#80.

Toll Booth People.

There's a reason I don't own an EZPass. I honestly get excited to interact with someone completely random and unexpected. I love surprises and you never know what person you're gonna get. You could get the woman that calls you "babydoll", whose hair has a blue tint. Or you could get the guy with the waxed eyebrows that doesn't open his mouth to say a single word. (Like, any word! Say anything! It doesn't even have to be English!)  Or you  could encounter the man hidden behind a plethora of tattoos....the one that, on the hand that reaches for your money, probably has some unexpectedly terrifying graphic of a knife in a heart, or a dragon eating a human, or a woman with ungodly large jugs. Oh, and the music the workers listen to ALWAYS gets me!  Beach boys is a guaranteed cheer-me-up surprise.

You just never know.

...cause life's like a box of choc'lates. You never know whatcha gonna get. :)

#79--Part II.

I enjoy this website, too!

http://streetpeeper.com/

#79.

Fashion.

But not just for the way it looks or the designer's notoriety. It's because of this:

"The time you spend in shopping for your clothes and then the time you take to put outfits together each day should be looked on as opportunities to give love to yourself. In the process of figuring out what to wear you are assessing how you’re feeling that day and acknowledging yourself."

Why should I dress for anyone other than myself? Lemme tell you, there are certain fabrics that I feel like I was born to wear! Long, satin things like this for example:

And I could dance an effortless quickstep in this:

From thefrock.com

And I love how I feel when I dress up a casual outfit with a great blazer. A blazer is my go-to piece. With a long necklace. Enough jazz to be "fashionable" but enough comfort to still feel like yourself!

I dream about these shoes. And for a shamelessly brief period of my life I considered dating a doctor who would buy me these as Christmas was right around the corner. (I, almost regretfully, stuck to my age and morals instead.)

Can't you just hear the sound of their pointed red heels clicking? They're beckoning me.

Vintage. LOVE vintage. (Vintage teases me and nearly tempts me to spend money I don't have. I almost bought this dress).

And honestly, I adore couture. It's such a work of art. Impossible to actually wear practically but amazing in a photograph. Maybe that's why I am intrigued by it. All those textures and yards of patterns make my eyes see a billion different photo opportunities.

And one day, I'd like to rock a romper. They're what I consider a fashion challenge. I just want to find one that works. Somehow. It could be a grand fail but I want to try it!

#78.

Christmas Lights. In plethora.

I am a bit of a scrooge. Christmas lights are only pretty to me a good, solid week after Thanksgiving. Before then, I really do not like them. No matter how elegant or tasteful they are. 

BUT....I grew up in the country where my house was surrounded by farms and a large expanse of land. The stars in the country are so bright and there are so many of them! The sky is so pitch black and so big. Sitting on my deck at night, or swinging in the hammock at night, or sitting in the hot tub on the deck.....it is the most astounding thing to lay back and stare with your jaw dropped at the sky. There are many things that I love about living in the city now, but returning home....the stars are just something that the city's got nothing on! I might even go so far as to say the stars are what I come home for. (but the people are equally amazing as well!)

You can hop in the car and wind around all the back country roads for 10 minutes. It will be so dark that you will drive slow to be careful for deer. At one point, you will be driving up this hill and just when you hit the crest of it, your eyes will fill with so much wonder just like they do when you're star gazing in my back yard. Your eyes have spent the last 10 minutes getting used to the dark and when you see all this light you blink and, like a child in disbelief, rub your eyes. What lies in the valley before you is the largest display of christmas lights you have ever seen! I'm not talking about the eighth of an acre that your city neighbor packed as many lights onto as possible. This place is a little over 3 acres. So picture that. Three acres of lights in the middle of nowhere! You can't help but smile and no matter how much of a Scrooge you're trying to be....a smile finds itself on your face.

#77.

Vintage.

I love it. Nuff said.

#76.

Red lights.

I realized tonight that I really hope for a red light when I am approaching an intersection. I like that extra time to be with just my music and my own self. Or if I have company in my car with me, that red light gives me more time with them. I know it's not a long amount of time but I always hope for it. I wish for it. It's a moment that I want to treasure and do other cheesy things with. The air drums probably get busted out in this moment. A completely off-pitch note probably gets sung. Or a multi-tasking FAIL occurs and the light turns green.

Either way, whatever happens during that red light usually leaves me chuckling as I drive forward with the green light.

#75.

Late night conversations.

You can never predict when they happen or how they're going to go. It could go horribly...because one or both of you is obviously dead-beat exhausted. Or it could be that unknowingly needed heart-to-heart where you gush out your fears, your insecurities, your excitement, or your anticipation.

The cosmos must be aligned for me this week (in this department anyway) because for the last 5 horribly exhausting days, I have had brilliant and rejuvenating late night conversations with an equal amount of people. Coincidence? Maybe. Crazy God thing where he knows exactly what you need when you need it? Maybe. Take it for what you will but the point is, I'm human and I thrive on social interactions. If the company can't physically be next to me, it better be just a phone call, text, or internet message away.

So, if you're reading this and thinking, "Oh, I talked to Elly at an odd hour this past week" (either US or Australian time), this is probably about you. Thanks for giving me energy!

#74.

Carving pumpkins.

It's a tradition in my family to carve pumpkins together. As my brother and I have moved away from home, the 'together' part of the tradition has ceased. But I still get a ridiculous amount of excitement going out to pick out my own pumpkin and carving it on the floor of my kitchen!!

Any experienced pumpkin carver knows you need the following items:

• A large, VERY serious knife.
• A small, tiny saw for the details.
• Lots of newspaper.
• A bowl for the pumpkin guts.
• An oven pan covered with tin foil for the seeds.
• A playlist with awesome songs to keep you going!
• Toothpicks. These are like the plastic surgery of pumpkin carving. They nearly invisibly hold things together.
• A little bit of cinnamon for the top. When you light a candle inside, a wonderful cinnamon-pumpkin aroma will fill the space! (Trick of the trade courtesy of Mom.)

Oh, gloves are for the faint of heart. Don't even think about it. Just touch the goop with your bare hands. DO IT.

Growing up, my brother was a perfectionist about his carving. He picked out the biggest, coolest, most complicated stencils. And I have to give it to him, he aimed high. But my parents usually ended up going out to buy a 2nd or 3rd pumpkin after my brother "ruined" his. Blaise had drive, ambition, and determination....and ultimately, he did carve the coolest pumpkins. One of my favorites was a wolf howling at the moon. (Pretty sure it took 3 pumpkins for that one and a few toothpicks to hold it in place.) It was hard to compete with him so I usually took the easy road and carved a typical pumpkin face; triangle eyes, a  3 tooth smile, and a nose of some sort. But of course, one year I even botched that simplicity so I carved the word "Welcome". We lined all of our pumpkins along our walkway leading up to our front door and mine got placed in the beginning of the walkway. I was so proud that it was the first pumpkin people would see! I figured that if I couldn't make the coolest one, I'd just make the first one.

I must say, I am quite impressed with my pumpkin this year. Maybe that's because it is the only one that will be displayed at my place so it has no competition, haha. But I think she's fierce!!

The before, during (gutting AND carving like a BOSS!), and after!

And the finished product.....

#73.

Adorable old men.

They're just cute and bring a smile to my face. And if they call me "darling" and are wearing a bow-tie, that's just a bonus.

#72.

A song and a poem.

This past week at my internship, I was dancing to a song. (No duh.) But what makes this significant is the feeling that happened...one that I'm sure you'll know as I describe it. It felt like my body knew the tune, the sound resonated in my soul, and I had to know what it was. It didn't really help that I didn't recognize the words. I asked my supervisor about the song and she told me the name of it: "Mil pasos". It's also know as a Thousand Steps. She translated what I couldn't and it was beautiful.

I wish I could sit or dance with you as you listen. Since we are probably not near each other, just play the video and listen. Don't think or judge. Just close your eyes and listen.

If you can, take the time to translate it. It's worth your time.

This poem also has the same sentiment as the song, which is why I'm posting them together:

The Journey
by Mary Oliver

One day you finally knew
what you had to do, and began,
though the voices around you
kept shouting
their bad advice--
though the whole house
began to tremble
and you felt the old tug
at your ankles.
"Mend my life!"
each voice cried.
But you didn't stop.
You knew what you had to do,
though the wind pried
with its stiff fingers
at the very foundations,
though their melancholy
was terrible.
It was already late
enough, and a wild night,
and the road full of fallen
branches and stones.
But little by little,
as you left their voices behind,
the stars began to burn
through the sheets of clouds,
and there was a new voice
which you slowly
recognized as your own,
that kept you company
as you strode deeper and deeper
into the world,
determined to do
the only thing you could do--
determined to save
the only life you could save.

#71.

Wrote this one awhile ago and just didn't get a chance to post it until now!!


Kathryn Peterson.

You know when someone asks you "How are you? How's life?" and you get that unexplainable feeling that makes you give a simple answer like "life is good"?

Kathryn isn't like that. She asks and you feel 'oh my gosh I am so excited to tell you!'  Kathryn is one of my theatre professors and she is so kind, effortlessly loveable, and just one of the most genuine people I've had the pleasure of knowing in my life. I was just chit-chatting with her in her office today and walked away feeling so joyful. She has that kind of affect on people, I hear ;)

I caught up with a friend at a cafe later in the afternoon and was telling her about it and she said it's like Kathryn has eyes that just stare into your soul. The invested, loving kind. The kind that encourage you to keep spilling your feelings because someone is actually, finally listening.

Reader, I hope that you have a Kathryn in your life. If not, be a Kathryn. It makes a world of difference to talk to somebody who cares like that.

#70.

I found this note on the back of an old photograph of my grandmother. Talk about a romance!

To Eddy,

This picture tells a story

That words cannot describe

of all the things you mean to me,

in which I may try to hide

The things you do , the things you say,

That devilish glean in your eye,

All put together can mean one things,

I think you're quite a guy!

Now comes the special question,

I've been saving all this time,

All I ask is that you be,

My very own Valentine!

Love, Daisy

1948

*disclaimer: this isn't my grandmother but the photo looked similar to this one :)

#69

This one's coming......ha. haha. Stay tuned.

#68.

Running.

It is a gorgeous, fall day outside today! After walking 2 blocks to the grocery store for a last minute dinner item, I decided that I couldn't let the day go by without properly enjoying it. So I got back to my apartment and put on my Asics and left. What made it even better was that I felt good, my feet didn't hurt (I have a plethora of feet issues), and I loved exploring around the neighborhoods.

If you are reading this and haven't just gone for a walk --just to go for a walk, no other alternative purpose-- got put on a light sweater and do it. Grab a friend or a hot coffee or tea and go. Just say yes to the opportunity!

#67.

Elvis Presley.

On vinyl. On my travel mug. On a trash can. Love him. He makes any day better.

I mean, COME ON.  That face! That voice! Mmmmm!

#66.

Ode to Dentists (Not Really).

Two years ago, on my BIRTHDAY, I had 5 doctor appointments in a row....receiving also a total of 5 shots and a diagnosis that resulted in me scheduling wisdom teeth extraction. I recently went to the dentist and was reminded of this poem I wrote....sometimes the little things don't have to be happy *initially* as long as joy comes out of them at some point. This is one of those little things. (Oh, another example is when I cut my hair at 3 am.) Enjoy!

Oh dentist, I hate you.
I really just do.
I hope that it's hard for you to go poo.
You sit me down in a chair
and tell me to relax.
You sound just like a rapist
whose name could be Max.
You give me huge glasses
that make me look like a bug,
I'd rather walk around naked
and wipe my ass on a rug.
And on top of all of this,
you think it's ok
to prod in my mouth
and use words like decay.
If that's not enough,
fluoride varnish is a swear word,
Channing Tatum is a big turd,
And getting my wisdom teeth
out doesn't make me a nerd!

That pretty much sums up my birthday :) I had a hilarious day. (Blaise says he helps with the good lines. But he's still got his wisdom teeth and keeps reminding me of that. Sucker.)

#65.

Bad life decisions…..little ones. Like cutting my hair at 3 am.

So I pay $70 a haircut once a year because I have funky curly hair that sorta does its own thing most of the time. Oh, and I REALLY like to roll out of bed and not do a single thing to my hair so low maintenance works for me.

Atttt the same time, I’m spontaneous and embrace whimsical decisions…thinking that, whatever the risks or consequences are, I can work with them. I’ve cried over many a bad haircut, believe me. So why I decided 2 nights ago to cut my hair at 3 am, knowing that the first day of school was a mere 7 hours away, or I could botch it and I could break down and cry, or make myself look retarded, or think that that double cowlick I had when I had bangs at age 10 would be gone at age 21………it pretty much came down to doing something just because I was saying ‘yes’ to an opportunity.

FIRST RULE OF IMPROV. RIGHT THERE. Just say ‘yes’. Which is contrary to that D.A.R.E. song about just saying no.*

So these are some thoughts I have had living with this choice:

1.      Ok. Bangs are just not sexy. They’re not.

2.      I look 14. But I guess it’s better to look younger than way older? Ha? Maybe?....no? oh.

3.      I have perfected the “oh, shoot, they didn’t recognize me” cover up. Ya know, when you wave at somebody and they A) don’t even see you or the gesture directed at them, B) look away quick because a stranger just acted like they knew them WHAT A WEIRD PERSON ESCAPE FAST being their thought process, or C) they just actually don’t even register you on their familiarity radar. So you have to do a quick recovery action….like pretend you’re tucking some stray hair behind your ear. Or fix your ponytail. Or act like you just meant to dig through your purse. Or maybe there was a bee. Or you just say, “sorry. Touretts.” to anybody in the vicinity that is looking at you funny.

To make myself feel better, I decided to channel Zoey Deschanel’s style and convince myself that her version of cute is mature and doesn’t make her look 14. This is what I think, in my head, that I currently look like:

This is what I would like to look like as the bangs grow out, hopefully bringing sexy back…successfully:

*Clarification: I have never done drugs and really only do crazy, mostly legal spontaneous things. I don’t say “yes” to robbing banks, running over painfully slow old codgers crossing the road, or sex with someone I just met at a bar. To name a few. You get the gist.

Oh, and um, shoutout to Angela for being honest and making me laugh. And to Emily for saying I look like a European model. Love you and cherish you both!

#64.

One Tree Hill.

Marathons of One Tree Hill.

I reached a new level of laziness with my new roommate Annie the last few days. Having my warts treated has immobilized me from doing very much in terms of physical activity or really going anywhere. Soooo….Annie and I embarked on watching this show. We seriously did not move from our spots in the living room for 7 hours 3 days in a row.

If you can’t experience that level of contented laziness at some point in your life, I hope that you are at least doing something relaxing FOR YOUSELF and nobody else. It’s healthy.

That’s my conclusion at the end of this beautiful experience.

#63.

K4713. And Mr. January.

I have these two friends from high school and this is how they are in my phone. I knew Moe (Mr. January...there is a longer story, courtesy of another of my best friend's crazy dreams) from church, our families met when we were around 12 years old. Katie (K4713...how her brother once wrote her name on a cd because he thought it looked like 'katie'. I just always thought it looked cool.) and I met in 7th grade where we had homeroom together...or science class? Either way, it was the same teacher.

These two people have always made me laugh. Katie has always been the kindest, most caring friend I have ever had. And also the person that I loved shopping the most with before seeing a late night movie. Katie also has this lovely sense of humor and appreciation for all things simple and enjoyable, such as sunny days, reading a great book in a cute place, and great coffee.

Moe has the craziest expressions, laughs, and reactions. He probably doesn't know it but he has encouraged me the most to be the dreamer that I am. It kind of started out with show choir and the encouragement just kept coming from there. It wasn't anything straight-forward. It's just how he is. Oh, and he basically lived with my family our senior year of high school. Plenty of sleep-deprived, embarrassing, crazy ridiculous stories. My poor younger sister was the victim of many of the pranks that occurred that year.

Katie and Moe spontaneously came to visit tonight (those are MY FAVORITE kind of visits) and we laughed over the stupidest and most random stuff. Cereal for dinner. Discovery Health viewing. Massages at sketchy places in the mall. The Glee Project. Reality TV in general. My parents.

Basically, if you don't have a Moe or Katie in your life, you are missing out on a bundle of snorting, silent, tearful laughs and clumsy, awkward, hilarious interactions that you just have to embrace.

This was during our first year of college. The Ronald McDonald hair was a huge mistake on my part. 

#62.

I jinxed it. Ya know that last blog post? I had SUCH a great day that day!! The next day.....mmmmm, total opposite. I woke up early, had breakfast with my mother and was startin' off pretty darn good! Feelin good, feeling awake and ready to go. I checked my emails and found this from the director of the Tango School where I got the internship for back in my 54th blog post (read it here):

Hi Ellyse, 

I'm very, very sorry, but I'm not going to be able to provide you with an internship opportunity for the fall. I have too much going on, and I am going to be out of town too much, to provide a consistent experience. I've thought about it a lot and tried to think of ways to make it work. But it's not the right timing/fit for the school. 

Good luck finding something else.

Cue the instant tears. Seriously. Called my mom over and all I could get out was, "What is this? What does this mean?" But we had to leave because I had scheduled 4 doctor appointments all in one day, only being in town for a short amount of time. I washed my face, threw mascara, concealer, and bronzer in my purse and put my makeup on in the car during sporatic outbursts of tears. Classes start in a week and I suddenly don't have an internship. ON TOP OF THAT, I got 19 warts treated on my feet. To spare you the disgusting details, I have never been in pain like that in my life and I've been getting them treated the last 2 years. This treatment was the worst because they had multiplied from 6 to 19. 

 

Mom gave me Vicodin. Now, I almost considered making that the little thing that absolutely made my day. Because, lemme tell you, I was no longer writhing and yelling (literally) in pain after 10 mins of popping that little baby. But really, the thing that carried me through was my family. With special shout-outs to my mom who is just superwoman and my brother who somehow made me laugh instead of scream once or twice.

I still don't have an internship but that's being figured out and I know it's going to be ok! I'm still in pain but I've got lots of distractions to take my mind off of it (and a few more of those amazing pills)!

To all those who have days that seem like they're from hell, I betcha you can always find that one little thing that really brought you a little bit of happiness. In fact, I know it happened and will happen on every stinkin' bad day you ever have. Will you be open to recognizing it?

#61.

Family Friends.

My family vacations with 3 other families that we have remained close with for the past 17 years. We try to go to the Outer Banks every year but as we are all families of 5, scheduling and tuition payments sometimes keep us from vacationing as often as we'd like. And that's really ok. Because we all live within 20 mins of eachother.

All of us kids fight like siblings. We tease each other like siblings. We sometimes side-up with our non-siblings when a classic sibling fight is going down. It doesn't matter that our ages range from 7 to 21. I love all of the moments we have and how classic they are! I don't know how our parents decided that it was a good idea to stick 20+ people in house together for a week....but somehow, murder doesn't happen, mayhem occurs rarely, and toilet paper is replenished with little drama. CLEARLY, this is a God thing! Haha

We came home from vacation this past Sunday and went out to dinner for my brother's 19th birthday with ANOTHER family that we've been close with nearly as long. It occurred to me as I was uploading pictures of the night onto my hard drive, that we are astoundingly blessed. These families are amazing. The parents are so supportive and did such an incredible job raising all of us (that goes for their own kids and their psuedo-kids!).

I'm so thankful for these relationships and how much sheer happiness and gumption they give me. This can only be credited to the blessings God has given us!

The only group picture we managed to get wasn't on my camera so here are a some of mostly everyone mentioned!

#60.

Vegan dinner with Noriette.

My fellow staff member and I had a cooking adventure Friday night! I ripped a recipe out of some cooking magazine I read last weekend and wanted to try it merely for the fact that it just looked so pretty and colorful!!

Doesn't it?!

I had such a fun time talking with her and laughing together as we sliced, diced, and absolutely-obliterated-to-little-bits parsley, mint, and lemon zest. (By the way, if you have a dicer, it is a GREAT way to release anger. For future reference.)  It was a monsoon outside while we cooked but we couldn't care less. It was really fun to bond, discuss family and beliefs, and of course talk about the opposite sex. I mean, c'mon, we're women. It's what we do.

Here's how our dinner turned out, we're pretty proud of it and thought it tasted fabulous!!

#59.

Dr. Dinch and some encouraging words.

Lately, it has been difficult to appreciate the little things. Not gonna lie.

I was having a sad, "I-feel-so-blue", woe is me chat with my friend (who we will fondly call 'Dr. Dinch') the other day and he sent me some verses:

Numbers 23:19-21 NKJV
God is not a man, that He should lie,
Nor a son of man, that He should repent.
Has He said, and will He not do?
Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good?

Behold, I have received a command to bless;
He has blessed, and I cannot reverse it.

He has not observed iniquity in Jacob,
Nor has He seen wickedness in Israel.
The Lord his God is with them,
And the shout of a King is among them.

Dr. Dinch: He has blessed His people, so who can reverse that blessing? He is not a man that He should lie or change His mind. He has not observed sin or wickedness in His people. If God says you are blessed (and He does) then you are. No one else can change that. No one, even if they curse you with negative words, pointing out your failures, can change the blessings with which God has annointed our heads. He does not see your sin because He has already seen it on His Son. You are blessed, Beloved, and nothing can ever reverse that blessing.

Yeah! It is a fact. Not a future hope. A perfect tense fact. You have been blessed, and that implies a continuation of that blessing. When others come against you, you say, "I am greatly blessed, highly favored, and dearly loved." And the more you truly KNOW that, the richer your life becomes. He has blessed you!

Me: And that nobody can change that because he's God. My grandma used to say "he who pays says" when we went out to eat anywhere and I just chuckled thinking about that. God (through Jesus) paid and said how this whole blessing thing is going to go. He blessed. And that's permanent.

Dr. Dinch: Haha that's perfect. It is hard to be miserable when you know you're blessed...and you know a good future is in store for you. And when you speak blessings into your life, you might just see them come true. If you speak curses into your life ("my back ALWAYS hurts." Or "I'm always failing at that." Or "I'll never find a husband.") you'll probably find that the curses come true too.

I appreciated this conversation for a couple of reasons:
1. Obviously I wasn't in the most cheery mood and chatting with a friend made me feel better.
2. The words themselves encouraged me.
3. I am an eternal optimist (which contradicted my mood at that point and I realized that and quickly made a decision to be postive DAMN IT.)
4. I am a dreamer. If I dream about something I want happening, don't tell me I can't do it. If God wants me to have it, I'M GOING TO HAVE IT. Don't go all Negative Nancy on me.
5. And overall, this conversation just made sense to me. If you're thinking that you're not worth it, that you are NEVER going to do well on something, or you're NEVER going to make it......And that actually holds truth time after time....well, um, why are you surprised?! You said all those things would never happen in the first place. My last boss used to ask, honestly and not sarcastically, "How's the working for you?.....Oh, it's not? Hm. Looks like you got something to change." That 'something' was 9 times out of 10, attitude.

A some-what serious blogpost requires a little bit of humor!

Romans 15:13 NLT

I pray that God, the source of hope, will fill you completely with joy and peace because you trust in him. Then you will overflow with confident hope through the power of the Holy Spirit.

#58.

It's my birthday!

21 Fun Facts About Me:

1. I spell things out in my head (though sometimes out loud) when I'm texting.
2. My screenname is ImmaSnappleFact because I collect snapple caps!
3. I learned to snap first-year of college.
4. When I was flying over Italy, after leaving Athens, I was listening to "Merano" from the musical "Chess". Irony? Love it :) Definitely intended.
5. I am hoping, praying, dreaming of going to Buenos Aires to study the Argentine Tango in April.....I plan on flying into Argentina listening to "Buenos Aires" from another one of my favorite musicals, "Evita".
6. The sound of someone texting can send me straight from a perfectly euphoric mood into a monster. It's really only the loud keyboards that do it. The soft keyboards of droids and such don't really get me.
7. Air Conditioning kind of drives me batty. I prefer to just keep the windows open and get a fan or two going. (My reasoning: It's summer. I've waited the whole bitter, miserable winter for this. I'm enjoying it while I have it!)
8. I'm a natural blonde. But for the past year I've been a brunette.
9. One day, I want to be the person to name nail polishes. Ya know the ones that are catchy like "I'm Not Really a Waitress" Red?
10. My common phrases are "hakuna matata," "I concur whole-heartedly," and "boo you whore" (props if you get the movie reference).
11. I also always have a song playing in my mind when I'm in a car with someone. As if there was a soundtrack to my life, that song would be the one that completely summarizes our relationship, the day, the moment, the experience.
12.  I don’t have an ipod and I prefer it that way. I am in love with my old-fashioned stereo.
13. One of my favorite gifts was a large bag of reese cups as a going away to college gift from my best friend in high school.
14. After college, if all else fails, I'm trying out for America's Next Top Model. (sorry Mom. And Glenn! You're still my favorite photographer. And I still wanna work for you one day.)
15. This is the first year since about the age of 5 that I won't be attending a baseball event of sorts on my birthday.
16. I wish 'pranking' was a skill I could put on my resume.
17. One big life lesson I've learned from the Argentine tango: slow down. There's no rush.
18. My college doesn't have frats or sororities. When I lived in Greece, 2 of the students in my programs were frat boys from Oklahoma. They introduced me to the phrase "take it to the face." I do not TAKE alcohol to the face, thank you very much. But I will most certainly ALWAYS take bread to the face :)
19. I appreciate opera music when I'm in bed and reading. Not even kidding.
20. I hate my boobs. I use to be such a lovely little size 32A because of dance and running. Now, I am a C, sometimes D depending on where I shop.
21. I completely forgot to update this ON my actual birthday even though I've had it typed up for a long time now. oops.

#57.

Riding in a convertible on a lovely summer evening, looking great with 2 other dolled up and ready to dance friends.

'Nuff said. :)

Note: This is not me or anyone I know. I didn't get to take a picture to document the event so I had to resort to a google image search :) This happens to be a picture from the magazine Marie Claire.