Evening stroll

The outcome of a recent early evening walk around campus:

Going for walks like this make me appreciate the beauty of my campus and how lucky I am to live in such a beautiful part of the world. These are some of the gardens that I get the pleasure of passing every time I go to and from class. I am grateful that my school takes so much pride in the scenery on campus.

After this walk, I proceeded to go grocery shopping. I don't know why, I didn't really have anything I needed to pick up. I ended up wandering the aisles aimlessly and by the time I reached the check out and peered down into my basket, it looked as if a maniac had pulled an incoherent selection of random food off the shelves and into my basket. 

Which is exactly what had happened. 

Because that maniac was me.

Sea Breeze

I make pretty faces.

{Tank: American Eagle, Cardigan: Anthropologie, Jeans: Big Blue, Boots: Roberto Vianni}

I went on a little trip with part of my family {a brother and a sister were missing} over the weekend in celebration of my mom's birthday. The ferry ride was beautiful, as usually, and the trip back was even sunnier. I had a great time catching up with my extended family, eating great food, watching hockey, and playing more card and dice games than one would find in a casino. All in all, a fantastic way to spend a long weekend!

My uncle caught these bad boys. They were delicious... I should really feel worse about saying that but I don't.

This is an accurate representation of about 99.3% of our attempts at a family portrait. They usually turn out awkward but hilarious...

... and these are the folks that get to take responsibility for our mildly crazy antics. Just kidding - there's really nothing 'mild' about our antics.

Happy 60th Birthday, Mom!

Mom, you are the strongest, smartest and most supportive woman I know. 

You are beautiful and funny and inspire me everyday. 

60 is obviously the new 30.

I love you!

Happy Birthday

Away with the Wind

{Dress: American Eagle, Cardigan: H&M, Belt: Thrifted}

I was up early for a phone interview this morning, but had no other plans for the day until my class at 6pm so I hit up a mid-afternoon RomCom with a friend. We also got frozen yogurt. It was a quality way to spend this beautiful Thursday. We saw Something Borrowed and, although I don't know how I feel about the ending, I really did enjoy the film.

Since it was so gorgeous out, I knew I wanted to wear a dress from the moment I woke up. I was really loving the circumference on this skirt - it's larger than most of the pieces in my closet - and since this dress hasn't seen the light of day for a years, I really just didn't have a choice. Although the wind was somewhat aggressive, the warmth of the sunshine mixed with all the new blooms on campus left no room for complaining.
I love sunshine!

Happy Birthday, Laura!

Thanks for always being able to make me laugh. You are beautiful, smart, and a master at crazy antics.

Happy Birthday, pretty lady!

Love you always.

{Don't judge, but this is what a family Christmas looks like. Apparently.}

P.S. you're not that short... I promise.

Back on the Wagon

{Cami: Old Navy, Cardigan: H&M, Jeans: Big Blue, Boots: Joy & Peace, Watch: Aldo}

Graveyard shifts are killing me.

Just kidding. But they have proven somewhat boring and a major disruption to my sleep schedule. The good news, however, is that they allow me to catch up on my reading. I've managed to finish off two and a half books - three of them had been left only partially read {I have a bad habit of leaving books unread during the school year}. My new coworkers are also fairly awesome. So, give and take I suppose.

Today was the first day since the end of exams that I didn't have concrete plans for my day. I was baffled and in awe this morning when I woke up with nothing to do. I would usually spend free summer break days like this at the beach attempting to reverse the vampire-esque pigmentation I deal with eleven months of the year {and to think, I'm half Spanish...} but the rain would have made that a tad bit uncomfortable. But boy am I excited for those summer days to get here! 

Aaaand "Summertime Girls" by LFO just came on my iTunes shuffle. What a way to end this post.

Some pretty pictures from a few weeks back

On Easter Sunday I spent time with my mom meandering around the botanical gardens on campus. Although it had rained heavily the day before, the gardens were still beautiful!

After a grocery shopping detour, we headed over to my parent's house for dinner.

{Mind my brothers, apparently they don't know how to smile...}

My contract is up for my job {sad} and I start my last class of my undergrad tomorrow {!} so I'm hoping to be more consistent with my posting. It's on my list of summer goals, so you KNOW it will happen. I am working graveyard shifts for part of the summer though, so we'll see how that factors into things.

For the students out there, how has your summer been so far?

I'm Still Alive...

{Button up: JCrew, Skirt: Gap, Boots: Roberto Vianni, Socks: The Bay, Belt: Thrifted, Bracelets: JCrew and Thrifted}

... In case you were wondering. My busy weekend involved a lot of fancy dresses, many baked goods, and some crazy sad goodbyes. Although I still have another week of work left, my staff and students all moved out this last weekend. So I am now sitting here in an eerily quite {and freezing cold, because they accidentally turned off my heat} building all by myself. Thankfully, most of the other supervisors are staying over the summer so I'm not completely alone.

My last class ever {or at least for the foreseeable future} begins next week. I can't wait. Mostly because it means that the faster it begins, the faster it ends.

I will now continue to watch, "Leap Year." The aesthetics in this movie are fantastic - Ireland is so gorgeous. It makes me want to visit one day.

Here is the finished result of my pottery painting session from a few weeks ago. I love it - it's great for eating fresh fruit out of for breakfast!