adrift

Tomorrow night: Christmas on Las Olas!

I am so excited for tomorrow night! Fort Lauderdale kicks off the Christmas season tomorrow night with the annual Christmas on Las Olas. Basically, since south Florida does not experience any sort of ‘winter wonderland’ during the winter season, they spend elaborate amounts of money on creating one in the middle of a tropical paradise.

Here’s why Christmas on Las Olas is amazingly ridiculous:

• A mountain pile of actual snow ice provided by Starbucks
• A real ski slope with a mountainous view! (Basically a white, slanted conveyor belt with a giant movie screen showing snowy mountain pictures behind it while you stand with skis on) It’s great!
• A linoleum ice skating rink. Yes, there are special skates the kids wear to skate on this surface.
• Snow bubbles flowing down from mysterious places atop the buildings, providing the only snow that most all of south Floridians will see in a lifetime.

Also,

• Free endless cheesecake samples provided by the Cheesecake Factory on Las Olas.
• Magicians doing crazy card tricks while stealing your credit cards out of your wallet. Yep, this actually happened last year.
• Sometimes, free drinks.
• And finally, 80 degree weather!

It’s going to be sweeeet!

Anyone else planning to join in this winterfest?

Tomorrow, my inadvertent, week-long version of 'no shave November' will end.

I left my entire toiletries bag here in Fort Lauderdale while I went home this past week. And no, I was not about to use my dad’s shaving things.

So, tomorrow, the scruff will be gone. Finally!!

Accidental drug deal, averted.

I was just sitting outside in the historic area of Fort Lauderdale along the river and the craziest thing happened.

I’m sitting alone at a picnic table after I’ve finished my lunch. I’m reading a book, and these four kids, a few years younger than me, decide to join me at my table all at once. I’m a little freaked out, so I naturally grab my backpack in one hand, since it had my laptop and pretty much everything else in it.

They don’t really say anything at first, and all I said was, “Hi.”

Then one of them says, “you got the weed?” to one of the others.

I’m thinking to myself, oh crap they’re going to try to set me up with some drug deal and then leave and make it look like I was selling drugs or something.

I start to put the cap back on my water bottle and pack up my things. One of the kids says, “You got liqua in there right?”

“Umm nope, just water” I said

“You smoke?” one asks me.

“Uhh no” I responded.

“Well this might get in ya system then.”

“That’s why I’m leaving” I said.

Perfect relaxing afternoon on the river ruined.

Yeh, this stuff really happens to me. I do NOT lie about these crazy stories that happen in my life.

This afternoon:

1. Meet up with friends
2. Bike to the Fort Lauderdale Tri-Rail Station
3. Catch the train
4. Ride train to Miami
5. Get off train
6. Ride around Miami
7. Ride train back to Fort Lauderdale
8. Meeting at 7
9. Be a total hipster the entire time…ha

So pumped about this despite being slightly under the weather! :/

Anyone going to see the Bravery at Culture Room tomorrow night?

In Fort Lauderdale?

Schools I am considering applying for graduate:

• Georgia State University, Atlanta, GA
• Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL
• Florida Atlantic University, Fort Lauderdale, FL (where I am now…I really only want to stay here if this is the only school that will pay for me)
• Georgia Tech, Atlanta, GA (where I used to go)
• Portland State University, Portland, OR
• University of Colorado at Denver, Denver, CO

I need some other suggestions. I’m looking for study similar to what I’ve been doing (urban/regional/city planning), but different. Right now I am on a policy fling, so I’m looking for schools with an ‘urban studies’ or ‘urban policy studies’ program. There must be a research study position or something available for me to work or something outside of the school for me to fund my way.

Also, I’ve considered international and would give anything to have the opportunity, but I just don’t see it happening.

Oh, and the University of Florida and the University(sic) of Georgia are out of the question.

Ideas?