updated summer project list.

1. have a yard sale.  i am cleaning out my closets, selling almost all of my clothes, shoes, accessories, and other miscellaneous items in an attempt to start fresh.  the yard sale is this coming thursday and friday, 10-5 each day.  come on out!

2. write a novel.  after telling a story (based on true events in my life) to some friends the other night, they both stared at me, mouths open, as the long and compelling story finally came to a close.  "whoa." said one of them.  "you, like, need to write that into a novel."  and it was like an epiphany.  of course i should write that story into a novel.  it's an autobiography, and expose, a suspenseful story.  a story that i feel the need to share with people over and over and over.  a story that i can visualize (a story that i can't stop visualizing).  in my youth, i ALWAYS wrote.  always.  i ran home from school to the computer, typing as fast as my fingers would allow me to as tried to write as fast as i thought (i never did).  the adults around me thought all of that writing would lead me to a writing career, but for some reason, the writing came to an abrupt stop when high school and college took over and after all the papers and assignments, writing grew to be a chore.  isn't that sad?  education ripped my passion for writing away from me.  now that it's been a few years since i've been in school, i've felt those old familiar feelings tingle back into my fingertips, so i've decided its time.  seriously.  this summer i will write my novel.

3. book clubs.  the second my schedule gets crazy, books (sadly) are the first thing to go.  when the lazy summer finally rolls around again, i finally have the time to get back into reading.  kyle too.  and this summer, we're taking it seriously.  i've already knocked out two books (water for elephants by sara gruen and kissing in manhattan by david schickler, both excellent books).  the most fun part has been reading and discussing, so kyle and i made our own book club of sorts.  that combined with the other book club that i will pop in and out of, means lots of reading all summer.  awesome.  and to compliment this project, i am buying a beautiful new book case from craigslist.  a tall skinny one to match a tall skinny wall to fill with old and new books.  i intend it to be a book case for sharing, for keeping, for displaying, and for talking about.  

4. re-decorating.  AP moves out in july, leaving a few empty spaces where furniture used to be, and also leaving me with the opportunity to take a fresh look at the apartment i've spent the last year cluttering up.  it really is a pretty place to live in, and i really should be better about making it look nice.  first things first, i am only going to decorate/design our living space with important and meaningful things.  art print from my dear friend danielle.  photographs i've taken while out exploring.  broadway posters from shows we've seen.  no more gathering and nesting.  this project goes along with #1.  it's time to purge and rethink.

5. planning for my second year of teaching.  i loved - LOVED - my job this year.  and i'm so excited to return in the fall.  i can't wait to NOT be the new teacher.  to start fresh.  to reinvent some ideas and to come up with new ones altogether.  but if i'm going to be successful, i need to do A LOT of planning beforehand, instead of winging everything on the spot like i did last year.  last year was basically about survival.  next year it can be so much more, so the time to start planning is NOW.  little by little, bit by bit, i will plan and gather supplies this summer so that i am ready to come back with a bang next year.

right now it feels like too much planning and not enough doing.  which is why today will be spent writing loose curriculum outlines, starting a new book (i love you, beth cooper by larry doyle).

check out the ad for my yard sale here: http://rockford.craigslist.org/gms/1209812031.html

oh, and go see the hangover.  it's a fricking hilarious movie.

long awaited.

::sigh::

how awful i've been.

it's just that my time has been so luxuriously spent, soaking up sunshine, driving lazily down the highway, losing myself in the paradise of my lover...

i've been spending my evenings and weekends driving kyle into the suburbs, where he is in a show all summer.  our day trips go something like this: we grab a bite to eat, hit the interstate and listen to music together (sometimes talking, sometimes not), then i drop kyle off at his show, spend two delicious hours at barnes & noble or at one of the many forest preserves or parks in the area, and then i go pick him up. 

our spend-the-night trips are a little more fun.  i drive kyle in, drop him off, explore the suburbs, pick kyle up, we go drink wine at biaggi's, then hang out with adam until we fall asleep at his house.

it feels like vacation.

it's been wonderful.

and tomorrow is my last day of school.  so tomorrow, at 3:30pm, it is officially summer.

i've got a big smile on my face.

welcome to the night.

ugggh i hate these blogs.  the obligatory blog that has to cover SO MUCH important material, being that the reason you haven't blogged in forever in the first place is because of all the crazy and meaningful things that have been taking up your time.

alas, i will try to be brief (especially as it is 81 degrees out right now).

1. SWEET SMELL OF SUCCESS

take-my-breath-away, heart-stoppingly amazing.

a year's worth of thought.  of casual mentions or deep dissections.  always something that was coming up in the future.  something to anticipate, something to work for.

and then it was postponed, perhaps even cancelled.  what if it had been cancelled?  never ever seen or discovered?  it makes me shudder to think of it.

so i finally got to meet jj hunsecker.  sidney falcone.  susan.

ok, if you don't know what i'm talking about, i am referring to rockford college's sweet smell of success, which was kyle's senior seminar show.  it has been a year since kyle found out he would be playing this role.  a year's worth of thought, research, complaining, working.

and thursday night, i sat in the audience.

and i have decided that i am an incredibly lucky girl.

i'm lucky because i watch musicals all the time.  and musicals are magical.  i don't care who you are; you cannot - CANNOT - say that musicals don't move you.  pick any part of the magic:  swelling music, haunting melodies, beautiful story lines, the dancing, the movement.  i don't see how you can sit through a musical and not be moved.  and frankly, i pity the person who can't be moved.  what a sad life it must be to sit through a musical and feel nothing.

i'm lucky because kyle d. adams is my boyfriend.  and it's the coolest thing to date an actor.  just when you think you know someone, they show you this new layer, this new character inside of them.  and its like you get to rediscover their personality.  and i'm lucky to have kyle because he introduces me to all of these new and beautiful stories and all of this new and beautiful music.  my life would be so stripped of its beauty and culture if not for him.  not to mention i would be a sorrowful girl without him.

as i watched this gripping, dark, and compelling story, i completely fell in love with the characters, the era, the music, and the costumes.  like, to a notably obsessive level.  sweet smell of success was all i thought about for a solid week after the performance.  job well done EVERYONE.  i was moved, transformed, amazed, spellbound.

which brings me to....

2. ANOTHER SUMMER PROJECT

i'm about to shock you.

ok, so picture me, amanda.  i know all the little things come to mind, but no matter how you know me, i'd like to think that you all would definitely think of my passion for all things vintage.  it has always been an obsession of mine.  i love all things 20's, all things glamorous, all things 40's, 50's, everything.  photography, fashion (especially), culture, language, artifacts, music: EVERYTHING VINTAGE.

so guess what.  i've barely seen ANY old movies.  i mean, besides wizard of oz, i don't think there is any other movie that i've seen that was made before 1970.  honestly.  gone with the wind?  nope.  casablanca?  nope.  streetcar named desire?  nope.  NONE of them.

shameful, i know.

so my new and exciting summer project is to brush up on all the old movie classics.  i want to know the stars, see the clothes, hear the music, experience exactly what used to entertain the masses.  i find it all so fascinating, beautiful, romantic, classy, and glamorous.  

kyle and i already started with fred & ginger's last movie together, the barkley's of broadway.  it was wonderful.  incredible.  i wept like three times during it just because of it's sheer vintage-ness..  i

this project is LONG overdue.  i can't wait to fill my nights with a million yesteryears.

3. WILLY WONKA

it's over!!  and it was great.  well, depending on who you ask.  if you ask me, i wanted to kill myself though every show.  missed entrances, dropped lines, slow set changes, sound problems.  but the audience and community LOVED it.  and i really realized that it was about the EXPERIENCE, not the process.  at the end of the day, i had kids singing their hearts out onstage.  i had built a camaraderie between my cast members.  i had gotten my students to show up.  to memorize lines.

my boss was ecstatic, and that was a GREAT feeling.  this experience has left me feeling proud, and i'm going to embrace that for a little while.  this is the first time i have felt proud of myself in my career and its a damn good feeling.  i am so happy with this year at ellis arts academy and I CAN'T WAIT for next year.  

wow.  that wasn't too bad.  i'd like to close with some sort of conclusive paragraph that links these three topics together into something witty and meaningful, but as i already stated, it's 81 degrees outside.  and i have a hot boyfriend in a straw fedora sitting next to me.  and a cold beer to drink.  so i'm out.

summer to-do.

1. CLOSET CLEAN-OUT SALE

i am taking the first week of summer to purge - i mean PURGE - my closet.  i have SO many clothes.  really.  it's out of control.  

i hardly ever buy things at full price, which i have found to be detrimental to my wallet and closet space.  i would rather buy 3 so-so shirts at 6.97 each than 1 awesome shirt that i LOVE at 24.00.  what i take home, then, are 3 so-so shirts that rarely get worn and take up three times the space of the 24.00 shirt that i would wear all the time.  i would rather buy jeans that "work" for 13.00 rather than jeans i LOVE for 40.00.  another pair of jeans thrown on the pile, hardly getting worn.  i would rather buy a hundred sundresses than ten really pretty ones.  it seems, apparently, that i would rather hoard shit than collect treasure.  how do i stop?!

i am hoping that i can find the answer with a closet clean-out sale.  if it hasn't been worn this year, it's gone.  if it's imperfect (kinda baggy, too short, etc.), it's gone.  anything that makes me look at it and not love it is reason enough to sell it.  i want my closet space back.  i want to open the closet and see luxurious clothes that i love and can't wait to mix and match and wear.  right now i feel like every day is a battle to search for the perfect combination.

the profits will NOT go to a new wardrobe.  well, maybe.  i am trying to be a better shopper.  before i buy an article of clothing, i ask myself this question:

"amanda, would you rather have 12.99 or this button-down?"

"would you rather keep the 5.99 or own the flip-flops?"

sometimes (ok most of the time), the "question system" backfires.  cause as i am standing in the store, no doubt in front of the clearance rack, it's hard to argue keeping 5.99 when you could have another target shirt.  a target shirt that will inevitably lose it's shape and sink to the bottom of the drawer.  

i think it's something about the newness of clothes that i love.  just knowing that it's BRAND NEW makes me want it.  never washed, never paired unfortunately with a skirt that will make you sort of hate it forever, never thrown on the floor, never seen by anyone i know.  newness is a horrible thing to be addicted to because it disappears almost instantly.  in fact, i'm not even to the parking lot yet and the article has lost it's appeal because i don't WANT it anymore.  

how do you fix this addiction!?

i'm hoping the yard sale will help me refresh my outlook and become a wiser shopper.  quantity is no longer quality.

so HEY!  if you'd like to come check out my sale, it will be at my parents house the second week of june (probably).  i want that to be the first item i check off my list of summer to-dos.  there will be lots of shoes, purses, dresses, clothes, home decor, maybe even some seasonal stuff.  reasonably priced and probably almost brand-new.

::sigh:: i'm feeling relieved already.

2. A MORNING ROOM

with AP moving out, i will be losing a table in this sort-of "undefined" room in my house.  with that table gone, i will be gaining a blank canvas.  after tossing around some ideas, i think i have finally settled on the idea of a morning room.  i came across the notion while idly scanning through an internet search of "vintage rooms".  i saw a photo titled "1920's morning room", which then led me to google "morning room."  what a quaint idea!  granted, morning rooms are for grand mansions or affluent folk, but who's to say i can't design one in my cute little apartment?!  so i imagine that my morning room will include  a comfortable place to sit and eat breakfast together on the weekend, or a place to relax a read a book or pay bills.  i'm thinking a chaise with an end table and a cafe table.

3. A NEW T.V.

a trip to dan and becca's apartment taught me that it's been awhile since i t.v. shopped. apparently, i can get a flat screen HDTV for the price i paid for my non-HDTV three years ago. i think it's time to upgrade and move the other one to the basement.

4. DANCE CLASS & YOGA

with no tap dancing or musical theater to keep me in shape this summer, i MUST take action.  i already enjoy yoga, but i don't really do it to it's fullest very often.  maybe a camel pose or a downward dog here and there, but never a full amount of practice, which doesn't even really count.  so this summer there will be more yoga, because i really want to see and feel the effects, physically and mentally.

the other thing is dance class.  i've had the beautiful opportunity to watch some dance performances lately.  strong, powerful bodies twisting and stretching to express the story of a song.  bending and jumping, showing off nimble movement and astounding flexibility.  i remember EXACTLY how it feels.  

walking onstage and taking my pose, waiting nervously for the music to start, but feeling physically prepared.  as i hear the familiar melody take shape, i transcend.  i am existing to express a story, a musical line, a body part, a movement.  dancing is so beautiful.  it makes you strong and sculpts your muscles into stone.  it makes your eyes fill with tears as you feel the rhythm, music, and passion coincide into one verb.

i miss it so much.  i am thankful every. single. day. that i am a dancer. 

so this summer i am thinking about going back to my dance academy and taking a class or two.  the only thing is, i'm terrified.  terrified i will be horribly out of shape.  terrified of putting myself out there, of not knowing anyone.

anyone want to take a dance class with me?  i need moral support!

there are lots of other things, big and small on my summer agenda.  beer cap mosaic, road trip planning, walks in the park, finding a part-time job.

but for now, this is enough.  i don't want to overwhelm my summer with projects!  

first and foremost, summer will be about relaxing and purifying my physical and mental health.  but along with that, inevitably, will come fun in the warm summer air and productivity after a few days of boredom.

"so tedious is this day, as is the night before some festival to an impatient child that hath new robes and may not wear them." - shakespeare

in other words - how much longer until summer?!

birthday blog.

i'm 26 today! and that's okay. 25 was much worse. although i definitely didn't get any younger this year, i am starting to embrace the fact that i will never be a teenager again. i am a lady now.

being a "getting-close-to-thirty" year old is absolutely okay.

today i drove to work in my new '89 subaru hatchback and stopped at hilander to buy snacks and lunch. no classes until 10:45 (niiice!). when i got to school, i was greeted by so many coworkers and students, with little birthday treats and offerings and well-wishes; it was so charming. and then i taught my first class how to play apples and apples and shared my bag of blow-pops. the next class watched my all-time favorite movie with me (that thing you do), and now it's my planning time and i'm blogging. once willy wonka rehearsal is over after school, i will have some time to (DRIVE!) home and relax. dinner with mom at the olympic tavern and maybe a little shopping. then drinks and celebration with some of my best friends.

it's a terrific day!

i just wish kyle could be around more. i won't see him until 11 or so...:(

short and sweet today, i have to go enjoy the rest of this lovely day!

new show!!

jolly holidays and free stuff.

a jolly holiday in the city.

sadly, it’s been almost a week since last wednesday when i spontaneously used my last personal day for a little personal fun. my mom was taking her students on a field trip and asked kyle and me to join her. kyle wasn’t able to go, which disappointed me at first, but then i made up my mind to venture into chicago alone, and what a lovely day for an afternoon in the city it turned out to be.

how refreshing to turn left onto e. state street instead of right on a wednesday morning! how carefree it feels to zip along i90, listening to exactly your choice of music!

zooming confidently into the city alone, i was proud to maneuver myself through the crazy hubbub to the exact spot where i had to meet mom. after a lovely little lunch, i discovered that the forever21 store on michigan avenue was about a block away, so i got to spend a lazy hour shopping! a few terrific dresses and a pair of pants later, i was on my way to see mary poppins starring ashley brown and gavin lee, the mary poppins and bert that i got to see on broadway!

having not liked it the first time through, i was leery as to whether or not i would enjoy myself at all the second time through. but it was even better! ashley brown is amazingly talented and poised, and gavin lee delivers relentless sophistication and merriment.

after the show, i hovered around in hopes of snagging an autograph or two. i got both ashley’s and gavin’s, which excited me. then back to the car with a pitsop at woodfield on the way home for another little shopping spree.

it was a fabulous day. i’m not sure why, but i learned a lot about myself and enjoyed being independent for a change. it put me in a bright and optimistic mood, complete with a twinge of depression upon coming back home to the daily grind.

there have been other blog-worthy events since then. friday and saturday night were spent downtown at the spring art scene, and that entailed drinks, art & photography, familiar faces, and a screen print t-shirt featuring artwork by javier jiminez.

on saturday afternoon, kyle’s frugal eyes spotted a full-size reclining leather couch on the curb of some mansion’s house. A COUCH?! A TAN LEATHER COUCH FOR FREE?! long story short, we got the landlord on our side (he has a truck), and snatched that nice little find right up. it took about an hour to reconfigure our living room, but once it was all settled, we celebrated! we have seating!

the story continues with Monday afternoon, when i picked up kyle from school. he had adam and andy with him, and i brought them all home to hang out. when we had parked on the street outside our house, kyle spotted another couch down the street a bit on the curb. “wait,” he said. “there’s a couch down there for free.”

so, really, why wouldn’t we all walk down there? upon inspection, we deemed this new couch just as good (if not better) than the first one, and so those three boys picked it up and carried it off. HAHA. as we walked up the block back to our house, the owners drove by, honking and waving, instructing us to enjoy that couch. “we will!” we shouted.

this one took much less fuss to get in the house, and only a little more rearranging.

but now, with two new (FREE!) couches, we finally have a lounge. yes, folks, a lounge. not a living room. lounge.

so it’s almost perfect. tonight i need to buy a few essential things to maximize the design and style of the room. new area rug, a few throw pillows, get some artwork framed. modern with a vintage vibe.

because that’s just the way we roll.

it’s sad to see that glorious weekend slip by and join the others as memories. it was a weekend of bohemians and artists, treasure hunts, and overnights. complimentary wine and thrift stores. scrambled eggs for breakfast and armageddon weekend on the history channel.

fabulous, as always.

(2 hours until i can leave work and start my night).