Wednesday, May 29

music that speaks to you

today's challenge is: 5 songs that speak to you or bring back memories. 

i love music so much. i think i could have come up with a list of 50 songs that speak to me or bring back memories but sadly 50 songs will not fit in today's blog post, so i followed the rules and stuck with 5.

walking by - something corporate
i saw something corporate for the first time in 2002 and was hooked ever since, some may say obsessed. my love for something corporate quickly passed over to jack's mannequin when andrew mcmahon decided to make this his new project. and now over a decade later i am still able to enjoy andrew's new music. those who know me well know that any of andew's dozens and dozens of songs could have made this list and i don't really know why i chose this specific one except to say that it certainly speaks to me.

chariot - gavin degraw
this song brings back so many memories of my oldest and dearest friend. it's one of those songs where not just one memory comes back to you but floods of so many different memories. i still wish i could find that picture of us dancing to this song at junior prom ;)


you are the best thing - ray lamontagne
college. my senior year. my poor roommate had to listen to me play this constantly. although, who am i kidding? she love ray just as much as i do...she introduced me to him!


happiness - the fray
it's hard for me to rank my favorite artists (after andrew mcmahon, of course). they all are kind of just in a long line of all being my favorite. the fray especially. and in the summer of 2009, andrew mcmahon and the fray made this girl extremely happy by going on tour together. it was a dream!


rosalita - bruce springsteen
born and raised in NJ this song reminds me of nothing other than home, friends, and summertime.
windows down .. bruce on.




Monday, May 27

this is water

this challenge was for yesterday but i am a day late! i think you will like it anyway.

this speech is from a few years ago but i saw it for the first time last week and it struck a chord with me. ever since i transferred schools in college i have tried to be more positive. not necessarily one of those people who always has a huge annoying smile on their face .. but someone who always tries to see the silver lining in a negative situation. and during these past few years i have come across many people who do the exact opposite of what i have been trying to do: always see the negative. in everything.

i was really happy finding this video and i hope you will take something from it.





Saturday, May 25

like jasper from twilight


another post from the blog every day in may challenge
when i saw what today's topic would be, i wasn't sure if i had anything to write about. then it was one of those moments where in the middle of the night something just comes into your head. so here is the thing that someone told me that i will never forget:

in college, i was involved in so many clubs and activities. many of them were leadership roles and peer education type organizations. there was always a lot of positive reinforcement exercises. in one group we were going around giving each other positive affirmations and when it came to my turn someone said,

"i love being around britta because she is like my own personal jasper from twilight.
she always knows how to calm everyone's nerves and make people feel relaxed."

at first i was confused. but then i realized that was such a huge compliment. making other people feel comfortable has always been something i strive for and hearing that i have the ability to do that made me feel really proud! even though it was said in a very creative way ;)



Friday, May 24

dear mother nature


dear trimester 1: you're done! exams are graded. final grades are in. i am officially done with you...and on to the next. dear paris: i am so proud of you for finally going back to school! your first week of classes is done and i couldn't be happier for you! keep up the hard work :) dear next week: please be kind. i'm going on an overnight field trip with my students to see some sea turtles and their eggs. i am more than excited but please have everyone survive in one piece! (including myself). dear mother nature: i don't mind the rain everyday, in fact i kind of like it. but can it please wait until after the school day ends! being that all of our "hallways" are outside makes it kind of hard not to get wet when changing classrooms. dear katherine: thanks so much for having me on your blog (sense)story perception this week! you can check out my writer of the week interview here and my guest post here. enjoy!

Photobucket

Tuesday, May 21

another list


i thought i would take part in another post from the blog every day in may challenge.
a list of some of my favorite blog posts from my archives.
you would think a list would be easy. but honestly, this took me forever.
and these are only just some of my favorite posts.
i hope you enjoy them as much as i do!

sunsets on the beach
volcanoes are for the morning
the best macaroni salad
in the olden days



Monday, May 20

the barking crab





these are the last of my pictures from my trip to the USA two weeks ago. the day after the wedding, all of my visiting family got together for a big dinner at the barking crab on the boston harbor. my parents really love this restaurant and wanted to share it with everyone while we were all together. i personally love it for all the fried seafood they have to offer. yum.

and then they took out the biggest lobster i had ever seen in my life. the waitress was walking around the whole restaurant with it so i asked her if it was their mascott or something like that. you know, some super old lobster that is the pride and joy of the restaurant. and she said, "no. we sell these every day."
oh. $250 worth of lobster, people.

other posts from my trip can be found here, here, and here!

Friday, May 17

little green cars



once again, my dad has hit it right on the nose of supplying me with some great music.
these guys, little green cars, have been on repeat this whole week while i have
been getting through grading all 112 of my exams.
hope you enjoy as mush as i am!

if your interested in any of the other music i listen to or my dad has recommended, just click on the music tag at the bottom of this post!

Wednesday, May 15

a day in the life of a boston tourist

my brother has been living in boston for 10 years (???) and i went to school about 40 minutes north of the city. i have spent a fair amount of time in the city between school things and visiting my brother so it would be pretty easy to say that i know boston like the back of my hand. but i dont.

so when my extended family was in town and some of us had the day to wander the city, i called up my friend katie and we pretended to act like tour guides. we hit up some of the most touristy parts of the city and may have gotten a little lost wandering by north station.  but i'm going to say that everyone enjoyed themselves anyway.

here's what we did:

we started at the citgo sign because that is where out hotel was.

then we hit up faneuil hall and the quincy market area. everyone loves a good market.

next we ventured down to the harbor and spent some time thinking about where to head next.


then we wandered to the north end before making a huge circle back to the aquarium/harbor area where we hit up the seals exhibit. i don't have an actual picture from the noth end but you can see my mike's pastry box in the above picture which proves that we went there.

hope you enjoyed the tour!
;)

Tuesday, May 14

happiness in ten things


i thought i would try to take part in at least some of these blog every day in may posts since i kind of started the month off blogging no days.

 today's topic is: 10 things that make you really happy.

any time when my parents and brother and i are all together
lazy sundays with the boy
best friends who get me
belly laughs
marathons of the o.c. reruns
andrew mcmahon's music
praise from my students
cuddle time with my sweet sweet puppy
summer campfires
a good book in a good hammock

what makes you happy?

Monday, May 13

bridesmaid duties


i was pretty pleased when my brother and his fiance laura had asked me to be a bridesmaid in their wedding. it was my first time being in a wedding, unless you count the time i was five and a flower girl (i think) when my grandfather remarried and  i sat down in the aisle during the ceremony.... because i don't count that time.

i wasn't sure what being a bridesmaid really entailed but the maid of honor had been in numerous weddings so she kind of helped us all out a little bit. although, my new sister-in law was probably the most down to earth bride out there so us bridesmaids didn't have too much responsibility. 

the day before the wedding a few of us got together and arranged the flowers for the centerpieces. laura had been collecting small glass vases during the whole engagement to use for the centerpieces. she ordered some beautiful wildflowers and we spent the morning before the wedding cutting and arranging all of them. don't they look beautiful?? laura had so many great ideas for the wedding and it all turned out perfectly.


side note: laura made many of the decorations herself for the wedding. she is super creative and had so many cute ideas!! i don't have pictures of them all because i was too busy enjoying the wedding ;) but once i snoop around for other peoples' pictures i will most certainly show off her work.

Sunday, May 12

springtime at home


i was lucky enough to be in NJ during the perfect springtime weekend. i heard the weather wasn't that nice before i got there so i like to think mother nature brought the spring time just for me. 

i wanted to take advantage of all the flowers in bloom so i ran around my house taking a million pictures of my parents' garden area. they do a pretty good job, don't you think?

speaking of parents, happy mother's day to my wonderful mom! as always it was such a lovely treat to be home with you for a few days and i cannot wait until my next trip :) miss you!

Saturday, May 11

back to the blog


two weeks without a blog post. this whole blogging thing can be hard sometimes! i'm sure i have said this before but i never thought that blogging would become such a big part of my life. sometimes it feels like the best choice of a hobby that i ever could have made and sometimes it feels like a second job that i am not really getting paid for. and i know that when it comes to that second feeling that i need to just take a break. blogging should be fun! always. sometimes i feel so silly when i get stressed over not blogging for a day .. or 14. i try to remind myself that this is my hobby .. that i chose blogging as an outlet for the other stressors in my life, not to give me more stress!

so here is me telling you that i will no longer feel bad about not blogging every single day! if i need a day off, i will take a day off without guilt. i also cannot wait to get back to reading all of my favorite blogs. i sure have missed everyone :)