Wednesday, June 20, 2012

let's rewind

the boys at rehoboth
While you got a little look at what beach week was, I feel like I have to say something about how it felt. Because let’s be real, I’m all about the analysis of daily life with this vacation and it just wouldn’t be me without some sort of thought process going.

Do you ever have those moments when you feel every bit of your age? I know what you are thinking. You’re thinking, “For heaven’s sake, here is this twenty-four year old complaining about being old.” I get it. More than that, I know it. I’m a baby; a child; I know nothing. It seems like every time I lay my head down at night more knowledge seeps out, particularly in the art history part of the brain--I honestly was blanking on Tiffany lamp knowledge the other day—the horrors! But here I was, surrounded by six 17 year olds, tiny babies, not yet seniors in high school and I felt that seven year age difference. They looked at me with distaste when I cracked a joke, they-gasp-did not find me funny. I was not to be included in any conversation, no advice was sought when it came to girls (and note: as a boy/guy/dude do not seek advice from other boys/guys/dudes under the age of 25, that advice will not head well with the ladies, turn to the three girls to your left and they will shed light on why your girlfriend does not find it witty and charming that your friend wrote a fart joke on your wall and insists that in the five days you are apart you at least send her one text message).

Don’t get me wrong; I grew to greatly like this group. They are good guys, they are funny, they have pretty good taste in TV, they want to go to college and do meaningful things with their life. They treat their girlfriends well and remembered to buy a gift.   

But for me, I think it was one of the first, of many I’m sure, times when I realized where I wasn’t.

As much as high school seems like yesterday, and college a second ago, those things are part of my past. High school finished six years ago, college two. I’m an alumnus of those institutions, not a student. I have friends with jobs, retirement plans, and tenure in their futures. While I may feel like I’m stuck in the daunting abyss of post grad life (and I admit, I’m not the only one), I am also embarking on the future that those 17 year olds dare to dream about. Their future is my present. I made it. I survived the SATs, graduation, finals, seminars, long papers, boring professors, internships, and the first (couple) rounds of job applications. I’ve been abroad and I’ve come back. These are the things I dreamed about; that was my future.

So I guess we are just back to the ever-consuming question of WHAT IS NEXT?

And I guess my dilemma evolves to: can you really enjoy the moment well enough to let whatever comes next just come?

There were multiple times at the beach where I thought about being seventeen again. I mean, I don’t really think I’d want to do it again, but it entered my thoughts. Not because things were easier, or high school was awesome, but because 24 was so far away. And now its not. It’s right here. Looking at me. Probably judging what I’m doing with it.

I guess I’ve begun the feeling of disconnect between how old I am and how old I feel. How can it be that already I’m thinking of going backward? Back to a time of bedtimes and curfews and juice boxes with straws. Is this only the beginning?

And yes, we can debate how all of this is totally and completely normal. How there are tons of people everywhere everyday feeling perplexed over their next steps. I get that. I hear you.

But it still leaves me thinking.

I watch this show called The Conversation. It’s awesome. I will write about its complete awesomeness at another moment. Just like John Lipton, a la Actor’s Studio, at the end of the show each person is asked the same four questions. One of them is, “What would you tell your fourteen year old self?”

I can think of a couple of things I would tell her. And none of them seems as important as wondering what she would tell me. Maybe she’d like where I’m at, but for some small reason I have this notion that there would be something else she’d say. Something maybe I don’t want to hear, and yet have to know, as if it would change the very path I’m walking. (And know I realize I am undoubtedly giving that girl way too much power. Right? That’s what you’re thinking?)

Blah.

After this, I need some chocolate.

And you…thoughts?

#beachweek

walking along rehoboth ave. 
the boys, slowly getting annoyed by me and my camera 
note to self, when walking along the beach beware of rising tide and waves, you may end up wet
funland on the boardwalk

"i think those are our boys boxers in the neighbors yard" laughter ensued

family! marge, savoy, dale, jack (marge and jack are RPCVs from the 1960s and relatives of the savoy's) 
alley shopping and twinkle lights 
the girls sitting eating dessert
one of the oldest churches in one of the oldest towns, lewes DE

the gals in lewes (thanks dale for always being our photographer!) 
typical me, to basically laugh loudly at awkward moments and to then have them captured in photographs
rehoboth beach, DE (photo credit: savoy...i was busy eating muffins) 
the guys. six friends. five days. tons of memories.

this past week savoy, her high school best friend, and i chaperoned savoy's 17 year old brother and his five friends on beach week. and let me just say, it was awesome. they were such a great group of guys and some of them even humored me as i droned on and on about high school, college, and SATs. classic mary, giving unsolicited advice to anyone. 

as my second trip to rehoboth with savoy, this trip was a welcomed oasis of relaxation. we spent hours doing nothing and enjoying every moment of it. i tried to capture some of the more picturesque or classic moments above. 

no savoy/mary trip would be complete without food, loads of laughters, and hours of conversation. we did it all, and i got to meet the infamous steph! so when all is said and done, i think it was a great success. 

#beachweek/#memories

oh, and spent too much time listening to this song copying these dance moves
oh yes, yes we did

scandal in a medium town

Sullivan exiting the BOV meeting Monday afternoon (see her in her blue suit, I'm beginning to love the woman, but we have to buy her a new suit)

if you aren't a uva alum, or don't live in charlottesville, then boy are you missing a good scandal. in the past week and a half, the uva president has been forced to resign with pressure from the uva board of visitors (BOV). and then it all hit the internet and exploded into what i can safely say is a PR nightmare.

there are a lot of rifts that make people upset. the secrecy of the BOV, the suddenness, the fact that she was the first female uva president, the good old boy network, lack of transparency in a public university...like i said, there is a lot.

monday afternoon the BOV had a meeting and invited Sullivan to attend. she wanted an open session, she got a closed session. in response to Sully's presence on grounds (for non-UVA-ers, we don't have a campus, we have grounds, we can debate the pretentiousness of this later) and the discontent (to put it mildly) of staff, faculty, students, and alumni, there was a rally on the Lawn (again, we don't have a quad or courtyard, we have the Lawn, capital "L").  the rally for transparency and it was organized by the faculty senate (yes, even the faculty agreed on the fact that it is a rare day when faculty agree on anything, so this should tell you something about the emotions of it all).

now, i feel like i need to attach a disclaimer on this post. i'm no newswoman. i have no desire to be barbara walters. i don't totally understand all the details of the issues. for a look into the news, please visit the c-ville.

but i did attend this rally.

and it was something special.

i've noticed in recent years that as much as i enjoy politics, my foreign affairs classes, my politically minded friends, at the end of the day, i get emotional about it. i get corny. and being at this rally--seeing so many people united because they feel wronged, they feel judged as unable to understand the intricacies of the problem and therefore kept in the dark, they feel like uva is a sacred place that is not being respected, its values ignored--was powerful.

standing there in the crowd i felt we were making a statement. i was making a statement. we stood together. we were a strong group.

 i want this place to remain as i knew it, to remain honorable, traditional, and yet full of hope for the future.

as i continue to follow the news, the facebook posts, the tweets, i hope that we all come out on the other side of this with a new sense of awareness for the effects of decisions, the power of words, and the belief that community matters.

i hope.
a statement if there ever was one 
enough said

Saturday, June 16, 2012

really flattered

rehoboth beach, DE

so i am super flattered to announce that i have been reblogged over at virgin on the rocks! first, thank you so much melissa, you are so awesome. second, you should follow her blog...duh! melissa writes with great honesty and humor. it's a great read no matter what subject she's writing about. third, well, i don't really have a thirds, but i felt the need to write something in order of symmetry. 

in other news, i'm wrapping up my five days at rehoboth beach with savoy, her high school best friend, her brother, and 5 other 17 year old boys. seriously. i've got some great stories to share. check back here next week!

happy saturday everyone! sleep a little, drink a little, and throw yourself a little dance party (we just had one. :)


Friday, June 15, 2012

i love me some harvard men...


because sometimes, the only thing you can do, is have a little fun. 

happy friday people!

from the harvard baseball team, some true intelligence going on

Wednesday, June 13, 2012

i'm on a plane


what i have recently realized is that i am a horrible packer. i just am totally inept. along with my inability to fold sheets (something one friends finds wildly humorous), i cannot pack. i just don't do it right. 

what i want is to be one of those super stylish women who also happens to travel lightly. who, with one carry on and one totally chic personal item, manages to pull together over a week's worth of totally fantastic outfits for day and night. 

me? i am the one biting the $25 bullet to check my baggage. the one who prays that the bag weighs under 50 pounds. 

i used to be oblivious. then i was like whatever, i'm an over packer but i always have everything. now i feel like being able to pack lightly is some highly evolved skill very together people have that i am somehow lacking. i mean, how can that be? i'm high maintenance but not by such large extremes that i can't pair down my baggage (literally). but, like for this trip, by the time i brought clothing, a couple of dresses, shoes, running stuff, running shoes (seriously a sign that working out is no good), i was exceeding my carry limits and that didn't even begin to cover the toiletries and hair stuff. 

so people, friends, really, what are the tricks? the websites are unhelpful (of course if i was tall and thin and going to the beach with my boyfriend all i would need was 5 bikinis and a cover up, but this is the real world people, target is included!), i need some real honest advice. 

anyone?
all my baggage...not really, but it could be...


Tuesday, June 12, 2012

a new york minute


this is a fabulous new york moment. so VERY cool. i don't think i'll ever ooze this kinda chic. 

but i may have to own those shoes ;)

Monday, June 11, 2012

i love weird


yes please. 

just be: reflections on vacation

Omaha, NE @ the park
This is what happens when you have a four-hour layover, you end up writing. It was either that or my book, but that just didn’t sound as interesting (which I blame on haven woken up at 3:00am and/or the fact that my book is like 900 pages and I’m on page 60…whoops).  So here I am, armed with warm tea and a banana…

Let me just start by saying that this man I am trying not to gawk at, who works here at the O’Hare airport at a gate I’m not assigned to, this man, is fabulous. He literally greeted each person who got off at this gate and let them know that if they were staying in Chicago, there is a Blues Festival going on downtown. Where was he when I deplaned?

Anywho, I digress.

This moment marks my transition into the next week of my travels. I have left Marcy in Omaha and move to see Savoy in Charlottesville. I’m flying into DC, so Savoy and I get to jumpstart our trip together with an hour car ride, a legitimate way to catch up if I do say so myself. As excited, as I am to see Savoy, for now the visit with Marcy lingers.

This was the first time I’ve visited Marcy’s hometown. Actually, this is one of the first times Marcy and I spent anytime together as our American selves. It’s a fascinating thing seeing someone in her hometown. I have another dear friend who readily accepts offers to friends home because she says there is no better way to understand a person or where they come from than being right in the middle of it. I couldn’t agree more. And while you learn so much about a friend, I also learn more about myself.

Now, I don’t consider myself to be a selfish person, but I do seem to be talking a whole lot about myself lately. I guess that is just my little way of saying that I learn something everyday, I learn something new about my weaknesses, how I think, my patience levels, how I really like my coffee, and when given enough time, I sit and think about my life.

Pretty deep stuff for the O’Hare Airport right? It’s getting real people!

Ok, so here’s what I mean. Some quick facts about Marcy: she lives with her father, she is an only child, she was born and raised in Omaha (where her parents were born, raised, and buried and where I would bet a nice little line of Pursells did the same), she went to college about an hour from her house, her first time at the beach was in Ghana as part of the Mali evacuation, she has never been west.

Here, in a short nugget, are some things I realized about me: I should thank God a million more times in a minute that I still have my Mom; my siblings really do rule no matter how crazy they are or how much we disagree; I am really glad no one in my family smokes; moving around all the time sucked, having multiple elementary schools and middle schools is not what I wanted, but no matter, because that transformed me into this person who has funny school stories from all over, who knows and has seen some pretty cool places, and was lucky enough to have one high school, just in case Saved By the Bell really was a realistic portrayal of high school life (fyi—they lied).  I’ve been in college far away and chose to come home. My parents think it’s awesome that I have friends to visit across the country. (I don’t know when my first trip to a beach was, I’ll have to ask my mom that, but I do know that I lived in Hawaii by the age of four, so I do have about 19 years on Marcy for that one.)

I’m still not sure how I feel about being constantly surrounded by cornfields. Both cool and scenic and yet my knowledge of John Deere trackers may become embarrassingly in depth.

So, what does an organic eating, former vegan, worldly, well-educated fashionista do for 8 days in Nebraska (and some time in Iowa)?

Embrace it.

The point to all of this is that Marcy and I come from two different worlds. We got the opportunity to be friends because of this bizarre experience called Peace Corps. And now, we got to see what we are like in our natural surroundings. A bunch of things stuck—we crack each other up, we can talk for hours about nothing, we belt out country songs like we have an audience, we love the same sappy romantic comedies. We pushed each other. I take longer to get ready in the morning; I made her run with me (and then she kicked my butt), and eat her veggies. We compared stories and stared blankly at the parts of the other person’s life that was so foreign to our own.

Marcy is going to try to visit me and my life later this summer. Then the tables will turn and she’ll be the one poking through the windows of my life.

Being in Nebraska was great. Marcy was a lovely home and great people who make up her past and present.

Today, I get to shift into my own past. My own piece of paradise. Going to Charlottesville is like putting on your favorite jeans—everything is right with the world. For now, I get to continue to travel, continue to just be, just be in the moment, just be with my friends, just be with my thoughts. It’s a rare and wonderful thing.

Just be.


P.S. Since the initial writing of this post I have spent a lovely 48 hours in Charlottesville. In that time I’ve eaten two Bodo’s bagels, two slices of Christian’s pizza, been to a speakeasy, watered Savoy’s garden, gone to four photo exhibits, and spent the day following Savoy around her school. Needless to say, it’s been great. J More to come!

Friday, June 8, 2012

words.


food for thought, right?

something to think about as the weekend approaches. 

more thoughts on my week in nebraska to come! but for now...TGIF!

i want to be at THIS TABLE!


seriously? imagine being at this table with Ezra Petronio, Marc Jacobs, Wes Anderson and Jarvis Cocker in PARIS. oh la la!
 i just wonder what they are talking about...what do you think?


P.S. Thoughts on the new Wes Anderson film? To see or not to see, that is the question...

Thursday, June 7, 2012

serenity

The Holy Family Shrine, Gretna, NE
the front entrance to the chapel
back of the chapel facing the interstate
back of the chapel and the Crucifixion 
the left side of the chapel
the front doors
the right side of the chapel looking toward the back of the building and the interstate

"
The mission of the Holy Family Shrine, as a Catholic Chapel on the Highway, is to be a gateway to heaven for pilgrims and travelers to experience the healing presence and inspiration of the Holy Spirit that awakens them to God's will in their journey through life." Holy Family Shrine Brochure

On our way into Lincoln this morning Marcy and I stopped along that highway at this chapel. It is truly a beautiful place. The architecture of the building is perfection, and the with all the glass you can look right through it. From the interstate it looks like an unfinished building, only wooden boards making up this small structure. It is perfectly peaceful, really fulfilling it's mission statement. For me, taking pictures was just magic, the chapel did all the hard work, all I had to do was press a couple of buttons.

I have to say that Marcy has really done her best to show me a good time here in Nebraska and I've enjoyed every bit of it, but my favorite thing, might just have been this piece of heaven. It's like you can breathe easier. You are just surrounded by pure beauty and nothing can touch it or you. It's transportation. It's serenity. It's a little bit of faith.

After a couple of deep breaths and heavy sighs as we realized we couldn't just stand there in the chapel's shadow forever, we rejoined the cars on the interstate and went back to our day.

But for one moment we got a little bit of heaven. And that was just enough. 

Wednesday, June 6, 2012

i'm the tornado




don't you just think this second image would make a great valentine? or secret admirer something? would you have the nerve to send it? i wish i did. 

welcome to my new finds on etsy. hope you enjoy! spread the love...


under da sea!

my trip to the Scott Aquarium in Omaha proved delightful. having penelope, inspired. i'm new to this whole having photography as a hobby, so imagine my surprise when i got some pretty decent results. here are some of my favorites of the water residents. enjoy!













doesn't he look like he's waving? 
it looks like something straight out of Little Mermaid 

where exactly am i again?

so i had a wild hair about a week ago and decided that armed with a new job starting this fall and a snazzy new camera named penelope, i was going on vacation. and while vacation alludes to fun in the sun it was a very adult decision; this was my money and my time and shortly after buying my tickets, i began to realize that i don't do spontaneous things for a reason.

but here i am, closing in on week one of my travels east. i'm visiting marcy, my dear from mali, and will leave saturday to invade savoy's space in charlottesville. from there we will see, maybe some time in c'ville, maybe more travels. there are several people i'd like to see before the fall when my time gets swallowed up by work. the goal is to make it back home in late july for my mom's BIG birthday (she's turning 25...duh)

so where am i? omaha, nebraska. in case you have no idea what that means, it's about center on the map of the US. seriously. it's the farthest west you can be in nebraska and in fact, i've also meandered in iowa too while i've been here. marcy and her father and grandmother have been fantastic hosts and i'll hopefully be able to show her around my home in the not to far away future.

but for now, here's a lot at what i've been up to. on my very own vacation. 

gas cans and john deere. can you get more country?
a "point" of interest...get it? 
they legit call them pastures. like in everyday conversation, "so i was out in the pasture when..." makes me giggle every time. 
omaha's cute little saying is "O! what a city!" 
marcy putting up with my camera always in her face 
MCCOY! one of the reasons i came to omaha when i did was to surprise this guy before he went off to save the world in kenya. 
see? i told you i went to iowa. one day i walked there via the Omaha Pedestrian Bridge 
being two places at once--my very own walk to remember moment
one of the goals of the week was to find marcy a park with a see saw. mission accomplished. 
WEEEEE!!!!!
i love roads. 
the village (turns out it's not big enough to be a town) of waterloo where marcy and her dad live. this is main street. seriously. i am not creative enough to make this up. 
turns out that flower setting really does come in handy when trying to capture both plants and butterflies. who knew?
 
one of my favorite things was our trip to the Scott Aquarium that's actually in the Omaha Zoo. so cool. i took a ton of pictures of that, here's my fish!
____

ok, so that's a little peak into it all. i'll keep everyone posted as my adventures continue. thanks for reading! happy wednesday!!