On Cleveland and Being a Fifth Wheel

Last weekend, Maddie, Derek, and I all went to Cleveland, Ohio to celebrate Derek's sister's birthday. I debated on going because my personality is a lot more outgoing than Maddie's, and I didn't want to outshine her again when we hung out with her family (I am weirdly talented when it comes to meeting people, and Maddie is more shy, so I am remembered more, which I didn't want because Derek is HER boyfriend and his family is HER boyfriend's family).

     And that was pretty much the only thing that decided whether or not I was going..

Ultimately, my love for Derek's sister (and the rest of his family)  won out, and I packed my bag for Cleveland.

(Me playing with the various wall-hook animals at Anthropologie)

 Unfortunately, Dan (Derek's best friend, and my ex) decided to have family plans that weekend (Dan and Derek are from the same town), so he was the one who drove us. Cue awkwardly loud soundtrack overridden with break up songs, and creepy I-want-that-girl-and-can't-seem-to-have-her-songs.

Lately, I have been super homesick (because of all of the application/life stress), and since I can't go home (it's long car ride away), Derek's house is the next best thing. His family is so real and welcoming, I instantly feel at home (especially since this is my second time going).

After Ashley's (Derek's sister's) birthday dinner at The Chocolate Bar, we all drove through the snow to go bowling. We (mainly Derek, his friend Joe, and I) ended up dancing in the bowling alley, and we had more fun than I ever thought anyone could have bowling. We went to a ton of different stores, including Anthropologie (my favorite fantasy store, because everything is so expensive).

As a random thought, I told Derek that we should go to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (which, besides the amazing food, is one of the few things that Cleveland is known for). He took my suggestion seriously, and we were off to go view memorabilia from some of the most famous and influential musicians in history.

Jimi Hendrix's writng was definitely the quirkiest. ( I had to steal it from Google since there was no photography allowed).

I am a huge music fan, as most of you who read my  blog can probably deduce (since I put up music videos with practically every post), but a lot of the music I listen to is newer and more hipster-esque, so a lot of the smaller bands in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame were unfamiliar to me. I looked at a lot of the things in the museum from an artistic perspective. So many musicians are artists in the physical sense as well, and it really shows. A lot of the musicians really put huge amounts of time and effort into making everything around them beautiful, something that I really hope to emulate more in the future.
As amazing as everything else was, my favorite part of the exhibits had to be the writings. It was breathtaking to see some of my favorite songs as the artist made them, handwriting and all. I love handwriting.

From Left: Maddie, Derek, me (aka the midget of the group) Ashley, and her boyfriend Nick

Me and Maddie in front of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

 For the most part, I like to think that I owned being a fifth wheel this/last weekend, however, it became a little annoying in the end (not because I want a relationship, just because that is what happens when a single person is around heaps of couples for too long). However, it helped me to come to the realization that I definitely do not want another relationship in the future (I am sure that this line will haunt me later).

In case I wasn't sure about that, after yet another painfully awkward car ride home with Dan, I unpacked my backpack to find a SIX PAGE LETTER FROM HIM.

Oh dear.

He has this habit of writing these really weird letters in which he rambles, attempts to philosophize, and then repeats himself like repetition is going out of style. I have maybe six of them, and we only dated for a month. Terrible.

My friends and I gathered around to read  this monstrosity. It was so many different levels of awful and sad. He even ended it with "we are never ever getting back together" (yes, he quoted Taylor Swift), as though I wasn't the one who dumped him.

One-way ticket to singletown please..

Rock on.