Instagram Hiatus

I'm not sure what came over me, but last week I decided to take a 5-day hiatus from Instagram. I realized I am way too plugged in to social media and it's getting ridiculous. Instagram is my favorite platform, so I figured I'd start there. Next week I'm going without Facebook for 5 days. There's absolutely no way I can go cold turkey with no social media, so I'm trying one platform at a time. My journey is outlined below.

Day1
This first thing I do when I wake up in the morning is check Facebook, Instagram, and emails. Not an ideal way to start my day. I cut about 5 minutes off my "laying in bed" time in the morning without Instagram.

I didn't miss Instagram until I was in bed for the night. I realized that the last thing I do before falling asleep and the first thing I do after waking up is check social media. This needs to stop!

Day 2
Day 2 was a little easier. I still found myself grabbing my phone and trying to open Instagram, but the app wasn't there!

It was hard when I would see posts from Instagram on Facebook or Twitter. It made me want to see more.

Day 3
Day 3 was harder than Day 2. I wouldn't say I had FOMO {Fear Of Missing Out}, but the fear of missing something going on in other friends' lives. It's so sad that the way we communicate has come down to what's posted on social media, and if you don't check social media, you don't know about their life.

I have spent way more time on Facebook the past 3 days than I have in a long time!

Day 4
The end is in sight! Just one more day!

Day 5
I was tempted a few different times throughout the day to just give up and call it close enough. I didn't! I struggled, but made it the full 5 days!



My grand plan in life was to take some time and get caught up on what I missed the past 5 days. Well...that plan was thwarted when Instagram apparently only goes back 24 hours. I didn't realize that until this morning. So, I really did miss out! I thought I would just be behind. I un-followed a few people/accounts that I really don't care to see anymore. Like everything in life, it's so hard to get sucked in and not see all the negativity and meaningless posts until I took a step back.

Next week is Facebook. I anticipate this being harder, just because I have so many things linked to Facebook, and there is a website AND app, not just an app. Stay tuned for how that goes!

Weekend Recap

I had a busy weekend, and the heat didn't help things at all! It's been over 100 the past several days and is getting real old. It was too hot to even go to the pool this weekend!

Friday, a group of us went to the Brass Monkey for karaoke. We got there too late so none of us {them} got to sing anything, but it was still really fun and entertaining!

Saturday I went to Barney's to watch the Iowa/Iowa State game. Go Hawks! After, we moved the group to a friend's house and hung out for the rest of the afternoon and evening. It was a lot of fun to be around 90% Iowa people! The rest were great by association :-)

Sunday I got up at the crack of dawn and went to the Rosebowl Flea Market with a friend. Even at 7am it was still suuuuuper hot! Afterwards we had brunch and shopped Old Pasadena. I'd never shopped there--it's such a cute area with a ton of stores!

Here's to hoping for a fast week. It's already shaping up to be busy!

May to the Bay

{Bear with me as I get caught up on my blog}

Over Memorial Day, two girlfriends and I took a road trip up north to the Bay Area. I love it there! It's so beautiful! We spent some time in San Francisco and San Jose doing touristy things and hanging out with some college friends of my girlfriend. I learned that I am an excellent backseat passenger....and we didn't get robbed. San Francisco redeemed itself.

Denver For the Weekend!

This past weekend I met my parents in Denver. My Dad was left unsupervised on a Saturday morning a few weeks ago, and all the sudden at 8am I get a call and we're suddenly planning this trip. Hey, every chance I get to get out of LA, I take!

I couldn't find any great flight times on Saturday, so I flew in Friday night. I specifically chose a hotel close to the airport and with free shuttle service. I called TWICE on Friday to confirm the shuttle schedule and was assured it ran every hour on the hour. I rushed off my plane and rushed through baggage claim to make sure I was outside waiting before the top of the hour. I got outside at 10:44. 11:15 rolled around and most hotel busses had come and gone by this time, so I called my hotel. They assured me a shuttle was coming. I waited 20 more minutes and kept calling and calling and each time I was assured the shuttle was 5-8 minutes away. Finally, 12:30 rolls around {yes, I waited for TWO HOURS} and a neighboring hotel shuttle offered to drop me off. When I FINALLY got to the hotel, the front desk gentleman {weirdly, I only spoke to women when dealing with the shuttle} said the shuttle drivers got rude, so they stopped calling them. Pretty cool, especially since they were fully aware I had been waiting for TWO HOURS! Needless to say, I was nowhere near being a happy camper by the time I finally got to my room.

On Saturday, we toured the Coors Brewery on the way up to Dillon. It was so cool!! Best part, we got three free samples of beer, and by samples I mean glasses. The beer was amazingly fresh and cold!

Some of the many different beers MillerCoors brews. I had no idea it was so many!

Part of the brewing process. Yes, those big copper things are full of beer!

My future job!

Sunday we went to the Rockies game. Obviously, my Mom and I were in it for the food and beer! We need to keep Dad entertained, though ;-) We got a free ride in a golf cart from where we parked to the stadium. The driver also gave us free margarita tickets to a bar across the street from the stadium. We definitely started the game off right!

This quick weekend away reminded how much I absolutely love Colorado. It was so peaceful and beautiful staying in the mountains. Love, love, love. I will be back there soon!

The view from my Uncle's deck. I could get used to this!!

Fantasy Football

I got conned into participating in a girls-only Fantasy Football League. It's mainly for fun, and thank good it's all girls, but I am SO lost! I had some help from a friend with the draft, but am so confused from here!