As I finished classes this week, it felt as though my break immediately started. I had the amazing privilege of attending a special event on campus on Thursday night called “Ain’t I a Woman?: An Evening with Laverne Cox.” I have been a huge fan of Laverne Cox since the premiere of Orange is the New Black. Since then, her activism in the trans community–especially the black trans community–has only made my love for her grow exponentially. At this talk, she spoke about her life and her transition into becoming a woman and it was so incredible to hear about her experiences, good and bad. The most remarkable and unfortunate part was gaining a grasp on how she actually had a better experience than many trans people in our society, even after learning some of the gruesome details of her teenage years. What struck me most was hearing about how she still struggles with issues of self-esteem today because of the trauma of her life and how that fuels her to continue pushing for more equal rights. It was a really inspiring night and I am so glad that I was able to attend.
On Friday night, a couple of my friends hosted a party for a few of us fall graduates. It was so unbelievable that we are actually done, but it was amazing seeing faces I have barely seen this semester because of how busy we have all been. I even got a poster that people signed with such sweet messages, it brought me to tears when I read it the next morning. The highlight of the night–other than reuniting with my London lovers–was ending the night with McDonald’s. McDonald’s has always been and will always be the move.
Yesterday, my friends Rebecca and Kalyn invited me to join them for a night in Vegas. After four hours of driving, we finally arrived at The Palazzo across from Treasure Island and Trump. Our room was the most perfect and spectacular suite.
We started off our day by going to eat at Gordon Ramsay BurGR at planet Hollywood. The burgers were absolutely delicious and even though we had to pay for fries, the amount of fries we got was definitely worth the extra money. I regret to admit that I did not finish them even after taking them back to the hotel. I would also like to thank Gordon Ramsay for being British because Kalyn and I were able to enjoy cider with our burgers. 🙂
After a super filling lunch, we went back to the room to try and watch the USC v. Stanford game, but I quickly fell asleep while they opted to watch the game. Unfortunately, we did lose, but this season overall was a win for USC compared to my last three years. I am so glad that USC beat UCLA in my senior year and to even get this far, so hopefully they will continue to do great work. Eventually, we got ready to go out and enjoyed a super fun night out at TAO at The Venetian and HYDE at the Bellagio. We ended the night at Denny’s and power walked back to our hotel in the 40-degree weather.
After enjoying brunch at Aria this morning, we hit the road. All in all, it was a pretty incredible weekend. Ready to see what these next couple of weeks bring! ❤
xx, AE
Lex in the City 
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