Blew My Mind.

It was the strangest morning.

The wind woke me, as it often does when it blows one zillion miles an hour.

What was different about this particular windy morning, however, was the rain that came with it. And not just some sprinklies, I'm talking about torrential downpours. That, plus wind, and you have hurricane weather, my friend.

So incredibly strange! But helpful to putting Funny River Fire out, yes?

Anyhow, it cleared up by this afternoon and in its wake left multiple fallen trees and one struggled nap. It can just be so noisy sometimes! And of course I like to yell at the wind but that ends up making me even more mad because obviously the wind doesn't listen to me. It's a one-sided fight that I always lose.

And speaking of mind blown, Blew My Mind is a fantastic song by Dresses. 

What I wore: gold and pink beaded necklace (used), black CAbi wrap top, my sister's black bandeau, high wasited pink pleated FOREVER 21 skirt (used), and bronze sparkly J CREW loafers (sale). 

Ça va?

How are you, truly?

This morning began a bit on the rough side. I may have awoken on the wrong side of the bed and it took me awhile to finally consume my first cup of coffee and so I was a bit grumpy to start out.

But you know what the glourious thing about feelings and emotions is? They can change. And they did!

It's been a bit difficult for the family this week as there are some health issues going on, not to mention this wildfire continuing to burn. Did you know that it's now bigger than the city of Chicago and almost 200,000 acres? Whew. Anyhow, sometimes times can be tough, but the fantastic thing about being in the dumps is that there's nowhere to go but up! Up I went.

First, I made a fantastic coffee and that instantly brightens any morning. Next, we had about ten firetrucks pull up outside the cafe and then those very firefighters came in for coffee.

Hot coffee. Hot firefighters. Hot dam. (I don't like to cuss, so I'll use the "dam" version in the sense of an actual water barrier "dam").

Talk about drastic change of morning!

So you see, things can get better, and they will. You have the power to change how you're feeling. For me, I had the power to decide how I felt, and I chose happiness (with the help of some dem dashing firefighters).

What I wore: linen J CREW baseball tee, high waisted AMERICAN APARREL locomotive skinny jeans (I will forever associate AA with 5SOS's She Looks So Perfect song), and pink KEDS.

Throwback Thursday- My Pub Crawl.

One of my all time favorite memories from my trip to London would be the one night we went out to a pub.

Now here in the USA, we don't have "pubs" per say, and we're also not allowed to drink under the age of twenty-one. Now while I could go on and on about how unfair that rule is in the sense that we can fight for this country but can't have a beer (not to mention the abnormally high statistics with drunk driving and alcohol abuse), this isn't what this blog is about. It's about sharing things in a positive light! Therefore, back to the pub we go.

It was called the "War Grave Arms" and I whilst I went with an older audience, I had the time of my life.

I'm not much of a drinker, obviously. When I take shots, it's of espresso. When I have a wild Friday night, it's usually me and my cat watching Sherlock together with my moosie slippers perched on my feet. I know! I'm a wild child. But tonight was different. As they say, when in England, do as the English do! And that, mate, would be to drink up me hearty yo ho.

I started out with the classic pint of GUINESS. It was fresh. Granted, it took me about three hours to consume it, but it did go down! I then moved onto half a pint of cider. Tasty. And then, my favorite.. the whiskey.

I don't mean to say that it was my favorite drink, most certainly not. As my friend put it "it's minging." Quite right he was. What I mean is, by this time, all of us were a little giddy and a bit bubbly (pun intended), and we tried these two trays of about eight different types of whiskeys. There was much laughter, many a face from me at the taste, and then one of the guys would describe, in his perfectly articulate English accent, each of the whiskeys so well.

Yeah, the atmosphere was of an older crowd, and my company was of adults, but I had the time of my life and it was one of the fondest memories of my time there!

Cheers mate!

A Song for Sunday- Air Balloon.

Picture this: a sunny morning full of the promise of laughter and happiness. Looking into your closet, you contemplate what to wear.

Now for me, I always prefer a little music to help make the decision process go much quicker because ladies, let's face it, sometimes getting dressed can be quite an ordeal. And what perfect new song can I play? Why Lily Allen's Air Balloon. 

It's the perfect quirky, girly, colorful kind of song that's perfect for waking me up and getting me ready for the day. I love Lily Allen's eccentric voice and her cheeky attitude.

It hooks me right away and I can't help but nod along. And I sort of love the randomness at the beginning, but particularly the chorus where it talks about this kind of escape in an air balloon. Wouldn't it be nice to just dissapear for awhile up there? I'd like it. 

Come meet me in the sky I'll be waiting for you

And we can't hear what they say

Up in my air balloon, air balloon, air balloon, ha

Sing, sing along, along any song you want to

Now we're so high, it can't rain

Up in my air balloon, air balloon, air balloon, ha ha

Oh my goodness and can we not forget about the unexpected and totally fun "Na na n-n-na na na, na na n-n-na...mmm" ditty? It's fantastic.

To Sir With Love.

The time has come..

For closing books and long last looks must end..

Well technically, in my home school case, it would be closing my browsers since it was all online, but you get the picture!

Today, I graduated high school.

I never anticipated ever getting to this final stage because it had always seemed so foreign and far away to me, and then the fact that I felt graduated from high school way back freshman year. But it came, and here I stand, a graduated senior, ready for the next stage in my life.

It's a frightening prospect to feel done and ready to step into the world like a newborn calf, but I'm ready for it, I've always been ready for it. And the possibilities! Man, I can start a new chapter now, all by myself in the big wide world. That's what I'm really anticipating. And you know, it's a bittersweet time for me, finally closing the book on this time of life, but I'm ready to open another.

And so I'll close with one of my favorite mantras...

She knew this transition was not about becoming someone better, but about finally allowing herself to become who she'd always been...

The graduation ceremony.. and yes, that is a 1960's Barbie from my friend Joni with a British scarf. What can I say? Barbie was a huge inspiration for me as a child (and now). Plus, I love all things British, as you should know.

Wildfires Be Ragin.'

It began on the quiet afternoon of a typical Monday. 

Huge plumes of smoke could be seen on the particularly sunny day and questions were raised about its origin.

Come Tuesday and there was no let up on the ominous clouds. With temperatures in the near seventy range and the wind picking up drastically, concerns were soon raised as to the possibilities of this wildfire..

Come Wednesday morning, and I could smell wood smoke from inside my room. Walking outside, the area was shrouded in this thick ashy smoke that stretched for miles with peeks of a burning sun in the distance. It didn't let up.

Turns out that we had two wildfires burning, but the one most affecting the residents of the Kenai Peninsula area was the Funny River Fire. Counting at a spread of 20,000 acres of burnt land, this fire has most of the small town quite spooked, including myself! Since when do wildfires rage?

It's one thing to read about these occurrences in books and to see them in movies, but when stepping out of my coffee shop and seeing this massive cloud of dark smoke blanketing our small town, it's quite a difference altogether! 

And still now at 8:30, darkness has fallen and there's just ashy denseness all about. Quite eerie if I do say so myself. 

So I thought, mermaids! Why not? They represent water and water puts out fire, so surely it will bring good luck?

What I wore: gold and blue rusted earrings (used), purple mermaid BLUE PLATYPUS top, high waisted locomotive AMERICAN APPAREL skinny jeans (Paris!), and my old CONVERSE teal hip hop tennis.