No April Fooling, We’ve Officially Launched
Welcome to the inaugural post of Bad Good Friends – your college town lifestyle center that helps you get off campus and invest in a self and community that inspires you. We understand that being a college student is a lot of effort, but we don’t want you to get lost in the “work”. Part of the college experience is creating a place for yourself. That was how BGF was created.
This was born out of a very rainy day in Kentucky, when two very good friends from college, who were very bad at managing their respected friendships, took the actual time to carve out of their busy schedules to drink coffee and point out all the cats in The Speed Art Museum located in the University of Louisville. At that moment, we realized we pretty much picked up where we left off. Who are we, you might ask?
Ayrielle – Don’t worry about how you are saying my name in your head right now. Most likely, you are mispronouncing it. And aside from my ever-present struggle with the long awkward pause in roll-call dues to my name, the identity of this blog is not far removed from my life. I grew up with the full expectation of attending college. Well, I exist because of a university. My parents, being first-generation college graduates, fervently believe college is the reason why they were able to climb the social-economic ladder. That same ladder that not only permitted that I wear a cheer-leading uniform of my father’s alma mater to attend a football game on a sunny fall day as a child but also one that would essentially afford me the luxury of growing up in an antique store in southern Indiana and know what a musky book from 1910 would smell like because of the difference in the bonding materials. The short of it is that my father is an engineer type whose hobby of picking, purchasing, and selling antiques became a full-time operation in itself and made for a rusty love that would follow me to my own college experience when I decided to study Latin – the language of the ancient Romans – and seriously become addicted to coffee to the point I was drinking around 14 shots of espresso daily. I’m now around 4 shots a day, I work at my father’s alma mater as a graduate program coordinator and am currently enrolled in graduate studies in something that has nothing to do with dead people.
Krista - I grew up in a very rural setting, spending the majority of my time outside. Even our vacations were spent outdoors within the Midwest region - caving, canoeing, fishing, camping, etc. It was probably raining, spent at an antique store, or a great-grandparent’s if we were indoors. Growing around worlds before my time most certainly impacted my appreciation for the previously used and loved things. So when I went to college, it was a very new and different experience for me. Of course, I had always heard college was important. I needed to go, I had to go. My mamaw (grandmother, yes, this is what some of us in the southern part of the state call them) had a post-high school education, but not my parents. The push to go was serious. I went; I didn’t know what I wanted to do. Needless to say, some time and dollars were wasted. I did, however, find a path. Now, I’m juggling work and my master’s degree in community development while being a dog mom and attempting to keep my “cool aunt” status. Somehow I find time here and there for photos. I still have my first two cameras, one being a hand-me-down from my dad bearing his initials, which also happen to be mine (hello sentimental)! As much as I take work and school seriously, I’m filled with sarcasm and strange facial expressions. It’s true! It’s nearly impossible to catch me laughing with my eyes open, not have my tongue sticking out, and not showcasing my thoughts on my face. Seriously, the queen of photos is really just the jester.
We met in an art class at Indiana State University in Terre Haute, Indiana. No. Not IU. ISU. You know the one with Larry Bird. Art was not the degree neither Ayrielle nor Krista would graduate with, but it was an outlet for both of us when not being induced into heart palpitations with a serious intake of caffeine. In our spare time, we tend to seek out little old treasures or look for architecturally interesting buildings and talk ad nauseam about how nothing is built with any degree of quality. Yes, we are secretly 80-year old women in mid-30-year old bodies. (Both have eyes for brooches and one has a serious old lady purse fetish). But we hope that our old-school wisdom of vintage, coffee, and college towns will give the “younger” generation insights on how to make the most of their community, even carve out a niche for themselves.
Right now we are still in the development phase of the blog. We hope to be able to share a campus every month, which includes how we invest in ourselves (often to scope out the best places to get a cup of coffee and find some real treasures) and to provide you with some general knowledge on-campus lifestyle. Ayrielle will be doing much of the location scouting and content writing, whereas Krista will be leading all visual aspects and digital logistics.
We hope you join us on this journey and follow us on the social platforms. Becomes our BGFs.
See you tomorrow friend.