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?

My Favorite (Spring) Things

While I’m a summer girl through and through, I have to admit spring has its merits.  There’s nothing like that first whiff of fresh cut grass and the feeling of FINALLY being warmer when you step outside than you are inside.  As a child, I was terrified of thunderstorms but I’m even learning to like those.  Plus, my birthday is in March AND March means spring break.  All in all, I’d say spring is a close second to summer.

As the days get longer and school winds down, I find myself occasionally thinking of something other than lesson plans and classroom décor.  In honor of the new spring in my step, I’d like to share a list of my current favorite (spring) things:

Prince Design

My college BFF, Heather Prince, has truly found her niche with her quickly growing business Prince Design.  She does an awesome job with personalized, unique gifts (for yourself or for someone else).  One day last week one of my students complimented me on my monogrammed necklace and said, “I like your necklace but something always has your initials on it.  It’s funny.”  Then, she giggled.  Maybe I have a problem? 

Jillian Michael’s Beginner Shred

Anyone who knows me knows I’m no fitness guru and I never will be.  However, as we’ve established, summer IS coming and even I consider the implications at times. I’ve been using this DVD to work out for several weeks and it’s great: just the right length, just the right level of difficulty, and just enough soreness the next day to make you think it helped. 

The Longest Ride

I’m not much of a moviegoer, but a friend invited me to go see this one last weekend and it was fabulous.  I’ve slowed down on my Nicholas Sparks reading the last few years, but I ordered this book an hour after returning home from the theater.  A tagline of the movie is: “Love requires sacrifice.  But it’s worth it.” And this movie is worth your two hours too!  (It didn't hurt that it was filmed locally...how cool!) 

Netflix (enough said?)

This is a leftover addiction from all those February snow days, but I’ve gotten hooked on a couple of shows worth mentioning: one old and one new.  My sister has always been a huge Gilmore Girls fan and I’ve always enjoyed the few episodes I’ve caught on syndication.  So a couple of months ago I committed to watching the entire show beginning to end and I haven’t regretted one second.  The surprise fun has been that Brent seems to enjoy it just as much as me—apparently he finds me just as endearing (and infuriating) as Luke finds Lorelai.  The other show that we’ve BOTH gotten hooked on is Revenge.  We can’t seem to watch it in increments of less than three episodes so we’ve had to relegate our watching to the weekends, but it’s definitely worth a watch if you haven’t tried it!

    

My Mophie phone case

Spring means longer days which also had come to mean my well-loved Iphone dying well before sundown.  That is, until I broke down an orderd a Mophie phone case.  Mine is the purple (of course) juice pack helium and it has more than doubled my battery life!  I was a little hesitant to part with my Otterbox but I’ve dropped my phone multiple times with this new case with no problems. 

R&B-influenced Country Music

As a lifelong country music fan, I’ve been resistant to country music artists who tried to rap in the past.  But lately I’ve been drawn to a couple of new artists who have put a little twist on country music.  My most played CDs recently are Sam Hunt’s Montevallo and Chase Rice’s Ignite the Night.  If you aren’t familiar, check out a couple of my favorite tracks here:

Wining and Dining on the Patio

At our house, spring means dinner responsibilities shift from me and the crock pot to Brent and the grill.  I’ve made things a little easier on us both recently by ordering from Omaha Steaks.  They’re pricier than grocery store meats but cheaper than ordering steak in a restaurant and just as good.  Some of our favorites so far include the filet mignon, potatoes au gratin and caramel apple tartlets.  We’ve also got a new favorite wine with steak: anything Malbec from Argentina.

There’s plenty to love about spring in and of itself, but these things are making mine even brighter!  And don’t forget the best part of all: next comes summer!