Play All My Records, Keep Dancing All Night

My cousin and I went to see Jersey Boys on Friday, and as we were going into the theater he commented about the fact that we would probably be some of the only young people there. He said this because both of our parents raised us on Oldies music. The Beach Boys, Lesley Gore, Franki Vali and the Four Seasons, etc., etc.

My first Cassette tape and then CD were Lesley Gore's greatest hits. When I was eight my Dad taught me all of the lyrics to 'It's My Party' and then called up a radio station and requested 'Judy's Turn To Cry' so I could hear the epic conclusion of Lesley's broken heart.

'Big Girls Don't Cry' is the song my Mother would sing as she brushed the tangles out of my hair.

No matter where or when I am, every time I hear 'Kokomo' a warm feeling rises up in my stomach and I'm ten years old again dancing around my living room.

Every Sunday from when I was eight to eleven my Dad and I would drive to 7/11 to get slurpies before church. He'd have all the windows in the car down and blasting Oldies music and singing at the top of his lungs. I was mortified most of the time, but it's my favorite memory of all time. 'Don't Worry Baby' is the feel of the wind racing through my fingers and the taste of Pina Colada Slurpie.

My childhood belonged to the Oldies, and a world where I was worry free.




'We'll Get There Fast and Then We'll Take It Slow. That's Where We Wanna Go, Way Down To Kokomo'

You Know You Love Me

I have a love/whine relationship with the camp I work at. Part of my family owns it, so I've literally been going my entire life. My ENTIRE LIFE. I was born in December, so when June rolled around, and I was six months old, this girl went to camp.

I obviously didn't do archery or paddle a canoe on my first day, or even my first few years, but my presence has been known every summer since I came into existence, 23 years ago. As soon as I was old enough to be a counselor, at 16, I was one. So yeah, camper to counselor. In other words, I've never known anything else. Summer means Camp, with perhaps a 2-4 week interlude at home.

You'd think this would mean that I love waking up with the sun and camping and that bugs are my best friends, right?

Yeeeaaaahhhh, not so much. If my girls are screaming about the giant spider, I will for sure go get the broom and beat the thing until it stops looking at me funny, and I will lie on my back and admire those stars until my eyelids snap closed because they can't take it anymore, and I LOVE hearing the stillness of the early morning (Lie, false, untrue. There's just no way I can sell getting up early to myself. I have to, I do it.)

Obviously I wouldn't have gone my entire life if it weren't wonderful and a great, amazing experience; lots of things keep me coming back for more. What, you ask?

-Roll yours eyes until they fall out of your head, but I secretly and not so secretly love the fact that I can make a basket with my eyes closed and finish within five-ten minutes flat.
-Archery is super cool. How many of you can boast the fact that you've killed a poisonous snake with a bow and arrow?
-The food ROCKS.
-Father's day always occurs when I'm at camp, so I never, ever have to think about it and hear about it and obsess over the fact that this day is and can no longer be special to me.
-Sometimes there is extreme heat. And you would think this would be a negative, and it kind of is, but on the plus side, I can now probably live ANYWHERE there is heat and be unfazed. Because I have survived 110 degree weather, and now I can do ANYTHING.
-Surprisingly, or really, not so surprisingly, I've had awesome experiences with boyfriends while at camp. Who knew?
-My family runs the camp. So basically, my family is always there.
-My best friend LL and my favorite cousin SS go to camp to, so even though we can't see each other during the year we live out our glory days together at Camp
-No matter what happens, good or bad, I always learn and grow

So yeah, not a bad place to spend some time. I whine a lot about it, but deep down, I know it's one of the places that my heart calls home.


Me, LL, and SS at camp.

"I've got a pocket, got a POCKET FULL OF SUNSHINE!"

Be Grateful or Go Home

It's been quite the interesting year, and as I transition from one work environment to another, I've been looking back at everything and finding all the shining moments.

In the Fall there was...a kind of adventure that i've never experienced before, but no matter how it turned out, I'm still glad I jumped into it. The landing was a lot more rough that i'd pictured, but the part where I was free-falling was all kinds of sweet.

Throughout this entire year I've gained a friendship that words cannot express how much I adore. Suite Besty has been there for me and with me, and the laughter we've shared has definitely filled my heart with joy and pink cupcakes.

My goal for my book was to be finished with the entire thing by Christmas, and I almost, ALMOST accomplished that by finishing on New Year's. I'm editing it now, and this summer I'll start the huge process of finding an agent, or at least researching for an agent, and then the step after that is publishing! Ahhhh, Yaaay!

Good friends that I graduated with have come to visit and stay with me, and those were all so wonderful, I'm so glad we got to reconnect and be together.

A lot of things will change once this school/work year ends in a week, but all I have to do is think back on this year and feel the love, and I know Everything's going to be alright. <3



"You put your arms around me, and I'm home."

Not so Irrational!?!?

Everyone has something that they are afraid of that is irrational. Whether it be the dark, spiders, clowns, or even Marionettes, on some level you know that it can't hurt you, (or won't), but you're still deathly afraid. I'm not quite sure when it happened, but suddenly my irrational fear has become Zombies. No Idea how or why.

Actually, that's a lie, I'm afraid of them because they're ugly and slow but creepily fast and they come in swarms and they won't stop and I don't own a gun and I don't want to have to kill my friends if they get bitten and I might get trapped and BECOME one and--

Yeah, I have an irrational fear of Zombies.

It's gotten to the point where I think of escape or survival plans for each place I live in. I haven't gone so far as to buy the actual Zombie Apocalypse Survival Guide book, but plans are there and have been made. Detailed plans. I think that stems from my nightmares about being trapped in airports and for some reason, space, with no escape, but hey, that's irrational fear for you.

So imagine my utter surprise when I clicked on the Twitter yesterday and saw ZOMBIE APOCALYPSE as a trending phrase. My eyes went O_O and I hesitantly clicked on it to see what peeps were saying, thinking perhaps there was a new movie that I hadn't heard about, or some new TV show out, (even though the Walking Dead has that covered very nicely). But NO, apparently people have decided that this Saturday, May 21, 2011, is going to be the apocalypse. And there will be ZOMBIES. Why, world? WHY?

Now, as with all irrational fears, the scientific and slightly less panicked part of my brain has reassured me multiple times that this will in fact not happen. As has my sister, who then proceeded to inform me about just in case scenarios. Like: What if if happens, and you're not at school where all of your survival and escape plans have been formed? After which I calmly informed her that I'd already thought of that and have altered my survival and escape plans to fit any location I am in accordingly.

So yeah, the Zombie Apocalypse probably won't happen this Saturday, or anytime in the near or distant future. But just in case, Me and my Irrational fears are going to be prepared.

"It makes me that much STRONGER, makes me work a little bit HARDER, makes me that much WISER, so thanks for making me a FIGHTER"

Not sure if Christina Aguilera was talking about Zombies in this song, but hey, you take what you can get.