I put many, many birds on it

That's right -- I put many, many birds on it. The necklace is one of my eBay finds, but this is the first time I've worn it. It won't be the last!

So many pretty, pretty jangly birds. It was the star of my outfit's show.

Other accessories include a really beautiful thrifted scarf for my hair (all scarves, all the time is my motto for the summer), and a cute bag I got on Etsy (Etsy is almost as dangerous as eBay). 

I so love my giant, long black skirt. I think it's going to be worn on the regular this summer. It's just so versatile and comfortable. I love maxi skirts/dresses, and flip flops are kind of the shoe equivalent in easy comfort. These flip flops were absolutely necessary for me because my poor right foot is covered in ant bites. Covered in them -- like between the toes and everything! Did you know that the ants get on you and then send out signals to each other so they can all bite at the exact same time? Terrible buggers! I love, love, love the summer, but I tell you what, I could do without the ant bites! (Birds, on the other hand, bring them on!)

Penelope and Lars

When I was visiting my friend Sherrie, she suggested two movies for us to watch, and I didn't want to watch either of these movies because they both sounded insanely stupid.

But Sherrie has excellent taste, and when she loves something, I usually do too. We both love screwball comedies starring Katharine Hepburn, addictive YA series and all things James McAvoy ("Becoming Jane": SWOON, all caps that swoon, all caps).

Because of her excellent taste, I decided to watch the first movie that sounded terrible: "Penelope." What is this movie about? A chick with a pig nose.

Why would I want to watch a movie about a girl who has a pig nose? How is it going to be good?

Guess what? You're right. It was so good: A whimsical, modern, feminist fairy tale that stars James McAvoy! I was so wrong! The movie was absolutely delightful! It was highly stylized and adorable and I loved it and think you should love it too. (It's very reminiscent of "Pushing Daisies," which is one of my favorite TV shows of all time. Plus the fashion is fantastic.)

So after she warmed me up with the pig-nose movie (SO GOOD), Sherrie suggested we watch another movie I wasn't too keen on: "Lars and the Real Girl."

I knew this movie was supposed to be good. It had excellent reviews. Dreamy Ryan Gosling was in it. And yet... I could never bring myself to watch it because basically I saw it as "that sex doll movie." Do I really want to watch a movie about a guy who believes a sex doll is his girlfriend? It just seems... unpleasant to me. Call me a prude, but I was a little creeped out. I was also wrong.

Just like "Penelope" is about more than a pig nose, "Lars and the Real Girl" is about more than a sex doll (Thank God). The movie is actually very sweet and chaste. It's about community and communication and tolerance and grief -- all sorts of deep, interesting stuff. It's also tremendously awkward due to that plastic female star, but it's funny awkward. I highly suggest the movie.

Now that I've watched these two movies, I am all about telling other people to watch them. They're so good! They're so much more than I thought they were! Go watch them! Right now! (Or, you know, at a more convenient time for you. No pressure or anything.)

Summertime fun

During the school year, it's very hard for me to go out of town to visit anyone. I love my job, I give it my all, and it wears me out. On the weekends, I need to go grocery shopping and do laundry. I need to recover from the last week and prepare for the next.

Maybe it will be different for my second year of teaching, but just in case it's not, I'm making sure I see all my favorites this summer. My "favorites" are my best friends -- my three bridesmaids, all of whom have lived with me and laughed with me (and cried with me and drank wine with me...) and all of whom live unfortunately far away from me. First up, was my sister. We lived it up California style for a super-packed week (we were all exhausted by the end). Second? My best friend Sherrie. She's a librarian in Virginia, and after a little break following California, I drove up to the mountains to visit her and her husband.

She's lived there (three hours from me) for five years, and I've never visited her. Her family lives about an hour or so from where I live so she pops by when visiting them. I finally decided to repay the favor (and sleep on another air mattress -- this one was surprisingly comfortable as was the one in my sister's apartment). We spent a couple of days thrifting like crazy, watching movies, eating some good food (her husband made me a "cheesie," which is toasted bread with avocado and tomato and lots of delicious melted cheese) and listening to live music.

I mostly thrifted books, and I might have gone a little overboard! I'm teaching all of TD literacy next year, and I want my kids to have a lot of options of what to read. These books were $1 at the most and 25 cents at the least (most were 50 cents), and it's hard to beat those prices! I've cut myself off though. No more book buying for me! (Allegedly. So I'm claiming.)

I'll visit my third bridesmaid/favorite later in the summer. First, we have weekends with family planned. It's a packed summer, but I'm trying to make sure I also have time to chill out and relax and watch too much "Murder She Wrote" (Oh how I love Jessica Fletcher). Last year, my free time scared the bejesus out of me and I overcompensated with over-scheduling. There's no way I'm letting that happen again!

Loving Lately

Lately I have been loving...

* Visiting the Brew Store -- Robert has been brewing some super delicious beer, and each beer starts with a trip to the brew store, which is in the middle of nowhere in a huge warehouse full of strange, smelly things. I'll post more about this later!

* The Only Way is Essex -- I have to admit I've been watching England's version of "The Hills" pretty regularly. I like it because it's trash TV, but it knows it's trash TV and is kind of tongue in cheek. Plus everyone has English accents.

* Thrifting -- I have fond some STELLAR items. I love thrifting so much! I used to thrift three times a week when I was a reporter during my lunch breaks, but as a teacher, I don't have lunch breaks, and I'm totally exhausted at the end of the day so my thrifting really diminished (although I did reconnect with eBay, which is not as cheap or as fun but totally addictive!). It is nice to have time and energy to get my thrift on.

* Fresh mint -- Last year, we tore out the dead bush in front of our house and planted mint. It's alive and well this summer, and I can just pluck some off as I walk inside to go in my water or a watermelon salad.

*Popsicles -- I am soooo into popsicles. They are the perfect summertime treat. I love strawberry shortcake ones and juice ones and homemade ones (blended flavored water and lime juice and frozen berries) and Firecracker ones, which are perfect for the Fourth of July!

And on that note, Happy Fourth of July everyone! Go eat something grilled, play with some sparklers and enjoy a good popsicle!

"The Happiest Place on Earth"

I made everyone go to Disneyland. 

I understand why some people wouldn't want to go to Disneyland -- it's cheesy, it's hot, it's crowded... the list goes on and on. My counter argument? It's Disneyland.

Where else will I get to wear sequined Minnie Mouse ears? Where else is so much kitsch packed in one place? And, really, I shouldn't even call it kitsch because my love for Disneyland isn't ironic. I sincerely love being transported to "The Happiest Place on Earth." I love seeing "It's a Small World," "The Haunted Mansion" and "The Pirates of the Caribbean." I love the celebrity sightings!

We saw a total of seven Disney characters. (Look at Goofy behind us! What a star!) If you count the Storm Trooper who denied my request for a picture, there were eight celebrity sightings, but I don't count him because he's, you know, on the dark side.

And yes, it was hot. And yes, it was crowded. We waited in a lot of lines. But almost all the lines were under 15 minutes. Two were long -- Space Mountain and Splash Mountain were 40 minutes and an hour respectively. But those mountains are popular! You have to be willing to wait for the thrills.

I'm not sure why I was so set on going to Disneyland. I think partly it was posts from Gala Darling. I think partly it was those commercials with the happy young couple who didn't have kids "yet." I think partly it was because I have such fond memories of Disneyland and Disneyworld from childhood. But mostly I think it was because it's Disneyland. In the end, it lived up to at least half of the hype, which is still saying a lot. I had a fantastic time, and I dare say so did my darling companions.

Catalina Island

Robert and I wanted to have a little romantic getaway on our Californian adventure. Halfway through our trip, we said goodbye goodbye to our gracious hosts and hello to Catalina Island, Hollywood's playground.

Catalina Island seemed like the perfect place. It was described as California's Capri, and you could walk to every attraction. Sadly, it also required a boat trip, and I am prone to super seasickness (and car sickness and plane sickness and... you get the picture). I braved it with a dosage of Dramamine, and I'm so glad I did!

It was really just so lovely. When we first got there, there were clouds on the hills (so gorgeous), and then it cleared, and we had sunny skies. Robert and I walked the streets (me in a drowsy haze at first), ate sushi, drank sake and beer, window shopped and took way too many pictures, none of which came out as pretty as I remember the place being. 

It was very old Hollywood. Marilyn Monroe used to live there, Natalie wood died there. Charlie Chaplin, Tony Curtis and others made it their getaway spot, and I don't blame them. There was a definite retro vibe that I didn't see anywhere else on my trip. I loved the bright blue changing rooms on the pier and the gorgeous '20s casino with its scandalous art-deco mermaids.

Below, I'm doing my best movie star pose. I was feeling quite fabulous and old Hollywood at the time.

Marilyn Monroe also did a few movie-star poses in Catalina, back when she was Norma Jean and married to a sailor. That cropped top/ high-waist look she's rocking is very on-trend today. Isn't she pretty?

I'm no Marilyn (Hell, even Marilyn wasn't really Marilyn), but it was fun to wear fantastic sunglasses and red lipstick while spending too much money on dinner as golf carts tooled by (people get around the island with golf carts, not cars).

Sadly, we were only there 30 hours. That's better than being there no hours at all!

The morning we left, a cruise ship docked, and the island became flooded with people. It's vibe changed immediately. It was less old Hollywood and more summertime fun. People were paddle boarding and going out in glass-bottomed boats and preparing to go scuba diving.

 I braved the boat again, and this time I saw dolphins! It was so exciting for me and so unexpected. All through my rough (yet wonderful) first year of teaching, I daydreamed about a summer vacation in California, and I tell you, it was the stuff that dreams are made of!

Santa Monica Pier

 In my last post, I mentioned I got a pretty bad Californian sunburn while visiting my sister in LA. Below, I am in the process of getting said sunburn. Someone tell that chick to put on sunscreen!

I like this outfit because it is super comfortable and baggy and '70s. Those jeans are my new favorites. They are the exact opposite of skinny jeans, and God bless them for it. The shoes? Danskos sandals. Because I am devoted to Danskos after my first year of teaching and am telling the world about our love.

Something I love more than Danskos? My little sister. I was so happy to see her! She's not so "little" now, I suppose -- She's 29 years old and a math professor. She's a doctor! What's that about? Love it.

There I am in another pair of shades. For a girl who wore glasses for 31 years, sunglasses are SUPER EXCITING. I am all about wearing them as much as possible. I am also about wacky, chipped nail polish and getting my fortune from Zoltar (you know, one of those machines like in the movie "Big"). Zoltar tells me I have much happiness ahead of me and should wear an amethyst. I'll take the good fortune, but it would have been nice if he had also mentioned I needed to put on some sunscreen.