oh, hi

guess who is unemployed?

I'm not meant to work. God clearly intends for me to live a life of leisure, otherwise why would long-term employment elude me? It's pretty clear. And to be let go right as the summer begins? Amazing!

Unemployment of course (eh, probably) means a far cleaner apartment, a more interesting array of meals cooked, increased blogging and a need to adopt a hobby. Last time I tried knitting (truly hope Heather threw away that sad, little scarf by now. I think she moved to TX just so she'd have no further use for it).

I'm also now available for afternoon assignations.

so far so good

I do not love the beach and its unrelenting sun. I prefer the lake with its nearby shady trees. I hate to sweat. I hate when my hair is a frizzy mess. I hate when I feel damp no matter how recently showered and clean I really am. I hate being pale when everyone else is tan. And I hate chub rub and stinky, sweaty feet (and my god do my feet work overtime, which I guess is better than excessive pit sweat. Uhm, right?). So obviously this freakishly cool summer has been practically my most favorite ever. It's been all the things I like about summer and none of the things that really ruin it for me. This might even be the first time I've been able to accumulate a list of favorite summer things - at least since the mid 90's when summer meant sleep-away camp, no parental supervision and cute boys to kiss. Here's what I've liked best so far:

To do:

• aimlessly or purposefully walk the city, I love to walk as often as possible
  
• take my dog to the park
• sleep 20 minutes later, skip blow drying, coat my wet hair in Aveda's Smooth Infusion, spray in some Bumble & Bumble Surf Spray and go (so much easier!)
  
• go up to our lake house in CT and fall asleep in the sun/get a tan on the boat dock
  
• not having to leave my awesome seats at Yankee Stadium to keep splashing cool water on myself
• have drinks and dinners al fresco with my favorite people
  
• driving around with the AC off and the windows and sunroof wide open
• being able to enjoy the outdoors in general without dying of heat and/or humidity

To read (because I don't watch tv in the summer, aside from Yankee games and I have read some books lately that I've just loved and wanted other people to know about):

• I love a good mystery novel and I recently discovered former Entertainment Weekly writer Gillian Flynn. I just devoured both her books; Sharp Objects and Dark Places. I cannot recommend them highly enough (as a general rule, any book that Stephen King blurbs is bound to be a worthwhile read).
• another enjoyable mystery novel; Die for You by Lisa Unger. It's her fourth book and I recommend any and all of them.
• and because I have a LHotP obsession I put Melissa Gilbert's Prairie Tale on my Kindle and nearly read the entire thing one weekend at the lake.

And my find of the summer? My pedicure color. I've had it done twice in a row (I might go for the hat trick this week or next) and then I went out and bought the bottle.