Summer Update

It’s been quite a summer. There have been plans made, plans cancelled (RIP the vacation that never was), and me skidding to the end of it by the skin of my teeth. However, I am celebrating the end of summer with a new job (yay!) so now that I’m not riddled with anxiety about the coming school year, I can relax a bit and write with more regularity.

I tried to curl my hair...and failed.

Although I spent many of my days at home, reading in the sunshine (while still maintaining a translucent complexion), our evenings were full of an array of things that kept us busy, whether it was little things like a gorgeous sunset with deep talks on the porch, meeting with friends, or going to shows. 

Point State Park

Early in the summer, we went to the Three Rivers Arts Festival downtown with our friends Anthony and Dylan, watched fireworks (no one finds prime fireworks spots like those two), and of course Giovanni's pizza. 

I liked the nights we stayed at home and played games on the back porch, or baked cookies and (WHYYYY am I admitting this?) watching "The Bachelorette". 

Lake Life

We went fishing at Raccoon Park a few times, with not much luck. Shelley's joke was that I spent more time feeding the fish than actually catching any, because I would (correction: she would) bait my hook, and then five minutes later, after a slight tug, I'd reel in to find the worm missing. 

Fish, where are you?!

We decided to go in a boat one day towards the end of June, hoping to catch fish if we were actually out in the middle rather than off to the sides. Our only option was a rowboat, and I confidently claimed we could handle it. I'm not one to admit defeat, so rather than wait hours for a motorboat, we wandered to the dock and Shelley took the position of more experienced rower (let's be real-- neither of us are experienced rowers but she is strong so she was in charge of rowing). 

NKOTB

After a bit of rowing in circles and me laughing so hard I nearly rolled out of the boat, we got the hang of it, got caught in the rain, and managed to row back to shore! Still no fish though. Honestly, I wouldn't know what to do if I did catch a fish, so I'm okay with that. 

Me & my little dude

We went to a concert I never imagined I would witness-- New Kids on the Block with Paula Abdul and Boyz II Men. Shelley's sister/nephew got us tickets for Christmas. I knew a few Boyz II Men songs, but not much from NKOTB, and the only thing I knew about Paula besides "Straight Up" was her odd manner of clapping when she was an "American Idol" judge. I ended up being pleasantly surprised by the show. I'd never been to any of the boy band shows (my boy band was the OG boy band-- The Beatles), so I was pretty entertained by the choreography. 

Sisters <3 

#palepeopleproblems

Independence Day dawned beautiful and sunny, and I had the brilliant idea of a picnic for our families-- games, burgers, and everyone together.

Shelley's youngest sister and her nephew came out from OH, and my mum, sister, and her boyfriend came out too. We had amazing food, because even 4th of July tradition gets elevated when my girlfriend does the cooking, and played games in the yard. All the siblings drove out to Moon to watch the fireworks together, and my sister played paparazzi to commemorate the event.

Of course we went to see Jane Lynch sing with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra (see prior posts), which was the most random thing I think we did all summer. 'Twas enjoyable nonetheless.

Mum, me, and Shells at a Pirates game 

Shelley is the queen of spontaneous happenings/finding great tickets on Craigslist (I feel like all I would ever find on Craigslist would be an ax murderer), so on her days off, there is usually a "Hey, do you want to do ______ today?" at 6:30am as I grumble and try to sleep. One day, I was awakened to text my mum and invite her to a Pirates game. We were all really excited about going out together, the day was lovely and clear, and we had great seats. Cut to an hour later, and the sun is in full force, the breeze is gone, and it is HOT, which is not cute. We abandoned the good seats and stood in the shade after a few innings, but still had a blast!

Disastrous braid courtesy of scorching day!

Another random outing we had was to see Ru Paul's contestants do drag at the Byham. Shelley and I watched the season and when we saw the tickets on Groupon, we decided to check it out.

Honey Lake Boutique dress 

We stopped at the Social House for a drink and dinner beforehand and then went to see the show. It was as entertaining as I expected, and the people-watching opportunities were on point.

Amazingly, I was able to get this picture-- "Why do we have to stop where people can see us taking pictures???" Because.

At the end of July/beginning of August, we had a couple concerts coming up that seemed really far away for a really long time and crept up on us rather quickly. The first was Jimmy Eat World and Incubus. I've seen Jimmy before, and they were amazing as per usual. Incubus was a band I adored in undergrad and they played all the songs I love, including "Here in My Room," which made me absurdly happy considering how melancholy the song is.

Melissa Dunham found us!

 Equally exciting was seeing our purple-dressed friend Melissa ambling towards us through the crowd. She saw a post that we were there, sent her location via her iPhone map, and then found us (this is all very typical of Melissa). We haven't seen her in forever, and it was hilarious and wonderful. In the last year, with working two jobs and going to school, I feel like I didn't see anyone. I rarely saw Shelley some days, and we live in the same house. Being able to run into an old friend in between sets and pick up where we left off was awesome.

The rest of the summer was just little bits of loveliness, so I'm adding them scrapbook style.

Student teaching at extended school year

summer days in linen dresses

Zorro learned to jump on the couch, so it's become his new favorite place 

At the drive-in 

Summer Lovin'

We went to the drive-in a couple times. The last time we went the weather was perfect and cool, but the movies we saw were sort of a let-down (I had high expectations for "Atomic Blonde" because I spent my childhood imagining I was a female James Bond). However, there is something about sitting in your car seeing 2-3 movies for the price of one, being comfortable, being outdoors, and being united with all these people from the last 60-odd years doing the same thing on summer nights. 

I love when God gives skies that look like art.

We look like we're wearing hats. My hair, prior to humidity.

The other concert we went to was me kicking it old school again-- this time hearkening back to my high school love of Muse (Thirty Seconds to Mars was there too, but let's just say some bands are not great at singing live). It was another great night with a perfect vibe, and Muse was incredible.

So, humble readership, there's my summer of bright sides in a nutshell. Here's to posting more regularly in the future! I hope you all had a fantastic summer full of sunshine, flowers, trips, and relaxation. I'm definitely looking forward to fall and everything it holds!

P.S. Future college attendees-- do not go to RMU. Thank me later.