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Congration You Dun It

I've been very busy the past two weeks. I've had three commencements to attend. One was my sister's, and then one was for work (I was the line leader). The last one was my own for my MBA! My younger sister graduated with her Bachelor's in Political Science! Which just means I'm getting OLD. I graduated 10 years ago, and I can't remember anything about my commencement. What's weird is there is a live recording of in on Youtube and man it feels so... old. Haha, and honestly 2014 wasn't that long ago! The photos in the strip next to this are pictures of me from the video... The quality is awful, and I do not remember wearing orange stockings! Although that is very me. And despite the blurriness, I feel like I looked cuter than I remember myself looking.



My sister's commencement was very large and it felt like a normal length ceremony. Her speaker was Judy Girard who has had a healthy work history in television and media. She was so funny! I wish all commencement speeches were as interesting as hers.



Thankfully, my camera is awesome and I was able to see her from across the room. We went out to eat at some nice American restaurant, and Oat and I got some awesome pretzels and cheese and ahi tuna. There wasn't even a wait because Wilmington is so big, even when there are lots of people in town, it's not that big of a deal.



Outside of the graduation, we spent most of our time at the beach. We got to see lots of dolphins hopping around (featured in the above image), and we stayed at a cute beach motel (ran by some weird people), and we tagged along with my sister during her pre-gaming. We drank some, but oh my god, I can't keep up with young people anymore! I'd never wake up in the morning if I tried! One of her friends threw a nice graduation party, just for the handful of girls in their social circle, and we had lots of food and drinks. I felt really weird around all of them, since I don't exactly fit in with that crowd, but I also didn't want to leave.



We had a bigger ceremony than I thought we would at our graduation. Turns out most of the masters candidates were education majors, so that makes sense. I was in a pissy mood earlier in the day, I think because I can't help but feel like our graduation was... well, not as "celebrated" as my sisters? And also I guess it was upsetting to think that I've wasted so much in school when I doubt it's going to do me any good. I do have a good, steady job for the state already, although it doesn't pay enough. Hopefully this will help Oat find something better though!

While I was walking to the podium I made eye contact and got smiled and waved at by one of my professors. None of these people have met us in person since our MBA program is online, but he's one of the "better" professors in my opinion (makes lecture videos and seems to actually care about the subject he teaches), and he's kinda good looking, so it was nice being acknowledged by sempai (,,> ᴗ <,,)



Afterwards we went out to eat and waited like 2 hours for a table, when the wait was supposed to be 25 minutes. The manager gave us like 20% or 30% off the meal (I can't remember), although I feel like they should have given us more. The food was good though! So, that's good!

The commencement I had to lead one of the lines for for work was painstakingly long. I was at the local university's auditorium all day long helping with practice, and then the ceremony was like 3 hours long and I didn't get home until 10:00 PM. That sucked!

Anyways, I just wish that school was over for me. This class I'm in now isn't awful, but after 4 years of doing college again (I did two associates degrees before I went into this MBA) I am SO READY to have my free time back!

NOVAdventure

Before I end up forgetting to post about it, I want to share with you guys about my most recent adventure in NOVA (northern VA)!

I had wanted to go up to Mount Vernon for their Revolutionary War reinactment ever since we moved to this state, so I ended up buying tickets to it months ago!

We left early in the morning Saturday and when we got to Mount Vernon we were really hungry. We went to the actual restaurant on the premises (there were too many field trip kids eating in the food court), and the food was so good! I knew it was going to be expensive, but whatever. When in Rome?



We ordered a mix of a few things - cornbread (YUM), fried tomatoes (they were okay), potatos covered in delicious stuff, and peanut soup (?!). I had no idea what peanut soup was (not featured in the above image unfortunately), but I wanted to try it. It was literally... hot peanut butter lol. Or at least that's what it tasted like. It was alright, but not something I'll ever have again!

The actual grounds of Mount Vernon were so nice, but of course our main focus was the Revolutionary War festivities. It was REALLY cool, but to me might have been more enjoyable if it were sunny and warm. I also did not see George Washington there!



Excuse me! George?! Where were you?!



Oat and I both wore our cute yellow rain coats and boots to the event, and we got a lot of comments over how "cute" we are. I still think it's kinda sad that couples don't dress to match in the U.S., and if they do, most people make fun of them. All the people calling us cute were women, but one time out in public a man called my husband whipped. I honestly wish it was okay to hit people still... I'm sure that man is sad and lonely and pathetic though, so that's his own problem. ANYWAYS, there was a cute, yummy gingerbread cookie that we got!

We spent many hours there, and once we left, we ended up going to our hotel to check in before we went on another adventure to find dinner. The hotel itself, I remember thinking I was getting a good deal. And I mean, I did! For NOVA of course! I was a bit worried that it would be in a dangerous area, or it would be dirty, but it wasn't...! It was practicaly empty, very eerie, and felt like something out of time?



The lobby was very nice and the breakfast they served the next day was like... a full breakfast! I was surprised! They even had a pool! It wasn't opened yet. And there were some strange liminal spaces inside the hotel. You can see them in the images.

For dinner Saturday we went to H-Mart, my beloved Asian supermarket. They had a Paris Baguette inside!! One of my favorite places!! And also another place that serves those interesting corn(?) dogs?

 

The next morning I went to a dessert cafe that I had been wanting to visit for a long time. I'd been following them on Instagram ever since they opened and was sooo excited to go there! I asked the cashier if I could order lockma (deep fried dough balls) of different flavors so I could try multiple of them, and she let me do it even though they wouldn't normally do that. I ordered a Turkish coffee as well.



When we sat down I heard another girl come from the back, looking at my order, and she got so angry at the cashier and starting saying "WHAT IS THIS? WHY DID YOU LET THEM ORDER THIS? WHAT KIND OF ORDER IS THIS? WHO DOES THIS?" which made me feel not only awkward as hell, but also bad for getting the cashier in trouble. Another instance where I wish I could hit someone! I felt extremely uncomfortable and unhappy the remainder of my time there, although the lockma were good, and I was happy the cashier was nice enough to let me do a mixed order, I will never go again. I was so uncomfortable and disappointed by the whole situation... What a shame that awful people have to ruin experiences for people... Especially after I had wanted to go there for over a year.

Our next and last stop was Tyson's Corner, a really nice mall that I don't get to go very often! I went to another nice Middle Eastern cafe / dessert place where I have always been treated nicely. I've been there like 4 times and everything they have is amazing, and everyone that works there that I've encountered was friendly.

 

This place is called Shotted, and again, I will praise to the high heavens! I actually asked this cashier if she had any lattes that weren't as sweet as the others, and she made sure to make me one with "less" sugar / condensed milk in it to help me out. I was eating their Lotus cheesecake, so I didn't want that much sugar. And guess what? Nobody screamed about me asking for something special! Wow!

Anyways, besides that one experience, we had a great weekend! I got some new work trousers on sale and I'm going to wear them to my sister's graduation tomorrow. I'll have to make a post about that later! I'll see you guys soon.