saturday

yet another perfect day!

saturday morning, lex and i woke up fairly bright and early to non calling us to get ready for breakfast.  we headed to a little local joint to meet up with a handful of lex’s relatives–it was good to see them again!  between the two of us, there wasn’t much we could manage on the menu, but we made do alright.  we ended up going out to the daytona flea market on a  mission to find me some new sunglasses (this proved unsuccessful) and to replace the snacks we’d munched the night before at non and pop’s, haha!  it’s sort of a tradition for us to head that way, anyway, so it was nice to walk around and check out all there was to see.  there’s one vintage jewelry booth there that always makes me ridiculously happy.  the vast amount of genuinely unique awesomeness to be found there blows my mind!

we stopped back by non and pop’s to drop off the snacks and pack the car, and then we got back on the road!  we did make a quick pit-stop at 7-eleven to snag slurpees–my straw got a permanent upgrade. 

even though i felt mildly guilty for copying lex (who has had his own metal slurpee straw since our last fl visit)
i am thoroughly pleased with my shiny new purple one!

the trip to my aunt and uncle’s place isn’t too bad–only a few hours outside of daytona.  with the music and excellent company, it goes by super-fast!

proof that we were both still enjoying ourselves in our respective car seats

we rolled into aunt brenda and uncle frank’s right around 3:00, so we stopped in to unload our bags before making a run out to their local flea market (where i did manage to locate some new shades).  we also made it to the goodwill superstore (yep.  you read that right!) and another thrift store we’d visited last time.  lex, bless him, actually remembered just how to get there, even though we’d only been once before–the man is impressive!  i snagged a very, very cool and comfy madras miniskirt that i have already just about worn out, haha.

lex = navigational genius!

the rest of the day was spent relaxing and chowing down amazing japanese take-out.  somehow, we always end up with enough food to make meals for days!  we also watched a marathon of cops, because we’re cool like that  

by the time we finally crawled into bed, it had been another excellent day of forest time.

do you like owls?  how about pants?

you’ll like this guy:

buy him now.  it will please me.

so, i’m back and prepped to debrief you all on the amazingness that was our trip to the keys!  i know i promised updates last week, but i took a whopping 1,000 plus pictures per day, so…yeah… 

anyway, let’s just pretend that these are the updates for the trip   as in the past, you’ll get day-by-day updates, so the whole trip will be documented in multiple posts.  that breaks it up a little better when it comes to reading all the ridiculous and awesome nonsense we got up to!

without further ado and blah, blah, blah, here we go:

friday: or the day of our departure

lex managed to get off work as soon as they were done at the hospital, so we fled town quickly thereafter.  we grabbed subs on the way, so we wouldn’t have to make too many stops on the road.  thanks to our shared excellent tastes in music, we had plenty of roadtrip-worthy tunes to keep the miles flying by!

my view of lex and his view of me during the hours spent on the road
(we were totally stopped when lex took the shot of me, mom…i promise…)


thankfully, the time it takes to get to the sc/ga border comes easily to seasoned road warriors!

we had gorgeous weather for the trip.  the clouds had an unbelievable depth to them. 

i got a few shots of this crazy upside-down foot-shaped cloud, haha

the first leg of the trip was super-familiar to us, because we’ve made the drive several times since we’ve been together. 

the sight of the florida state line is always welcome

more gorgeous clouds
(there will be lots of sky shots in the days to come…tropical storm alex was stirring things up with impressive results!)

i love daytona!  and it’s always really good to see lex’s family down there   of course, the first stop off the highway is always at 7-eleven.  it must be done!

slurpees all around!

we met up with lex’s grandparents at their place and spent some good time chatting with them and snacking around the kitchen table.  his grandfather is learning to access the great wide internet on a little netbook, and i just think that’s too cool.  i wish we could get ninja interested and confident enough to try it–i think she’d have a ball!

we made plans to do breakfast in the morning, in the usual fashion, and then lex and i went out for a night drive to check out the beach.  i’m so glad we did–the sky was perfectly clear and the moon was gigantic!  there were lots of people out, too, since the weather was so lovely.  lex and i managed to sneak into one of the lifeguard watchtowers to take some pictures–i’ll have to get those from him…

lex snagged this shot of the moon on the water…too, too cool!

it was a gorgeous, perfect evening, which got me really pumped for the rest of our trip.  piscean water baby that i am, the ocean always grips me in a way nothing else can.  oh.  and palm trees.  don’t even get me started on them.

after we’d had enough sand, salt, and moonlight for the evening, we headed back to non and pop’s to turn in.  it had been a good, long day of forest time

so, i’m pretty much the craziest packer in the history of the universe.  i’ve tried every method–from planning and making lists to just throwing a bunch of random stuff in a bag five minutes before walking out the door.  and, somehow, i never seem to get it quite right.  there are always articles that don’t get used, pieces that get left behind, amusements that never see the light of day, and usually two or three bags too many.

as i’ve gotten olden, i’ve come to realize that i don’t need to bring along six books–when i was a kid, six would’ve been far too few.  but the books back then were smaller and i read constantly.  these days, if i’m going away, i like to have one (maybe two, if i’m almost through the first one) but i tote that literature along knowing that it may just take up space.

i’ve also come to (sort of) trust the hotel hair dryer to do the job.  or let fate decide whether or not i dry my hair based on the availability of a dryer.  who wants to spend an hour drying an straightening this thick, curly mess on vacation anyway?!

these days, i understand that just because it isn’t my hair dryer
doesn’t mean i’ll come out looking like this…

clothes always trip me up, though.  even at home, throughout a day, i might go through three outfits.  i’ll wear one thing when i’m bumming around and working in the morning.  then i’ll switch to something nicer when i go out for lunch.  and when i get back from that, i’ll change back into something more indoors-appropriate for the afternoon.  if i’m really feeling crummy from an afternoon migraine, special pajamas make up the ensemble for an evening.  i can really go through some apparel.

so when i travel, it’s tough for me to pare things down.  i like to have at least two options per day, plus a potential evening outfit for going out.  for a weekend dash, that’s not terrible.  for a ten-day excursion, it can get out of hand in a heartbeat.

but this time, i’m really, really, really trying.  honest, i am.  i’m back to the planning method, and i swear, i’ve got little post-its with outfit ideas on them stuck to a page that i made a calendar on.  i figured that would help me narrow it down to things that are the most versatile.  happily, lucky magazine often features a week’s long guide to fashion, and i’ve got an old vacation guide pulled out to compare.  it might help a little…

anyway, i’ll try to get back to the ancient fashion blogging roots that used to take up blog space around here if i get a chance.  i’ll want a chance to chronicle, if only for myself, the things i managed to put together.  but it’s always fun for me to throw ideas up on here and let you guys have a go, so we’ll see what happens!

well, it’s been fun, but i’d better get back to work.  i’m trying to finish all my really annoying busy-work stuff before 5:00 p.m. today, because i’m finally going to get that massage!  i’ve been clinging to a gift certificate mom gave me for either my birthday or christmas last year, just waiting for the right moment, and i’ve decided that this week is perfect.  ahh…sweet bliss, here i come!

so, you know it pretty much had to be done.  what other song can you choose for a *song of the week* when the only thing you can think about is an upcoming vacation to the keys?  there you have it.

in other news, i got this link in my email today, and have to pass it on, because i honestly need to be able to share it with you guys:

http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/africa/06/20/south.africa.female.condom/index.html?hpt=C2

check this out and let me know what you think.

i’ll be back around soon–i’ve got some pictures and whatnot to post when i get some time.

til then, have an awesome monday!

so, i just spent three hours attempting to rearrange all the furniture in one room…only to discover that the reason the furniture was in its original configuration is because that’s the only way it would all fit!

what did i do?

honest to God, i sat myself down in all that lovely open space in the middle of the room and bawled like a baby.

next step?

probably another three hours to put it back to normal.  what a day.

so, after a particularly deep day yesterday in terms of the ridiculously dense jumble of everything that makes up the person known as me, i’m staring today down with a new determination.

the song of the week, “warning” by incubus, is the perfect expression for the feelings i was running through this morning when i woke up.

i’ve just been so floaty lately.  trying to grasp on to anything that might give me a toehold.  grad school, work, everything.  i’m tired of flailing around, waiting for something to happen to me.  that’s not how i used to be.  i used to run down everything i took my mind to.  at some point, i became weak and slacked off.

enough is enough.  i’m ready to move forward.  if i don’t make up my mind to do it and commit to myself on it, nothing will ever change.  my whole life will go by, and i’ll still be left sitting and waiting for something–anything–to make waves. 

that’s just stupid.

make your own waves.  if you don’t, you’ll just end up trying to stay afloat in the wakes of everyone else around you.

so, this weekend has been pretty well full of random excitement.

friday night was spent chilling a bit with lex and j.  also, an onslaught of weekend home projects began with lex teaching me how to caulk. 

i’m not super-brilliant at it, but it was really sweet of him to let me give it a shot!  here’s my master work:

also, lex gave claudette the finishing touch to her ensemble:

lex actually hand-chained this coif

yesterday, we did the hospice thrift store run so that lex could take a look at some furniture and design ideas.  we ended up happening across this awesome new scratching post for the cats–nari is crazy over the feather dangle.

we also put up all the dvds and decorated the shelves:

and lex put up the prayer flags around the back porch:

we finished up the night with vegan pizza and watched the debut of lewis black’s stark raving black.

yeah.  it’s been an awesome few days!

today, we might hit the lake (depends on how i feel–i think i might have another kidney stone on the move )  if not, there are plenty more projects we could get into. 

i’ll let you know how it all turns out.  see you guys around soon!

so, if you’ve ever moved into a new place, tell me:  what’s the coolest thing you found left behind?  because, in this case, the answer would be:

a cape

oh yes.  that is a cape.  actually, it’s the top-cloak from a full set of regalia.  but its true purposes have been revealed–to instantly turn you and all your friends into superheroes!

also, the full set of garb looks pretty stellar on claudette:

i’ll just be honest.  from the time that lex discovered the cape to the time j left for the evening, my camera was going.  i have entirely tooooooooo many pictures of ridiculous antics (both cape and non-cape related) to post, so here’s a mini blast of them:

alright, that’s it for now.  you guys enjoy, and i’ll see you around again later!

so, since it’s been tough to keep the updates coming with all the other stuff i’ve had going on lately.  wondering what i’ve been up to?  here’s a picture run-down:

in short:

• going to the scottish games and actually seeing several consecutive successful caber tosses!
• eating amazing vegan foods–especially at rosetta’s in asheville
• moving out
• moving in

it’s hard to believe what a crazy week and a half it’s been!

more soon…i have a series of pictures that can’t be missed.