Here's to Summer

Barbecue stained finger tips, chalk hopscotch outlines perfectly drawn out on sidewalks, the clinking sound of ice jingling in glasses filled to the brim with lemonade sweet tea, racing to the movie theater every weekend to catch the latest summer blockbuster film, impossible contest of who can catch the most fireflies in old mason jars, and homemade slip-n-slides under the family sprinklers. Ah the memories; I can almost hear the ringing bells of the ice cream trucks already.

Today is officially the first day of summer, and even with the thin haze of clouds drifting in from off the ocean and covering the sky around my house in a bit overcast and fog, I can still hear the brisk chirping of the birds outside my bedroom window. I absolutely love summer; I love the warm summer nights, the smell of mouth watering food on the grill at any given time of day, the concept of living the entire summer in a pair of flip flops, and of course the undeniable excitement that usually fills the air around the fourth of July. I don’t know if it’s childhood nostalgia, or just the general association of fun with summer, but something about this time of year just makes me giddy. 

To be fair- pretty much anything I like has the potential of causing a full on giddy fit. But summer has it’s own special giddiness that for lack of better words, owns my ass in a major way. Just the thought of concerts in the park, and 2 day at a time camping trips makes my body fall into serious C.P.A.P; you might know it as “Cabbage Patch Auto Pilot”. For those of you that don’t know what this means, it’s when you get so excited about something so awesome, you immediately do the cabbage patch in celebration. Yeah…don’t judge me. I suffer from Happiness Turrets Syndrome-HTS…true story.

Here’s to all the fun to be had, drinks to be consumed, sunshine to be absorbed, and memories to me made.

I’ve been M.I.A as of late…aka color me absentee

(And by M.I.A, I don’t mean my alter ego has been moonlighting as a pop singer/ wanna be rapper)

However, that would make for one entertaining blog post…[scratches temple in contemplation]

Hello bolggerella’s and bloggerfellas! I know it’s been quite some time since my last post- call it writers block, or just plain lazy, but nonetheless I’m back in action with much more knowledge to impart! And might I add- O.M.G, some of you have been so agitated that I haven’t blogged in so long. To that I say aww [insert tear here], and hooray; I finally have peeps who realize how awesome I am. Totally jk-ing on that one…I’m not that narcissistic.

In an effort to scrape the cobwebs off my poor blog, I figured I’d take a moment to recall the past 3 months of hiatus with a few highlights of just what the bleep I’ve been up to.  In short- the honest truth is, I’ve had quite a bit going on and not enough time in a day to actually focus my thoughts and hammer out an incredibly witty yet effortlessly fabulous blog- true story. But since, judging by some of your emails that I’ve received, and as Ricky Ricardo would say “I’ve got some splaining to do”, I figured I’d settle with a few bullet points to prevent this post from rivaling a Margaret Mitchell novel. Do bullet points work for you? If not, boo- I’m giving ‘em to you anyway.

·         Big time Company bought out my small business organization.  Can we say job security scare? I believe we can. As it turns out there was enough work to go around and no need for the big freak out. But still there was/is a transition process which causes lots of excessive stress, strain, and long hours playing catch up. Which brings me to my next bullet point…

·         Long hours at work, followed by even longer sleepless nights at home while trying to combat the hubby’s recent diagnosis (see bullet # 3), makes this once energetic firecracker a very, very dull (and very irritable) lady. If I had any talent at lying, I would say I’ve been handling my cathartic state well, but alas, I’m not good at lying so I’ll just say this…bitchy ain’t got nothing on me. In fact, I’m finding that sleepless me is quite scary…true story.

·         Up next- new diagnosis. After years of tests, and fighting the VA to get the right diagnosis and help, things finally came together. The hubby was diagnosed with Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI)- which was a diagnosis we already knew about, but hey, at least it’s on paper now. It’s sort of a double edge sword; on one hand I’m glad that he was finally diagnosed because it means he is finally getting the treatment and assistance that he needs. On the other hand, its TBI…just saying that sucks beyond comprehension, so one can imagine how living through this incredibly trying time must make us feel emotionally, physically, and mentally. It’s been hard and really taking its toll on both of us lately. The good thing is, we are committed to each other, and as a result, no matter how hard it gets, we work together to get through it. Believe you me, that makes all the difference.  

So enough of the issues I’ve been dealing with, now it’s time to give you some of the positives… by way of pictures.

In the thick of all the not-so-good moments that I’ve been experiencing, I decided it was time for some major changes. Call it a way of injecting some freshness into my veins; some much needed freshness. I’ve been toggling with the idea of chopping off my long tresses for a while now. I’ve had long hair all my life; thick, dark brown, heavily curly, and extremely time-consuming to manage. I love long hair, but I hate the process it entails to take care of and maintain it. Over the past couple of months, I’ve had a hard time fighting with waking up early enough to comb through and style my hair so ponytails have been a major part of my daily hair care. So to celebrate Summer, a couple of weeks ago, I committed to my idea of making a big change and I headed to my stylist and asked for my big chop and lighter, more summertime chic color.

Here's me before...

Here's the new do!

Cute right?!Not sure if you can tell here, but I went from dark brown to medium chestnut. I love it, and I definitely feel like a weight has literally been lifted off my shoulders.

On the way home, I found the most amazing antique nightstand and chair that just screamed my name (I’m a dedicated roadside picker, and hard core garage sale[r]…true story). Since I love allotting myself a Summer project each year, I had to snag them and give them a new home and some much needed TLC. 

My new bedroom chair. So stylish it hurts!

 I love taking something old, and completely refurbishing it to give it a classic, yet modern new look. I’m really excited about it, and think it’s just what I need to keep the creativity flowing, and my mind calm. But now I want to redecorate my entire bedroom, which I know will turn into an entire house re-vamp. That’s just how I roll.

What have all of you been up to? Send me an email or leave me a comment. I would love to get the skinny on all the details I’ve missed.