I am back from my road trip to New Mexico! I was gone all last week and it was a recharge for me. Originally, I had planned this road trip as a solo road trip, but last minute my mom was able to come with me and I appreciated the company. I had underestimated how much driving this trip would entail, so it was nice to talk to someone especially when driving across Nebraska. With all of my travel posts, I like to split them up, so I don’t have one extremely long post. This will be a three-post series, the first post will focus on Albuquerque, the second post will focus on Santa Fe, and finally, the last post will be all the miscellaneous stops on the trip.

Albuquerque is the city that we spent the most time in, so I figured I’d start with ABQ! Albuquerque is stunning! The Sandia Mountains surround the city and in the sunlight, they are a bronze or golden color. I couldn’t get over how beautiful the mountains were; no matter where we drove, they were always within sight.

For every trip, I like to pre-plan an itinerary, so I don’t miss anything. One of the first places that we went to was Old Town. Old Town is slightly north of downtown Albuquerque and filled with shops, restaurants, and art galleries. The reason Old Town is worth the visit is all the buildings are historically preserved. Walking around Old Town, it feels like you are walking in what used to be a Wild West town. If that wasn’t enough, someone had a pet kitty that would walk around the shops and it was friendly. It would come up to tourists looking for pets. I’m a cat person, so that’s an added bonus.

Besides shopping, one museum I wanted to visit was The National Museum of Nuclear Science & History. New Mexico is filled with history since it is the U.S. state where the Manhattan Project was housed and where the first nuclear bomb was tested. The National Museum of Nuclear Science & History was well worth the trip. There were several sections within the museum that I found fascinating. There were items from the Los Alamos gate which is where the scientists would gather and test their findings. While this museum heavily focused on the Manhattan Project, I liked how it talked about how nuclear science shaped medicine and how nuclear energy has been a focus for renewable energy. There was so much to see and learn and I felt like I learned something new.

Another thing that we did was check out Sawmill Market. Sawmill Market is adjacent to Old Town and it’s an indoor market with various vendors. We had the best Mexican food at Flora. We split Chicken Enchiladas and they were so good! Speaking of, we ate a lot of good food on this trip. That’s another reason I love to travel. I love to try new restaurants, food trucks, coffee shops, and other local places. I do not limit myself when I travel and I think food is such a great way to connect people together. I could go on and on about all the food we ate, but this post is already getting long as it is.

The final thing I wanted to add about ABQ was all the breweries! ABQ has a lot of breweries which I wasn’t expecting. I have always liked the atmosphere at a brewery and since the weather in ABQ was so nice, I was specifically looking for breweries with an outdoor patio or seating area. In total, we went to four different breweries in ABQ specifically. I wanted to call out one of my favorite breweries that we stopped at, Bow and Arrow Brewing Co. Bow and Arrow is a female and indigenous-owned brewery. If you’re thinking to yourself, who cares? Let me tell you. Doing a quick Google search, the brewery industry is 89% men and 11% women on average. I think it’s great to see more women getting into the craft beer industry. With Bow and Arrow, their beer is brewed on Native Land, and proceeds from Bow and Arrow go directly back into Native non-profits specifically. If that wasn’t enough, Bow and Arrow has a lovely tap room and their beer rocked.

To say that I enjoyed ABQ would be an understatement. I have wanted to explore the Southwest for a long time, so I’m glad that this trip happened. For my next post, I will share a summary of our trip to Santa Fe which is about an hour Northeast of ABQ.

Easter isn’t a big holiday in my family, so every year, me and my husband drive to see his parents for the weekend. One event that we always make time for is the Racine Art Museum’s (RAM) International PEEPS Art Exhibition. Every year, the RAM accepts art donations and the art has to be inspired by or made out of Peeps. I think it’s the wildest concept and I’m here for it. I wanted to share this year’s submissions and share the art that I liked the best.

There were a lot of great submissions this year. At the end of the exhibit, you can vote for your favorite and the winner will earn a prize. I voted for the Purple PEEPle Eater which refers to the Purple People Eaters which is a term for the Minnesota Vikings. I liked how the Purple PEEPle Eater was spooky. My husband voted for a Peep display that was a take on The Jetsons. Another fun art piece that was submitted was Peeps with Solar Eclipse glasses looking up at the sky. I believe there was also a Barbie Peep submission as well.

This year’s Peep exhibit did not disappoint. I’m curious to see what next year’s submissions will be.

Last weekend was Planet Comic Con and I’m happy to have been able to go this year. Planet Comic Con has quickly become a convention staple for me and it’s a convention that I try to work into my schedule every year. Attending Planet Comic Con is easy for me since I have family near Kansas City, so it makes for a cheap and quick trip outside of Minnesota. It was a jam-packed weekend and created a nice kickoff to convention season.

For Planet Comic Con, I only go on Friday, so I can spend the remainder of the weekend with family. Attending bigger conventions on Friday is something I would recommend for those who don’t want to compete with a bigger crowd. I find that it’s easier to walk the show floor and take a breather by sitting in on a panel or two. The other benefit of going on Friday is that it’s a lot easier to take photos. Planet Comic Con has several photo opportunities with cosplayers and backdrops. I ended up taking a photo with Emperor Palpatine which was fitting considering Ian McDiarmid was at the convention. Speaking of cosplay, I debuted my Padme cosplay for the first time! I’m thrilled with how the look came together.

In between panels and photos, I did end up purchasing a few comics. I bought K Lynn Smith’s third volume of Plume which is a Western supernatural adventure comic. I talk about K Lynn Smith a lot because I like her comics and her art style. It’s become a routine where I look up ahead of time if she will be there and if so, I try to stop by her booth. I also bought a comic from Mad Cave Studios. As a side note, Mad Cave is one of the greatest comic publishers out there. They publish comics that many publishers might pass up on if the concept is a little odd. If that wasn’t enough, Mad Cave actually pays their artists on time. The reason I pointed this out is because I went to Mad Cave’s comic panel on Friday and they talked about their partnerships with artists and what that process is like when they work with a new artist for the first time.

Planet Comic Con is always a convention that I look forward to because it usually ends up being the first convention that I attend. The only grievance that I have with Planet Comic Con is that I wish they did convention badges instead of wristbands. They might do badges for those attending the whole weekend, I wouldn’t know since I only attend on Friday. I prefer badges to wristbands because I have a designated hook in my bedroom where all my badges hang off and the wristbands, I don’t know what to do with them. Other than that, Planet Comic Con is a blast.

Besides attending Planet Comic Con, we found a new BBQ place to eat at. For those who haven’t been to Kansas City, I consider Kansas City a “foodie” city. Kansas City is known for its BBQ, but also the breweries throughout the area. My cousin took me to Chef J which is in an area called the “West Bottoms”. The West Bottoms is west of downtown, across the river, and in a more industrial area. Chef J is in one of the older buildings which is actually really neat. It looks like the city is trying to revitalize the area since there are several vintage shops, furniture stores, and live music playing somewhere nearby. Back to Chef J, the BBQ was so good. I had a BBQ sandwich with sausage on it and I had to order Mac and Cheese as a side. It was delicious and worth the wait.

After eating BBQ, we went to two breweries. The first brewery was Double Shift Brewery which was only a few minutes from Chef J. The brewery was tucked away into this corner with all of these local businesses. There was a distillery across the street, a coffee shop, and a few art murals on the nearby buildings. My cousin had a beer called “Pancake Mafia” which had hints of syrup, vanilla, blueberries, and blackberries. I wasn’t quite as adventurous with the beer that I picked. After Double Shift, we went to Cinder Block Brewery which is a brewery that I have been to many times. I love the taproom; it’s open and sunny. It has an industrial look to it with the gray paneling in the main seating area. It was relaxing being able to sit especially because I walked 20,000 steps at the convention the day prior.

This weekend was what I needed! I haven’t taken a trip since our Europe trip last September and my travel bug was starting to come back. There’s nothing more fun than being able to travel and attend a convention at the same time.

Being raised in Minnesota sports is often a disappointing experience. The last time the Minnesota Twins won The World Series was 1991. The Minnesota Vikings have never won the Super Bowl. If that wasn’t enough, both the Minnesota Wild and The Minnesota Timberwolves have never won championships. One team that was doing well was the Milwaukee Bucks which is Wisconsin’s Basketball team. The Bucks play at Fiserv Forum which is in downtown Milwaukee. A few weeks ago, we went to a Bucks game with my husband’s family and oddly enough, we went to the game where the Bucks played the Minnesota Timberwolves. Spoiler alert, Minnesota crushed Wisconsin.

Let’s be honest, Fiserv Forum is a much nicer stadium than Target Center (Target Center being where The Minnesota Timberwolves play). Outside of Fiserv, huge letters are spelling out Bucks which serves as the perfect background for a photo. Near the stadium, there are several bars and breweries to have a drink at. I thought the whole atmosphere of Fiserv was fun. The best part about watching sports live is to feel a part of the fan community. Sporting events are basically comic book conventions but centered around sports.

I made the earlier comment about Minnesota sports being disappointing. The Minnesota Timberwolves are doing great this season. I don’t follow Basketball, so I didn’t realize our team was doing so well. It ended up being a twenty-point game with Minnesota taking home the win. My father-in-law wasn’t too pleased, but I was happy.

I would definitely go to another Bucks game again. Fiserv Forum is a great stadium and the energy that fans bring is electric.

I mentioned this in a previous post, but 2024 will be a significant year. It will be the 10th Anniversary of dating and meeting my husband. It will also be the 10th Anniversary of starting Bizarre Brunette. If all of that wasn’t enough, I will be turning thirty. To help do a final send-off of my 20s, I wanted to share some of the life lessons I learned throughout this time of my life.

CW: Excessive drinking, body dysmorphia, and body insecurities.

It takes Two to Maintain a Friendship

I am incredibly fortunate when it comes to my friends. I have friends that I grew up with, friends I made in college, and friends I met through my hobbies along with attending conventions. While I have a great group of friends now, there was a time in my life when I struggled to make new friends.

In my freshman year of college, I met so many different people in a short amount of time. Most of the people that I initially met, they never developed into a lasting friendship. There were moments throughout my freshman and sophomore years when I felt lonely. I didn’t have anyone that I could text randomly to go do things with. In freshman year, there was one person who I instantly clicked with. She was geeky like me and we had similar interests. I was so excited to meet someone who I could talk comics with. I had noticed that I was the one putting in the effort to make plans. I decided to take a step back and stop being the one to engage first. Weeks went by and I didn’t hear from her. With that being said, we stopped being friends. Eventually, I did make a few close friends, so everything ended up working out in the end.

When I graduated from college, I naively assumed that all of my college friends would be my friends forever even though we weren’t in the same place or living together. I couldn’t have been more wrong. There was one friend that I tried to make time to see, but again, I always had to be the one to reach out. I haven’t talked to her since before the pandemic which feels like a lifetime ago. The final thing that formally ended our friendship was when she didn’t congratulate me on my engagement to my husband even though she was there when our relationship began. That’s how I knew our friendship was over.

I used to carry a lot of resentment when friendships ended and that isn’t mentally healthy for me. Instead, I am grateful for those friends at that time in my life. While those friendships won’t carry over into my thirties, I wish them well.

Sober Curious; Re-Evaluating My Drinking Habits

I always considered myself a responsible drinker. In college, I went to parties, but I never missed any classes due to being hungover. I had my moments as many college kids did, but I didn’t feel like it negatively impacted my life. After graduating from college, me and my friends would go out. We would go to bars or to various breweries and stay out late. I still didn’t feel like my drinking was out of control as I attributed it to being a social drinker.

When the pandemic hit, that’s when I started to first realize that maybe the way that I was drinking wasn’t good for me. Every Friday night during quarantine, I’d drink at home. Of course, it was never one drink. It ended up being 3 or 4 hard seltzers. I’d usually drink them while playing video games as I thought that served as a good distraction for this stressful time. On Saturday, I woke up with a slight headache. Once I had coffee and drank water, I was fine. After a few weeks of this, I forced myself to stop drinking on Friday and I thought that was the end of it.

When I reflect on both 2020 and 2021, I would have blips where I would drink too much. I wouldn’t be sick, but I would feel off the entire day. There was another moment in 2020 when I drank around coworkers. I ended up mixing an IPA with red wine which was clearly a mistake. The fact that this happened around coworkers at the time makes the story more embarrassing considering these were people that were on my team. Every time I think back to that moment, I visibly cringe. With these blips occurring, I still didn’t think that alcohol was a problem.

I had a wake-up call and that was The Winter Beer Dabbler in February 2022. It was extremely cold out, so I figured I’d just drink a lot and then I wouldn’t be cold anymore. Unsurprisingly, I ended up drinking quite a bit. Apparently, I fell in front of a DJ booth. To be fair, I slipped on ice, but alcohol made it worse. Once we got home, I disclosed a lot of personal insecurities to my husband while intoxicated. When I woke up the next morning, I didn’t remember telling my husband any of those things. It was like alcohol brought out all of these thoughts that I was trying so hard to bury. While this was not a great moment, it actually led to a great conversation between me and my husband that I think helped strengthen our marriage, it sucks that alcohol was involved in that.

After The Winter Beer Dabbler, I was sober for a full month. I understand that a month isn’t a long time, but for someone who was a regular social drinker, that felt like a substantial amount of time. In that month, I journaled and started being honest with myself about how I drank. It became clear to me that I had an unhealthy relationship with drinking. For example, I’d eat less if I knew I was going out. I justified it in my head as I’d be drinking my calories. As I talk about this now, that thought feels like the beginning of an eating disorder because I’m calculating out how to eat less to drink more. Additionally, I relied on alcohol to be a social crux. I wanted people to think that I was outgoing and fun to hang out with. Alcohol gave me that confidence instead of trying to find it myself.

Since The Winter Beer Dabbler, I have decreased the amount that I drink. I have eliminated alcohol from my weekly routine and I never drink at home. I find it easy to go weekends in a row without drinking. I’m much more satisfied with one drink at a time versus having 3 to 4 beers in one sitting. I am in a much better place with alcohol and I have a lot of good motivation to be sober more often than not.

I wanted to end with what motivates me to be sober. The first thing that has helped me is having a regular exercise routine. Every Saturday, I go to an 8:00 AM cycle class. The thought of drinking heavily on Friday to miss my cycle class on Saturday sounds unappealing. I find working out on the weekends especially has been beneficial. The second thing that has helped me is throwing myself into my hobbies. I have been playing video games more. I looked up the hours to an ice arena nearby as I’d love to get back into figure skating regularly. If that wasn’t enough, I looked up a few archery ranges as I’d love to learn how to shoot a bow. I am looking forward to the years ahead and I’m glad that I’m leaving some of these drinking habits in my twenties.

Traveling is a Privilege

When I was little, I used to write stories called “Amy’s Adventures.” I’d write about a young girl named Amy and how she would travel around the US. My dad used to pick up these U.S. state puzzle books where you could learn about a different US state and then the puzzles would reveal various facts about each state. I knew from a young age that I wanted to travel.

If there is anything that I have learned about traveling is that it’s a privilege to do so. To start off, it’s being able to financially afford to travel. When I started my first job out of college, there was no way that I could afford to travel overseas. The cost of airfare was intimidating and that’s not including lodging, souvenirs, food, drink, etc. I can easily say that this is the first time in my life that I have had the financial freedom to be able to plan more extensive vacations.

Besides the cost of travel, it’s having the opportunity to do so. I work full-time in an office which means I have PTO to use. I don’t travel for work, so all the travel that I do comes from my own personal vacations. When I was in college, there were study abroad programs, but none of them aligned with my degree. It would have been a trip, but it would have been disadvantageous if it would have delayed me graduating on time. I know of a few friends who after graduating from college, they traveled the world before getting a full-time job. That sounds lovely, but that’s not something I had the luxury of doing as I needed a job right out of college.

Traveling to Europe was a dream come true. I have always had London on the top of all of my travel lists. Seeing Iceland and Ireland was an added bonus. Traveling to Europe taught me a lot, especially how I liked to travel. We were gone two full weeks and it started to feel like a long time. It made me miss my day-to-day routine including working out and seeing Athena! I don’t know if I would enjoy being gone for a month or longer. Another thing that I learned from our trip to Europe was how much I put my self-worth into traveling. This is going to be a silly thing to admit, but I thought I would feel different after going to Europe. I accomplished this big dream that I have had and when we got back, I felt no different. I put so much stock into the places that I have been and how I felt ashamed to say that it took me so long to travel overseas. Seeing influencers on Instagram having the time of their lives, I was constantly comparing myself to them. They live an entirely different life than I do, however, it doesn’t make my life insignificant.

It feels cathartic to type out all of this because this is something that I have felt for a long time. In my thirties, I still want to travel, but I want to do it on my terms. I want to travel to places that I want to go to no matter what anyone else thinks. I want to cut the cord of tying my self-worth to my travel. I will always be passionate about travel, but I think I’m more practical than I was in the past. I’m going to set realistic travel goals, practice gratitude, and be fortunate that I was able to see all the places that I have seen.

Thrifting & Having Less Clothing, But Loving Everything I Wear

I love expressing myself in the way that I dress. I like dressing up a basic outfit with earrings or wearing a dress I feel confident in. I find joy in taking one of my geeky t-shirts whether it be Star Wars or Marvel and being able to style it in multiple ways. I think it’s fun to show off my personality in the things that I wear and it always tends to start conversations with people I didn’t know before.

In my early twenties, I used to revel in the fact that I owned a lot of clothing. I thought that the more clothing I owned, the more options I had. I liked the variety of wearing something different all the time. I used to spend so much money on new clothes, especially at Loft which used to be one of my all-time favorite stores. However, most of my clothing from Loft, I ended up donating a few years later. The quality at Loft is terrible now. I have had blouses that I bought that have shrunk, so now they are practically crop tops. There are pants that I bought where the button came loose. I have a dress that I can’t iron even though it’s wrinkly because it would fall apart if I did. It’s a shame that I used to spend so much on low-quality clothing.

During the pandemic, I ordered a lot of clothing online since I wasn’t able to go shopping in person. I found that I ordered clothing online and if it didn’t fit me or I didn’t like it, I wouldn’t return it because it would be an extra errand I have to make. It’s a shame because there are so many online boutiques I’d love to purchase from, but I know for a fact that online shopping doesn’t work for me. I need to be able to try something on and see how it fits.

Moving forward, I primarily do most of my shopping at Marshall’s. I usually spend 2-3 hours browsing the racks and trying things on. Most of the clothing that I have purchased at Marshall’s will last me for several years. I want to get back into thrifting. I used to go to Goodwill, but I found that most Goodwill locations nearby me removed their fitting rooms. Finally, I want to find new ways to wear some of my favorite pieces in my closet.

Using my Library Card!

I’m going to keep this short and simple; libraries are the best. There aren’t that many public places that you can go to without needing to spend money. Libraries give back to their communities and for many, libraries can be a safe space. One of my aunts is a retired librarian, so I always was reminded about how much libraries do with community building and education.

I’m looking forward to continuing to use my library card. I am someone who likes to have books on hold ahead of time, so I can quickly pick them up and take them with me. One of my favorite book bloggers, Nerdy By Nature, she posted on her Instagram about her library savings. She created an Excel chart of every book that she rented from the library and then looked up that book’s retail cost. She shared what her cost savings were by renting books from the library versus buying them. That is so creative! I decided that I would be doing that this year. I’m curious to see what my overall money savings are from all the books I plan on borrowing this year.

I liked being able to put this post together. I feel like I’m letting go of a lot of negativity and baggage that I carried in my twenties. I am ready to begin my thirties.

I haven’t fully solidified my travel schedule for this year, however, I am consistent in the fact that I don’t find joy in traveling in January or February. With Minnesota winters, they can interrupt scheduled vacations. With that being the case, I like planning smaller trips throughout the first few months of the year. A few weekends ago, me and my husband went to stay with one of his friends from high school. They bought a house outside of Green Bay and I thought it would be fun to stay with them for the weekend.

I had only been to Green Bay once before which funnily enough was for this friend’s wedding back in 2021. We didn’t have time to fully explore downtown Green Bay. One of the first things we did was go to a local coffee shop which is fitting because I love coffee. After that, we went to Lambeau Field. I have done the stadium tour before, but I didn’t get to see the Hall of Fame. It was interesting! Lambeau Field carries so much in sports history. I mean the Lombardi trophy is named after Vince Lombardi, the Packer’s head coach in the 1960s. While I am still a Minnesota Vikings fan, I found myself torn to rooting for the Packers. It’s funny, we were in town the same weekend the Packers were playing in the playoffs. I figured that by me being in town, they would obviously win against the 49ers. This was not the case which was a huge bummer.

After touring Lambeau, we ended up brewery hopping for most of the day. One of my favorite breweries was Copper State Brewing Co. which is in downtown Green Bay. They had a good tap list and the cheese curds! Going to Wisconsin, you can’t not eat cheese curds, I mean c’mon. The cheese curds were so good. Curds and beer are a good combo.

It was a blast to be able to see our friends that we hadn’t seen in way too long. It reminds me how refreshing it is to take a mini-vacation, especially in January and February which are tough months in the Midwest to begin with.

Board game cafes combine two of my favorite things: gaming, food, and coffee. Okay, three things, but still. I knew that there was going to be a board game cafe opening in the south metro, but thanks to Facebook, they had their grand opening a few weekends ago. I decided to check out Fox Den the day after they opened. Fox Den has such a cool space and I love the fox and forest theme of the cafe.

Walking into Fox Den, it feels like I’m going into a Dungeons & Dragons tavern. The walls are painted illustrating a forest with trees with bright orange leaves on them. To the left are private gaming rooms which can be reserved. This would be great for a local TTRPG group to meet up and have a private session. Trying to play TTRPGs at a game store can be distracting, so it’s neat that Fox Den has options for players. To the right is the gaming section. This place is huge! There were several long tables in the space. It didn’t feel crammed in the slightest. While Fox Den is a cafe, they do sell board games. I noticed in their case that they had Lorcana product which seems rare considering how it’s flying off the shelves. There are also shelves filled with games. Off to the right, there’s the cafe which has a full menu and coffee drinks. I ordered a cold brew with a shot of vanilla and it was the extra-strength coffee drink I needed.

Besides the gaming area, there were several booths to sit in. I liked the combination of having seating for open gaming and seating for those who are only there to have coffee, eat, and relax. I could see myself bringing my laptop and writing a few blog posts at Fox Den which is kind of a nice change of pace.

Fox Den recently posted their tournament schedule which includes Lorcana, Magic: The Gathering, and Flesh & Blood. I hope that Fox Den will have Magic: pre-releases because I would absolutely attend. The environment at Fox Den would be perfect for it.

I’m so glad that Fox Den is finally open and I can’t wait to go back.