America's Calling

I woke up this morning in Wales. It was hazy, green and grey and 5am when my mind overpowered my body's need for sleep. Today is the last real day of our whirlwind six week trip. Tomorrow morning we fly home; to America, to Chicago.

I can never sleep the night before a big event, which includes flying anywhere. I barely slept before my wedding or graduation, and any major holiday I'll be lucky to get any amount of sleep. It's as if my body can only rest when my mind lets it. The end of this trip is also the beginning of our move to the San Francisco area, the start of new jobs, and the real end to many years of school. 

This was a trip that I dreamed about for many years. Nick told me the other day that he doesn't think that he hasn't completely processed everything we've seen or done yet and I feel the same way. Once we're more settled in I'll have to time to journal more and share our experiences and pictures here. Even though it hasn't been possible to blog throughout our trip, what with our lack of internet, computers and time, I've enjoyed snatching the odd moment to read blogs. You lot have been up to interesting things too. 

P.S. I'll be posting some pictures, both from the trip and before, on instagram and Facebook in the coming days if you'd like to follow along with those.

hello friend

Sweater: Ebay (Banana Republic), Blouse: ASOS, Skirt: Etsy, Shoes/Bag: Thrifted

Dear Friend,

It's Thursday. My minds churns, cranks and whirls around inside my head. I almost always have something to say. Today I don't. But, here are some pictures of some stuff I wear sometimes. And, I would like to tell you how happy I am that the weekend is almost here again. I've had an up and down sort of week. The kind where you shower some days and don't on others. Where you paint on some nights and don't care to on others. The sort of week that makes it OK to eat out on a weeknight. But, guess what. Tomorrow is Friday. And that's nice to look forward to. I have one professor who at the start of each week he asks the class what new thing we did over the weekend and then at the end of our last class of the week he reminds us to do something we've never done before. I'm glad for the reminder and glad that I try to live my life this way. You can only share what you know or have experienced, and since I love to write and paint and create, I am constantly looking for new experiences. So, to you who are reading this right now, my friend, go and experience something you never have before. And then, tell me about it.

Hey, look at that. I said something.

he calls me Smidgen

If you've read this blog for a little while you might know that I'm the adventurous, free spirit and Nick is the steady one. That's not completely true, but that's how some people (including himself at times) see us. He's an econ major who loved his accounting and family finance classes and I'm the dancer, writer, dreamer extraordinaire. In reality we take turns making our life together interesting. Sometimes all I want to do is stay in, internet surf, photo edit and watch some mindless entertainment but he'll insist that we go on a walk or get smoothies or something because he knows how I get after being inside too long--antsy, restless and a bit poke-y (with him on the poked end of the stick). Other times I drag him on my madcap idea of a good time, mostly checking out thrift stores, Anthropologie stores, and used bookstores, but making it all into a fun walking excursion while I whirlwind around him and talk a mile a minute. Even grocery shopping is an adventure with him since we sometimes pretend that we're spies being pursued. Sorry, produce guy.

However my one complaint is that there are a lot of one-sided pillow fights in our home. Nick never seems to realize how funny it is to wallop him with a pillow instead of going to sleep at night. And rather than fight back he lets me get my sillies out and waits til I calm down enough to sleep, treating me like the three-year old child I am deep inside.

Today* we don't have class or work but instead of adventuring we get to clean and do homework. Ah for the days of summer.

*This was written a week ago on Labor day, but lately, I never seem to be as on time with anything as I'd like to be. And so this blog has been post poor, although I am constantly writing and planning in my head. It is my escape from php and non-genre literature.

Tuesday Tips-Thrifting

A couple weeks ago, for our anniversary, Nick let me choose what to do. Since we were in a big(ger) city than normal I wanted to hit a few thrift stores. And Nick was a complete trooper about shopping for hours. We scored quite a few good finds (many clothes-es for me) including the above. Thrift stores are the perfect place to find games, since they don't get worn out like other things, people just get bored of them or lose key pieces. I also like to look for DVDs when I go thrifting. (So cheap!) The pair of shoes were too good to pass up—real leather and only six bucks—so even though they didn't fit Nick I snagged them for a certain giant of a little brother that I have in Chicago.

We've already played Scattegories three times since we bought and love it. It's joined our other group of word games, which include Catch Phrase and Scrabble.