It’s cloudy and storming here which is perfect for writing a personal blog post. As the school year is beginning, I contemplate the life lessons I learned through attending college. This acknowledges that friendship is a two-way street and it takes two people to maintain a friendship.

This is a simple statement yet it has taken a while to accept it. In my Freshman year, I met many people from various backgrounds and locations. Once I found someone I really clicked with, I would make time to see them. Getting coffee or studying is an easy way to get to know someone in school.  However, as time passed, I realized that I was the one putting in all the effort. Some friends never asked me how my day was or ask me to hang out. So when I decided to pull away from the friendship, the friendship ended. This always saddened me. I hate losing friends because I made fun memories with that person.

Throughout my college years at Winona, I’m glad to say that I have made some best friends here. However, as I’m becoming a Senior, I recognize some of my friendships slowly deteriorating. Maintaining my friendships is a priority in my life, so I would hope that I’m a priority in my friends’ lives as well.

When I think about what a best friend should be, I think of a couple characteristics. These include honesty, non-judgmental, trustworthiness, fun, memorable, and relaxation. A best friend shouldn’t require work. If you enjoy that person’s company, you should look forward to hanging out with them.

I think I’m a good friend. If something is wrong, I will listen to you talk. I will give advice to the best of my ability and I will always have your back. However, if I don’t feel validated or you don’t take the time for me, I will have no problem cutting you out of my life. It’s that simple.

Happy Friday! This is my second year attending the Internet Cat Video Festival! I attended last year in 2014 back when it was held at the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis. This year, it was held at the Minnesota St. Paul Saints Stadium.

Before the cat video festival, we went to eat at a really nice restaurant in Minneapolis called Republic. Since I’m 21 now, I ordered a lighter ale beer brewed locally. Lighter ales are easily my favorite. My sandwich was delicious! It was the turkey & brie sandwich and there was so much brie cheese! There were also these caramelized onions that were amazing too.

The cat video festival was incredibly fun! There were 13,000 people attending this year. It started at 8:30 and continued till 10. We ended up leaving a half hour early due to traffic. We wanted to get out of the rush but we still saw cats doing silly things.

If you’re interested in attending, I have a few tips to make this a smoother experience.

1. Get there really really early.

We were stuck in traffic for 30-45 minutes trying to get there. Parking was awful. Most parking ramps were full and spots on the street are nonexistent. Eventually, the boyfriend found a spot on a ramp that he could squeeze his car into. We also had to park farther away so it took about 10 minutes to walk. We got there with eight minutes to spare for the videos. It was cutting it really close. So, get there as early as you can. It opens at 6:30, so get there around then.

2. Don’t Drive!!

I really wish that we didn’t drive. It would be way more convenient to take the light rail. Sure, the light rail probably takes around 50-60 minutes to get to the place you need to be, but you can plan ahead for that. Plus there are many people flying to St. Paul for an event like this. If you are from the area, don’t drive and utilize public transportation

3. PICNIC or Go Out to Eat nearby

I absolutely loved Republic, but if you’re going to the cat festival, go to a restaurant nearby. We were only 20 minutes from the Saints stadium but it took double the time to get there due to traffic. If money is tight, bring a picnic and blankets to sit on the field and use up spare time.

Overall this event was worth the money. Tickets were only 10 bucks and I would not hesitate to come back again. The cat lady in me thought this festival was really cute. The boyfriend seemed to enjoy it too.

As the summer is coming to a close, I have been reflecting. I always try to learn things from new and past experiences. This summer, I have learned a lot about myself and what truly makes me happy.

1. Working is a necessity

When I’m in Winona, I only worked through the month of May at my on-campus job. Once June hit, I was currently unemployed until school starts. I wish I tried applying for different jobs. I realize how beneficial it is for me to have money for groceries and constant beauty necessities. As the summer is coming to a close, I realize that I don’t really have a lot of money right now. For next summer, working will be a number one priority because I love making my own money. It gives me independence.

2. Music Festivals aren’t really my thing

This summer, I went to Electric Forest. Although I didn’t publish a blog post about it, I had a really good time. It was an interesting experience. That being said, I don’t think music festivals are really my thing. Would I go back to the Forest? Probably not. It’s not that I hated my time there, it just wasn’t my cup of tea. This is what happens when we try new things. We could discover places that we really enjoy or find events that aren’t up to our alley. Electric Forest was one of them.

3. When Traveling plan for emergencies

So this goes back to Electric Forest. While we were there, my van shut off. Of course, me and my friend had my car towed. We had to stay in a hotel for an extra night plus a taxi cab ride to get my van. Overall it cost around 220 dollars which I didn’t plan for. It’s good when traveling to put money aside for emergencies. It sucks that it happened, but having my car break down and being stuck 10 hours away from home, put a lot of perspective on the situation.

4. Experiences > “stuff”

This statement demonstrates that I would rather spend money on experiences than “stuff”. I tend to spend a lot of my money on clothes. However, I know in the long run, it’s better to spend money on concert tickets or a trip or gas to get somewhere because I will remember that experience forever. I won’t remember the outfit I was wearing when I traveled (unless it’s in the pictures we took).

There were so many more memories that I made this summer. This summer was full of firsts. First summer in Winona, first road trip, and first convention other than CONvergence! It’s good to be young and to try new things. It helps to grow and mold the person you become.

Last Thursday was my 21st birthday. I’m really excited to be 21 because now I can do anything I want! My boyfriend came home with me and he had never been to the cities before. On my actual birthday, we went shopping! I bought a couple new books and video games. My boyfriend bought me this book that I really wanted to read. We went to Dreamers, a cool card shop by my house. Then we visited the Sculpture Garden. The Sculpture Garden is right along the Minneapolis skyline. Their most famous sculpture is the cherry on the spoon. It was the first place my boyfriend requested we go and see. After viewing the sculpture garden, my family & I had dinner at a restaurant by my house. My first legal drink was a Raspberry Martini. It was delicious! I ended my birthday by playing Arkham Horror with my brother and my boyfriend.

Besides my 21st, on our way home to Winona, we stopped by Lark Toys. Lark Toys is a toy museum. There are shelves with older toys and different themes. The toy store is really cool. There were puzzles & board games, hand-made wood-carved toys, puppets, outdoor toys, books, educational toys, and science-themed toys. There was ice cream, handmade fudge, and candy. There was also a hand-carved carousel. It was a really cool museum.

This weekend was an amazing time. My boyfriend seemed to have a good time too. I hope to be back in the city area for the Internet Cat Video Festival. This birthday was one of the best that I have had.

Volunteering is very rewarding. It allows you to donate your time to something you’re passionate about. For me, that’s cats. I grew up with two loving cats. Jasmine is a beautiful calico kitty. She will be 16 years old in August. She has little arthritis, but overall she’s doing really well. My other cat, Ellie, is a tabby kitty and she’s 10 years old. She loves to drink out of the faucet in the mornings.

It was during my sophomore year of college that I started volunteering at the humane society. I find this job very rewarding. I follow my humane society on Facebook. They often post updates of cats that have been adopted. It always makes me feel giddy inside when I see a picture of a cat I used to play with at the humane society. To find out that they are healthy, happy and in a good home is exciting.

Volunteering doesn’t have to take a lot of time out of your schedule. The humane society requires volunteering at least twice a month. There’s nothing better than going to play with cats after a long week. If there is something you’re passionate about, volunteer with that organization! It’s a really good experience and it’s rewarding in the long run. Volunteering gives me something to look forward to each and every week. Cats are my best friends and I can’t wait to own my own kitties someday.

Happy Fourth of July! I have been so incredibly busy in between my trip to Electric Forest (I hope to make a post about that soon) and going to my boyfriend’s house on the Fourth of July. My boyfriend is from the Milwaukee area. I have been to Milwaukee once, but I was happy to explore it again. Friday we drove down to the city. It was packed! Summer-Fest, an 11-day long music festival was still going on. We started our adventure by walking along the riverfront. It’s really pretty! It has a nice brick path for walking and beautiful restaurants to eat at. We also stumbled upon the Fonz statue. The television show Happy Days is a sitcom that took place in Milwaukee. So in honor of one of the television characters on that show, they built the Fonz statue. Of course, being typical tourists, we took a picture with the statue.

Besides the statue, we discovered an awesome Italian restaurant in the middle of the city. My ravioli was mouth-watering. We also stopped at this video game-themed bar called the 42 Lounge. Since I’m not 21 yet, I wasn’t sure if I was even allowed to set foot in the bar. The bartender said I could stay until 6:00. There are so many television screens on which to play video games. Me, my boyfriend and another friend played a couple rounds of super smash bros on a plasma TV behind the bar. My boyfriend got this fruity drink titled Kirby. I was super jealous.

On Saturday, I went to my boyfriend’s aunt’s house. We went tubing and my back is still sore. It was nice to see fireworks and eat a good amount of food.

It’s good to be back in Winona to catch up on reading and relax before my 21st birthday!