Countdown to Fireworks

            This weekend marks one of my very favorite celebrations of the year.  Okay, I admit I am somewhat of a holiday-aholic and make bold proclamations about how I die for jack-o-lantern carving and soak up every second of family time at Thanksgiving and can't imagine a better moment than when my three siblings and I assemble on the stairs for our Christmas morning ritual, but I really do love the Fourth of July.  There is something about the scent of a backyard BBQ mixed with coconut-y sunscreen that just screams summer time.  Pair that with fireworks and some American flag cake and this girl is all kinds of giddy.  As a little one, I celebrated this holiday by camping out on the roof of my mom's mini van with my siblings and cousins waiting for the moment when the sun would set and the Rock Hall fireworks would light up the sky.  And though I love spending the 4th at Fox Point with the fam, this year I will be heading in the opposite direction up the coast and celebrating the holiday in Boston...and I could not be more excited!

Looking forward to a lot of this...

Oh and some of these!

And definitely a spiked one of these...

Pictures borrowed from martawrites

Happy almost 4th of July weekend!  Oh and Happy Happy Birthday to my sweet friend Hannah all the way out in San Fransisco.  Miss you girlfriend!

Ending the June Blogging Slump

            June has been a rough month for blogging.  Turns out, as of recently living life has trumped writing about it but that doesn't mean that things haven't been happening around here.  The D.C. apartment hunt is still on (yeah I know it feels like I have been looking for ever to me too) and I have seen more than my fair share of crack houses and "hidden gems" that seemed just too good to be true...and then they were...too good to be true.  In fact, I even took off a day of work last week just to make the trek to the district only to have my hopes dashed once again when the perfect place turned out to be a shit hole (sorry Mom) complete with questionable carpet stains, peeling paint, and a kitchen straight out of the fifties.  Yuck.  Needless to say I was not the happiest of campers after a long day of apartment hunting but thankfully my sister knew just what would put a smile back on my little homeless face...

A trip to ACKC was how I coped with the no apartment blues

And then top that off with a weekend at Fox Point with some favorites and I was as good as new

But seriously...there is a slight chance the Cooper man and I could be homeless come August 1st so if you hear of anything please let me know.  Happy Monday!

Somebody Once Said

"We have every reason to be optimistic in this world.  You can't, you don't build out of pessimism or cynicism.  You look with optimism, work with faith, and things happen.  Things will work out.  Keep trying.  Keep believing.  Be happy.  Don't get discouraged.  Things will work out."

Easier said than done?  Absolutely.  Worth striving for?  Absolutely.

P.S.  Happy Father's day to my favorite Dad!

You Know You're Old When...

            In many ways it feels like a lifetime ago that I graduated from Radnor High School but it definitely doesn't seem possible that it's been long enough for my baby brother to have grown up into this handsome manboy...

            But I guess it must be true since last night we watched as he marched his way across the stage, grabbed that diploma, and officially became a high school graduate.  I was proud and nostalgic and jealous all at the same time.  While I feel like I've tried my best to really live every second of my post-high school life and I don't feel like I need to go back and re-do it all, there is a part of me that is incredibly envious of all of the excitement and new-ness that lies ahead for Scott.  Now I know I have some new-ness of my own just around the corner but there is something special about heading off on a completely different adventure...you know, that whole "best four years of your life" thing.  I have no doubt that my brother will fit right in at Miami University of Ohio and they are so lucky to have snagged him :-).  And I can't wait to come visit and relive my frat partying, keg beer drinking, college glory days.

Check out the pictures from the celebration below!

Appropriate table decorations

The men...and Andy in spirit!

Hugs for the Mama

A proud Dad

Where's Andy!?!?

On the phone with the proud big brother

Congratulations Scott...We're so proud of you!!

Getting Together

            I love a great reunion (like this one, and this one, and this one) for probably the same reasons that I love the airport.  The dive-into-your-arms hugs, declarations of how much someone has been missed, happy tears...I love it all.  And once or twice a year, the stars align, the school and work schedules ease up, and the result is a little reunion of my own.  The high school reunion.  Now this is not your typical high school reunion where "what are you up to these days?" is the party line and everyone is taking the drink-til-it's-not-awkward approach.  No no...it's much better than that.  This reunion usually happens when the boys - once 18 year old potheads, now suit-wearing business men in New York City - roll into town (ironically, the occasion bringing them to town this time was a Phish concert :-).  And it almost always ends in a rowdy dinner during which conversation turns inappropriate and we are all reminded that though we may look a little older and have real people jobs, nothing has really changed.  Which is just how I like it.

Morning, Sunshine!

            There's a new game in this house.  A new game that is quickly driving this girl completely bonkers (and is probably not all that blog-worthy but just go with it...it's Monday).  The game consists of the Cooper man rolling his coveted tennis ball under the coffee table, then proceeding to stare at me with ginormous, droopy, chocolate brown puppy eyes, with a little whine thrown in for good measure, until I put down my computer, get off the couch, and retrieve said tennis ball.  Repeat about a bajillion times over and there you have it.  I'm officially insane.  Now, I understand that I am sitting in my bathrobe, coffee in hand, catching up on my blog stalking and celebrity gossip on a Monday morning so I really can't complain but really?  Must we play this game at 7:45 in the am?  I know I'm whining, I hate me too.

            In other news, last night I returned home from a fabulous weekend in Beantown.  The weather was perfect and the company even better and I may have been open to the idea that it really is not the coldest place on the planet.  Maybe.  Pictures of lobsters and best friends and cupcakes coming your way soon!

Happy Monday!