Kirsten Captures

Carina and I were exhausted from standing and dancing all night so we ended up sleeping in till 11am! Yikes!

It was ok though because there wasn’t anything major on our agenda for the day. So we took a leisurely brunch and headed out to the mall in the early afternoon.

I needed to exchange some boots and peruse cheap jewelry at H&M. Then somehow the trip morphed into a “let’s make Carina try on clothes and buy colored pants” kind of thing. It was great! She joined the purple pants club. And I didn’t even exchange the boots.

Hm. Well at least it was a productive day. And we drank juice! Nice.

We got home pretty late and took our time to get ready for a night out the town! I had contacted my friends and asked them to meet us on my last night out in town!

At 8pm we finally made it to dinner at Cantina. We were starving and ordered chips and guacamole, two servings of yucca fries, and our entrees. Oh and margaritas. And OMG the yucca fries. The yucca fries! It was a fiesta!

By the time we had finished dinner only one of my friends wanted to hang out. To be honest, it pissed me off. I mean yes I understand, people are busy and don’t want to go out on the weekends. I know, I’ve been there.

But this was my last night out before moving across the world! It makes me really sad. But yet again I know who my real friends are and I look forward to starting fresh in China. By moving to a foreign country I realize that possessions and status DO NOT MATTER. All that matters are people and experiences.

But anyways! We salvaged the night when my friend Pete invited us to a house party. Actually he offered to skip the party and hang out with us if we wanted (such a great friend) but we decided that maybe a house party would be more fun than a bar with random people. And we were right!

We met new people, ate birthday cake, and sat around a lovely outdoor deck playing games, sharing stories, and lighting sparklers. As sparklers were handed out, people leaned in to capture each other’s spark as the deck became increasingly bathed in light.

It was a beautiful moment that perfectly captures the beauty of human connection. You must use your light to reach out and share with others. For you can only combat the darkness when the light of others grows and expands around you.

Participating in this boundless childish joy made my night that much brighter

It’s time to spread the light to others.

Ooooohh heaven let your light shine down…