aquafrolic: August 2010

on august 29, it's been five years.

five years since the lives of the residents of the mississippi and louisiana gulf coasts were changed forever.

i'd like to take a moment to reflect on those who lost their lives, those who gave their lives to save others, and those who made it through with the strength to rebuild. tornadoes, 25 foot storm surges and 125 mph winds, levee breaks, widespread flooding, an entire city under water...those who were not here and did not experience the phenomenon that was katrina will never truly know the effect it has had on all of us. but these photos tell a story...one that i hope the country will never forget.

five years later you can still see the watermarks on the sides of buildings. five years later, we've come so far, but there is still so much to rebuild, but the spirit of the people is even stronger than before. it is a day we will remember forever.

greetings from watson, louisiana. (where my parents and sister live) i've been spending a lot of time out here lately :)

people think we're twins...i don't get it.

holy geeze...i remember as a child, time would go by sooooo slooooowwwww. a week felt like a thousand years.

as i've aged, with every year, i've become more and more aware of how time really does do it's own thing. it moves at it's own pace, regardless of how fast or slow you want it to go. it has a mind of it's own, and you're just along for the ride...i'm still not quite sure if i feel like that's a good or bad thing.

regardless, this last month has taught me a lot. i've enjoyed my time "unplugged" from the blogging world. don't get me wrong - i love reading blogs about people's lives and adventures, loves and passions, and i enjoy having a blog so that i can share mine with you! however, there comes a point when you have to realize that living your life is the most important piece...you can share it with others when you find the time, and unfortunately, spare time is something i don't come across often enough :)

with all that said, i want to say thank you to those of you who stick with me through my little (ok, big) blogging hiatuses (is that a word? it is now). i try and make my posts rich, meaningful and interesting, and since i can be so incredibly dull sometimes, i try and leave those parts out.

so what have i been up to this last month you ask? well, i'll tell you...

haven't actually gotten started on the summer goal of reading classic, however i DID find this GORGEOUS copy of pride and predjudice. what?!?

started a blanket :) hoping to finish by the time there's a chill in the air

scored some pretty BA thrifting goodness...

some blue glass ball jars to add to my ever growing collection

a cracker tin JUST LIKE the one my late grandmother had. even though this one did not belong to her, i will treasure it til the day i die. it reminds me so much of afternoons at her house.

my friend tiffany scored me this beautiful crocheted daisy blanket from an estate sale and i got some some new pyrex and vintage wooden thread spools to add to those collections as well

came across the coolest chandelier at z gallerie...it's a pirate ship! i really want it to hang in the corner of my bedroom. for real.

had lots and lots of kitty snuggles

bought this awesome dress. i can't help but to share...it's so comfortable and flattering. i can't wait to pair it with a sweater and tights/boots in the fall/winter...

(holy crap it's time for a hair cut. that crap's getting LONG)

here's a close up of the fabric and pattern

and these babies are now on the wall in my bedroom. i've been eyeballing them for months at UO, but at 40-50 bucks a pop, i just told myself "yeah right." well i had some store credit, and they went on sale for $10 this week. hells yeah.

let's see, what else has been going on? i celebrated a good friend's college graduation, found a new concert buddy (we ran into each other at the spoon concert back in march and have since decided to see all concerts together...i believe we have the black keys and mumford and sons coming up, plus voodoo fest :) )

oh! and i got a promotion :) i now have my very own restaurant and get to run the thing 100% on my own. i'm pretty stoked about it. however, it's going to be a lot of work on the front end to get it to perform at my (incredibly too high) standards, but it will be so rewarding!

lastly, i'll leave you with photos from the balloon festival this past weekend. hot air balloons are so pretty! apologies in advance for the limited amount of photos...i can't get a lot of them to import to my computer :(

have you ever seen a hot air balloon blow up? it starts with just a basket and a pile of nylon on the ground, then slowly but surely, it stands up...the entire process takes a good thirty minutes. here's a video of the last few seconds