Actually Being Social and the Consquences that Follow

Gateway Mall :)

None of you are going to believe this, but for the first time since being here in Salt Lake, I actually put on something other than my comfy sweatpants and got out of my little dorm room! This whole past week, the only thing I've done after my 7 hours of dancing is crawled into bed and sat on my laptop until I'm too tired to keep my eyes open any longer. I think my roommates started worrying about me, because they kept inviting me to do things with them, but I would always make up excuses, like I have to register for college classes, or I need to call my mom, or I just need to relax for a little bit; all of which are perfectly good excuses, if you ask me! haha! But, I decided that I am going to actually start being social and get out of my little comfort zone of pajamas and episodes of The Bachelorette from the recluse of my dorm room. So, I squeezed into a pair of shorts, which are really not as comfortable as my regular apparel, might I add. I made my way up to the common room and starting meeting real people! Ya, I can hardly believe it myself! I seriously have a problem, but I would much rather just sit around all by myself. It's just so hard to meet new people, even if you know they are always going to be welcoming and nice to you, and most of the dancers you meet usually are! We took the Trax downtown and went to the Gateway mall, which is this absolutely beautiful outdoor mall with amazing restaurants and some of my favorite stores, I discovered :) I was a little bit uneasy as I realized that none of the people I know were there yet, but I stuck with a really nice 14 year old girl (haha! I was feeling like a schoolgirl again with her, which was really fun actually! It's funny how much you grow up in just four years. She was so sweet, but oh wow, I'm glad I don't have to talk about childish drama anymore!) who also shares an obsession with Starbucks :) We hit the Starbucks first, spending a decent amount on a small little frapaccino. I hate how expensive it is just for a tall, but honestly, it's totally worth it. I don't know who came up with the Vanilla Bean frap, but it is pure genius. Just saying. If I had the money and the metabolism to keep me skinny all the time, I would buy one every single day. But, moving on, I hung out with her and we hit all our favorite stores. I helped her match some outfits while she was in the dressing room. It was really fun! I felt like a personal fashionista or something. I think she thought I was a little weird for only picking out shirts with sleeves and dresses that went to my knee, but she was polite enough not to make fun of me for it. 

I promised myself I wouldn't spend a lot of money, but we all know how it goes when you put on that perfect dress and find the perfect piece of jewelry, and you're holding this debit card and all you can think is, Oh I gotta have this. Man oh man, debit cards are trouble. You can't actually see the money you're spending, so when you look at the receipt and realize that you've just spent $40 on a shirt and a dress and a necklace, you have that inevitable moment of panic, which is usually calmed by friends who reassure you that you're making the right decision, followed by a big bowl of frozen yogurt. There's just something about frozen yogurt that makes you feel happy about all the shopping mistakes you just made that day. I did so good for awhile. I didn't buy anything at the first few stores we went to, but then... there came Forever 21. Seriously, who can resist splurging there? I haven't met a single person who can successfully go shopping there and not walk out with a new outfit. It's like there are little creatures living in their dressing rooms whispering to you that you like desperately need that shirt! And, let me tell you, they sure got to me! I bought a green dress, a cute new shirt, a gorgeous necklace that I have already worn today :) and a cheap little nail polish, which I obviously needed at the time, but, I mean, it was only $2... totally justified! After emptying my pockets there, we had to hit the froyo, which was spectacular, as always. Then we returned back to the dorms, and, naturally, I threw on my pajamas (of course. who would I be if I could keep on real clothes for more than 5 hours?!) and we played apples to apples and watch Despicable Me. After a very long day of socializing and having to actually talk to people, I can conclude that there are some really great people here and I am glad that I got to meet a lot of them yesterday. I am striving to make more friends in the next 3 weeks and really attend all the little activities that the advisors host for us every night. It's gonna be very tempting to just lay in bed by myself (even thinking about it makes me want to do it right now!), but I'm just going to suck it up and actually have a social life with these people! haha alright this post is making me sound really screwed up! I promise I'm not that bad, but when you've just danced for 7 hours, it suddenly turns you into an antisocial hermit who only wants to facebook stalk people until bedtime. I must resist the urge!! 

Speaking of which, I must bid you all adieu so that I can go eat sushi and watch a movie with some of my new friends! Yay me! haha! I hope everyone is enjoying their Father's Day. Don't worry, Dad, your personal Dad post is coming tomorrow!! Don't think I forgot about your special day just because I'm having a blast over here, spending all your money in Salt Lake :) Happy Father's Day, Dad! Your the greatest father any girl could ask for. Try not to worry about the finances today (my dad is a notorious worrier, especially when it comes to "the budget"...seriously, YOLO, Dad :) ) and take a 4 hour nap just because you can. Love you more than you know!! Can't wait to talk to you tonight! Alright, signing off...