Underwater "Adventure"

I picked up a new hobby today.

It's too bad "Scuba Kels"
isn't nearly as catchy as
"Scuba Steve".

Both of my parents are certified scuba divers

and Dad thinks it's time I up my

"coolness level".

About ten minutes of strategic maneuvering to get into a 7mm wet suit

(aka the underwater unitard of torture which is equally as hard to get out of)

and Mom suiting me up in her gear,

I was able to jump in the pool...

the 60 degree pool, might I add.

And I ended upside down with my feet sticking

straight out of the water.

There was a whole lot of thrashing involved in this.

I'm spastic as it is so just imagine the extra troubles of the
weights, the wet suit, flippers, and a rather large tank.

Might take some time to get used to all this!

Mom came to the rescue and put flippers

and several extra pounds of weight on me...

Success!!

So, not the most scenic adventure...

but next thing I know I'll have the ever cheesy and cliche'

"I'd rather be Scuba Diving"

license tag on my Corolla...

just like Mom and Dad.

Next step, get certified!

Terrific Tomorrow

What to do with a surprise

Day-Off.

Somehow I have ended up with little to no commitments on Tuesday

which pretty much never happens....

ever.

So I think I will

Go for a vigorous walk. Maybe during this walk I'll twirl around some, probably skip a little bit. Maybe I'll imagine I'm going on a treasure hunt. Or that I'm on a safari.

Wouldn't this be fun?

I shall do laundry and sing "In My Own Little Corner" from Cinderella.

I find myself singing musical theatre, particularly Idina Menzel and Sutton Foster roles, with great gusto...secretly wishing I had pursued Broadway.

Dream role: Millie

Yoga...oh, yoga. My new found love.

Who knew?

It's pretty much the most relaxing, rejuvenating activity ever.

Hang with Harry, Hermione, and Ron.

I'm getting prepared for The Deathly Hallows by re-reading the book.

So much better the second time around.

And I'm considering dressing up and going to the midnight premiere.

Model some of Sew Cute by Nea's beautiful threads.

My mother makes the most beautiful clothes for children, girls, and ladies.

Pictures of my hand-made items will be posted on her blog in the near future!

Check her out at Sew Cute by Nea 

and on Etsy!

This has been a late night Miscellany Monday.

Kulture Klash

Festivals are the best.



They're just one of the many reasons why this is my favorite time of year.

Meet Kulture Klash...

where several hundred people in strange clothing, many on roller skates and in tutu's, join together to celebrate art in a warehouse.

I almost pitched a tent and stayed there for forever.

3D glasses for the 3D art, of course.

Local musicians, DJ's, techno...

However, Jonathan and I were not in the line-up

though I do think if I played banjo and he had a keytar and a 'fro

we'd be an awesome duo.

Friends.

Hula hoopers...with electric hula hoops.

Silent disco.

Where every one's dancing, but there's no music.

And everyone is wearing silly bands.

All the rage.

Painters.

And break-dancers.

 A lot of interesting moments.

And these kids.

Super night.

Hasta luego, L' !

My good friend L' has been replaced.

A good vehicle to me from my 16th birthday until this September.

I put her through a lot.

I bid my goodbye to my sweet yellow car about 3 weeks ago

and my entire family has yet to see my new ride

(including my wonderful Dad,

who is helping me with the car until I become a

contributing citizen with a real job upon graduation in May)

so consider this a catch-up post.

Meet Shontrelle. 

Classy, huh?

My good friends Jonathan and Andy did the honors of naming my Neon and so Jonathan felt called to name the Corolla S as well (S for Shontrelle).

Gettin' ready to drive'im off the lot!

The Corolla Sport is a little bit of an upgrade for me...

like it has 4 power windows, not just 2 (imagine that)

and auxiliary hookup and audio controls on the steering wheel.

Oh...

and my most favorite feature

The sunroof!

It's really unbelievable how much fresh air I've been getting lately.

And if anyone knows me, and knew my crazy Neon

they also knew what my most prized possession was.

Many times this picture of my beloved Chris Jenkins has baffled people.

Boyfriends have asked me to remove it, my sister laughed at it every time she was banished to the Neon while I had her Jetta,

and Chris insists that it never leave my possession.

It's been taped to the Neon visor since before we graduated high school when Chris decided to spread his glorious face all around the halls of T.C. Roberson high.

It really is a great picture of you, Chris.

So here he is, in his rightful spot.

It wouldn't feel like my car without it.

Fresh Seasons

Thank you fall weather, changing leaves, pumpkin flavored everything, boots and hats.

I'm beyond thrilled for

this season.

So I'm going to celebrate how good life is

as I return to my blog.

...my most beautiful blog.

(courtesies of my wonderful friend Sarah at Sarah Ann's Bon Mot )

There are wonderful things taking place in life.

     

And to celebrate the fall season I took a trip to see my family-away-from-my-real-family in Asheville this weekend. So refreshing to be home.

I think my heart will always be in the mountains.

Great things happen here...

like finding the perfect toaster oven for $4 at a random yard sale

and partaking in family dinners and lots of coffee on back porches.

And a whole shlew of great people in a Dodge Durango

singing...as loud as we can.

And hikes up beautiful mountains, waterfalls, and trees.

Learning survival skills from Mr. Chris.

aka

using an acorn cap as a whistle and almost losing your hearing in the process

Acquiring new friends:

Daniel and Gerica happened to be the ones I picked up this weekend.

Perfecting comedy routines. We're hilarous, can't you tell?

As I'm finishing up this last year of school

 I'm really hoping to have the best season yet.

And I'm super excited to blog about it.

Boy, we really missed our callings...

as Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders

Ten years of dance lessons really paid off. 

I think my kick is definitely high enough to make the team.

Mom hasn't cheered a day in her life

but it doesn't matter

because she's a natural.

Shea hasn't cheered in 10 years, but can you even tell?

No.

What a hurkey.

They practically were asking me to bring a

paint scraper and a paint pen

 and take this chicks place.

I can bubble letter Whitehorn really easily.

You can check out the

rest of our adventures at

the Cowboys Stadium

here:

Shea's Blog

Mini-Vanning

L' The Bright Yellow Neon

didn't get to come to Dallas for the summer.

She misses me.

But it was a much wiser decision for her health and mine

for her to stay in Charleston under my friend Janice's care.

So while I'm here, I'm tearin' up the streets in the

Mom-Squad car...

The Toyota Sienna mini-van.

Benefits

• 
  
  
  
  When forced to cut parking-spot-cheaters off in poorly planned downtown parking lots,  you have a lot more vehicle aka a lot more game.

                              I dare you to take on the Mom-Squad.

• 
  
  
  
  You can fit you and all of your closest intern friends into the mini-van and go on excellent adventures if you need to.

• 
  
  
  
  I always, always, always, look way cooler than all of my fellow 20-somethings who are not driving mini-vans.

Not so beneficial

• 
  
  
  
  The lanes here in Dallas are a lot narrower than they are everywhere else in the world. Mini-van has a lot more girth than Neon.

• 
  
  
  
  Driver's are ruthless and heartless in this city. You want to change lanes? You better be ready to fight. Not so easy when you've got 6 extra feet on your rear that you don't usually have.
• 
  
  
  
  Squeezing into tiny parking spaces leaves no other choice but

this

Only one entrance and exit...

At least I'm still listening to good music in the mini-van.

New tune for you.

Grace Potter and the Nocturnals

If I Was from Paris

Peaceful, easy feeling

The Eagles

Assisted Living Tour

(quote Glenn Frey)

I become more convinced all the time that I was born

in the totally wrong decade.

Not gonna lie...

I would have had an obsession with

 Timothy Schmit (far right)

 had I been a teenager in the 70's.

But seriously,

Mom got tickets to go see

The Eagles

 this past Saturday night

for Dad's Father's Day present.

And it was beyond super.

I wish I could say that our seats were this close...

but I didn't even get to take photo's because

you can't smuggle in a bulky DSLR camera.

Alas, the wonderful quality of a camera phone.

I really owe my love of good music to mostly Dad...and to Mom

(I'll give my operatic Phantom of the Opera moments to you, Mom).

I remember riding around in our super cool Pontiac Bonneville as a kid,

jamming out to The Eagles, Phil Collins, Chicago, James Taylor, etc. with Dad,

singing loudly to Hotel California,

taking a few extra laps around the cul-de-sac 

to make sure we heard the whole drum break-down in

 Phil Collin's In the Air.

I'd say Dad has pretty good taste...so thanks, Dad.

Anyways,

I'm really glad that Dad finally made it to see The Eagles.

And that I got to see real

legends.

Because they are

unbelievable.

Definitely one of the best shows I've ever seen...

and they played for 3 1/2 hours. ahhhh.

Their coolness was not lost on me.

Just for kicks, here's a new song that they performed.
Check it out.

Waiting in the Weeds

The Eagles

Awkward

I love summer...

because I love awkward sunburns (on other people).

Okay, maybe not this awkward.

 I ended up resembling that of a pool float the other day.

Like this one, actually.

Our float like this has indentions in it that are in the shape of waves.

So, 4 hours of sunning and not re-applying sunscreen led to

my legs being covered in this same wavy pattern...

only in a nice shade of cherry red.

Cute.

That's what I get for laughing at

 awkwardly burned beach-goers

 all the time.

10 Things I Don't Hate About My Verona

June 14

Padua

Where we felt it necessary to make a shout-out to our good friends

Shakespeare

&

Cole Porter

Shakespeare's Taming of the Shrew is set in Padua

which Cole Porter's Kiss Me Kate is based off of

and so is 10 Things I Hate About You

Italy loves Heath Ledger

So I had to sing a little "I Hate Men" from Kiss Me Kate

Shanelle did a diddy called "So In Love"

And Vinnie flattered us all with "Too Darn Hot"

We wouldn't be music geeks if we didn't randomly perform/break out in song all around the world,
now would we?

We also made a pit-stop at St. Anthony's Cathedral where his jaw, tongue, and voice box are all located.  Unfortunately, this is all I learned about this particular church. Oh, and that I sincerely hope I never have to see any of those body parts on display again.

More importantly

following the days events, we discovered yet another

 Venchi Gelato shop

where I found

Taylor, the Gelato Boy

yes

he did bring me ice cream

and he brought me joy

and he won "The Most Adorable Italian" award.

I would have taken a picture of him, but that is creepy.

And

I also considered putting him in my suit case and bringing him back to America but unfortunately, that is illegal.

June 15

Verona

The setting of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet

So naturally

we had to travel to a Roman amphitheatre and select the most

appropriate actors in the choir to reenact

Romeo and Juliet in

The Balcony Scene

and yes, it was the perfect amount of cheesy and ridiculous to prep one for the rendition of the West Side Story medley that we also decided to perform...

and quite poorly, might I add.

Good thing we were our own audience.

We then, of course, ran by Juliet's house to say "hey!" and read a few letter's that had been left behind.

We also went to the Roman arena.

This stage, however, was being taken up by some famous opera...(Verdi's Aida)

guess they didn't hear we were in town.

Dr. Hunter LOVED the arena.

And I finally got my cannoli!

We ended the day with the celebratory picture of Mr. Ricard Bordas' fabulous studio

(enter Mr. Bordas in the blank space between me and Steph)

And just for kicks, here's our studio 2 years ago in Salzburg, Austria.

Arrivederci, Italy!!!!

Until next time...happy trails.