autumn girlie weekend in connecticut

These days, due to the whole being-in-grad-school thing, I don’t have much time to travel for weekends. (Unfortunately, there isn’t such a thing as being off from your work. A thing I’m grappling with in whether or not I want to be a reporter.) But I booked a weekend off a week in advance to New Haven, and that meant hoping against hope that I wouldn’t have too much work to miss when I went away.

Friday October 27, 2023

After a full Friday where I went to my usual 12:25 midday Eucharist service and my first law class of the semester, I headed to an audio talk. 

I laughed with my fellow grad students and felt a little delulu about a cute guy (no more words need to be said). At 5:30pm, I hustled out of the journalism school to head to 34th Street. And unfortunately for myself (and my dad), I got a little lost. I actually realized I never go to the Amtrak station by myself. My dad always goes with me, and without him, I wandered around and eventually maneuvered my way to him. Thank God for good dads, who are thoughtful, who will do the unnecessary but kind things.

By 7, I was on my way to New Haven to see Karen! I listened to a little bit of Beautiful Anonymous, my favorite podcast of choice when on the train and a podcast about Madi Prewett Troutt’s new book on the Happy and Healthy podcast. Had a tiny but key realization: the best parts of friendship, the parts I miss are just doing life together. Laughter in the same room, just living side by side.

We grabbed pizza and drank juice and chatted away. ‘Twas simple and those are the best times. I updated her on my classes and stress levels, and she updated me on her life in New Haven. 

Related Post: grad school day in my life

Saturday October 28, 2023

I’ve mentioned this before, but I don’t use alarm clocks. I haven’t used one in over a year due to struggling with sleep and now I’m at the point where my body just knows when it needs to get up. No need to put on that sound that would shock me out of sleep. I awoke a little earlier than Karen. I’m not the earliest riser, but I do love the morning.

Something about being away from New York City just made it easier to brew a cup of hibiscus tea and get writing in my journal. Unfortunately, my earlier morning routine isn’t super consistent. It’s more for those mornings where I don’t have to be at school or out the door at an obnoxiously early hour. (Usually Mondays or Fridays, but even that is subject to change 🙁)

For breakfast, we headed over to a friend of Karen’s house, Gisette, for yogurt bowls. I’m so glad I got to visit more north while the leaves were full of bursting color in autumn.

Around 12, we got to East Rock and went hiking! I haven’t hiked in a hot minute (like probably since college), so I was sore by the time we were done. But the views were perfect! We talked about so much: post-grad plans and thesis projects and where we think we’ll end up. It was 4 of us hiking up.

After hiking, Karen and I headed back to her apartment. I got clean for the rest of our activities. We were really ambitious. I wanted to do as much as possible since the weather on Sunday wasn’t deemed to be the best. 

We got Starbucks, for me a pumpkin chai and her an iced apple macchiato. We hit up Goodwill, in which I only found one thing. A lovely green sweater. Then we drifted over to Trader Joes’. To pick up a bunch of things. I was hoping to acquire more fall things, but I didn’t get much (the one closest to me is busy every time I try to go). 

Back at Karen’s lovely apartment, we had white chicken chili (which I now I really want to make) and dove into a fun, serious discussion on spiritual gifts and hearing God and friendships that turn romantic. Ugh, it was so good. Part of me wishes I also lived in New Haven to have more discussions like that. I haven’t chatted like that and asked such direct questions since college. (My Bible study in jschool is great, but that’s not what we usually discuss).

We were supposed to have a movie night, but that fell to the wayside. We had a late night, but it was absolutely worth it! Hope you find a way to have the deeper discussions that you’re longing for more of.

Related Post: a story on friendship: a trip to New Haven

Sunday October 29, 2023

Church was at 10:30, but we were definitely a little late. But breakfast was nice. A granola bowl with toast and this cute checkered mug with Earl Grey.

We picked up Giselle and headed to St. John’s Episcopal Church. The sermon was a tad longer than I was expecting. It was about being a true neighbor and reaching across lines of division. We stayed for a little snack/coffee hour which was cool. 

After reading some of the Mitford series (I’m sad to finish it), I’ve been trying to attend as many Epsicopal Churches as possible. Maybe that’s something to share on the blog. I haven’t ever written out a testimony or faith journey, but let me know if you’d be interested in reading that.

After church, we grabbed our laptops and did work together, and it felt so 2021 of us to be working together again. I don’t miss college, but what I do miss is my people. I was trying to start my law reading, but I got super distracted. I loved this trip because it took some pressure off of me. 

School has been making me super anxious, and I’m not even an anxious person. The amount that’s asked of us has been a lot. I’ve learned (in part) why I had such a quiet season of life before grad school. That season had its own anxieties, but this one can feel almost unbearable. It reminds me of my first year of college where my favorite part of my day is going to bed. I do enjoy my fellow grad students and going to midday prayer and reporting (some of the time), but I am now pondering if there’s another industry I should be looking into.

Around 3:50, we headed out the door to walk to a local coffee shop, Fussy Coffee, in the rain. I got a hazelnut chai. We stopped and took photos, and isn’t my dear friend the cutest?

Around 6:10ish, my train back to New York arrived. I got home around 8:30 to 9, and I finished my law readings for the week for a late start to the week.

Wishing you a good end to autumn, and more cozy days!

Signing off,

Gigi