slumber party in the driveway

We slept in the van in the driveway to see if she would be comfortable enough or if we needed to add anything. Mister made screens for the passenger windows so we could get some circulating air without mosquitoes. The bed is comfortable enough. More so than sleeping on the ground in the tent. The only catch is my tiny bladder. I'm gonna have to cut off the beveraging around 5pm...methinks...also...epic bedhead! 

meet vera

Did I tell you we bought a van? Meet Vera. Vera CamperVan Beethoven. A Transit Connect, to be exact. Yep, the same type of vehicle we were trying to get back in 2010. It only took us seven years.

We weren't originally looking for a passenger van but this one had the right price, was in the grouping for the year we wanted, had pretty good mileage, and was local! The only downside, is that it is black. I swear I feel like THE EYE when I am driving it...which doesn't happen often, as I'm a weirdo with car anxiety and have to take baby steps when driving a new vehicle. If it was me on the bus with Keanu, we'd all have crashed and there would have been no movie.

The first thing and the main thing that the mister did was build the platform. The whole point of the van is so we have something to sleep in without having to pitch a tent for a day. The platform is to create a level place for the camp pad to go so we can catch some ZZzzzzzzs....under the platfor there are three compartments. The center compartment is for the camp chairs, with the other two to house boxes and bags. We left one passenger seat in place as it folds flat enabling us to put the platform on top. This way, if for some reason we need to transport someone we can.

I found a foam pad on Amazon for $10 that fits perfectly on top of the camp pad. It all stays in place with the road trip sheet holding it in. See the chairs there?  Things are happening.

And because, the mister is the mister, we hit up JoAnn's for some sun fabric to create an awning to sit under for rain or shine. Luckily there was a sale and I have a teacher discount card so it cost us just under $50 for the fabric...outdoor fabric is expensive! Yikes! The poles are bamboo pieces we found in Los Osos. We are nothing if not frugal.

So, there you have it...here's to new adventures!

couches, coffee, and coral colored hair

How's that for alliteration?

For some unknown reason I woke up all bright-eyed and bushy tailed before 7am. I stumbled out into the living room and started mumbling about how our neighbor across the street was running a power saw around 10pm. Why? why? Why? Eegads, I was cranky. But then the light bulb appeared (thanks to the mama a-go-go) and I realized he was chop shopping up wood to fit into the bins for bulk pick up day.

BULK PICK UP DAY!

Bulk pick up day is when everyone can pull out all their stuff, crap, and junk to the curb and the trash trucks will pick it all up! Whoo-hoo! It also means, one can cruise around and possibly pick up some new/old furniture...

Which is why I found myself fully dressed and cruising the neighborhoods of SLO in search of a kitchen table we could modify for the classroom. I...and along with a zillion dudes driving big trucks.

Oof. Not a table to be found but I did stop to snap pictures of two awesomely awful floral couches. I also swung by my favorite coffee place for a latte and a scone, which I enjoyed from the chairs we had previously picked up during bulk pick up day many moons ago and are ow in the front yard.

p.s.
I have a new 'do!

early

Mister and I had fasting blood work to take care of (hello middle age!) so I was up at 6am to make it to the front of the line for the 6:30am opening at the lab, the lab where my favorite phlebotomist has the same name as me...first AND last!

We were 4th in line and it was cold, cold, cold this morning! I should have brought a thicker sweater...

After the blood draw (sadly, my namesake was not there), I dropped the mister off at work and headed down to the town where my allergist is. I would be two hours early but I thought a wander through walmart and breakfast panera (thank you giftcards) would take up most of that time.  On the way out of slo I watched crows dive bomb a hawk, a tuxedo cat stalk something in a flowerbed, & a man engaged in fisticuffs with a parking meter.

I had the most lackluster experience at Panera and then I wandered around walmart in search of wicking socks, lipstick, and toothpaste. It wasn't until I was in the toothpaste aisle (my last stop) that I realized I had tucked my drapey cardigan INTO my pants.

INTO my pants.

At least I wasn't trailing a length of toilet paper from my shoe...but I did also step in gum.

Red gum.

Like a wad of it.

Also did not notice till it had thoroughly glued itself to the bottom of my sad sloppy ballet flat...

All of this before 8:30 in the morning...

a new capsule

A week or so ago, when I did laundry, I found that the tops hanging in the bathroom to air dry looked really good together...almost like they would make a good capsule...so when I took them down, I rifled through the dresser for some finishing pieces and voîla! a nifty mild summer capsule!

Thee are eleven pieces, two of which are sweaters so I'm not how much I would wear them, but everything is is super nifty...I think...

Top to Bottom:
chambray top from LOFT
navy linen top from LOFT
blush colored top from LOFT (I'm suspecting a theme here)
sleeveless blush top Vera Wang for Kohl's
sleeveless black & white top from Penneys
floral cardigan J Crew
bergundy 3/4 sleeve sweater from Marshall's
blush tulle skirt from Target
black & white plaid skirt Old Navy
denim capris Dana Buchman at Kohl's
chambray trousers The Gap

What do you think?

of course

My hair looks freakishly white when wearing a white shirt which I do not often do as white shirts are not really good friends with preschool classrooms. Tomorrow, the white hair goes away...I'm working towards my natural color whatever it may be...not grey, certainly, but I wish it was. 

I was going to write about the Beatrice Sparks books I read in junior high and how they scared the crap out of me which is probably why I was such a goody goody, but the moment and momentum have passed and so instead, I wax poetic on how awesome my hair looked to day, the day before I hit up the hairdresser because I cannot take the bonkers any longer. It looked great. 

Of course it did.