Crack the Sky

Today in pictures

2012-01-11T18:23:00.000-05:00

Today was an AWESOME day.

Matt and I went to High Rock in the morning... it was really windy and cold, but beautiful!

After we left High Rock, we took a drive down to Wegman's, where Matt bought some hot sauce... and proceeded to eat it, out of the bottle cap, in the car. He was hungry!

Since the poor guy was so hungry, we decided to have lunch at California Tortilla... he had never been there, but I knew he would love the epic wall of hot sauces...

Lunch started out looking like this....

and then this happened.......

and lunch ended looking more like this. ;-)

His head was literally sweating.... noses were running, and mouths were on fire! We both love hot food though, so I guess we'd consider this a great success!

The afternoon turned dreary and rainy, so we came home and took an hour-long nap.

Perrrrfect!

Year in review: 2011

2012-01-02T23:00:00.000-05:00

Hello, friends. Happy New Year!

I can't believe its 2012. Where did the year go?

2010 was a difficult one, and 2011 was much kinder to me.

All-in-all, 2011 was a good year, and I'm kind of sad to see it go.

I have high hopes for 2012, though!

Let's take a minute to reminisce over the past year...

January

Last January it snowed a whole lot, the blog got a major makeover, and I started using Instagram!

February

I turned 26...and not too much else happened in February.

It was snowy, and I was mostly just a hermit. ;)

March

I started data collection for my thesis in March.... it was cold!

April

I spent a lot of time with old and new friends in April.... I reconnected with my long-lost bff Lani in April, and made new friends at school. I went to several concerts in April.... Joan as Police Woman in Philadelphia, The Kills in D.C., and Brand New in Baltimore.

May

The semester ended in May.... I continued my monthly trips to Wallops for data collection (above), went to see Alexander & Family with Lani in D.C., and got ready to enjoy the summer.

June

I spent most of June house- and dog-sitting for my advisor.... very relaxing!

July

July was entirely spent traveling - first to Florida for a couple of weeks, then to Wallops for a class and to continue my field work...

August

August was crazy-busy. I had just returned home after 6 weeks of travel... and jumped straight into my assistantship at school, getting everything organized and ready for 2,100 incoming students at the university. I found a little bit of time to visit some friends (and a brewery!) in Kutztown, go camping in a cabin with some friends, and paint a giant banner for the university.

September

September was pretty hectic, but in a good way - I spent a lot of time at Wallops, went to the VirginFest, got a new tattoo, went to the Rennaissance Faire, and hung out with my bff a whole lot.

October

October was a really fun month! I got started on trying to figure out what I wanted to be for Halloween....decided on TWO different costumes (a pirate and a circus ringmaster), celebrated with good friends, had a freak snowstorm, and enjoyed a visit with family that I don't get to see as often as I'd like to.

November

November was spent almost exclusively hanging out with these 2 hooligans... we had a massive final project to work on for our class, so 5 days a week were spent working.... and rewarding ourselves for our hard work ;)

December

December was a whirlwind... a last hurrah of decent weather in the field (but I was still bundled up like an Eskimo), two new tattoos (bringing the grand total to 7) - an ocean wave armband and a BFF banana tattoo.

Christmastime crept up out of nowhere!

Time was spent with family and friends.

Before I knew it, it was December 31st, and a dress for the occasion had to be bought...

...and the New Year was rung in with the best of company :)

Looking back, 2011 was largely uneventful.... and I'm glad. It was a good year to just slow down, and let life happen at its own pace. I hope that 2012 will continue in the same manner.... I haven't made any resolutions, or even goals, yet. I want to take some time this week to think about that.... because I have a feeling that this year is going to be significant somehow. I don't know exactly what that means yet, but I hope that it means good things are coming.

All the best to all of you in the New Year, too! :)

My Christmas List

2011-11-28T16:39:00.000-05:00

Toms "Snow Leopard" wedges

Size: 7.5

Amazon.com gift card

...because I buy most of my mp3s (and books) there!

I'd like to have my car stereo installed in the Civic...

....that's it so far! Still brainstorming...

Laaaaaazy.

2011-09-27T11:16:00.001-04:00

Its raining and I have a cold. I have a list of things I planned on accomplishing today, BUT.....meh. I mean, at least I did my homework already. And put away laundry. And...yeah, that's about it.

I finally did it!

2011-09-15T07:08:00.000-04:00

I've been carrying this drawing around for, oh, around 4 or 5 years.

Yesterday just felt right.

Photo dump.

2011-09-13T09:38:00.000-04:00

Lately... back to school, field excursions to the beach, hanging with my bestie, cabin-camping, beachcombing, music festivals, soaking up the sun, new favorite smells, cats with goofy faces.

2011-07-30T08:51:00.000-04:00

Here's what I've been up to over the past week or so...

Explored the town of Chincoteague one afternoon last week...

Bought an awesome book about whales...

Hit the beach hardcore...

Hosted a bonfire for all of the students here at the MSC (I'm an RA)...

Ping-ponged with the boys...

Had class in the field. This is out standard uniform:

The 'classroom'...

Rewarded ourselves for a loooong day in the field with Mexican and margaritas!

Saw the most awesome living situation ever... this trailer is TINY and quite in need of repair... but these people own a Hummer and Corvette. Priorities! We pass this place every time we come here to do field work, and finally remembered to take pictures.

Did some serious work in the field...

Here's the whole class, and our precious sediment core that we had just extracted ;)

My kayaking buddy Shane and me :)

Adrienne's 1-year old Husky, Hopper. His eyes are so blue they look white!

I woke up at 6:20 this morning with a parched throat and a pounding headache...

I went out with the MSC staffers to the bar on the NASA base (security clearance has its perks! ;-) last night ... it was definitely a good time!

After we left the bar, we went back to Adrienne's apartment on campus and continued to get intoxicated...

Adrienne opened a beer and spilled it all over the floor...

and I drank wine out of a mason jar.

Kate (right) does not like being touched, so of course Adrienne had to hang all over her. Ha!

I loooove the faculty and staff here... I would so love to work here! I'm definitely going to start trying to get something lined up. I'm actually starting to feel really sad that I only have another week of class here! At least I get to come back once a month for research.... I'm going to miss these guys!

Good times!

My trip to Florida, in Instagrams - Day 8

2011-07-23T11:35:00.000-04:00

We packed up the vans and started on our loooooong trip back North....

Here's the van I was driving:

and from the inside:

(good thing I'm adept at just using mirrors!)

Just north of Miami, our rear-right tire completely delaminated, which in turn blew off part of our back bumper. Totally not cool. Luckily, it was a rental van and we were able to just call Enterprise and trade it in for another one. Still, this set us back about 3 hours.

Unloading the van on the side of the highway...

Road snacks!

Found at a gas station somewhere in....North Carolina maybe??

We stopped at the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel outside of Norfolk, VA. It was cool to see the tunnel from above - the road just disappears into the water!

My trip to Florida, in Instagrams - Fish!

2011-07-19T21:27:00.000-04:00

My trip to Florida, in Instagrams - Day 7

2011-07-19T20:39:00.000-04:00

On our last day in the Keys, we left super-early to go to John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park (which is one of my very most favorite places, by the way). I have tons of pictures of fish, but I'm saving them up for their very own post ;)

After a few hours of snorkeling (did I mention that we did a lot of snorkeling?), we cleaned up and stopped at a few souvenier shops...

I finally found an airplant!

We decided at the last minute to stop at Robbie's Marina to see people hand-feed the tarpon.

In the evening, back at the KML, we had the pleasure of meeting this guy...

and just a side note, no, Sean did not touch the manatee...that's illegal.

My trip to Florida, in Instagrams - Day 6

2011-07-19T20:27:00.001-04:00

Day 6 was spent on the RV Diodon, with snorkeling stops at 4 different reefs.

We docked for lunch at Indian Key, which was a settlement in the 1800s and is now a state historic site. My favorite part was the "mystery feature"...

The Century Plants were pretty cool.... they grow a huge stalk and only bloom once every ~100 years, and then die.

When we returned to the KML, the students had a quiz on algae and coral identification, so I walked around the classroom taking pictures of the specimen cases.

My trip to Florida, in Instagrams - Day 5

2011-07-19T08:05:00.000-04:00

We spent the first half of the day in the water (what else?!), stopped for lunch and quick [outdoor] showers at Bahia Honda State Park, then made our way south to Key West for the evening.

Key West is colorful in every sense of the word. :)

We had dinner and drinks at the Flying Monkey.

My drink of choice was the "Pain in the Ass" - 1/2 pina colada, 1/2 rum runner. Mmm.

My trip to Florida, in Instagrams - Day 4

2011-07-17T21:09:00.000-04:00

We went out on the RV Diodon and snorkeled all day.

That pretty much sums of the rest of my trip, hehe.

Guys and girls took turns cooking dinner each night...

My trip to Florida, in Instagrams - Day 3

2011-07-17T20:43:00.000-04:00

July 8, 2011

We went to the Florida Keys Hurricane Monument to check out the fossil-coral limestone blocks (from the Key Largo Limestone Formation, for any geology nerds who might read this).

I love these shoes. Coincidentally, I lost them a few days after this picture was taken. :-/

I will be ordering a new pair.

Here's "class" -

After we left the Hurricane Monument, we drove a few miles north to the Windley Key Fossil Reef Geological State Park, which is the old quarry where the stones for the monument were extracted. Its a pretty cool place to visit, if you ever get the chance!

...to be continued...

My trip to Florida, in Instagrams - Day 2

2011-07-16T15:02:00.000-04:00

July 7, 2011

We left the hotel bright and early and hit the road!

Instead of heading straight for the Keys, we made a detour to go through the Everglades National Park at Shark Valley.

We found some creepy-crawlies...this one was my favorite:

We left the Everglades and headed South for the Keys.

Our first stop in the Keys is always this dive shop in Key Largo,

so the students can buy any gear they need.

We finally made it to the Keys Marine Lab (KML) in the evening.

I walked around and checked out some of the tanks in the wet lab to see some of the research they had going on...

I don't know if you can tell from this picture, but this is a giant lobster sticking his antennae out of the water to check us out...

I claimed a bunk, set up camp, and passed.out.

...to be continued...

My trip to Florida, in Instagrams - Day 1

2011-07-15T14:35:00.000-04:00

Hello! I'm [regretfully!] back at the MSC after our trip to Florida! I don't remember if I mentioned why I was going, but in short - I took this class with my advisor in 2009, and he teaches it every summer so I told him I wanted to come along. He said I could just help out by driving one of the vans (we took 2) down and get to go for free. So I did. And it was amaaaaazing. We were gone for a total of 9 days and I have about a gazillion pictures to share...so here is day 1!

I left my house in south-central Pennsylvania on July 5th around lunchtime...I stopped in Annapolis on my way to the Marine Science Consortium in Chincoteague, VA to have lunch with my best friend, since I won't get to see her again until at least mid-August!

Annapolis Bay Bridge

We left Chincoteague at 5:00 a.m. on July 6th. I drove a rented minivan with 3 students and all of our gear/luggage, and Dr. C drove the 15-passenger van with the rest of the class.This is what I saw for the next 17 hours:

First palm tree sighting: Savannah, GA! :)

Twelve hours after we left, I decided I was tired of driving and switched with one of the students.

We stopped for dinner in St. Augustine, FL

After dinner we drove another 1/2 hour to Daytona to stay the night.

I hit the pillow and was fast asleep.

...to be continued...

Happy 4th!

2011-07-04T22:10:00.001-04:00

That last one is my favorite !!!

Happy 4th of July!

What's { all that !!! } in your bag??

2011-07-02T10:35:00.000-04:00

(1) Bluetooth (2) Metromint chocolate-mint water (3) Planner (4) glittery-pink nail polish, 2 Victorias Secret lip glosses, Visine for contacts (5) Instax camera (which I discovered was not working last night :-/) (6) wallet and coin purse
(7) two pairs of aviators (8) sketchbook and notebook (9) Burt's Bees lipbalm, mango-coconut hand lotion, oil-blotting sheets, body spray (10) two sets of keys - 1 with my house and car keys, the other with keys to the place I'm house/pet-sitting and my gym locker (11) my giant Hurley purse, without which none of this would be possible ;-)
**Not pictured: my iPhone, because I was using it to take pictures, hehe.

rearrange, refresh, revive.

2011-07-02T09:59:00.000-04:00

I've been going through an intense rejuvenation spell... do you ever go through those? The kind where you have the sudden urge to get rid of all of your worldly possessions and move into a tipi in the desert? Ok, maybe its not that drastic - but I have been packing-away, sorting, getting rid of, reorganizing, and generally rearranging all of the little bits that make up my life. Its a good thing! Its very refreshing to change things up every once in a while, right?

De-cluttering my blog seemed like the next logical step. I've been thinking about doing it for a while... it just didn't feel like me anymore. And also, I wanted to be able to use 'extra-large' pictures, which I wasn't able to do in my previous layout. ;-)

Here's my past few days, in pictures:

First row: I spent the day at home (I've been house-sitting and haven't been home in what feels like ages) and picked some pretty flowers from the garden, picked about a gazillion raspberries and mulberries from around the yard (bird-planted!), have been eating [vegan] berry parfaits almost every day!

Second row: I've forced myself to go to the gym more regularly, saw a horse-and-buggy in the gym's parking lot (totally normal thing around here, I just wanted to share because I know other people will think that's funny :-), framed and hung my new Charmaine Olivia print (via Society6 for U.O.), and hung with my favorite kitty Cosmo

Third row: Watered the plants until after 9:00 p.m. (its too hot before that!), took pictures of my piles of makeup, some of my favorite jewelry, and listened to some jamz in the car.

Fourth row: Bought a daypack for my upcoming travels (did I mention that I leave for a month, starting July 5? More on that later.), did a late-night "what's in my bag" picture last night because I realized I carry around a LOT of stuff, bought a new journal at Borders yesterday (to chronicle my upcoming travels), and drank this yummy cappuccino protein drink instead of coffee this morning.

So...I guess I should tell a bit about my upcoming travels? I think I'll do a separate post about it in a little while...

Follow me.

2011-06-27T17:58:00.000-04:00

If you have the instagram app, follow me!

crackthesky17

iPhone Photo Dump #2

2011-06-19T15:10:00.002-04:00

So, here's what I've been up to over the past few weeks:

I spent about a week visiting my bestie in Maryland....

we took a day-trip to Baltimore...

I bought this awesome headband at Urban Outfitters...

We spent some time in downtown Annapolis...

...spent a day in Ocean City, MD...

This store window display in downtown

Annapolis was made entirely out of food!!

After I came back home to PA, I worked on my tan a little more... hehe

I took Chase, who was getting pretty grubby, to get groomed!

Oh, and I got a new hat. :)

Chase looked (and felt!) much better after getting groomed.

Look at that smile!

I made friendship bracelets!

I got these wicked shoes on sale at Kohl's the other day for only $8!

Since getting contacts, I have acquired many, many pairs of sunglasses...

My newest shades....leopard print!!

Daisy and I have been rockin' out to some new jams...

And this is what happens when I take everything off of my bed to change the linens...

the animals think I'm telling them to create a blanket fort!

Umm...what else?

Oh! Lani and I saw Alexander & the Magnetic Zeros a couple of weeks back! It was awesome because it was sort-of an amalgamation of Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros and lead-man Alexander Ebert... many of the band members played some of their own personal songs that they've been working on, as well as some brand new material that had never been played for an audience before that show! It was amaaaazing!

Some of the images in the collage above are of the opening band, He's My Brother She's My Sister. They were fantastic! I sort of love them.

I had never heard of HMBSMS, but I fell instantly in love with them. I mean, they have an official tap-dancer, and she wore a sequin dress and was probably the cutest human being alive. I want to be her bff. It made me want to find a sequin dress of my own...oh wait, that's nothing new.

via

Today in pictures.

2011-06-19T14:16:00.000-04:00

From top: I switched-up the polish on my fingers and toes; enjoyed the sun coming through my window early this morning; burned a few candles; went to the grocery store and Target; and rocked my awesome new cheetah shades ;-)

Now I'm waiting for my parents to get home from their weekend away, and I think we're going out to dinner to celebrate Father's Day later this evening....

I done got my hurrr did!

2011-05-18T10:46:00.000-04:00

Ta-da!!

You can't even tell how light my hair is from the picture. Its liiiiight. I love it!

I told my stylist, Kim, that the next step is some crazy colors, a la -

...once the front of my hair gets a little longer. I can't wait!!

I'm heading to Annapolis this afternoon to spend a couple of days with my bff Lani, do some shopping, maybe go to the beach if the sun decides to show his face... good times!!

Speaking of good times, this picture just surface from about 2 weeks ago -

Nevermind that I look exhausted... it was about 1:30 a.m. at the time this picture was taken, and I hadn't gotten a proper nights' sleep in about a week (it was finals week!)... but do I look like I cared? Oh, no. ;-)

2011-05-16T09:09:00.000-04:00

I'm baaaack from doing field work, and its officially summer vacationnnnn!! Wooooo!! :-D

We had an amazing time over the weekend. It was our first actual data-collection trip, and it was 100% successful!! We completed 31 transects along the beach, spanning a good 5 or 6 miles. It took us 3 days, but we did it!!! Our presentations to NASA went well, and more exciting plans for the future (including me shooting for graduation in just a year!) have been made.

There was a lot of ice-cream-eating...

(or sorbet, in my case ;-)

These are my research partners -

"We're the approximately 6 best friends that anyone could have" ;-)

NASA's rock wall, aka 'home sweet home'

Today's agenda:

1) Do 92 loads of laundry :-/

2) Go to campus and download the data from this weekend

3) Gym it up!!

4) Start the search for an apartment!!

iPhone Photo Dump #1

2011-05-11T23:46:00.000-04:00

Did I mention that I got an iPhone on Monday?

I accidentally left my (old) phone charger at Jake's apartment...which he moved out of on Sunday, and is now in Pittsburgh for a few weeks, then will be in New York City for a summer-long internship.... so when I realized my account was due for an upgrade, I went for it!

Here's the first round of photos!

Here's me right after my haircut yesterday... it was sticking straight up in the back!

No bueno.

(Its better today ;-)

Here's my little Japanese maple tree! I planted it two years ago when it was like 5 inches tall. I'm so proud!

Mmmm....coconut mocha....

Chase, Cosmo, and Duffy

This pic is from a few weeks ago, but I had fun Instagram-ing it!

I took this while we were on our way to Wallops earlier today!

Here's the dorm I'm staying in this weekend. Usually we're in the (much nicer!) college dorms, but for some reason they stuck us in the old pre-college dorms this time. Meh.

I'm not a huge fan of the bunkbeds here.... the ceilings are generally kind of spidery, so I pulled my mattress off and stuck it on the floor. Much better.

This is me right now!

And this beastie lives right outside of the dorm I'm in. Yes, it is enormous. I'm pretty creeped out.

Summer is heeeeere!

2011-05-11T10:27:00.001-04:00

The semester is finally over!!!!!!

I feel like its been forever since I blogged....oh, it has! Sheesh. I've missed my blog terribly. :(

I'd love to be able to say that I have more time to jump back into it now, but alas, such is not the case...until next week. I'm leaving this evening for field work, and won't return until Sunday.... but after that, I'm officially on Summer Vacation! Wooooo!!

The past couple of weeks have been absolutely insane...perhaps the craziest end-of-the-semester I've ever had! Between final projects, term papers, and an out-of-nowhere social life (whaa???), I've had zero time. Not that I'm complaining!

I have a busy day, and I've been slacking all morning, so I must away. I'll leave you with some pictures from last weekend's end-of-the-semester Crabfest (of course I did not partake) -

Excuse my grossness. I had been wearing that outfit for 2 days, and the oversized sweatshirt was not mine - it was just rainy and chilly so I borrowed it from a friend.

Plus I needed a hair-trim, which I got yesterday.

I keep going back to it...

2011-04-23T17:37:00.002-04:00

Remember a while back when I decided I wanted to be a Magician's assistant?

I'm back in full-swing I'm-running-away-and-joining-the-circus mode, thanks to Arcade Fire's Regine Chassagne's get-up at Coachella last week...

....and the movie Water For Elephants, which I saw yesterday.

I read the book last summer, and loved it, and I'm pleased to say, the movie didn't disappoint.

The wardrobe was to die for...

Paper-shmaper! I know where my priorities are!

2011-04-22T10:59:00.000-04:00

So...I had originally set today aside to work on my Environmental Geology term paper (that is due on this coming Thursday). I'm not so sure that's how the day is going to play out.

Last night after class ended at 9:15, a bunch of us decided to go out and have a beer. I love going out with these guys. They're a really swell bunch. ♥ After midnight, we got really hungry and went out for subs and french fries... listened to Arcade Fire super-loud in my car, then headed home. This is becoming somewhat of a regular occurence....and I'm totally cool with that! There's this guy.... wink wink.... I think I've let on to that, haven't I? I really like hanging out with him.... we're so similar - both always down for anything. Spontaneity!! I don't want to jinx myself and say that I like where this is going, but.... I'm fairly certain that he greatly enjoys hanging out with me as well. :-D

I got home around 2:00 this morning - wayyyy past my bedtime! Haha. So I'm a little tired this morning. Not too bad, but tired enough to be tempted to find an excuse not to do schoolwork today. Plus its cloudy outside - I never do work when its cloudy! Furthermore, its Earth Day!!!!! There's a celebration on campus today that is calling my name..... much more so than a term paper about saltwater intrusion, hehehe.

So anyway. No pictures yet today... sorry! I'm just trying to gather myself and decide what today is going to be like.... hopefully I'll be back later with some interesting material. ;-)

Happy Earth Day!!

Sky high

2011-04-20T19:58:00.001-04:00

Thanks for the comments wishing my cat well - he's on an antibiotic, and the vet said he should be fine in about a week. Phew! Huge sigh of relief.

Today was such a beautiful spring-y day... the sun was shining, and it was about 70 degrees for a little while there....I just had to go to the mall and find the perfect pair of sandals to wear to the Kills show on Sunday... hehe. I knew I wanted a pair of black gladiator-type sandals, with a wedge or a platform, and of course they had to be vegan....

Ta-da!!

The Olsenboye "Tilly" wedge

They are seriously comfortable! I was shocked when I tried them on and walked around the store a little.. super-easy to walk in! Plus, they are cuuuuuuute - another shopper stopped and said, "Girl, you need those shoes! They are cute!!" hahahaha. Made my day. I'm thinking they might be a secret weapon to help in my man-wooing efforts....hahahaha!

I definitely already have an outfit picked out.... Sunday might require at least one wardrobe change, though, since we're going to spend the day checking out the D.C...probably going to go to a few museums, et cetera... but yeah, I have my outfit for the show picked out already anyway. Its a dress I've shared on here before... definitely shows off the 'guns' - haha!

It is this dress, but in a different print -

its navy blue and has purple feathers on it.

Wish us luck!

2011-04-19T10:28:00.000-04:00

I have to take my 14-year old cat, Trinket, to the vet this morning. Yesterday morning I noticed that his nose was super-runny and generally pretty disgusting, so I made an appointment pronto. It looks like a really bad cold, and I've got my fingers crossed that's all it is, but I'm still apprehensive...he's so old! If he has pneumonia or something I'm worried about what they're going to tell me. :(

Trinket's all about squishing himself into small spaces. This pic is 4 years old, though - he took up residence in a basket on top of the dryer in the bathroom and hasn't left in a good 2 years, hahaha.

Besides the vet appointment, this week is looking pretty good. I found out last night that I don't have to write a term paper for Karst like I thought I did (and its a good thing since next week is the last week of classes before finals!)... so I only have 1 big term paper to write, and I've got Friday set aside for that.

Its rainy and ugly today, but I'm wearing flip-flops regardless.Tomorrow is supposed to be 80 degrees and mostly sunny! Definitely looking forward to that!!

Sorry for the generally un-interesting posts lately...I just need to get through these last 2 weeks of school and I'm freeee! Life has just been pretty hectic-in-a-good-way lately, so...bear with me!

Since I don't have anything super-fabulous to share today, I thought I'd respond to a few comments I've received recently. I've been meaning to do it, and just kept forgetting. Oops.

First, many of you complimented my new 'do and highlights - thanks!! I love having short hair, hehe. A lot of you commented on the new color....but I didn't change the color! The highlights I got are very subtle - you can actually hardly see them, they're so light. My hair color didn't change at all...I think it just looks different because there is actual sunlight in my recent pictures, hahaha. I've never dyed my hair, ever! I love my natural color and would be afraid I'd never get it right again hahaha.

Also, I got a lot of comments asking where I got the LOVE shirt I'm wearing in this picture:

I ordered it from Delias a couple of months ago, but its still available (and in other designs, too) -its one of my most favorite shirts ever!! Now that I think about it, I should probably order it in nautical stripes myself... I wear the heck out of it, and you know how I love me some nautical stripes! haha!

Ok, I think that's all for now. I have to get the cat loaded in the carrier and head to the vet.

Wish us luck today!

Most.Epic.Ever.

2011-04-18T07:46:00.001-04:00

Did you guys watch Arcade Fire at Coachella streaming live Saturday night???

Holy cow. Most epic thing I've ever seen. I stayed up til 5 a.m. to watch that, and I'm soo glad I did! Seeing the Arcade Fire is now at the top of my concert bucket list...and hopefully soon! Jake and I were trying to rationalize driving 10 hours to Chicago this Friday but between the ticket price and the gas money, it just wouldn't be practical. sighhh.

I'm very glad to announce that I have successfully transitioned back into a normal sleep schedule. Its good to know that I can stay up til 5 a.m. two days in a row and get back on track a day later. Don't know how often I should do that, but... when there's good music, good food, and good company...you gotta do what you gotta do!! hahaha.

Speaking of good company... I've been spending a lot of time recently in (what I consider to be) very good company.... I've got my fingers crossed that this will go somewhere....its hard to say right now, but I definitely know he likes spending time with me, and we have lots of plans to hang out in the future... so this is a good start. ;-)

Wiz Wit!

2011-04-17T01:01:00.001-04:00

Woo! The past 24 hours may just have been the best.day.ever.

In a moment of spontaneity and impulsiveness, Thursday night it was decided that Jake, Trent and I would drive to Philadelphia Friday night to see Joan As Police Woman.

The venue, Tin Angel, was tiny - there were literally about 25 people there, and we were the youngest by about 25 years. Crazy!! I just don't understand how JAPW isn't freaking famous, playing sold-out shows!! Anyway. Jen Hess opened for Joan...she was doing a cover of Neil Young's "Down by the River". Jake absolutely loves Neil Young...so of course he was singing along (and the guy can SING)... and Jen Hess stopped playing and asked Jake to come up on stage with her. He did, and they sang together. It was awesome. Of course by the time I figured out the buttons on my camera, it was over. Le sigh.

Joan was, hands-down, the BEST live show I have ever seen. Jake said so too, and Jake has probably seen about 18,974,982 shows. For serious.

May I recommend clicking on each of the pictures to enlarge them... I am particularly pleased with how awesome they came out, and you just can't tell unless you look at 'em bigger!!

The show ended pretty early...around 9:30! So we walked around the city, got some dinner, played some pool at an Irish pub, and took some goofy pictures.... good times all around!!

Normal faces:

Serious faces:

Smiley!

Goofy!

We nerded out in front of the topography mural in the subway...

The boys really enjoyed their authentic Philly cheesesteaks! Hahaha.

Philadelphia is a good 3-hour drive from home.... we arrived back home around 5:00 this morning. I drove. Man, were we beat! I dropped Trent off at his place, then Jake and I went back to his apartment. I was not going to drive the extra 40 minutes back to my house. We woke up off-and-on throughout the day, but didn't officially get out of bed (or couch, in my case) until 3:00 this afternoon - at which time it was decided that we were in desperate need of pancakes and hashbrowns. So we drove, in torrential downpours, 30 minutes down the highway to the nearest IHOP and ate enormous amounts of breakfast-for-dinner....then perused the cds at Borders...then went home. I got back to my house at 8:00 tonight... and I'm already counting down the hours until next Sunday, when Jake and I are going to see The Kills in D.C. siiighhh

I thought I'd be tired tonight and be able to fall asleep, but that is not the case... good thing Coachella is streaming live right now! Definitely going to be up all night!!

What NOT to Wear

2011-04-13T09:49:00.001-04:00

This past weekend was, like, the best EVER.

Friday night I went out with a bunch of school buddies. Good times were had all around!

The only damper on our evening was a very...how shall I say this...scantily clad mademoiselle at the first bar we went to. You can't really tell in the photo (her inclusion in the photo was a total accident anyway), but here's the rundown of her "outfit" (if you can call it that):

- corset top

- "skirt" that literally did not cover all of the things it needed

to cover (read: we saw things that we DID NOT want to see)

- Fishnet thigh-highs

- stiletto heels

- baseball cap

- too much makeup

For anyone who was wondering how short I am.... Mark, to my right, is sitting down...and I am standing in all my glory! And look at Hannah, bending down to my level...and she's still taller than me! Hahaha! I never think about how small I am... until I see pictures like this!

Not to be totally mean, but the, uh, hills and crevasses on her thighs kind of hinted that maybe she should have worn a slightly longer skirt.... just sayin'. It was funny to hear the guys' commentaries on her get-up... the general concensus was that a "sexy" look definitely could have been achieved with MUCH more clothing!

Anyway. I was like, "Good thing I didn't wear the same outfit! I was going to, but mine was dirty." Hehehe.

So yeah, I didn't get home until around 2:00 a.m. on Saturday.... then I headed to Annapolis that afternoon to visit my bestie and go to the DC United vs. LA Galaxy game in DC. Super fun! Everybody boo'ed David Beckham (dreamy), which I thought was very unsportsmanlike....though I'm pretty sure he didn't touch the ball once. Hmm.

Those are my favorite glasses! Haha!

I spent Saturday night in Annapolis, and was planning on leaving fairly early on Sunday so I could do my take-home Karst Hydrogeology exam on Sunday (due Monday at 6:30 p.m.).... except Lani and I just had to go to the mall..... and I didn't leave for home until 8:30 p.m.! We were having too much fun catching up (haven't seen each other in 2 years!)...drinking lots of coffee, eating vegan cupcakes, going to all of our old haunts.... I got home close to 11:00 p.m., and got up at 6:00 on Monday and churned that exam right out! Took me 5 hours..... you'd think I'd have learned my lesson by now. (But, on the bright side... it took others in my class 10 hours start-to-finish). Urgh.

This week is pretty awesome so far... funky schedules mean I don't have to babysit much this week, some profs are at a conference in Seattle so a few classes are cancelled. I think we have a plan to go out Thursday night, since we don't have class.... and I've got plans with a certain guy on Easter! (Our plans have absolutely nothing to do with Easter...we're going to a Kills show in DC....it just happens to be on Easter haha). So....that's good. ♥

Hooray for awesome weeks, filled with good beer, good food, and good company!

Prepare yourself for some ridiculousness.....

Listening to: St. Vincent

Storyboarding

2011-04-07T10:41:00.000-04:00

This is what I've been doing this morning....

...sketching and storyboarding my ideas for my final GIS project, which will be about Svalbard.

I had too much fun with the "to-scale" drawing of Predator X hehehe :-D

I'm so glad today is Thursday - its my Friday!

- Class 2:00-3:15

- Babysitting 3:15 ~ 4:00

- Gym 4:30 ~ 5:30

- Dinner...Subway??

- Class 6:30 - 9:15

then I'm freeeeeee!

Its going to be a great weekend - tomorrow is an official "Grad student imbibing workshop" (read: everyone goes to the bar for drinks, bought by the profs!), and Saturday I'm going to the DC United vs. LA Galaxy game with my bestie!! David Beckham...mmmm-hmmmm! :-D

2011-04-05T20:56:00.000-04:00

I pretty much adore everything in the Billabong line right now, which has a cool tribal/Southwest vibe to it...

Images from billabonggirls-usa.com

I'm still recovering from this past weekend, and feel so lethargic! It doesn't help that the weather has been super-icky, either... today would have been a perfect day to stay in bed, but of course, I had to go to class. Bleh. At least I didn't have to babysit today! In my extra little bit of free time, I stopped at the mall on my way home and dropped some cash at PacSun, dreaming of sunny weather!!

Billabong Muelle tank

Black Poppy "Lexi" romper

Stencil Sparrow necklace

I can't wait for the weather to turn a little nicer so I can wear tank tops sandals!!! Its supposed to be in the 60s for the next week, but rainy pretty much every day. :-(

Is there a certain 'look' you're digging right now??

Working hard, or hardly working??

2011-04-04T09:14:00.000-04:00

I'm back from my weekend of field work!

It was amazing. We got a lot done. This trip was all about setting up - now that that's done, we can concentrate on collecting data....and beachcombing. ;-)

*WARNING - if you have a super-sensitive stomach, or if you might be offended by pictures of dead things on the beach, stop reading now. If you're fascinated with what Nature leaves lying around, scroll right on down. :-)

Jackie with her clipboard, Matt needed a rest.

We saw some interesting organisms.... beach mushrooms??

And that dolphin was really kind of cool...not as gross as you might expect!

I've got my fingers crossed that as these next few months go by, it'll still be on the beach and we can monitor how quickly it decays - it might be an interesting study to see what organisms show up around it! And... after its all said and done, it might be kind of cool to have a complete dolphin skeleton at the MSC....

Clockwise: Channeled whelk, beach mushrooms (?), Dolphin, Bay anchovy

Saturday afternoon, we were working on the northernmost tip of the island, a good 2-mile hike from where we had parked the car, when the skies suddenly opened up and it started hailing on us. There was absolutely no shelter for miles... ocean to our left (tide coming in ), and brush/scrub to our left with signs posting "Danger, do not enter: high explosives".... apparently NASA has some un-detonated explosives buried at that end of the island. So..... we hiked the 2 miles back to the car, and when we got there, the sky was blue and the people working at that end were like, "Why are you guys so wet??" Ugh.

See how we're leaning way back? That's how hard the wind was blowing at our backs.

Right after those pictures were taken, my baseball cap flew off my head at about 100 mph and went straight into the ocean....I was soooo upset - it was brand new! After we hiked back to the car, and the weather cleared up, we decided to drive on the beach back out to the north end....and on our way, I saw my hat washed up on shore!! It was pretty far north of where I had lost it....I was so excited to get it back! Now its officially "broken in". :-D

Phew! I'm still alive!

2011-03-31T08:16:00.001-04:00

Whew, this week has been insane. I have been on campus all day, every day, pretty much this entire week. Between an exam, 2 labs due, and getting everything prepared for our trip to Wallops this weekend, I have been one. busy. lady. The good news is, I forced myself to stay up way past my bedtime last night and totally rocked my map lab that's due today! That's uncharacteristic of me; I never do any work in the evenings (no all-nighters for this gal!)...I'd rather wake up super-early and get my work done. I've always been like that. But I worked until about 1:30 this morning, and I'm really pleased with the way it turned out!

The overall idea of the map brochure (that's what it is, by the way) is kind of silly, but that's not the point. The assignment was to create a map brochure based on an image that we were given, and a dataset of our choosing from the US Census website. My image was a WWII-era postcard of factory workers, so finding a dataset from the US Census that would work with that was...eh. So I went with the population density of women aged 65+, because they were the "Rosies" of their time. :)

So...long story short, I'm super-glad to have that out of the way....normally, I'd be spending today freaking out trying to get it finished before its due at 6:30 p.m. but now I can relax and take it easy today! I definitely plan on staying indoors today.... it snowed last night, and its a freaking Winter Wonderland outside. EWW! o_O

Today in a nutshell...

2011-03-28T08:00:00.001-04:00

I tell myself this all the time!!

7:30 a.m. Wake up (late)!

8:00 a.m.Quick blog post + breakfast & coffeeee

8:30 a.m. Shower

9:00 a.m. Get dressed, do hair & makeup

10:00 a.m. Leave, possibly go to A.C. Moore on the way to campus for supplies for a project I came up with last night when I was falling asleep!

11:00ish a.m. Get to campus, meet up with my friend Matt to work on an Environmental Geology lab and study for tomorrow's exam

2:30 p.m. Pick up the kiddos from school

2:30-4:00 p.m. Babysitting

4:30 - 5:30 Gym!

5:30 p.m. Dinner at.....Subway??

6:30 - 9:15 p.m. Class: Karst Hydrology and Geomorphology

10:00 Home!!

It is going to be a loooooong day!!

pic via Weheartit

Surfer Girl

2011-03-27T21:48:00.000-04:00

Surfer Chic by Veronica Woodlief featuring knit tank tops

Sun-day.

2011-03-27T11:23:00.000-04:00

We were supposed to get some snow last night and this morning, but instead the sky is blue and the sun is shining! Of course, its only 35 degrees, but that's ok. Do you think I was disappointed in the lack of snow?? ;-)

I have been hard at work getting stuff done for this coming week... I have a big mapping project due (started it yesterday in true Veronica fashion), a lab due and an exam on Tuesday (I'll study on Monday), and, most importantly, I've been getting everything ready for our first official data collection trip to Wallops next weekend! I spent hours yesterday making equipment lists, biological census sheets, data collection sheets... it sounds like it would be a pretty quick task (and I thought it would be) but it took wayyy longer than I had expected! But, I'm happy to say, I'm very pleased with what I've accomplished so far!

Here's a little preview of my mapping project so far... it took me forever to get the people drawn!!

I'd share the data collection sheets, but they're really not very exciting... although I'm excited about them, hehe. They're all 'official-looking' so we can show them to NASA and they'll be impressed. ;-)

I've been getting a steady stream of packages in the mail over the past few days... all of the gear (and other goodies, hehe) I've been ordering is finally coming! I'll have to do a separate post so I can show you all of the awesome stuff I got!

Oh, one more thing - for any surfer girls (or wannabe surfer girls, like me, hehe) who may read this, Killer Dana is having an awesome sale! Buy any pair of boardshorts, get 50% off of a pair of sandals. That includes sale items!! I definitely just ordered 2 pairs of boardshorts, and got 2 pairs of sandals 50% off! I needed some new 'flops, but I also got these (that you know I've been drooling over for a while)! No way I'd be able to find them for cheaper than 50% off!! Sweeeeet.

Yeah, I'm definitely going to have to do a separate post about all of my new stuff. Yikes. Hehe.

Ok, back later!!

Look ma, no glasses!

2011-03-23T12:39:00.000-04:00

I can seeeeee...its a miracle! :-D

I should have taken some 'before' pictures of my hair...

but it was wayyy scary, so I'm actually glad I didn't!

And, just because I can, here is a goofy face.

I'm off to pick up the kiddos from school in a little while...and then *try* to get my butt into the gym! I finally kicked the cold I had last week, but this week has been crazy-busy thus far, so today..I've got my fingers crossed!!

Transformation

2011-03-23T08:48:00.001-04:00

Well, I finally caved and got my hair cut yesterday!

I was trying to let it grow so I could wear it up in a ponytail this summer, but... it was looking pretty baaaad. As in, I-wouldn't-want-to-be-seen-with-me-in-public bad. So I remembered loving this chick's hair on the Hurley website, so I grabbed the image and went to the salon. 2 1/2 hours, 7 foils, and a good 3 inches of hair-on-the-ground later, I emerged a new, much less-embarassing-to-be-seen-with version of myself. ;-D

I'm pretty impressed with how similar the stylist was able to get my hair...the only real difference being the long bits in the front...my hair isn't quite that long yet, but I definitely want to get it there!

Its a rainy, gross day but I will try to get pictures of the new 'do at some point!

Even though the weather is kinda dreary here, I've still been on my own tropical island these past few days...between some awesome new music (thanks for all of the summer music suggestions - I've checked out all of your recommendations, and you guys totally nailed it!), the new Island Colada air freshener in my car, and my freshly-overhauled Spring wardrobe, I am so totally ready for spring! Even with flurries in the forecast later this week (ew), it still looks like its going to be in the 50s for the most part.

I'm cool with that. ;-)

One-half of my closet, with freshly unpacked Spring clothes -

with flouncy skirts instead of chunky sweaters!

Oh! Also... I got contacts this week! I tried wearing contacts about 10 years ago, when I was in high school. I wore them off-and-on for about 3 years, and tried every different cleanser, solution, and lens material on the market...and my eyes just never adjusted to having things stuck in them forever. Super lame-sauce. So I've been wearing glasses for-ev-errr, and maybe its silly, but I feel like I look kinda grumpy and unapproachable with glasses! Not to mention, I can't wear sunglasses (unless I want to be totally blind), which majorly stinks. So I made an appointment on Monday, had my eyes checked, and walked out with contacts in my eyeballs! So far, so good...even though it has only been a couple of days, hehe. I've kept them in for about 6 hours each day, before my eyes start getting really watery and itchy. I've got high hopes this time around!!

And just a little p.s....my cat Rosie is sitting in my lap right now helping me type...and licking my hands as I type this post. Weeeeiiiirrrd.

2011-03-19T17:44:00.000-04:00

Every Spring, my advisor takes his undergrad Oceanography class to Baltimore Aquarium for an evening.

Of course, I had to tag along. Hehe. I drove his wife and kids (the kids I babysit!) so they could come, too.

Teeny-tiny baby fish!

We ate dinner at Noodles & Co. and then watched a street performer

perform death-defying acts of bravery. ;-)

I had so much fun. Of course, I always have fun at the Aquarium,

but its even better seeing it through the eyes of little kids.

A punky reggae party

2011-03-19T10:59:00.001-04:00

It hit around 80 degrees yesterday, so I went into full wishing-for-summer mode!

I got my warm-weather clothes out, packed away my chunky sweaters, and drove with my sunroof open...all while listening to Bob Marley, of course. :-D

I'm a huuuuge reggae fan...so chill, and super-fun at the same time!

You can't help but bob to the music (or I can't, anyway!)

Here are some things you might wear to a punky reggae party ;-)

Billabong bikini top, bottom

Sanuk Donna sidewalk cruiser

I neeeeed these, like, bad.

Billabong "No Woman" bag

The Body Shop - coconut body butter

Nothing says "beach party" more than the scent of coconuts!

I totally bought this, the body scrub, and the body wash last night...hehe

Bob Marley's "Legend"

Aaand, here's a playlist to get you in the summer mood! :-)

I'm off to finish going through all of my spring/summer clothes, cleaning and organizing my room... I'm in Spring-cleaning mode too!

Do you like reggae, or have any recommendations?

What's your favorite 'summer' music???

2011-03-16T07:53:00.000-04:00

*sniffle* *sniffle*

Well, I'm still a boogery-mess, but I feel much better today, so that's good. Its going to be a busy day! I don't have any classes (hooray) but I have a lot of stuff to take care of -

Exchange the bathing suit top I bought yesterday for a bigger size (yay! haha!)

I want to pin my advisor down so we can figure out my summer, and maybe Fall, schedules... There's a whole lot going on and I'd rather get it all organized sooner than later!
I need to buy a new, less-complicated calculator... I have a huge, icky hydrogeology Saturation Index calculation to work on, and my calculator is so complicated, even my professor couldn't figure out how to get it to do a logarithmic function. The only thing I use my calculator for is (ahem) simple addition/multiplication kind of stuff... so I'm definitely looking to downgrade, haha!
After I find a more user-friendly calculator, I have to go to campus and work on the horrible calculation with a guy from class...its probably going to take two of us, plus 10 pages of scribbling on paper, and several hours to figure this thing out. Ew.

Awesome day!

2011-03-15T08:59:00.000-04:00

Well, it looks like its "that time of year" again - something must be blooming because everyone I know came down with a cold on Sunday.. myself included! Its nothing major, just a runny nose (which is pretty gross). Nothing a little Dayquil can't help. ;-)

Even though I was heavily medicated yesterday (or maybe because I was heavily medicated? Hehe), it was such an awesome day!! I picked up the kiddos an hour later than normal because apparently they're doing some Chess Club thing on Mondays now... so I have an extra hour to myself (sweeeet). After babysitting, I went back to campus to get some work done before my night class started at 6:30 - in that time, I got to eat a piece of vegan pie (in celebration of Pi Day!), found out that I most likely got a full scholarship for next year (but I don't like to count my chickens, so... fingers crossed!), aaand got the go-ahead to start pricing wetsuits so we can include them in our equipment funding request (which means I don't have to fork out my own cash for one)! Awesome-awesome-awesome.

So...if anyone knows anything, or has some helpful hints about buying wetsuits.... please do share!

I'm pricing coldwater suits (5mm) - 1 for women, and 1 for men. I have no clue about sizing or anything! I wish we had a local shop where we could try them on...but...uh, I live in south-central PA!!

All I know is, I want to look like this:

Hehe.

Shopping Addict - Field Gear edition

2011-03-13T12:57:00.000-04:00

Soooo...I've been scouring the internet for the best gear for my upcoming year+ of research. I see this as an investment, so I don't mind spending a little bit of $$ on gear that is going to make my life easier for the next couple of years.

I found the most perfect backpack ever at the Columbia outlet over the weekend... its huge, has tons of pockets for all of my tools and stuff, is water-resistant, and has topographic maps in the liner! haha!

Columbia ROC Walkabout backpack

And then I definitely caved and splurged on the Tevas I've been drooling over...

Teva Gnarkosi water shoe

I am sooo excited about those shoes!! I'm all about shoes that are pretty and functional, so these have me doing a little jig of joy. ;-D

I received my O'Neill 24/7 Tech gear... I ordered the pants and top with the intention of trying them on and seeing if the material really seemed worth the rather hefty investment ($50 each piece)... and upon opening the package, I was in love. The material is kind of hard to describe - it feels like a cross between a bathing suit and a wetsuit...but casual enough to wear as normal lounge-pants and a lightweight sweatshirt...if that makes any sense. The material is moisture-wicking, UV protection, and is supposed to keep you cool and safe from overheating in the summer time. Sounds good to me! Since I'm fair-skinned, and will be spending lots of time out in the sun, I don't want to take any chances...skin cancer = NO.

(Except my hoodie is light blue)

I a seriously in love, especially with the pants - they're the perfect length, which I was a little concerned about (usually pants are like 6 inches too long for me hehe) - and the top is way cuter than what the pictures on Amazon made them look like. I ordered a size down (XS) just in case it was too baggy because it was described as "loose-fitting"...and that seems to be perfect. Hooray! Can't wait to test out my gear in the field - April 1st!!

My Ever-Growing To-Do List

2011-03-10T09:31:00.001-05:00

Eww, its such a dreary grey day outside.... the perfect weather for staying in bed all day!

Unfortunately, someone else will have to enjoy that for me because I have soooo much to do today. And every day. haha!

I slept in until 7:30 this morning - still recovering from the weekend of field work. That cold Atlantic wind sucks the energy right out of ya! Which reminds me...one of my assistants uploaded their pictures last night -

That's me in the green coat on the right...puffed up like a marshmallow :D

I literally had on 6 shirts. That's how cold it was.

So...I've done lots of coastal environment field work over the past few years... in Virginia, Mississippi Gulf Coast, the Florida Keys, and Curacao, Netherlands Antilles. So my usual 'uniform' consists of shorts, a bathing suit, sunscreen, flip flops, snorkel gear...you get the picture.

These are from my various field work locations over the past 3 years. The only

photos I didn't take are the ones with me in them; those were taken by my advisor. ;)

P.S. I highly recommend clicking and enlarging this picture!

Especially on the seahorse and the fish... soooo pretty!

But this research will have us out there on the beach once a month, every month, for the next year (through April 2012). And this was my first time doing any work in the winter. Needless to say, I need to get some more varied field gear! My plan is to go to Dick's Sporting Goods first, then maybe over to the outlets...there's a Columbia store and an L.L. Bean store there... I don't know yet. This stuff can be so expensive! I'm not going to go overboard, but there are definitely a few key items (like GLOVES!) that I'm willing to splurge on if they're going to keep my fingers from being frostbitten!!

The trick is going to be getting myself motivated enough to shower and get dressed to go out in the icky rainy weather. Bleh.

Then, after I shop and run a few errands, I'm heading over to my advisor's house, where we will most likely sit side-by-side, laptops in front of us, kickin' the jams on our 4-page To-Do list. Awesome.

And that's my advisor, Sean, about to take a dip in the cold, cold water. Hehe.

Baaaack!

2011-03-09T15:57:00.000-05:00

Well, I'm officially back at home - and having a hard time getting back to my 'normal' life! I'm so excited about everything we accomplished over the weekend, and getting started on my research - its so difficult to come back to reality! Hehe. Of course, I need to hurry up and snap out of it because I have tons of stuff to do in order to prepare for our next trip to Wallops in just 2 weeks! Not to mention all of the homework I have to finish...yikes!

Tom's Cove at Assateague

I decided to give myself today as a 'day off' (HA-HA)...meaning I didn't bother showering, getting dressed, or unpacking any of my bags yet. And its 3:00 p.m. Instead, I got straight to work on tackling my four-page to-do list...yes, four pages... of action items we put together on the 5-hour drive home last night! Sheesh. The only thing I didn't actually get done yet today is start working on my personal equipment list. Its looking like I might be purchasing a wetsuit in the near future..... and I reallllly want these shoes...can you believe they're water shoes???!.... but I'm not sure I can justify spending $100 on shoes. Maybe if we get a little grant money.... hehe.

I need a whole slew of other field clothes and gear...I'll be collecting data basically every month for the next year, and then every other month after that...so I definitely need sun protection, rain gear, super-warm clothes (its sooooo cold and windy right now!), probably a wetsuit (yep, I'll have to get in the water in December), and various other things that I'll just have to figure out after spending a little bit of time in the field.

So I guess some of you might be wondering exactly what the heck it is I'll be doing? Haha! So..in a nutshell: NASA is going to be extending an existing rock sea-wall, as well as doing some beach nourishment (dredging sand from offshore and putting it on the beach). They asked for someone to monitor various aspects of the shoreline and figure out what impact, if any, this shoreline engineering is/will have on the sand budget (how much erodes and how much is deposited), the organisms that live in/on the shore (clams, crabs, sea turtles, endangered Piping Plovers). There are a total of 4 faculty from 4 separate Pennslyvania state system universities (mine included!) working on various projects that answer some aspect of NASA's research question. My part (which is going to be my Master's thesis, by the way) is to create a beach profile using a Total Station (those tripod things that you see road surveyors using), and also a Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) to examine the fresh groundwater that is under the beach. The idea is that the island's groundwater system (which is kind of important!) may fluctuate drastically in response to the shoreline engineering that NASA will be doing over the next year. The organisms that live on the beach may be impacted if there are changes in the sediment supply and/or in the size of the beach sediments.

So....its kind of complicated, but I think its really interesting! I get to spend all day on the beach. Oh! And I have assistants! Right now I have 3 undergrads from another university...and we're looking for 1 or 2 more from my university. Not sure just who we want yet, but...I'll have reign over a small army of geoscientists soon. ;-)

The only downsides that I see right now are that a) I will have wayyyy less free time (but I like being busy!) and b) I will be in scientist-mode most of the time, which means dressing very differently than I would normally...comfort is key! Haha. However, I am a beach-bum at heart, and the majority of my closet, until only a couple of years ago, was surfshop chic ;-)

I'm really thinking about buying some stuff from the O'Neill 24/7 technical line...

Correction, I JUST BOUGHT some 24/7 stuff. Necessary!!

"Wish you were here!"

2011-03-08T01:07:00.000-05:00

Greetings from Wallops Island, VA!

Sorry its been quiet around these parts for the past few days - I'm on Spring "Break" (har-har) here on the Virginia coast, first for a weekend of volunteer work at the MSC, then for a meeting with some folks with NASA earlier today... and then to start data collection for my Master's thesis tomorrow! All-in-all a very successful weekend! :-D

I need to go to sleep here in a few minutes (its 1:00 a.m. on the dot right now!), but I wanted to stop by and say hello - I've missed my blog and you guys!! But I'm definitely having a blast, getting my nerd on and hanging out with fellow academic-types. ;-) Our collaborative group consists of me and my advisor, plus a prof from another state university and 3 of her undergrads. Adrienne (the prof from our partner university) is wonderful - she's close to my age and super-bubbly and fun, and her undergrads are great - fun, but still very serious about school - my kind of peeps! So far, the 6 of us have had a great time making action plans and talking about ridiculous happenings at our respective schools. I'm sooo excited to be working on this project for at least the next year!

OK, now I have to get some sleep - tomorrow is going to be insane - we're trying to get out to the private NASA shorefront by 8 a.m. to start our day of data collection! Nutso!

We're heading back to PA sometime tomorrow evening, so I should be back in my normal posting routine in a couple of days. See you soon!!

xoxo

Go ahead. Make my day. ;)

2011-03-03T23:32:00.000-05:00

Whew! I am so glad today is over! I am officially on Spring break! Wooooo! My big, exciting plans? I'm going to start data collection for my thesis! Wooooo! Haha. I do get to go to the beach, anyway...even though it'll be chilly and there will certainly not be any sunbathing. But nevermind that.

Because I'm so looking forward to Spring, my heart pitter-patterned extra fast when I saw this dress on Modcloth tonight.... and then my poor little heart broke in a million pieces because this dress is $160.00... What?! That's just not fair. This is possibly the most perfect dress EVER and I will never get to wrap myself in all of its pastel glory. *huff*

Shades of Spring dress

Ooh! But in other news.....!

Wait. I'm going to save it for tomorrow because I didn't have time to do today's List this morning.... so I'll share some exciting plans tomorrow! Now I need to go check the laundry (its after 11 p.m.) because....when I got home from school at 9:30 tonight, I discovered that my dogs had apparently eaten a bunch of chocolate while I was gone today....and vomited all. over. my. room..........including in my bed.

Ewwww!

But. I came upon something in my wanderings of the Interwebs this evening that made everything (yes, even the chocolate-dog-throw-up) better:

Haiku Pickup Lines

aaaaaand, last but certainly not least!!

Yes, Thom, I'll come to your yard for a milkshake! :D

♥ ♥ ♥

2011-03-03T07:14:00.000-05:00

Hahaha!

Today was a crazy day... I had piles and piles of schoolwork to do in the morning, then picked the kids up after school, and babysat until about 7:00 last night. We (they) had a pajama dance-party, teased me about my recent D-A-T-E (haha!), watched Bambi, and made lego zombies. Never a dull moment with these guys!

Today I still have piles and piles of work to do - I want to get it out of the way as early as possible this morning so I can play with my new camera - it came in the mail yesterday! I did a little happy-dance...then remembered that I hadn't bought any film yet! Haha. So I stopped at Target on my way home from babysitting last night. Funny story: I was searching in the electronics/camera dept for 35mm film, but couldn't find any. I asked the teenage girl working at the electronics counter if they had any 35mm film, and she just gave me this blank stare. There was a 40ish woman standing nearby who just started cracking up. She said, "Honey, I don't think they even make that anymore!" What!? Hahaha. I explained to the young girl, "You know...like....film....you put it in the camera....." Then, she understood what I meant and lead me over to the two little boxes of film they had. She was like, "Oh, here's the only film we have. I don't know anything about this stuff, so....I don't know how you can tell if its 35mm or not." HAHAHA oh man. I'm not that old, come on! Is asking for film akin to asking for an 8-track or something?? Hahaha!

30 days of lists - day 2

2011-03-02T09:19:00.001-05:00

Today's list is Things I'm Good At:

This one was actually kind of hard!

I'm out of the scrapbooking tape I normally use, so I had to use a glue pen... I hate how it makes the edges of the paper all rumply. Bleh. Definitely going to stop by the store later today and pick up some tape rollers!!

30 days of lists - day 1

2011-03-01T20:35:00.000-05:00

Today is day 1 of 30 Days of Lists!

I meant to put my notebook together over the weekend, but I've just been so busy! So today, when I finally realized it was March 1st (holy cow!), I remembered that I had saved last year's daily planner for an occasion just like this one. ;-)

A little glue and some paper, and voila!

Today's list was a few things about yourself:

My list is kinda long...think I should add egotistical to it? ;-D hehe

You guys make my day :-D

2011-02-28T10:08:00.000-05:00

I just wanted to say thank you for all the sweet comments... about everything! I lovelovelove hearing from you guys...it really brightens my day to know that other people out there are going through or have gone through the same things that I am/have. So, thank you, my bloggy-friends! :-D

On a totally unrelated note, it is pouring down rain here.... and thundering! Its pretty unusual for the area where I live to get thunderstorms, especially at this time of the year! Even crazier still, its supposed to be about 65 degrees today!! Totally, totally bonkers.

I've got a busy day ahead of me! I've got to go get my drivers' license renewed (its been expired for, like, a month...oops!), then I'm meeting up with a guy from my department who apparently wants my help....with chemistry, of all things!! I'm pretty sure this was a slick way of asking me out... I'm not sure that I'm romantically interested in him, but I'm definitely always up for making new friends, and who knows? Maybe I'll be surprised! :)

**A big burst of lightning and thunder just sent all of my doggies running in here, totally freaked out! Haha! They're so scared. Its adorable! My power also just blinked off....so its probably a good idea to end this post here! Sorry for the lack of pictures....I'll make it up to you later! :)

On Karma and friendship.

2011-02-27T19:40:00.005-05:00

I have never fully divulged the details of some major events that defined the past 2 years of my life. They're very personal, and truthfully very painful. Today, I think its time to get it all out.

Let me start from the beginning.

Four years ago, I moved from Annapolis, MD back home to my parents' house in PA. Right around that time, I had become really good friends with a girl that I worked with, Lani. We stayed in contact after I moved home, and became the very best of friends despite the fact that we lived 2 hours apart from each other. I drove to Annapolis almost every weekend to hang out - go shopping, take trips to the beach, go to concerts... we always had a blast! We were absolutely ridiculous together - basically speaking our own "best friends" language, and understanding each other without even having to speak - the way best friends usually do.

2008

Many times, when we'd go to concerts, Lani's older brother Donn would come with us - they were super-close, and the three of us hung out all the time. Little by little, Donn and I grew aware that we really enjoyed each others' company... and decided to become more than friends. Lani's reaction was not good, for many reasons that I don't even need to explain. And now, looking back years later, I know she was right. But its hard to step back and see these things when you're infatuated with someone. And we were totally, completely infatuated - so much so, that when Lani told us that she wouldn't be friends with either one of us (myself or her brother) if we continued to see one another, we made our decision. So Lani and I were no longer friends. And it hurt, but at the time it felt like she was being ridiculous. We thought she'd 'get over it'.

After about 6 weeks of dating, I went on a class trip to Curacao, Netherlands Antilles. The very first day of the trip, I met someone who totally, completely stole my heart - the same heart that Donn had owned, only a day before. But there was no doubt in my mind - I knew Teddy was the one for me. We spent that week in Curacao just as friends, getting to know one another...and when the day came that we were supposed to part ways (he had already graduated, and was actually only on the trip as a friend of the professor...now my advisor!), we both knew without speaking that we just couldn't part ways. It was already done. So I told Donn that day that I couldn't be with him anymore, and Teddy found an apartment in town (he had been living 4 hours north with his parents), and He and I became We.

A day or two after we met in 2009.

We moved in together only a few months after we started dating, but it didn't feel too soon... everything just felt right for us..... for an entire year or so. Fast forward now to December of 2009. Teddy was accepted to a grad program at a school in Texas, so we packed up all of our belongings and drove thousands of miles to his (our) new apartment. I still had a semester before graduation, so the plan was to have all of our stuff already down there, and for me to move down after I graduated a few months later. So that was that, and everything was good. Then in April, totally without warning, Teddy decided he didn't think he would have time for me once I got down there. I still don't understand exactly what happened, but it doesn't really matter, does it? I told him if he wasn't sure that he wanted to be with me, then I couldn't be with him. I was totally sure that I loved him, and didn't want anything else in the world. But he wasn't sure. So we broke up.

I was totally, utterly devastated. I don't think I ate for over a week. My entire world just...ended. I didn't care about anything. I literally cried every day for months. I think it took about 9 months before I wasn't deeply depressed anymore. Now, almost a year later, I recently came to the realization that I am better now than I was when I was with him. I'm a different person - the entire experience totally changed me, and probably in some ways that I'm still not aware of. But the thing is, I know what I want in my life. Having someone to share my life is just the icing on the cake.

2011

So, you're probably wondering what happened to Lani and Donn? I hadn't heard from either one in 2 years. I still feel pangs of regret, guilt, and sadness every time I think about either one of them. Donn and I were never meant to be, but I'm sorry that I hurt him. And I hated what I did to my best friend. I believe that everything in life happens for a reason...and I've often thought to myself that maybe all of the pain that I went through when Teddy and I broke up is Karma... its my repayment for what I did to two of my best friends.

Today, I went out with someone for the first time since Teddy and I broke up. I had an awesome time...and I think he did, too! We had a great time talking and laughing and getting to know each other. I definitely hope there'll be a second date! But it gets better - when I got home, I had a message from Lani, saying that she has missed me, and wishes that we could be friends again. Two years later. Is it a coincidence that she chose this day to contact me?

I feel like Karma has come full-circle, and maybe everything is right in my world. :)

Sorry for the unusually word-y and personal post... its just something that I needed to do. And anyway, its my blog, and I can do what I want. ;D

Saturday Shopping Addiction

2011-02-26T13:46:00.000-05:00

Sometimes you just need to reward yourself, ya know? :-D

Burt's Bees tinted lip balm in Hibiscus

Not as tinted as I'd hoped, but its still pretty lovely :)

this dress from Target

Can't wait for warmer weather so I can wear it!!

Two new books!

Print Workshop by Christine Schmidt (Yellow Owl Workshop)

Appetite for Reduction by Isa Chandra Moskowitz (The Post Punk Kitchen)

aaaand......

the Mumford & Sons album

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What have you treated yourself to recently?

♥ & hearts; ♥

Meet Jake Smith.

2011-02-26T11:33:00.001-05:00

Meet Jake Smith.

12 inches tall, light-skinned, kinda fuzzy. Also lumpy, because he's stuffed with shredded napkins. No mouth, so he can't talk back (though I'm told he communicates with his mind). Wears a flesh-toned button-down suit...and no shoes.

Also, he's going to a party.

Earlier this week (like, on Monday), Ethan got it in his head that he wanted to make a little doll for him to cuddle (he's the sweetest kid ever). I told him I'd try to get some stuff together so we could make it on Friday. He asked me every day if we were going to make the doll yet. He was so excited. So yesterday, I grabbed some felt, a few buttons from my collection, and my hot glue gun before I picked the kids up from school. I cut out a gingerbread-shaped body, let Ethan pick out the doll's features (eyes, buttons), and set about gluing and stuffing...STUFFING! Oh crap! I totally forgot about having to stuff the doll. So we used what we had available....shredded napkins. Hahaha! It worked out fine.

Ethan decided that Jake (named after the Twilight character, I'm guessing?) didn't need a mouth - he communicates with his mind, of course. I thought Jake needed a little something else...so I made him a snazzy little party hat. Ethan was freaking out, giggling hysterically because Jake is "sooooo cuuuuuuute!!!!" And that I'm going to be the best, most beautiful babysitting in the whole world EVER for the rest of his life! (All because I made Jake Smith) :-D

Also this week, the kids brought their school pictures home and each of them gave me one. Ethan told me that next year, I'll get a 3rd grade picture of him, and the next year a 4th grade one, and then a 5th grade one... but then he probably won't see me anymore after that. "Why not?" I asked. His response? "Because I'll be older, and probably dating by then."

...Oh.

This kid kills me.

Week in review...this week was MARVEOUS!!

2011-02-25T09:33:00.001-05:00

This has been such an amazing, awesome week!

Here's why:

I added some new things to the shop:

two new stationery sets, vintage goodies, and debuted my Stellar star headbands!

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My little shop was featured in two lovely treasuries!

We All Love Letters

Yes, we do!

Vintage Easter

Love the pretty Spring-y colors!

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I bought a new camera

thanks to Lindsay's post about the awesome cameras she spotted on Poketo!

I can't wait for it to come in the mail!!

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I made some new blog buttons that I totally love!

Feel free to grab the codes from the sidebar! :)

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aaaaand, Crack the Sky was featured on FIVE blogs this week!

My article "How to get out of a rut" was featured on the Etsy Blog Team blog!

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La was sweet to include my Stellar headbands in her "10 Lovely things this week" post....

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And so did Alex, on her blog The Wait Will Be Worth It!!

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I'm in the monthly sponsor feature on Scissor Quirk!

Right next to (well, under) miss Jenny Hart of Sublime Stitching - *starstruck* hehe

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aaaaand, I'm having a giveaway on LDC Designs!

Swing by and enter to win a one-of-a-kind stationery set

and a Stellar headband in pearl!

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Whew! That was exhausting! But...fun!

Thanks to all of the lovely people who gave my little blog and shop a nod this week!

It is much appreciated!

♥ ♥ ♥

52 Weeks - WEEK 8

2011-02-25T08:03:00.001-05:00

So, yesterday I hinted to the fact that this week's instax photo didn't exactly turn out as planned....and that's OK! I started the 52 Weeks project so I could get practice shooting with my Instax camera... so its all part of the learning process.

I was trying to shoot a picture of a sketch that I did for the kiddos last week...

The instax photo was, well....blank. I didn't have the flash on, but I guess the pencil on the white paper just didn't show up enough, so.....

I just drew my own picture!

I just used a gold sharpie. I love how it turned out! In fact, I may be drawing on my instaxes more often! Can't you just imagine an instax photo of a pretty background, and then drawing your own scenes or objects? Fun!!

Hmm...maybe I'll make that a project today, instead of doing all of the homework I should be doing today.....

P.S. To all of my new readers (hi!!), you can join in the 52 Weeks project any time! See previous weeks here, and check out the Flickr pool! And, if you play along, make sure to grab a 52 Weeks blog button from the sidebar and link back here!

XOXO

Giveaway on LDC Designs!

2011-02-24T22:11:00.000-05:00

Hooray, I'm so excited -

I'm having a little giveaway over on LDC Designs!

Up for grabs is this cute stationery set aaaand one of my Stellar headbands in pearl (shown below in turquoise)!

Definitely go check out Lindsay's blog and enter the giveaway!

Good luck!!

Camera talk - digital vs. old school!

2011-02-24T10:35:00.000-05:00

I have a growing fascination with cameras. For years I only used my digital camera...right now I use an Olympus Stylus Tough 3000. Its pretty great! ♥ But... there is something about an actual print photograph that is simply magical... you just never know what you're going to get when you snap that picture!

That's the reason I embarked on my 52 Weeks of Instax project... I got an Instax Mini 25 for Christmas, and I wanted to figure out how to capture moments with it. So far, so good... until yesterday. hehe. I wanted to snap a picture of something I sketched for the kiddos the other day while babysitting, and....well, it didn't work out so well. More on that tomorrow with this week's installment of 52 Weeks!

Anyway! Back to the camera talk. Lindsay made a post today about some cool cameras she spotted on Poketo. Well, I got pretty excited about the Slim Angel, and for only $25 on Amazon, I had to snatch it up! (It helps that I had a $25 Amazon gift card burning a hole in my pocket!)

source

How cool do those pics look?! I'm so stoked to try out a 35mm camera again... it has literally been probably 20 years since I used one!!

What do you prefer - digital or old-school??

Good old-fashioned snail mail!

2011-02-23T19:18:00.001-05:00

Remember the good ol' days, when it was actually exciting to open the mailbox and see what was inside?

Not so much anymore, huh? Mostly just bills and junk mail, at my house anyway! I love the idea of sending (and receiving!) good old-fashioned snail mail! It has to be pretty, of course!

vintage stamps from Precious Owl

Geography letter set by Cutiepie Company

Collage card from my own shop!

Speaking of snail mail, Lauren is having her first giveaway ever on her blog!

Just look at all of the goodies!!

I don't know about you, but I'm definitely entering that giveaway!!!

Mid-week inspiration

2011-02-23T12:25:00.000-05:00

Inspiration to....

Reach for the stars!

Or...at least wear them on your head. ;)

Exercise!

source

Catch some Zzzz's

Gather your inspiration....

...start a journal!

What's inspiring you today??

♥ ♥ ♥

Stellar headbands are now in the shop!!!!

2011-02-23T10:40:00.000-05:00

Stellar Headbands are now in the shop!!!!

Reach for the stars with style in this eyecatching headband. Five glittering stars along a length of satin ribbon form a twinkling constellation to adorn your head! Wear it for a night out on the town or add some whimsy to any outfit!

There are 4 listed in the shop right now - turquoise, copper, black, and custom. There are eight colors available, I just haven't gotten around to photographing all of them yet! The colors available are silver, gold, copper, black, pearl, pink, turquoise, and green-gold. Convo me for a custom listing!

I am soooooo excited about these! I wear my gold Stellar headband all the time, and I always get lots of compliments when I'm out-and-about!

How'd you like a little sneak-peak...

2011-02-22T20:55:00.000-05:00

....of some new things that are going to be popping into the shop tomorrow!!

Turquoise glitter?

Oh, yes, please!

Thoughts about selling handmade...and a question

2011-02-22T09:34:00.001-05:00

I bought The Handmade Marketplace a while back, skimmed through it here and there, and never really sat down and read it. This morning, I was doing some catching-up on my blog reading, and I saw Moorea's post from earlier this week about her own Indie Business experience. I checked out the Indie Business 3.0 website, and it sounds really awesome....but a little expensive for a grad student. So I finally sat down and read The Handmade Marketplace, and it got me thinking... I recently posted about taking "the next step" with Crack the Sky.... I've started advertising on other blogs, created a new product line for my shop, and have been actively promoting my blog and shop with Twitter, Facebook, and also the Etsy Blog Team.

This is Crack the Sky in a nutshell.....

With all of that said, I still feel unsure about how to proceed... I feel like there are bits and pieces that I'm missing.... but I don't know exactly what they are! I feel like I'm at a pivotal point in my life.... I just graduated from college, and have started grad school. My field has absolutely nothing to do with art, but creating has always been a huge part of my life - and I don't plan on that ever changing. I know that, right now, I'm ready and able to take my business to the next level. I just need to figure out the missing pieces - how can I better brand myself and my business? I feel like I'm really starting to figure out my 'identity' - the look and feel of my brand - and I want to better communicate that. I also want to expand my product line - I want to carry a wide range of items, but still have a cohesive feel to everything. That's the tricky part, for me!

So...all of this rambling leads me to this: have any of you taken the Indie Business class? It sounds like an amazing opportunity...it sounds like it will answer many of the questions I've had about my own business. But $90 is a little steep for poor, destitutde grad-student me. That's an entire week's babysitting pay! So.... what are your thoughts on the class? Have you taken it? Know someone who has? Do you think it would be worth it, or do you know of any other resources that would offer similar information (like a book)?

The Handmade Marketplace talks about a lot of the same subjects.... but there aren't any step-by-step guidelines, helpful pictures or tutorials, or real people to answer my questions!

(Does it sound like I'm answering my own questions and convincing myself to just shell out the $90??)

What do you think??

I love sweet surprises!

2011-02-21T19:16:00.001-05:00

My sweet little vintage bird was featured in this oh-so-pretty treasury that has got me wishing for Spring!

I'm in love with all of the bright, happy colors - definitely takes some of the chill off of this snowy, cold day!

Did I mention, its snowing like crazy right now? I decided to skip my night class... not worth braving the roads for the 40-minute commute home. No way, Jose.

Oh! And I almost forgot - I made 2 new bloggy-buttons - they're over in the right sidebar. See 'em? Feel free to grab 'em and go! :-D

Monday Eye Candy

2011-02-21T11:42:00.001-05:00

"I'm gonna make an old-fashioned car...like from the 80's!"

-Ethan, 7

Oh, the mouths of babes. Hahaha. The kids have off school today for Presidents Day, so babysitting is an all-day gig. They're watching Marmaduke right now so I've got some peace. ;-)

Anyway, its Monday...eh, Monday....so dreary....
So....I dug-up some eye candy to brighten the day!

Tiny Lotus bowl by dgordon

vintage postage stamps from VerdeStudio

"Spirit" by Cathy McMurray

Citrine drop necklace by the Vamoose

Constellation chart by AGC916

Fine Young Gentleman by Heidi Burton

and, in honor of Presidents Day...

Lincoln Love pillow by bonspielcreation

Now I've got to make use of this hour-or-so of quiet time before the kids bombard me after their movie... I'm taking them to McDonalds for lunch (special occasion, haha), then I've got a busy evening with a trip to the gym, treating myself to Starbucks, then class 'til 9:15! Yikes!

Have a happy Monday!

Shop update!

2011-02-19T15:45:00.000-05:00

I've been hard at work most of the day, photographing and listing some new items in the shop!!

A bird in flight

Puss in Boots kids' dinner set

Aaaaand....... some new stationery!

Sweet Spring

Sweet Summer

I looove these two new sets...they make me think of the warm weather that isn't too far off now. I think Sweet Spring is my favorite set that I've made so far! I think I might have to make a set for myself, hehe.

Some things of note:

2011-02-19T10:04:00.000-05:00

source

1. I added a Google Translate tool (drop-down menu in the right side-bar, below Archives) for my non-English-speaking readers out there (hi!)

2. My "Pretty" letter set was featured in a treasury!

3. My article "How to get out of a rut" is featured on the Etsy Blog Team's blog

4. I'm working on some new items for the shop today! Stay tuned!