For When Life Gets You Down

Thus It Continues...

Life really is weird. Today marked the first day of my second year at home... hopefully my last (no offense mom and dad).

Three days ago I was accepted to a graduate program that starts six days from now... Apparently the admissions committee didn't think it would be a problem for me to move across the state/maybe to a new state, find an apartment, find a job, and get settled in a little over a week. So I'll be going next year, unless life decides to throw another curve ball and I get offered an amazing new job in an amazing local for an amazing amount of money...

Right.

So, for now I guess I'll just stick it out for another year with the rents. Get ready for more fun tales of my mom and her Giants, ballets, and exciting getaways with my friends... when they have time in their busy lives for me!

I'm Itchy

One of my least favorite things about summer, aside from the sweltering heat, is the ease with which you can get itchy.

Today (well all week actually) I'm suffering from mosquito bites I got while picking beans and tomatoes in the garden last night and the after-effects of the minor sunburns I got by not reapplying sunscreen often enough while at the shore last weekend.

I can't wait for fall.

My New To-Do List

What a Week.

Well. If ever there was a week that made me want to pour myself a (very) stiff drink, this past week would be it!

On Sunday (a week ago) mom, Mitchell, and I came home from Vermont after a very lovely two week vacation with lots of family.

My troubles started Monday morning when I tried to start the Buick. It didn't (start that is). So I got my mom to come jump it. I thought nothing of it and went to work. A couple hours later, however, when I was done work and I tried to start my car nothing happened. I tried to jump it. Nothing.

Finally, my brother got it started, took it to the shop, and was told it probs just needed a new battery. So we went to an auto parts store where the idiot old man told me and my brother that we had somehow managed to switch the polarity of the battery by jumping it with the positive clamp on the negative battery part and vice versa, and that we should try going somewhere else. Now, even I know that if you tried to do something as silly as that it will not switch the polarity, rather it would spark a ton and possibly blow up. Meanwhile, I tried to restart my car, and in the five minutes it had been off, the battery had died again. So, rather than try to jump it again, we got a second opinion and he gave me a new battery. The car started right up and all was fine.

On Tuesday morning I got in my car, turned it on (quite successfully), and started to drive to work. Then I noticed something. My breaks were barely working. Needless to say, I went straight to the shop this time, dropped off my car, and trekked through the very very hilly downtown region (in the hot and humid Virginia summer heat) to work. Yuck.

Well, this time I was kind of concerned because I was planning on driving to Ocean City, NJ the next morning and I was pretty sure that driving a car with little to no breaking ability would be rather inadvisable.

A little more than several hours later, I got a call from the mechanic telling me that my car needed a new master cylinder (to fix the break problem), two new tires (apparently mine weren't safe anymore), new break pads, and new rotors. Great. When I picked up my car that afternoon I was happy to find that my breaks offered resistance when I attempted to stop my car.

Ocean City, here I come!

Wednesday started out fine, but then, about 2 hours into my trip I noticed that it was a little warm in my car. I turned up the A/C and nothing happened. So I'm thinking, great, my A/C is on the fritz. But at least nothing catastrophic has happened... I can deal with a little humidity.

Then, just outside of Towson, MD, I noticed the heat sensor light up. It stayed on for about 2 minutes, turned off for about 45 seconds, and then came on again. I called mom and she said that my fluids were probably low and I should pull off at the next exit. The road I got off on happened to house a Merchants Tire and Auto, so I pulled in there, figuring that they'd be able to tell me what was going on with my car. They told me it will be about an hour and fifteen minutes before they can look at my car, so I went to the nearby Towson Town Center, a gargantuan four story mall to chill out.

I was a little frazzled by the whole affair and super bummed by this unexpected delay to my sunbathing plans, but I can chill in a random city with the best of them. When I got back to the shop, the Merchant's guy quite calmly told me that I would certainly not be driving to Jersey anytime soon in my car and that I was basically lucky that I (by which I mean my car and its engine) hadn't blown up yet. Then he (still quite calmly) told me that it would take a day and about $1,200 to fix the broken upper intake valve on my engine that was apparently leaking antifreeze all over... or something to that effect.

Well as you can imagine, a twelve hundred dollar car repair, and the fact that I was three hours from home, sort of frayed my usually cool, calm, and collected exterior, but to make an already way too long story short, my parents decided that the Merchants guys were silly and that I should take the Buick to a dealer because it would at the very least be cheaper. So I drove down the street and around the corner to Jerry's.

When I got there I noticed that some kind of liquid was pouring out of my car. Like literally pouring. Great. So, when the Jerry's guy came out, I told him what the Merchant's guys said and he said that they were full of crap. He looked under the Buick's hood and saw, basically right away, that the problem was a broken water pump, which would cost a heck of a lot less to fix than that gasket thingy. Perfect.

The only problem was that by this time it was about 5:45 and they closed up shop at 6, so I wasn't going to be going anywhere in the Buick that night. Fortunately, my genius papa suggested I rent a car to get me the final three hours I had to the beach. So I had Enterprise fix me up with a little economy rental and I was back on the road after, you know, a short little side trip. No big deal.

But the beach was amazing and totally worth it! I got to see KT and Jason and meet all of KT's family. At times I must admit I was a little overwhelmed by the Italianness of them all but I loved every minute of it! My car got fixed on Thursday, I picked it up on Saturday, and now, Sunday, so far so good... hopefully I didn't just jinx myself...

My little Hyundai Accent rental... it's so cute isn't it!

KT, Jason, and Me on the boardwalk at Ocean City

We are so lame.

A Tea for Every Bodily Function

I recently discovered a hidden gem on the shelves at Whole Foods, The Republic of Tea's Be Well Red Tea Collection and let's just say that I'm obsessed. Kinda.

I'm not obsessed in the, "I've bought every single kind they have" way, mostly because it's a little more expensive than I can afford right now, I'd say it's more of an "oh my gosh this is quite possibly the coolest thing I've seen all day" obsession.

This collection is like the tea equivalent to Vitamin Water. Each of the 17 different varieties has a different “Wellness” goal, with different herbs to help achieve it. What makes it so cool, is the catchy story on the canister’s label, ala the Vitamin Water bottle wrapper, which, if I’m being perfectly honest is the best part about it.

Take for example, the Get Happy Tea which says: Herb Tea for Lifting Your Spirits - Need an attitude adjustment? If the sky is gray and cloudy or your spirit could use a little lift, there are lots of mood-enhancing options out there. But few are as healthy or delightful as sipping this caffeine-free herbal brew based on organic rooibos. Like a burst of sunshine, it begins to work its subtle magic as the bright flavors of lemon myrtle and luscious peach do a tango on your taste buds. Meanwhile, our carefully balanced blend of calming lemon balm, St. John's wort and rhodiola does its part to help keep the blues away*. So sip and smile. You'll be feeling peachy keen in no time.

These caffeine-free rooibos based teas have a solution for every health related woe… Get Gorgeous for clear skin, Get it Going for constipation, Get Charged for energy, Get a Grip for menopause and PMS, Get Some ZZZ’s to help you sleep, Get Lost for weight control, Get Clean for Detox, Get Soothed for scratchy throats, Get Relief for digestion (gas and bloating issues), Get Maternal for pregnant/new moms, Get Wellness for immunity, Get Heart for cardio health, Get Happy for lifting your spirits, Get Relaxed for stress relief, Get Growing for your hair/nails/bones, Get Smart for memory/focus, and finally Get Passionate for your libido.

My Shell Might be Made of Iron

Sometimes I worry that my shell will never break...

and I'll be stuck on the ground forever

The Forgotten Garden

The Forgotten Garden

by Kate Morton

The Forgotten Garden by Kate Morton may be the best book I've read so far this year. I've always had a soft spot for books that weave several different story lines, voices, and time zones and The Forgotten Garden certainly did not disappoint.

The book centers on one main character, Nell Andrews, who was a four years old when she was found sitting alone on a dock on the Australian coast by the dockmaster, who, along with his wife, adopted her and raised her as their own. On her 21st birthday, her sense of self is shattered when her dad tells her the truth about her past, and she becomes obsessed with solving the mystery of who she is and why she had been on the ship that sailed from London to Australia.

Cut to Nell's granddaughter, Cassandra. Who was sent to live with Nell when she was 11, and moved back in with her after a tragedy shattered her life. After Nell's death, Cassandra picks up where Nell left off to finish solving the mystery of her past.

Cut to the early 1900's where we learn about The Authoress from Nell's forgotten past.

The intertwined story lines of The Forgotten Garden were slightly confusing at first, but after three or four chapters I was so engrossed in the story that they only served to keep me wanting more. What's more, Morton engineered the story lines so that, even though they spanned from 1900 to 2005, they flowed together, going from the present to the past as a new secret is revealed and then back again.

The Forgotten Garden is a page turner if I've ever read one, filled with unexpected twists and turns that keep you wanting more. I absolutely could not put it down.

Can't get enough?

The Secret Garden by Francis Hodgson Burnett - A childhood classic that is one of my absolute favorites! The Secret Garden is all about a wild child who comes to the grand manor house of her relatives after her parents have died and brings her sickly cousin back to life thanks to her fun loving spirit and a secret garden. When you think about it, this book mirrors, to an extent, the backstory of Nell's Authoress in The Forgotten Garden. There is even a clever elusion to The Secret Garden in the book.

Sarah's Key by Tatiana De Rosnay - If you love the way that The Forgotten Garden uses different time periods to solve a mystery about the past, you'll love Sarah's Key. For a more detailed analysis, see my previous post here.

He Made It!

To anyone who has become invested in my brother's travels through Iceland over the past month and a little bit, I'm happy to say that he made it home safe and sound this afternoon.

We are all very excited, relieved, and a little daunted by the fact that he has about a million pictures for us to see.