That time I turned 22

I turned 22 recently. It happens.

I had a really truly lovely birthday. I celebrated Kate-style, which means a lot of relaxing and bumming around and I only pulled the “I get to ‘cause it’s my birthday” line a handful of times.

My family (minus my bestie-sister, sad) spent the weekend at our mountain home taking in the fresh air and enjoying each other’s company.

When I arrived I was delighted to find this beautiful red rose on my dresser, compliments of my dear father.

I loved it! …But I have to admit it was quite alarming to wake to the smell of roses in the air. Some of you know why. If you don’t know why, ask me. But if you ask me, my answer will be: “Read Hunger Games!” So maybe you should just skip the middle step and get straight to reading.

Have I mentioned how beautiful sunset in the mountains is?

On Sunday, the actual day of my birth +22 years, I awoke to a heavy fog which quickly rolled out. It looked stunning coming through the trees in front of our house and blocking out our normal view of the mountains.

Once the fog left and the sun came out, we went to Grand Lake where we ate lunch by the lake, and then soaked up the sun and read. Well, I don’t know that any of us actually read more than five or six pages of our respective books (mine= Mockingjay…yes, again) because there were too many adorable children and dogs frolicking on the beach to distract us.

Check out this sweet car! And check out the people in it! Those hats! Love! I kept seeing it around Grand Lake all afternoon. I snapped super (not)sneaky pictures every time I saw it.

On our way home we stopped here.

Why? Let me zoom in for you.

An adorable moose family!

We were all pretty sleepy from our exhausting morning of relaxing, but I insisted on taking a mountain stroll with my mother. I’m trying to soak in the beauty of my Colorado Rockies before I leave.

For dinner, we headed into town to one of our favorite restaurants. The food was delicious! I was quite content.

Monday I said “Hasta Luego” to my mountains and headed home. But not before seeing one more Papa Moose on the way out of town!

{Please appreciate my camera's zoom. The moose is that speck at the far edge of the water by the tree line.}

{Nom Nom Nom}

I’m expecting big things of 22. Hopefully those big things won't be moose. Because moose are actually quite dangerous. It's best to keep them at a camera-zoom length.

Stay tuned to see how the year goes. : )

P.S.: I do get to drag out my birthday a bit longer. I’m heading out of town this weekend for a fantastic trip to visit one my besties! I. Can’t. Wait. Don’t be surprised if my trip recap consists of nothing but pictures of food and the word “Peeta.”

P.P.S: Want a postcard from Spain? Sure you do!

Assemble!

So,

I leave in just about 2 weeks for Spain.

I'll be there until June.

Holy scary adventure, batman!

I'm freaking out.

The time has come to get all those little odds and ends together (and the not so little odds and ends like packing).

This means I want addresses. If you want a postcard from Spain, send your address to sophistikate88@gmail.com. I promise I won't come find and stalk you. Unless you make really good cookies or something. Then all bets are off.

{Kidding. I hope that's obvious...}

Go, hurry, send before I jet-set off to a tiny pueblo in the south of Spain!

I'm still not over it...

*Spoiler*

"On bad mornings, it feels impossible to take pleasure in anything because I'm afraid it could be taken away. That's when I make a list in my head of every act of goodness I've seen someone do. It's like a game. Repetitive. Even a little tedious after more than twenty years.

But there are much worse games to play."

-Page 390, Mockingjay

Mockingjay: A really long, random, and spoiler-filled reaction post.

Here’s how this post is going to go…It’s going to be a ramble-ridden mess. However, I have no one yet to talk to about the third and final installment in the Hunger Games trilogy by Suzanne Collins, so I will take to the blog. That’s what it’s here for after all.*

This is not a review of Mockingjay. I am way too emotionally overwhelmed to be capable of critical thinking right now. This does contain spoilers at random.

I read from 9:30am and finished at 4:58pm. I spent a lot of that time in anguish, freaking out.

And then I died a happy, happy (metaphorical) death.

I cannot even begin to tell you how pleased I was with the ending. That last page…it said it all and perfectly. Suzanne Collins via Katniss finally voiced why Peeta was the one and Gale never could be. I am so so glad she emphasized that Peeta wasn’t just who she ended up with, but who she was always meant to be with. And, oh, the way she voiced it:

“On the night I feel that thing again, the hunger that overtook me on the beach, I know this would have happened anyway. That what I need to survive is not Gale’s fire, kindled with rage and hatred. I have plenty of fire myself. What I need is the dandelion in spring. The bright yellow rebirth instead of destruction. The promise that life can go one, no matter how bad our losses. That it can be good again. And only Peeta can give me that.”

Just let that sink in for a moment. And then, BAM, Suzanne Collins turns me into a sobbing ecstatic mess:

“So after, when he whispers ‘You love me. Real or not real?’

I tell him, ‘Real.’”

--Mockingjay, page 388

End game. I’m done. I’m jumping around my (thankfully empty) house like a crazy person crying from happiness and screaming like a mad woman.

(This even almost makes up for my precious Harry and Hermione not ending up together.)

Ok, now for some other stuff.

--Some favorite texts from friends while reading today:
“I peeked at a page in the far distance…and I shouldn’t have.” I knew exactly what page Lauren had meant when I got to it. 177, oh how you shocked and horrified us.
“Oh em eff gee. I will beat her over the head with her bow and arrows.” I’ll steal Finnick’s trident and help you, Katie.
“So, I’m on page 127 after Katniss sings ‘The Hanging Tree’ and I’m texting you so I don’t cry!” Kellie, The Hanging Tree part made me sob. I was mesmerized, too.
“Kate…Coin is shady.” Preach it, Lauren!
“I have to take breaks because it is so intense.” Um, word Sister.
“Just finished part 1!! PEETAAA :(” I spent most of the day crying “Peeta” the way Marci did.

--Page 64: “I still stand by what I said. Do you want me to lie about it?” he asks.
“No, I want you to rethink it and come up with the right opinion.”

I want to use that line on somebody! Love it.

--All the moments when Peeta repeats lines from previous books when he’s regaining his real memories… I was freaking out. Lamb stew. “I think…you still have no idea. The effect you can have.” (pg 325.) Etc.

--Page 314. I’m not even going to quote it for you. Just go re-read that daring and perfect and really really overdue kiss and melt all over again like I did.

--Page 244: “She got very squeaky. It was like someone stabbing a mouse with a fork repeatedly.”

So, I totally ended up loving Johanna.

And Finnick. Don’t get me started on the many ways I loved Finnick. I will start crying again. (Annie Cresta & Finnick O’Dair forever! And did you catch how they had a baby? *Sob*)

--Page 271: “You’re a painter. You’re a baker. You like to sleep with the windows open. You never take sugar in your tea. And you always double-knot your shoelaces.” Yeah, I cried. Peeta, come back!

--I’m really glad we got to know Prim a bit more in this book. It always bothered me that she didn’t have much of a voice when she meant so much to our heroine. I was heartbroken for Katniss when she died. And terribly terribly bothered when Gale made his comment: “That was the one thing I had going for me. Taking care of your family.” (pg 367) Reason #1000002 why Katniss was right to be with a good man like Peeta instead of Gale.

--Page 372. I KNEW IT. I hated Coin all along and the closer we got to this climax I felt sure Katniss would choose to eliminate Coin, not just Snow. Especially after the Hunger Games vote—when she voted yes I knew something was up.

A bullet point isn’t sufficient for my last thoughts. And honestly, I’m not in the right mindset to give praise to Suzanne Collins the way I’d like to and as fully as she deserves. But I do have to say how remarkably poignant her series is on the issues of war, rebellion, inhumanity, right vs. wrong, so on. I know I swoon a lot over Peeta and wax on about why he was the right choice and all the beautiful and heartbreaking moments we get between him and Katniss. However, far beyond all the romance, I appreciate and am astounded by the genius of these books to show that right and wrong is never clear, things aren’t quite black and white and that the enemy can be on all sides just as your friends can exist on all sides. She so critically portrays the battle within and without and the danger of violence and destruction no matter what cause you think you’re doing it all for.

Maybe this theme is why above all else I absolutely love Katniss. She is my homegirl, to quote my bestie Lar. She may not always make the wisest choice but she never ever ever allows herself to completely give in to the choices of others. She constantly reconsiders what role she’s playing and she refuses to be a pawn. She thinks for herself. She’s compassionate and she never dismisses the Capitol as all bad or upholds the rebels as all good. She protects those she loves, whether they be Capitol, Rebel, or Green (dear dear Octavia).

This is why, forgetting Team Peeta or Team Gale stuff, I love when she asserts at the end that “I have plenty of fire by myself.” She does. She certainly does.

So, when she chooses who she loves, she chooses somebody who can accept her, love her, and let her be herself. She knows she could be fine all on her own but she also realizes she has the choice to love someone else.

Sheesh, how long is this post? This, my friends, is what happens when I encounter a book that rocks my world and then have nobody to talk to about it.

I hope you all are reading and enjoying this series just as much as I am. Please tell me what your thoughts are!

{Cover of Mockingjay with the necklace I wore today on it. It's the closest thing I have that reminds me of the books what with the berries and the bird.}

*What it's here for: Whatever the heck I want it to be here for. Hehehe.

I'm in a step program

The first step is admitting you have a problem.

I can't roll my Rs.

*Sigh*

But I've decided to take action! I've read all the scholarly work on the issue, I've diagnosed my problem and I am now following a list of steps that should help me train my tongue to roll those rs over the course of several weeks.

I've been wandering around the house saying the word "perro" (dog) over and over again in great exaggeration trying (unsuccessfully) to roll those pesky rs. Tonight, my mom, who CAN roll her rs, stood in the kitchen with me for a good half hour while we went back and forth saying various words with double rs--her rolling them correctly, me flapping my tongue about like a dead fish against the roof of my mouth.

After a while of my giggling and her somewhat smugly correcting all my misguided attempts, we subsided into our silent kitchen activities.

After 5 minutes of silence, I suddenly blurted out "PERRO" very loudly. My rs still fell flat.

Mom said: "Awww you tried to sneak up on it!"

That was exactly what I had tried to do.

Drrrrrrrat.

I had a dream

I haven't been feeling so hot lately.

I've lost a little bit of the pep in my step and I need to get it back--and quick. (ly.)

I equally loathe the misuse of adverbs and love misusing them.

Deep down I think I know what I need to do to get myself together, but I'm feeling off-kilter and unable to move forward and do what needs doing. Things like: planning, making lists, gathering resources, practicing and studying my Spanish, compiling information so I'm not completely clueless and lost when I arrive.

Right now, I am loving this song to pieces. It sounds melancholy, but I find a sense of hope in the lyrics and a feeling of calm.




I was a little girl, alone in her little world
who dreamed of a little home for me.
I played pretend between the trees,
and fed my houseguests bark and leaves
and laughed in my pretty bed of green.

I had a dream

that I could fly from the highest swing
I had a dream.

Long walks in the dark
through woods grown behind the park
I asked God who I'm supposed to be.
The stars smiled down at me,
God answered in silent reverie
I said a prayer, and fell asleep.

I had a dream

That I could fly from the highest tree
I had a dream.

Now I'm old and feeling grey
I don't know what's left to say about this life I'm willing to leave.
I lived it full, I lived it well, there's many tales I've lived to tell
I'm ready now, I'm ready now, I'm ready now

to fly from the highest wing

I had a dream.

Happy in the Meantime

Today I feel light.

And happy and happy and happy and happy.

I finished a most excellent book that was recommended to me by a dear blog friend probably almost a year ago. Everyone go read The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows. I fell in love with all the right characters and I’m pretty sure the last line qualifies as one of my favorite last lines ever.

Remember how I’m going to Spain soon? What are your recommendations for a digital camera? I’m looking to replace mine before the big move so I can document everything. I’m not a very good photographer so I’m not wanting to buy the most expensive professional camera ‘cause I wouldn’t do it justice. But I would like something that can take my mediocre picture taking abilities and somehow make the pictures turn out well. So, lay it on me, what (basic) camera do you swear by?

Last week my sister did a silly photo shoot with me. {More of that coming soon.} But once the “real” pictures were done, we were playing “America’s Next Top Model”-- she was clicking away at the camera wildly, moving about and changing angles, and I was throwing up goofy poses left and right. I didn’t realize until I downloaded her photos later that she had actually been taking pictures. They are blurry, they show off my worst angles, my nose (my least favorite feature) looks the size of Mt. Everest, and because the camera was close up you can see my broken out skin.

But I love them.

At first, I thought it was just because I look happy. But on further reflection I think it’s because they remind me of the imaginative little girl I was, still am deep down inside; the one who wasn’t afraid to dance around and pose and skip and look ridiculous.

I am this happy today.

(Title from the Lit song of the same name.)

Hello Operator

Remember before we had cell phones, texting, apps, constant connection to the internet and everyone everywhere?

I miss the simpler times.

3 Reasons Why

…I love Epic iBff Meet-ups:

1. Picnics!
2. Anne! (Or to be more accurate: Gilbert Blythe. *Swoon*)
3. Non-stop amazing conversations!

{Mmm Raspberry Cordial, just like Anne and Diana!}

…Seeing one of my college besties, Stephanie, was fantastic:

1. Good food, good coffee, but absolutely the best company. xo!
2. Hanging out in beautiful Colorado Springs…and feeling like such an adult for meeting up with friends post-college far far away from where we attended said college.
3. Taking pictures to mark the occasion.

…I am obsessed with my new Busy Bee Lauren headband:

1. It’s named after one of my favorite Beatles songs, “Blackbird” (in red).
2. I discovered two ways I love to wear it.
3. I don’t like to go out with out earrings but I’m not very fancy with my jewelry, so most of the time you can find me wearing pearls or faux-diamond studs. This headband has faux-diamond AND pearl detailing so it’ll match either!

...Can you guess the 3 reasons why I love this package?

1.

2.

3.

...I love Summer:

1. Lots and lots and lots of book! My favorites of the summer so far are The Book Thief, Harry Potter y la Piedra Filosofal, and Birthmarked. I can't tell you how excited I am for Mockingjay to come out this month!

2. Listening to the kind of music that always seems to go the best with summer weather. Current favorites: "Shark in the Water" by VV Brown, "Dog Days Are Gone" by Florence + The Machines, "Home" by Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros and "Hot Night Hounds" by The Annuals.

3. That mixture of relaxation and anticipation that comes with enjoying the hot days of summer freedom and looking forward to the next adventure.