Summer 2016
Aug. 15th, 2016 11:49 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
victoriarchI had such a great summer. I'm making a list of some highlights to look back on.
The first weekend of summer, I went to Russellville, AR with five of my friends. My friend Liz has a family cabin in the woods down there, and we spent the weekend riding four wheelers, playing card games, and eating a lot of food (before we went, we stopped at Walmart and loaded up Liz's dad's car with junk food). I can't think of a better way to start the summer, than repeatedly stranding your four wheelers on woodland trails and Liz to having to save all four of you. Liz is a real hero. At one point I made a flower crown out of the white flowers in a nearby field. The crown got passed around throughout the day, and I have pictures of all of my friends in it at some point during the weekend. That makes me happy. On the way home, we stopped at the Burger Barn, which was an extremely interesting little place. It was just a small red 'barn' that served burgers, but the barn & the entire property was covered in carved wooden statues and bird houses and wind chimes and weird benches and hand made pieces of art. And there were cats creeping around the place. It was just a cool and surreal location. This entire trip was so surreal and unlike anything I've ever done.
The next weekend, my quizbowl team and I left for the National Quiz Bowl tournament in New Orleans. I was so worried that the national tournament questions would be far more difficult than the questions my team was accustomed to, but we ended up performing pretty decently, and we won half of our games. We got to walk around the city; and I've gotta say, New Orleans is such a chill place soo unlike New York or Chicago or Boston or any other big city I've been to. The Pizza was great, the Cajun food was great, and I got to spend a lot of time walking & talking with my art teacher, who is one of my favorite people in the world.
We visited my granparents in PA. I went to their church and it was srsly the kindest, most peaceful church I’ve ever been to, and my granparents were so excited to introduce us to their friends. Afterwards we went to the Eastern University campus to walk around and took aesthetic™ photos and funny videos of geese. That afternoon we walked to the park we used to play at when we were little. My sisters and I swung on the swings and talked, and the weather was ubelievably amazing, and I felt so good. My grandmom gave me a set of 30 unused watercolor paint tubes.
I spent fourth of July with my New Jersey family. We went to a giant family/friend barbecue at my Aunt's house, and we played volleyball and wiffle ball, and we lit sparklers and set off fireworks (which was VERY scary because the fireworks were not going high above the ground). The next day (on the real 4th) we had ANOTHER barbecue at my cousin's house. Her husband is an amazing cook. Her kids & my sister put together a little cheerleading routine that they performed for the entire family. It was adorable. We had s'mores and watched fireworks from the street in front of their house.
We went to NYC with my cousin and her husband and kids and parents. My sister and I spent 3 hours in the Met (not enough time!). I listened to the 1975′s ‘I Like it When You Sleep..’ album while I walked through entire rooms of Monet and Van Gogh Paintings. holy shit. There was a giant sunlit hall of Roman sculptures, and I saw two girls kiss there, and I cried because I was so happy that they seemed so happy and that they got such a picturesque moment together in such a beautiful part of the museum. We stopped at the American Girl store for my cousin’s daughter, and she convinced her grandmom to basically buy her the entire store lmao. We walked through Grand Central Station and went to and from the city on the Stanton Island Ferry. I’m so happy. So much more happened that day, and I want t ocry just thinking about what a good day was.
I went to the P!ATD/Weezer Concert!!! They came to my home town! Several friends and I got goood seats on the lawn. Andrew McMahon In The Wilderness opened for P!ATD, and Mister McMahon himselff elbowed me in the head while he shimmied thru the lawn during a song, what an honor. And the concert was just AMAZING??? LIke I’ve seen videos online of concerts and always felt like ‘meh whatv O.K. fun times’, but it’s so different and so much better in person????? Plus Panic is one of my favorites and knew all their songs and they’re aRE SO GOOD LIVE AND I WAZ SEEING THEM WITH MY OWN EYES AND EARRS. f uck. It was. a dreeeaam come true. And I thought seeing Panic live would satisfy my addiction, but I've been listening to them twice as obsessively ever since.
I also have had sO much fun spending time with my friends Liz & Kenna this summer. Liz and I went to a little pizza place together, and the next week all three of us decided to go out for Thai food. Afterwards we were like, 'Uhh I've got nothin planned, do you guys wanna do something else?' So we went biking on our town trails. Which was a blast. And also very hot. VERY. HOt. So then we got sonic drinks during happy hour. And I was like, 'Wanna come to my house and swim?' So they came over and swam and we just talked in the pool for hours about life and college and etc. A few days later, on the last friday of summer, we spent the night at Liz's house. We watched Paranorman, Star Gate, and we marathoned all eight episodes of Stranger Things until 7:30 in the morning. We only meant to watch one episode, but we watched the entire show. I enjoyed it so much. I loved hanging out with them; It was such a good way to spend my time.
I've also gone to the library a lot this summer, gone to figure drawing classes, and hung out with friends more than I ever have during past summers. I feel so lucky, and I feel happier than I've ever been. I do hope I can keep this momentum going as I start my last year of high school this week.
The first weekend of summer, I went to Russellville, AR with five of my friends. My friend Liz has a family cabin in the woods down there, and we spent the weekend riding four wheelers, playing card games, and eating a lot of food (before we went, we stopped at Walmart and loaded up Liz's dad's car with junk food). I can't think of a better way to start the summer, than repeatedly stranding your four wheelers on woodland trails and Liz to having to save all four of you. Liz is a real hero. At one point I made a flower crown out of the white flowers in a nearby field. The crown got passed around throughout the day, and I have pictures of all of my friends in it at some point during the weekend. That makes me happy. On the way home, we stopped at the Burger Barn, which was an extremely interesting little place. It was just a small red 'barn' that served burgers, but the barn & the entire property was covered in carved wooden statues and bird houses and wind chimes and weird benches and hand made pieces of art. And there were cats creeping around the place. It was just a cool and surreal location. This entire trip was so surreal and unlike anything I've ever done.
The next weekend, my quizbowl team and I left for the National Quiz Bowl tournament in New Orleans. I was so worried that the national tournament questions would be far more difficult than the questions my team was accustomed to, but we ended up performing pretty decently, and we won half of our games. We got to walk around the city; and I've gotta say, New Orleans is such a chill place soo unlike New York or Chicago or Boston or any other big city I've been to. The Pizza was great, the Cajun food was great, and I got to spend a lot of time walking & talking with my art teacher, who is one of my favorite people in the world.
We visited my granparents in PA. I went to their church and it was srsly the kindest, most peaceful church I’ve ever been to, and my granparents were so excited to introduce us to their friends. Afterwards we went to the Eastern University campus to walk around and took aesthetic™ photos and funny videos of geese. That afternoon we walked to the park we used to play at when we were little. My sisters and I swung on the swings and talked, and the weather was ubelievably amazing, and I felt so good. My grandmom gave me a set of 30 unused watercolor paint tubes.
I spent fourth of July with my New Jersey family. We went to a giant family/friend barbecue at my Aunt's house, and we played volleyball and wiffle ball, and we lit sparklers and set off fireworks (which was VERY scary because the fireworks were not going high above the ground). The next day (on the real 4th) we had ANOTHER barbecue at my cousin's house. Her husband is an amazing cook. Her kids & my sister put together a little cheerleading routine that they performed for the entire family. It was adorable. We had s'mores and watched fireworks from the street in front of their house.
We went to NYC with my cousin and her husband and kids and parents. My sister and I spent 3 hours in the Met (not enough time!). I listened to the 1975′s ‘I Like it When You Sleep..’ album while I walked through entire rooms of Monet and Van Gogh Paintings. holy shit. There was a giant sunlit hall of Roman sculptures, and I saw two girls kiss there, and I cried because I was so happy that they seemed so happy and that they got such a picturesque moment together in such a beautiful part of the museum. We stopped at the American Girl store for my cousin’s daughter, and she convinced her grandmom to basically buy her the entire store lmao. We walked through Grand Central Station and went to and from the city on the Stanton Island Ferry. I’m so happy. So much more happened that day, and I want t ocry just thinking about what a good day was.
I went to the P!ATD/Weezer Concert!!! They came to my home town! Several friends and I got goood seats on the lawn. Andrew McMahon In The Wilderness opened for P!ATD, and Mister McMahon himselff elbowed me in the head while he shimmied thru the lawn during a song, what an honor. And the concert was just AMAZING??? LIke I’ve seen videos online of concerts and always felt like ‘meh whatv O.K. fun times’, but it’s so different and so much better in person????? Plus Panic is one of my favorites and knew all their songs and they’re aRE SO GOOD LIVE AND I WAZ SEEING THEM WITH MY OWN EYES AND EARRS. f uck. It was. a dreeeaam come true. And I thought seeing Panic live would satisfy my addiction, but I've been listening to them twice as obsessively ever since.
I also have had sO much fun spending time with my friends Liz & Kenna this summer. Liz and I went to a little pizza place together, and the next week all three of us decided to go out for Thai food. Afterwards we were like, 'Uhh I've got nothin planned, do you guys wanna do something else?' So we went biking on our town trails. Which was a blast. And also very hot. VERY. HOt. So then we got sonic drinks during happy hour. And I was like, 'Wanna come to my house and swim?' So they came over and swam and we just talked in the pool for hours about life and college and etc. A few days later, on the last friday of summer, we spent the night at Liz's house. We watched Paranorman, Star Gate, and we marathoned all eight episodes of Stranger Things until 7:30 in the morning. We only meant to watch one episode, but we watched the entire show. I enjoyed it so much. I loved hanging out with them; It was such a good way to spend my time.
I've also gone to the library a lot this summer, gone to figure drawing classes, and hung out with friends more than I ever have during past summers. I feel so lucky, and I feel happier than I've ever been. I do hope I can keep this momentum going as I start my last year of high school this week.
