about my art show. It was at Monarch Theatre last month and I showed with 42 other local artists. This was my first show as Iggy Starpup so I was very excited/nervous. I spent 2 months preparing so there was a lot of pressure for the show to be a success. For the most part, I'd say it was. The only exception was that I got SUPER sick the day before. Exactly 24 hours prior to the show I woke up with the flu (and I hadn't had the flu in many many years). It was probably a combination of stress and the fact that everyone I worked with was sick but the timing couldn't have been worse. If I hadn't had already sold all of my tickets to my friends I think I would've just backed out to be honest. But I felt an enormous amount of guilt bailing at the last minute. The morning of the show I took some Dayquil first thing after I woke up and by the grace of Glob, it actually worked. Within 30 minutes I felt better. Within an hour I thought, "I can maybe possibly do this." I had to be at the theatre at 2pm and since it was downtown, my dad gave me a lift. He was really worried about me and tried really hard to convince me to not go. It wasn't easy have to socialize with so many people for hours on end but I'm glad I went.

The show didn't start until 7pm so I was a little taken a back when they told us we had to be there at 2pm but our director assured us that we would need all of that time to set up and get photographed. I think it took me about 2 hours total to set up my booth but I did have to wait an hour for someone to help me set up my grid panel (I didn't have a boyfriend/husband to help me set up--I had to do everything myself) so I did end up doing a lot of waiting around. I popped some more Dayquil before they opened the doors and just told myself that I had to get through this. It helped build my confidence that a fellow artist bought a piece of mine before the show even started. Luckily I'd had the good sense to bring a chair with me, though, because there was no way I would've been able to stand for so many hours.

The show went from 7-11pm so it was a long day but it meant so much to me to see all of my friends there to support me. Some were only able to stay for a bit but knowing that they took the time to come downtown to support me and my art meant the world. It was super cool to watch people's face too as they made their way over to my booth. Everyone's faces went from mild interest to delight. I watched them as their eyes jumped from hoop to hoop and as they recognized characters they knew. It was very cool. Our director had told us to anticipate being at the theatre until 1am but I was positive it wouldn't run that long since it was a Thursday and things had thinned out by 10pm. We wrapped up around 10:45pm and I was home by 11:30pm. Even now, I don't know how I got through it being as sick as I was. Just looking at the photographs it's hard to tell that I was even sick but I guess that means I did a pretty good job with my makeup, haha.

In other art news, things have been going pretty well with my shop. I got interviewed recently for an article on a crafting blog and a crafting hero of mine, Twinkie-Chan, purchased one of my hoops! I've been a fan of hers for many many years so it's so cool knowing that she likes my work enough to want a piece in her home. That makes me so happy. In the past year I've befriended so many artists who I really admire and it's all thanks to social media. Even though my addiction to the internet does eat up a lot of my time, I am very grateful for the connections it's allowed me to make. In just 3 years my business has grown so much and I am excited for all of the possibilities and opportunities yet to come :)

Bangkok: Day 7

Our last day in Thailand once again began before the rising sun. It was quite a journey to Elephant's World; I think we left the apartment around 5:30am (aiya!) and took a taxi to the bus terminal. The taxi ride itself turned out to be an adventure! When we told the driver we wanted to get to the bus station he did not look pleased since it would take him out of his normal pick up area but he agreed to take us anyway. The first couple minutes were fine but as soon as we got onto the freeway our driver went completely loco. He was driving almost 100 mph and we had no seat belts in the back seat. I tried my best just to go limp and grip the seat for dear life. At one point the traffic got stopped up a bit but there was a small gap on the left. Our driver decided to gun it and try to make it through that gap but right at that moment the traffic started to move again and the gap closed! All three of us in the back went flying and both me and Pamela screamed EEEEEEEEEEK! as we bashed into the front seat. Since there isn't any car insurance or traffic laws (it's like a free-for-all Mario Kart kind of situation) in Bangkok, our driver just kept on going after bumping into this other taxi. It was so weird. And not once did the guy apologize for almost killing all of us.

We got to the bus terminal around 6am and it was a pretty strange place. First of all, the place was HUGE, so huge that there were a million places to eat. It was kind of like a mall. We had the worst time just figuring out which teller to see to buy tickets for the right bus. By the time we bought our tickets and found where we were supposed to be picked up our bus was already pulling away and would not stop to let us in. Gaaahhh...After about 30 minutes another bus came and we were on our way. It was about a 2 hour bus ride from Bangkok to Kanchanaburi where Elephant's World is so I needed a way to pass the time since I wasn't really sleepy. I mentioned in an earlier post that Thailand is full of wild dogs so I decided that I was going to count them. In 2 hours I counted 105 DOGS! It actually turned out to be a really fun game because it got me to really focus on the scenery instead of just absent mindedly staring out the window. After our bus ride a van was scheduled to pick us up and take us the rest of the way to the elephant sanctuary. The "van" turned out to be large tuk tuk and we rode over with 3 other people. Two were boys from London and the other was a young woman from Paris who was travelling all over south east Asia all by herself. I love all of the interesting people and stories you hear while you're travelling abroad. While riding on the tuk tuk I had another moment where I was like, "Is this real? Am I really riding through the jungle in Thailand on the back of a tuk tuk?" It was a pretty cool experience.

The motto of Elephant's World is "Where the elephants don't work for us. We work for the elephants" and boy, they weren't kidding! Elephants require so much love and care. Just feeding them was an all day endeavor. It was quite the workout! The first thing we did was feed the elephants fruit. To be honest, I was a bit scared since I'd never been so close to such a large animal before. I placed a handful of bananas into her mouth and she gripped my hands a little bit and I thought, "She could just rip my arms right off if she wanted to." I did like the bristly feel of her tongue and trunk, though. It was pretty cool. I never really thought that I'd ever be putting my hand right inside an elephant's mouth! Life is full of surprises. After we fed the elephants they needed a bit of exercise so we walked off the grounds with them. I had only worn flip flops that day since I didn't think I was going to do a lot of walking so it wasn't long before my feet were killing me. But anyway, the elephants were so well behaved and never once got aggressive. Some of them had new mahouts (trainers/keepers) so they weren't exactly both on the same page yet. None of the elephants were bad but some of them just kind of did what they wanted. It was funny.

Another funny thing were all of the doggies that lived at the sanctuary. We asked our guide about them and she told us that they just showed up one day and then never left. They all seemed so happy and got all of the scraps from the kitchen. What a life! Next on our agenda was to prep food for all of the elephants without any teeth. I didn't know this, but an elephant loses its teeth around 60  years old. In the wild they die at this point since they can't feed themselves any longer but at a sanctuary they can live to nearly 100 years old. The oldest elephant was born in 1936! It blew my mind how old many of the elephants were and how sweet they were even after the difficult lives they'd had before they came to Elephant's World.

We all helped make the sticky rice balls for the older elephants and then it was time to feed ourselves. It turned out to be quite the feast! They even had tofu in curry sauce so I was one happy camper. After lunch we rolled the sticky rice balls into actual ball shapes and then headed over to feed it to the old timers. Again I got a little shy about sticking my hand in an elephant's mouth but our guide reassured me it would be fine since she didn't have any teeth (I was more concerned with her trunk whacking me in the face tbh). Pamela wasn't scared, though, so she jumped right in there. The last thing on the agenda was to bathe the elephants. At this part you were allowed to climb up and sit on top of an elephant. Out of everyone I think only Michelle and I didn't partake in this activity. The river the elephants were bathing in was a FOR REAL river with a rushing current and it just seemed to easy to get washed away. On top of that, climbing onto the elephant looked like such a struggle. Pamela volunteered to be the first one to sit on an elephant (she's totally fearless) and soon after she managed to get up there she got kind of bucked off and belly flopped into the river. Michelle busted a gut at this and we both decided that sitting on top of an elephant wasn't something we needed to do in this life. It was very entertaining, though, watching everyone else trying to scramble onto the elephant's backs and then being tossed back into the water. One girl even swam through a fresh pile of elephant poo without really realizing it.

We finished up around 4pm and were going to take the bus back to Bangkok, however, some other people in our tour group were headed in the same direction and asked us to share a van with them. Big mistake. We got stuck in a van with two German girls and they were two of the most obnoxious human beings I've ever had the misfortune of being trapped in a van with. One of them sat in the middle and the other sat in the back and they kept shouting across the van to each other with no consideration that there were other people in the van. One of them even told off the driver because he wouldn't let her stop and smoke a cigarette. There was a ton of traffic on the journey back so it took 3 hours instead of 2 and I had to pee for the majority of the trip. When we finally got back to the city I had no choice but to use a pay toilet before I peed my pants. While I was in the toilet Pamela bought us some snacks and I found myself eating buttered corn out of a plastic bag (it was both surreal and delicious).

So yeah, it was a long day but all in all, a good one that I don't think I'll ever forget. The next morning I would travel back to the states solo (Michelle stayed another week in Thailand). It's not too exciting of a story but I will tell you that I went kind of overboard in the airport gift shop in Tokyo and bought $100 worth of Studio Ghibli products. I was a little afraid to fly back by myself but it turned out to be a piece of cake and now I feel confident that I could fly pretty much anywhere in the world by myself and be okay. Thank you so much for sharing this adventure with me. I hope you enjoyed it (I know I did). My next trip won't be until October where I'll be meeting up with Melissa in London for her birthday. Until then, it's back to living the craft life for me.

Bangkok: Day 6

Siam Ocean World

Saturday morning Michelle and I visited the aquarium and met up with my dear friend, Shong. Shong and I met on Myspace back in 2007 when I was still doing web comics. He was my very first fan of my comic strip "Marksville" and has always been so kind to me so when I decided I was going to visit Bangkok where he lived, I knew that we HAD to meet. Since he worked during the week we met up with him and his partner, Mario, on the weekend. Originally we had planned on going to Safari World but Shong had told us that Safari World was a bit far from the city and we had wanted to go to Chatuchak Market that day too and they closed around 5pm. I'd only been to one other aquarium before, the one in Seattle, so we decided on Siam Ocean World instead since it was right in the downtown.

As many of you know, I suffer from social anxiety disorder so although I was very excited to meet Shong and Mario I was also very nervous. We met them at the mall where the aquarium was located and I gave him a little Mickey Mouse plush since I know that he loves Disney. The aquarium was really cool and we were there for a pretty long time. I think we were there for about 3 hours. My favorites were the river otters and the penguins but we saw a bit of everything including some sharks and a massive manta ray. The place was so huge that it made the Seattle Aquarium look like small potatoes. After the aquarium Shong asked if he could treat us to lunch. Michelle and I hadn't eaten since breakfast and I knew she was hungry so we all agreed to have lunch even though I'm a bit weird about eating with people. I don't talk about it a lot but I've had an anxiety related eating disorder since I was about 15. It has nothing to do with my weight but I have trouble eating with other people sometimes since I carry most of my anxiety in my stomach. I didn't want to tell Shong about this because I really wanted to make a good impression but internally I was freaking out all through lunch. Before I knew it I was feeling really sick :( The thing about social anxiety, though, is that you don't want anyone to know that you're not okay so you keep how you're feeling to yourself to appear more "normal" but then that just makes it worse. I'm pretty sure that if I told people I was having anxiety and feeling ill that they'd be super supportive but part of this disorder is an innate fear of judgment and rejection from others. It's all very complicated and hard to explain if you've never dealt with social anxiety before.

Anyway, so I excused myself to go to the restroom but since it was a shopping mall there were a million people waiting in the restroom and so I bailed thinking I could wait until we got back to the apartment. When I got back everyone was pretty much finished eating and they asked me if I was ready to go the Chatuchak Market place. I didn't want to be a buzzkill and have to announce that I was having a panic attack in the mall so I told everyone I wanted to peek in Forever21 real quick, which was half true. They waited outside and I rushed back down the stairs in search of another bathroom. It turned out there were only 2 bathrooms in the entire mall so I had to walk all the way to the basement. I hate hate HATE using public bathrooms in this situation but my stomach was super upset by this point so I didn't have a choice. I was only gone about 10 minutes but when I came back to Forever 21, my friends were GONE. It was all I could do to stay calm. Michelle and I had agreed that if we ever got separated to meet back at the apartment. I knew how to get back from where I was but I couldn't imagine where they could've gone. So I waited and I waited wondering what I should do. (I'm feeling anxious rn just remembering this scary moment). I kept thinking, "You have one more day of this trip and you managed to get LOST." After about 20 minutes of despair Michelle came out of Forever 21 and was like, "THERE YOU ARE!" Apparently, they'd been waiting inside the store for me the whole time and I'd just managed to walk past them several times without them seeing me or me seeing them. Aiya!

After I'd been found I relaxed a bit and we got on the BTS and headed over to the market. This time I was thankful that the BTS was so freezing because being cold calms me when I'm having anxiety. Watching the funny commercials on the ride over helped a lot too (distraction is very important during panic attacks). By the time we got to the market I was feeling a lot better (my anxious episodes usually time out after an hour or so these days--which is a vast improvement since before they could last several days at a time). I was so glad to have Shong there once we started walking around because the market was pretty overwhelming; there were hundreds of vendors selling just about everything under the sun. I hadn't done any shopping for my friends and family yet so now was my time to really get to business. I bought some more elephant pants, coin purses, a tote bag, handmade journals, candles, and all sorts of other cute stuff. Before I knew it I'd managed to fill two bags full of souvenirs. After we'd gotten our fill of shopping Shong asked us if we wanted to see the pet section of the market. We did.

I wish they'd allowed photography in the pet section because words can't even describe it. It was unlike anything I'd ever seen before. They had every kind of pet you could possibly imagine for sale and THEY WOULDN'T LET YOU PET THEM!!! It was physically painful for me because y'all know how much I love to pet the critters. Before I knew about the no touchy rule I pet the itty bittiest pug puppy and quickly got the smack down. We saw puppies, kittens, bunnies, hedgehogs, mice, rats, hamsters, geese, chickens, sugar gliders, lizards, snakes, frogs, parrots, piggies, squirrels, and even monkeys! It was banaynays! I wanted to just stuff a bunch of puppies in my purse! Tbh, I was really worried we were going to see some dead animals since it was so hot and they were all crammed in these little cages (so sad) but surprisingly we didn't see a single one. Once we'd looked at just about everything there was to look at Shong walked us back to the BTS. Shong was such a dear and is honestly one of the nicest human beings I've ever met. He was so kind and helpful and just cute as can be. I'll never forget his giggle when I told him about my infamous Thai massage. He and Mario would like to visit Disney World someday and Michelle and I agreed to be their tour guide when they make it out to the states.

Minus my anxiety attack, I really had a great day and am so glad I got to meet my friend of so many years. I hope we'll meet again someday soon.

In my next post I'll tell you about our last day in Thailand where we visited Elephant's World. Thanks for reading!

Bangkok: Day 5

Island Girl

On the fifth day of our trip we woke up very refreshed from a much needed night of peaceful sleep (10 hours). After we got dressed (i.e. put our bathing suits on) we headed towards the beach in search of breakfast. There wasn't that much open at 8am (I guess people sleep late on the island) but we managed to find a little café. I got a glazed donut and an orange smoothie that tasted just like a melted orange Creamsicle. It was SO GOOD--OHMYGOODNESS! After breakfast we walked down to the beach and it was almost deserted. We found a free spot to put down our things (some spots you have to pay to sit in their beach chairs) and then we hopped back in the water. We swam all morning and it was the best ever. I remember breathing in the sea air and thinking, "Is this real? Am I really here?"



Sunrise at Koh Samed

Like the day before we were in and out of the water and it was lovely. While we were floating around we saw this inflatable beach toy drifting out to sea and Michelle decided she was going to save it. She swam SO HARD! That girl can SWIM! When she finally managed to retrieve it this guy comes over to us and was like, "Thanks for rescuing my tube!" and Michelle was like, "WTF! I swam so hard for nothing!" Poor bb. Another funny thing happened while we were swimming. I had told Michelle to keep her eyes peeled for jellyfish because you never know when jellyfish are going to be around and soon after I said that she was like, "OW OW OW! MY FOOT STINGS!" We quickly got out of the water and examined her foot but it looked fine. After a minute or so she said it didn't hurt anymore. Weird.


I bought a dress in that shop on the right ;)

But about an hour later I'm swimming and my hand stung out of nowhere and got all red and I was like, "SOMETHING BIT ME!!!" and she was like, "LET'S GET OUT OF HERE!" and we beat it out of the water. After that we just sat on the beach and people watched and enjoyed the scenery. There was a group of Japanese girls that took selfies of themselves jumping for over an hour. It was super cute. They didn't once get in the water either, it appeared that they just came to the beach to take cute pictures. While we were watching them we saw a doggie that looked just like Michelle's dog, Bella. I whistled at him and he came right over. He was super chill and sweet and sat in the shade of my beach chair the rest of the morning. Also while we were being beach bums I saw this merchant from the day before who had this gorgeous elephant shawl that I'd wanted so bad. I'd been looking for him all morning and then there he was and he still had the black shawl so I snatched it up.



me at our bungalow

We caught the ferry back to the main land around noon. We were the last ones on so we had to stand the whole way back (bleah!). It was pretty bummer watching the island get smaller and smaller as we sailed further away. While we were on the boat I saw one of the prettiest little girls I'd ever seen in my life. She looked just like little Chiyo in "Memoirs of a Geisha". I think I even snapped a picture of her when she wasn't looking. Shhh! Tbh, the bus ride back kind of sucked. We got stuck in traffic so it took about 5 hours to get back to the city. We were pretty starving when we got home so we met up with Michelle's mother and went to that same yummy restaurant on Thong Lor. Since it was a Friday night the place was absolutely packed to the gills and we had to wait forever for our food. I had a bit of trouble communicating to the waitress that I wanted to add tofu to my curry so we ended up getting a ton of additional dishes that we hadn't ordered but we wound up eating all of it, haha. After dinner we had a bit of a sweet tooth so we got a gelato then headed back home. I think the ants in my bed had missed me because again I got no bites while I was snoozing.

Minus the super long bus ride home, it was a great day. The next day I'd be meeting up with my online friend of 8 years, Shong, for the first time. I'll fill you in on that meeting in my next post.