AAAHHHHHH It’s Here!

MY FUTURE IS LITERALLY IN MY HANDS AND I WANT TO CARRY IT EVERYWHERE WITH ME. My dad already caught a train home from work but I have to babysit until 4:30, so T-Minus hours and counting!!!

AHHHHHH!

(Confession, I already almost ripped it open by accident because I’m so anxious)

From The Island Shack (or rather, nice condo)

For today’s Hawaii related post, while my mom is still so rudely in paradise without me, here are some pictures taken from our hotel room in April.

So happy.

*song = Always Love by Nada Surf

Hawaii Revisited

My mom is back in Hawaii this week having a reunion with her brothers and sisters, so I’m going to take advantage of this time to finally post some more of the millions and millions of photos I took when we were there this April!

Since my mom is going back home to Hawaii for a family thing, I thought I’d start with some family related pictures. My grandparents on my mom’s side loved Hawaii and lived in Honolulu for forever, so my family got a bench in their memory on the beach at Waikiki. You can see it below in photos, but you should definitely go check it out in person! You can sit on it, watch the waves and get a tan. I wouldn’t mind that right now.

I thought the birds in the tree above the bench that day were kinda cute, even if they were dirty pigeons…

(In case you’re wondering, despite how this may make it seem we actually don’t go to Hawaii all of the time. I think this is the first time my mom has ever gone back home twice in one year! And I’ve only been there twice… so far)

*song = Talking Bird by Death Cab for Cutie

Some Book Lovin’

After being home for almost two weeks, I finally started unpacking today. I put on some records, and actually had a great time sorting my books!

First I found them all scattered about in the attic and other miscellaneous boxes from millions of moves.

Then I sorted them into nice piles.

And put them on my shelf! I sorted them into fiction and non-fiction, and then alphabetized them.(You can tell I’m a nerd by how excited I am about this)

Since I’ve been kind of obsessed with books my entire life, here are some unsolicited readings tips. I have the reading tastes of a 12-year-old, but it’s way more fun that way!

Absolute Favorite Authors: Rick Riordan & Ally Carter. Read any of their books, and I guarantee you will have a marvelous experience. Start with Heist Society and The Lightning Thief.

Newest Favorite Book: I am a Genius of Unspeakable Evil and I Want to be Your Class President by Josh Lieb (one of the writers of The Daily Show). It’s just brilliantly hilarious. Read it now. I picked it up at random and it was one of the best things to happen to me all summer.

honorable mention: I also just read Dust City by Robert Paul Weston, and it was a really cool, gritty, action, futuristic Grimm’s fairy tale mystery detective procedural. Totally worth checking out. Bonus? A pretty cover design.

What I’m currently reading: Wildwood by Colin Meloy (fun fact: he’s the lead singer in The Decemberists), and illustrated by Carson Ellis. So far it’s like The Chronicles of Narnia, but set in Portland. Very happy.

I would so love to work in a book store.

*song = I’m Reading a Book by Julian Smith. It’s so awesome, and I want you to watch it so much, that I’m going to embed it in this post.

Tasty Harvest Fun

Rewind! Back at the beginning of September, Michele and I decided to take a fun little road trip. We went all the way down to Thomas Jefferson’s home, Monticello, for a fun little heritage harvest festival.

I’d never been there before, and it was beautiful! These are long overdue, but the pictures are still plenty enjoyable now.

This is us. At the market.

We listened to some music under this tree while eating a delicious lunch.

We also saw the world’s cutest donut truck!

We took lots of pictures. (I bet you didn’t guess that!)

And sampled delicious heirloom tomatoes, apples, marshmallows and watermelon.

The craft part was fun to look at.

As were the gardens!

Fin.

(look! I am actually catching up on these posts, just like I said I would)

*song = This is Not a Test, by She & Him

Farewell for Now, D.C.

It seems crazy that it’s only been one week since I was frolicking around in D.C. But I spent my last weekend there having an amazing time enjoying all D.C. has to offer with Kaitlin, Caitlin & Alex. Thanks guys for being awesome!

Here’s some of what it looked like:

On one of my last days Caitlin & I played in Georgetown, including discovering a delicious fish n' chips place on the waterfront. It was lovely.

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And Kaitlin came and visited again from Richmond! It was wonderful. We made the rounds to all of the classic D.C. sites and the National Zoo to see the adorable lion cubs, even though it was FREEZING! Apparently it was the coldest it’s ever been in the area during this time of year. But it was so worth the cold.

And this was our last trip to the heavenly Baked & Wired. I’m already suffering from severe OMG Bar withdrawals…

*song = Little Bribes by Death Cab for Cutie

You’re Waiting for a Train…

Ok, I couldn’t resist the Inception reference.

These are bonus pictures from the very end of the Honesdale trip. On the way home to D.C. Annie dropped me off in the nearest hopping town to catch a bus, which is how I randomly found myself in Scranton, Pennsylvania, a.k.a. the place where The Office is set. Cool beans.

While I was killing time in the Steamtown mall I discovered there was some sort of train fun going on next door. And now pictures of them are here, because I liked trains a lot. This place would make an awesome set for a mock photo shoot with friends!

My transportation across the street was far less glamorous…

And speaking of transportation, I officially moved from D.C. back home to Portland just last night. Surprise! I’m actually working on my papers to go on a mission right now, and hope to have them submitted ASAP. I’m excited and feel great!

I have a backup cache of blog entries about the last few weeks of D.C. that will be coming here soon, but to tide you over you should check out the fabulous Caitlin’s blog entry about our recent adventures!

*song = There Goes the Fear by the Doves

**For those who want to enjoy the whole quote: “You’re waiting for a train. A train that’ll take you far away. You know where you hope this train will take you, but you can’t know for sure. Yet it doesn’t matter. Now, tell me why? Because you’ll be together.”