Zumba!

This is my favorite song to "Zumba" to. Seriously, I know you all think I'm kidding, but I'm not - there's nothing like bumping and grinding to Pitbull/T.O.K. with a bunch of college girls and middle aged women. Just let this song play and read the rest of the blog entry. It'll put you in such a great mood.

I think I've mentioned Zumba once or twice before, but I went again tonight and was reminded of how much I love it. 

First off, if you've never heard of Zumba, you can check it out here. It's basically a Latin-dancing cardio class that encourages extreme booty shaking in the name of fitness. Now, I was never the girl who was dancing and jiving around the room. I dropped out of dance when I was roughly eight years old. In chorus as a middle-schooler, my best friend had to teach me the dance moves in my bedroom over the weekend. Throughout my high school career, I avoided dance parties like the plague for fear that I would be forced to display my severely lacking dance skills. 

But then I discovered Zumba. It was sort of an off-the-wall decision to try it; I'd merely heard good reviews from some acquaintances and thought it would be fun to try. Thank goodness I did! Zumba has given me so much confidence in my body, in myself, and in my dancing ability. I've learned things like salsa and mambo and cumbia, but I've also just learned how to shake my hips and be excited about it.

The first time I came to Zumba, I met Heather, our fabulous instructor, and she instantly gave off the aura that everything was going to be just fine. She opened the class with the magic words: "It's your body - do what you want with it!" and then proceeded to dance and shake and yell 'aye aye aye' with such abandon that I had no choice but to join in. And I loved it! Zumba has completely changed my outlook on dancing. Anyone can do it, you just have to be brave enough to try. Heather would then close her class by yelling, "What are you thinking about right now?" and we were all instructed to yell back "How awesome we are!" She wanted us to love ourselves, and she wanted us to love Zumba. For that, I just want to say thank you, Heather.

And for the rest of you - give Zumba a try! They teach it everywhere, for goodness sake. Not just the YMCA, but all sorts of fitness clubs. You won't regret it!

It's Time.

Time to turn over a new leaf - in fashion.

I was reading a couple of old blog posts on Bethany Joy's blog, one of which being a guest editorial on fashion choices. The author wrote about her love of fashion, how she found joy in picking out new outfits and putting together pieces that she wouldn't have normally chosen to put together. And she talked about how that came to be - how she used to "dress like I was in my 50s (my usual outfit was boot cut jeans and a solid colored top sometimes with a scarf for “flare”)." Upon reading this, I realized that my favorite outfit is a pair of skinny jeans with a tank top, cardigan, and scarf. And it is time to mix things up!

I love this! It's from a blog called Kendi Everyday and she writes about this outfit, "I'm not a particularly loud person. But when I put this outfit on I immediately felt like the combo was yelling, 'Can you see me? I'm over here!! Pass the ball!!' (Okay, not 'pass the ball.' Sorry, that was left over from my past life as a 7th grade basketball star.)" 

I mean, if I don't do it now, when am I going to? When I turn 50, it's not like I'm going to want to wear crop tops and tiny leather skirts and oversized sweaters. It's now! I'm about to go to college, and I vowed to myself that I would do a few things differently than I did in high school. I'm not going to be so scared, for instance, to have a voice in large groups. I'm not going to stay in my safe little bubble of safe, crazy friends. It's time to branch out, and what better way to do it than revamp my wardrobe!

This is one of the outfits Joy put together on her blog, and I think it's so classy!

So I'm doing some research to try and figure out exactly what I want, but I'll keep you updated. In the meantime, if you need some fashion blogs, let me know. I've found about a million!

Summer Travels

July promises to be a month of adventures!

There are so many things I am looking forward to, the first of which being...

THE DAVE MATTHEWS BAND CARAVAN!

I am so excited for this event. All my men are going to be there. Not just Dave Matthews himself, but also Michael Franti, Amos Lee, Ray LaMontagne...I cannot wait. This is also a momentous occasion because it's my first official, real-live concert. Ever. And I can't think of a better way to do it than going to a three day festival in Chicago by myself. 

Now, some people have questioned why I'm going by myself. But music is sort of like going to the movie theatre for me - I don't like going to the movies with people because I need time to take in everything for myself, form my own opinion, and then go out into the world with the information fully processed. It's the same way with music. I don't want other peoples' opinions until my own is fully formed. 

Besides DMB Caravan, we're also taking our annual trip to Minnesota.

This is the view from our cabin. We've gone here every year since I was a baby, and it is my second home. I can't imagine not coming here every year. I recently did an oil painting (see this picture - it's on the desk!) of the view from the balcony of the cabin with a quote that reads "Somebody once told me that this is the place where everything is better, and everything is safe." I can't sum up how I feel about it any better than that. 

We're also taking a trip to Montana - who knew I could rough it in the mountains? I can't wait for the long road trip and the beautiful scenery - plus, I've never been further west than Lincoln, so it should be an adventure. 

In honor of all the travel, here's one of my favorite roadtrip songs. Hope your summer is going wonderfully!

Summer Reading

One of my summer goals was to read a book week, and though I got started a little late, I've followed through the last two weeks!

The first book I picked up was "Reviving Ophelia" by Mary Pipher, a therapist from Nebraska. The book was all about Pipher's experiences with adolescent girls and how they deal with pressure - the pressure the date, have sex, do drugs, drink, live, learn, have a plan, and succeed. I thought it was really interesting how she discussed these issues without sounding preachy or condescending. I worried, when I picked it up, that it was going to merely be her thoughts on why these girls were so messed up. But the majority of the book was her finding the strength in each of the girls she studied. And that made me proud.

Then, last week, I read "Zeitoun" by Dave Eggers. It is the story of a Muslim family living in New Orleans pre-Hurricane Katrina. Midway through the book, the hurricane hits and the family is split up as Kathy and her children leave her husband, Zeitoun, to relocate temporarily in Baton Rouge. Zeitoun and Kathy continue to keep in contact in hopes that he will soon join them, but before they can make a plan, Zeitoun is arrested and taken to a FEMA-run prison, beaten, tortured, and left without contact. The book progresses and provides a lot of great insight on how President Bush managed to handle (or, not handle, in this case) the disaster that was Hurricane Katrina. I was so surprised that Bush couldn't even send in the National Guard effectively, and only managed to make a bad situation a hundred times worse.

These were both great books, so if you're looking for a good read, there's a couple!

This week I picked up a couple new titles:

Cutting for Stone

and Jamrach's Menagerie

Hope everyone's June is going really well!

A Few of My Favorite Things...

When I turned 16, I filled a little red Moleskine notebook with two separate lists. First, one hundred things I love, and secondly, my bucket list. I just thought I'd share a couple of the things on my lists. I've collected these little treasures over time and they remind me of everything good in my life.

12. Driving on the freeway

16. "Sugar Blue" by Jeff Finlin

48. Bikes with wicker baskets

74. Jumping into the water

100. "Myself and the life I've built. Because

even if I can't quite remember it in times of 

misery, I was once filled with a passion: for life, 

for food, for the world. And if I can't remember that time, 

then it's time to begin anew."

A few of my favorite things!

I also encourage you to check out the Moleskine company. I use their little cahiers for everything: lists, sketches, ideas. I dedicate one cahier to whatever novel I'm currently working on. During National Novel Writing Month, it was a lifesaver having all of my writing ideas in one place.

Hope your June has been just s'wonderful so far.

Love,

Adrienne

Summer!

Ahh, summer. Hot, sticky, humid summer, filled with bonfires and parties and swimming. Summer is my favorite time of year, and finally it is here!

I suppose big things have been happening, things that I should report on! Graduation for example...

Here I am in my cute little cap and my National Honor Society/International Thespian Society medallions. Graduation was a great day! Cake, ceremonies, grad parties galore. I am so glad to be done with high school. 

My best friend, Bailey (the blonde one in the middle), gave a beautiful graduation speech about what we take with us - humility, grace, the ability to win without losing friends, and lose without falling apart.

Graduation was such an exciting time, and I am glad to have experienced it, but it was such a relief once it was over! The real fun could begin then: Graduation parties, dinners, pool parties, fire pits.

I am also taking up oil painting! Yesterday, a good friend of mine took me to Hobby Lobby and helped me pick out the paints and canvases and palettes that I would need.

I am so excited to get started. I want to paint a canvas to put in my dorm room, with a beautiful lanscape that fades into a neutral background so I can put a quote on the canvas. I'm also doing some shopping for posters and wall art for my dorm next year!

Summer is such an exciting time. There are finally enough hours in the day to do everything I want to do - paint, play the ukulele, go to the gym, cook. I am so ready to really delve in to everything I've been wanting to do.

In the meantime, here's a couple of my favorite summer songs! Hope you enjoy!

Have a great June, everyone!