A Very Lucky Girl

Lo and behold, April has brought some smiles to my face this year. Let me count the ways. Pedicures. Strawberry Surfriders from Jamba Juice. Good tippers and their good tips. Falling into bed after an 11 hour late night shift. Cry Baby snowcones with extra sour. Songs on repeat. Egg white omelets with bacon. Encouraging emails from MapMyRun Laughing with my dad Checking things off of my task app Writing without abandon Group texts Beating a new level on Candy Crush. Running in the rain. Effortlessly excellent hair days. The post-Easter Peep sale. Wedges (pizza and shoes). But the number one joy-inducer for A Very Lucky Girl this month is the dwindling of the day count to summer. It's so close, I can taste it. And it tastes like snowcones and sleep.

I hate the dentist. Came back from that hell hole a week ago...definitely worse for wear. I walked in with a relatively decent smile and the ability to swallow. Walked out with a crooked smile (if you could call it that) due to several numbing shots and excess saliva. COOL. Oh-I also did this awesome thing: when I tried to drink water I ended up choking and drooling. #ThisIsWhyI'mHot I hate the dentist. But I love my technician or whatever you call them. She is really sweet and always genuinely sounds like she regrets having to mutilate my mouth. But yet she was also the one wielding the needle that inflicted several shots of pain. She asked me questions, which are hard enough to answer with hands in your mouth, but the mumbling increased when I couldn't feel my lips (side note: I almost asked if the numbness would be gone by the time I saw Tyler next because that's of crucial importance).  I came home and laughed at my reflection in the mirror, doubling over with giggl...

Disney bequeathed some unrealistic notions of what an ideal girl is like, but as a result I am positive I would be unstoppable with these characteristics. Belle's heart. She refuses to let first impressions ruin an entire relationship. Her understanding and influence transforms the beast into someone lovable. And I'd be okay with endlessly twirling in that butter yellow dress. Pocahontas' tan. I am addicted to being bronze. My goal might be more readily met if I was Native American...but since I'm stuck being Caucasian I'll continue to sizzle for hours in the sun by day and smear aloe vera on by night. Ariel's smile. She's always got this coy turn to her lips, despite being a ginger and voiceless to boot. I bet she never had braces. Cinderella's innocence. Not to be confused with blondness, Cinderella doesn't seem quite part of this world (Ariel reference, yes). Her spirit is unmarred by false intentions, making her irresistible t...

"There was nothing wrong with her face that a pleasant expression wouldn't help."--Good Country People The above quote was written by Flannery O'Conner. I've been submerged in her twisted stories throughout the course of my Critical Reading and Writing class.  It stuck out so much to me that I felt a compulsory need to jot it down. Ms. O'Conner writes a lot about social status and dispositions. So her comment was not out of character, but it has a complete knell of truth. Smiling makes everyone pretty. Smiling creates an illusion of happiness, no matter how much a life is falling apart. I've been trying this new thing where I smile at the people I have to dig deep down and grit my teeth to care about. For a few reasons: One, you don't look good without smiling unless you are going for the sultry look and I am not interested in seducing these people. Two, smiling makes people think that your life is on the perfect side of awesome. You could be having ...