Highlights & Lowlights #10

It's been a while since I did a highlight/lowlight post, but I just had so many highlights this week that I feel compelled to brag.  (This post makes my gloating seem a little more appropriate.)

{sneakers  |  similar jacket  |  similar shorts}

Highlights:

• The temperature has finally dipped below obscenely, unbearably hot to just super humid, moist, and uncomfortably hot.  I can kind of run again in this weather. (see above)  I'll take it.
• I should preface this one by saying that I LOVE animals.   I was lying in the hammock with hunny bunny at dusk when two of the skunks that frequent our backyard came running straight at us!  When we made noise to let them know we were there, they merely glanced in our direction, then went about their business of scrounging for food.  This bodes very well for my plan of eventually petting one of them.  I've already got the recipe for skunk stink remover memorized for when the inevitable happens.
• I spent an afternoon at the beach with some friends in 95 degree weather and actually. didn't. burn.  So what if I got bitch-slapped a time or two by the obnoxiously rough waves - it's a fair trade off if you ask me.
• Rafting down the Delaware River with friends.  It rained on us twice, we got stuck on rocks repeatedly, and I paddled so much I thought my shoulder was going to fall off.  We're already planning our next trip.  We had such a blast.

Lowlights:

• Having the very bright idea to bring our towels in the raft with us....uh...they got soaked.  So rapids, rain storms, and wiggling & flopping back into the raft after going for a swim brings water into the raft.  Who knew?
• Trying to remove my black nail polish.  The good news is that it came off my nails (mostly). The bad news is that it's now semi-permanently stuck to the skin surrounding my nails.
• My end-of-summer allergies seem to be returning.  I will soon be reunited with my nemesis, the neti pot.
• Having such a fantastic week that I can't think of any lowlights, and must to resort to using lame ones about wet towels, allergies, and nail polish to fill the space. 

Highlights & Lowlights #9

{top: marshalls  |  jeans: UO  |  shoes: target (similar) }

Lowlights:

• You know those times when it's early in the morning, and you're busy daydreaming about your plans for the day so you take the water out of the fridge for a drink but pour it into your cereal instead?  Yeah.  That happened.  (I am ashamed to admit that I still ate the cereal.) 
• Hunny bunny accidentally used my toothbrush - again.  I know it's confusing because he somehow got stuck with the pink one; but really.  Apparently my green toothbrush is throwing off a much more masculine vibe.
• Painstakingly resizing photos one by one just to make a 5 second gif (see below) because I'm too paranoid to download a bulk resizer to my hard drive and save myself 3 hours.
• Realizing 32 photos in that I'm resizing the wrong files! Then after resizing 13 of the correct ones, finding a gif maker that doesn't require me to resize the photos at all!  Gah!

Highlights:  

• Talking on the phone with my brother for close to 3 hours.  We live about 1200 miles apart and don't get to see each other very often.  So, when we start gossiping....well, apparently we can go on for much longer than is considered normal.
• Scoring a free bikini from Old Navy.  Yep, 100% totally, completely, no-strings-attached (unless you count the ones on the swimsuit) free!  Interested?  I thought so.
• This clip.  It's silly and stupid and I can't get enough of it...maybe.
• Having a lovely date night with hunny bunny that included going out for Indian food, stopping on the way home to shoot a succession of funny photos to make the animation below, and cuddling up on the couch to watch a movie together. 

Vampire gliding is the new walking.

I'm linking up over here today.

Highlights & Lowlights #8

{chambray: old navy (almost identical)  //  v neck  //  shorts  //  sandals: pacsun (similar)  //  watch} 

Lowlights:

• Making myself a cup of decaf at 8:30pm, then realizing that wasn't actually decaf at all, but a fully caffeinated mug of coffee I just drank.  Falling asleep was no easy task, let me tell you.  The saddest part is that this is not the first time I've given myself accidental insomnia by way of cafe au lait.
• That awkward moment after I checked out at the one and only register in a store I'd never been to, then turned around to realize that there were about 6 registers behind me and I had used the customer service line.  No wonder the cashier asked me if I was returning...So glad I didn't blurt out the stupid comment that was on the tip of my tongue, "Why; do you get a lot of returns here?"  I'm sure the response would have included a quizzical look from the cashier, most likely followed by a very slow and deliberate, "Yeeees."
• Going for a run during a downpour.  In the woods.  Right after showering.

Highlights:

• Having brinner (breakfast for dinner) last night.  This is usually our fallback plan when I don't have time to (or don't feel like) cooking.  It doesn't happen often, but when it does, oh, it's delicious.
• Holiday weekend!  Hunny bunny's & mine will be occupied with meeting friends at an outdoor beer garden, seeing a Mets game, and maybe even a rooftop bbq.  Oh, and lots of chillaxing, which - let's face it - is simply the best kind of relaxing there is.
• Planning our vacation to St. Thomas.  Just reading Fodor's Caribbean guide and thinking about snorkeling in clear waters, lounging on the beach, and eating tons of local fruit already has me in an island state of mind.  I can almost feel the sunburn I'm bound to get on the first day...

Psst - I'm linking up here today.

Highlights & Lowlights #5

{jacket: target, similar  //  scarf: h&m, similar  //  watch  //  vintage kerchief: gramma's  //  boots}

Lowlights:

• We stayed with friends over the weekend, and even though we were five stories up, the people having an outdoor party 2 blocks over played their music so loud, it literally sounded like they were in our bedroom.  Mexican karaoke with a siren in between every song until 4am; why not?  
• The noise was so obnoxious that I actually called the police (I never, ever call the police).  
• The police didn't answer the phone.  Are they allowed to do that?  If it hadn't sent me into fits of laughter I would have been really angry.
• Rain, rain, & more rain for the past few days.  And being woken up by thunder two nights in a row.  Still not as bad as being woken up by the Mexicans, though.
• Eradicating all of my blog's customizations with one accidental click.  All this new design stuff you see here?  Wasn't planning on doing it at 10pm on a Wednesday night while trying realllly hard not to fall into a complete panic.

Highlights:

• Eating french toast for breakfast & Indian food for lunch with friends on Saturday: three of my favorite things.
• My friend, Fatiha sending me this beautifully shot candid photo (above) that she took while we were on her roof.
• Trying on an amazing dress of my friend's and falling head over heels in love with it, only to find out she bought it months ago on ebay.  I thought for sure I'd never be able to find one of my own...and then she found it for me (!!!).  It's coming from China, and in a few short weeks I will be debuting it with all of the pomp and circumstance that a gorgeous, white Chinese dress deserves.  Thank you again, Fatiha!!
• Getting a call from a friend I haven't talked to in a while when I was having a bad day - I couldn't help but laugh with him and it turned my mood right around. 
• The rain is finally lifting and we're going to a baseball game tomorrow.  Let's Go Mets!

Check out where I'm linking up today here.

Highlights & Lowlights #4

{top, wedges (similar): target  // jeans  //  bracelets  //  sunnies: harmon}

Lowlights:

• Having to spend some time at the DMV.  I don't know what kind of witchcraft voodoo they've got going on, but no matter what the temperature is outside, it's always stiflingly hot inside.  It's quite remarkable, really.
• Picnik (my love, my editor of choice, my best friend blogging tool) closed.  It was such an easy, fun, user-friendly photo editor.  It will be missed.
• Spray on self-tanner.  I look like some strange Snooki-zebra-leopard hybrid.  I'm now tan, striped, and spotted.

Highlights:

• That one time I looked like Zooey Deschanel.  Yes, I just wrote an entire post about it, but it's just a little too awesome not to mention again.  Fair warning, I'll probably mention it about 5,683 more times...this week.
• I just discovered a new, healthy snack - cover half an apple with a couple slices of cheddar cheese and broil for a few minutes. I may have been lazy enough to make this for dinner twice this week.
• And speaking of tasty snacks, I've also been loving on this dessert: banana mixed with nutella and toasted walnuts.  I'm a fan of the easy.
• Getting to borrow my dad's sweet Audi while he was on vacation last week.  I love my pretty little Scion tC, but I just felt uber cool driving that baby around for a little while.  So what if there were so many controls, buttons, and dials in there that the console was in Spanish and I had heat blowing from the left vents, and AC blowing from the right?
•  Always finding it easier to think of highlights than lowlights.  That's pretty great.

It's party time.

Highlights & Lowlights #3

 

 {cardi: joyce leslie, similar  //  top: diy from t shirt, similar  //  skirt: delias  //  shoes: payless, similar  //  tights  // necklace: diy}

       Lowlights:

• Having writer's block practically since the beginning of April.  Not fun.
• Getting a bad haircut.  I'm putting out an official request for my amazing hairdresser of a sister to move back to NJ so I don't have to fly all the way to Florida for a fantastic haircut.
• Being (mentally) prepared to face the DMV to renew my license, and then being absolutely, positively unable to open my safe to retrieve the necessary-to-prove-I'm-really-me documents the DMV requires.  I'm talking straining, grunting, squeezing, pulling, trying as hard as I can to lift the damn latch for over 2 hours before giving up out of sheer frustration.  Hunny bunny gets home and realizes I simply had to push down before lifting up.  ...............Oh.

       

        Highlights:

• Going out to celebrate National Cheese Fondue Day by eating a cheddar/beer/jalapeno/salsa fondue!  
• Waking up on Sunday morning to find that the Easter (hunny) bunny visited and brought two baskets of my favorite Easter candies including two full sized bags of Cadburry mini eggs.  Yes that's right, this full grown woman still gets Easter baskets from her boyfriend and is not ashamed to admit it.
• Starting a new book that I became instantly enamored with.  It's called Cinder, it's made for teens, and it's loosely based on Cinderella.  Except now she's a cyborg living in the future, her best friend is an android, there's a plague spreading around Earth, and there's an evil moon queen who wants her dead.   Sound too ridiculous to be good?  Pick up a copy and see for yourself. 
• Looking forward to baking (my own) birthday cake with hunny bunny tonight.  We're going to attempt ombre cake layers.  Successful results will be shared with you; failures will be eaten before photographic evidence can be acquired.

Check out where I'm linking up today here.

Highlights & Lowlights #2

{dress: target  //  jacket: i heart ronson, via jcp  //  vintage necklace: gramma's  //  tights: old navy  //  shoes, headband: payless}

        Lowlights:

• Spending all day Sunday with a hangover that I couldn't shake until Monday evening.  It lasted over 24 hours.  My deepest apologies to my liver. 
• Forgetting to bring extra tissues when I went to see Hunger Games last night.  I had only one left in my purse.  It wasn't easy making it last the whole movie.
• Practically bursting out crying when the games started in the movie and children began getting mauled.  I wasn't just tearing up; I was muffling huge, loud sobs.
• Not knowing what Willam did to get kicked off of RuPaul's Drag Race.  Come on, Ru, really?!
• My birthday is coming up.  I'm getting old.

        Highlights:

• Watching Hunger Games in the theater last night.  It was as wonderful as I expected it to be, despite the (one) tear soaked tissue, smudged makeup, and the emotional out pour that left me feeling melancholy even after the movie was over.
• Getting to hang out with some wonderful, fun friends that hunny bunny & I haven't seen in months.  Unfortunately, this was the cause of lowlight #1, but they were totally worth it.
• Spending a truly lovely evening at a local Italian restaurant with my boyfriend.  The atmosphere was very relaxed and we were never rushed.  We had engaging conversation and lingered over mushroom pizza, eggplant, roasted red pepper, & mozarella pannini, frothy cappuccino, and creamy canolis.  We stayed over 2 hours without even realizing it.
• My legs being just a little too sore from my workout yesterday to go for the jog in the woods I was planning today.  Total highlight because it just started storming outside and I am still nice and cozy and dry inside.  Thank you for the minuscule muscle tears which needed that extra day to recover, Tony Horton!
• Seeing a fuzzy kitty and a wild turkey chilling in my backyard.  Not quite hanging out together, but in very close proximity.  I'll take it.
• My birthday is coming up.  I get to have a party!

Highlights & Lowlights

{skirt: diy from thrifted skirt  //  tee, similar boots: old navy  //  belt: jcp}

Some Highlights & Lowlights of my week:

         Lowlights:

• Getting a total of 20 mosquito bites over the span of 2 days.  Those days were still technically winter.  Winter, people!
• A very long, very full commuter train passing by as we were having this photo shoot.  "Oh, hello everyone.  Why yes, I'm having my boyfriend take pictures of me in the alley behind a grocery store, surrounded by bins of super stinky trash.  And how are you?"
• Living in a town where mosquitoes outnumber humans by about 50,000:1.  
• Getting the notice that I have to go to the DMV to renew my license next month.  What?!  Didn't I just do that like 4 years ago? 

        Highlights:

• Hunny Bunny will be picking up advance tickets for Hunger Games today.  We'll get to see it next Tuesday and I. am. so. excited.
• Having a picnic in the backyard for dinner last night.  Hello, spring!  Welcome back :)
• Finding brie at the farmer's market for unbelievably low prices.  I seriously don't know how they're even making a profit. 
• Then, having grapes and brie cheese on delicious bread topped with honey and toasted walnuts for dinner not once, but twice in the past week.  Unhealthy, perhaps, but downright delicious.
• Washing, waxing, dusting, and vacuuming my car over the weekend.  It was a great workout and now she looks all shiny, clean, and pretty.
• DIY'ing this skirt into a mullet.  It's so much cuter now than how it started out.

What were some of your highlights & lowlights?

Today I'm linking to:

What I Wore Wednesday

What We Wore & Made

Whatever Whenever Wednesday