Vanessa's (mis)adventures in Michigan...

So I recently got back from the beautiful Lansing Michigan where I took a much needed R&R. I stayed with my Aunt Brita and had a very memorable time. Probably the most memorable experience would be me getting locked out on a balcony on the second floor for 7 hours in the middle of the night...yeah I know what you're thinking "Only Vanessa...." trust me...I know. So I volunteered to do my aunt's laundry for her one night (she has fibromyalgia and it's really hard for her to do things) and I went to go get the laundry out of the dryer. The clothes weren't ready and the laundry room was REALLY hot...so I think "hmm...wouldn't it be nice to sit out on the balcony and enjoy the cool night air?" so out I go onto the balcony. As the door is closing I think to myself..."I wonder if that door locks"...CLICK. And there I am...outside. Some facts you should know
1.) My aunt's apartment building consists of mainly people over the age of 60. She is the youngest one there at the age of 42...so this means that they go to bed very early.
2.) This happened after midnight.
So...you can see my dilemma. My aunt had gone to bed and everyone in the complex had gone to bed and I'm outside locked out. I of course didn't have my phone with me (the one time in my life...) I didn't know what to do. In my mind I honestly thought that I would be rescued somehow...where is Batman when you need him right? Well...no one came. Right around 3 AM I started crying. You may ask "Vanessa...why didn't you call for help or knock on a window" well because they are old and I didn't want to be responsible for someone having a heart attack. 2 people had already died since I was there...and this was on my second day (cheery place). So I thought about calling for help but I was a little embarrassed that my stupidity would cause some old arthritic person to save me. I couldn't even go anywhere...I looked down...it didn't seem far and frankly the choices of sleeping outside or breaking my leg was really a toss up at that point. But then I had a brilliant idea....I had my hair bobby pinned back...I could pick the lock!!! I mean George Clooney did it in Ocean's 11, Jason Bourne does it....James Bond etc...so I figured I was just as good as them. Well let me tell you...HOLLYWOOD LIES!!! This method does not work. Don't even exhaust yourself trying...you will fail and your hopes and dreams of freedom will crumble to the ground along with your dignity. I figured that if I just made it to 5 AM someone would come (old people always get up at 5 right...) well a lot of people got up...I saw many lights/TV's go on but not one person close enough to save me was up...so then I thought ok...6:00 for sure because some old person will want to have a nice early morning walk...not the case. Finally around 7 am my white knight showed up...he wasn't on a horse...he was an old man going out to smoke but he looked beautiful to me. "Are you out here smoking?" he said. "Oh no I'm just doing laundry" (I didn't care to tell him that I had been doing laundry for 7 hours...) Where was my aunt might you ask...why wasn't she missing me and wondering why the lights were all on and my bed hadn't been slept in...well as I entered the apartment there is Brita...reading the paper, drinking coffee "Good morning sweetie"....."Good morning!???...I haven't even gone to bed yet!" I proceeded to explain the night's events. She felt really bad...she thought that I had forgotten the laundry the night before and in a panic had jumped up to go get the laundry at the crack of dawn (yeah right...when has anyone seen me get that excited about anything at 7 am let alone laundry). So anyway....moral of the story is....DON'T GET LOCKED OUT ON A BALCONY!...or invest in Spy School where they can teach you all you need to know about McGyvering your way out of any situation. Other than that my trip was really good. I had a blast and got to see some fun places full of history...plus it's the home state of my Red Wings! I'm really and truly considering moving there....but maybe on a first floor apartment...
I went back to the scene of the trauma (seriously I think I'm emotionally scarred for life) to take some pictures for your enjoyment! :)




MSU Spartan stadium...Go Green! Go White!

Hobie's...the coolest place on earth!

Inside of Hobie's...it is full of great memorabilia

Again inside Hobie's...people get the sign the ceiling...they've had the mayor, all different sports stars from MSU, musicians...etc...very cool.

Close up of the ceiling

The infamous balcony...

A diagram I made...the blue is the exact balcony...the magenta circle is my aunt's apartment window and the green circle is the apartment I almost knocked on...

The chair that I got to sit on all night

The view from the outside (don't worry I had a key when I went back to take this picture)



The view from the balcony looking down...