summer living. summer life.

Spring semester is finally winding down and I'm starting to think about summer. Heeding the words of my advisor ("Breaks are just breaks from class, not from school"), I'm not expecting this to be the carefree existence of last summer. I have a class to take (thankfully, just one), plus research, plus my candidacy paper, so I know that I'll be putting in work. This is a given and I'm not against it. But I need to make time for fun.

Not to sound dramatic, but this school year has been zero fun... And this past semester in particular has been so much less fun than I've had in a super long time. I'm not looking for a replay. Sitting at my desk, drinking tea, and writing papers has been my routine for the last few months, and I'm so over it. Simply put, my social life has flatlined. I can go days where the only time I "talk" to my friends is via text, Twitter, or Facebook. THIS IS NOT OKAY!! Even though I skew introvert, I need people in my life. I mean, human contact needs to come in more forms than cashiers at Starbucks and Whole Foods, right? I vote yes.

Since I'm not at baller-status (yet), I won't be able to party it up every night. (Plus, I'm not 22 anymore and my liver can't take partying it up every night... or even every other night. Sad.) The school things I have to do are rather major and if I screw up this past year will turn out to be a waste, so I need to be smart about this. Next summer, I'll be finished with classes and working full-time somewhere while doing dissertation-y things. You know, being an adult again. This could possibly be my last real summer in a long time (eek!), so I have to make it count. And I have to get a tan. This last one is a must and a half.

I say all of that to say this: My main goal for the summer is to live again. Hang with friends. Dine outdoors. Party on rooftops. Chill in the Hamptons. I need to have a life, yo! There are very few things better than summer in NYC, and I plan to take full advantage.

... Oh, and I also plan to blog more. For reals this time.