Summer winding down

The weekend at the cabin was a success. Lots of great food, wonderful people, sunshine, rainy mornings, yoga, canoeing, bonfires, yard games, card games and staying up late laughing. I recommend one too many games of monopoly hours after your bedtime.

Can't say that I got too much rest but it was fun to spend so much time with my family - all seven of us - and I won't be around much the rest of this week/summer.

Tomorrow morning the girls and I are headed out to Duluth for a much needed reunion. We've been all over the world/state this year and haven't seen eachother in much too long. I can garauntee there will be scattergories and lots of coffee involved. Then again when do I not involve coffee?

Headed out

Dear Friends,
I am half a load of laundry, a batch of banana bread, dozens of cookies, an empty suitcase and a couple hours on the road away from home. Where I am promptly jumping in the car with sisters and brothers-in-law and headed to a cabin for a long, relaxing weekend of really great food, really special people, and hours and hours of sunshine. Sunshine, you guys, with no 5:30 mornings at work but plenty of coffee to stand in for my Mugby cravings.
Also on the schedule for the next ten days: roadtrip with some girls I've missed alot, marry off a best friend, and hopefully catch up with some people I haven't seen in much too long. It's bound to be a good week.

"I love my car, I love my car...."

My first set of wheels may have sounded like a train and made me feel like a soccer mom, but I could fit a lot of people inside. Yes, friends, I drove a minivan. Not just any minivan. This was a 1997 ford windstar that existed in a color you have never seen before. Imagine this:

but in a cross between salmon, copper, champagne or pink. It also revved the engine by itself at stop signs, sped up in reverse, and constantly sounded the alarm for door ajar when driving under 30mph.

Needless to say, my parents were itching to get rid of the thing, so I drove it for a year or two and then we sold/gave it to somebody to get rid of. After highschool I went to school in Iowa for a year, where they don't own cars.

A year later I moved back to real life and bought my very own 2002 ZTS Ford Focus. It was beautiful. It was black. It was mine.

It was also made with every specialty part Ford could possibly come up with. The window motors, the oil filters, the tires and alloy wheels, the battery, the engine cooling thing, and that one thermastat housing unit deal. Every mechanic has a recording they play directly to me every time something goes wrong with my car "I'm sorry ma'am, normally this would cost ___ amount, but the Focus requires a specialty part so it will cost 2 x ___ amount."

I realize I am a female, and I also realize that I don't look like I know much about cars. You may realize I know nothing about cars. But no one is going to fall for $300 to fix a rear window motor. Especially the second time around. Which may or may not be why my car looks like this today:

Disclaimer: the tape used to be straight before it rained and thus tore my fantastic plastic window. I never realize how much pride I have in my car until I am forced to drive around town in something as ridiculous as a tape and saran wrap window. Yes that's right. Masking tape and saran wrap.

And this is what it's going to look like until I go home next week and have my brother-in-law force the window shut. Forever. Cause that's the price of having a Ford Focus made with 100% American-made specialty parts.

Send me Sunshine

My soundtrack for this summer up until two days ago was completely Bright Eyes. I listened to selections from Cassadaga all the way to Spain and back, around every 3-5 mile walk around the lakes, and everywhere inbetween. How could I not? If you can appreciate some quiet acoustic with somewhat obscure but meaningful lyrics, you might enjoy them. It's alot about searching and finding your place - connecting dots, if you will.

All your friends and sedatives mean well but make it worse / Every reassurance just magnifies the doubt / Better find yourself a place to level out

Then I graduated to pandora's Bright Eyes radio, which includes bands in the same genre. That's where I discovered Band of Horses and The 88. Band of Horses is this great indie band from Seattle that once toured with Iron & Wine (another new favorite band).I don't know what else The 88 sings, but there is one song that my itunes tells me I have listened to twentyfour times since Monday.

Because you need a place to stay / And I’ve been feeling dead since you went away / You better believe what I tell you cause you’re coming home.

My Life is Brilliant

I've been lately thinking about my life's time.... and maybe it's just a combination of lazy summer days, spending the majority of my time at a coffee shop and getting paid for it, and lots of free time with friends, but I'm happier than I've been in a long time. Maybe content is a better word. It's been a good summer.

I miss Spain like crazy. If I spoke better Spanish I could probably live there. It's a very laid-back place, which is something I'm working on becoming myself. I'm working on a lot of things these days. If you and I have spoken for more than ten minutes in the past four months, you've probably heard the word "independence".

I'm learning Independence is a little different than I thought it was. I'm learning you don't need a plan all the time - and there is freedom in that. I'm learning to need other people, and I'm learning to pay attention. I have a professor that likes to say "Everything matters" and the more I think about that, the more it's true. I'm rediscovering my love for people and hearing their stories. Let's go get coffee sometime and talk about life.

Aisle Gliding

I happen to own this fab little book called "How to Walk in High Heels" by Camilla Morton. It's the girl's guide to everything. You need to buy this book. It's 421 pages of fashion, beauty, quotes, advice, travel, how to be socially adept, and how to flourish independently in a man's world. And it talks about shoes alot. I'm fairly certain that Ms Morton and I would be BFF's if we ever met.
Chapter one includes a section on how to fit everything in your handbag. I compared my bag the first time I read this. 14 out of 19 essentials isn't bad.
There are also chapters on how to play poker, create your own soundtrack, pick the perfect shoe, look like you just stepped out of a salon, and how to be a green-fingered goddess.
27 pages in I discovered one of the greatest concepts I have ever heard. Let me introduce you to the art of Aisle Gliding.

"When a very stylish lady sweeps into the room, as if she were walking on air - like Ginger Rogers herself - remember that they all started somewhere. Practice, practice, practice.
Once you've got the heel, tried it on, and know the basics it's time to take your new shoes to the nearest supermarket.
Fact: supermarket aisles are the perfect place to practice your glide. Not only do you get to stock up on all your groceries and wow the locals, but you can get up to twenty-four aisles' worth of runway-smooth surface to practice on, while being supported by a shopping cart, the ultimate stabilizer for the novice stiletto wearer.
Ignore any funny looks, they are either jealous they didn't think of this idea, or mystifid why someone so glamorous doesn't have "hired help" to do their shopping.
Sneakers off - heels on. Clutch the cart handle bars and you're off! Right foot, left foot, right foot, left.... a natural rhythm should be devoloping regardless of the tinny Muzak.
Use aisles as follows:
1-5: Establish your walk and your rhythm. Get comfortable and confident. If you put any relevant produce into your trolley, this is a real bonus.
6-10: Start to vary speeds, stops, and starts, perhaps even a corner - but NEVER let go of the trolley. Careful, let's not rush things.
11-16: Now you can practice developing wiggle and character steps, such as bends and turns and perhaps little heel kicks.
Final aisles: Be creative, and do a total routine, showcasing your new found stiletto confidence. Queuing at the checkout can be a time to rest on the hips.
Packing your bags and getting them to the car? I would be very surprised if by now you didn't have a handful of drooling helpers on hand. But if not, don't worry, the bending will be good practice, too.
If things are going really well you could even try to walk to vehicle sans cart, using the bags as balance weights."

There you have it. If you happen to see my roommates and I in really fabulous stilettos around HyVee some night this week, you know what we're up to.
Morton, Camilla. How to Walk in High Heels. First. New York: Hyperion, 2006. Print.