Nougatocity

Nougatocity \nu-gat-a-si-tE\ (noun). A heightened yet fleeting state of accomplishment that makes you realize how unbelievably unmotivated you normally are. 


This is the definition that appeared on the inside of my Snickers bar Friday afternoon, and I realized I get this feeling very rarely because frankly, I don't do anything. For example, I will replay the conversation that went on in my head Thursday morning when I woke up:


7:00 am- Alarm rings
Good Gabbie: Okay, Gabbie. Let's get up and go running. There's a fitness center in this hotel. We should take advantage of that considering we're in Minneapolis and there are meters of snow piled up on the sidewalks.
(Note: I had to stay at a cheap hotel on Wednesday night because my train got in too late for me to check into a hostel. It might as well have been a hostel because a) the walls were so thin I could hear everything my neighbors did, b) the continental breakfast sucked, and c) well, I just wished they had let me check into the hostel late, that's all.)
Bad Gabbie: I'm not sure why you're suggesting this. It's so early!
GG: Well, considering you set your alarm for 7 last night, we could say it was your idea.
BG: I was under the influence of motivation. Please disregard any decisions made last night.
GG: Oh my gosh. Just get your lazy butt out of bed. 
BG: No way. I don't get up in the morning to run while I'm on vacation.
GG: This isn't exactly vacation, considering you've been traveling since December. Let's go.
BG: No thanks, I'll just lay in this bed. Besides, the Mall of America doesn't open until 10. And I don't want to get there until later because they have a lockdown drill this morning.
GG: Okay, fine. We can workout at 8.
Gabbie's body- sets the alarm for 8.
8:00 am- alarm rings.
Repeat the above conversation.
9:00 am- alarm rings.
BG: See, Gabbie? You're awfully tired. You needed the rest. There was no need to get up that early to go workout. Let's go eat breakfast.
After breakfast-
BG: Okay. You're too full to go run and workout. That's not good for your stomach. That bowl of crappy corn flakes and that bagel could really mess with you.
GG: *Sigh* I suppose. Let's get ready and go to the mall.


Now you see, Friday's conversation was a bit different. I was in a youth hostel in downtown Minneapolis (and it didn't have a fitness center).
GG: Let's go run, Gabbie!
BG: ARE YOU INSANE? Look at the temperature. It's way too cold to go run outside.
GG: Oh yeah, you're right. Go back to bed. 


So yeah. Not much nougatocity there because Good Gabbie doesn't even have a chance. It's just pure unmotivaton. But on Thursday afternoon I saw a sign at the Mall of America that read: Fat people are harder to kidnap. See? Safety should be my main concern. Bad Gabbie has won over. Don't worry, I'll totally start running and working out... in Seattle. Or Portland. Or Eugene. We will have to see about that...


Oh yeah, I almost forgot that I was  supposed to write about Minneapolis. 
Minneapolis is a pretty cool place because they have the Mall of America. If you love malls, you need to visit before you die. If you hate malls, then just don't go. That would be a bad idea.  You see, I have a love/hate relationship with malls. I love the convenience factor. Everything is so close; stores, restaurants, movie theaters, spas. It's like a little patch of heaven on earth. And this one had a theme park and an aquarium, so it was, in my opinion, sitting on the right hand of God in heaven. But of course, I also hate them because it's absolutely impossible to not spend a lot of money. I'm not sure why I thought I could walk into the MALL OF AMERICA of all places and have a small budget. Actually, I didn't put any room in my budget for this visit because I forgot I was going to a mall. Oops.
But truth is, I'm not a big spender because I have a pretty strict clearance/sales rack-only rule. But still, ten $5 items later and you start to wonder why they built malls in the first place. They must have come from the devil. 
But I say this to all the girls who I've ever shopped with (mostly Katy Pagano and Lacee McCall): Thank you so much for always being there to convince me to buy things. Because of you, I still have my sanity. 
I have a bit of a willpower problem. When it comes to running in the cold in the morning, I can't get out of bed. But when I'm in  store fitting room, I can't seem to buy anything. I probably walked around Marshall's for an hour holding an item I picked up in the first 30 seconds I was in the store. But I wasn't too sure if I wanted to buy it. So I tried it on about five times and then set it down and walked out of the store because I was convinced it would be a waste. But then I felt bad about wasting an hour in the store for a shirt that looked pretty good when I could have been riding the awesome roller coaster in the middle of the mall. So I went back and bought it. But then I felt bad about buying it. If someone had just been there to tell me it was good, I probably wouldn't have lost my sanity in Marshall's, or in any other store I went to (and I went to a lot). 
Around 5 I decided that my brain and soul were going to explode if I walked into another store and attempted to buy something. So I watched a movie. I saw Just Go With It, with Adam Sandler and Jennifer Aniston. It was such a cute movie. Go see it. 
But after the movie I went to retrieve my luggage from the lockers and got directions to the train from the wonderful woman at the information desk. Go into Sears, take a right, walk to the parking garage, go through the glass doors and down the stairs. Got it. 
I repeated these directions in my head so I wouldn't forget them. Go into Sears, take a right, parking garage...
What does that sign say? $5 shoes? 
And my concentration was lost as I wandered into the colorful store that I had missed during my previous shopping hours. And naturally, the process started over again, except this time I had dropped my luggage in the middle of the store and was trying on every shoe they offered in a size 8.5. I am sad to say that the Mall of America owns part of my sanity. RIP.


Well, you know what went down Friday morning, and after that little episode I decided to make my way over to the Minneapolis Institute of Art, aka, the best thing about Minneapolis besides Brett Favre. My original plan was to go the the art museum in the morning and the Swedish Institute in the afternoon, but I got a little sidetracked at the museum and never quite made it over to learn about the Swedes. Oh well, I guess that's what Google is for.




Well, that was supposed to be the end of my blog until I got to Seattle. But the adventure to Seattle was quite entertaining, so I'll write about it :)


I was supposed to board my train at 11:15 on Friday night. The train was late, so we boarded at 12:15 on Saturday morning. Minor setback.
I woke up Sunday morning to multiple announcements concerning multiple delays because of snow. Our route went through North Dakota, Montana, Idaho, and Washington State, and as you can imagine there's lots and lots of snow around this time of year. So it's apparently not a big deal to be delayed a little on this route because of snow. The announcement that really woke me up was the one that said, "Ladies and Gentlemen, you may have noticed that we stopped again. We hit a car."


I shot out of my seat. At lunch I asked the waiter how many times this happened. He proceeded to tell me that they hit cars only about twice a year, which is pretty good considering how many cars cross train tracks every year.
But the best part of this incident was the conductor's speech after this:
"Ladies and gentlemen. This should be a warning to all of you to not risk jumping the tracks when a train is coming and you're driving through snow. If you are in a car, and we are in a train, we will always win."
Best. Conductor. Ever. 
Kalia, the girl sitting across the aisle from me, and I looked at each other and started laughing. Basically, we kept each other entertained for the next 24 hours. 
So basically, one delay after another put us about 9 hours behind schedule (the freight trains kept getting in our way). But here's the funny part: I didn't mind. You see, trains are way better than planes or buses. People are friendlier. You have a lot more room. The view is much more scenic. There's more food. You can actually get up and move around when you're bored. The bathrooms are bigger. There are no luggage restrictions. There is no security. You just show up at the train station with your stuff, hop on the train, and go. Then, you get off the train when you get to your destination. Sure, the ride may be a little slower, but people who are taking trains aren't exactly looking to get places fast, they're just looking to enjoy the ride. So remember: if you want relaxation, take the train. If you want pissed off people looking to get to their destinations and yell at crew members, take a plane. I absolutely can't wait to see what will happen on my next train ride :)