tiptoe through the tulips

Yesterday we went to the flea market and out for brunch for Father's Day. At the flea market I spotted this amazing mural and, despite having a kind of blah outfit on and not being an outdoor-outfit-picture kind of person, I felt absolutely COMPELLED to take photos. Isn't it just perfect?

This is my go-to outfit when I'm not in a dress mood. I'm still not much of a jeans-wearer. I wear them occasionally but I don't find them as comfy as they're supposed to be! I really prefer shorts and tights. So for a day like yesterday -- outdoor shopping, lots of wind, and rolling out of bed a few minutes before it was time to leave (oops!) -- I threw on my lazy uniform: shorts, tights, a light sweater and flats. I also got these new sunglasses recently from ASOS and I love them! I realized most of the ones I own have lightly tinted lenses and aren't really great on super sunny days or days when I want to avoid eye contact, lol. These are dark enough to take care of those problems plus they feel kind of movie-star-ish, which is always a plus! :)

scalloped shorts - asos | sweater - h&m | scalloped bag - asos

shoes - blowfish | sunglasses - asos | tights - target

bookworm

For Father's Day this year we spent the afternoon perusing the dusty shelves at a local used bookstore. I love having a geeky dad who likes the same things I do.. it makes his birthday and Father's Day even more fun because he plans activities that I love too! lol! It just wouldn't be the same if he was a golf and power tools kinda dad ;)

I ended up getting a couple books I had been looking for while we were there, including one on marriage & family in the middle ages. I'm so fascinated by that time period but it seems like most books about that era tend to concentrate on the wars or the royals, but I really wanted something about normal people and their day to day lives. This book seems to be exactly what I was looking for! I'm going to read it on the road trip. I'm intent on getting a lot of reading done while we're away, so I'm planning on bringing a hefty amount of books with me. Once I've sorted out exactly which ones I'm bringing I'll do a post!

I'm pretty sure that we're going to be hitting the road on Sunday morning and heading up to northern NY first. I am so excited that it's actually happening! I still haven't decided what I'm packing yet but my business-related stuff is all set to go and we already have the first part of the route mapped out! yay!! :)

dress & cardigan - forever 21 | belt - vintage | shoes - ebay | bag - modcloth

sunshine on a cloudy day

dress - modcloth

belt - modcloth

After dinner on Father's Day we went to Princeton for dessert, and then sat around the fountain on the University campus until about 10pm. It was SUCH a nice evening! There weren't too many people at the fountain, so it was really quiet and peaceful, just listening to the water trickling and birds flying around the trees nearby.

For dessert we went to Thomas Sweet on Nassau Street. The shoppe smells SO good inside, and they have one of those wacky mirrors that makes you look really short and wide -- and it's actually from a Fun House in the 1930's! It's pretty neat to think that people have been laughing at themselves in this mirror for over 75 years! :)

ps! I did a re-design for Andi's blog! Take a peek here! :)

Do you want to comment, but have no idea what to say? Trust me, I've been there! So to make things a little easier, here is a question you can answer if you can't think of anything else to say! :)

What is your favorite carnival ride? Mine is the tilt-a-whirl!

Happy Father's Day

My brother always jokes that I got all of my dad's genes, and he got all of my mom's. I personally think I have a good share of those mom genes, but it's true that I'm a lot like my dad in almost every way possible. Except that I don't like football or ice cream. Oh, and I'm a girl.

We like the same books, music, movies and food (he's the only one in my family who will try my vegetarian concoctions) and we both enjoy discussing the big things like philosophy, global politics, science and history. We both come up with insane business ideas that make everyone else in the family roll their eyes. Perhaps the most obvious way we're similar is in how we interact with other people. We're both painfully shy and socially awkward, and usually leave public conversation up to my mom & brother. At my art show a few weeks ago, my mom had to stay at home so it was just me, my dad and my brother. When my dad & I had to talk to the art show organizers, Kyle stayed back a few feet just to watch us flounder.

My dad also owns his own online business, so it's wonderful being able to commiserate with him about the downsides of customer service and lulls in orders. Since neither of us have any employees or coworkers, I think it's incredibly beneficial to our health (and sanity) that we have each other to complain to when things are rocky with work. We're both having huge dry spells with orders right now, and I know having my dad there to talk to about it helps me in a way that nothing else can.

One of my favorite parts of the day is when we go for a walk late at night. My dad works a late shift at his part time job and doesn't home until around 11pm each night. When he gets home, we go for a short stroll around the neighborhood. It's dark and quiet, and we get to talk about our day, what's going on in the world or he'll come up with insanely hard to answer questions like "who do you think was the most important person in all of civilization?" that keep me thinking for days.

I had a hard time with that particular question, but if it had been changed from "in all of civilization" to "in your life" the answer would have been incredibly simple.

Happy Father's Day!