as the vacation comes to a close

If a picture really is worth a thousand words, I don't think it's all that necessary for me to go through our entire day in San Francisco, because the numerous pictures above pretty much say it all, except:

1. We really wanted to go to Alcatraz, but couldn't because when we got there we found out it was booked through until August 21... so even if we'd booked ahead the previous day when we thought of it, we wouldn't have been able to.  So that was disappointing.  But then we ended up walking around the pier and such, which was wonderful.  And I left with chocolate, so that was even more wonderful.
2. There were a lot of really funny sea lions at the pier that made us laugh.  They were all piled on the dock taking a snooze on each other, so when one jumped up to bask with the others, another moved and pushed it right back off.  Quite hilarious.

In other news, we are leaving California tomorrow to drive alllllll dayyyyy looooong back to Seattle.  A good 13 or 14 hours, I think.  Oi vey...  It's times like these where all I can say is thank goodness for my Starbucks discount, a Disney sing-a-long playlist, and someone to take over the wheel when I need a break.

wednesday night was purely and simply amazing

      Wednesday evening was the evening that I job shadowed at Les Mis in San Francisco - it. was. incredible!  My sister, Suzanne, and I drove into San Francisco in the afternoon {and drove over the Golden Gate Bridge!}, drove through the city {the hills... you'd be crazy to have a manual car in that place}, went for sushi at a place called Sushi Bistro, and then went to the Orpheum!  I met Heather, the stage manager, at stage door while my sister went in to go see the show.

      Basically, the whole evening was me following her around, sitting with her as she called cues during the show from the stage left wing, observing the actors both onstage and off, watching the crew work their set changes, and bombarding Heather with questions about the show, her experiences in theatre, tips and tricks as far as stage managing, advice for starting out after school, how orangutans are going to take over the earth at the end of 2012, etc...  {Just kidding about the orangutans, obviously... kind of.}

      I got to meet various actors, crew members, and production staff.  She gave a brief tour of the space before the show, and showed me all the set pieces and equipment.  And, you guys, I got my own headset to listen in while she called the show!

I was in Les Mis heaven.

atomic photo bomb

I mean would you just look at the grossly huge number of photos I've just dropped on you?

The atomic bomb of blog photos, it is.  Sheesh.

Anywho, we went into Healdsburg yesterday, in the heart of wine country, and walked around the town square, popping into the different shops and boutiques, taking photos of the various things around the town, and getting lunch at a little French place called Restaurant Charcuterie, where I had the most delicious salad and nutella crepes.  I said, nutella crepes!  WHY have I not thought of making these before??  Because I would quickly become obese, that's why

In other news, I officially do not trust gmail.  Why, you ask?  Because I never received an email from the stage manager of Les Mis who I'm supposed to be shadowing, resulting in my missing the performance I was going to shadow for.  When I emailed her again yesterday after two days of not hearing from her, we found out that I had never gotten her reply to my original email from Sunday, and therefore we now have to find another performance this week, which at this point doesn't seem guaranteed since they are looking pretty booked.

If I can't do this job shadow after driving all the way down here and taking the whole week off work to do so, I swear I might cry.  Then I'll get very angry and sue Google for their crappy email service.  Who knows how many other emails I might have never gotten?  I know I never got one that my cousin who we're staying with allegedly sent while we were on our way down here.  And this is the email account all my study abroad emails are being sent to, so if I miss one of those, that's definitely not good!

Like I said, I'll sue.

road trippin'

The past couple says were spent on the road as we drove from Seattle all the way down to Petaluma, CA outside of San Francisco, where we're staying with our cousin.  We decided to take the "scenic route" in Oregon, and drove over to the coast once we reached Portland.  We ended up driving through Cannon Beach, Tillamook {where they make all the cheese!}, and some other beach towns before heading back over to the freeway.

While it was definitely beautiful, it took most of our first day, so once we got back onto the freeway it was nighttime and we only made it to southern Oregon before finding a hotel.  We decided then that our drive back would just be going straight back minus the detours, and then we should be able to make it in only one day.

You can see more photos from our trip on my Instagram!

Find me @msmelaniemarie

candididity

Top: borrowed from my sister / Shorts: Nordstrom BP

Candididity {is that as awkward to read or say as it is to spell?  Spelling it took a while, let me tell you.} - the candidness of a photo.  Point being that the more candid a photo. the higher the candididity factor, and often the better the photo.  Made up words are my specialty.

So tomorrow the sis and I are piling into the car andstarting the two day road trip to San Francisco!  You can expect that I will be Instagram-ing away, and I will definitely be updating the blog at least a couple times, provided I can get decent internet.

This outfit was with pattern mixing in mind, as it's my entry for the Trend of the Month challenge.  I love doing these challenges because it makes me look at my wardrobe in a different way.  For example, last month when the colored blazer challenge was posted, I realized I didn't actually own a colored blazer {!}.  Surprising, since I love them!  This time around, I actually took {literally} some inspiration from my sister's closet in the form of this polka dot top.  I might have to steal it more often...

if you had said a year ago that I would own pink shorts, I would have laughed in your face

Top: Delias / Shorts: J.Crew / Sandals: Victoria Secret / Necklace: Vintage / Watch: Windsor / Ring: Stella & Dot

And yet, here I am.  In pink shorts.  Come to think of it, I actually own quite a bit of pink these days, which is shocking for two reasons.  First of all, I've never been a huge fan of pink.  Nothing against it, but it wasn't for me.  Which was a part of reason two - I never thought I could wear pink.  Being a redhead with freckles and fair skin that has a lot of pink in it naturally, I always thought that wearing pink was just too much.  I felt like a walking pink and red thing.

Recently, however, I took a look in my closet and realized I suddenly own way more pink than I ever thought I would {read: any at all}.  I have these pink shorts I acquired at a recent J.Crew sale, my neon pink J.Crew tank, a pink belt, a pink bag, and some pink jewelry.  Craziness I tell you!

So basically, I guess I must have just found a pink that worked, which I'm actually really happy about, because, get ready for this shocker.... I actually like pink.

It's a revelation.

you can't see me, but I'm waving my hand and asking for help

Image from Google

So, I have to start putting together a packing list for when I'm studying abroad, and my rough draft looks something like most of my closet.

Obviously, that can't happen.

I'll be living in London for three and a half months, from September through mid-December.  So obviously, I'll be needing more than just a suitcase you'd pack for vacation, but I also can't bring my whole closet, because

1. I'm living in a dorm,
2. I have to take it all from Seattle to London on a plane, which means...
3. ...I'm only allowed one checked bag for free {though I'll likely/definitely end up paying for a second checked bag}, and
4. I really can't ship much stuff because that's expensive and a hassle.

Also, I'm sure I'll end up buying things abroad, in which case I need to think ahead and plan on leaving room for things to come back with me.

My point?

I have no idea how this is gonna happen.

In theory, I have it all worked out, but the reality is that I am a heavy packer.

So I need help.

Has anyone packed for a long term thing like this?  Do you have advice and tips for what and/or how to pack?  Anyone living in London who can give me an idea of what I'll need and what I won't need?  I'll take anything I can get, guys.

And I'll definitely be posting on this topic occasionally over the next month as I try to accomplish this as practically as possible, considering this is me we're talking about...

what if I said I found a pair of jeans as comfy as the softest sweatpants?

Top: J.Crew / Jeans: Anthropologie / Sandals: Steve Madden / Necklace: Nordstrom BP

Would you believe me?

If you don't believe, let me change that.

I made the mistake {is it a mistake if you find your new favorite wardrobe piece ever?} of going into Anthropologie "just to look".  Then, I made the bigger mistake of trying on something I loved but really shouldn't love because it's so expensive {ahem, these jeans}.  But in all seriousness, I couldn't be more glad that I did it, even though my wallet is screaming like it's been subjected to the Cruciatus Curse.  Because these jeans are so soft!!  I want to sleep in them, eat in them {carefully}, play in them, lounge in them, drive in them, and any other verb imaginable in them.

So, moral of the story... well, there really isn't one.  But if you can justify it, go get these jeans.  Like now.  Because they are wonder jeans.

Also, I should mention that I have been looking for a pair of bf style jeans that I love for a while now, and these fit the bill to a tee.  Just in case you needed a better justification than "sooooo comfyyyyy!!"