Friday in Tally.

Not much happening today. We had a picnic lunch outside the Law Library (Jac's favorite study spot) in-between her last two finals today.

Then I got a mani/pedi with my mom at a pretty deluxe little nail spot here in town. I bite my nails and pick at my cuticles pretty frequently, so I got lectured by my nail tech. He was super funny though, and nail growing encouragement is always welcomed as I'm hoping to be able to stop one day. 

A Good Mandarin is Hard to Find & Sweet Heart by OPI

Oh, my little stub nails. 

Now I'm relaxing in the hotel room alone for a bit, putting the final touches (and going edit-crazy) on my application to the MSW program at Florida State. I feel like it's pretty fitting to submit my application in the same town I may end up pursuing my graduate studies in. I think it'll give me a bit of extra luck in the scholarship department... or, at least I hope. (One application down, and the other two are almost completed too!)

Tonight I get to take a few photos of Lukie in his cap and gown. Oh seesh... it's still surreal. :)
Congrats to anyone graduating this weekend. What an accomplishment! Be sure to celebrate the college grads in your life.

K

A trip to Tallahassee: My little brother graduates this weekend!

Holy moly. This little guy graduates April 30th and turns 23 on May 14th. I feel so old just thinking about it! He'll be heading to Northwestern this fall because he's super smart, so we have much to celebrate this weekend! A few weeks ago my mom posted this photo of him and me on his 1st birthday in our favorite park in California and made a comment regarding "how time flies." I whole-heartedly agree. (And, looking at this photo I'm realizing that I really need to find him a little metallic paper hat to wear on his birthday this year.)

So today I drove the 5-hour trip from Brevard County up to Tallahassee (the home of one and only T-Pain) to join the rest of my family. I haven't taken a long car trip by myself in so long, thanks to Harbor's willingness to accompany me in most all of my non-work-related travels and getaways this year. It was sad to be without him today, but it was really neat to remember my love of the open road and how I used to be able to drive all day long with only my iPod on shuffle, gorgeous scenery rushing by, and my thoughts to keep me company.

I decided to stop at a really sketchy gas station to pee, simply based on the level of Florida-allure it boasted. I figure that if you haven't ever driven around in Florida, you may not understand how serious we are about citrus and how southern many of our residents believe themselves to be. For example, many gas stations mask themselves as boiled peanut stands and souvenir shops to lure customers. You may see a sign for mayhaw jelly, candied nuts, fresh citrus or homemade ice cream every few miles in certain parts of north and central Florida. Before I moved to the southeast, I had no earthly idea what a "boiled peanut" was, or why people pronounced them "bowlled pee-nuts." As much as I love a tall glass of sweet tea, a handful of sugary roasted almonds or pecans, or a roadside firework stand, I don't think I will ever enjoy boiled peanuts. They look like pinto beans and are way too mushy to be beneficial to me. I'll take them roasted and salted, please. 

The store I stopped at today was pretty funny because it contained the usual suspects (i.e. Disney memorabilia, "My so-and-so-went-to-Florida and all I got was this lousy t-shirt" shirts, Native American-themed wolf art and dreamcatchers, and alligator heads) but also had a ton of creepy shell creatures. I sort of enjoyed the owls they had on display, but I laughed so hard at the four shell-guys playing poker or musical instruments. Super odd. 

Those coconut monkeys were having a pretty magical FL vacation, it looks like. Or a family reunion. Or an island-themed corporate work function.

At my last rest stop, I knew I'd be eating dinner with my family fairly soon, but I hadn't stopped for lunch, so I had to think fast. Then it occurred to me... ice cream sandwiches are sort of like lunch, right? I mean, it's a sandwich. So I counted it. Best idea of the day, aside from the iced americano I sipped during the first few hours of my drive. 

When I finally arrived I got to go to dinner with my mom, dad and brother while my little sister finished studying for her last two finals tomorrow. (She's going to do GREAT, by the way.) We grabbed dinner at Hopkins Eatery, which I love so much. Their sweet tea is made with mint and pekoe, and their food is always super fresh and very creative. Then I was lucky enough to get to accompany my dad and brother on a Target run, and I bought two dresses, a romper (my first!) and a cute grey messenger bag for the summertime.

Now I'm curled up on a hotel pull-out couch about to turn in. Please, please, please share some of your tips and tricks for enjoying longer car rides. I'm already starting a new playlist to get excited about my trip home Sunday. (And don't forget, anyone can comment – blogger or not.)

Goodnight!
K

A night at the St. Mary's Fair.

Tonight Harbor and I attended the 52nd Annual St. Mary's Fair. This fair is pretty small, and held on the property of a local Catholic church/school. I've been in Rockledge for three of these fairs and never been able to go. So, we decided to head on over and check it out.

This Rock n' Roll house was bumpin' Sean Kingston across the fairgrounds, so we decided to check it out first. The soundtrack, combined with tons of kewl singer/songwriters such as Avril Lavigne, Madonna, 50 cent and Gwen Stefani lured us right on in.

Then we went on a not-so-scary haunted house. The teenage girls screaming ahead of us had me hoping there were spooky carnies hiding inside, but it turned out to be the biggest waste of six tickets. Sort of a bummer because I love being scared.

Then we rode the swings, but they went up super high. Harbor wanted to get a good thrill in tonight, so we saved all of our tickets for this one.

Before the ride, we looked very calm and excited. 

And after the ride we were a little disheveled. Harbor said that my turned around scarf made me look like a French poet. haha. Then, it was time for prizes, kiddie games and fair treats. Woo!

What a fun night at a very subpar fair. 

K

Easter Feaster!

  

(All the little instas courtesy of Harbor's iPhone.)

I hope your Easter weekend was lovely, full of rest, and a reminder of newness. We spent the morning celebrating with our church body (which consists of primarily senior citizens and a handful of younger families). I love it there. One of my favorite things about the Easter service at Glory of God is the "flowering of the cross" that takes place in-between services. Members from our church bring bouquets of flowers to decorate a white wire cross to signify newness, growth, and renewal through Christ's sacrificial death and resurrection. It's just so gorgeous and I love the connection to creation with this tradition. So beautiful. 

After church we continued the day's festivities with the 3rd annual Easter Feaster! (A brunch of epic proportions.) It was a blast. Here are some great photos that Allie snapped during the afternoon.

Baked french toast.

Goat cheese veggie pizza.

"Empty tomb rolls," aka mini monkey bread pieces that are hollow and sticky-sweet on the inside. ;)

An "Easter Feaster" is basically just a day in the park with friends hanging out together, eating tons of homemade treats, playing lawn games, with kids running around and adults taking naps on the grass. Both years we've celebrated the Feaster in Brevard County, we've had amazingly gorgeous, sunny days. Not too hot yet, and beautifully breezy. 

Some of our guy friends had a little ladder ball tourney. You take turns swinging golf balls across the way and try to latch them onto various PVC pipes, where each rung is scored differently. It may sound boring, but it's almost like a more fun version of horseshoes. It's pretty addicting. I played for a while when this game was over... which may have been the point when I got sunburned on my back. Boo. 

You don't always use all them at once... I think James was experimenting. 

What a wonderful day! What did you do on Easter? 

K

A reward for hard work. Sort of.

Being out of school for so long has made sitting down and completing these personal statements and essay questions a true battle for my focus and time. However, I am remembering that incentives work really well, so today I told myself that if I finished half of the application I was working on that I could edit a handful of photos from the two rolls I picked up from the developer the other day. Yay!

Here's a peek at our trip to St. Augustine last weekend. You can also view them on my Flickr.

I'm just catching up with old friends over coffee tonight then watching Dazed and Confused at Brick & Mortar later on. Popcorn and a cult classic. Then it's just work and cleaning until the boys get back from recording and then it's time to celebrate Easter together! 

Anybody have stellar weekend plans prior to any Easter celebrations? 

K