Homecoming

I made the mistake of trusting my gut rather than the weather app today.

Dummy.

During the fifteen minute walk between the train station and my apartment, I was that girl, the only pitiful loser on the street uncovered by hood or umbrella, getting utterly drenched from head to toe. But I'll tell you what, I could care less because my couch and sweatpants were in sight and honestly, sometimes I like being stuck in a downpour–with everyone else cocooned away in rain jackets and holding umbrellas against the wind, a full sensory experience of the city in the rain is a little secret I get to keep all to myself. 

But, y'all.

Can I just say that there's no sweeter feeling than unlocking your door, after all that, and stepping into an apartment dimly lit by a flickering candle, a pot roast on the stove, and roommates on the sofa ready to dig into this week's TV episodes?

(Speaking of, my [new] fall favorites are currently Designated Survivor and Timeless, howboutchu? I'd say This Is Us as well but I always need to mentally prepare myself for it. Get in the right mood, ya feel.)

Anywhoodles. Earlier this week, I worked from downtown San Francisco and remembered to stop by Chapel Hill Coffee Co., whose name had caught my eye on Instagram! For those of you who don't know, Chapel Hill, North Carolina is my hometown (I was named after its college basketball team) and I was absolutely tickled that there was a cafe in SF bearing its name.

I couldn't resist a quick snapshot of the Chapel Hill Coffee Co.'s logo against the Transamerica Building, an iconic landmark of my new home. 

On top of all that, it was Stanford's Homecoming weekend last week and being back on that beloved campus with my favorite people brought back alllllll the feels.

You know what else gave me all the feels? The new Gilmore Girls trailer. If watching it eight times (a day) is wrong, then I sure as heck don't want to be right. One line in particular that resonated deeply with me was Rory saying, "this is my time to be rootless." It was a simple statement so fitting for my current season of life, and it made all the sense in the world to me. But I think where I differ from Rory is that I actually think I'm rooted now more than ever... I've been laying down roots my whole life in all kinds of places, with all sorts of people. 

And as such, I feel like I'm coming home whether that home is an Airbnb somewhere across the world, or a charming little room in Oxford with a defunct fireplace and a sloped floor, or a pink house on a cul-de-sac in a little East Coast college town or a red brick abode in the suburbs of Houston or any number of shoddy dorm rooms at sunny Stanford or, yes, a warm, messy, cosy San Francisco apartment after taking an accidental (rain)shower.

Cheers to you if any of that made sense to you. 
I romanticize the hell out of everything, I know, or am maybe just trying to excuse the fact that I forgot an umbrella on a day I shouldn't have. But I've gotten into the habit of reading rambling blog posts of yore about seemingly insignificant happenings, and they've been giving me so much joy. Hopefully, this one can give future Caroline a smile, as well.