Iowa

I feel like I am trapped in consumer heaven. The state of Iowa is nothing more than an arrangement of box stores, chain restaurants, and malls. A few of which I enjoy (Barnes and Noble, Apple store, and Starbucks) but after two weeks of being in the Midwest I feel like I am losing my mind. Everything starts to look the same. I can not ride my bike anywhere because there are no shoulders. My routine has become sitting in a hotel room contemplating what I am going to write for my next Personal Statement. Then I try to avoid the heat and humidity by sitting in a car and driving to places with air conditioning.

Yesterday we went to the mall. I have not been to the mall in a very long time, it is not a regular past time. We were very bored and figured we should do something instead of sit inside a hotel room all day. So of course we went to the Apple store. I got to hold the new iphone and play with the new compass and the new video features! This was the most exciting part of my day!

Then we went to the movies! We saw Up. It was cute and I think I giggled a few times. Finding Nemo is still my favorite pixar film.

Then we wondered around the mall for the second time. We found a cool tea store that smelled really good and had samples of chai to taste. Yummy. Then we went to Barnes and Noble where I purchased a new LSAT prep book. Yep! On Monday I found out I did not get into California Western School of Law. This was the school that I really wanted to go to. I decided I need to study for the LSAT again, get a better score, and reapply.

The day would not have been complete without a thunder storm. We had just made it to Best Buy when the wind started picking up and the temperature dropped. As we walked in we heard an employee say “there is a tornado headed my way I am going home” and he walked out with his keys in hand. Rory was looking for more memory for his laptop and I decided to wonder around. I was drawn to the crowd of employees standing by the door watching the wind and clouds. When I heard a few of the employees say “there is going to be a tornado” I realized we weren’t leaving best buy any time soon. So I went and found Rory. We tried to play garage band but something was “wrong” with the drums so I just played guitar by myself and he played golf on xbox.

Then I went into the home theater department and watched Transformers. I enjoyed the leather couches and surround sound.

When we got hungry we decided to brave the wind and rain in search of food. We had a great BBQ dinner. I never had brisket before but I enjoyed it. Rory reminded me of the carcinogens in meat and I realized I shouldn’t eat so much of the blackened parts. So I cut that part off and continued enjoying my ‘Jenny Salad’ with my pinot noir. Dinner was wonderful because it wasn’t at a chain restaurant and because we had a great window seat and watched the rain pour down outside.