And right now a thousand words are better than any picture

I would go to the Galleria and someone in every store would recognize me. Well, not every store, but the ones I hit weekly: Nordstrom, Aldo, Nine West, Bakers, Steve Madden, Godiva, Betsey Johnson, Juicy, Burberry, Dylan’s Candy Bar, Louis Vuitton, and Payless. I started watching Lipstick Jungle and dreamt about being Victory Ford and being totally beautiful and mysterious and down-to-earth and falling in love with someone who was coincidentally a billionaire and who’s idea of a date was a trip to Japan. Mon-Sun I went to bed before midnight and woke up early because I loved my job and I loved my boss and I loved my customers and I loved the challenge of the market and my learning curve and working in a Man’s World and my commute and my hotel bed. Nikka and I did everything together when I was not working. The receptionist at her school stopped asking questions after the tenth time of me showing up wanting to take her somewhere for “lunch” (The Mall). Gosh I shopped a lot. Mostly at The Domain if I was in Austin. Part of me dreaded coming back to school because Provo shopping sucks. Also because, I had experienced college life before and it was nothing like this. The other part of me craved my young-adulthood, it craved budgets and dysfunctional relationships and professors that don’t quite understand when you can’t make it to a Friday morning class because you got home at 4 a.m. after 80’s dancing. I did practical things like have double dates with my parents and make smoothies for breakfast. I didn’t have time to work out but I didn’t have time to eat either. When I did eat it was fancy: upscale Sushi joints and Steakhouses and restaurants with names like La Vita that are opulent and have personalized hand towels in the bathroom, 2 or 3 times a week. And that was just a perk of the relationship, the functional adult relationship, nothing like a college relationship. My brothers were my pride and joy. They were always there to make me laugh. I bought a Mac Book for fun so we could mess around on PhotoBooth. They loved making themselves look like they only had one eye. That’s all they ever did picture after picture of them looking like complete aliens. One time Nikka and I thought it would be completely hilarious to dress up like cowgirls and go down to the ranch. We ended up spending an hour and half taking a million pictures and didn’t even get on a horse the whole time we were down there because we’d spent so long on our outfits. It was the funniest thing we’ve ever done, the photo shoot that is, the rest was just details. Part of me felt a little incomplete without school but only because for 16 straight years in August or September I sharpened my pencils and bought binders and a new backpack and set off for a new year of school and a diversion from a custom I have always had is not something I typically enjoy. Looking back now I realize that semester was my way of not letting school get in the way of my education.