Shorts and a tank top

The 99-degree days have greatly affected my style this summer. I'm all about shorts and tank tops all the time. And a messy pulled up bun. Shorts, tank tops, pull up that bun and you're done. 

(In this photo: my tank is thrifted, shorts are from Target (I have thrifted zero shorts in my life. Thrifting shorts is hard.) and shoes are from H&M.)

It's not the most exciting of sartorial choices, but it's cool and comfortable, and that's what I'm all about right now.

Summer dressing for me is often about survival in the heat. I have more fun with clothes in the fall (so mild, still warm, not insanely hot) and the winter (so mild, we rarely get snow in my part of North Carolina). But summer has more parties and more watermelon and more barbecued chicken so I'll let it stick around for a while.

A whole bunch of stuff

In this photo, I have a whole bunch of stuff to do.

True story: This one time, I was so worried my summer would be spent bored and isolated that I planned a whole bunch of stuff to do during said summer.

That was this summer.

As a grown up person experiencing summer vacation for the first time in more than a decade, I was intimidated by the sheer amount of free time I was facing. My solution? Fill up that time with a whole bunch of stuff.

Was this the best solution? I didn't experience the alternative, but I think my summer could have survived with a lot less stuff filling it up.

It kind of shocks me I only have two weeks left (and those two weeks have already been over-scheduled by yours truly).

The whole whole bunch of stuff conundrum has a lot of fans. I've noticed that most of my friends respond with "busy" or "stressed" when asked how they're doing. I've noticed that lately I've been responding with both "busy" and "stressed" when asked how I'm doing.

Um, I'm on summer vacation. What's that about? I do not have to be busy and stressed. I've obviously made the choice to feel this way.

I think it's about the value we put on being busy and stressed. If you're not busy and stressed then what on earth are you doing with your life? You have to be busy and stressed in truly live. Allegedly.

Last weekend, I overbooked myself to the point that my family members noted it. Perhaps, they suggested, I didn't need to schedule a drama camp performance (I missed it, but felt guilty), emancipation party (not my emancipation, someone else's), mountain kayaking adventure (kayaking is awesome), post-kayaking small-town exploration (this included pistachio ice cream so it was a pretty big deal) and freelance faith assignment ("Bible Boot Camp") during 48 hours.

After they noted it, I noted it too. And then I started saying "no" to things. Here's the thing with saying no to things: It is sad to say no to things that sound fun, but it is also insane to say yes to everything.

And: I think it's silly to place value on being stressed and busy. I'm going to work on it. I really liked this article that addresses that topic. (Seriously. Read it.)

And finally: Although it made for a very busy weekend, I certainly do not regret my mountain kayaking adventure. It was super awesome. As seen here.

A kayak built for two

Truth and beauty

Dad

Go Dad Go!

Tandem kayaks are for newlyweds (newly-ish-weds)

I like Woody Allen

I think you either love or hate Woody Allen. I love him. Love his humor. Love his movies. Quietly accept and attempt not to think about his choice of wife. "Annie Hall," "Play it Again Sam," "Midnight in Paris": These movies are perfection. Is he hyper-intellectual and bleak? Yes. But in a hilarious way.

My new maxi-dress

In this photo, I am very hot because of all the heat in the outside world. I don't think it was over 100 when I made this face in my fabulous dress, but it was probably pretty darn close. I bought the dress while thrift shopping in California. It almost didn't make the cut, but then I thought about the summer ahead of me and my adoration for the two maxi-dresses I already own and decided I needed to make it a maxi-dress trio.

This necklace is from my days as an undergraduate in Asheville. It's handcrafted and purty. Reach for the stars!

My favorite tote is starting to look a little beat up. I am on the lookout for a nice, large, professional bag to start using when school starts, but I find it's really hard to thrift purses. Maxi-dresses? Those are pretty easy to find. Nice, large, professional bags? Not so much. 

Books are also pretty easy to thrift. I've been finding a lot of great elementary-age novels. I actually already had a decent little collection in the books I already owned. "Jacob Have I Loved," Lloyd Alexander's books of Prydain, the Harry Potter series... all already my possessions. While thrifting books, I've been reminded of my realization about children's books: A great book is a great book. I may read above a fourth-grade reading level, but a fourth-grade book can still touch on significant themes, still engage me and still teach me about life. True story (about fictional tales).

104 degrees and rising...

All I wear lately are short shorts and tank tops. Wanna know why? It is crazy hot! 104 degrees? That's insane. Crazy. That temperature should be locked up in Bellevue. Instead, it's prancing around all over my fair state wreaking havoc and straining my air conditioner.

Seriously. It's hot, y'all.

I comfort myself by eating sweet red bean buns and green tea popsicles.

So yum. Those red bean buns are terrible for you, but they're more delicious than doughnuts.

As for thrifting, I'm focusing on my future classroom. I need storage! I need a classroom library! I need owl wall decals! Or at least I want owl wall decals! I've also been garage-sale-ing (can I turn that into a verb?), but it hasn't been terribly fruitful. Garage sale-ing (sure, it's a verb) is great if you have a kindergarten classroom or a 1-year-old kid, but if you're trying to find chapter books for gifted fourth- and fifth-graders it's pretty much a wasteland. The Good Will, however, remains my favorite second-hand store. I suspect my thrifting skills will come in handy when it comes to my new career.