"giles has a tv, he's shallow like us!"

These days, most of my television viewing hours are made up of watching shows that haven't actually been made in the last ten years. While I do keep up with The Voice (go Dia!) and So You Think You Can Dance, I have decided to boycott The Bachelorette this season because I really just can't watch five minutes of it without wanting to hit Ashley over the head with a blunt object. So instead, I go back to the good 'ole days with Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Freaks and Geeks and The Wonder Years.
Because really, what better fills a late summer night than Buffy kicking butt, an old school stoned James Franco and the timeless love of Kevin Arnold and Winnie Cooper? This is my official thank you note to TeenNick and The Hub for airing these shows so that more generations can be exposed to their greatness. These are definitely a better alternative to the average average TeenNick schedule which is basically the All-Degrassi-All-the-Time network. And starting this fall (dangit I'll be back in school), they'll be airing pretty much my entire childhood in the form of 90s television: All That, Rugrats, Kenan and Kel, The Adventures of Pete & Pete and Clarissa Explains It All. Now we just need Boy Meets World back in syndication and we'll be good to go.

Just a warning from my own experience though, you might not want to watch Buffy right before going to sleep in case of some very weird dreams. Such as being followed by a live ventriloquist dummy during school only to have it burst into a pile of snakes and brains, which you have to then destroy...

ps- check out this awesome giveaway at Morgan Trinker Photography, because everything in it is freaking sweet! and check out the rest of her blog for great shoots! but you better not beat me, because we all know that i need yet another camera :)

three things thursday!

it's getting to that point in the summer where the days start to run together, but here are three things that i love on this day that i'm pretty sure is thursday!

making friendship bracelets (for my friends and myself!)

free download of josh garrels' new album!

so great!

it's (lawn) partytime.

(invitation only)

 My best friend and I have decided that we're going to dedicate this summer to doing activities that we've never bothered to do in our "backyard". On that list was going to the lawn party in my town (although I have actually done this before). 

Just to paint you a little picture: My town has one stoplight and is where the FFA (which used to stand for Future Farmers of America, for those not in the know) was founded. My high school had a drive your tractor to school day and I'm very used to the smell of manure. This could sound like a place  I would hate, but I really do love it. It's one of the most beautiful places ever, and I'm fairly certain there's not anyone around here that wouldn't be willing to lend you a cup of sugar or just a smile if you need it. You know, just Smalltown, USA. 

Some of you might be saying, "What the heck is a lawn party?" It's basically what, in any other place, would be called a fair. There are rides, games, fried chicken, funnel cakes, tractor pulls and a parade. And don't ask me, I have no idea why it's called that. This year we decided to make kind of a big deal out of going to it, but sadly it rained almost everyday. I was shocked at the amount of my friends that had never been to the lawn party, or didn't even know we had one. Granted, most of them do live in one of many surrounding towns, but really it's all Augusta County. I guess it's just one of those things about small towns, you just know it's happening, because it's been happening your whole life. 

So, my best friend didn't actually get to experience it this year (next year! for sure!), but I did get to go one night, Here's a little taste...

(lawn party!)

(friends lawn partying it up)

(funnel cake)

(best. night. ever.)

(the crowing jewel, mr.mullet)

arts, crafts, summer... oh my.

So, here it is the summer of 2011. Freshman year of college is over... weird. 

What to do now? Normally a broke college student would say, "Work, of course!" But seeing as apparently no one wants to hire me, my answer is...arts & crafts! Duh. And thanks to my obsession as of late, pinterest, I will not be running out of ideas anytime soon.
Here are a few things I've done so far.

These are so easy, and I really like how they turn out.

This is really easy too, but they stretch out really quickly. I just used strips of an old jersey shirt. I would definitely recommend doing the two fingers, the others are way too thick.

I went off this tutorial, but mostly just winged it.

And so my DIY summer continues, you should start yours too and tell me how your projects turn out!

word association.

Summer:

-breezy

-blue skies

-strawberries

-sunshine

-lemonade

-long days

-short nights

-friendship bracelets

-freedom

-barefoot

-bright

-reruns

-roadtrips

-joy

-jaunty

-watermelon

-windows down

-music loud

-sea foam

-sundresses

-unpredictable

-unprecedented 

-books in the sand

-stars in the sky

Behold...the true essence of summer.