TWTW - the one with my ladies

Friday I was like a kid on Christmas Eve Thursday night knowing my girlfriends were coming into town on Friday. I was up until after 1 am. When I got up Friday Laura was 10 minutes out. We went to Sunrise for breakfast and Drip n Scoop for a National Donut Day donut, then to the bike shop twice for the perfect color basket for my new bike - thanks Dad & Carol for the bike, MFD for assembly, and Laura for the basket. Then we went to the hardware store and she installed my new toilet seat in the apartment because she is handy like that. 

 Melissa arrived, then Kimmy Foo Foo, then Kim, then Angie, and we hit the beach. It was cold but we had beers and pizza and talked and saw a wedding and laughed so loud a single lady near us moved her spot well away. Melissa put out a spread when we got home like she's been doing since we were 16 and everyone else was just serving stolen booze at parties. 

Dinner was ordered from Randazzo's (also known as Babazio's and Rosario's), tasty sandwiches was the buzz phrase, hair was braided, and we talked, laughed, argued, and shouted about everything under the sun. I went down around midnight to get into bed and ended up reading until 3. 

Saturday 

Breakfast at sunrise again where Melissa worked her magic to get us a table in the shade. Kim went up to rest and the rest of us hit the beach, where she joined us later, but the real MVP was Laura's pop up tent. There were tremendous winds and blowing sand but she got it set up. She recruited me to help her fold it up and it was a hilarious shitshow put on in full display of the entire beach. I am still laughing about this. 

Post-beach snacking of the eight bags of tortilla chips we subsisted on for most of the weekend along with over 12 bottles of wine, Belmont cheering, more talking and laughing and lounging and of course hijinks - another set for the books. I swear at times it was like scenes from a movie with us all scrambling around ridiculously, telling stories, mixing up stories, and laughing. Always laughing.

Sunday 

Laura left after the Belmont Saturday, the Kims both left before 10 Sunday. I showered, started taking stuff downstairs and assembling a trunk full of recycles, packed up my own stuff, and then joined Melissa and Angie upstairs before they took off. Last minute paint touch ups as our first longer rental checks in tomorrow and I dropped books at the library and was on the road home by 1:30. 

I picked up london broil and corn on the way home and was greeted by ecstatic dogs - Bruce remained ecstatic for over an hour.

Weekly food prep: breakfast is breakfast burritos from the freezer. Lunch is tuna salad over spinach. Snacks are red grapes and bell peppers. Dinners are leftovers from Sunday and air fryer chicken, I think. I haven't decided what to thaw yet. 

There really is nothing like this weekend for me whether my life is going well or not well. When you have been constant friends for over 29 years through good and bad periods, when the people you're with know you at your ugliest and your shining best and love you through all of it both because of who you are and despite how you are at your worst, it's the most secure and buoying feeling. It's like a giant recharge. The secret to sustaining friendship through the years and miles is to give each other the room and support to grow and change, love and/or tolerance for the parts of each other that have always been and will always be, to provide encouragement and also a safe space to land or retreat to, and to show up when needed, whether in person or via text. Love all my ladies. Thanks for another great weekend and physical stomach pains from laughing, and the cleaning gift and Amazon gift card! 

Show Us Your Books is tomorrow! See you here for that. 

Thursday Thoughts - Oh, I just sit up in the house and resist and not be seen until I cease to exist

Wondering why the hell everyone in DD Tuesday morning had to look at their receipt before claiming their coffee. The DD people were yelling out the coffee orders three times. You just ordered that less than two minutes ago, Derek. You don't know how you ordered your coffee? Get your ass up to the front to retrieve it and let us all get on with our lives. Man alive.

Hoping Bender stops rolling in poop. MFD alleges that he does it multiple times a day. Not for me so far.

Getting paid $125 for two hours of a focus group on Monday night. The topic: Planned Parenthood and bodily autonomy for women. As soon as I heard the topic, I put my hands behind my head and sat back like let us begin. As soon as I started opening my mouth, the facilitator knew she had the perfect candidate.

Replacing plates and silverware at the shore this year. My Dollar Store bowls are going strong from last year.

Remembering D-Day. 75 years ago today the world's axis started swinging back towards good but it would cost a hell of a lot of blood, sweat, tears, and lives. 

Celebrating pride this month (and the right for people to be who they are every month).

Missing The Obamas. Not because they were perfect people or because he was the best president or because they are without fault. Listening to Michelle Obama's book, I am reminded that we've had global representatives that had integrity and warmth and were not embarrassing, lying grifters.

Listening to Least Complicated by the Indigo Girls.

Reading: a shit ton of Netgalley books on my kindle. I need to get a physical book into my hands this weekend. Show Us Your Books is Tuesday. Yesterday was Jana's birthday, did you know that?

Fangirling when authors acknowledge you tagging them in something.

Sporting new hair thanks to Kristi. We talked about our reusable bags like 42 year olds do.

Watching: Billions. 

Looking forward to a great weekend with my girlfriends and a ride on my new bike. 

Reminding you:

Ecards: I feel seen.

What's new with you?

Linking up with Kristen

Three Amazing Destinations for Aspiring Photographers

Midway through the week, friends! My friend Jessie is sharing some travel/photog writing - one of my favorite things to do on trips is take photos. Happy happy birthday to my BFF Kim today, can't wait to see you and celebrate this weekend! And happy birthday to my friend of 20+ years and Show Us Your Books co-host Jana today as well! 

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Everybody takes photos when they travel but some people take it more seriously than others. Most of us will get some snaps to serve as a reminder of our trip but if you like to dabble in photography you might decide to build your trip around the photo opps. It’s easier than ever to take amazing photos because as a hobbyist you don’t need to spend thousands on a professional camera anymore, most phones can take pictures with amazing clarity. If you’re looking for destinations that give you the opportunity to get some truly stunning photographs without being a technically trained photographer, these are some of the best places around the world to visit.

Norway 

Via

Norway has a tiny population relative to its size which means that large areas of the country are untouched natural landscapes, just waiting to be photographed. Those landscapes are incredibly impressive with huge glaciers and mountains and deep fjords to photograph. You’ll find these features throughout the country so there’s no need to go to a national park or a tourist hot spot to get that perfect shot. The cities have lots of great photo opportunities as well, especially places like Bergen which is filled with colorful historical houses or the capital city of Oslo which showcases the country’s rich Viking history.

The landscapes and cities of Norway are great for photographers but most people that go there are looking upward to the sky because it’s one of the best places to see the Northern Lights. During the summer, they’re visible for hours every night so you’ll be sure to get a lot of great photos.

Australia

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Australia is filled with so many great cities but it’s the natural landscapes that really make the country amazing. Beautiful coastlines, rich rain forests, and deserted outback regions are all perfect for budding photographers. You have so many choices in Australia but one of the best places to go for photo opportunities is the Blue Mountains. It’s one of the best Aussie holiday ideas for people that have already done the big cities and want to see more of the natural beauty in Australia. While you’re there, make sure to hit the hot spots like the Pink Lake, the Great Barrier Reef, and the Opera House as well. 

Costa Rica 

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Costa Rica is such a beautiful country and it has so many great opportunities to get some pictures that people won’t believe aren’t photo-shopped because the place just looks so magical. If you’re taking a trip to Costa Rica and you want to get some good shots, the Rio Celeste Waterfall should be first on your list. Located in the Tenorio Volcano National Park, this amazing spot with an emerald blue waterfall tucked away in among the lush greenery is the ideal photo opportunity. While you’re there, you can get some great pictures of the active volcano as well. You should also make an effort to visit the Gandoca Manzanillo Wildlife Refuge where you’ll find some beautiful beaches and incredible wildlife to capture on film.

If you’re a keen photographer and you want to plan your next trip around photo opportunities, these are the best places to go.

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I love to try to capture the beauty of the landscapes around while traveling, but city photos can be fun to do too. Where were some of your favorite travel photos taken?

Siblings and friends and eyebrow soothsaying

I've been looking at time hop a lot (mostly to catch photos of Geege, let’s be real) and it shows that I do the same shit for years on end, mostly because it's good stuff. Right about now it’s celebrating my brother's birthday (today) the weekend before at the shore. Happy birthday Stephen! I always feel grateful to have siblings I really like as people. 

The past few years the second weekend of June has been girls weekend with my ladies from junior high and high school. What a wonderful thing to rest in a place of serious friendship with the same women for nearly 30 years, finding a safe haven through the highs and lows and the many in betweens. I’m so looking forward to this weekend.

Time hop also showed me that a year and a week before I accidentally shaved part of my eyebrow off having my razor in my hand when I adjusted my shower cap, I had a dream that I shaved part of my eyebrow off. I am clearly an eyebrow incident soothsayer.

Two things about The Great Eyebrow Incident of 2019, foreseen in a dream in 2018: my BFF Laura was more surprised that I own a shower cap than that I had an eyebrow accident and it took MFD over a week to notice and immediately comment that I look like Vanilla Ice. 

Word to your mother, Tuesday.

TWTW - the one on beach time

Friday I had off, so MFD and I piled the dogs in the car Thursday night and set off for the shore. I worked until about 11 and put out the new plates we got for upstairs. My brother and Aubrey were down with the kids, and my Dad and Carol and Aubrey's parents were down as well. I ended up working until after noon on Friday, so not really a day off, but still at the shore and it ended on the beach so all good. My dad had to be picked up from the Nissan dealership because his car's transmission went. Thank God a dealership was less than 15 miles away. 

We went to the boardwalk at night and hit the arcade, there was hot sauce tasting in a new store on the boards, rides, and I went out on a limb to get peanut butter and mint. The highlight on the way home was the performance of MFD and Aubrey as they sat in the Virtual Reality seats - they drew a crowd. 

Saturday 

I got up to see the sunrise, but there wasn't one. I made greek orzo salad for dinner for dinner and my dad made a big breakfast, then we took a bike ride on the boards with a pit stop at the beach. I took a snooze and then we hit the beach for a few hours. 

Back at the house we discovered a leak in the shower. Of course, so close to the season. My brother grilled but I couldn't eat because I was stressed out. We sang happy birthday to him and had some ice cream cake from A La Mode. I rallied and we had a fun time on the boards, meeting up with Frank & Amanda & Eva for a little, MFD the talk of the town in his Fart Loading tee. 

We collected nine slices along the way home and Aubrey ran a pizza blind taste test for us. It was fun! Then we had a drawing contest Lola ran and rigged. 

Sunday 

Started with new silverware upstairs and the discovery that my bike was stolen overnight. Not locked up, what can you do. Between my dad's transmission, the leak, and the theft, that's three things so we should be good. My dad’s car is being worked on, we think we have a temporary fix for the leak that will get us through the season, and Carol and my Dadare buying me a new bike. I also misplaced my kindle for most of the day so no beach reading of the new book I started Saturday night. Instead I relaxed and played and after we were done on the beach took an outdoor shower and hit the boards with Stephen & Aubrey and the kids (and sans phone) one more time before heading home with MFD and four very tired dogs. 

Weekly food prep: breakfast is breakfast burritos from the freezer. Lunch is egg salad. Snacks are strawberries, cantaloupe, and bell peppers. Dinners are grilled sausage and peppers and I don’t know what else yet. 

It was another awesome weekend. My niece and nephew are the funniest best kids ever. 

Kimmy Foo Foo's birthday was Saturday, we'll be celebrating together next weekend!