I can’t believe the first year of the second decade of my life is about to be over. It seems like just yesterday that I was the 18 year old starting college. But the good news is that I’ll be home in NY to celebrate with my family (it’s tradition). But before I can get to Saturday, I have two tests on Friday. And then I fly from Atlanta to NY right after that. How much does THAT schedule suck? I hate summer school. I really do. Anyway, back to me…I turn 21 on Saturday…B-DAY!

I just had my final presentation at the Coca-Cola headquarters in Atlanta (as part of an Integrated Marketing Communications class) and now I am officially done with my Spring 2009 semester of college. Shit, it’s like I’m a senior. But let’s pretend I’m not a senior until September, okay? I just feel soo freeeee…a floating in the bathtub kind of feeling. A lot of shit has gone down personally for me these past few months and I’m just really happy to see myself make it to the other side.

This summer will be spent as follows:

Taking first summer school session in Atlanta and then back home to NY while hopefully interning somewhere. All the while with the master plan in mind? What plan? Find out.

I wanted to post this because I had a really beautiful day yesterday and I wanted to remember it/share it the people who made it possible.

- Went to classes and wasn’t completely useless. That’s always good!

- I hung out with one of my best friends all day (Sheets) and we went on many adventures…like going to the Georgia Aquarium (arriving right when it closed aka not going), being silly/tanning on the World of Coke field, eating Maggianos (you know, the really heavy/AMAZING Italian food?), eating Yoforia for the first time  (An all-natural yogurt place in Atlanta…I think their secret ingredient is crack..), and driving aimlessly all the while with blasting music (one of my favorite activities).

- Also drove back to Oxford (where I received my associates degree/had an amazing 2 years of life) and hung out with even more amazing people! Laura, Rachel, DJ, Shafin, Louis, Sharon, Natalie, J’Aimee, Sheetal, and KoJo (spelled wrong for sure), thanks for a memorable April day. Smiling’s my favorite. Just what I needed.

Oh and what a great way to start hell week. So you know, I’ll be living out of a Starbucks cup until Friday night…when I get more Starbucks. And I totally wrote this entry while drinking an iced venti expresso truffle. I would.

Here’s a small amount of insight into my daily life.

Driving: I love driving. I love driving and blasting the music (to the point where the car starts shaking). I love driving fast. Really fast. I am an awesome parker. I think I scare my passengers but when it comes down to it, they trust my driving. I admit, on occasion I am the driver that you really hate on the road…you know, the one that’s zig-zagging and trying to cut everyone. And you know what’s the most frustrating thing about that sometimes? Two cars, two different lanes, same exact speed. There’s just no cutting that when there’s only two lanes. Which brings me to my last point, I’m a total tailgater. You know that jerk stop that happens when you’re about to hit the car in front of you? I’d be lying if I said that didn’t happen to me at least once a week (jerk stopping, not actually hitting cars). I love driving. I love driving and blasting the music. As for my faults on the road, what can I say, I guess I just get lost in the music. What a fun ride.

Debit Cards: So in an attempt to not buy uneccesary things (I do that…even when in the moment something may seem like it’s the most necessary thing in the world…like an orange belt), I have resorted to using only my debit card (only spending what’s in the bank). Credit cards are just bad. And not because of debt, but just because it makes me spend like a MAD person. I’m not entirely familiar with the “value of money” concept, but I do know that saving money is never a bad thing. So no credit cards, at any cost and I mean any cost. That’s good right? Well… during Spring Break I lost my debit card. And now I’m going to give you the short-hand version of what’s been going on these past three weeks: 2 weeks and 2 failed attempts at getting a new one sent to me (mailing to my school address was apparently an issue). Ordering in food via the parents’ debit cards. Borrowing money from friends (hate hate hate hate doing that). Feeling so lost. But today…today..my debit card finally came back to me! I picked up my UPS envelope and inside was this magical blue card. Being without has proven that I can only live with. So here’s to a new debit card, a new beginning, and paying back your friends! I will never lose my debit card again. Ever.

If there’s one thing you can take away from this post, it’s that you shouldn’t take advantage of your friends…and that if you’re currently driving in the Atlanta area, watch out for me! You’ll either see me or hear me. God bless.

If I could spend my days playing with babies and taking adorable, giggly/cute pictures of them, I so would. Doesn’t this picture just make you want to pinch their cheeks and give them candy and toys all day long? I’m not ready to be a father.

Don’t get me wrong. I love the hot/warm days…but I just love when it rains. I am never really upset when it rains. It’s just too beautiful/calming/metaphorical to look at/stand in/drive in. I know a lot of people are like “ugh, rain,” but the rain never any cancels my plans (or at least ones I actually care about). Mall in the rain. Starbucks in the rain. Walking in the rain. Concert in the rain. Oh but there is traffic in the rain…okay that’s definitely a bitch. As random as this post is, it isn’t actually! I was doing some physical therapy exercises and looked out the window and wala! Rain! So pretty. I’d take a picture but my camera is still being help hostage… What? Okay well my sister said she wouldn’t mail me my camera from back home  unless I emailed her pictures from the Britney Spears concert. Oh leverage. Back to body movements and the rain.

Even though this happened yesterday, not April Fool’s day, this is still so incredibly messed up. University of California San Diego accidentally emailed 29,000 rejected students an acceptance email. Those same students were later emailed a few hours later being told it was a mistake. As someone who went through a very crazy college application process (didn’t we all to some extent?), I can’t imagine what these poor students are going through. Sure, some of them probably applied just to apply…but what about those people who had their hearts set on the school? You’re in. Just kidding. 29,000 people is a lot of people and this “mistake” is just not acceptable. Playing with people’s emotions is never cool. I say all those students should get their application money back. That is the least the school can do for, as one parent called it, such a “colossal screw-up.”   I know what it’s like to not get into your dream school (or so I thought) and it’s not easy. UCSD, how do you accidentally send out 29,000 emails to the wrong people? Idiots.

While I’m talking about college applications, why not just run through my experience a few years ago (I’m a junior at Emory right now). I applied to 25 schools and I can tell you I’ve heard every single type of decision you can hear. Accepted. Rejected. Waitlisted. Deferred. Deferred, rejected. Deffered, waitlisted, accepted.  I’m pretty sure those are all the responses you can hear (except for being deferred, waitlisted, and then rejected…that would have sucked too). But no joke, I heard every single one of those. It really made for an exciting senior year. Thankfully the very best happened.  Oxford College of Emory University and Goizueta Business School of Emory University is where it’s at. My college application experience made me believe in “everything happens for a reason.”

I was randomly “cleaning” my car and found a Snapple real fact bottle cap that I saved. I just really like the picture/memory this one paints in my head. Memory: standing on the roof of our house in Pakistan when it rained. Good times.

Warning: I’m about to go all Confessions of a Shopaholic on your asses. Did you know I used to be an obsessive online shopaholic? (some of my friends probably smirked at the “used to be” part). I don’t think you know just how crazy. Boxes every day in the mail crazy. My point is… I’ve been really good better this past year (relatively speaking). But now… now… Now I have three online shopping carts that are just waiting to be checked out and I can’t exactly step away… I don’t know how it happened, it just happened. Have you ever seen a more beautiful shoe (exhibit right)? It’s screaming out to me…it’s orange for crying out loud! In an ideal world, I would just shut off my computer. In this world… I’m thinking maybe I’ll choose my top 3 and just get those. Yeah, I know, it’s not the smartest choice…but hey…I make silly decisions every single day and maybe this will just be one of them (”silly”). Look at me trying to rationalize. We’ll see what happens. You can be pretty certain though that the shoe to your right is mine. *Proceed to checkout*

Okay it’s only 3:14 pm, but a great morning/afternoon deserves acknowledgment. Let me do this list-style for easy reading.

- I had my only Negotiations test today and hopefully got at least a B (in case you’re wondering if I’m such a slacker, my GPA says nothing about who I am…except that school is definitely not the most important thing to me in the entire world…but it is important lol).

- I scheduled all my physical therapy appointments for the next 6 weeks, starting with 7:30 am tomorrow morning. Now all I have to do is show up. And you bet your ass that I will show up and OWN. This scheduling is something I needed to do all week, so a very big weight has been lifted.

- I ran into one of my favorite people today, Nashifa Hooda (this post will be updated with a picture). She’s basically a hoot and a half and I love this girl. We caught up for a bit and then I went off to get food and Starbucks. Avara ghardii!!! JK. Loves her and looking forward to seeing her more.

- While I was in my car, I noticed the temperature go from 61 degrees to 75 degrees. That is always a great thing. Although I do love my cold, too.

- While I was waiting for my food, I decided to get my sideburns trimmed (you know, to look more presentable). Knocked that off the to-do list and wasn’t even planning on it (those are the best). Met a nice guy named Kit from Vietnam who I’ll definitely be going back to.

- Listened to “Hello” and “Halo” by Beyonce during the entire time I spent in my car today (a good 30-40 minutes). The music was blasting and I was smiling.

- Came back with my food and my second Starbucks drink in hand. While trying to open the door, what happened? Yes. I dropped my Starbucks and it went splashing. Thank goodness it was just my spare drink (I killed the other one while running my errands). I did manage to drink the 2 oz that didn’t fall out of the cup. Addict much?

Now I’m back in my room. I am going to just enjoy the beautiful weather and rest my lower back/leg. I feel very nautious lately..I hope I’m not pregnant. Hahahaha and scene. I hope everyone else is having a great day too!

-Adnan

There have been many instances that inspired this post. Like the time(s) I drove in rain and thunder just to get Starbucks. Or the time(s) I’ve arrived to Starbucks 10 minutes (or less) before it closed. Or maybe me just getting more drinks than I actually need because I get worried that I won’t have time for a Starbucks run the next day. Maybe the fact that the employees at the Starbucks near my school know me/recognize my voice at the drive-thru window. In fact, right before I came home for spring break, one of the employees told me, “Have a great break and we’ll see you when you get back. Tell your parents we said hey.” I responded by saying “Haha you too and I will.” What I should have said was, “my parents say hi to you every single day.”

Tonight I was craving some Starbucks at 10:30 pm. I went to the store in my town (in Long Island) and they were closed. I was so upset because the one at my school closes at 11pm (Hi Starbucks, how about having universal hours? Thankss). I ended up going home and calling every Starbucks near me until I found one that closed at 11. I found a really close one and guess who made it with only 5 minutes to spare? Needless to say I got my two venti iced dolche leche and bounced. I drank one and the other one’s in the fridge. It’ll be gone before noon tomorrow, I can promise promise you that.

So yeah… my name is Adnan and I am Starbucks obsessed

I’ve been dealing with some rather serious lower back pain since I decided to run around with little kids on my back in January (family party, lots of kids, just playing and having fun…aka running up and down the house, throwing kids in the air and catching them, piggy-backs, all the works). I loved every minute with these kids. If you didn’t know, I really love children. Nothing makes me smile like a baby who is smiling or giggling/laughing uncontrollably. On my way to class one day, I passed a children’s hospital where kids were playing outside. I just stood in the wings watching because it made me smile. I probably looked like such a creeper. I love them, but please, not that way. That’s just effed up.

So anyway, while I’m home for break, my parents and I both decided it’s time to get to the bottom of things. I was going into my MRI (that big tube machine where you go completely in) and I started freaking out. I got really closterphobic and just started squirming. Thankfully they were able to make it so that I could go feet first. Once I was in, the radiologist put headphones on my ears. It was tuned into the worst radio station ever. Seriously, the 25 minutes I spent in this machine was just awful. I never want to be in one of those things again…and not just because of the music…Although I wish I had my iPod or at least Z100 (my kind of radio).

Nothing to worry about though. Just need to do some healing. Healing. That’ll be nice.