summertime

Summertime in the city with some of my bests.

"craigslist" or "the time i didn't help a pregnant lady unload her car."

TJ and I were going to pick up this great table and chairs set off of Craigslist yesterday. It was a steal really; a wealthy family's moving sale. We got there and it was this cute, young, pregnant-and-already-had-2-kids mom that answered the door. She said hi, asked us to take off our shoes, and directed us to the table and chairs. It was a little awkward, as most Craigslist experiences are, so to try to appease the awkward moment TJ introduced us. The lady did not introduce herself back. [I think the hitch-hiking rule applies here. Take the lead of the person picking you up, or in this case, the seller. If they don't care who you are, do not tell them. But I digress.] Other than asking if we had kids and trying to sell us a train table for babies, she didn't say much. We loaded up the table and were on our merry way.

So this morning TJ and I realize that we left the leaf to the table on the woman's front porch. Debating if it was worth going back for, I eventually emailed her to see if she hadn't thrown it out yet. She said she had just noticed it and to stop by any time to grab it-- she left it outside for me.

I pulled up to her house thinking I am going to run up on her porch, grab it, and take off before anyone knows I'm there. Not the case. As I park, her garage door starts opening. She had been out running errands and pulled up the exact same time as me. I awkwardly get out of my car and say hello, grab the leaf as she says, "Sucks you had to come all the way back down here for this" and I'm like "yeah, it's okay. It happens," and yell bye to her. I close my door and turn on my car and realize that she (pregnant, mind you) is starting to unload a bunch of giant, awkwardly shaped boxes out of the back of her car. I am now faced with a dilemma. Do I offer to help this Craigslist lady that didn't introduce herself and wanted to make this a quick transaction? Or do I just drive away to get back to work?

I started to drive away and then briefly considered rolling down my window to ask if she needed help, but then I just kept driving. Until next time, awkward Craigslist lady.

"milk + honey" or "i'm so hip i order straight espresso and think a typewriter is portable"

TJ and I were at the great little cafe last night called Milk + Honey. It's a pretty hip place where you can get aloe in everything and a lavender latte (my favorite thing ever, currently). The music playing is usually something you've never heard of... or Bon Iver, which is something you'd never heard of until recently. It typically draws an interesting crowd, and last night was no exception.

1) We walked in and there was a couple in the corner. At first I thought they were just girlfriends hanging out on a Friday night. Then I realized one was a male with a super long french braid as he leaned over his laptop to give his mate a kiss. Which brings me to my next point. He was on a laptop...she was on a TYPEWRITER. She was lugging her typewriter to the coffee shop. Come on.

2) There was a girl getting trained that night. Super sweet, delicate flower is the only image I get in my mind when I think of how to describe this girl. And the girl training her was more like...hipster bullies gang leader. Then there was the guy just trying to navigate the passive-agressive girl fight. Tension was thick and it was painful to watch.

3) TJ looked at the menu and said, "What do you think an espresso con panna is?" Me: "I dunno." TJ: (googles it) "Shot of espresso with cream. Maybe I'll get that."

He orders this item, too proud to ask what an item was on a coffee shop menu, and we sit and wait for our drinks. Several minutes later, long after I had received my lavender latte, we heard "espresso con panna" called. A cup approximately the size of a shot glass, filled about 1/3 of the way full with a dollop of whipped cream on top, is placed on the counter. I don't know if it was the ridiculousness of the whole scene mashed together or what, but TJ and I about lost it at this point. Of course at a hipster cafe where there is a girl practicing her stenography to our right would you pay $2.50 for a half shot of espresso with whipped cream on top of it.

We held it together long enough for TJ to swallow the espresso (and his pride), order a real cup of coffee "you know, for the road. but it was so delicious, thanks" and nearly keel over from laughter once we reached the parking lot.

"constant reminders" or "an analogy that came to me while i was eating stir fry"

i had a 3 hour class this morning, and i didn't bring a morning snack. this is a problem because i am like clockwork when it comes to food. if i don't eat every 2 hours, i get upset and cranky and no one wants to talk to me (first world problems, i know). so the last hour of class, i am trying to hold it together like nobody's business. after class, my group for a project had a question of the professor. we approach him right as "that girl" (everyone has this person in their class) swoops in and starts going off on tangents and asking questions and dragging out everything she has to say. (there is no one left in the classroom at this point, except the professor, this girl, and my entire group. i am glaring at the girl. she does not budge. she continues on, as if we are standing around solely because we are totally interested in what she has to say. but i digress.) finally, we ask our question, discuss our project some more, and i hit the road to get to work. it has been 4 hours since my last meal at this point.

the moment i step into the office i run to the kitchen to fix my lunch. i count the seconds down as it heats up in the microwave. i take it back to my desk and start shoveling. but here's the problem: i was so hungry that i got these huge spoonfuls that wouldn't even fit in my mouth, and as a result everything fell off the spoon and none went into my belly. i kept trying to frantically shovel more and more food into my stomach, until finally i had to stop, take a step back, and take it piece by piece. take it in manageable steps, and my hunger would be satisfied. try to do it all at once and nothing got accomplished, and i was still irritable and frustrated.

so......big finish:

don't we do this with so many things in life? (okay i made that intentionally cheesy because it's kind of ridiculous). but seriously, so often in my life i suddenly realize all these needs i have at one time and i want to do everything at once, all right now, all before tomorrow. i don't pray enough, i don't exercise enough, i have 2 huge projects due in the next 2 weeks, and i'm STARVING. so i eat my meal while i'm running down the street holding a laptop trying to focus on two totally different topics, and asking God for help through it all. but nothing gets accomplished and i'm just tired at the end of the day.

this is more just a reminder for myself that i need to take things step by step, piece by piece, day by day. this is a marathon, not a sprint. i need to set manageable goals, and focus my time and energy so i have time for the things in life that really matter. i constantly need this reminder.

anyone? really? i'm the only one?

you know those captcha things that are supposed to take human effort and turn it into digitizing books? it makes me scared when i type in something like "orghskan bumjahgf" and it accepts it as right, which totally just happened. like, there's no way that's a word i've never heard of, but that's definitely what the font looks like to me, and somewhere that is getting digitized for the rest of humanity to read for all eternity.

first family trip to europe

i read this essay on a woman's first family trip to europe with her 3 year old son and i really enjoyed it. yeah yeah...probably because it's about amsterdam. but it was still a sweet read.

Hanging out our hotel window on a warm night in Amsterdam eight years later, I looked down drop-jawed as young dudes swarmed out bars, stripped off their pants, and stumbled into the fountain below to thrash and bellow wearing just their teeny totally un-American bikini underpants. Holland had just lost the World Cup to Argentina. These guys were in pain, apparently. But, man, I thought, Is Europe great or what?

Louisa Kamps, First Family Trip to Europe 

iPoem by TJ Hill

you are my Magic Hour when I'm feeling Ansel
you Brighten me up when I'm ready to hit cancel.
you are my Amaro when I'm desaturated as Inkwell
you help me fix my eyes on heaven when I'm going through hell.
you're as fearless as Kelvin, hip like Nashville
a warm filter in a world that's way too chilled.
you're a gold coin in Hanging, my inspiration in Scramble
you occupy my mind while those stupid app advertisements ramble.
your voice is more soothing than a Sleep Cycle wakeup
you're prettier than a photo after a ShakeItPhoto shakeup.
I'll be your applecare if your screen ever shatters
nothing is too big for us to face cause we have what matters:

iPhones! ...uhh....I mean... LOVE!