The town eagle costumes from election week.
For the first part of the week he was Uncle Sam, and as the election dragged on he turned into The Count from Sesame Street! 😂
I don't know about y'all, but I feel like I barely survived last week, haha. Like many folks across the globe, I was extremely invested in the outcome of the 2020 Presidential Election. I feel like my political leanings are fairly obvious, and I strongly felt like there was so much at stake for millions of people with this election. I was absolutely dreading election day because I knew how heartbroken I would be if the outcome resulted in another four years of our current leadership. I did not want to feel the heartache and turmoil of the last four years any longer, so a lot was riding on this decision and I felt like I was relying on so many other people to do the right thing. It's so hard feeling like such a big decision is completely out of your hands once you cast your ballot!
I did not feel good AT ALL on Election Night. I'm glad to have had my emotional support Australians - Michael and Jess - chatting with me that night (and throughout the entire week). On one hand, it felt like the weight of the world was on the United States' shoulders because the ENTIRE globe was watching the outcome of the election, but on the other hand it was comforting to know that millions around the world were rooting for the same thing that I was. I was glad to have Michael and Jess there to keep me grounded and share memes while we all anxiously watched the results roll in. Luckily I had some leftover Halloween cupcakes to stress eat. I split them with Brett and doubled the Frankenstein effect 😂
I put myself to bed around 11pm, randomly woke up at 3am and scrolled for an hour, and snoozed off and on until it was time to wake up for work. All of my colleagues that I interacted with the day after Election Day were also exhausted, and all we could do was talk about the election and obsessively refresh results maps. I was on the treadmill at the gym when Biden won Michigan that day, and I couldn't help but pump my fist in celebration as I ran through the stress. That was the last state that was officially called until Saturday, and I would be lying if I told you the waiting wasn't agonizing!
I did the best I could to keep myself distracted over the course of the next few days, but it was damn difficult. On Friday morning, though, GA and PA flipped to BLUE which was oh so exciting. 💙 I was actually pulling down my Gritty mug for good vibes in Pennsylvania when I found out the news that PA flipped! Gritty may be the god of chaos, but GOOD chaos. 😂 Even though some states flipped blue, it would still be over 24 hours before any state would make an official call.
Selfies from moments after I found out the results!
Snowy's just like... idk what's happening 👁👄👁
On Saturday I was just getting back from a 15 mile run and playing with Snowy in the living room when I saw that CNN had made the official projection that Biden won Pennsylvania and, in turn, the election! I have been saying it all week that I really do feel like that this is one of those moments in history that you'll always remember where you were when you found out the news of this election. The last four years have been so tumultuous and to know that the leadership that has caused so much hurt in our nation will NOT be returning for an encore was just so incredible. Seeing the images of so many Americans celebrating in the street had me so overjoyed. It has been so long since our nation has felt that level of collective happiness and it was truly amazing to feel that connected to the country in such a positive way for a change. I'm still smiling just thinking about it.
Things I'd like to remember from this day:
I am so thrilled that the election is over and relieved that it went the way that I was hoping. I am so hopeful that our nation can start to heal and take positive steps toward fixing the issues we have. Obviously there is so much work to do, but I can finally say that I feel confident that the new administration will face the challenges our nation is facing head on instead of ignoring them and allowing them to get worse. We'll have to see how the next four years play out, but I'm full of hope, and that hasn't been the case in a very long time.
Other than the election occupying all of my brain space last week, I actually completed a fun, self-imposed running challenge over the weekend as well! I called it the 15/15 Challenge, where I ran 15 miles on Saturday, and the Hot Chocolate 15K on Sunday. I actually vlogged my experience as well, so check out the video below to see the challenge in action. I have included some clips of my reaction to the election results as well, as they were announced shortly after my 15 miler on Saturday, so if you want to see my very fresh reaction to the results, click play!
I'm actually off to Florida tomorrow morning to spend a long weekend with my parents! I haven't seen them since FEBRUARY so it will be so good to spend time with them. We have some fun activities planned including watching a manned SpaceX launch and running a LIVE, IN-PERSON 5K!!! I haven't run a live race since MARCH so I am so thrilled to finally get to run a race, and I get to run it with my parents! I'll be updating y'all next week on what we get up to, so stay tuned!
*uhhh how did SNL absolutely NAIL Kamala's outfit with literally hours to pull it off?! I'm so impressed!
