Life Update: Four years of college will conclude at the graduation ceremony this Friday afternoon! I’m absolutely ready to dawn the cap n’ gown and celebrate with my family. Graduation has been a long-awaited close to my chapter in this sleepy mountain town, but not an occasion that should pass without taking full advantage of this past LAST WEEKEND OF COLLEGE. The downtown scene in Flagstaff has been the source of many fun nights this year, but I hoped for something a little less hipster-hobo for this particular outting.

Soooooo I became an honorary Sun Devil as I stayed with my friends who attend ASU in Tempe, AZ! We had all been talking about craving a good fun weekend where we could DRESS UP, have a couple drinks, dance, karaoke if the opportunity arose, play some pool, make some new friends, and enjoy the warm weather.

Drinking martinis and shooting pool: I am better at one of these things than the other. (Why can’t we get points for sinking the white ball in a pocket?)

We started our night on Mill Ave. at El Hefe, where we had about 8 tattoos less than everyone else there. I felt like we needed some black fish net tights to fit in (can you imagine!?) :) We got a table though, and I split a Mamacita Margarita with another girl in our group. We were pacing ourselves because we had planned to hop from place to place! The next bar had a pool hall in the back, so we took our martinis to the tables and played a few games. I love playing games when we go out, like the Cards Against Humanity at the Wine Loft or darts at a local Flagstaff bar.

Other noteworthy stops include the Underground Bar where two piano players took requests (they were playing ‘Baby Got Back’ when we walked in) for karaoke singers, and Moonshine the country bar (my personal favorite for the atmosphere/music.)

We finally called it a night around 3am. My body just doesn’t sleep in, so I was still awake a little after 8am with one thing on my mind: COFFEE. We made a Starbucks run and sat by the pool because 90 degree weather is such a treat for me ;)

Taking so much time off from studying the week before finals is not typical for me….I’m a straight A student/perfectionist with a tendency to make extra trips to the library and late night study sessions during this time. But I put in the work all semester long and I’m feeling pretty confident going in to finals week. I would totally regret it if my last memories of college were just a blur of papers and presentations. Now I have plenty of sunshine and new friends in my memory bank to pull me through these last four days!

More motivated than ever. Happy studying, friends! :)