independence weekend

I had a fantastic 4th of July holiday and weekend. I got the holiday off as well as Friday because the doctors at my clinic didn't feel like working--so I got it off by default.It was kind of my mini summer vacation/staycation. And my friend Stacey was in town so we had enough excuse to do everything. And did we! (People in these events include Stacey, Brit, Erica, Michelle, Elizabeth, Whitney, Alexis, and Dave).

I started off the festivities by dressing up Joe Panda-he had his patriotic outfit on and my own patriotic outfit.

Then I decorated my living and dining room with fun red, white, and blue. I especially enjoyed the huge pop of color my little tissue pom poms. I had fun making them. Also I made a few button wheels, found two patriotic picture frames at the hobby lobby, and dug out my banner I made last year. It made for some fun decor and I get to be crafty. Win.

Then we watched an episode of BBC Sherlock. (how unamerican!)-but seriously, my mom loves her some Benedict.

I had peeps over for my usual BBQ. However, the power went out at my house at about 2:30 so after playing cards with my parental units and avoiding opening the fridge, we had to skip the pork and beans and the corn because we had no power. But BBQ was still on! The power was out for about 5 hours. It was random but some nice utility workers from the City of Richland got us back working. We did burgers and chicken and it was some of the best BBQ'd chicken I've had in awhile. Of course I made my patriotic jello and it has become rather infamous. (I like it because it combines three of my great loves in life-america, jello and cool whip).

After dinner we headed out to Benton City to enjoy the redneck firework show. I had forgotten how exciting the show is. It's like there is a pre-show, show and after-party. The kids set off their own fireworks before the actual show (which is pretty good and you sit real close and you get debris falling on you) and the after-party is all the crazies lighting off their leftovers. And we're talking big fireworks that go up in the air, not just the "legal" ones. So really we had like two straight hours of fireworks. So much better than the 20 minute River of Fire show that you have to watch from a mile away. Stacey brought birthday cake ice cream and we celebrated America's birthday on a warm summer's night. We even saw part of a mountain on fire in the background. It amazes me that there weren't more fires than there were this year. I love fireworks and I used my wonderful Nikon again to get some great shots. (I'll load them later). I still get really excited for good fireworks and Ooooohh and Ahhhhh like none other.

(Michelle's pic-that's her and her bro)

I was the only one who had work off on Friday so I hung out with Stacey in the morning. We went to Spudnuts (a Richland must) and I got patriotic sprinkles!

Then we made our way to the Richland farmers market and took in all the sights and smells. I wanted to buy all the cherries. Seriously. I wish I could grocery shop there every week, but I have to go to work. I did go to my favorite stall where you can get a fresh bouquet of flowers. You just tell the ladies what colors you want and they make it up right there. And it is so much cheaper and nicer than a wilted grocery store bouquet. I only wish they would let me design my own bouquet! I got yellows, pinks, and purples.

After the farmer's market Stacey and I checked out some antiques stores and I saw some interesting stuff. I went home, had a nice turkey sammy, and then read my book underneath the tree in the back yard on my blanket for like three hours. It was pretty perfect. Then Will and I got slurpees and met up at Leslie Groves and hung out at the Columbia River. Ahhhhhh, the river.

I met up with the gals later that night at Fujiyama's. It's the new Japanese hibatchi place where they cook the food in front of you with all the stunts and jokes. I enjoyed it immensely. It was a ton of fun and we had a great chef. I tried to read his name tag and it was a long name, possibly Mongolian? After a second look I saw that it was "Yippiekayeh". What an awesome name! The food was tasty because it was so fresh and I got to use my chopstick skillz, thanks bro for teaching me.

Saturday we went out to BC again to go shooting. Safety Dave taught us how to shoot the guns and load them and of course, proper gun safety. There were many types of guns and I tried all of them but the revolver. I was proud that I hit the target a few times with the .22 shotgun. I also tried a .12 shotgun, a hand gun, and a WWII era rifle which was pretty fun to shoot. My friend Brit was pretty excited about shooting the zombie target that we had. Everyone practiced very good safety the entire time.

Then we went in to BC proper and grabbed lunch at Wolfie's which used to be a burger joint but is now Mexican? Then we changed at Michelle's house and floated the Yakima in BC which was better because too many people float in Richland now and the river is deeper in BC. The ride was a good length and there were even little rapids we got to sail through. It was so relaxing and peaceful out on the river, plus you got some good views of the E. WA nature scene. We didn't concern ourselves too much with sunscreen, and all of us got burnt because of it. I just wanted some sun, Vitamin D, yo! We finished out the day by stopping at Finnegan Frost-an organic Fro-yo place that had some tasty flavors. And I deemed it the most hipster place in the TC. Complete with hipster music, organic fro-yo, and Polaroids on the wall a la "Sammy's" in P-town. I didn't know the TC could be hipster....

Anyway, after mowing the lawn that night I was dead. I made it through Sunday and now I am still recovering from last weekend. It was a blast and I feel like I rocked my little summer vacation and then some!

so..

I'm pretty sure all the people on my committee hate me. Oh well, I'd hate me too if I made myself do stuff that I didn't want to. (oh wait, that's called life)

Blerg.

my lunchtime office

So I eat my lunch in the backseat of my car when I'm at work. For a few reasons. One is that I need some alone time which the lunchroom cannot guarantee. Another is that I like to eat outside and see the sun. My current workplace doesn't have a good patch of grass so sometimes I'll go to the park down the road. But when it's cold or weathery outside I just chill in my car. This week I realized that all the hanging out in my car has redefined my backseat. Take a look:

I've inadvertently nested in my car. It started with the pillow in case I wanted to take a nap during lunch. Then I ran out of books to read so I got my three Olympics issue magazines to have something to read. Harry Potter is back up for when those are done. Then I got myself some mints in case I want to freshen my mouth after I eat lunch. This is either genius or madness, but I gotta spend 60 minutes doing somethin'!

overheard

Dad praying over dinner tonight:"and please bless Meagan and Michael in Arizona...."
(I'm not the daughter married to a Michael-we had a hard time staying reverent!)

K-"how are you doing?"
J-(2 yrs old) "Good! I'm playing with Me-yi-yo!" (Read:Megio)
Man I'm gonna be sad when they leave!

i've got dental

-went to the dentista now that i've got my very own grown up health insurance, my favorite part about going there, besides the clean teeth, is that I get restocked on my dental supplies-toothpaste, toothbrushes, floss and the like. Keeps me set for like the next couple of months. New today, gum. The hygenist said that chewing sugar free gum helps stimulate the gums. Ok.

-I've got an idea for the 4th of July celebrations at my house, hint #patrioticpanda

-Got some new Sara Bareilles musica. Love her songs. She will be in WA on labor day for a concierto with One Republic. Should I goooo? (not convinced I should yet)

-SYTYCD has fulfilled this hole in my life that I didn't know I had. For some reason I missed a lot of last year. Just watching the auditions has made my life happier. I love seeing people doing amazing things with their bodies and the art they create to tell a story, portray a character, or just relay an emotion. I amazed at the different people they get on the show. Tonight they had a chica who did this Mongolian balancing bowl dance. It was graceful and artistic and unlike anything we would do here in the states. Just being able to see the talent and power is inspiring. Tuesday night is SYTYCD night.

-how much spanglish can I put in one blog post. Yo puedo put more I guess.

it's not just blue, it's not turquoise, it's not lapis, it's actually cerulean

On Fashion
-That quote is from the movie The Devil Wears Prada and this scene:


What made me think of that is the current "neon" trend in clothing right now and how it most likely came about just like this scene states. I just can't get on board with it. It's not flattering, it clashes with most everything besides more neon or black, and it just reminds me of the 80's. And now it's everywhere. I can't just get a basic pink, green or yellow shirt anymore. It's all in neon now. Also accessories like purses, sunglasses and shoes. It's gotten to the point that there's not too much that's NOT neon. I see middle aged women wearing spandexy shirts of neon, pink or orange. While I applaud them for being bold in their fashion choice (because no one will miss you when you wear that), it's sooooo not doing anything for them. Not slimming at all and because you are following a "trend" it just makes you look like you're trying to be a teenager. One concession I can make is for exercise clothes. For some reason I can handle that. But I've been trying to find some new athletic/casual shoes and there is nothing but neon out there and I need this train to stop so I can find some shoes to buy.

-One article of clothing I am loving is my maxi skirt. It is my summertime equivalent of sweatpants. So comfy after a day at work and so convenient to wear to church if I don't feel like shaving my legs. I got mine for like $12.00 at Walmart and it has done me good so far.

On Photography
-My new favorite thing is printing off my instagrams at Walgreens. They print a 4x4 of your instagram that you can upload from your phone to their app and they cost like $0.39 each. I'm pretty obsessed with instagram right now so I was looking for a cheap way to do that. It's so much fun getting the smaller sized photographs. And the filters! I love filters. I took most of my photos from my NYC/DC trip on my iPhone and I have to say I was very pleased. It's a nice camera. Not as nice as my regular ones, but oh so convenient. The scary thing is that it's a little too easy to take self photos with the flip screen thingy, which makes for more awkward and weirdly spaced photos. Beware!

On Driving
-When people are idiots on the road I have little patience. Also when I can tell they are on their cell phones I just want to lay on my horn until they can't handle it anymore. It's not safe and you are all over the road. Plus it's illegal in WA anyway.

On the Radio
-I can't handle regular music stations early in the morning on the way to work. So somehow I got into NPR and now I listen to it on my 25 minute drive. I usually catch the news and business updates. It makes me feel old but I realize that it's totally my kind of thing. I have always been good at remembering little bits of info or knowledge. I get updated on the news and I also learn a lot about a ton of random things. The other day it was about how some Chinsese are trying to cultivate arts and culture in their country but their just isn't a lot of interest in that stuff yet because they are all about making money. Another day it was about sales tax for online sales and how it would affect people's businesses. I also feel like I get just enough political stuff to be socially informed but not enough to make me sick of it.

On Summer Television
-Basically this means I catch up on my Netflix queue

On Literature
-So I had this book by Agatha Christie called "A Murder is Announced", the plot has a murder being announced in a local paper before it happens, it happens and then they have to find out how and why. So sounds like a good premise, right? Cut to Meagan turning in that book late for the second time at the good ol' Richland Public Library because I just couldn't get it done. I don't know what it is, but I have the hardest time finishing Agatha Christie books. I like the Poirot movies, but reading them is a whole different matter. It kind of bugs me, I like to read, so I should like this classic author. But I struggle. I've read another Poirot and 10 Little Indians(?) and they both took me awhile. It may be the Britishness of her writing, or that it's older. Anyway, before I turned it in late I checked on Netflix because it was a Miss Marple mystery. They made this title into a movie. So I watched the movie to figure out what happened instead of trying the book one more time. How sad.

On Florence
-I went to Florence, Italy last year on my European tour with my sister. I just figured out today that the David statue was NOT in the Uffizi museum where I lost Jillian (yeah, I lost my sister in a foreign country, but we recovered, ok?). AND I learned that Galileo and Michelangelo are both buried in the Santa Croce church, the one I drug (dragged?) Jillian through the town to see the outside of but we didn't go inside because we were tired, hot, sticky, hungry and had slept on a night train the night before. It was the one place that I didn't plan for on our trip because I thought we'd see what was there. Moral of the story: it's helpful to research before you travel so you don't miss something good!
3 blog posts in one week? What is up with that?

new app for my phone

oh yeah, 2nd row this time ;)!!!!!!!!!!!