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Movies I Can't Resist Watching

I am a huge list maker.  I was recently thinking about what movies I love to watch over and over again. Naturally, I had to make a list.  These are the movies that I have to watch any time they are on!

1. Love Actually
2. Julie & Julia
3. Amelie
4. Love and Other Disasters
5. Eloise at the Plaza
6. Daddy's Little Girls
7. Now and Then
8. Clueless
9. Uptown Girls
10. Legally Blonde
11. Doubt
12. Beauty Shop

What are your favorite films?

Folly Beach

My husband and I drove from Greenville, South Carolina to Charleston to celebrate our anniversary.  Charleston is one of my favorite cities in the world because it provides the romance of Paris with southern gentility and hospitality, but it also is rich in Gullah culture.  Most importantly, however, it is near a ton of beaches.

I love beaches.  When I vacation, I look for a beach-y spot.  One of my summer bucket list items was to have a beach day.  While in Charleston, we decided to go to Folly Beach, which is only a 20 minute drive away.  It is an interesting place that reminds me a lot of smaller towns in Hawaii, something like Kihei.  I would love to say we spent the whole day at the beach, but we didn't.  That was our intention, but things kept getting in our way.  We eventually made it to the beach and laid in the sun while we read our kindles.  I've been reading Tina Fey's Bossypants, which is pretty good.  I do love a good comedienne-authored book.

I really enjoyed Folly Beach although you wouldn't be able to tell from the picture below.  I guess I look perturbed when I'm posing or something.  Anyway, my red tankini is from Target.  I got it on clearance for like $12.

Almost Heaven, Blue Ridge Mountains

Years ago when I first met my husband, he took me to Caesar's Head, which is a State Park in South Carolina in his hometown.  It was a beautiful place with a gorgeous view of the Blue Ridge Mountains,  which is a part of the Appalachian Mountains.  I still remember my husband (then my boyfriend) wearing overalls, which I thought was super embarrassing  but was really just a part of his South Carolina "culture" I guess.    

Today we decided to head up to Caesar's Head again after six years and see the sights.  We are back in South Carolina for an anniversary trip and are having a relaxing blast.  We checked out Blythe Sholls, which is a really cool waterfall where the water is super cold.  We said we'd go back sometime with our swimsuits.

Me and hubby at Blythe Sholls

After the waterfall, we headed up to Bald Rock, which lets you see a good view of the Blue Ridge Mountains.  Bald Rock also has spray painted names of lovers and friends all over its surface.  I remember six years ago saying we'd come back and spray paint our names.  We forgot again this trip.

Me on Bald Rock

Blue Ridge Mountains

On our drive back from the Mountains, we stopped at a little farmers market-type place and picked up some goodies.  We got jarred pickles, blackberries, and of course my favorite summer fruit--peaches!

Peaches!

We had a great time and I got to cross another activity off of my summer bucket list.  I love nature.  I love greenery and trees and the Blue Ridge Mountains offer me everything I want to see.  I had such a great time just walking around and setting my eyes on God's creation.  Being at the Blue Ridge Mountains made me miss that song "Take Me Home"by John Denver I used to listen to.  Being at the mountains was almost heaven.

Summer Playlist

Lately I haven't been interested in much music other than what reminds me of my childhood. As a middle schooler, I loved our local rock station, which played bands like Weezer, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Everclear, 311, and the like. I find myself listening to that same local radio station today. And what is interesting is that the station plays the same music that I loved as an 8th grader. Is it because good music is hard to come by these days? Whatever it is, I'm loving this trip to the past. I made a summer playlist of those songs including a couple of newer songs that I find myself loving, despite my feelings of nostalgia. I hope you enjoy the music!

 

rooftop "party"

One of the things I really wanted to do this summer was go to a rooftop party.  I lived in Washington, D.C. for five years where rooftop parties and pretentiousness was a common way of life.  Although I would never move back to the rush-rush snobbiness that is the District, sometimes I miss my lifestyle there.  Often my husband and I would go out to posh restaurants and cute bars and it would make me feel glamorous.  Now that we are in Texas (I'm actually from here, but hubby isn't), sometimes our lives seem devoid of glamour.  Texas is a simple place, folks.  Very little allure here.  I wanted to go to a rooftop party just to have some semblance of what our lives were like before.

So this past weekend was a colleague/friend's birthday.  We decided to make a stop at a new rooftop bar here in Houston.  It is called Proof.  I don't know if this counts as a "party" but that's what we were trying to do there, anyway.  The bar was pretty cute and I was satisfied with being on higher ground in the outdoors.  This was rooftop enough for me.

Me on the rooftop at Proof!
Top - H&M
Necklace - Jewelmint

Summer Bucket List

Summer is going by so quickly!  I saw a couple of folks creating summer bucket lists--things that they want to accomplish during the summer, and so I decided to do one!  What is on your summer bucket list?

1. make an awesome sangria
2. have a summer party with lights
3. go swimming!
4. watch an outdoor movie
5. go to the mountains Done!
6. visit a taco truck
7. create a summer playlist Done!
8. make a new friend
9. play beach volleyball
10. lose at least 10 lbs
11. eat oysters
12. finish a book
13. visit a cute bar
14. shisha outside
15. create and blog a fresh summer salad
16. have a beach day Done!
17. get an ice cream cone covered in sprinkles
18. do a water activity i've never done before
19. make fresh jam
20. go to a rooftop party  Done!