Hello, September!

Thursday, September 2nd, 2010
Daily Grind, Family & Friends, Keith, Photos
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I honestly cannot believe it’s September already. It certainly doesn’t feel like it as temperatures hit almost in the 100s today on the East Coast. Hurricane Earl is coming to visit us tomorrow, and I have to wake up at 4am to go into work at 5am for my opening shift. At least I get out before noon, right? In a way I’m kind of hoping for a good storm to clear out the hot, humid weather we’ve been experiencing. I love laying out in the pool, and will be sad to see the cover on it next weekend, but part of me is also ready for fall. I want to wear my fall scarves and my cardigans!

September is actually a month of celebrations. My Dad’s birthday is on the 4th, and my parents celebrate their 30th anniversary on the 13th. Then later in the month I’m going to Tucker Max’s book signing in NYC with Keith and Kelly. I’m so excited to meet him and take a photo with him. If you haven’t yet read “I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell” you should stop reading, drive to your bookstore or library, and get it NOW!

With the fall weather on the way (hopefully soon!), I’m starting to think about all of the fun fall activities that I want to do. I’ve made a short list and hope to add more to it at some point. Last Fall Keith was out of work, and I wasn’t working many hours so we had to cut out some of our usual fun activities that we do together. But, now that I’m working more and he’s working fulltime, we’ll be able to do some more this season (if we don’t fall asleep first, haha!) While working a lot has been making me want to do nothing but sleep, and sometimes gets me a little sad (I really want to be teaching!), thinking about all of the fun things I’ll be doing make me happy and lift my spirits.

The Fall Fun List
Apple picking
Making my awesome apple pie
Haunted hayride
Haunted houses/graveyards at Lake Compounce
Drinking cider
Picking out a pumpkin with my Dad
Dressing up for Halloween
Fun sized Junior Mints (yay for trick or treaters)
The smell of leaves and fireplaces
How the moon looks in the fall

These are just a few of the reasons why Fall is one of my favorite seasons. This year I also want to try to go to some of the local fairs and get some yummy fair food. Funnel cake anyone?

My Gluttonous Book Collection

Wednesday, August 11th, 2010
Photos
17 Comments

By now, you all know that I love to read. I have a very diverse group of books sitting in my three (yes, three!) overflowing bookcases. I have five books coming to me in the mail as well. So, add five to what you’re about to see. How many of these books do you own? How many of them have you read? Do I have a seriously book buying problem?

When Keith and I move in together I want him to build me a library in our house or a book staircase like the one from Brandi’s blog. Screw the Kindle, I kick it old school.

Sonnet Saturday #3

Saturday, August 7th, 2010
Photos, Sonnet Saturday
9 Comments

With the help of all of you, Sonnet Saturday will now be every other Saturday to leave more room for other bloggy goodness. Since leaving the beautiful and cool weather of San Francisco, it took me a while to get used to the heat and humidity of the East Coast. Between the time change and the weather all of us were feeling quite “blah” for the past week. Yesterday morning was actually cool and I took a short walk outside with my Mom to survey the garden. I ended up taking the following photos of a beautiful butterfly, and thought that this sonnet with its beautiful nature imagery would make a nice combination.

Sonnet #2
When forty winters shall besiege thy brow,
And dig deep trenches in thy beauty’s field,
Thy youth’s proud livery, so gazed on now,
Will be a tatter’d weed, of small worth held:
Then being ask’d where all thy beauty lies,
Where all the treasure of thy lusty days,
To say, within thine own deep-sunken eyes,
Were an all-eating shame and thriftless praise.
How much more praise deserved thy beauty’s use,
If thou couldst answer ‘This fair child of mine
Shall sum my count and make my old excuse,’
Proving his beauty by succession thine!
This were to be new made when thou art old,
And see thy blood warm when thou feel’st it cold.

I’ve always enjoyed when a writer compares aging to the seasons and the journey of life as a journey through nature. In this sonnet, we have the speaker discussing how “forty winters shall besiege thy brow” beauty begins to fade as the young man grows older. He becomes a tattered weed and his friend must be prepared for the fact that as he grows older he will be less handsome. The only way for him to prove that he was once beautiful and handsome is to have a child so that he may “prove his beauty by succession thine!” To see new fresh blood (that being a child), when you feel old was a way for the speaker and his friend to be able to preserve what the physical beauty they have now even though it’s superficial. Has anyone else noticed that the speaker has been completely OBSESSED with physical beauty?

I was so surprised that I was able to get this close to the butterfly without her (yes, she is a she!) flying away. I was also amazed by how big she was. Even though it’s August, this is one of the first butterfly’s I’ve seen with such nice colors. I usually see the small white ones fluttering around the garden. This one seems to love the morning glories and the small pink flowers in the garden. I’ll have to keep an eye out for some more.

San Francisco: a visual experience

Tuesday, August 3rd, 2010
Family & Friends, Keith, Photos
9 Comments

First of all, thank you for all of the feedback you guys left for me to come back to. I’m definitely taking everything that has been said into consideration. Since many of you lovely people have been following my blog for some time, I truly value your opinions. With all of that being said, I’m sure that for the past week there was a void in your lives with me being in California. (Why do I hear crickets?) I snapped 177 photos all of which can be found on my flickr page, but since you asked for it (and because I talk too much, haha), here are some of my favorite photos. Enjoy the visuals, kids!

For a short summary of what we did (because otherwise this blog would be miles long), we went to Pier 39 and the wharf, Muir Woods and Sausalito, a sick wax museum, In ‘n’ Out Burger, Cesar’s & Capurro’s Italian restaurants, the Spinaker restaurant, a San Francisco Giants baseball game (AWESOME!!!), Ghirardelli Square, Union Square, and Chinatown.

Overall, it was a wonderful time with my parents and Keith. We had scrumptious eats, did some serious shopping, and saw some amazing sights. It was my 4th time visiting the city, and Keith’s first, but every time I go I always find something new to see.

What’s in my bag?

Wednesday, July 14th, 2010
Beauty & Fashion, Daily Grind, Photos
5 Comments

What can I say? Some of my favorite blog posts and photos to look at on flickr are “Inside My Bag” posts. It’s just interesting to see what other people carry around with them. So, with that in mind I decided to provide you with a chance to glimpse into the bag of Christine. Here’s what I carry around with me on a daily basis, with one or two things missing. When school’s in session, add in folders for each class and a poorly organized five star notebook. The bag featured for this post is one of my favorites. It’s from the Coach Poppy collection and I received it as a Christmas present from my parents this year. I love the fun colors. It’s a great carryall as you will see below.


1. My Coach Poppy bag. =]
2. My wallet with various things inside of it.
3. My Juicy loves Sephora cosmetic case. (see below to snoop that!)
4. The New Testament, I’m currently reading Revelations.
5. A hallmark datebook. Nice portable calendar.
6. A mini composition book, perfect for jotting down notes.
7. My sock change purse.
8. BBW foaming hand sanitizer in Warm Vanilla Sugar.
9. Lubriderm lotion. I wash my hands a lot at work & need to keep them soft!
10. Pens, to write down said notes.
11. Chococat mirror.
12. A mini flashlight.
13. A penny, I always keep a loose one in my purses.
14. ‘Attitude’ inspirational coin.
15-19. Randoms: Pink pocket mini Swiss army knife, snowman charm, gum, rose in a tube, & Carmine’s NYC matches.
Not pictured: Keys, Menthols & my lighter


This is a simple photo, but inside my purse I always have my Saint Theresa medals. She is my patron saint so I always keep her with me. These were given to me by my mother, and you’ll see that I have two in here. When school is in session I keep one in my school bag and another in my regular purse.


1. My cosmetic case.
2. Advil and Tylenol. Usually people end up asking me for it, but no worries. I always keep it on me just in case.
3. Scrunchie. Too many times staying at Keith’s and nothing to tie my fro up with!
4. MAC Blot Sheets, to absorb my EVOO skin. =P
5. Nail clipper.
6. Blistex Silk & Shine chapstick. Tastes like Koolaid.
7. MAC Lustreglasse in Luminary (I believe!)
8. Aquaphor. I kept this in here when my tattoo was healing up, but it works wonders for super dry skin too.
9. My awesome nail file.

You might be thinking, “Damn, she’s got a lot of stuff in that bag,” but to me it’s always better to have more than you think you’ll need. Plus, it’s great to have a large bag when someone (Ah-hem, Keith!) wants me to carry some of his stuff. Even with everything above tucked into my purse, there is still room for a book and my glasses (which I take with me to doctor’s appointments just in case), a bottle of water and a whole bag of Goldfish crackers (I found this out while going to Newport in May with the high school kids).

What do you keep in your purses? Do you prefer a large tote, or something more compact?

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