I bought my first Hemingway...

Wish me luck.

Across the River and into the Trees. I've read a few pages in Barnes and Noble but haven't gotten up the nerve to actually buy it. Hemingway just sounds daunting to me. However, one of my favorite things to do is read those dang classics people talk about and it has lead to some interesting literary experiences (wow that sounds pretentious) even if I don't always love the book. So far I haven't read anything that made me consider the time invested wasted. 

So far. 

My Wedding Up-Do

Per wedding, tradition before my cousin's recent nuptials the female bridal party met up at a salon to get our hair done. 

I hadn't decided how I wanted mine done, I just knew I wanted it up. My hair stylist was young but very pretty and had very cute normal hair, no red stripes or bleached anything, so I gave her carte blanche. I told her I wanted "classic and simple". "Classic and simple". Like Charlotte York I told her, nothing promy, no corn rows or anything of the sort. "Classic and simple".

My dear friends, does this look simple?

I think not. There were more twists and curves than am Appalachian road through the mountains. It wasn't bad per-say, but it was about as far away from my style as possible. 

This leads me to another point. See the beautiful girl in the back? She's a G, my cousin Danielle. G genes tend to be pretty dominant. We pop out slightly pale with freckles, reddy hair, and big ole blue eyes. When seen together, we are very clearly a family. We are small in stature and large in sarcasm. Dear Danielle's mother must have found a man with very stubborn genes. Uncle Robin shines through in Danielle and her brother like you wouldn't believe. She gets to be skinny yet curvy, be permanently tan, have beautiful thick dark hair all the way down her back, and did I mention she gets to be curvy? This picture does not do her justice. She's the envy of the G's...

About Me

My name is Char and I have a blog. None of my friends do, but the BFs family got me hooked and so I blog on all on my own as far as fellow co-eds go.

I love pretty pictures and fashion, decorating and paper. I use Harry Potter pseudonyms for all of my friends because as of now they are skeptical of the blogging world. I expect when we grow and up and move away and have babies we will all have blogs because that seems to be the thing to do. And when that day comes I will laugh and gleefully answer all their questions about blogger, thankful that they can finally share in the obsession with me! And secretly, I will be very proud that my archives stretch back much farther then theirs.

Pennies From Heaven is where I write everything. I put my favorite photographs there, my favorite fashions, thoughts, stories, and humorous conversations between Hermione and I.

I'm a 21 year old from the Region (portion of Indiana that should be annexed by Chicago). I go to school at little ole Manchester and my middling-conservative self fits in a bit oddly here but I have carved out my little niche. MC, I have come to realize, may not have been the best choice for me. But if I could go back in time I would still end up here because I have met wonderful people, friends and professors, and it has very pretty weeping cherry trees. Pretty spring blooming trees are very important to me.

POC

New POC (place of occupation) policy. We are no longer allowed to mention the name of our POC or post pictures on blogs or facebook of us in our T-Shirts or at camp. So from now on when I speak of my job it will be known as POC. 

So yeah, I'm now 200 pictures less popular on facebook and have a lot of work to do censoring my past blog posts. Goooood times. : (

You're My Favorite

Some days I would just kill to be back in Europe and today is one of them. 

I keep thinking about singing jingle bells with Luna on the streets in Budapest.

And waking up the BF and his friends every morning because, well they are lazy boys and ho doesn't love barging in on a bunch of sleeping college boys who look like 8 year olds in the morning. 

The BF and I had almost zero alone time over there, so alas there are no romantic stories of walking through Prague holding hands, but there are plenty of stories of Luna and I trailing after college boys with impossibly long legs and laughing at one thing or another. Stories about searching through book stores in every single country and about a dozen jewelry shops in Prague. Plus I did get an opportunity to fight with the BF in Munich, now how often does that happen?? Almost never. 

I would just kill to go back there. Other girls dream of honeymoons involving white sandy beaches but I dream of museums and royal gardens, palaces and book stores. 

To go and see a Europe not covered in snow would also be nice...

Charmed Life

This is pretty much how I feel about life these days : )

It's a Good Day

I am in such a good mood. I know I have been slightly absent from the blogging world lately, since summer vacay has started every day feels like a weekend, and generally I don't blog on the weekends. Eventually this will sort itself out. 

Sooo I checked my grades online last night. Normally they don't come out till Wednesday and normally I don't check them until the Wednesday after that. But this semester I decided to check it asap. I took way more credits than are necessary and generally even allowed but man I pulled it off with flying colors! Not to toot my own horn or anything : )

Generally when I get all A's I take it as a sign I've been working too hard and slack off accordingly. I found out an a veeeeery early age I can totally slack off and still get all B+'s with some A-'s. It's a gift, and the secret to my having time to blog. But this time, I got five (count em, 1,2,3,4,5) five A's and 1 B+! Oh yeah!

Yesterday was just a good day all around. I started working.

Oh my gosh I love the POC. It felt sooo good to walk in the doors and have Digger stop mid-sentence and run up and give me a hug! Shortly followed by the equally lovable Meeko and Bingo. My friends in high school were not the best. I've kept the few that were true friends, but I have abandoned most of the rest. I have not, however, abandoned the feeling that I love everyone a little more than they love me. It feels good to know that my POC girls love me too : ) It also feels good to be called Twinkle Toes again. Whoever came up with the idea that we should all have camp names is a genius. Anyway, I'm ready for camp to start, and although I'm really worried I won't get my K-1's again (fingers crossed), I'm just happy to be back. The new counselors seem amazing and I'm just itching to write out the first homegram of the summer!

More than that I'm itching to write the first blog of the summer that has quotes from five years olds. Those are always the best quotes. 

Break Me Off a Piece of that Kit-Kat Bar

Just when I'm celebrating Love 21, I see this. 

Know what that means? I didn't. So I looked it up. It means everything (waist, bust, inseam, etc) is on average two inches larger. 

Come. On. Give. Me. A. Break. 

It's not more modest if it falls off of you, fyi. 

You can't convince me those girls in the pictures are two inches larger... That's for sure. Where can I get their clothes?

Love 21

Forever 21 has launched yet another line, Love 21. And I love it. 

Lately F21 has been lagging a bit to me. With student teaching on the horizon I need to make some better decisions about clothing options, less short-shorts and more button ups. : (

Love 21 is a great grown up option to F21, and is a little less fashion forward than Twelve by Twelve (another F21 line...). It's full of pieces that I can easily throw a cardigan over to teach in, and then still wear it out that night with friends. And I am soo excited that it will be available in Chi-Town! Yet another excuse to grab the train this summer : )

Here are some of my favorite pieces. 

The best part is the prices are still way reasonable and every time I've checked the website today there have been new additions! I love it!

Craiglist

Have any of you ever used Craiglist? I haven't and quite honestly, I've only heard creepy things about it. But in my recent search for furniture for Hermione and mine's house I decided to check it out. It was soooo easy. It gives you a list of cities where they are located, you pick the one closest to you (South Bend). I clicked furniture, I typed in Desk, and I put my max at $30 and 49 hits. Now some are fairly boring, run of the mill finds, but some are ridiculously cool. Like this. 

This desk is form some old school building and comes with chairs. How freaking cool is that? Think of how cool that could look. A little sanding and either some varnish or paint and this is a top notch addition to any house and it comes with such a great story! Best part? $25. Hallelujah! 

Or what about this? They must not have any idea what a find this is or else this art deco desk would be waaay more than $30. 

Ugh I'm in Heaven. 

Such Silliness

Word on the street is that the BF and I have a weird relationship because we do our own thing... 

Apparently we are just not seen often enough eating together in the union, holding hands in the mall, or making out in corners of the library. 

I do apologize. Sincerely. 

I kind of take it as a compliment because I always wanted a relationship where I got to be me and he got to be him and then we got to be me and him. We are "Char and the BF", not "them" and at this moment I like it that way. 

More than the Sears Tower? That's Impressive...

Teaching econ? I probably shouldn't be...

So at Warsaw I will be teaching just economics. Guess who's not concentrating in economics? That'd be me. I've taken the two required courses but that's it. 

Now I work in the econ dept at my school and I get along really well with both the profs. But I think it's a bad sign when you tell them you'll be teaching econ and they look at you and say, "Reeaally?" with worried eyes and grimaced faces. (That's right, I turned  grimace into an adjective, deal with it.)

Those poor children. 

Student Teaching...

So Hermione and I went off yesterday and met all four of our cooperating teachers. It was quite the undertaking, it involved a lot of scheduling, synchronized watches, and somersaults ala the Matrix. Very Jason Bourne. 

Maybe not. 

My high school placement is at Warsaw. The school is massive. My school? Yeah it was K-12 in one building. I graduated with 40. Warsaw has 2000 students. That's more than my college! 

So this is how it went down when I went to the office to sign in. 

Char: Hi, I'm looking for ****** Riley.

Secretary: Oh ok! Room R252

C: Oh I don't know where that is. 

S: Oh it's really easy. Go out that door, take a left and go to the end of the hallway. Go up the staircase and turn right. The at the first hallway take another right. They grab a pair of roller skates and skate down the third corridor on your left. Then do cartwheels until your dizzy and fall over. There should be a hall in front of you. Spin four times and go down it, the 35th door on your right will take you to the hallway of Mrs. Rileys room. She will be the 17th door on your left. Ring the doorbell, guess the code, and you're in. 

C: Ummm...

S: (to a student sitting behind me) Will you just take her?

I am so in over my head. 

Izzie and George? Seriously? Seriously???

The title pretty much sums it up. Seriously? Seriously??

And I have never been so scared as when Merideth figured out who 007 was. Seriously, I had chills. Seriously.

I don't think they can kill off both at the same time, it would be too detrimental to the show. Izzie's elevator doors are going to close and she'll go back to the lobby and live happily ever after. I'm calling it. I choose to live in my bubble of optimism until next year. 

Adventurers with Razors

Due to the aforementioned pink eye I am glasses bond and have been since sunday. I could probably put my contacts back in today (yesterday, probably even the day before that...) but I'm too freaked out to get it again so I'm still on the drops...

Anyway. Last night I had my first experience in many years with trying to shave my legs without vision. I haven't had to do that since junior year or high school, and my vision was quite a bit better then than it is now. Since I have been sick and germy and pale there has been no reason for shorts and thus no reason for shaving. Well I got tired of it last night. 

Seriously, I'm blind. I literally had my knee pulled up to my chin and all I could see was my knee, no shin in sight for me. And I'm not a flexible girl so this was not easy for me. All in all not a good experience. I about skinned myself. 

I need those glasses they had on Saved by the Bell. They had wind shield wipers on them.

Genius. 

You Don't Know Me At All

Check it out! 

Making this video looks like fun. I just love it!

After watching it I'm pretty sure Regina Spektor and Ben Folds should get married, even though this isn't a love song per-say, I just feel it. I am the female Cupid ya know. I've decided and so it shall be. 

Is it weird that I totally dig the guy in this video even though  all you can really see is his giant adam's apple? I don't think it's Ben Folds, but I'm not positive.. 

You know you should go to the doctor when...

...you cuss out a computer because it asks you if you really want to delete that email. I wouldn't have clicked delete if I hadn't wanted to! Meanwhile your boyfriend (who is sitting next to you) stares at you with a look that says "Oh dear God she has finally cracked." He knew it would happen eventually.

Needless to say I went to the doctor yesterday, but only because I woke up with crusty eyes. I think this is my body's survival tactic. It knows I won't take it to the doctor for a cold or a sore throat, but the second I feel pink eye I'm in that waiting room filling out the necessary paperwork. It does this fairly often. The sore throat is a thousand times better and the pink eye was caught early so my eyes never even got very pink and I have been officially non contagious for a few hours now : )

Summer Come Quick!

Can I tell you just how pumped I am for summer?

No, not summer weather, I'm not a heat kind of girl.

Number 1? Work. I'm soo ready to be back at camp. I love all my little kiddies and I miss them! It's tough to come back and see your kids so much older and cooler and so much less interested in you, but still, it's fun to see them grow up! And there are always new little poopers (literally...) to love! 

Number 2? Friends. Camp means I get to see my fellow counselors. I'm so lucky to have a job where I love the people I work with. My first year at the Y I struggled. I came in in the middle of the summer and I didn't know anyone. Last year, my second year, somehow I was cooler and made friends with my friend soul mates, Digger and Bingo. How I wish that I went to school with them, college would be so much more fun. They are some of the few people that get how crazy I am and totally embrace it, just like I embrace their crazy. I love them and I miss them!

Number 3? The BF. Summer means BF visits. Every two weeks I go to his house or he comes to mine. It's tough getting into the schedule of only seeing each other every two weeks, but after awhile we get mostly used to it. Plus when we do get together we have such a blast! 

Number 4? Crafts. I drive past Hobby Lobby every day on my way to and from work. Nuff said. 

High on Drugs

I have had a sore throat for days. It just won't go away. I am on claritin, robitussin, and sudafed. I have cepacol throat drops and ricola cough drops. I even gargled with salt water. My mom has been trying to get me to do that for going on 22 years now. I don't have a temp and to be quite honest, my snot is clear. My body is practically floating with all the water and orange juice I'm shoving in it. 

But my throat hurts and my nose is running and I want to know why it won't stop. 

How Lovely to be a Woman

Ok, I'm a fairly open minded chick. God told me not to judge, so I try my darndest not to. It's not my job to say what's right and what's wrong, it's my job to love my neighbor.

I'm taking Sexuality and Gender in Society this semester, for most people it's out of their comfort zone, not so much for me. There is one girl in there who is transexual. She came to school for the last two years as a guy and started out this past year as a female. Whatev, as the sister would say, "Do what ya feel." I can't say I understand it, but if I did I'd be dressing as a guy right now. It doesn't really bother me though, it'd not my place to judge by any means. 

However.

When we discuss women's issues, (sexism, rape, etc) she drives me nuts. She's a "sigher". You know the ones, every time they hear something they personally identify with they "mmhmm" or "yup" under their breath while shaking their head. These people annoy me under good circumstances. But if you have only been a "woman" for 6 months excuse me if it annoys me when we talk about growing up being scared of rape and you "mmhmm". Excuse me if it annoys me when we talk about periods and you "yup". And excuse me if it annoys me when we talk about dealing with sexism and infertility and you shake your head in agreement. Here's the thing. 

You don't know. 

You don't know what it's like. You weren't raised being warned of rape, you've never had a period and you never will, and Lord knows you will never worry about infertility. Maybe one day you will experience sexism but as of now you do not get it. So drop it. 

This has been bubbling... 

Best Girlfriend Ever Award

The BF came over to East today when he couldn't find any open dryers in Schwalm. I walked down to the basement with him and as he started throwing things in the dryer I asked how many loads he had."Uh, two."

"How are they separated?"

"Separated? Huh?"

I'm amazed his shirts aren't all pink at this point. 

Anyway I just finished folding his clothes. He didn't ask me to, I did it all of my own accord. Laundry is pretty much my only domestic thing. 

And for this I think I deserve to be named best girlfriend of the year. Thank you. 

This picture makes me think of 27 Dresses when the sister says a good fluff and fold is no joking matter. 

Why stop when I'm clearly on a run...

New favorite show? Cupid. Please watch it. All you have to do is devote 60 minutes to a TV near you and you know what you get in return? Guaranteed love story. 

Somebody always falls in love and lives happily ever after. Every single Tuesday. 

And just as a side note, Sarah Paulson who plays Claire McCrae always has the cutest clothes. And Bobby Cannavale plays the most lovable Cupid I've ever seen

Happy Mother's Day from Taylor Swift

I'm going to need you to look at these. 

The first one is just another piece of arsenal that proves Taylor Swift has the best music videos ever. Isn't this exactly what every glasses wearing good girl in high school dreams of? I know I did. That that one guy who was always just friends would just somehow see me at prom all decked out and totally fall for me and leave the slutty short skirt wearing chick. However, I have to say that when I got my contacts before senior year and suddenly a lot more guys were paying attention to me, I was fairly offended... 

The second is just slightly emotionally gut wrenching. Happy Mother's Day indeed. Oh and check out that blonde afro Taylor is sporting, sooo cute. 

The Best Day from Big Machine Records on Vimeo.

One Blog Woman

So just a moment ago I was cursing my new favorite blog for not updating when I realized maybe I wasn't in any position to be criticizing... 

I have mentioned before that I am very much a one blog kinda woman. I just don't have the creative reserves necessary to handle more than one, I tried to start a super secret blog back in November- it still only has 6 posts. 

Well for my state and local politics class we were doing a city simulation. We created our own city and we each got roles. Dear old Dr. Williams unknowingly placed me with the post of Editor and Publisher of the Camelot Daily News, a blog. He had noooo idea what he was getting himself into (freak tornados, illegitimate children, it's been a ball). Anyway, this is why I have been clearly absent from Pennies. That and I don't have a camera. Can I just tell you how emotionally wrenching that has been? A year ago I wouldn't have even noticed and now just the sight of a perfectly formed tulip is enough to send my fingers itching to be holding that cold hard metal...