I dream of the sea.
Of floating among the crashing waves
and then sinking beneath the surface into the calm.
Just a picture of the choppy waters
will slam my mind with visions of the deep.
I want to jump in, surrounded by chaos and uncertainty,
unable to control where I am thrust,
struggling to stay afloat,
and then,
quietly
calmly
slipping.
Slowly losing myself and silently drifting
into the steady rocking of the current
and eventually washing up with the tide.






photo source

A quote found posted at the end of an email

"For beautiful eyes, look for the good in others. For beautiful lips, speak only words of kindness. And for poise, walk with the knowledge that you are never alone."

~Audrey Hepburn

Perks of living near a big city

There are a lot of festivals and events in Chicago, especially in the summer. So, here are a few that have caught my attention and seem particularly interesting. The last two events are actually continual throughout the year, weather permitting.

Chicago Blues Festival
When: June 11 @ 11:30am - June 13 @ 9:30pm
Where: Grant Park
What: The largest free blues festival in the world. Past performers include Ray Charles, B. B. King, Bonnie Raitt, and Buddy Guy.
Admittance: Free (first come, first serve, areas open 30 minutes before shows begin)

Taste of Chicago
When: June 25-July4, 11am-9pm daily (July 3: 11am-7pm, July 4: 11am-6pm)
Where: Michigan Ave. & Congress Dr.
What: A 10-day lakefront festival featuring the best food in the city. The vast array of foods include giant turkey legs, hot dogs (of course!), Tahi, vegetarian, sushi, Italian, and A LOT more! Plus, there is free, live music to entertain you while you satisfy your taste buds at Jackson & Columbus Dr.
Admittance: Free (however, food is bought not with cash, but tickets. No food item should be more than 10 tickets, sometimes samples are 2-4 tickets. Drinks cost about 6-8 tickets. A strip of 12 tickets cost $8. They are sold for $6 at some Dominick's grocery stores.)

Maxwell Street Market
When: every Sunday from 7am-3pm
Where: South Loop, Desplaines St. & Roosevelt Rd.
What: A flea market that hosts 518 vendors every Sunday, includes food stands and live music (weather permitting).
Admittance: Free

Under the Picasso
When: Jan 1- Dec 31, weekdays, performance start at noon
Where: Daley Plaza, 50 West Washington
What: "Lunchtime performances, ethnic festivals, holiday celebrations, farmers markets and more." Up-coming events include a classical piano concert (Thursday, May 27th), an Asian-American heritage program (Friday, May 28th), Bulgarian artists abroad June 2nd-15th), and a Barbazion fashion show (Tuesday, June 22nd).
Admittance: Free

On loving being in love

Have you ever heard people say "Oh, I just love being in love"? Does it bother you as much as it does me? It just seems like when someone says that, they are demeaning the person they are, have been, or ever will be with. As if he/she isn't the object of their affections, but the feelings they create are. Not the liking being in love is wrong, but why not say "I love loving and being loved by so-and-so" instead? It just leaves a lot to be explained I guess; am I the only one that thinks this? I've just never heard anyone mention the things I am thinking about this right now...am I being a cynical pessimist?

On Golden Annivarsaries

So, apparently, each year of marriage has a...material (?) that it represents.

The one-year anniversary is the Paper Anniversary. The second is cotton, and so on and so forth.

Well, this weekend was my grandparents' 50th Anniversary, the Golden anniversary. So, we headed on our three-hour road trip and went to spend a couple nights there. We threw a surprise party, and they were actually completely clueless! It was a lot of fun to see family.

Anyways, we were working on the slideshow and I loved the pictures, so I thought I'd post a few of them. Senior pictures, the wedding, living in France...My grandma would kill me if she saw I posted the picture with her hair all done up, but I really like it!

Old favorite book

I have recently been reminded (thanks to julia.) of my favorite book as a child, The Velveteen Rabbit. It has probably been a good ten years since I last read it. And as I am at school this summer, the tattered version my family has is unavailable. So, I went searching and found this, a wonderful online text version. Pictures and all. Just though I'd share that, I was really excited!

Afternoon Tea Party

Tea served with cream and sugar cubes:
Cacao Mint Black Tea
Pear-Lemon Panache Herbal Tea

Sweets/Biscuits:
Plain and chocolate-dipped madeleines
Shortbread cookies with white chocolate and raspberries
Cream Scones served with Clotted Cream, Lemon Curd, and Jam

Sandwiches:
Cucumber Mint
Prosciutto, Tomato, and Bocconcini
Egg salad


Pictures from here, here, here, and here

Thailand

I have a friend in Thailand on a missions trip right now.

Here's some info on what's been happening lately.

Exerpts:

"A renegade Thai general who backs anti-government protesters has been shot, shortly after a deadline for troops to seal their Bangkok protest camp passed."

"The US has closed its embassy in Bangkok saying it is "very concerned" - and the UK also said it was closing its embassy on Friday because of the situation."


So please pray for her and the team she went with, the the Lord just keeps them and the children and women in the orphanage/shelter that they are working in safe. Thank you so much, we are so worried for the team.

Pipe Dreams

Sometimes, I wish I could devote all my time and money to looking fashionable and studying the latest trends. Except when I get older and wrinkly, I doubt that wold be on the forefront of my mind. If I had unlimited youth, I would totally go into fashion; I love it so much. It's like my secret obsession. It shows in my avid consumption of magazines and jewelry. And, of course, the obsession with lookbook.

What would you do with one unlimited resource?

The Real World

Soooooooo

I got a job!
The job on campus I interviewed for worked out, so now I am back on campus. Living with three other girls in an apartment. But they're all seniors and have known each other since freshman year, so I feel a little outta the loop. I'm not a very talkative person around new people, so I hope this gets a lil better.

Anyways, I'm all unpacked and everything! And, tomorrow morning at nine, I begin training for work.

Alright, well to sleep so i can be awake and alert and retain all the info tomorrow!
Have a good night!

So Cute and Cuddly!

The best part is at :23

The perfect holiday

A road trip up the east coast. During the school year so there aren't many tourists. Hitting lots of beaches and cute little shops and boutiques. We'll have to find beaches that no one knows about, or that are at least not so well-known to the general public. That way, it is actually relaxing to be on a beach. We could stay at little bed and breakfasts, or just sleep in the car-I have no problem with that. Oh and can't forget to bring change, we'll definitely be needing to do laundry. Make-up and hairdryers and straighteners: off limits...okay maybe the mascara can come. And definitely all the cds you can find. Music is a must. Other than that, pack lightly, because we are limited on space. However, you will need something for shells, you know you'll want to pick some up no matter how much you tell yourself you don't have a need for them in the first place...maybe one per beach? That sounds about right, right?

Now, the vehicle. Car, truck, van, camper? Campers are too big and bulky, I think. Cars may be too small. If we had a truck, we could sleep in the bed of it at night. If we have a cover, we could ride in the back too if we start to feel cramped in the actual cab part of the truck. This kind would be absolutely perfect. Of course, it would need to be a truck that gets good mileage, we don't need a gas guzzler. Or maybe one of those that has been converted and runs on basically any kind of grease. We could pick up old grease from restaurants before they throw it away. We'd never be in need of fuel, those places are everywhere.

Anyways, I'm starting to think four would be the ideal number of occupants in the vehicle. Maybe five, it might be too cramped. We want company, not enemies. Just a nice little group, nothing too large.

So, we'll start with Florida, or course. Then work our way up through Georgia and the Carolinas. Weaving our way through Virginia, Maryland and Pennsylvania. (We will obviously have to stop at various places for educational sight-seeing, wouldn't want to miss school for nothing, now would we? Plus, history is interesting.) Then, on up through New York, hitting Massachusetts and New Hampshire before ending in Maine. Maybe, the border could even be breached and we could visit the foreign country of...Canadaaaaa. How exotic.

Pictures of our wonderful exploring road trip (did I mention no maps?)...





There will be tons of downtime, so I guess we'll need something to do. Shopping is nice, but we can't do that all the time obviously. We could bring books...journals and pens. Cameras. Music. That sounds nice to me. It may be boring to some. No matter, we are creative and can make our own entertainment. We will be exploring, so we could just use the downtime to learn about compasses.

Anyways, now I need to find buddies to come who will find this enjoyable and relaxing as opposed to boring and uneventful...hmmmmm...

; )

Pictures (googled) from here, here, and here

Hobbies

I get in these weird hobby spurts.

For instance, when we moved, I wanted to get my bedroom perfect, so I worked on my interior designing skills. Silly. We got so far as to find matching furniture and the perfect wall colors. That is all. The window treatments aren't even up yet and it's been a little over 2 years.

Late last summer, I started taking pictures with my camera and then it broke. But some of the pictures were really nice and so I saved up and got a really nice camera- an Olympus E520- which I have no idea how to use. I haven't even touched it's full potential.

In the fall, I took a noted interest in nutrition and started watching what I ate and working out consistently. This didn't last long.

In the spring, Etsy was discovered. So I started making some jewelry. None of which sold. And now I have a $9.11 Etsy bill for posts. Not to mention the money I spent getting tools and such.

So. All that said. I've signed up for a photography class in the fall that I can hopefully learn a lot from. My mother and I are planning to hold each other accountable and work out at 8pm five days a week. And maybe I'll get the bedroom furniture when I graduate and can work on making a home for myself then. As for now, I've wasted a ton of time and effort and money on that jewelry stint.



....but I am really really really super duper excited for that photography class in about four months! :D

I always fear that my heart will collapse from exhaustion to the point that I will stop loving you.

I read this on here.
It was interesting reading someone's voicing of thoughts I've had before but couldn't put words to.

Like when you walk into a room, and an hour later your friend says that the room smells like cherry-scented washable markers and you realize that they are right and you couldn't place it before, but you do remember recognizing something familiar in the air when you first walked in. It makes me antsy. Those cherry-scented washable markers bring memories.

Working on the real life

The real life...as in an actual paying job. I have these applications of employment so far:
Teavana
Charlotte Russe
Costco

And am going to get some later from:
Ikea
h&m
New York and Company

I'd love it if I could get a job at H&M or Teavana or New York and Co.

I've researched, and on H&M's website, they make it obvious that they audit their foreign suppliers. They employ auditors to go to the various foreign companies and make sure they are complying with U.S. labor laws and work environment standards. In other words, everything you buy at H&M, you can be 100% positive that it was not made by young children or overworked/underpayed employees. They do not buy from sweatshops. There are the necessary fire emergency plans in place.

No other website or customer service employees of other clothing stores I have looked at have been as helpful in determining who they buy from. New York and Company wasn't as explicit or detailed in their description of the investigation process they use with foreign suppliers, but there was some information saying that they at least check out the places. The people I contacted at Charlotte Russe were completely clueless as to where there inported clothing came from.

H&M is my first choice.
Then Teavana.

I'd just really prefer to not work at places that take advantage of disadvantaged people...

Little treasures

A few days ago, while I was still at school, my mom called me to tell me that we had a robin's nest on our garden. It's only about two feet off the ground, in between the fence and the wall of the house. There are four eggs, she said. So I did a little research and found out all about this momma robin's life:

Robin's do not mate for life. They don't even mate for the summer. A female robin will have up to three or four hatches of eggs throughout the spring/summer. The first one will consist of four eggs, the next few will only have two or maybe three. Out of each little grouping of eggs, it's likely that only one bird will survive.

Thing is, we don't know if even one will survive, because the nest is on the edge of our garden. It's situated in a way that, when the baby birds are starting to fall out and learn to fly, they could jump off into the garden (which is gated off from the rest of our yard) or into the yard (which my dog has free reign over when we let him out). So we just have to be careful that neither we nor Buddy gets too close...

This morning, however, I woke up to momma robin pecking at my window and peeping in. I don't know what she was expecting to see, but my sister said this has been happening frequently. Buddy went crazy and started barking. It's kind of cute though, this little robin's invasion of my privacy. I hope she does it again, so I can take a picture of the silly thing and show you.

I took pictures of the nest and was hoping to post them, but while moving back home, I seem to have temporarily lost track of the cord I need to connect my camera and computer. Hopefully, I find it while unpacking.

A reason to take an interest in politics.

In the Longest Running Joke in Politics, Life Imitates Farce
-----Britain's Lony Party Feuds over Bookies and Term Limits; Glue and Chocolate

When it comes to political parties, the UK's largest parties include the Tory Party, Conservative Party, and the Labour Party...but that's not all...
there is also the Loony Party!