Florida!

For my last spring break as a law student, I decided to join my mom for a trip to Anna Maria Island, Florida. My mom had been the previous year and repeatedly sung its praises. That combined with the chance to hang with my mom and try the vegan-friendly BBQ joint on the island sounded pretty enticing. Oh yeah, and did I mention it would be in the 80's there?

So, we piled in the car with my mom's dog, Wyatt, and began the nearly 24 hour trek there.

He was pretty good with directions, but unfortunately, kept insisting on stopping for cigarette breaks.

Okay, so, Wyatt doesn't really smoke (he drinks like a fish), but we did hit multiple detours (there was even a landslide in Tennessee that added three hours to the trip), and made a few of our own (I'm looking at you, Taco Bell guacamole).

But, after two days, we arrived!

When we finally made it, we took every opportunity to be tourists.


And we stopped for a bit of guacamole as well (this time from a local place called Poppo's).

The place where we stayed was within feet of the ocean, and these scenes fed my soul (believe it or not, I was still hungry for sunshine even after all of that guacamole).


We took it quite easy for the week and mostly relaxed at the beach. We did manage to squeeze in a dolphin-watching cruise that also featured a spin by famous people's homes. We even saw Derek Jeter's place (located on a private island). Note to self; make friends with Derek Jeter.




I also had a bit of a battle with the sun. Exhibit A.

I'm pretty sure it won.

And we sampled a lot of the vegan cuisine (and by sampled, I mean, stuffed our faces).

This is the Thai curry tofu at the aforementioned BBQ place, Mr. Bones.

Oh, and Mr. Bones had this, too.

I'll take one of each, please.


On Friday night, I drove down to Naples to do a gig. I forgot to take pictures, so here's the flyer.


It was a good time, although I was unsuccessful in convincing anyone to take me around for a spin on their boat (in my defense, I didn't even ask).

All in all, it was a really fun and relaxing trip, which I really needed. I don't get much time to relax, and I certainly don't get much time to do so when it's actually warm out.

And random, added bonus of the trip: I met a guy from Alabama who called Wyatt "a purdy dog" (in the most Alabama-accent you can imagine), and I overheard a 20-something-year-old say "ah, jeepers" when told he would have to take his shoes off while going through security at the airport.

Harvard and Cake!

For the second time, I had the pleasure of competing in the National Animal Law Moot Court Competition at Harvard Law School. It was considerably less snowy than when I went there the first time.

Bikes last year:


Bikes this year:


After our early morning flight (on which I got a taste of the Boston accents I love so much when the flight attendant announced that "JetBlue only accepts credit cahds"), we explored MIT's campus (which, PS, is just as geometric as you'd expect).


And on Saturday and Sunday we competed. It was so great to see colleagues I had met the previous year and to make new friends. Being around other folks who want to use the law to help animals is so inspiring!

That's Christian (my co-counsel), Hailey (who competed in the closing argument competition), me, and Harvard's super fancy architecture.

And us after competing in our semi-final and final round.


Looking all lawyer-y in one of our rounds.

Like last year, the tournament was an incredible experience. And the food was all vegan (like the chocolate cake featured below) and top notch! I may or may not have brought my own tupperware to take left-overs home in.



I wished we could have stayed longer, but alas, we had a plane to catch, and I had a final to take on Monday. Until we meet again, Boston, I'll be sure to have my credit cahd ready to buy all your vegan chocolate cakes...

Carb-o-riffic Super Bowl

I had Friday off (well, off as in no stand-up gig; I still worked on my never-ending law school homework for quite a while), so I decided to head to the Lansing Brewing Company. I love local breweries, and I had heard this one was particularly good, so I was eager to check it out.

And just because we take as may selfies as middle schoolers:



Trust me from experience: there's no quicker way to lose craft-brew cred than by ordering "whatever is most similar to Bud Light." I guess I know better for next time.

On Saturday, I got to work with my good buddy, Keith Lenart. We had a blast at the Bull Ring in Goodrich, Michigan.

Life hack alert: the key to writing good jokes = baby powder. Who knew?

On Sunday, I stuffed my face like it was my job. Hey, what better way to celebrate a New Year's resolution 10 pound weight loss than to gain it all back in one day? Right?

I had planned to make awesome, vegan Super/Puppy Bowl food like this, this, and these, but instead, I parked it on the couch with my homework  while my equally as awesome main squeeze made me a carb-o-riffic dinner. P.S. You know you've gone yourself a keeper when they make avocado-topped pizza (and pizza sauce) from scratch.

 
And, now to lose those 10 pounds again...

Noise complaints and mefting rooms

What a fun weekend in Minnesota! Unlike the east coast, which got pummeled with snow, the upper Midwest got nada, which made for a great drive there and back. It's always nice when the most eventful part of a drive is discovering a gas station where you've stopped for fuel also sells chocolate milk (shout out to the Kwik Trip!).

I performed at Dangerfield's with my good buddy, Steve Sabo, for the weekend. Another road friend of mine (and not to mention, super funny dude) Shannon Thompson stopped by on Friday night. It was great to see him (as it had been years) and meet his wife, Kim.

Unfortunately, we didn't get a picture of the four of us, but I may or may not have done this face at least 20 times.

Back at the hotel:

For all your business, conference and "mefting" needs.

The hotel was memorable for another reason, too. Friday night marked a first for me: I called in my first noise complaint on other guests. Yep, I'm officially old. I guess my thirty-something year-old self can no longer handle screaming teenagers repeatedly proclaiming "they call me the jack hammer" at 85 decibel levels at 4 a.m.

 Anyway, this entry is short and sweet, but that's kind of how my trip was, so we'll leave it at that.

Made it through my last first day!

On the right: first day of my first semester of law school.

20 stress-gained pounds and countless wrinkles later, on the right: first day of my last semester of law school. 

 

Still smiling because I'm almost done.

Grits and tips

On Wednesday, I got up bright and early to drive 13 hours to Florence, South Carolina. People will occasionally ask me how I can do such a long drive and then perform at night without being exhausted. My answer: the promise of getting out of Michigan's 10 degree weather is pretty good motivation.

After last week's debacle, this drive was completely painless and uneventful!

I didn't get any pictures of my show at the Southern Hops Brewing Company, but it was a good time. I even met an audience member who had been to Peru a couple months ago, and we traveled the exact same itinerary! So, we chatted about tuk-tuks and "the road of death" quite a bit.

On Thursday, I made my way over to Myrtle Beach for the weekend. 

You know you're in the South when this is the continental breakfast.

But first, I stopped by the Conway public library to get some homework done. 

Not a bad view for brief-writing.

I always have a blast when I work the Carolina Comedy Club! The staff is so much fun; although much to my disappointment, I had too much homework to go out with them after the shows like I usually do. 

The weather was rainy and in the 50s, but that did not stop me from wearing flip-flops the entire week. As you can imagine, I was stared at quite a bit by the locals.

This shows were fun, and I had a really good time working and hanging out with Todd Johnson (along with all the other comics who swung by).

This weekend also marked a first for me. Right as I was finishing up my set at the Saturday late show, a guy, who wasn't an audience member, walked into the club, asked for directions to a restaurant, then proceeded to walk on stage during my set and give me $20. It was the easiest and weirdest money I've ever made in my life.

The drive home was long, but I busied myself by binge-watching Making a Murderer, calling everyone I know who has seen it, and picking my jaw up off the floor. It was so shocking and outrageous. But watching the lawyers from the Innocence Project (and being inspired by their work) was good motivation to start my classes again on Monday. 

Running in Reykjavik

So this is happening...

As a graduation (fingers crossed) present to myself, I bought myself a ticket to Iceland. Ever since visiting in 2014, I had vowed to return.

And as a form of torture gift to my body, I decided to run there, too.


I guess it's time to put down the Swedish Fish and actually get off my behind.