Summertime Favorites

Summer...  It’s that time of year when I actually take (a little) time to relax and be a real person.  You know, someone who has hobbies besides grading papers, takes time to accessorize in the mornings (if I choose to get out of my pajamas) and can afford more than 12 minutes to eat lunch.  For ten months a year, I truly love my job.  For two months a year, I have time to love some other more trivial things as well.  In celebration of that, I’ve complied a list of a few … 

Sangrita Blast Mountain Dew

While I’m addicted to plain old Mountain Dew, I have been aware for a while that there are other flavors.  The kids in our youth group informed me one time that no one cool drinks regular Mountain Dew when orange, red, or blue is an option.  I was quick to let them know I was way past caring about cool.  I am also not a Taco Bell fan, and somehow the special varieties of Mountain Dew they serve there had passed me by until this summer.  My sister picked up a Sangrita Blast for me (since it combines some of my favorite flavors!) and I was immediately hooked.  It’s been in stores this summer, but I think that may be coming to a close.  Looks like I’ll be braving Taco Bell soon to get my fix!

Kacey Musgraves, Pageant Material

I love country music and I especially love new, edgier, lesser-known artists.  I’ve loved Kacey Musgraves since “Merry Go Round” and somehow I love her even more now that she’s big time.  Her second CD Pageant Material has been my summer soundtrack!  “Late to the Party” makes me swoon, “Pageant Material” is well-deserving as the title track, and “Somebody to Love” makes me both smile and cry a little. “Miserable” rings a little too true some days, “Family is Family” is laugh out loud funny, and “Cup of Tea” makes me nod and agree every single time.  Whether you’re a country music fan or not, her songwriting is brilliant. I just love the way she can turn a phrase!

my new Vera Bradley bag

I swore off Vera Bradley for handbags a while back.  Nothing against them, I was just over it.  I still love my Vera duffels for weekend travel (and maybe for stuffing a little too full and trying to carry on a plane at times) but I haven’t bought a Vera handbag in years.  Before my summer travel, I was in search of a new bag that would hold all the stuff needed for daytime sightseeing while still passing as a purse.  After not finding anything I liked in stores I went online and ended up at old faithful verabradley.com where I found this!  It held me together for Las Vegas and Orlando this summer, and I’m not even sure anyone realized it was a Vera. 

Last Comic Standing

We totally missed this the first time around, but these last two summers, Brent and I have been loving Last Comic Standing!  Last year we couldn’t get enough of Rod Man, and this year it’s too soon to tell because they’ve only just had their second episode.  Since it airs in primetime on network television, most (some?) of the material isn’t too inappropriate and I find myself (poorly) retelling the jokes all the time (much to the excitement of my friends and family, I’m sure).

my Alex & Ani bracelets

I was unaware of this trend until Christmas last year when Brent’s nephew and his girlfriend gave me my first Alex and Ani bangle, an apple for the teacher. It was a really sweet gesture and I really liked it but of course I wanted more.  It didn’t take Brent long to get on the bandwagon and now I’ve got four, and I keep finding myself choosing them as gifts for other people.  They’re the next Pandora bracelet for sure (although I do still dearly love my Pandora).  One word of warning: apparently they set off airport metal detectors something awful.  I noticed new signs on our travels this summer at security: “Please remove all bangles.” Pretty sure we can thank Alex and Ani for that!

Friends on Netflix

I’m well aware that I’m twenty years late to the party on this one, but I’ve never been much of a TV person… until Netflix.  In yet another effort to understand my sister’s brand of humor better (Gilmore Girls was my first attempt at this), I took on Friends at the beginning of the summer.  I’m six seasons and over 100 episodes in now (don’t judge- I swear I’m a multi-tasker) and of course, I’m loving every minute.  It wasn’t that I hadn’t ever seen Friends, but I had never fully understood it (or my sister) until I watched it, in succession, in its entirety.  There’s a reason it lasted 10 seasons and I’m just hoping I can reach Season 10 until I have to swear off binge watching until the snow days of 2016!

Two more weeks of guilty pleasures then it’s time to get back into a routine.  However, I’m pretty sure I’ll be driving to school on that first day listening to Kacey Musgraves, sipping on a Sangrita Blast, wearing my Alex and Ani bracelets and carrying my Vera bag.  We do what we can to hold onto summer, right?