Philly trip

I'm finally getting around to sharing the pictures of Dan and me visiting his sister in Philly!

We went to a baseball game,


tried Philly steak sandwiches,


checked out the parks,

wandered through the most amazing art museum I've ever seen,


took an embarrassing duck tour,
ran the Rocky steps,



and ate at the Jamaican restaurant from In Her Shoes, one of my favorite movies!

Dan and I went off by ourselves one day and discovered "The Magic Garden," a house and labyrinth of a courtyard entirely covered in elaborate murals from broken dishes, bottles, doll parts, bicycle wheels... any type of junk you could find in a salvage yard. There are no words for how creative, weird, and, yes, magical this place is! My picture don't do it justice:


The outside wall:

A passageway in the courtyard:

Artist Isaiah Zagar left no place un-decorated. Even the ground was a masterpiece:
We spent about two hours walking around the approximately 1,500 square feet place, checking out the murals that dealt with themes such as peace, politics, sexuality, and dreams.



At the end of our visit, the artist, Isiaiah Zagar, happened to walk in. He kind of looks like a thin Santa Claus, with the same jolly twinkle in his eye.

Photo from here.

We tentatively walked up to him and started to compliment his work, to which he just grinned and stuck his tongue out at us in a playful way, like an elf, before answering. He's definitely as kooky, vibrant, and fascinating as his work. I mean, how creative does he have to be to turn trash into an entire beautiful, new world? As we walked through the basement later, there were photos of him creating his murals... sans any strip of clothing. This guy's anthem is "Free to be you and me".

Hope you enjoyed your virtual tour of Philly with us!

The "amusement park photo" list

(Almost) Wordless Wednesday!

I am in love with the sense of movement and whimsy in these amusement park photographs!


Not quite my experience when I went to a local theme park with my family this past weekend.

On a Saturday.

In 90+ degree weather.

Needless to say, it was not our best decision.

My family is hilarious, so we still had fun (despite the icky, wet bathing suits, sitting on railings while waiting in hour and a half long lines, soggy fries, and bloated, sweaty crowds.)

Today's "Wordless Wednesday" photographs by Bomobob, an amazingly talented photographer on Etsy, portray a very different type of amusement park: dreamy, spell-binding, timeless. He took them at Tibidabo Park in Barcelona.

A slightly different feel from normal amusement parks, eh? I don't see any traces of the families donning fanny packs and too-tight "jorts", or a picture of a bathroom sink filled with vomit that I saw on Saturday. Still traumatized by that one. TMI, I know.

Let's go back to the pretty pictures, shall we?

Who wants to go to this dreamy land, too?

The "how I spent my day" list

During my last post, my "organized self" wrote a stern letter to my "indecisive self" demanding that she get her act together and finish re-designing my office on Friday. My "indecisive self" is kinda lazy, but if she were to write a reply letter, I think it would go something like this....

Dear Organized Me,

Screw your letter.

I know you thought you would bully me into getting something done on Friday. I started out the day with sugar-plum visions of organizing my office (refer to perfect picture of Pottery Barn's organizing system at top of screen. Sigh.)

But I'm here to smugly inform you about how I ended up spending my day:

1. Waffling over which office accessories to buy at Anthropologie and Staples. Black? White? Modern? Traditional? Hey, maybe I should buy both the white and the black and then return the one that doesn't work out later...

2. Swimming with Dan. Don't give me that look. It was 92 degrees out.

3. Errands and then choosing a new toenail polish at CVS. After ten minutes, I finally settled on "Speedy Hot Tamale". And I must say, my toes look great!

4. Oh, and checking out this hilarious video of a dancing wedding party on See Jamie Run's Blog. You should go watch it! You'd love it! You really would!

Oh, and your idle threat about releasing pictures of the mess upstairs??

You wouldn't dare.

It would embarrass you so much more than it ever would affect me. Aren't you the one who furiously swiffers the floors before company comes over to keep up the pretense that yup-our-floors-really-are-always-this-polished? Like you would ever show our mess off to the world!

Lighten up, and stop being so bossy.

Love,

Indecisive Me

Just do it

I read in a magazine today that writing a letter to yourself can be the best possible motivation. I figure that posting said letter for other people to read will especially give me the kick-in-the- ass I so desperately need.

Posted below is a letter from "organized me" to "indecisive me".

Is it completely cuckoo to talk to myself in second person? Perhaps. Anyway, let's test the theory that a letter to self can motivate:

Dear Indecisive Self,

"Just do it" ain't only a Nike slogan. It's time for you to "just do" something. Anything. Finish a project. Follow through on an idea. Step out of your comfort zone.

It's time to be more of a "doer."

Doers actually finish things on their lists, rather than just writing them down.

They don't waffle over the pros and cons indefinitely.

Instead, they come up with an idea, weigh the positives and negatives, make a decision, and follow through.

This sounds so utterly simple: think, make a decision, and follow through. Why do you have so much trouble getting to that last step? Instead, you endlessly trudge in that sticky "thinking-dreaming-worrying" stage. In fact, most of your current ideas have been like a treadmill workout: a lot of effort, but nothing is truly moving forward.

I think you know what I'm talk about. In May, the summer seemed to span out luxuriously, and you had so many plans! There were visions of learning to play tennis, taking more photographs, and planning travel adventures. You were going to cook new exotic dishes, conquer some fears, redo your office and kitchen, and start to make those big life decisions you had been putting off. In short, you planned on becoming a braver, fitter, greener, happier, more organized person by the end of August.

Not that you had high expectations or anything...

Now, obviously all of the things on this wish list were not going to happen, but it would have been nice to start on a few of them. Instead, you keep gathering ideas that go nowhere.

Case in point #1: How about those cookbooks you checked out from the library? Remember all the time you spent vetoing recipes with expensive ingredients and weird flavors that Dan might not like? I really thought that you were on to something when you bookmarked several pages. The current status of this goal? You have not attempted to cook a single dish. The cookbooks are now accumulating late charges every day. We could have bought a used cookbook with the $10 we'll end up spending when you finally return them.

Case in point #2: you started to re-do the office weeks ago. It's still not finished. The rest of the upstairs still looks like crack addicts live there. There are tools, paintbrushes, papers, school books, and boxes everywhere. I haven't seen my hardwood floors in a very long time.

Must. complete. office. to. get. upstairs. back....

Yet, even after stubbing your toe on above mess when getting up to pee in the night, you still haven't finished the office. Instead, you keep ruminating about every decision to be made:
* Etsy prints, or wedding photos? * Keep fan and add a new shade, or try a new piece all together? * More boxes? Use what I got? Time to clean out closets? Ooh, let me go do this right now! If I could only reach my closet...

Enough. You're not designing the Oval Office. It's time to "get 'er done".

You're lucky that Dan thinks the whole situation is hilarious. When you endlessly deliberated over paint shades, he just chuckled and whispered in your ear, "Paralysis by analysis again, huh?" There's got to be one sane partner, and gosh-love-him, I guess he's it.

Case in point #3: Uh, only the rest of your summer list!

I'm intervening for your own good. If you can't make a decision on which camera to buy before your trip (next week, by the way!) or whether you should attempt to make paella, how are you ever going to make bigger decisions? I want you to actually see Italy, not just dog-ear Fodor's travel books. You and Dan have talked about getting a dog for two years now, even going so far as to picking a cute, Beatles-inspired name. Lennon isn't going to bring himself home from the SPCA! You've got to make it happen. And don't let me even bring up the huge life decisions that you'll need to make someday...

Maybe this "tough love" approach isn't totally fair. You've been working four days a week at summer school, and basking in the joys of summer the rest of the time. I'm actually okay with that! You deserve those trips to Coldstone's for a cone, the walks around the neighborhood, the trip to Great Falls (see above pic), and the lazy afternoons by the pool. I don't mind you not accomplishing things you are, say, laughing over The Office re-runs with Dan or having lunch with friends. What I do care about is when you obsess over something rather than daring to make a decision.

I'm officially outing you in the hopes that you will make things happen. And if I've got to blackmail you, so be it! Finish at least one thing tomorrow, or I'll post the photos of the disgusting mess in master and guest bedroom! Do you want the entire blog world to see this?

That's what I thought.

Love,

Organized Me

The "orange-you-glad" list

For (almost) wordless wednesday, here are a list of photos...

Knock. Knock.

Who's there?

Orange.

Orange who?

Orange you glad I posted these pictures by JenniPenni for (Almost) Wordless Wednesday?!

When I see this photograph, I think of The Beatles song "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds", except with slightly modified lyrics...

Picture yourself on a boat on a river
with tangerine trees and marmalade skies
Somebody calls you, you answer quite slowly
a girl with (the orange juice) eyes

One more photo (this time from the talented Candyfactory) to make this an official orange list...

The Blog Award List!

The amazing Brooke from Brooke in Wonderland just gave me my first blog award!

I am so pumped!!

Now for the rules (you know I love any kind of list...)

-Thank the award giver

-Copy the logo and place on your blog

-Link back to the award giver/s

-Name 10 things about you that people may find interesting

-Nominate and link up to 10 other blogs for this award

-Comment on each blog to tell them about the award!

This is almost like a form of a chain e-mail, except so much more fun!

First, a few of my favorite sites that I would like to bestow this award to:
Color Me Katie
An Inch of Gray
Strand Family Adventures
A Lovely Lifestyle
The Girl with the Golden Touch
Little Red Roost

And now for a few newer blogs (discovered during the last few weeks) that I also am giving this award to:
Adventures Across a Sea of Blue
I know This Much
Through the Looking Glass
The Way I See It

They are not in any particular order! And, yes, I know I nominated one more than I was supposed to!

Now, for the ten interesting facts about me:

1. I love staying in cheap bed and breakfasts with my husband:
Especially places that set out warm chocolate chip cookies
This brings us to # 2...

2. I'm the biggest sweet tooth ever! Tiramisu cupcakes from Frostings, the local cupcake boutique, are my favorite:
3. Looking at travel books and websites is my crack:
Dan is trying to persuade me to get on board a trip to Italy during our spring break this year. He wants to do one more big trip before we decide to expand our little family!

4. I was a scaredy cat as a kid and have never dived, done a cartwheel, or been on a slip n' slide.
5. See that cartoon picture of me at the top of the page that's wearing a "#1 Teacher" shirt?
Not true.

I love my job, am a NBCT (a hugely intensive program for teachers), and try my best daily, yet I sometimes cringe at my teaching techniques. Just two days ago, I snapped at a group of rising sixth graders from my summer school class because I felt like I was playing that carnival game Wack a Mole. "SIT DOWN NOW, OR NO ONE RECEIVES CANDY!" Great discipline, huh?

6. I love blogs about home design, especially www.younghouselove.com

An added bonus: The couple that runs this blog lives in Richmond too! Which bring us to #7:

7. I think Maymont Park is the best place for picnics:

8. I went to see Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince last night with a friend.
9. My family calls me an "old soul". I take this as a compliment.
Photo from tea time with mom last weekend.
10. I feel terrific after a long run.

Well, there you have it! Now, go check out some of those amazing blogs!

The "Oh, Edward, where art thou?" list

Edward is dreamy because:
* he has perfectly coiffed hair that is hilarious
* his skin sparkles
* he keeps the sexual tensions simmering but isn't a manslut
* every girl wants him as a boyfriend
* he never bites just because he's thirsty

*********

If you haven't been living under a rock, you know that there has been a huge vampire craze lately. With two young adult series and a new television show, people are all about the vampires. I know I'm fond of one in particular...

I think there is an unspoken law that if one teaches middle school English, then that person is required to be a huge Twilight fan. How else are you going to communicate with the eighth grade girls if you can't occasionally join in the wistful Edward-is-so-dreamy sighs? This is what I tell myself: the obsession is all in the name of being a supportive middle school instructor. That rationalizes my reading of the book, right?
The only way to keep from feeling like a huge teeny bopper is to reassure myself that I'm not the only adult female fan out there. An early f0rty-something teacher at my school once giggled to me that she tells her husband and children that she needs some "time with my boyfriend Edward" whenever she lays down to continue reading the fourth book. Her teenage daughter has only read the first two in the series. What is wrong with this picture? :)

I think my sister might even have this teacher beat, though! Here's a picture of her "vamping" it up for Halloween this past year (she even had snap-on fangs!):

Anyway, since Vampire love is kinda hot right now, I decided to try the hugely popular vampire series TruBlood by renting the first season. After all, how different from Twilight could it be if there was still a vampire-human relationship? (I was also happy that the television series' odd couple was slightly older and might have the chance of moving off first base at some point!)

Uhhh.... a warning to other fans: This show ain't like Twilight. There is no sparkling skin in the sunlight and no sensual almost-kiss scenes. While there were a few clever parts, I kind of felt like I needed a shower afterwards from watching a disturbing exorcism, a junkie having sex in an alley, and very graphic murder scenes. Dan, being a total guy, thought it was pretty great.

No offense to anyone who loves this series, though! I can certainly see why some would like the clever story lines, and I thought the acting was pretty solid. It just wasn't my cup of tea. In fact, I don't think it was the kind of series that people who say the antiquated phrase "cup of tea" would like!

(Side note: If you are planning on giving this show a try, stop reading now! I have one small spoiler.)

I know some people are obsessed with the Bill-Sookie relationship (the characters that some way are very much like Belle and Edward), but I just didn't get it. The juicy, spurting blood from neck wound during the otherwise passionate sex scene kind of turned my stomach. Oh, and during their post-coital snuggling, the protagonist Sookie said that she was weak from loss of blood, to which Bill, otherwise known as "NOT-Edward", responded with advice about her drinking energy drinks with electrolytes so he could "feed" on her more often. Ick!

Let's just put it this way...Edward would never do this.

Update:  Okay, I find this post kinda funny now because last summer my sister and I watched a ridiculous number of episodes over a pitcher of margaritas. :)  I guess initially I was thinking it would be something it wasn't, and once I accepted it as completely trashy, ridiculously bloody, kinda slutty, campy fun, I was on board.  :)

The "fixing house" list

(Almost) Wordless Wednesday

A little to your left....

I've seen other people do "Wordless Wednesday" posts, and I think it's a cute idea! This amazing picture is by Blue C0coon on Etsy.com. Click on Blue Cocoon if you want to view/ buy any of her stunning photographs! I especially liked this one with its yellowish tone and the pop of red from the beret. A big thank you to her for letting me post her work! :)

Since I don't feel like being totally wordless, here's a house to-do list to go with this all-about-decorating picture:
* Finish painting furniture for office
* Hang my photographs in office
* Beg Dan to agree to me hanging light pink curtains to soften the gray walls
* Take pictures of office and post on blog (coming soon!)

The "Mid-Summer Day's Dream" list

When I was a kid, I loved summer so much that I would try to bottle as much as I could to savor later. Literally. I would take glass jars to the beach to save sand. I would capture glowing fireflies in mason jars until my mom made me release the poor bugs. I would write poems about summer, and try reading them again when it was freezing and rainy and I had piles of homework to do each night. It's so hard to capture those feelings of summer.

Well, much like I was as a kid, I'm trying to preserve my perfect, lazy Saturday before the details fade from my memory. You might be able to tell I'm an English teacher from the dorky Shakespeare pun on my title of my list...

My Mid-Summer Day's Dream:

* Going to tea time with my mom, swooning over bits of cheesecake tarts and cream puffs and croissants. Yes, tea time... how classy are we?
* Strolling and smelling fresh cut grass
* Dangling my legs in the pool (that we snuck into- hee! hee!) with my mom and hubby. There was so much brilliant blue with the sky and pool. There was so much brilliant red on Dan's skin when he came home.
* Fresh dinner with a salad of sun-ripened peaches, mozzarella, and prosciutto and barbeque.

I spent my Monday surfing the Internet and feeling wistful. I wish I could bottle that afternoon.

When I went on Etsy.com and started gazing at all the gorgeous photographs, I stopped at alicebgardens and her airy, sweet summer photos. Somehow they seemed to completely capture my dreamy day:

Girly and sweet...

Leisurely and lush...

Endlessly blue...

Sun-ripened and juicy...

If you adore these photos too (the dandelion picture was hers, too!), you have to go to Alicebgardens. She also has portraitures that are absolutely extraordinary! (A big thank you to her for letting me post her gorgeous pictures on my lowly, little blog!)

I had the same initial feeling when I spotted these pictures as I did when I went to sleep on Saturday: that I wanted to bask in this dreamy world a little longer.

Since I can't do that, I'll just continue to blog about these delicious summer moments.

"Summer's lease hath all too short a date." - Shakespeare

The "Landscaping 911" list

Dan and my idea of landscaping is to occasionally cut our thigh high grass to avoid pissing off our neighbors. It's not that we're just lazy. It's just that landscaping seems like an endless drain of time and money. There always seems to be way too many tools to buy (clippers, hedgers, tree saws, lawn mower, fertilizer, mulch, stones, rake, hoes, weird new garden forks, etc.). Mosquitoes mercilessly bite our arms and legs while we grunt and swear and sweat. We hate the flourescent lit, endless aisles of Lowe's and Home Depot. Even raking during autumn seems futile because the next week another blanket of rotting leaves will coat the ground.

This past week, however, we couldn't avoid doing landscaping any longer. If you haven't already read my last post, Dan and I had a real issue with the front of our house.

Chain saw + bushes= bad idea

Now that we were forced to do an emergency landscaping job, we actually ended up having a great time!

We stopped at an adorable local cottage and garden. I felt like we had stepped into some cozy nursery rhyme and kept looking for Old Mother Hubbard:

There were bushes that even made 6"2 Dan look small.

We saw plants that draped like exotic scarves,and ridiculous lawn ornaments (Mayan Cinco de Mayo party, perhaps??)
and even plants that reminded us of autumn and going back to school...

When we finally bought our bushes, we carefully loaded them into our cars like we were taking newborns home from the hospital. Dan even strapped one in the front seat, while I was booted to the back. Should I be jealous that I've been replaced?
Somehow we didn't get pulled over even with this set-up going on:
Fast forward five hours of digging holes, wrenching up old, slippery roots, planting, and mulching:
It's finally starting to look a little better!

Now we still want to...
* plant new bushes on the left side
* create flower boxes for each window
* outline the beds with white stones
* plant new grass
* paint the trim
* reshape azaleas by walkway

We're landscaping addicts!
I think we may end up longing for those long-gone lazy days of occasionally mowing our grass...