poolside

In the last month, I've spent a lot of time by the pool, either studying, or reading for fun, or just laying out and listening to music and thinking. It's so relaxing. AND I'm starting to turn a lovely shade of tan. So, in the spirit of spring and the semester almost ending, I'd like to share some of my favorite poolside tunes. hooray!

Yeasayer - O.N.E.

Laura Viers - July Flame

Frightened Rabbit - Good Arms vs Bad Arms

Vetiver - Everyday

slaying the dragon.

I totally ganked this picture from google... but I have spent more time in this building in the past two weeks than I have my entire two years at Auburn. The Ralph Brown Draughon Library: aka RBD. aka "the dragon". Some of my friends like to call spending time in rbd "slaying the dragon". Well, I've "slayed the dragon" for approximately fifteen hours in the past few days. I've been writing a research paper, a child analysis paper, and studying for a lab midterm and a test. Not only is the time spent between the shelves grueling, but the effort it takes to actually get through the doors could take up to an hour: packing up, driving halfway there, remembering you forgot headphones (very important), turning around, finally getting back, then circling the parking deck for up to half an hour before settling for a parking spot across the street. Then, you get to walk in, pick your floor, and hope to goodness you find an empty table. Oh, for the days of working out, going to the pool, and reading for fun! Tomorrow, they shall return.

sweeeet diissspooosition..

Let me begin this post by stating that I love live music. Every new concert experience serves as a reminder of this fact.

Last Friday night, one of my roommates and seven of our friends took a trip to Atlanta to see The Temper Trap. I don't think I've ever been closer to a band at a concert. The Kissaway Trail opened, and was probably one of the greatest opening bands I've seen - they're from Denmark (cool points.), and they have a member of their band who plays the tambourines. tambourines! He wore suspenders, also (more cool points), and danced around the stage. They had such an energetic and fun band - you could tell they were truly enjoying their time on stage. The Temper Trap was equally as great - they played all of their album Conditions, and the lead singer really knows how to put on a show.

I didn't record any videos or take many pictures, so this music video will have to suffice. Picture them live. It was so great. I'm so thankful I have friends who love the same music as I do, and who will travel to different states to see incredible bands.

The night ended at Café Intermezzo with oreo cheesecake. It was definitely one of the greatest nights of the year so far.

"you are a lone reed."

Auburn has been covered in pollen. I just looked up a few synonyms for "covered" and found smothered, stifled, and coated. All are fitting verbs for this springtime dusting.

My respiratory system is being smothered by pollen.

My car is coated in yellow specks.

The pollen is stifling the spirits of nearly every Auburn student...

I've fallen in love with this commercial, and have downloaded the song in it fo' free from Amazon. It's called "Stole My Heart" by Little and Ashley, and it's a wonderful springtime tune.

Finally, a recent discovery: consider it a gift from me to you - the screenplay for one of my favorite movies.

Movie scripts are such a treat. Who besides Nora Ephron could ever come up with descriptions like "she sits down at her computer, an expression of anticipation and guilty pleasure as she clicks the mouse"?

this week was a killer.

This week was two days of utter disillusionment, followed by two days of absolutely ridiculous stress. And now I'm in Birmingham for the weekend. I'm ready for life to go back to normal and to start blogging again. I'm ready for Monday. A fresh, new, stress free week. I need a start-over.

Did I ever mention that I went to an alpaca farm last Saturday night?

It started out as a plan to go geocaching, which quickly changed into a plan to watch Fantastic Mr. Fox, which reluctantly turned into a "let's drive around Auburn until we find something to do" night. About an hour later, we remembered that our dear friend Gray lives behind an alpaca farm... so at approximately 11:30, we set forth. It smelled awful. We literally pulled in, parked for about three minutes, then pulled out... but it was an adventure.

Did I also mention that Sno Biz opened today?

It was while enjoying a lovely Georgia Passion shaved ice that I made the decision to go home a night early.

So now I'm laying in bed, at home, taking a break from watching Mad Men to blog. I love being here. I love a change of scenery to relax my mind and get my wits back together.

a new obsession

spring break: part two

the last half of my week was split between Auburn and Birmingham.

Probably my favorite moment of all of spring break was on wednesday night, in Auburn, when my roommates and I watched Away We Go. This movie is so brilliantly wonderful. Within thirty seconds after the ending, I knew it had made the list of my top five favorite movies. Normally, I have to think about and sleep on a movie before I can even begin to articulate an opinion about it, but this case was different. A witty script, hilarious John Kransinski moments, and a soundtrack comprised of Alexi Murdoch songs all contributed to my instant love for this movie. Really, I think I could go on about it forever. It's so deep, too... I just love it. Watch it. But not with your parents.

At home, I made several successful shopping trips yielding new sandals, an Easter dress, tennis equipment, and the sending off of my Dad's old 35mm camera for cleaning and repairing. In four weeks, I will have it back, and film photography will officially be a new hobby. I'm counting the days. I also crafted up a storm, got some sun in my backyard, and enjoyed my parents' incredible cooking.

I think Spring Break is my favorite. Summer and Christmas are filled with working. Thanksgiving is for traveling and family obligations and preparation for finals. On Spring Break, there are no commitments, no rules, no school. Just good food, good books, and fun times. I love all breaks from school equally, but for different reasons. Spring Break is my "I don't care because I don't have any responsibilities and I can sleep all the time, read for fun, and choose the people I hang out with" break.

this year = success.

spring break: part one

Saturday through Wednesday was spent in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina with thirty-ish friends in two cute little beach cottages.

Day One

can be summed up as this:

driving. driving. driving. misery.

driving. bathroom break. driving. lunch.

driving. driving. five pounds of peanut m&ms.

arrival!

excitement.

all remaining energy spent on excitement.

sleep.

Days Two and Three

were somewhat cloudy, a little chilly, but still warm enough to go on the beach for a few hours. There was a lot of frisbee and longboarding and bocce ball. A lot of sandwiches. A lot of blue bell ice cream... two ideal spring break days.

Day Four

was cold and cloudy and awful. We stayed in our sleeping bags in our eno hammocks all day, reading and trying to stay warm. I read a huge chunk of my book The Know-It-All by A.J. Jacobs. The day ended with dinner at River City Cafe.

Day Five

was the day we left. Therefore, it was another day filled with driving and sleeping and reading. After ten hours on the road, it felt so wonderful to walk back into our apartment. Katie and I decided that it was the most we had ever looked forward to being home.

Throughout all of this (and the rest of the week, really) I was listening to the sweet, sweet sounds of The XX, Mumford & Sons, and Florence + The Machine. I associate almost every album I own with a specific time in my life, and these three will definitely remind me of sb10.

spring break sneak peek

I've been away.
driving and relaxing and reading and crafting..

It's been so nice. updates and pictures soon - consider this a preview of things to come.

marvelous mondays

Disclaimer: This is the only semester in my entire life in which I have felt this way. In fact, it will probably be the only few months of my life that I do feel how I feel.

I love Mondays.

Yes, you heard me. I'm not crazy. Here's why:

I only go to two classes, and I'm done at 10:00. I walk home, freshen up, then run errands (groceries, gas, etc). I come home and eat lunch, then if I'm tired, I take a nap. If I'm not tired, I do homework or clean or watch a movie. I eat dinner then go to my favorite coffee shop for the rest of the night to study. It's so scheduled. So productive. So relaxing and methodical. It's the only day of my week that I can count on to accomplish things or knock out an entire to do list. Mondays are my day.

This Monday has been particularly wonderful:

1. It's a sunny 72 degrees outside. I laid in my eno on our front porch while finishing up my Child Development reading, and it was so delightful. I love this weather.

2. Strawberries are in season! I bought a box at the grocery store this morning and just enjoyed a bowl of them. Fresh fruit is so great.

3. New jeans! Until Sunday, you can bring in any old pairs of jeans to Gap and get 30% off of a new pair. They're using the old denim to create eco-friendly insulation for houses. You'd better believe I took advantage of that deal! I am now the owner of a new pair of dark wash skinnies.

4. Paper productivity. I love writing for fun - blog posts, journaling... but when it comes to being forced to write about something that I have zero interest in (example: vampire literature), then there is much gnashing of teeth and pulling of hair before I actually sit down and start typing. However, tonight, I wrote a third of my Lit 2 paper - and I'm planning on writing a little more before the night is over. Productivity? check.