Lovin' Spoonfulls

I went thrift shopping with my grandma today! I didn't really get much, just a hoodie and a little bag thing, but it was fun! I will always love thrift shopping. I very, very rarely pay full price for anything. And if I do I have to really think it's going to be worth it.

After thrift shopping she took me to lunch at a vegetarian restaurant called Lovin' Spoonfulls that I've always wanted to go to but never have. It was DELICIOUS! I (actually, we both) got a hummus sandwich on grilled bread with a side of potato salad and chips. Ugh it was so good. I love eating vegetarian. I loved eating vegetarian before I was a vegetarian. I just think it's so delicious and fresh and it just makes me feel GOOD. Before we left I got a piece of chocolate cake to take home with me and I pretty much ate it for dinner and it was amazing.  Ugh. I love food so much.

One week from today it will be the first day of school! I'm so excited. I hope my roommate and I get along. I think we will; when we went to housing registration together she seemed like the kind of person I could be really good friends with. BUT I DON'T WANT TO JINX ANYTHING.

Ok I'm going to go back to reading my Edna St. Vincent Millay biography byeeee.

Days Until I Go Back to School: 5

Woodwinked

Today is my last saturday at home and it was actually a pretty good one. I'm watching the Office right now and I'm about to make sugar cookies. Earlier today my mom and I went to tea with my aunt and my grandma as a kind of birthday thing, since all of their birthdays are on the day that we're leaving for school. It was a high tea kind of thing, with finger sandwiches and scones and everything. I've loved getting tea since we went to Victoria, Canada and we got an English tea service at a cute little tea house. This was the first, and last, time seeing my aunt this summer. That makes me kind of sad. For some reason, as I've gotten older, I've felt that my aunt and I are pretty similar. And I told her that whenever I'm in town and she needs a cat sitter, I would love to do it. And she totally loved that idea! Hooray!
After tea my mom and I went to La Encantada because I wanted to get a certain eyeshadow at MAC. The one I wanted is called Woodwinked and I got it and it is beautiful and I love it! I've seen a lot of tutorials on YouTube (like this one) that use it and I just had to have it. After that we went to Target and I finally got some plain black flats that I have been needing desperately since I wore a hole in the bottom of my last pair.
And now I am home. I'm waiting for my butter to get soft so I can make my cookies!! I eat too much.

Days Until I Go Back to School: 7

COFFEY and ONE WEEK TO GOOOOO

I just discovered a new YouTube channel that I am so in love with. She only has 22 videos so far but she is hilarious and you need to go watch her immediately. COFFEY CHAT. HERE. And her cat is real cute.

One week from today, friday, I will be in PORTLAND, OREGON. I am very excited. We're going to be there on my mom's birthday, so obviously we're going to go to Voodoo doughnuts for a birthday doughnut duuuuh. We're also going to Powell's because it's Powell's and if we didn't go my whole life would fall apart. Then we're going down to McMinnville and the next day I will move back in at schoooooooooooool. Ack one week.

My throat hurts I better not be getting sick. Nooooo.

I'm going to go watch more Coffey Chat byeeeee.

Days Until I Go Back to School: 8

Bloog

I don't have anything to talk about today. Here is a picture of a dog licking ice cream.

Writing and Stuff

I wish I was a better writer. When I do actually manage to write something, it's not too bad, but I just cannot get myself to write. It's hard to even get myself to WANT to write. I'm terrified for my Creative Writing class this semester. I don't want to do terribly. And I know I'm going to have to write poetry and I cannot write poetry and I'm just scared. One thing I am pretty good at, I think, is "creative non-fiction." Like a blog basically. Or essays. When I write about myself, I'm somehow able to just crank something out and have it be good. Hopefully I'll get to do some of that in this class, and if it goes well, I think I'll try taking the Nonfiction Creative Writing class.

And kind of along those same lines, but maybe not really, we'll see where this goes, I wish I was a more diverse reader. I pretty much only read fiction except for the occasional memoir or book of essays, and books assigned for class. I hardly ever read nonfiction or even historical fiction. It's just really hard for me and I can't get myself into it. Hopefully this will change as I grow.... I don't know. (Joe, if you're reading this, which I'm almost certain you are, this is my not-so-subtle way of saying I'm sorry it's so hard getting me to read books to loan me. I want to read them but I always get sidetracked by something else that I've had my eye on for a while. I'm hoping that, after my war and literature class this semester, I'll actually really want to read your books. I promise I will give them a chance. Please don't hate me. :/ )

While I'm talking about stuff that I hate about myself, I was thinking about it the other day, and I realised that I would really love to teach at a University someday...but I honestly do not think I am smart enough.

Ugh I just can't wait to be back at school already.

Today I bought a $6 lip gloss just because it was called "Amsterdam." I may have a problem.

Days Until I Go Back to School: 10 (WHAT OH MY GOD) (YAY)

This is a great title

Well, I finished all of the Pretty Little Liars available on Netflix. The third season is airing right now but I don't feel like struggling to find streaming links online. I'll just wait....

Today was my last day volunteering at the bookstore. I'm going to miss it. Unfortunately I didn't have time for coffee this morning so I was kind of dead the entire time I was there. One very interesting thing did happen. A guy came in and, as he was looking at the cds, he started talking about his favorite Garth Brooks songs. He mentioned one on a christmas album that he just loved. He said "Now how does it go?" as if he was going to start singing it...and then he did. He sang the ENTIRE THING. Oh my god I was so uncomfortable the entire time. I didn't want to make eye contact...so I just kind of looked of to the side waiting for it to end. He was really nice though, and when he left he said "Thanks for the smile!" A few weird people come in, since we are downtown, but they're always very nice. I like all of the security guards, too. Hopefully I'll be able to work there again the next time I'm in town.

I'M SLEEPY GOODNIGHT just kidding I'm probably going to read but bye nonetheless.

Days Until I Go Back to School: 12

I somehow got pen all over my lip balm

All I've done today is watch Pretty Little Liars and read so I don't really have much to say....

Two weeks from now it will be the night before school starts. I'm excited. And a little nervous, just because that's how I am. School starting always makes me nervous and excited. I feel like that's normal, whether or not anybody actually admits it.

The Olympic closing ceremonies are starting right now (I think??? I'm in another room) and I don't know if I really want to watch the Spice Girls and One Direction for 2 1/2 hours. I was never really that into the Spice Girls. THERE. I SAID IT. I was more into the Talking Heads and Eric Clapton... I was a weird kid. Well I still am. But. You know.

I'll leave this open in case I have anything else to say later.

ERIC IDLE WAS JUST ON ACK I JUST LOVE HIM.

I really want to go back to Europe. :(

~*Shopping*~

This is going to be a girly post. Sorry.
Also it's going to be quick because I'm catching up on Pretty Little Liars and it's getting really good. And I'm two seasons behind, so...

Okay so today my mom and  I went shopping and it was one of those rare occasions where we (she) actually bought stuff. The Gap was having an amazing sale and, since Claire works there, we got an extra discount because she gave us a special coupon thing. And last week she got this amazing cardigan with ELBOW PATCHES and I loved it and thought now was the perfect opportunity to buy it. It's normally $50 and I got it for around $30! I also got some sparkly tights that were like $5. My mom wanted to get a new outfit to wear when she takes me back to school because that's pretty much a vacation for her, so she got some cute green pants. She needed something that would match with it so we went to H&M and one of the mannequins happened to be sporting an outfit with green pants so my mom tried on the top that the mannequin had on and it was perfect. Huzzah! I also got a pair of skinny jeans for $10. Then we went to this new place (or maybe it's been there a while, it's been over a year since I went to the mall...) called Typo that was SO CUTE. It literally looked like how I want my future apartment/house to look. It had all kinds of journal and stationary stuff and I got a cute little bag thing (like the size of a makeup bag, which is what I'll probably use it for but it's probably intended to be a pencil case or something) for $5. Then we went to Chipotle because my mom's never been there and I had a burrito bowl and it was yuuuuuummmyyyyyyyyy. Then we went to World Market to look for something for my Aunt's birthday and we found a cute doormat to go in her and my Uncle's cabin in the white mountains. I also found a cute scarf....

And that is pretty much it! This was not very interesting, I'm sure, but I love talking about the clothes I buy. And books. And food. Which are pretty much the only things I buy. Oh! We also went to this new-ish coffee place near downtown. A totally hole in the wall place where they've been roasting coffee for about a year but they just opened as a cafe recently. I got an Americano (duh) and it was delicious and I really want to go back there.

Okay for real this time, that's it. Back to Pretty Little Liars ahhhhh.

Days Until I Go Back to School: 14 (2 weeks!!!!!!!!!!!)

Coffee

I don't know if you know this but I like coffee. I had always wanted to love coffee, after watching Gilmore Girls. I also grew up with my parents drinking coffee all the time, and they always drink their coffee black so I never even thought to put cream or sugar in my coffee. I have always drunk (drank?) it black. The first time I tried drinking a whole cup of black coffee was when I was 15. I couldn't finish it. I thought I was going to be sick. That kind of turned me off of coffee for a while. Then a year or two later my dad started making me coffee every morning before school and I was able to drink more and more of it. Now I LOVE it. I could probably go a day without drinking it, but why would I want to? It's not that I love the caffeine, except if it's early in the morning, I just legitimately love the taste of coffee. Especially the way my dad, and now I, make it. I've become a bit of a snob, actually.... My favorite way to make coffee is the pour-over method, using one of these things:

I heat water on the stove using a tea kettle, and I grind the coffee fresh (almost) every time I make coffee. I usually make about two cups, one for me and one for my dad, and sometimes there's some leftover that I put in an extra cup and heat up later. I prefer darker roast beans. I don't really know about the different regions the beans come from, I just get espresso or french roast.

In terms of favorite coffee shops, there are a few. There is, of course, Top Pot Doughnuts. They have AMAZING coffee and doughnuts, so they're pretty much perfect. Oh and they're in Seattle. Also in the Northwest there's Stumptown, which is from Portland but I believe they have some places in Seattle, too. In Tucson, any place that has Illy coffee is my favorite, like Crave and Chocolate Iguana. Ike's is also really good. In McMinnville, where I go to school in case you're new here, Red Fox Bakery is my favorite place to get coffee (they have Illy, and MACAROONS), followed by Cornerstone (their scones are huge and amazing, too). Besides drip coffee, my favorite drinks to get from these places are espresso drinks, especially Americanos (Iced Americanos in the Summer are my all-time favorite drinks) and Cappuccinos. I also like Lattes if they're not too milky.

Wow I did not expect to go on for this long about coffee. I miss being at school and going to Starbucks (yes I like Starbucks) or one of my other favorite coffee places and doing homework. I shall return soon enough! In fact...

Days Until I Go Back to School: 16

Poop

I don't feel like blogging right now so here's a picture of my dog.

Friendship

Claire has been my best friend since our freshman year of high school. We have had our ups and downs but we always manage to stay in touch and remain at the very least good friends. Since graduating high school and going to college in the northwest, I have pretty much lost all of my friends in Tucson. I have Claire, Lauren, and Marica, who is from Phoenix but she goes to school at the U of A so I see her at the times before she or I leave Tucson. But...that's pretty much it. There's Lorrie, who I haven't seen since May 2011. There's Nora, who is so distracted by the friends she made during her senior year of high school to bother seeing any of her friends who graduated (ie Claire and me). There's Savannah, who I'm not even going to get into.... Ugh. Oh there's Molly! Wait- I think she lives in California now. I mean, she hasn't come back to Tucson and she goes to school in LA, so I would assume she's living there. Oh and her dad's the mayor of Tucson, so that's pretty cool. So basically, I have three friends here. And I am honestly okay with that. The more I'm alone, the more I want to be alone, so it would just stress me out having to be around people all the time or having to make excuses because it's not socially acceptable to tell someone that you just feel like being alone today.

Claire, however, is different. She visited me up at school during her Spring Break and during her entire visit I didn't once think, "man, I wish she would leave so I could have some alone time." There are just some people, very very few I think, who you can be around and feel totally comfortable and at ease around and you don't need that alone time to recover from a social situation because the stress that accompanies such situations isn't there. I feel really, really lucky that I have a person like that in my life.

I love you Claire!

Days Until I Go Back to School: 17

Books

I didn't blog yesterday because I was tired.

All summer I've been volunteering with the Friends of the Library, which is this group that accepts donated books and has sales once a month and has a bookstore that's open every day in the downtown library. Once a week I work at the book warehouse pricing and boxing up books, and once a week I work in the bookstore. The warehouse can get repetitive and boring pretty quickly, but I still like doing it. But I LOVE working in the bookstore. I love being around books all day, I love being around people who love books or even just like books and I love talking to people about books and I just love love love it. My dream, as simple as it may seem, is to work at Powell's in Portland. I love the Northwest, I love Portland, it's close to Seattle, I love Powell's.... That situation is just everything I want out of life. If I can do that forever, I will be happy.

Oh and I want a cat.

An Exciting Saturday

Not really. I woke up, showered, ate poptarts, spent a few hours on the internet, watched the 1000m race in the Olympics, read, went to Walmart with my mom, ate bread, read some more...and here we are. Booooooring. But I think I'm going to go hang out with Claire and Lauren soon, so that will be cool. Ooh I got a new lipstick today. Here is a picture of me wearing it: 

Last night I found this website where it shows you what colors look like to colorblind people, so naturally I had a dream that I was pretending to be colorblind. I even went so far as going to the doctor and having them diagnose me as being colorblind. I managed to pull it off because I knew what colorblind people saw so I was able to fake it. They even prescribed me allergy medicine because supposedly that would help...? It was weird. 

Jamaican yams are what make them such fast runners. 

This is not interesting. I'm going to leave now. Bye.

Days Until I Go Back to School: 21

To Amsterdam

I have been lucky enough to have travelled to a few places outside of America in my lifetime. I have been to England, France, Germany, Switzerland, and the Netherlands. I've always wanted to go to England and France, the others I never really gave that much thought to. I mean, of course I wanted to go to those places, I want to go everywhere, but I had never actively longed to go there. Well, as it turns out, Amsterdam (in the Netherlands, if you didn't know that) is my favorite place that I have ever been and I want to go back SO BADLY. Every once in a while I miss it more than usual and I spend all day looking up pictures and hostels and travel information....

So I decided that once I graduate from college, I am going to Amsterdam. By myself. I don't know for how long, yet. I mean, that's still two years away. I would love to just spend the summer there, like three months. When I went there, it was in late December and it was FREEZING and we only got to spend about a day. It was not nearly enough so I want to get as much out of it as I possibly c an. I want to fully immerse myself in Dutch culture. I want to ride a bike along the canals, I want to sit outside drinking coffee and reading a book. I have read that it is totally possible to get by in Amsterdam without knowing Dutch, but I really want to learn it, so I am slowly (and probably terribly) teaching myself. So far I can say potato. ("Aardappel" if you were wondering.) I don't know what it is about that place, but I've just become obsessed.

Also, the fries. And the waffles. Oh my god, those are reason enough to go.

Here are some pictures of Amsterdam:

Also, I'm surprised how many pictures there are of the Red Light District. They get really angry at you if you take pictures of the girls in the windows....

See you tomorrow!!

Days Until I Go Back to School: 22

Olympics!

Boy, I'm sure glad I actually posted a blog entry yesterday! I am so reliable! Yep...heh  heh...

As you may know, if you live anywhere located on the planet Earth, and possibly elsewhere, the Olympics are currently going on in London. I LOVE the Olympics. I hadn't really cared all that much until the 2010 Winter Olympics. I don't know what happened that year but I became obsessed. I'd be sitting in class thinking "I could be watching Cross Country Skiing right now." And I was madly in love with Apolo Ohno. Ever since then, I have loved the Olympics. I've never really been a sports person, at all. I think football and most other sports are boring. I'm trying to think of a sport I actually like and I can only think of Olympic sports.... I also love that the entire world (mostly) is involved. Everything about the Olympics is just amazing and I love it! Well...except the commentators. They need to shut their goddamn mouths. I understand there needing to be commentators, but I wish they would just stop talking for a second or two. They're like sharks who need to keep swimming to stay alive.

I don't think I have very much more to say today. But this is a nice start after not blogging for a couple months!

C u 2moro

Days Until I Go Back to School: 23

Blog Every Day August!

Guess what? It's August! Last August I did BEDA and I really enjoyed it, so I'm going to do it again.

It's been so long since my last post, do I even remember how to blog? Probably not. This will probably suck.

Okay so it's August 2nd now and I didn't publish this yesterday as I had intended and...I wonder if I can publish this in the past? If it says this was posted on August 1st, ignore this last part.