I just love when I get to “meet” new bloggers and I must say I’ve hit it off with Lisa of My Journey to Becoming Helen Mirren’s Biggest Fan. Not only did she take the effort to swap blogs with me for a day (see my post here), but she’s pretty funny and while you would think that anyone who dedicates a whole blog to open letters to Dame Helen Mirren might be a little…off…she seems quite normal – or at least weird in a good way 🙂
Anyway, Lisa is funny and honest and I think I’m going to become a regular reader. That’s the cool thing about the 20 Something Bloggers Blog Swap (say that ten times fast – actually that would be a big waste of time but you get what I mean). 20SB is an awesome community to be a part of and I’ve enjoyed discovering bloggers from all around the world. It sounds a little nerdy but it’s so much fun (and totally cool).
Anyway, without further ado…Here’s LIIIIIISAAAAAAAAAAA (that was my best Oprah impression)…
It’s summer here on the west coast of the United States. I know this because I see girls wearing more inappropriate clothing than usual and sometimes on the weather report there are sunglasses on that picture of an ignorantly blissful sun. It’s about 15 degrees warmer here in Los Angeles than it was 6 months ago. It gets light earlier and dark later. I got through elementary school, so I’m pretty sure all this quacking means that it’s summertime duckling!
But other than my very keen observations while watching TV, I wouldn’t know what time of year it is. I’m here – at work. And I’m here at work every day, every month, from around 9 to 7 (or 8… or… 11). My work schedule knows no season. My weekends are spent doing what I always do on weekends – running before the sun comes out, eating brunch al fresco, seeing poor re-makes of old movies I never saw the first time around, drinking rose on someone’s patio. And while it’s all fun, my social life knows no seasons. And because it seems like every day could be some random day April, time goes by so freaking quickly. There is no 3-month break after a 9-month marathon of homework and school dances that tells you that one phase of your life is over and it’s time to start the next. There’s no mandate to stop on June 2nd – breathe – look around – and jump in a pool. I blame graduating school. I blame living in a city that is 75 degrees and sunny even when there are 2 feet of snow blocking my parents front door. I blame people who get spray tans in October and indoor pools and year-round reality shows that spit in the face of a September through May TV schedule. But mainly I blame myself. I didn’t take advantage of this summer (or last summer, or the summer before). I didn’t plan any big vacations and I only went to the beach twice in the last couple months. I think I ate 2 hamburgers while standing outside that were made on a grill by some guy who looks more familiar in an apron than without. It’s a damn shame.
This isn’t a sad post, though. It’s just a reminder – SUMMER COMES ONCE A YEAR!!! Even if I’m in my late 20s and I have to drive to a nondescript building and type in a nondescript cubicle every day – IT’S STILL SUMMER!!! And I refuse to be unprepared (although I may do it awesomely) for celebrating summer. So here we go. It’s August 17th. I’ve got a little over a month left to grab the rising mercury by the horns and make this happen before the calendar says it’s too late.
So here’s my summer bucket list. God help me if I don’t get this all in before someone somewhere on the other side of the country puts a cardigan on.
2. Swim in the ocean for 15 minutes because it is refreshing (not because I had to pee and was too lazy to walk across the street).
3. Put together the firepit my roommate got us for Christmas and burn a fucking marshmallow – ON PURPOSE.
4. Drink dirty martinis outside while wearing a giant hat.
5. Fall in love… with a book that I will read in bed when it’s too hot to fall asleep (instead of using the time to watch Chelsea Lately and hate myself).
6. Ask someone to make me a hot dog and to burn it to a crisp but don’t toast the bun – and hold them too it.
7. Take a photo of my really tan feet.
8. Get a really great tan on my feet.
9. Buy aloe vera with a fierce certainty that I am going to have to use it.
Alright. I’m ready. I have 37 days to make it happen. Who’s with me?
