Beach Adventure!!!- May 9, 2014

Today, I was Bilbo Baggins for a little bit. Specifically, I felt exactly like Bilbo in this classic "Hobbit" photo:

I'm going on an adventure!!!!

I woke up today late again, and planned to spend most of the day studying. Grabbed some breakfast, and had a little time to kill before picking up my Writing 150 paper.

Study? Nope. Lord of the Rings.

I'm so close to finishing "The Two Towers!!!!" Two chapters left!!! I wish that was all I had to work on these next few days... just reading. That would be fantastic, wouldn't it?

Anyways, I picked up my paper, then went and rehearsed my scene with Afton. It's getting better! We're planning to rehearse every day up until Monday, which will help us a lot, I think.

Ok, here we go.

Right as I was walking down the stairs, leaving Parkside and after rehearsing, Kapil calls me: "Hey Rachel, want to go on a spontaneous beach trip?"

Me: "Wait, what?!? Give me 10 minutes!"

In those 10 minutes, I walked back to my dorm from Parkside, weighed how much I had to do this weekend, wondered if I really deserved going to the beach today, judged the weather, and thought about how much I've wanted to go to the beach these past few weeks.

Conclusion: What the heck, YOLO. I called him back, "I'm in!!!"

So, I ran upstairs and grabbed everything I needed for the beach in a backpack, and ran out to be picked up.

Scroll back up to that picture. That's how I felt, even if it wasn't exactly how I looked.

Kapil picked me up in his awesome green convertible, and we met up with the friend of his that invited him in the first place, as well as three new friends!!! So I made four new friends today: Stephen, Zach, Katie, and Gina. Even more awesome was that Stephen and Zach are in the brother fraternity of the sorority I was thinking of rushing for next semester (and this semester, but ended up not). And we all drove out to Malibu!!!! Me in Kapil's car, and the other four in another car. Kapil and I had a blast playing super loud music and singing along all the way there.

It was a bit cooler, by the time we arrived, but still really nice! The water was cool, but I didn't find it as cold as the others did. We played with a frisbee, splashed in the water, and laid out on the sand and talked. Plus, Zach and I explored some rocks for a bit, which was fun!!! I've missed the beach so much... it was great to smell the salty air again and feel the sand under my toes! <3

I laughed so hard for so much of our time there. It was an incredible amount of fun and I'm so glad I decided to go!!!

We stayed for a few hours, then started to head back around 6:30 or so. I drove back with Kapil again, and got to talk to him about a lot. He's an awesome friend that I'm lucky to have!!! Plus, I really love being in that convertible. I've never had a dream car before, really, but now I want a convertible someday...

Snapped a quick picture before we left.
Malibu is beautiful! The beaches are, at least!

We got back to SC before the other car did, but we still wanted to have dinner together. Kapil dropped me off back at Pardee for a bit, and he headed back to his apartment with the agreement that we would all meet up at Pizza Studio when we all were back. So I got to run up, clean up, and change into warmer clothes (the one thing I'd forgotten was a sweatshirt, so I was really cold!!!) before running back down to get food with my new friends :)

We sat in Pizza Studio for a good hour and a half, at least, just hanging out, plotting to steal other people's pizzas, and talking. I also learned a lot about Switzerland- Katie's studying abroad here in California, but her real university and home are in Switzerland. She also speaks 5 languages. Isn't that cool??

Anyways, after we parted ways, I came back to my dorm and I've just been chilling ever since :)

Today, I learned the value of making a quick decision and going with a risk. Sometimes, YOLO is the best decision you could ever imagine making, and I'm super glad I went :) Thanks again, Kapil!!! And thank you to my new friends as well!!!

You know, that's one thing I've really loved about LA- There's always an adventure around the corner, and it's always worth taking.

Quick side note- HAPPY BIRTHDAY GRANDMA!!!!!!! I love you so much and I hope your day was as beautiful as you <3 I miss you!!!!

Fight on, friends.