March Madness(and I'm not talking about basketball)

Oh March, why do you suck this year? It's only the the 17th day of the month and I'm scared to see what the rest of this month has to offer. Hell, it's only the 3rd month of the year and I'm pretty terrified of the next 9 months ahead. I guess after having such a baller February, God decided to mix my life up a bit and make it miserable.

This month started off with the death of one of my part time associates. Everyone at my store was devastated. Monika was such an amazing part of our Gilly family. Always smiling, happy, full of life, beautiful, young, caring, hard working, had so much going for her. I always loved working with her. I still can't believe she's gone.

The same week I found out my District Manager was no longer going to have my store anymore. I've had my DM for over a year now, which I think is the longest one I've ever had. I know it is better for her that she doesn't have New York anymore and I do like my new DM, but she's been there for me when I was at my lowest and has developed me into what I am now.

That weekend, I went out to the city. Man did I need a night of fun after the week I just had more than ever. But, my name is Stella Taylor and I can't just have a normal fun night out. The night started with Sarah, Morgan and I heading to the train station. We thought we might miss the 9:40 train out, but turns out the station was closed temporarily. We had to take a school bus to another station, which turned out to be the party bus ride to hell. The bus driver had no idea where he was going and we ended up lost. We made it to the train station an hour later, and didn't make it to the city until midnight.
The party bus was only the start of my random night. The minute I walked into the bar, I received a text message. A text message from someone I try not to think too much about, and I had succeed so far this year. Yes, he has popped into my head a couple times throughout this year, but my head was clean of him compared to most of last year. Through time, I've thought of him less and less. But that night brought me right back to where I had started. An hour after I received the out of the blue text, he was there. Right in front of me. And all the feelings and thoughts that had so slowly left me came pouring back. I was vulnerable again. I was so unbelievably happy but incredibly sad. Happy because he makes me that way when I'm with him but sad because I knew that feeling wouldn't last. Happy to be with him but sad because I knew I would have to say goodbye. How does someone make me so happy but yet so sad? Like I said, now I feel like I'm right back to where I started, and it pretty much sucks. It's the worst feeling to want something so bad but know you can't have it. That's what I get for being spoiled as a child.

Monday of this week, my roommate finally got her promotion. This means she's off to Japan in less than a month! This is probably the only exciting news that has come out of March. It's an awesome opportunity for her, but I also feel sad that she's leaving. I'm gonna miss all our random moments, conversations that no one else would understand but us, and our baller nights out. Long Island will not be the same without her. Now I'm getting stressed with the thought of having to move my stuff in less than a month and even more stressed about finding a place.

Yesterday is when I knew March 2010 absolutely hated me. I got a phone call from my mom saying she had tripped over my dog and broken her kneecap. She was going to need surgery the next day and wouldn't be able to walk for about a month. She's been through so much with taking care of my grandmother amongst other things. I feel like such a bad daughter that I can't be there to help her recover and help take care of my grandmother. I'm so glad she has my dad and brother to be there for her, it just sucks I can't be there too.

Thank God for my vacation to look forward to in April. I'm definitely going to need it if March doesn't get anymore better! Hopefully I can last that long without having a mental break down.

California here we come, right back where we started from...

In between our Vegas adventures, Sarah and I took a road trip to San Diego. We needed a break from the restless and crazy Sin City lifestyle before we ended up delirious from exhaustion. The morning we were leaving for Cali, I woke up in Vegas from my 2 hour nap and felt like I was beaten up by Chris Brown. I somehow managed to accumulate a hand full of bruises from my castle adventures, along with bruises going all down my arm from my new star bangle watch. I was wearing my "Lost Vegas" shirt with all the holes, which I gotta say definitely fit how I looked and felt at that moment.

We finally got our rental car and and headed out on the open road with our Chevy Aveo. The sights were beautiful but as for the trip, it was pretty rough. Seeing as though I had 5 total hours of sleep in the last two days, felt like a beaten dog, hung over, having to drive the whole trip as my punishment for keeping Sarah up all night, and half way through the drive a monsoon hit, some points of the trip weren't as fun as I thought they would be.

7 hours later, we finally made it to our hotel. Our hotel, the San Diego Hilton Spa, was freakin' baller. It's nice to be a Hilton Diamond member! Exhaustion hit the minute we walked in the door of our room. We ended up crashing until the next morning.

We awoke early the next morning refreshed and ready to go. We jumped in the rental and headed to Anaheim to Disneyland! Yes, I know I am a 27-year-old woman, but who doesn't love Disneyland? While we were there, we rode every single ride we saw, including Space Mountain a dozen times where Sarah broke her camera. By the end of the day, we were exhausted again. We headed back to our San Diego utopia and called it another early night.

The next morning, we did something we joked about doing, but I really didn't think we would actually do it. Mexico was only 20 minutes away and neither had I nor Sarah ever crossed the border. We didn't want to drive the rental car over the border, so we googled how to walk across the border. We parked the rental in one of the many parking lots by the border and headed towards the huge barbed wire fence. It was a lot easier than we thought. We just walked right in to Mexico. It was easier to walk into Mexico than going through the airport security at La Guardia.

When are feet hit Mexican soil, we were definitely nervous. Our friends kept telling us that we were going to get kidnapped. Most of the people were kind of scary. Being that I lived in Miami for a few months, I knew un poco espanol. I know enough to know what "rubia" and "bonita chicas!" means. Our first 10 minutes in Mexico, we were already eye raped by a few dozen Mexicans and offered "medicine". While walking the streets of Tijuana, a little man named Camillo at a restaurant approached us with drink specials and a menu. We decided to check it out.

Camillo was awesome. He spoke pretty clear English but we tried our Spanish with him. He brought us many Margaritas, enchiladas, and tacos and played us some good ole uncensored rap music. I found this funny because we were in Mexico and thought they'd have a mariachi band or something.

After making a new Mexican friend and having a few Margaritas to settle our nerves, Mexico wasn't half bad. It might be a bit dirty, the guys might be a little creepy, and they might have way too many farmacias, but Mexico did have the best Margaritas and Mexican food ever(obviously!).

That night, we walked around Pacific Beach, or what the locals call "PB". We had sushi at PB Sushi and then called it a night. We knew the next day driving back to Vegas would be a long day.

The next day, it was time to pack up and head back to Las Vegas. I loved beautiful Cali and happy I could add another country to my list of places I've been, but nothing can beat Vegas!

Here's some quotes from the whole trip that might only be funny to Sarah and me, but still wanted to post them.
"I love a big Maine Coon!" -Adam, from the Thunder From Down Under, as he puts his arms out like he's holding a huge cat. Yes, this is what Sarah likes to talk to male strippers about.

"You want medicine?" -crazy Mexican guy in Tijuana

"Did you know the girls from the other night were Storm Troopers?"
"Storm Troopers? Really? Amazing!" -Sarah and I practicing our Australian accents in a delirious moment on the car ride home from Disneyland. We had a picture done with our heads on Star Wars Storm Troopers' bodies.

"You girls dance like rock stars." -bouncer at LAX while proceeding to stamp our hands and lead us up to VIP

"I heard the Thunder." -Sarah
"I felt the Thunder." -Stella

"You got any fruit?" -a guy at a mandatory stop in Cali. So many things I wanted to say in response to this, but I was pretty caught off guard. Apparently you can't bring any fruit into Cali from Nevada. Thank God it wasn't vice versa b/c we had a fruit salad on the way back! Might have had to go to fruit jail.
Things I would have said if I was expecting this:
"Well Sarah here is a little fruity sometimes. Does that count?"
"It depends. Would you call a tomato a fruit or vegetable?"
"Nope. But I do have about a pound of coke in my trunk."
"Why? You hungry? All you damn Californians always trying to be healthy!"
"Nope." said with half of a banana in my mouth.
While being asked, roll down my window, throw an apple at his head and take off!