a birks and books solo movie date

There is something empowering about going to a movie by yourself.

Let me explain. You see, I only have this one class on Friday, and a piano lesson, but this one class gets cancelled A LOT so I often find myself dressed and ready for the day by 9:30 with nothing to do. No roommate to hang out with (Sara works until 4), no cousin to bother for lunch (Erin has too many art classes), and there's only so much time my mother can spend listening to me ramble on the phone. So today, instead of doing the normal procrastinate homework routine of rewatching Friends and probably talking a nap, I decided to take myself on a little date. Some good old fashioned me time. I find myself pretty interesting company, so it works out. Also, I blew money on a pair of white birkenstocks so that I could think of myself as trendy, and even though my mother calls them ugly shoes (she has a point), I'm kind of in love with them and wanted a reason to leave my room and wear them. So.

Now, I do spend a lot of time by myself in my dorm room waiting for my friends to get out of their afternoon classes, but there's something special about being intentional about your time. So I set out to my car, then realized I left my car keys in my room. The thing is though, my car keys are attached to my room keys. So I had to run to the housing office and tell them I locked myself out, to which the guy at the desk smiled and said, "oh awesome," but he had a british accent so the sarcasm was ok. Then I did a drive thru tb run for my two crunchy tacos no lettuce please and thank you, then ate those in the parking lot before catching a matinee of Cinderella, which, guys, SO GOOD. There were only like five other people in the theater, and I prefer the back, so I put my legs on the seat in front of me and fist pumped when Ella stood up for herself and hugged my legs as the Prince promised to take her as she was, country girl and all. It was a sap fest on the third row from the back, let me tell ya. I even got myself a popcorn and a soda (even though what the heck is up with a $6 bag of popcorn), because, it was a date after all. I've got to be polite. Plus, no sharing, and that deserves a bag of popcorn on it's own.

After the movie I took myself to Barnes and Noble to wander the isles and find something nice to lose myself in. Have you ever noticed the doors? The doors at Barnes and Noble are magical. And I hate to say it but I am definitely not an old book smell type of person. I'm a new book smell kind of gal. All the uncracked spines and smooth thick pages, it ranks right up there with clean sheets and a freshly washed car. So chain stores like B&N are my Bath and Body Works.

Anyways, I grabbed the very last copy of Natalie Holbrook's book off the shelves and headed to the cafe to flip through it, and a couple minutes of flipping determined that yes, I really did need that book and yes, Natalie's writing style just gets me. So then I hopped back in the car to head back to the dorms, and then I swung by swig to grab a dirty dr pepper because why not? Sure it's the third time in three days, don't tell me how to live my life. I'm trying to fill up my punch card. Working towards a goal makes it ok, right?

Anyways, I guess the whole point of this rather pointless but highly important story is that I've stopped looking for reasons to celebrate or treat myself. If I'm not going to be nice to me, why should anyone else?

All in all, it's been a birks and books kind of day. With a side of popcorn and a dirty to match.

Sincerely, mad