shhhh.

I read blogs when I should be working. 

Great new-job event last night. Although I am beyond excited for the actual work I'll be doing, I feel so incredibly lucky to be working with such a smart, thoughtful, funny, and passionate group of people. 

While I'm still really sad to be saying goodbye to AmeriCorps, the I'm excited for the next step, and looking at community engagement at a different level.  

Something David Letterman and I have in common

A love of lists:

5 Things I am Very Excited For:
1. New job!
2. New house (move in is only a few weeks away! Seriously, when I have a moment the new house deserves an update)
3. Anniversary Tonto roadtrip (boyfriend and I have been together for three years. Sheesh.)
4. End of AmeriCorps
5. Civic engagement project at new job, specifically

If I were to make a list of five things I am currently terrified of, it would be the exact same list--the new job stuff makes sense, I suppose--typical fear of failure--but everything else is a little stranger. As I get older, I find myself becoming more and more afraid of change and commitment.

My trepidation I feel about he anniversary and new house are directly related. Boyfriend and I have been together for three years now--an amount of time that just seems unreal and bizarre. Not to say that I'm not grateful for it, and every second means the world to me, but that's a lot of time for someone who's 23. The new house is our first place alone together. We've been living together for the past two years, but in a house full of roommates. This time it's just mano y mano, and that's a little scary. There's also the money stuff--it'll be an increase in rent, and no more splitting utilities five ways. That's scary too.

Could a quarter-life crisis be brewing? I hope not. I feel like I've had six already. If those are just a warm up, we should all duck and cover.

Picture from here.

Crush

New hair idol:

Suze Rotolo

Via

PS - I found a new apartment! It's pretty amazing. More to come.

Summer uniform

Currently loving the "Women of Mad Men" style posts on Tom & Lorenzo, and obsessing over Midge. She's a minor character in Season 1, and I didn't pay that much attention to her when I watched the show initially. I mean, how could you, when there is so much delicious Betty and Joan to drink up?

 Via

However, after reading these posts, I can't help but DESPERATELY need well tailored, high-waisted, black cigarette pants and a little bohemian half shirt. I imagine rocking the half-shirt with a pair of cut-offs and huaraches, serving margaritas on my front porch to friends.

I have tried Googling "cute boho half shirt" with no luck. If someone finds one, let me know. I'm about 98% sure this shirt and cut-offs combo would replace my romper (!) as my go-to summer staple, so really, I'd be doing the world a favor by finding one.

On an unrelated note, the days are becoming unbearable (110 last weekend) but I love the hot summer nights. The air is warm and you start to treasure the breeze. It makes me itchy for all-night conversations with old friends, driving out into the desert until I can see stars, cold drinks and mixtapes. I can't wait for monsoon season to start. Warm thunderstorms are the best part of living in the desert.

Thomas Jefferson, I presume?

Awww yeah.

Found this little lovely while on an impromptu thrift store outing with the boyfriend. I shouldn't have bought anything (I'll be moving before August) but I couldn't resist a founding father in a mustard frame. He's been mine for a little over an hour, and I'm already referring to him affectionately as "T.J."

I also bought a sweet little milk glass vase for 50 cents. I've been wanting one for a while to stuff with these.

Now I just wish that I knew where TJ and I would be hanging our hats.

A small pick me up

From The West Wing (or, how I wish the world actually worked):

Education is the silver bullet. Education is everything. We don't need little changes. We need gigantic revolutionary changes. Schools should be palaces. Competition for the best teachers should be fierce. They should be getting six-figure salaries. Schools should be incredibly expensive for government and absolutely free of charge for its citizens, just like national defense. That is my position. I just haven't figured out how to do it yet. - Sam

It is in the spirit of Andrew Jackson that I, from time to time, ask senior staff to have face-to-face meetings with those people representing organizations who have a difficult time getting our attention. I know the more jaded among you, see this as something rather beneath you. But I assure you that listening to the voices of passionate Americans is beneath no one, and surely not the peoples' servants. - Leo

Hearing those two mini-monologues always makes me feel better.

FTW

I got a job, kids. And it's exactly what I wanted.

Tonto, again

I hate camping. Hiking, exploring, grilling, campfires, s'mores, yes. Actually sleeping outside, being shower-less, no. I tried. I really did--but I really just want to sleep in a real bed, and take a shower when I wake up in the morning. This is my life. Don't judge me.

The hike we took was gorgeous--up through mini-mountains by Sycamore Creek, to an abandoned copper mine and caves that are now (surprisingly) full of water. I took a lot of pictures of the creek, small waterfalls, wading pools, and flooded washes. Seeing natural, flowing water still seems like an anomaly or small miracle.  I nerded out over cool rocks and threw pieces of shale against the trail to see it break across the thin, perfectly parallel layers. I imagined the creatures living in the epeiric sea that created it.

The best part? Boyfriend handed me a leaf, and said, "It's a tree star. Yep yep yep!"

Oi, I melt.