Things I am looking forward to!

1. FALL! I know it is only the beginning of August and being a Florida native, I am used to "fall" (or the week between summer and winter temperatures) not hitting until sometime around Thanksgiving. It has always been my favorite time of year, despite being short-lived in Tallahassee. It reminds me of so many good things - my birthday, my mom, brother, and sister's birthdays, the coming holiday season, FSU football, scarves, bonfires, cute boots - I could literally go on and on! Well, now that I am living in Atlanta, I will have my first honest to goodness fall season! Every time I open my closet and see my boots, I get giddy just thinking about getting to wear them soon! I walked through Target last night and saw fall wreaths and wicker pumpkins and my heart skipped a beat and a giant grin spread across my face! I can not wait to carve a pumpkin for Halloween, wear jeans (and not sweat), and open up the windows and let the cool air fill my apartment!

2. The weekend after September 15th (a big tax deadline in my line of work, even though I am not exactly slammed right now, I know it is coming). For more reasons than just that busy season will be (almost) over :)

3. The thought of never picking up another Becker book! I am two weeks (as of Saturday) away from taking what will hopefully be my last CPA exam (assuming I passed Regulation and will pass Audit on the 27th). Although I must say I am kinda sorta glad I have had Becker/CPA studying to do to keep me busy on the days at the office when I don't have work, I can't wait to not have to study! I have not been nearly as diligent with this last part as my others, but it will be so nice to not be thinking in the back of my mind "I should be studying instead of ______" or "I have to go home and study." I look forward to being able to fill my evenings after work and weekends with other social activities rather than sitting in my apartment with Becker.

4. Jeans day! Every Friday in my office during the summer we are allowed to wear jeans! It is awesome! Back in Tally, the office I used to work at did Jeans Day on Fridays during the summer and as soon as summer hours went into effect, I switched from full time to part time and didn't work Fridays and always missed Jeans Day. Don't get me wrong, I did love having Fridays off and enjoyed the 3-day weekends. Now, in my new office, it is a nice break from the heels, pantyhose, and dress skirts and slacks I wear on a regular basis and is something I look forward to all week!

5. It is Friday tomorrow! Which means its practically the weekend - yay! Also, another guy that started with me in the Atlanta office and I have started a new tradition on Fridays (well, as much tradition as two weeks in a row can be) of having lunch together at Mellow Mushroom, which is right next door to my office building. I love pizza, he loves pizza, and its always good conversation! Needless to say, we have been looking forward to Friday and our lunch date all week! (And by lunch date, I mean a strictly platonic, friend thing - he has a girlfriend and we truly just enjoy each other's company).

6. Shopping! Kelsey, another person who started with me in the Atlanta office, and I have an unofficial shopping expedition planned for this weekend! I am super excited and have been dying to go shopping since I moved up here but haven't really had the time or the funds. Plus, there are times I just generally do not enjoy shopping alone, I need that other person's opinion but never like to ask the sales clerks (who knows if they're actually going to tell you the truth)! And I always tend to find way more clothes when I shop with someone else. So win-win!

7. Anna is coming to visit!! This should really be #1 but I need to wrap this up since I'm at work .. whoopsie! I haven't seen Anna in gosh, must be about a year ago she left for Spain to teach English and she of course came back to the States/Tallahassee 4 days after I moved to Atlanta. I am still getting used to the idea of being able to text her or call her whenever I want instead of having to resort to emailing or skyping her and waiting a couple days to get a response from her (due to the time difference). Any who, she is coming to Atlanta next week for a couple of days and I cannot wait to see her! I have missed my bestie!!