Blackened Gator, White Sands

So I know I promised a post about my Alabama adventure, so here it finally is! Casey and I went during my spring break and stayed with my aunt and uncle in their lovely condo overlooking the gulf. During this adventure, there were multiple arcades, really good meals, a few episodes of My Mad Fat Diary, jellyfish, songs poorly done via karaoke, and a whole myriad of other awesome things.

None of this negates the fact that the Waffle House has disappointing waffles, considering its name.

Live Bait, where they have good po' boys and
good karaoke!

We didn't try the blackened gator. Sorry.

Some Wanderings

I went to Mammoth last week, and took approximately six million pictures. This post will be in three parts because of that, really.

I'll properly explain everything another day, but for now, have some photos!

Also: today is my move-in day. Expect nonsense about that shortly!

Stove has fantastic corn bread, and some of the best prime
rib ever.

Bit of an Adventure

I'm lame and didn't take my own pictures of the Fat Babe Meetup (sorry!), but I'll post some of the group's pictures eventually. It was as wonderful as you'd think it would be!

I met up with one of the babes, Clare, at Union Station. While it was nice to just have someone show me how to do the whole LA transit thing (I thought I was good at public transit, and now I know that I was a fool), it was really fun to wander the Renegade Craft Fair with her. I do have a few pictures from that, so enjoy!

More about the Fat Babe Meetup soon, guys. For now, enjoy some silly pictures!

(Also, my Marvelous Monday post will be a little bit late, but it will happen. It's all good.)

Turquoise

Hey, guys, it's Monday, and you know what that means! Right? Well, you should know by now that it's Marvelous Monday! Yeah!

This week's theme: favourite colour!

You've all seen pictures of my room, or, at least a couple different pieces of it. Nearly everything in my room is a shade of blue or, more specifically, turquoise. That's because it's my favourite, of course. I mean, look at my blog.

Anyway, that was only part of the reason for my outfit. The rest is that Casey and I decided to go out to the Boulevard, braving the 100+ degree weather in pursuit of pupusas. That was so worth it, as was the trip to the antique store and the coffee shop. I ended up getting this fantastic, cheesy little cookbook from the antique store, too! It was published in 1953 by Edison, so a huge portion is just touting "The Electric Kitchen!" It's also big on the whole classic '50s housewife thing, but it does look like it'll at least be a bit useful, and it's cute, so that's totally worth it. Plus, it was dirt cheap, and I guess I'm collecting old books now.

Aww yiss.

Anyway, clothes! Right! I donned this outfit because this dress is 100% cotton, and thus much cooler than most other clothes I own. I also decided to do something interesting with it, and this shirt has made its triumphant return!

Thanks, Casey!

Casey's favourite shot of me. I don't recall what's
happening here.

My charming photographer. Ugh.

This thing is just so fantastic.

Dress: eShakti | Top, bangles, necklace: Forever 21 | Earrings: Mudd | Flats: Payless | Sunglasses: Tilly's

Now, let's go find out what the others' favourite colours are!

Sian: Sort Life Out; Buy Milk

Jocelyn: Fat, Fashionable, and Feminist

Cheri: Cheri'z Angel and Style Luvin

L: goodbye hollywood

In the Details

Just some detail shots of Sedona.

Rock of Ages

This will be very picture-heavy, guys.

Let's launch straight into this, yeah?

Yeah.

My mom and I flew out of LAX (least favourite airport) last Tuesday and arrived in Tucson (favourite airport) about an hour later. Truth be told, I love flying, but it gives me so much anxiety. Let's face it, though, nearly everything gives me anxiety.

My mom, aunt, uncle, and I left Tucson the next day and drove up (or down, I have no sense of direction in Arizona) to Sedona from their house. The drive was pretty dull, but I secretly enjoyed it. The Arizona desert is so different from the one I live in. There's so much green. And, of course, everything wants to poke you. It's not even cool.

Our first hotel was this gorgeous resort. It was a three-bedroom condo thing, and I had my own fancy bathroom and very nearly private, personal patio. The grounds weren't that special, but who cares about that when you're in the lap of luxury? I called it Shangri La the whole time we were there. I'm not sure if everyone was amused the fourth time around. We'd eaten lunch at this restaurant, Ken's Creekside, before going to the hotel, so we basically stayed in for the rest of the night. I had a TV dinner. In Shangri La.

The next day (Thursday? Probably), my mom and aunt and I went uptown to check out some of the shops. At least I think it was uptown. I really ought to have paid more attention. The street itself was really cool, as the sidewalks were all reddened and the fixtures all copper. In every direction, you can see the amazing rocks rising out of the desert, and it's absolutely gorgeous. I got a few souvenirs and gifts, checked out a really dull museum, and had a delicious mocha. I do like mochas now. We ended the night with Cold Stone and spaghetti.

The next day, we couldn't decide what to do. We eventually settled on breakfast at Coffee Pot Restaurant, a drive to check out Slide Rock, and pizza.

The following day (what on earth are these days of the week?), we left that resort and went to check out some national monuments before checking into the next hotel. We saw Montezuma Well, which was amazing. It's this ridiculously large oasis in the middle of the desert, a huge pool ringed with cliffs and dwellings within the cliffs. If you go down a few steps, you'll find a trail surrounded by nearly lush greenery that winds alongside a creek. It's kind of amazing. After that was Montezuma's Castle a few miles away. The Castle, much like the Well, is amazing. That's best explained via photograph.

We ended up staying in three different hotel rooms, eating a ridiculous amount of food at Coffee Pot Restaurant (fantastic breakfast burritos, and the best biscuits and gravy ever) and El Rincon (amazing green chile and cheese enchiladas), seeing Hangover III (worth it), and going on a Hummer tour on our last day. There was no off-roading, as it is impossible to talk either me or my mom into it. It's just not gonna happen.

After spending one more day at my aunt and uncle's house, we flew back to California and came home to a massive dust storm. That was on Tuesday. It was clear as a bell on Wednesday. Our weather is being absurd.

Well, enough of my nonsense. Here, have some (so many) pictures!

Arriving in Tucson!

Ye Olde Everything

Posting a picture in my flower crown yesterday reminded me that I didn't give you pictures from the Renaissance Faire!
Oh.
I should be more sorry about that, shouldn't I?
So, flower crowns through the ages Ren Faire photos!

Aww, my first Ren Faire. Also, a barbarian.

I am so going to be a pirate next time. Or River Song. Either works.

I don't know who the waving guy is, but I like his cheeriness.

Guys, that's the queen.

It took some maneuvering to get an angle where you could 
actually see his face under all that hat.

Compare the 2013 photos to this one and
 laugh.

Oh, and as I'm sure you've noticed, I've done a bit of messing around with my layout. Thoughts? Feelings? Opinions? Nada?

Yeah.

Will You Bring Food?

Yesterday was fun, even if it was spent in a partial haze from exhaustion. Sometimes, it's just impossible to get your brain to slow down, especially when you quite distinctly have to get up in two and a half hours. So I ended up sleeping in and meeting Casey at the Bolevard in the afternoon. Bolstered with coffee, we wandered around as usual and did our thing.

We spent a good long while hanging out with a friend before heading to the Underground Lounge. Casey was excited cause she's an official grown-up; I was excited cause I was allowed in at all and was promised snacks. I've since discovered that I actually really like fried pickles.

That's really the full extent of my interesting day. I came home, ate dinner, and crashed much earlier than usual.

On a barely related note, I've brought my purple dress back into circulation. That's the best sign that the weather has been lovely. Well, here, at least.

Thank you, Casey.

Four-in-the-morning manicures are a thing, right?

The lounge also doubles as a cosmic bowling alley.

Dress: Torrid | Backpack, sunglasses, bangle, necklace: Forever 21 | Scarf: Fashionbug | Shoes: vintage

Hooray, Dolphins!

Just kidding, dolphins are mean. They're straight-up bullies. The irony here, though, is that once I'm done with my paperwork and giving my school all my money (ouch), I'll be a Dolphin. The capitalization matters here, as I've come to learn that Dolphins are much nicer than dolphins.

I went to an event at the school I'm transferring to, accompanied by my mom, aunt, and uncle. It was sort of a tour, sort of a bunch of workshops, and sort of wonderful. It's an absolutely beautiful campus, and they have a fantastic science program, and the library. It's gorgeous.

I'm just very excited, okay?

We ended up exploring quite a lot, checking out the dorms I'll be staying at, and buying lots of stuff with school spirit. I feel a bit bad that I don't have anything school-spirit-y from my current school, unless you count school ID, but whatever. I can draw a cougar on something if I feel the need for community college spirit.

Also, I ended up accidentally matching my sunglasses to my sweater, and I really liked that.

Finally, I forgot to take pictures on campus (oops), but I'll be going back in June, and I'm sure obsessive picture-taking will be enforced.

Blouse, sweater: Forever 21 | Dress, tights: WalMart | Sunglasses: Tilly's | Ring: Charming Charlie | Shoes: DIY

No one in my family would let me leave the bookstore without buying at least one thing, so I got three. Ha.

Just a Bit Shady

Casey and I wandered all around town on Thursday. We each got a haircut (I desperately needed a trim), talked to someone about maybepossiblyhopefully getting a job (how many appendages can I cross at once?), and did our usual farmer's market thing. Just with more delicious tacos from our usual papusa place.

We did discover this mini mall, which was finally open when we were around, and decided to check it out. There are shops in the absolute very front, but once you pass that little area, it's absolutely deserted, and maybe more than a bit creepy. I love it, though. I love places like that are maybe a bit shady, perhaps a bit grotty, and full of mediocre-quality things that are only a dollar.