Pictures that cheer me up.

Well, that was random.

Les animaux dansent dans le safari disco club.

Last night I was lucky enough to go see Yelle at the Rhythm Room and it was too cool! I don't know if I've ever had so much fun at a concert before. She was excellent live and we all danced like crazy.

I took a clip of her encore, but I had to cut it short because I couldn't dance and film at the same time. :)

Even more amazing was that she actually stayed after to sign autographs and take pictures. She was super adorable and nice.
Me, Yelle, and Ashley



Here is the music video for the song she was singing in my clip (A Cause des Garcons).

Now if I could just get my hands on her new album I would be set. :)

Mes nouvelles aventures en France

Last October, I applied to a program to become an English teaching assistant in France and I just found out that I've been accepted! From what I know so far, I will be somewhere in the Grenoble region. Unfortunately, I'll have to wait a bit longer to find out exactly where I'll be and exactly what level I'll be teaching.

While I wait, I'll content myself with researching the French Alps region, planning the places I want to visit, and studying my French. I feel like I will appreciate being immersed in French so much more than three years ago.

What a great birthday present. :)

Alas! Earwax!

Last week was rough. Going back to work after such a busy, fun-filled spring break was almost unbearable, so I've been consoling myself by looking back at pictures and eating Cadbury eggs -- I can't bring myself to actually eat my chocolate frog.

Hogwarts

Shopping for wands at Ollivanders

Delicious butterbeer

In the castle

Owl Post

Hagrid's hut

Monster Book of Monsters

Hermione's Yule Ball dress

In the castle

Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom

Mandrakes!

Now back to real life.

But speaking of this post's title, Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans were a cool $11.

Orlando Spring Break

I am so sad that spring break is over. My family and I went to Orlando to visit the Wizarding World of Harry Potter (duh!) and Disney World. Other than drinking copious amounts of butterbeer, checking out Hogwarts, and having a wand choose me, I spent my time relaxing, visiting with family, and (unfortunately) doing some grading. I honestly think I'll be sadder about going back to school tomorrow than my students.

I'm still trying to pull together my pictures from the trip, but here are a few.

Hogsmeade

Hogwarts

And oh yeah, I finally cut my hair.

Tortuga Twins, Turkey Legs, and Caricatures

It has been ages since I've been to the Renaissance Festival. I've gone at least five or six times, but I think that the last time I went was when me and Tyler had just started dating -- maybe 6 years ago?

Anyway, I was looking through pictures at my parents' house and came across this gem (circa 1997?).

And then this gem (circa 2004).

We are in almost the exact same pose (plus another Tortuga Twin). Slightly creepy, no? Especially since at least 98% of the jokes from their show went completely over my head in the first picture, but then in the second picture I'm pretty sure blondie was hitting on all of us. Okay, who am I kidding, I was not being hit on, but that's beside the point.

All creepiness aside, I do want to go back, eat a delicious turkey leg, and maybe get another caricature done by that artist with the awesome laugh.

Maybe once it stops raining every weekend.

Here we go again...

As you may have noticed, I think about and talk about my hair way too much, maybe to the point of obsession. Yes -- definitely to the point of obsession.

Ever since I last cut my hair, I've been wanting to try a pixie cut but I hesitate because I just don't know how it will look on me. Trying to picture it, I'll bobby-pin my hair like crazy but I know it's not the same.

Anyway, I'm going to do it, but now I'm torn about just how short of a pixie cut I want and whether I should dye my hair darker too. Here is my current inspiration. Any suggestions?

Emma Watson

theneotraditionalist

theglamourai

Carey Mulligan

And of course my Mom & Aunt Kelly. :)

Working for the weekend...

I was at work this afternoon looking on TED for a video to show to my juniors. Unfortunately, I couldn't find anything for them, but I did find something for me. Maybe for you too.

From now on, I am going to make a more conscious effort to think and do more than just work. Of course, the act of deciding not to think about work may inadvertently cause me to think about work, but that's a risk I'm willing to take.

This video is worth 10 minutes of your time.

Goodbye, Goldie. Hello, Puli.

Today I got rid of my first car. It was always having problems and about a month ago, it broke down on my way to work.

I loved the color (gold/metallicmustard/whatever), but I think that was its only endearing quality. I was ready to part ways with Goldie, but I never anticipated that the hardest part would be listening to it get pulled onto the tow truck.

The car was stuck in park and wouldn't go into neutral, so it screeched all the way up and almost sounded like it was crying out, "Please don't sell me for scrap! Please don't sell me for scrap! Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!"

It was awful. I felt like an evil villain from a Disney movie about cars with human personalities (aka Cars).

Here is a picture from four and a half years ago when I first got Goldie.

On an entirely unrelated note, Tyler and I were looking at dogs and have decided that pulis are the coolest dogs ever.

My Stats

Not gonna lie, I've been a little obsessive about checking my blog's "stats" because how cool is it that you can see what countries your blog is being viewed from? Pretty sweet, right?

I'm not sure what I did to get 38 page views from Australia and 11 from France, but I'm definitely not complaining.