Sebastian’s Table

Despite any sadness UNL’s community felt when NuVibe (the go-to study/smoothie spot) closed, it’s replacement, Sebastian’s Table, does not disappoint.

As a college student, the prices were a little higher than I normally like to pay, but the flavor combinations and atmosphere made everything worth it.

The ceilings are high, the kitchen is open, and the staff is accommodating and kind. The food is creative and portion sizes are reasonable. Sebastian’s Table has created an ideal merger between Midwestern comfort food and Mediterranean flair.

If you are looking for a new eatery in Lincoln, this is your place. Go with a friend (the portions are most friendly to be split between groups of two) for lunch or dinner, experience tapas for the first time, try some new flavors (be adventurous!), and enjoy this new Nebraska jewel.

A view from the restaurant’s second floor down into the open kitchen.

The restaurant’s logo.

Tapa 1: Hazelnut Brussels Sprouts with piquillo peppers, hazelnuts, and orange gastrique.

Tapa 2: Seared Scallops with sweet corn chorizo, brussels sprouts, capers, almonds, and lemon parsley vinaigrette.

Tapa 3: Lamb and Smoked Gouda Mac & Cheese.

Dessert: Pumpkin Bread Pudding with sweet bourbon sauce and vanilla ice cream.

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January Find: Home & Closet

I have experienced vintage paradise, and I’m not exaggerating.

Home & Closet is a vintage clothing and decor store locating in Lincoln, NE, and it is ideal. Well organized. Functional, vintage styles. Reasonable prices. Great Atmosphere. It is a gem of a store, and I am hooked. Below are my spoils.

Cropped Sweater Tank, fits like a glove.

“Shabby-chic” wooden box perfect for books, letters, and keepsakes.

A beautiful, boxy blazer.

Four Months in Books

One of my goals for 2014 is to read a book a month, and I’m doing my best to start strong.

January: On The Road by Jack Kerouac

February: I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou

March: The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood

April: The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov

HONY

“When I was 19, my girlfriend and I were going to study in Paris. Our boyfriends came to the docks to see us off. Right as we were getting on the ship, my friend’s boyfriend said to her: ‘If you go, I won’t wait for you.’ So she turned around and decided to stay. My fiance saw this and told me: ‘I won’t wait for you either.’
I said: ‘Don’t!'” – Humans of New York

Humans of New York often provides me with wisdom and laughter, but this post spoke out to me more than others. Maybe because I’m 19. Maybe because I’ll be studying abroad soon. Maybe because I am female. All I know is I love HONY and this woman.

Kitchen Table

Kitchen Table is a quaint, hip (most drinks are served in mason jars, after all) restaurant located in Omaha, NE. I had heard only the best reviews from my friends and the world wide web, so it was time to give the place a try.

I ate Sunday Brunch at Kitchen Table and was pleasantly surprised by the simple, clean, and fresh food. I ordered toast with maple butter and strawberry preserves, potato soup, and the fried egg sandwich with caramelized onions, hot mustard, and white cheddar.

The food and the atmosphere most definitely lived up the the establishment’s motto: “slow fast food.” I will be sure to return.

Kitchen Table’s sleek logo.

A wall decorated with greenery.

Potato soup and the fried egg sandwich.

A fried egg sandwich close-up.

2014: To Consciousness, Exploration, and Flexibility

Sometimes I move so fast that I forget who I am, what I value/enjoy, and the importance of each and every human around me.

It’s easy to do this in college where it seems each person is engulfed in this crazy search for self, which often leads to selfishness and self-importance without much self-reflection. I fall prey to this as do so many of my peers, and it takes (a sometimes painful) amount of consciousness and/or a much-needed reality check courtesy of my family to place my feet firmly back on the ground.

And although I’m young and still making all the hard mistakes that come with youth and growing up, I’m choosing to make changes during this year that will force me to criticize and analyze myself. I need to self-improve, self-realize, and self-reflect in a way that embraces my own flaws and values the phenomenal humans around me.

I want to be conscious of this amazing world around me and the people in it.

I want to explore and experience new movies, books, places, people, music, and foods.

I want to do this all in a flexible way, embracing road blocks, change, and unexpected turns.

And this is how I will do those things (AKA my “New Year’s Resolutions”):

1. Read a book for pleasure once a month.

2. Consume less. Buy less. Buy used and/or local to minimize my personal consumerism. Document all that I do consume.

3. Try new restaurants. Order new things at my favorite restaurants. But eat out sparingly.

4. Listen – with intent to understand and not to just respond – to others’ stories. Interact in meaningful ways.

5. Surround myself with people different from myself.

6. Spend more time outside and in nature. Exercise outside if I can.

7. Only compare myself to who I was yesterday and not to other humans.

8. Value knowledge and experience more than tangible things.

9. Spend either Friday or Saturday each week doing something to better myself: reading, writing, listening, watching, studying.

10. Do more yoga.

11. Unplug more often.

12. Appreciate what I have.

13. Love and care for those most important to me.

14. Be kind.

15. Intensely enjoy my own company. Solitude is a beautiful thing.

2014 is going to be an unforgettable year, and I intend to use this blog to document it all.

Three Nights of Halloween

Night 1: Channeling “Portlandia” and all its 90s glory.

Night 2: Contemporary Frida Kahlo.

Night 3: Young Hillary Clinton.

“Everybody’s Something” Chance The Rapper

This song has been playing on repeat for the past three days and probably will be for a few more. I can’t quite get over it’s simple, true refrain: “Everybody’s somebody’s everything. Nobody’s nothing.”

25 Things I Learned From Cornhusker Girls State

Tags

Boys/Girls State, Nebraska, Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act

The ceiling of the Nebraska State Capitol building.

Cornhusker Girls State (CGS) is an annual program facilitated by the American Legion Auxiliary for rising female high school seniors in Nebraska.  CGS is first and foremost a program to teach these young women about government, patriotism, and civic duty.  At 17, I attended CGS for the first time as a citizen.  At 19, I returned to CGS as a junior counselor.  I found the program largely unchanged; however, the lessons I had learned two years before resonated within me once again.

1. The most qualified person or candidate does not always win.  Some things in life are simply a popularity contest based upon likability, timing, and luck – things we have minimal control over.

2. Nebraska is first and foremost an agriculturally based state.  Farming and ranching are integral to our culture and economy.

3. Presently, I am too liberal for Nebraska; however, the future looks promising.  My generation is moving to the left (albeit at a slow pace).

4. I support the PPACA (Obamacare).  Is it perfect? Definitely not.  But it is a start, a first step toward positive change.

5. Democrats are more willing to compromise and find merit in suggestions made by the other side.  Republicans see one solution – their own – and will almost never concede.  (Please note: there are exceptions on both sides.)

6. Politicians will lie straight to your face.

7. Men can still get away with so much more than women.

8. Government is my passion.  It is what causes adrenaline to rush through my veins.

9. Winning is great; losing is not, but the most important thing is to win or lose gracefully and with poise.

10. Your social media accounts are more than just a reflection of yourself.  They reflect everyone and everything you are associated with or associate yourself with.

11. The University of Nebraska – Lincoln has a beautiful campus, and I am lucky to be a student there.

12. I am a female, and others will devalue me simply due to my gender.  Therefore, I need not give anyone a reason to respect me any less.  I am in control of my words and actions – my general comportment.

13. Whether intentionally or not, I am a role model for others.  I must choose to be a positive role model.

14. I have the power to influence people.

15. Coffee is absolutely wonderful…and I might be addicted.

16. My sister and I are different and the same simultaneously.  I cannot wait to see what she does with her life.

17. I respect those who dedicate their lives to the military; however, it is something I could never do.

18. War is such an odd concept.  From birth, I was always taught to use words and not violence to solve my problems.  Yet when conflict escalates to a global scale, violence and fighting almost always ensue.  This is a great paradox of humanity.

19. Supporting veterans should not be a partisan issue.

20. There are good, informed, and reasonable Republicans in this world.

21. I know what I stand for and what I believe in, and I will never waver.

22. If you want to go fast, go alone.  If you want to go far, go together.

23. I can always be nicer and more patient.

24. You cannot force others to accept your help.

25. Never hold back.  Lean in.

 

The Introverted Concert Goer

Tags

Concerts, Extraversion-Introversion, Music

Large concerts can bring out the worst in people.  This reality is counter-intuitive.  You would think when humans gather together to enjoy a common interest, such as music, a sort of camaraderie would emerge.  Instead you find a primal battle for personal space – especially when each ticket vaguely states “General Admission.”

I hover in the gray area between introversion and extroversion, but when I go to concerts, there is no question about it: I am an introvert.  I attend concerts to enjoy live music, and I do not want to contend with any of the following:

1. Drunk people searching for conflict with other concert goers.

2. People passive aggressively shoving others who get in their way.

3. Couples dancing and swaying with such breadth they soon incorporate an unwilling third wheel into their movement.

4. People who come to socialize and not to listen.

5. People who believe “concert etiquette” does not include common courtesy.

I love live music, but I cannot pinpoint a greater frustration than when a concert’s environment detracts from the sights and sounds everyone has paid to experience.

The dynamic of concerts is unlikely to change; however, as an introverted concert goer, I have figured out how to enjoy live music without disappointment:

1. General Admission is the death of me.  I need my uncontested personal space: a seat designated for me where I may relax and enjoy the sounds around me.

2. A concert-going friend who is also an introvert.  Nothing is worse than wanting to just sit and listen to the music when your friend insists on clawing his or her way to the front of a sea of standing people.  I enjoy concerts most when I go with like-minded company.

3. I do not go to concerts in environments I know I will not enjoy.  An intimate show at Sokol Auditorium – yes.  An overcrowded general admission show at Pershing Auditorium – no thanks.

There is no “right way” to enjoy a concert, and it is up to each individual to determine his or her own preferences.  Nevertheless, one bottom line exists: Live music is wonderful, inspiring, and food for the soul.

Here is a fragmented list of concerts I have attended:

Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers (2003)

Bob Dylan (2006)

Regina Spektor (2008)

Paul Simon with The Punch Brothers (2011)

Grouplove with Icky Blossoms (2013)

The Lumineers with The Cold War Kids (2013)

Cherub (2013)

Bastille w/ Wild Cub (2013)