Summer Camp Chic

Friends, I have not posted in many a moon. My apologies. I have broken my hiatus to tell you of my summer time obsessions, all of which revolve around the basics of summer camp. I was a camp fanatic, attending the lovely CYO Camp Howard from age 8 to 14. Every summer since my last camp experience I have missed being in the woods with a bunch of friends playing capture the flag and drinking bug juice all day, and therefore I try to bring the essentials of camp into regular summertime living:

1. Shower less. This is essential. You must have achieve the perfect scent of sunscreen, chlorine/lake water, and Clinique Happy as much as your day job will allow. And you'll be amazed at what you can get done in the ten extra minutes in your day if you eliminate showering (I'm not advertising to shower only once a week, but like, get it down to 3 or 4 times).
2. Engage in water activities. Wear out a swim suit. Plus, if you're following rule#1, it's really necessary to be in the water more, ya know? If you're in a chlorinated pool, rinsing off is permissable and not considered part of your 3-4 showers/week.
3. Devote yourself to perfecting an art/craft. My art/craft of choice is the ever-popular friendship bracelet. I'm an excellent braider. Potlatches, boondoggles, crayon-wax candles, dream catchers, and stamped leather keychains are other excellent options.
4. Share a book among friends. I mean this quite literally: buy a popular book-of-the-moment and share the single copy among a few friends. Make sure it gets kinda ragged and dodgy by the end of summer. Bonus points for sun-faded jacket covers and water marks.
5. Make new friends (but keep the old...silver, gold, etc.)
6. Go to karaoke; this fulfills the singing around a campfire requirement of camp
7. Practice an outdoor physical activity at least once a day; running, adult league kickball, biking, soccer, swimming (my preference, see point #2). You'll get a sexy lean bod and a deep tan!
8. Do your nails once a week. Weird colors only. What other season can you get away with neon orange? None! So take advantage!
9. Have sleepovers with friends. Non-negotiable. You need to have so many sleepovers that you get sick of your friends but then when you part ways the next day feel a sucking black hole of loss. Or, you know, something less middle-school intense.
10. Try to turn off the tv, shut down the computer, and put the iphone on silent. Technology was contraband at camp for two reasons: it's expensive and if you break it your parents will be pissed and might sue, and it interferes with friend-bonding and nature-loving. It does!
11. Take lots of pictures. These memories are precious, campers!
12. Do something scandalous. At camp it was sneaking from the girls' section to the boys' section or stealing extra desserts and eating them after lights out. Translate these activities to adult terms.
13. Become adventerous. This is akin to the above suggestion. At camp you'd run around in the woods during capture the flag, or go on an all day hike, or ask that special someone to dance at the End of Summer Social. Go out of your comfort zone!
14. Have a campfire. Except this time you can be drunk and can roast as many marshmallows as you want!
15. Go on an overnight! Go camping for one night and sleep outside. You can do this in your backyard if you are lazy and/or broke. It's preferrable if you can go to like, a state park campsite and pay 30 bucks to set up a tent and drink your PBRs amongst the trees.

These are my suggestions for a successful session of adult summer camp! Just guidelines, feel free to adapt to your own needs

Things I Like # 16

Perfect Sundays

Sometimes Sundays suck, like if you hate your job and know Monday is eminent, or if you're a student and have a term paper looming over your hungover shoulder. But if you don't hate your job and you're out of school, Sundays can be pretty great. This weekend I had a perfect Sunday:

My blinds in my bedroom are super dark, so when I opened the blinds to sun it was a wonderful surprise! Anyway, woke up late to a sunny day, toasted my pre-brunch slice of toast to a crispy perfection, did a crossword puzzle, showered for the first time in a day or two, picked out a cute dress, and got picked up for brunch by K (I didn't even have to drive!). We went to the Laurelhurst/Belmont area to eat at The Screen Door , which has delish modern-Southern fare. We had to wait for an hour to get in, but spent that time outside chatting with young men, so even waiting was pleasurable on my perfect Sunday, you guys! Once seated, K and I pulled our usual brunch scheme of ordering the two dishes we can't choose between and splitting them evenly. We missed our third musketeer, M, who usually orders the healthy dish and gives our meal some substance, counteracting our orders of like, strawberry and mascarpone stuffed French Toast or a fatty Cinnamon roll. So what I'm saying is that K and I ordered biscuits and gravy and a praline and bacon-strip covered waffle. Yeah. Therefore we spent the rest of the afternoon waddling around Laurelhurst ooh-ing over cute babies (sidenote: I wish I could wear children's clothes. I would kill for this dress) and adorable houses. And then we found the fruits of K's labors:

K literally spent half of her first year of real-world work figuring out what streets had potholes and deciding where on those streets to put up signs addressing that problem. God bless her little Enginerd heart. We were pretty thrilled when we found one of her signs. After our adventures in NE Portland, we went to my house and passed out on our patio in deck chairs until it started to get cold and we started to get cranky from food-fatigue. Once K left, I pulled on my ratty yoga pants and watched "Cruel Intentions". PERFECT SUNDAY!

Global Warming Alert

It's like 60 degrees outside and sunny, and it's only Feb. 5th. It would be concerning if it wasn't so radical. Today I've run outside, sat in the backyard and read while my dogs gnawed on rhododendrons, and almost fell asleep during my hair cut because the sun was so warm on my back. Hasta la vista, polar bears, let's keep this sunshine streaming!

Springing

Rarely do I experience spontaneous, carefree, warm spring days in Seattle. But today I did. I got up at 8, had a leisurely breakfast, went to Copymart to buy course packets, worked for a few hours, and then napped for the first time in weeks. When I fell asleep it was sunny but not that warm, but upon waking from my slumbers it was at least 60 deg. and gorgeous! So I pulled on a hoodie and walked to Twice Told to browse and play with cats. Going to bookstores is one of my favorite past times, but I hardly ever do it in Seattle. I had no plan to go to bookstoring when I woke up this morning; the plan just unfolded and who am I to say no to such an enjoyable outing?! After Twice Told I walked along Broadway and had fro-yo at CrazyBerry, and then I stopped in at QFC to buy yellow peppers, toilet paper, salmon, toothpaste, pasta, English muffins, and, on a whim, red tulips! Buying flowers is another thing I always want to do, but never actually do. At QFC I ran into Garrett, and then on my way home I saw everyone and their mother walking through campus. Some Bro-Freshmen skateboarding on Upper Mall were dressed in Pooh and Tigger Halloween costumes and made my stroll home more enjoyable (and more surreal). Then I made a delicious dinner, watched TV, and took a shower--and it was still light and sunny outside!! Days like today are why I love Seattle and college.

Even Brits like to "Supersoak Dat Ho"

There's a genius new Flash Mob commercial out right now. English people dancing in the Liverpool station to such gems as "Don't Cha?", "Get Down on It", "Lollipop", and "Twist and Shout". GENIUS! It makes me believe that my dream of spontaneous choreography in ordinary life will someday come true!! Too bad it's all to sell phones, but it's still great stuff.



It reminds me of the fantastic stuff from this group: