It calls me back

Little Joy- No Ones Better Sake

Well I returned from vacation 3 days ago and already I am off again. This time, a family trip to Florida. I couldn't stay away too long from the ocean. I so look forward to being the biggest bum ever. My plans include: runs on the beach, yoga in the mornings, reading, laying out and swimming. Nothing more, nothing less. Wishing that certain someone could come with. 3 weeks cannot come soon enough. Anyways, I hope to be able to blog once or twice while there but am not quite sure of the internet connectivity, so we'll see. As for now, I'll leave you with some summer-ey photos and some music by Little Joy.

all images via: weheartit.com

smell of your salt on my skin

Laura Veirs-To the Country

After returning from Cape Cod and Boston, it has suddenly come to my attention that it is necessary for me to eventually live somewhere by the sea. I adore crisp, chilly beaches filles with fog and mist, full of the smell of salt in the air. I miss waking up to the sound of sea gulls every morning. There is something about life near the sea that is so charming to me. Perhaps I was a sailor in another lifetime... Who knows. All I know is that I am drawn to the sea like a magnet. It quenches my thirst for something more. It warms my heart. I love taking ferries and feeling the wind whip my face, I love imagining all of the life that is going on under the surface of the sea, and I love the feel of the cold sand crinkling under my feet. I'll leave you with some pictures from the trip as well as music by Laura Veirs (it accompanies the pictures quite well I think).

Travel Travel Travel

Coconut Records-I am Young

"The World is a book, and those who do not travel read only a page." ~St. Augustine

It has come time for the annual trip with my Aunt and sister to commence. This year's destination: Boston, Cape Cod and and Martha's Vineyard. I am so excited. The past few trips have been focused on the west coast, from Vancouver and Seattle to San Francisco. I am so looking forward to checking out what the east coast has to offer. Plans for the trip are very lenient and it seems that we will be hopping from one little beach town to the next, finally finishing up in Boston. I will make sure to take a copious amount of photos so that I can share them with all of you lovely people. I will be gone for a week but hopefully will find time to perhaps blog in between. As for now I will leave you with some music by Coconut Records.

images via: weheartit.com

Big Change

Tennis-Marathon

Sitting here this morning, drinking my coffee and enjoying the sun, I have decided that it is finally time to share my exciting, life changing news. So in my past few posts I have been alluding to some majorly scary but altogether exciting life changes. I didn't dare share the details until I had them finally all figured out. As I have alluded to in the past, all of my major life decisions in college (and in life) have been made based off of pleasing everyone around me but myself. I never once really sat down and asked myself what I wanted to do with my life.

Then, the other day I decided to listen to my heart and I made a list of what inspires me and what I could see myself doing for the rest of my life. I felt like since I had just graduated and was going to be entering in grad school for Spanish, that if there was a time to make a change, now was the time. So after much thought and discussion with some great friends and finally, with my family, I decided that my calling is to work with animals. Anyone who knows me well knows that animals are my passion. I have had a connection with them since I was a child and there is no denying that it is there.

So I have decided to enter into a two year program for veterinary technology. I am extremely excited about this new direction that my life is going to head in. I was so nervous to talk to my parents about this but they also saw that there was no denying my connection with animals. They know that this is what I truly want and because they are my parents and love me unconditionally, they were more than supportive and just glad to see me passionate about something. So yes, I am entering into the program, already got accepted actually. The program is actually going to take me about 3 years. The program itself is two years but there is a waiting list for the second year. During that year off I will be working at a vet's office getting experience, kind of like a co-op, which will help me in the long run to get hired. The second part of the program deals more with human to animal contact and we will be taking trips to vet offices and farms to work with animals.

I could not be more excited and I know that this is truly where my passion lies. I am so excited to be able to share this with you guys (all 10 people who read this). I am sure it is a surprise to some and I wish I could have shared sooner but I wanted to make sure that it was a definite thing before I shared the exciting news. I'll leave you guys with a new song that the lovely Victoria introduced me to. It is by Tennis and is called Marathon. They have such a fun summery vibe to them and they make me smile (what more could you ask for??!)

image via: weheartit.com

If it's a Crime, Then I'm Guilty

Billie Holiday-Guilty

While at work today I watched "Coco Before Chanel" with the lovely Kate. First of all, you must be thinking to yourself, "What?! You get paid to watch movies." Yes, yes I do. You see I work in a computer lab on campus and during the summer we average...oh about 2 people per day. So that being said, we have a lot of free time on our hands. During the school year it is much busier but I still get time to do my homework. So yes, my job is pretty amazing and I could definitely get used to this, although I shouldn't allow myself to because the fact is that this commodity will not last forever.

Anyways, back to the original thought of this post; the movie was amazing and so inspiring. The way it was filmed, with the lighting and music, not to mention the amazing acting done by the lovely Audrey Tatou, it was to die for. The whole story of Coco Chanel is so inspiring. Did you know that after her mum died from tuberculosis, her dad abandoned her and her sister and they were left as orphans, raised in a monastery? From there she built her life up, never giving in to what was thought to be fashionable at the time. She road horses while adorning men's clothing, refused to wear a corset, and was very careful to give her heart away to the men who swooned over her. In my eyes, she epitomizes class, elegance, flirtation and the will to take chances. She is an inspiration for me to remember that no matter where you are in life. keeping it classy is always the way to go. I think Coco said it best by stating, "A girl should be two things: classy and fabulous." I highly recommend the movie.

I think I want to start reading more biographies and autobiographies of people I find to be inspirational. On my list so far are: Coco Chanel, Ludwig Van Beethoven, Audrey Hepburn and Lady Gaga (quite a mix, I know). Also on my reading list for the summer are: "Peony in Love" by Lisa See, "The Woodsman's Daughter" by Gwyn Hyman and "Committed: A Skeptic Makes Peace with Marriage" by Elizabeth Gilbert (somewhat of a continuation from her very popular book, Eat, Pray, Love). I like to think that one day I will fill a whole wall with my books. I know it seems crazy to buy books when you can easily rent them, but I love books too much to only lend them for a week or two. I'd feel like I was cheating on my love of reading if I only rented books. My love for them goes so much deeper. I feel that I can't truly get into a book unless I own it and know that it's mine. Unless I know that I can sniff the pages, bend back the covers or get them sandy and wet at the beach. I like to wear my books in. That it a sign of a good read.

Anyways, I will leave it at that for now. I hope you enjoy the images as well as the musical accompaniment of Billie Holiday.

images via: weheartit.com

Family

Nickel Creek-When You Come Back Down

I just found a lot of really old family pictures and thought I'd share them. Anyone who knows me knows that I am the biggest family person ever. They have always been there for me and have always provided me with unceasing love. So this post is for them. My family so so big that there is no way I could post everyone's pictures. Instead I'm just going to post some really old ones because those are my favorites. Especially of the family members I never had to opportunity to meet. Sometimes I like to imagine meeting them back in the day. I wonder what they would have been like and what kind of conversations we would have had.

My Grandpa Willy. He passed away about 2 years ago. Love him. Love this photo. That cap was his signature hat.

My grandpa back when he was a bad ass

My dad, me, mom and grandpa

my grandpa and me at Christmas time

My great Grandpa Ernie I. Love this foto, so vintage

My great grandpa Ernie I and his wife Thelma on their wedding day in 1942. So cute

My great grandpa Austin. 100% Irish and proud

My mom (on the right) and her cute little pixie cut

High On This Feeling of Love

Lenny Kravitz-Let's Get High

good to feel free like these birds

fireworks from the past weekend

you can't really tell but i was dressed very festively for the 4th of july

Apologies for such a late post. I hope everyone enjoyed a safe and fun fourth of July weekend. I have been rather busy working on rearranging my life. Yes, very serious stuff. I am still working on the details and will be more than happy to share once it is all arranged. Let me tell you, it can be absolutley terrifying to make such a big life-changing decision but at the same time it feels good to stand up for what I know my heart wants. It feels good to not be afraid to disappoint. In other good news, I have been able to talk to Vanya almost 5 days in a row now. It makes the fact that he is on the other side of the planet not so intimidating anymore. 5 weeks cannot come soon enough! In the meantime, I'll leave you with some pictures of the fireworks from this past weekend and a little music from Lenny Kravitz.

images via my camera and weheartit.com

coffee,blogs,cats,decisions

Rufus Wainwright-Maker Makes

my little bugger

There is nothing I love more than weekend mornings with my coffee (with peppermint creamer), my cat, and my blogs. One thing that is a new addition to this lovely Saturday morning, however, is a major life decision that has come to my attention. It seems that many people my age are coming to the startling realization that their college degrees are useless and that they have no fucking idea what they want to do with their lives. It seems to be the common thread of discussion during massive coffee drinking sessions with friends. Now that we have finished this four years of study, where do we go with what we have learned? Have we truly learned anything?

I can honestly say that I have learned very little, and that saddens me. I have improved my Spanish, but outside of that, I do not feel that my money went towards something of value. I went through 4 years of school to earn the right to have a piece of paper that says I am qualified. Qualified to do what? That's my question.

I suppose that I have come to this major dilemma because my whole life I have centered my actions around pleasing everyone else but myself. I keep telling myself that I need to make decisions for myself and not for anyone else, but that always seems to be easier said than done. I am sure that my family is so tired of my indecisiveness, but then again they should know by now that that is just a part of who I am. I don't want to be afraid to disappoint. So that being said, I am working on some new prospects with regards to the direction I want my life to lead. At this point I don't dare go into details until I find out more information, so stay tuned and I will be sure to keep everyone updated.

As for now, an going to finish my pot of coffee, fix myself some lunch, go for a run, and enjoy the holiday weekend.

images via: weheartit.com