TWTW - the one with the Fourth and the start of vacation

Thursday, July 4 MFD was gone early for Fourth of July mummery parades. I lingered over coffee with a book, packed my stuff for vacation, made and froze breakfast burritos, slow roasted ribs and served with corn and baked beans, cleaned out the fridge, picked up around the house, and when MFD got home we lay around with the dogs and watched five episodes of Stranger Things. 

Friday My company rocks so we had an extra free holiday on Friday. I did some more packing, changed the sheets and washed them and towels, ran over to my Dad's to pick something up and stopped to get mulch on the way back. I weeded and mulched and planted a new plant and nearly died of humidity and heat. Debbie arrived around 1. She finished working and I painted my nails. We got pedicures before coming home to order Lee's and the three of us watched most of the rest of Stranger Things (I tapped out on the second to last episode to go to bed). 

Saturday The car was packed and we were on the road by 5:30 am. We stopped five times and it took 8.5 hours to get to Emerald Isle. Most exciting part of the drive was a high speed car chase we saw as we were entering North Carolina. Least exciting part of the drive was MFD's incessant crepe myrtle talk. Everyone else was there when we got there. We unloaded and hit the pool, checked out the beach, had pizza for dinner, called the realtor for 20934802 problems at the house, and later my brother and I did the first round of grocery shopping at the new Publix. I fell into bed deliriously tired around 11. 

Sunday We were up for the sunrise and had coffee on the beach with Dad, Carol, and Cathy. Dad, Debbie, MFD, and I made a quick grocery run and picked up our bikes. We read books, hit the beach, watched the US Women win the World Cup, read more, had hotdogs and hamburgers, and a tiny bit of a magic hour. 

Vacation week. 

Thursday Thoughts: I’m a Yankee Doodle Dandy, A Yankee Doodle, do or die

Wishing you a Happy Fourth. Enjoy and be safe.

Doing non-celebratory things today because I'm not in a celebratory mood. Patriotism is complicated. You can love something and still see and acknowledge that it has serious flaws. I want life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness to be equal for all and for the flag to stand for ALL of us, to right the wrongs of colonization and the fact that this was all built on the backs of slave labor. Blind flag waving doesn’t make any problem go away, ask any fascist dictatorship that’s been and gone or is still operating to the peril of its people. There are fucking military tanks in the nation's capital more closely resembling military propaganda parades of dictatorships than an American parade and your president has a partisan perversion of the Fourth planned and I'm not fucking here for it. Add to that the fact that the National Park Service has to divert $2.5 million from its budget for today's D.C. shitdoggle + the report from the Department of Homeland Security on abhorrent conditions in concentration camps + a host of other things and I'm just not doing it today. Dissent is patriotic and if you don’t think so, you probably only like to acknowledge the parts of history that serve your narrow worldview because this country? It was fucking born of dissent. And if you are a “leave if you don’t like it here” person, I assume you would have said that to the revolutionaries and prefer God Save the Queen to any of our songs. Yes? If no, stop saying that. It’s ignorant of this country’s own history.

Picking up, packing up, and getting my shit together. It's nice to have a day off before vacation to get my shit together, and a holiday to boot. MFD does the mummery most of the day and I like to be home because of the fireworks/dogs combo.

Having a free extra day off tomorrow thanks to my awesome company. I plan to use it to run final errands and get a pedicure...I was going to do it myself but I need to call in the professionals on these feet since I am barefoot or in the sand almost 24/7 at the shore. They are not well and it is a S.O.S. situation. Plus Debbie and I are going to go together so that'll be fun.

Trying this new face wash from Farmacy. Every time I cheap out on face wash my skin goes berserk and I'm over it. The Body Shop made the cleanser I was using with success largely inaccessible so I started looking for something else and went cheap with a few and it's a mess over here and has been since the end of March. With the multiple reapplications of sunscreen on weekends, I really need a cleanser that deep cleans but doesn't dry me out. This is paraben/synthetic fragrance/phthalate/mineraloil/formaldehyde donor/cruelty free. I will report back.

Seeing remnants of street art this week.

Walking to the library at lunch

Marking my calendar for our Show Us Your Books linkup on Tuesday, and hoping you do too. Spoiler alert: add this one to your list.

Appreciating Michelle & crew taking care of turnover at the shore house for me on Saturday. It is stressful for me to go away in the summer because I have control issues.

Thanking Mindy for staying with los perros so that alleviates my other stressful going away thing.

Reminding whoever needs a reminder that how others see you is not the definition of who you are.

Laughing at

What's new with you?

See you around next week for Show Us Your Books on Tuesday definitely, but probably TWTW Monday & Thursday Thoughts Thursday also. We'll see.



Linking up with Kristen

Thursday Thoughts - In the day we sweat it out on the streets of a runaway American dream

Purging: Nail polish. I kept what's in the box and took the rest to my mom.

Painting them you me & the sea by Essie.

Reading:  Ohio by Stephen Markley c/o netgalley. I was not into it at all at the beginning, even texted Jana about it, but am now totally into it. Show Us Your Books is Tuesday!

Anticipating: A three day weekend. Debbie and I are heading to the shore tonight and I'm off tomorrow.

Laughing like a loon at this:

Going to three different stores the night before the Fourth like a simple fool and still forgetting two things. 

Making Mexican stuffed shells to freeze, breakfast burritos to freeze, and a version of strawberry lemonade lasagna (hold the jello because I forgot that).

Treating a day off mid-week sort of like a Sunday: I did laundry, packed for the weekend, ran the dishwasher, made eggs for breakfast, lingered over coffee, read, painted my nails, picked up around the house, did some purging, etc. 

Swimming at Mom & Rich's with Debbie and my uncle on the Fourth.

Enjoying a mid-week holiday dinner at Dad & Carol's on the Fourth.

Knowing not everyone in this country actually has independence, liberty, and justice, and that I will continue to do what I can to make sure that changes in the future.

Pulling: up my sleeves.

Reminding us all:

E-carding: 

What's new with you?

Linking up with Kristen

TWTW - the one with July

The safest time to leave for the shore the Friday of July 4 weekend? After 10:30 pm, which is, of course, after my preferred old lady bed time. By the time I got down and settled in bed, it was about 1 am and MFD arrived even later. The dogs did not approve either. I did manage to get a Target trip in Friday night.

Saturday I got up to see the sunrise at 4:50 only there was no sunrise. I went back to bed but was off all day sleep-wise. So after turnover work, I grabbed some shoe boxes, did a manicure (OPI Cha-Ching Cherry) and pedicure (Cajun Shrimp) and chilled with the dogs until about 3. Then I did some shopping down Asbury Ave.

I met Frank and Amanda, Brian and Michele and the kids up on the boards, which we trolled for about four hours doing rides and eating everything. MFD met us up there after fishing too. Between the afternoon shopping and the boardwalking I walked over five miles Saturday. I dropped dead into bed.

Sunday sunrise was awesome. I processed iced coffee and read in the morning, then we took refuge from the crowds at our beach down at 59th Street. The sun was hot, the water was cold, MFD fished, and I finished a book. We were beat after that, so we lounged at home and ate snacks for dinner.

MFD left around 11 on Sunday night. Monday I got some coffee and reading in at Drip N' Scoop, did some work, cleaned our apartment, packed up what I needed to take home for vacation, dropped off laundry and picked it up, dealt with the popo since someone was blocking my driveway, and drove around for over a half hour looking for parking after laundry pickup. It also took me over a half hour to get out of town. I love the shore, but not the week of the Fourth. I was happy to head home.

On the Fourth I spent time with the dogs, processed even more iced coffee, packed up, visited my uncle and cousin to meet their new dog/see my other cousin's dog/take their leftover crabs, picked up cookies from my Mom that she made for our trip, stopped to buy a stupid beach towel because I left most of mine at the shore, and picked up a few things at Giant for dinner.  I also cleaned out the pantry and fridge and we tag teamed cleaning up the yard when MFD got home from his Fourth mummery parades.

We could not motivate to pack, but we did it and most of the car was packed by 8. Then we settled in for hell fireworks night after giving Mae a benadryl.

 4 am vacation lift off. Let's do this. I don't find it easy to go away in the summer because I am mental about checking over the shore house before someone new checks in - I want it to be perfect. We are so lucky to have our BFF Michelle who is taking that on for us for two check ins. And I don't find it easy to go away ever without my dogs, but we are lucky to have Courtney the dog whisperer staying with them this week. Much gratitude and thanks to both of these women. It takes a village. I always say it and it's true - we'd be nowhere without a solid group of people around both of us.

I'll post if I feel like it, but you'll definitely see me here on Tuesday for Show Us Your Books.

As always, I'll be overusing my favorite form of social media - Instagram. Catch me there.

Linking up with Biana at B Loved Boston for Weekending

TWTW - the one with the Fourth

Bruce Springsteen was screaming from my windows as I tore through the dark, back roads to the shore on Thursday night. I worked from there until noon Friday, then ran errands on my bike. An unplanned errand was the purchase of this fabulous necklace from Henry's. Thanks MFD! Errands through, I rewarded myself for not falling off my bike or getting hit by a car in the crazy holiday weekend traffic with coffee & a donut from Drip n Scoop. I set up the porch and sat out there most of the day with the dogs and a book. 

A storm rolled in Friday night, and I rode my bike back along the bay scoping out the awesome skies. At one point it was so dark with a very thin line of pink on the horizon. I am a total sky ho.  

Speaking of skies, Saturday's sunrise:

After meeting up with my cleaning lady and doing some clean up / improvements in the main house myself between renters (I love white duct tape), I hit the beach. MFD arrived around 4:30 and we stayed down there until close to 7. This was actually the first time we were on the beach together this year.

After dinner at the Beach Club with a great view of the ocean and fabulous people watching, we went down to the beach because the water was like glass and the skies were beautiful.

Boardwalk trolling, shopping, and gelato. Manco & Manco is taking over the STRAND space and changing the sign out. I am pissed off and not patronizing them. 

Sunday started off drizzly. We rode our bikes down to the OC Surf Cafe in light rain and had a freaking awesome breakfast. We made a stop at Drip n Scoop for more coffee before riding through puddles down the alleys all the way home. That was fun, I haven't done it since I was a kid. After recording The Armchair Librarians with Jana, I hit The Bookateria Two for a paperback.

Sunday was an exceptional people watching day on the beach. Good thing, because I broke my brain reading and wasn't having any luck in that department, even with a new book it was slow going. We were going to go to Michelle's beach party over past Strathmere but never made it out of town or even out to dinner. Lazy bones day. 

Sunday night porch sitting & a nice visit from our favorite beauty guru blogger and friend Jill & Frank. I look like a troll in this photo and Jill was all I didn't blowdry my hair (neither did I and hers still looks better than mine) but it's the shore, so it's fine. We're fine. 

Monday, the Fourth of July. I got up and I was tired. It looked overcast at first glance. I nearly went back to bad. Holy shit I'm glad I didn't. It was a skies on fire sunrise. When I first got to the beach, it was literally glowing pink. The entire thing was amazing, and once again all the magic (to me) happens at least 15 minutes before the sun actually rises. If you prefer video, click here. 

The bonus was the rainbow coming out of the sea behind me.

I left early and was home before 9 a.m. I spent most of the day doing laundry and resting after going to the food store. I chilled, I grilled, and when MFD got home from his parades, we ate and watched Independence Day. And listened to Geege and Mae bark themselves sick over fireworks. 

Weekly food prep

Breakfast is egg muffins with asparagus and cheese with a side of power breakfast muffins (no pics, no cares). Lunch is leftovers from the Fourth dinner (grilled chicken thighs/smoked kielbasa/organic hotdogs - I know, what? - macaroni salad, baked beans, corn on the cob, watermelon) until they're gone, then salads. Snacks: peaches, plums, cucumbers. 

Assorted snaps that didn't make it in the collages above or Instagram...this is how I document life, after all.

I'm off Friday...three day week, here I am. Thank God, because SEPTA regional rail is in a world of pain right now and I suspect every commute for the foreseeable future will be a big hairy asshole. 

Linking up with Biana at B Loved Boston for Weekending &