{"id":10975,"date":"2024-12-31T04:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-12-31T11:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/milesearnandburn.com\/?p=10975"},"modified":"2024-12-31T07:15:01","modified_gmt":"2024-12-31T14:15:01","slug":"diary-of-a-p2-episode-2-simplicity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/milesearnandburn.com\/index.php\/2024\/12\/31\/diary-of-a-p2-episode-2-simplicity\/","title":{"rendered":"Diary of a P2: Episode 2, Simplicity"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><em>EDITOR\u2019S NOTE: I\u2019m on an annual blogging vacation for the last two weeks of the year. To make sure you still have content, some of the smartest members of the community have stepped up with guest posts in my absence. Special thanks to today\u2019s author,&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/myhipstory.com\/\">MEAB\u2019s P2<\/a>, for writing this followup to<a href=\"https:\/\/milesearnandburn.com\/index.php\/2023\/12\/25\/diary-of-a-p2-episode-1-the-phantom-kroger\/\"> last year&#8217;s diary<\/a> while I\u2019m on vacation. I\u2019ll see you tomorrow on January 1!<\/em> <br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I\u2019m a simple girl with simple needs. Like many of us, I like coffee in the morning, yoga in the evenings, and since I teach middle school, I always hope that a day will go by without hearing the words \u2018skibbidi toilet\u2019 or \u2018hawk-tuah\u2019. It\u2019s not a lot to ask for, and most days two of those three things are usually accomplished. I\u2019ll let you wonder which two. Anyway, as I said, simple.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>At least I thought I was simple. Then my husband took me to Europe over the summer.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It was not my first trip to Europe, in fact not even my first trip to Europe this year. And, since I\u2019m married to MEAB, it probably won\u2019t be my last. However, traveling with him has slowly chipped away at my \u201csimple girl\u201d aesthetic, and now I\u2019ve surpassed the scale of \u201csimple girl\u201d to \u201cpassenger princess\u201d and I fear I\u2019ve landed firmly at \u201cBougie Bitch.\u201d Because, my friends, this was the summer I flew Lufthansa First Class.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I\u2019d like you to imagine for a moment, if you will, this school teacher wearing thrifted pants and a Taylor Swift Eras Tour t-shirt arriving to Munich Airport with MEAB. We check in, and the ticketing agent at the counter said \u201cYou\u2019ll go to the lounge this way. They\u2019ll take care of you there, and you won\u2019t have to board with all the <em>other people<\/em>.\u201d I look at MEAB with my eyebrows shooting off my face as I mouth \u201cother people\u201d? He chuckles, because he knows what\u2019s in store.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We are two of four in the entire first class lounge. I\u2019m brought a specialty margarita and given delicious food to eat. There are no babies crying, no jostling for space, none of the hundreds of minor inconveniences that might plague <em>other people<\/em> when flying. Just simple relaxation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>When the time comes for us to board, we are taken down a secret elevator and passage to our gate (though I\u2019m told in Frankfurt it could have been a ride in a Porsche), where we board our A380. I\u2019ve got my carry on luggage and pink backpack on and looking very much like a thrifty swifty. But no. This girlie goes UPSTAIRS (you guys, planes have stairs!) and I find my seat. A wildly comfortable window seat in first class.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Immediately I\u2019m given the best sparkling wine I\u2019ve ever had. I\u2019d like to call it champagne, but I think it was a sparkling Ros\u00e9. Either way, delectable. For the next ten hours I\u2019m feted like a MFing princess. Caviar &#8211; check. Alcohol &#8211; check. Some of the best food (that\u2019s also gluten free because life) &#8211; check. Lay flat bed &#8211; check. Pajamas &#8211; check.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I\u2019d be remiss if I didn\u2019t discuss the bathroom. It\u2019s literally larger than our main bathroom in our house. Not only that, but stocked with <em>goodies<\/em>. Mouthwash, facewash, toothpaste, Evian facial mist\u2026I opened all the drawers, took all the pictures. You get the gist. All in all, it was life changing. Exceptional. Luxe. <em>Bougie<\/em>.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Now, I won\u2019t lie. It wasn\u2019t my first time in international first class. However, the time before had been on American Airlines with a grumpy stewardess who thought gluten free meant I couldn\u2019t have ice cream and an airline meal that was the worst chicken I\u2019ve ever had. It was a truly disappointing experience on AA\u2026not so on Lufthansa.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Lufthansa flight was my Nexus event. If Loki hadn\u2019t fixed the sacred timeline, it\u2019s very possible that the timekeepers would have popped right out and culled me right there. Because, my friends, this is when I went from a simple girl with passenger princess tendencies to a Bougie Bitch with uppercase Bs.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Don\u2019t get me wrong. I\u2019m still a nice person. I still teach 8th graders American History, I scrape gum off my carpets, learn all the new teen lingo, and yell MAKE ROOM FOR SANTA when two kids start the weird, slow hug that tweens do. I\u2019ll still fly Southwest to get to Mexico, and EasyJet to get to Munich if I need to. But the fact is that <em>I don\u2019t want to<\/em>. The process of becoming a Bougie Bitch has been slow. So slow that you may not have even noticed if you weren\u2019t looking for it. But that all came to a head this past week. Let me lay the scene.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For Christmas, MEAB took me to Europe. Why? Because this Bougie Bitch loves Europe and I love Christmas and so he took me on a quick tour of Christmas Markets. We went to London, Munich, Salzburg, and Vienna. It was a wonderful trip that culminated in a stay at the Park Hyatt Vienna and some of the most amazing coffee I\u2019ve ever had in my life. We flew Air France home, and had a three hour layover in CDG. Easy right? Should have been. Except\u2026our gate was in the K concourse in 2E.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>There\u2019s nothing wrong with the K concourse. It\u2019s perfectly fine by airport standards. Pretty, brightly lit, easy to access. No problems there. Except when we went to the lounge. The first sign of trouble was when we had to go downstairs to access the lounge. But, it\u2019s fine, no worries. Our legs work, so we checked in and got a seat. That\u2019s where it went off the rails.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>There was a family entirely spread out in one section. Parents, grandparents, small children. Food everywhere, on the floor, on the kids&#8217; faces. They were very loud, and I\u2019m not talking about the children. The grandparents were practically yelling a conversation. The Dad was walking around the lounge with no shoes\u2026it\u2019s a mess. Then, a very drunk guy sits next to us and is just\u2026smelling of alcohol. There\u2019s people milling about coughing over the food, people talking on Facetime without headphones. If the boarding area for Southwest Airlines was turned into a lounge\u2026that\u2019s what this was.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>And that\u2019s when I knew. I didn\u2019t want to be with the <em>other people<\/em>, I wanted to be in a first class lounge, sipping champagne. Because I\u2019m no longer a simple girl. I\u2019m a Bougie Bitch.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>*disclaimer: Please don\u2019t think less of me, dear reader, I know that what I experience is exceptional and I\u2019m grateful every day to MEAB for providing me with such elegant experiences. I run a silly little blog about historical postcards at <a href=\"https:\/\/myhipstory.com\/\">myhipstory.com<\/a>, I\u2019m a history nerd who wears mostly thrifted clothes and still pays out of pocket to buy pencils for my classroom. I just also really like caviar and champagne.*&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/milesearnandburn.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/DALL\u00b7E-2024-12-30-20.24.45-A-luxurious-and-stylish-woman-sitting-in-a-car-holding-an-oversized-boba-tea-with-giant-pearls.-She-has-blonde-hair-styled-in-two-buns-wearing-desig.webp\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-10976\" style=\"width:420px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/milesearnandburn.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/DALL\u00b7E-2024-12-30-20.24.45-A-luxurious-and-stylish-woman-sitting-in-a-car-holding-an-oversized-boba-tea-with-giant-pearls.-She-has-blonde-hair-styled-in-two-buns-wearing-desig.webp 1024w, https:\/\/milesearnandburn.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/DALL\u00b7E-2024-12-30-20.24.45-A-luxurious-and-stylish-woman-sitting-in-a-car-holding-an-oversized-boba-tea-with-giant-pearls.-She-has-blonde-hair-styled-in-two-buns-wearing-desig-300x300.webp 300w, https:\/\/milesearnandburn.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/DALL\u00b7E-2024-12-30-20.24.45-A-luxurious-and-stylish-woman-sitting-in-a-car-holding-an-oversized-boba-tea-with-giant-pearls.-She-has-blonde-hair-styled-in-two-buns-wearing-desig-150x150.webp 150w, https:\/\/milesearnandburn.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/DALL\u00b7E-2024-12-30-20.24.45-A-luxurious-and-stylish-woman-sitting-in-a-car-holding-an-oversized-boba-tea-with-giant-pearls.-She-has-blonde-hair-styled-in-two-buns-wearing-desig-768x768.webp 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\" style=\"font-size:14px\">Evolution of a P2: Post Bougie Bitch transformation.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>EDITOR\u2019S NOTE: I\u2019m on an annual blogging vacation for the last two weeks of the year. To make sure you still have content, some of<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_editorskit_title_hidden":false,"_editorskit_reading_time":0,"_editorskit_is_block_options_detached":false,"_editorskit_block_options_position":"{}","footnotes":""},"categories":[178,5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10975","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-guest","category-meta"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/milesearnandburn.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10975","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/milesearnandburn.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/milesearnandburn.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/milesearnandburn.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/milesearnandburn.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10975"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/milesearnandburn.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10975\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10982,"href":"https:\/\/milesearnandburn.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10975\/revisions\/10982"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/milesearnandburn.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10975"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/milesearnandburn.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10975"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/milesearnandburn.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10975"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}