So...

I forgot to tell you that I am on a blog vacation...obviously.  I'm using this time to just do things, go places and visit people without worrying about taking photos or trying to come up with witty ways of explaining why I went to the movies by myself (or have spent the last few weeks reading an entire young adult book series).

For now I'll leave you with this:

See you in August!

   

I Love Today

Headed to Maine for the weekend.  Hopefully it is cooler there.  My July 2011 road trip mix is ready to go,  I packed LAST NIGHT, and I'm all kinds of excited.  Here's to the beach, some sun, and loads of fun!

Happy Friday!

Happy Weekend!

Happy Travels!

P.S. All food should come in happy face form.  Someone get on that!

   

This Just Happened

   

Rock, Paper, Scissors

Let me give you some back story:

When I was in high school, S and I spent a few days in Nantucket as a graduation gift.  During the time that we on the island, a man was shooting cars with a BB gun during rush hour traffic on the highway we took to get to the ferry on the Cape.  This continued for several afternoons.  I spent some of my time in Nantucket worrying that the day we drove home we would be shot at by a crazy person.*  (Yes, I worry about inane things on a regular basis.)

But yesterday as I was driving out to Western MA my fears came to fruition.  So there I was driving through a construction zone with my radio turned up just a bit too loud when BAM!  There was a super loud sound that scared the crap out of me and got my blood pumping.  I immediately turned off the radio and tried to assess the situation at 60 mph.  Is there a hole in my windshield?  Did my car's axle snap in half?  Did someone shoot at my car?

The windshield looked fine and I was still driving in a straight line so I continued to drive.  I cautiously turned the radio back on certain that disaster was imminent.  But all was fine.  As I drove I came to the conclusion that a rock probably hit my car.  I was in a construction zone...I was driving behind a pick up truck.  It must have been a rock.  I pictured a giant dent in my hood, or a busted headlight.  And then I saw it.  Hiding behind my review mirror was this:

I've heard rocks hit the windshield many times before but this was like nothing I've ever heard.  It's weird how the crack spread in a perfect circle.

So now I have plans for Wednesday.  And a lunch date with T!

* They caught the guy before we headed home so we were safe from the crazy person.

   

The Best Part of My Day...

Was this:

I LOVE the sidecar.  And the fact that the driver was totally smoking a cigarette and trusting that the windshield would actually shield the wind from blowing hot ash into his face.  AND the fact that the driver was a HE rocking a really long pony-braid.

The second best part of my day was this:

Because I am still totally geeking out over HP7.2!  #File under: Snape4eva!

What was the best part of YOUR day?

   

Day Tripping

It was another gorgeous day in the MA...a perfect day for a road trip.  I set off on a scenic tour of the western half of the state.  

First stop:

Every time I drive over this bridge I'm all I should stop and walk across it sometime.  Well today was sometime.  I walked across the bridge and enjoyed the views of the Connecticut River.

The bridge is super high.

I started here...

And walked all the way to another town!

 

For my second stop, I wanted to find these old rusty trucks that I passed by 5 summers ago while driving canoe trips for camp.  I knew the general direction and I assumed that I would recognize it when I got there.  First I took a 30 minute detour to a DIFFERENT state...totally on purpose (not on purpose):

But then...on my way back from New Hampshire, I turned right, headed towards Vermont and I found them!

When I went to turn around I saw this:

Yes that sign is 2' by 4'.  Oops!  But to be fair, the old trucks were right on the corner.  Corners don't count...right?

Stop three was Millers River for a snack.  I hopped the guard rail so I could stick my toes in the river.

Stop four was the Rt. 202 Quabbin Reservoir overlook

My fifth and final stop was one of my favorite places in the world.  It is a pull off on Rt. 202 where you can see for miles and miles.

In the fall when the leaves turn, all you can see are reds, oranges, and yellows until they fade into the horizon.

What did YOU do on this gorgeous day?

  

Field Trip!

On Thursday the Our Little Baby clan and I hit up the Brimfield Antique Show.  I can't even begin to explain its monstrosity to you but I have never seen anything like it.  It is fields with rows of tents (sometimes 7 deep) that must have stretched almost a mile.  We walked and walked and walked and eventually all the furniture just started to blend together.  But it was a GORGEOUS day...sunny, mid 70's with a breeze.  We also got there super early which was the best idea ever because by noon you could barely walk around.  I can't imagine what it must look like on a weekend day!

I ended up finding letterpress letters which I have been looking for forever.  I wanted to buy ALL of them but I exercised some restraint and just picked up an A-M-Y.  The best part was all the CRAZY stuff that people were selling:

Thrones...obviously

 

Puss in Boots anyone?

Letterpress tiles...OMG I want them all but they are crazy expensive.

All the blue Mason jars you could ever want or need.

A giant hippo head.  Baby almost got to ride inside but she was napping...smart lady.

Creeptastic dismembered baby doll parts...cue horror film.

 Does anyone know the answer?

I don't even know...

 

  

And a metal rooster.  You HAVE to read this blog post to appreciate it.

Sayonara IE8

Dear Internet Explorer,

I'm breaking up with you.  All you do is freeze my blog and slow down Facebook.  You do have the privacy feature which lets me sign into two email accounts at the same time.  That is nice.  But sadly, it is not enough.  

You’ve been replaced by Firefox which doesn’t freeze my blog every time I sign in.  Also their fox cuddling with the world logo totally kicks your logos ass.

I would say “It’s not you, it’s me” but that would be a lie.  It’s definitely you.

XOXO,

Amy

  

It's Here! It's Here!

I've made several vague promises now about an exciting "project" that I've been working on to showcase my summer travel plans.  I'm happy to say it is finally done! 

While I was busy wishing I owned a Mac so I could use iMovie, I stumbled across Windows Movie Maker which suited me just fine.  Keep in mind that this is my first digital movie project.  So be nice and tell me you love it.

And...without further ado:



The yellow of the sun and fly-over states came out mustard colored...Oh well!

   

4 > 1.5

Dear Mom,

Although this may seem like a public critique of your ability to cut hair, it is not.  What it is, is further evidence of my poor decision making skills.

XOXO,
Amy

___________________________________

In terms of my hair, I did not win the genetic lottery.  Everyday Mom has super thick, straight hair.  Everyday Dad has thin and almost curly hair.  I was blessed with thin, almost curly but not quite, super puffy hair.  I say puffy because although my hair has the illusion of volume, it is merely air between the strands.

Evidence of curly:

Curls turning to puff:

In my adult life, I've never had long hair.  I let my hair grow and grow for what feels like forever then it just sort of stops.  Because it is so thin, it just doesn't look nice long.

Up until yesterday, my hair was as long as it has been for quite a while.  I don't have a photo and it's too late to take one now!  I entrusted Everyday Mom to give me a trim.  The idea was to keep the length but get rid of the split ends. 

When I asked for 1.5 inches off, Everyday Mom heard:

Hello short hair...it's been a while:

But as Everyday Dad said...it is a renewable resource.  It will grow back and I will inevitably cut it short again.

  

What A Wonderful Day For...

A MELTDOWN!

As always, when I am blog absent for more than two days it is probably because I am having a real (or perceived) life crisis.  This week looked like this:

Monday: 4th of July parade with fabulous people.
Tuesday: Resume revamping.
Wednesday: Craftastic day with O.  Italy mini is getting done...ASAP.
Thursday: Stage 5 meltdown.  Sangria party (not for one).
Friday: Lunch with Awesomeface.  Project.

Because you are dying to know...the meltdown was due, in part, to the lovely trolls at Career Services.  This is what went down:

I restructured my resume and signed up for someone to review it.  Troll #1 must not have seen me sign up because while I sat waiting, she cleaned out her purse, put on lotion, reorganized her Band Aids...you know, really important stuff.  (Maybe she should have been reading the copy of How to Win Friends and Influence People sitting on her desk.)

The second lady (I hesitate to call her a troll because she turned out to be more apologetic) came back from her break and immediately Troll #1 goes over to her and proceeds to bitch about all the people seeking help at Career Services and I was all "I CAN HEAR YOU!"  After 15 minutes Troll #1 stomped away and I went up to the (hopefully) nicer lady and asked who was supposed to review resumes.  She asked if I signed up, to which I replied "Yes, 15 minutes ago" and she at least had the courtesy to look embarrassed for her co-workers outburst and apologized for the wait.

To make a boring story short less boring, she basically told me that my resume was adequate but if I ever want to work again I need to join Linked In.  Surprise, surprise...she teaches the networking class at Career Services.  As she kept singing the praises of Linked In (while confessing that she herself hadn't joined yet) I kept getting more and more frustrated.  I just wanted to leave but she wouldn't stop talking!

Eventually I made it home and promptly signed up for Linked In.  Guess what?  Teaching/Education...not even a category to choose...although Fishery and Paper/Forest Products were available choices.  My profile says that I am an Education Management Professional.  True story.

So then I gave up on Linked In and cried instead.  My inner hermit almost succeeded in getting me to exchange my evening plans for TV and Ben and Jerry's but I pulled it together enough to be social.  Let's not pretend that the fact that the social engagement involved sangria helped steer me in the right direction.

If you're still reading you get 300 awesome points.  Also, you get a head's up that the project I am working on about my summer travels is almost finished!  Look for it soon.

  

OH AND...

In my 4th of July recap I forgot the best parts of the parade!

The Rod Stewart impersonator in leopard pants.

And the fabulous older lady dancing up a storm in her red convertible.

Also...no one does the 1812 Overture better than the Boston Pops.  The chimes...the Howitzers...the choreographed fireworks.

While we're on the subject, let's discuss fireworks...

I dislike:
- two tone fireworks...like purple and green in one...eww
- fireworks in shapes like flying saucers, hearts, and especially smiley faces
- fireworks that just fall out of the sky like toothpaste being squeezed from a tube

I like love:
- fireworks that look like glitter
- fireworks that go up REALLY high
- white fireworks that are so bright it looks like daytime
- the REALLY big ones (that's what she said)

  

Happy 4th of July!

I celebrated Uncle Sam's birthday by taking in a parade and some UVA and B rays.  D&O left the big city to attend a small town but very important parade.  We had to weave through some orange cones to find a parking spot but then got to park under this gem.

If you recall, I made fun of mocked attempted to survive the Rapture of 2011.  Turns out...I also survived the Rapture of 1992 without even knowing it!  Even more impressive is the fact that this poster is still rockin' after 19 years stuck to a pole.

We made our way to the parade and met up with S and baby.  S was psyched...baby was not.

We saw tiny firetrucks.

And lots of Minutemen

Some of whom were more prepared than others.

But they all shot guns which...let's be frank...is all that really mattered.

There was a kidlet sized fife and drum corps...

and bagpipes ---> my fave!

Actually...there were all kinds of bands.  Bands that rode.

Toy soldier bands that marched by without playing.

Canadian bands with angry drummers.

And professional bands with bad ass precision (and fancy plumage).

There were boy cub scouts with awesome floats and water guns.

And for some reason the Corvettes were replaced with tractors.  O was psyched!

After the parade we took in some shade and soft serve.  Our waitress was not confident with her soft serve serving abilities so it came in a bowl.  A giant bowl because she felt bad that she couldn't put it on the cone.

So I put it on the cone...

I bet she could have done better.  To top off the day I caught some fireworks at The Capitol.

I'll also catch the Boston Pops fireworks at 10:30. 

I'm not the most patriotic person but I totally geek out over Stars and Stripes Forever and the 1812 Overture.  #File under: Yes I was in marching band.