Pumpkins, some mental health breaks, and that trip to Vegas

Pumpkins

I love Fall. I love the food. I love the weather. I love the clothes. I love how my hair is not frizzy! And I aboslutely everything involving pumpkins. This year our Human Factors graduate student organization co-sponsored an event on campus for kids in the community. We hosted the pumpkin painting table and had an absolute blast. I wish I could share pictures of the kids painting because they were adorable.

Some mental health breaks

School is definitely busier and more difficult than I imagined it would be. I guess it is helping me gear up for my next semester and summer in Hell coming up. Deep breaths. Trying to maintain my sanity and not relapse into negative patterns of thinking and behavior. Trying. Not always doing.

So, what have I been up to outside of school? The mental health breaks have been numerous! I reached more fitness milestones. I saw Monty Python and the Holy Grail at the Naro. The Mark Rothko exhibit at the local museum was fabulous. I saw Ira Glass at Chrysler Hall and STS9 at the Norva. I spent time with friends instead of staying home alone too often.  I will forever be introverted, so I need to be alone. But I am finding that I enjoy spending the majority of my time with other people instead of being in my head all the time. Balance, right?

I have nothing lined up for November, but I’m sure I’ll find some fun things to do so I can maintain some kind of balance. I am definitely looking forward to November because my brother will be here for Thanksgiving!

Vegas

I realized recently that I never posted pictures of Vegas on my blog. You can see the rest at Picasa. I am going to try to start posting more pictures there. I went to Vegas last month for an academic conference. So, in between conference shenanigans (presenting research, networking, interviewing for internships, and attending talks, panels, and meetings), I had a great time. We stayed at the Red Rock Casino and Resort for the conference, so one of my favorites things was watching the sunrise over the strip one morning. We then moved to Planet Hollywood after the conference. We saw Love, we went through almost all the main hotels on the strip, we ate at some amazing restaurants (Sugar Factory, Otto Enoteca, and Stack to name a few), and we drove down the strip in my friend’s convertible. It was a wonderful trip.

Thanks to @sincitymeetup and @espetersen for great tips about where to eat, dance, and drink while I was in Vegas!