As I write this, I am sitting with my family listening to old vinyls of artists like Bob Dylan, The Beatles and The Manhattans. This is home. I am taking a brief moment out of this Christmas Eve to share with you all some of my favorite parts of this season, my own comforts of home. They’re simple pleasures that I have learned not to take for granted:
1. A roaring fire on a cold winter’s night
2. My brother’s new slacklining hobby
3. My mother’s potato latkes for a belated Hannukah dinner
4. Sharing the year’s best YouTube videos
5. Whimsical Christmas decorations
I am so lucky to be surrounded by family tonight, and I wish everyone a holiday filled with laughter, joy and love.
Annnnnnd finally — I’m back! It has been 40 17 crazy, roller coaster days since my last post and let me just say, I could not be happier to get my blog thing going again. So what has happened between December 6th and now? Here is the short version:
Finals. And great news: I survived! Two graphic design projects, one paper, one presentation and two final exams later, I am done with another semester. Hallelujah, it feels so good to be free!
An epiphany. It came to me in the form of a song:
We used to sing “Closer to Fine” at my summer camp in Colorado and until a couple weeks ago, I hadn’t thought of it for at least three or four years. In a deeply introspective state that one can only achieve through sleep deprivation and high caffeine intake, I remembered these lyrics and everything just clicked. All of the worries, joy, heartache and discovery of this semester came together and these words were the outcome of my thoughts. The soundtrack I had been endlessly searching for:
The less I seek my source for some definitive,
the closer I am to fine.
A heartfelt goodbye. My roommate and one of my closest friends at school, Kelsey, is embarking on the most amazing adventure in just a few short weeks — a semester studying abroad and interning in London! While saying goodbye to her was one of the hardest parts about the semester ending, it gave me the chance to reflect on how lucky I am to have people like her in my life: the ones who can embrace my weirdness, who are so motivated and proactive they inspire me to shoot for the moon and who are — to put it simply — so beautiful inside and out. She will be missed by many, but I am beyond excited to see where this new journey takes her.
A change in location. And after all of the above occurred, I hopped on a plane and flew back West for winter break. I am now writing from the great city of Las Vegas and I am warning you now, get ready for SLB Sin City style. What does this entail exactly? Probably lots of glitter, fish nets, feather boas and neon. Oh my.
I think that about covers it. The last few days at home have been a happy balance of sleeping, eating, recuperating and getting some last minute Christmas shopping done. I am looking forward to introducing some new features and elements on SLB, but I’ll save all of that exciting stuff for tomorrow. Hope everyone is having a wonderful and restful holiday season, more adventures to come.
I have a few special songs tucked away in the back of my brain, set aside for times like these, when life gets increasingly hectic and I am just far enough away from winter break to feel like I am running a marathon with a mad dash to the finish line. I want to share a few of these pick-me-ups to my readers as a virtual survival kit for anyone yearning for the holiday season (or better yet, simply a break from the busy).
Thinking back on thanksgiving break makes me smile, and I love this photo I took of my mom and sweet cousin Ollie:
Tonight’s life mantra: keep calm and listen to music. It’s good for the soul.
More Vegas adventures to come! 
