It Was One Time!

This weekend has been fantastic.

And thank goodness because this past week has been fifty shades of cray. But actually. I know everyone has busy schedules, but my schedule this quarter seems to be especially insane. Just listen to this: on Wednesdays, I have class 9-2, then a cappella practice 7:30-10, then design for The Daily Northwestern 10-12. Every. Wednesday. Don't get me wrong, I love it all, it's just EXTREMELY tiring. Matt came into my room one night this past week when I was attempting to do work/respond to 1,000 emails/nap, stole my camera, and captured my mood perfectly.

Can't you just feel the angst through the computer screen?

Pictorial representation of the metaphorical drowning that Northwestern causes.

Speaking of that, I don't think I've announced this here, but I am a new designer for The Daily Northwestern! As I'm interested in going into marketing or advertising now, I realized when applying for internships that many require a knowledge of design programs. Joining The Daily has been so awesome, I've learned so much already, and they blast some killer tunes when we're designing the paper into the night. 

Any way, back to this week. It was rough. I was feeling down on myself, trying to keep up with all of my work, and stay organized. I needed to have some real fun this weekend, and I really have (and it's only Saturday).

My weekend began with a fun Daily Design Desk (Dx3) bonding event decorating embarrassing snap chats of ourselves, then learning how to use Adobe Illustrator. Then, I hung out with my lovely a cappella friends at our president/homeboy T$/all-around bad ass Thomas's apartment to bond and just relax after a long week, and also to celebrate all of the concert offers we've been given, as well as our progress on the songs we've been practicing.

It was a really, really fun night. And all 10,000 photos we took last night are adorable. What acacuties (I had to, I'm sorry, I hate myself for making that joke):

El Presidente & My Co-PRincess <3

#OscarSelfie

Too cute for words.

Pitch Perfect. Because why not affirm stereotypes?

<3

Just two mezzos and an alto chillin' on the Love Sac (*breaks out into full B-52's garb*)

Boyz 2 Men 

And then a dance party just started.

And this was captured..........................................get low, Ben. Get low.

I love these guys so much. I know, I know. "What a cliché! She loves the people in her a cappella group *soOoOooOoOOoOoo much*! How surprising!". No, but actually. These people are truly amazing and I'm so glad to have started this group and recruited a bunch of talented, hilarious, passionate, adorable singers. <3 NOF Love <3

Also, a special shout-out to homeboy Thomas for delivering my camera back to me this morning and leaving some really adorbz selfies such as this for me to discover later:

Dat smolder, tho.

Then, today was a whole different adventure. Before reading the next part, you have to promise not to judge me. Okay? Okay. So, for over a year now, my best friend has been talking about wanting to take a pole dancing class. Yeah, you read that correctly. Her birthday was a couple of weeks ago, so, of course, I had to buy her and myself a spot in the pole dancing class at Flirty Girl Fitness in Lincoln Park. My other bestie came along as well to enjoy the class and laugh at my complete lack of coordination and sexiness.

Thank God no pictures of me were taken.

 Judge me if you will, but I did this will my friends for fun. None of us at ALL intend on becoming strippers (although, if the whole "college" thing doesn't work, at least I have a back-up plan?). This was simply a fun, empowering, goofy thing we did to make funny memories and get a good hour-long workout in.

My tookus still hurts. 

If you're really curious as to what I looked like while doing this, I have some images that are pretty darn close to the reality of my pole dancing skills.

"I totally look sexy, right?"

If you haven't gathered yet, I can't dance.

My moves when the instructor said to do "freestyle" moves.

There's too much accuracy here.

Strike a pose, Georgie.

Rotund body, extremely lanky legs. Yep, that's me.

So, pole dancing was...an adventure. It was a fantastic workout, I felt really confident (while at the same time really aware of my lack of coordination), and it's a great story to tell to the kids one day.

Or maybe not.

Yeah, probably not.

After those shenanigans, we wandered around Lincoln Park, and it was glorious. The weather was in the mid-70s, I wore a dress, my gladiators, and couldn't remove the smile off of my face. We eventually stumbled upon a small Thai food restaurant and ate some baller food.

New life goal: live in one of these in Lincoln Park.

The beauty.

Yes, I am that pretentious person who takes pictures of her delicious Pad Thai.

And my adorable friends reluctantly posed for photos:

This is payback for every horrible picture you've ever taken of me ever.

The birthday gal, Roomzy.

Soon, we ventured through Lincoln Park some more and reached the famous and equally as delicious Molly's Cupcakes. Molly's has the best cupcakes I've ever had. It's no wonder that they won Cupcake Wars on The Food Network. This cake batter cupcake was unreal.

Foodgasm.

Not to mention that Molly's has the cutest atmosphere ever.

Oh, and if the cupcake didn't look delicious to you in the first picture, it had actual CAKE BATTER on the inside. BOOM.

I should just turn this blog into a foodie blog.

After more walking, we stumbled upon two of the greatest things I think I've ever seen, ever: the Urban Outfitters giant outlet store and the mysterious Arcade Fire Reflektor spray paint ads. (*insert hipster joke here*).

And then the skies parted and I ascended into my own personal Heaven.

"We fell in love, alone on a stage in the reflective age."

And to cap off the day, one of my best friends accepted her bid to join Chi Omega and it was one of the happiest moments of my life.

Shelbie Boo Boo Boo: New Chi O Cutie

Including Shelbie, Chi O gained six wonderful new ladies today, all of whom I can't wait to get to know!

Baby Hooties!

Shelbz and I then celebrated her new Chi O-ness by cooking dinner, eating it on the roof of her apartment, then frolicking on South Beach.

Don't mind my severe fear of heights...

In case you were wondering, Lake Michigan is really freaking cold.

*~*MoDeL sTaTuS*~*

Oh, South Beach. I love you.

As for right now, I'm sitting in Starbucks, listening to "Say Something", crying happy, metaphorical tears and thinking about how anything in life is possible. It's a really comforting thought, huh? As Ellie Goulding says, anything can happen.

This weekend has been awesome. It has been everything I've needed for awhile now. But, tragically, now I must do some homework because at the end of the day, I still go to Northwestern and fun can only be present in small doses with homework and studying covering larger portions of life. Oh well, that's how it goes. 

Keep on dreaming happy dreams, folks.

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"Think of all the beauty still left around you and be happy."

-Anne Frank

Little Infinities

There's a major benefit in always looking up.

Gotta love that Dominican sun. Even if it does burn my skin faster than you can say "¡Ay carumba!"

So, you're probably thinking, "What the hell is Sydney talking about? She doesn't write a blog post for weeks, then starts off writing some weird philosophical crap? That's stupid." Or, maybe you're not thinking that, who knows. But just read that phrase again, and I'll explain.

I was walking around E-town the other day and for some reason, I had the desire to look up and for the first time I really noticed the beautiful buildings and sky. Sure, it's usually cloudy, like, 150% of the time here, but the sky was breathtaking. I know this sounds cheesy and lame and trite, but I honestly think this is important. As college students, and really just as human beings in general, we spend the majority of our time running place to place and rarely ever stop to take in our surroundings. I know that I'm definitely guilty of that. On an average day, I'm running late to class or running to a meeting or I'm trapped in the library studying and I never stop for a second to enjoy my beautiful surroundings. 

This planet really is extraordinary, isn't it? 

When I looked up at the buildings, I realized that I need to start doing that more often, and I have since started to do just that. So, in the literal sense of the phrase, looking upward provides a major benefit. But, this phrase also means something completely separate: positivity.

As a young adult who has dealt with some pretty crippling anxiety, positivity has not always been something I have provided myself with. 

I'm almost always critical of myself. I'm almost always thinking that others hate me or that I've done something wrong. I'm almost always worrying that I'm not good enough. I'm almost always thinking that guys don't find me attractive. I'm not saying this to gain pity from others. I'm starting to realize that treating myself this way is so stupid. I have a wonderful life, school is going really well, and I have an amazing family and incredible friends. Sometimes, I'm just way too hard on myself, and I need to stop that. I need to stop focusing on my negatives and embrace the positives.

I need to start looking up. And I have. Life can be amazing and there's no use wasting time on stupid thoughts.

<<•>><<•>><<•>><<•>><<•>><<•>><<•>>

Any way, after that little inspirational introduction, I would like to say "Hello!" and folks, I'm back! Why have I been away so long? Well, finals week happened, then Spring Break, and I decided I really wanted to limit my technology use over my break to fully relax. Now, I'm back in school, and have missed writing here so much. So many wonderful things have happened in the past couple of weeks. It's time to celebrate them/tell you about them so I can further procrastinate on my endless list of reading homework.

Over Spring Break, as I'm sure most of you saw via Facebook, I went to the Dominican Republic with my wonderful mom and dad. More specifically, I visited Punta Cana, and oh man was it beautiful.

I took this picture, I swear. No photoshop. No filters. Just pure, tropical beauty.

While I was there, I relaxed more than I think I ever have. My mom, dad, and I laid on the beach or by the pool every day, had some piñas, and just enjoyed the ever-present state of being.

Just keep swimming.

That view, though.

Did I mention there was a swim-up bar? ¡Qué chevere!

What was even better than relaxing by the beach, however, was hanging out with my parents. I realize that I am probably one of the only young adult college students who loves hanging out with her parents. And you know what? I don't care, because my parents are awesome and if you met them, you'd agree. My mom and I pulled my dad into the pool when he was sleeping and I laughed when my parents attempted to speak Spanish and we all simultaneously gagged when we saw topless ladies walking along the beach. 

There really is no one else I'd rather spend five days vacation with than my parents. They're loving, hilarious, and truly the best. I love them and feel so lucky to have such a tight relationship with them.

I don't even care that I look bad in this picture because I love them so much.

Another great thing about my parents is that they tolerate, and actually indulge in, my love of taking pictures.

S/o to the fake, neon palm tree behind me.

My mama is so pretty.

When we were taking pictures, my parents were perplexed as to why I was posing with my hand on my hips, as shown above. I simply explained to them that I was "skinny arm-ing" and they were fascinated. They've obviously never been to a sorority event before... Then, I wanted to take a picture of my parents and this happened:

Mama is ROCKING dat skinny arm.

Without prompting, my mom did the skinny arm pose and said "Do I look cute like you, now?". My eyes welled up with tears of sheer happiness. My mom is the cutest. And my dad was rocking those salmon-orange pants like a pro. So proud of them.

In summary, the Dominican Republic was amazing. This was my first time out of the U.S., and I loved every minute of it. I feel so lucky and blessed to have been able to go on that amazing vacation with the ones I love.

Throwing what I know: Chi O.

In addition to discovering a tropical paradise, I had a couple days home in Columbus, and naturally I used them to hang out with my sister, brother, niece, and nephew. While I forgot to take pictures of my adorable nephew Sammy, I did manage to snap some of my sister and niece while spending the day with them.

My beautiful sister Sommer and my niece Maya.

Between some delish Northstar, Jeni's, cocktails, coffee, and T.V. watching, it was the perfect day of bonding. Side note, every time I pulled out my camera, Maya yelled "Cheese!!!" and made the face as shown above and below.

Look at those pointy, little Gollum teeth!

At Jeni's there was a giant chalkboard, so naturally Maya was loving it. But, she couldn't get onto one of the stools without my help. She looked at me while trying to scale the stool and said, "See-yid, help. Pwease?" Who could deny helping that face?

Yeah, she pronounces Syd "See-yid". It's adorbz.

The rest of the day consisted of watching The Food Network with my sister while Maya napped and watching my sister trash talk about Giada De Laurentiis, or as she calls her, "Tits McGee".

Her words, not mine.

So, that was a great time. Having my sister and brother in Columbus now is so awesome! 

Hmm what else did I do over break? Well, I read The Fault In Our Stars by John Green and balled my eyes out. It was casual.

"Okay?" "Okay."

But in all seriousness, this book changed my life.

I know I sound like a stereotypical teenage girl by gushing about this book. I know. Go ahead and judge me if you see fit, but it really is an amazing book. I bookmarked probably close to 30 quotes I loved, but the one that I still think about daily is the one that I believe has changed my life (WARNING: SPOILERS):

"Almost everyone is obsessed with leaving a mark upon the world. Bequeathing a legacy. Outlasting death. We all want to be remembered. I do, too. That's what bothers me most, is being another unremembered casualty in the ancient and inglorious war against disease.

I want to leave a mark.

But Van Houten: The marks humans leave are too often scars. You build a hideous minimal or start a coup or try to become a rock star and you think, 'They'll remember me now," but (a) they don't remember you, and (b) all you leave behind are more scars. Your coup becomes a dictatorship. Your minimal becomes a lesion.

(Okay, maybe I'm not such a shitty writer. But I can't pull my ideas together, Van Houten. My thoughts are stars I can't fathom into constellations.)

We are like a bunch of dogs squirting on fire hydrants. We poison the groundwater with our toxic piss, marking everything MINE in a ridiculous attempt to survive our deaths. I can't stop pissing on fire hydrants. I know it's silly and useless--epically useless in my current state--but I am an animal like any other. 

Hazel is different. She walks lightly, old man. She walks lightly upon the earth. Hazel knows the truth: We're as likely to hurt the universe as we are to help it, and we're not likely to do either. 

People will say it's sad that she leaves a lesser scar, that fewer remember her, that she was loved deeply but not widely. But it's not sad, Van Houten. It's triumphant. It's heroic. Isn't that the real heroism? Like the doctors say: First, do no harm.

The real heroes anyway aren't the people doing things; the real heroes are the people NOTICING things, paying attention."

-Augustus Waters

I know that this quote is kind of controversial because it's making a huge statement against people who do positive actions to change the world. And with that respect, I disagree with it. I think that every human should strive for their best in life and to never settle. But that's not exactly what this quotation is talking about. Rather, it's saying that in life, often so many people become obsessed with leaving behind a legacy or becoming famous to be remembered for years past death or doing something or discovering something that creates some sort of personal legacy and within these actions and motives, we as humans get caught up in trivialities and lose sight of what life is about.

In my opinion, life is about loving those close to you a lot, showing strength in times of adversity, and always striving for greater truths. What this book showed is that many people are not lucky enough to live long enough to leave behind a legacy. But that doesn't mean that their lives were useless. They left a legacy with their close friends and family, and touched the hearts of those closest to them. And in that way, they changed the world. 

This completely changed my view on the purpose of life. I've always been obsessed with discovering something or creating something that would change the world. But I've been obsessed with these things to please others, and have completely disregarded the fact that I must first focus on pleasing myself before I can even remotely hope to please others. It's cheesy, but I think it's true. You don't need to leave behind a huge, famous legacy to have made a difference in the world. 

You just need to treat those around you with love, insights, and kindness. 

In this way, you can change the world.

Ya got me, John Green. Ya got me.

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"We have lingered in the chambers of the sea

By sea-girls wreathed with seaweed red and brown

Till human voices wake us, and we drown."

-Poem recited by Hazel in The Fault In Our Stars by John Green