It was one hundred degrees...

As we sat beneath a willow tree

Whose tears didn't care
They just hung in the air
And refused to fall, to fall.

-Crooked Teeth-Death Cab For Cutie

This is generally my view right now, minus the flip-flops (no reason for shoes if I'm not leaving the house, right?). Porch swing, good independent radio, and a fantastic book. I'm completely loving it. Reading on the porch has been my favorite part of summer since I was little.

However, not all of my summer has been that chill. It's been a bit of a crazy week. The temperature has been in the high 80s to mid 90s all week, which isn't too out of the ordinary. There's a great public pool nearby, and lots of great shops where I can grab a gelato, custard(normal ice cream? psh.), or frozen drink. I've managed to "beat the heat" pretty well.

On Tuesday, I went to a small cookout with a friend. Her dad's ex-wife lives nearby, and her now adult children (my friend's half-siblings) invite us over whenever she's out of town. I know it's terrible, but I really enjoy swimming in a private pool sometimes. Plus, her brother grilled some avocado along with the brats and corn on the cob, which is surprisingly amazing!

Tuesday night was when things got a bit hectic. I got home around 11:00, and the air conditioner was broken. I'm not that much of a diva and wouldn't mind if it happened during the day. However, my family prefers it cold when we sleep, so we ended up setting up air mattresses and other makeshift beds downstairs, where it was a bit cooler. I wound up sleeping on the porch, which was more comfortable than the house, actually. This went fantastically until about 5:30. I'm used to having shades that allow me to sleep past sunrise, but that's a bit of an issue on the porch. I got back to sleep eventually, but it made for a rather sleepy day today.

Today Pride and Prejudice and Zombies finally came in for me at the public library. I've had it on hold since before spring break, and I'm ridiculously excited to read it. However, the heat kind of freaked out the city's power grid for a few hours. I was at Divino Gelato and everything shut down. Not too terrible (hopefully no gelato was lost!), but I still didn't get my book...

Tonight went well. I went to an Organizing For America "Health Care Kickoff" party. Organizing For America is essentially a continuation of the Obama campaign that works toward some of President Obama's initiatives. I was really active in the campaign last year, but I hadn't really done any political work since then, which made tonight that much greater. On top of that, I got to see people I hadn't talked to since November! The hostess was one of the members of my mom's "team" (each team covered a small part of the city), and she and her husband own the most adorable piece of land. She has an antique store in the front, her husband has a cafe in another building, and their house is attached to the cafe. The house is so beautiful and historically accurate; it's like Old World Wisconsin, but cozy. On top of that, they had part of an old stone silo and lots of room to explore. I'm going to have to stop in for lunch sometime.

Anyway, outfit post! I remembered!

Dress-Kohl's. Bracelet and Earrings-Target. Necklace-thrifted. Flip flops-Old Navy. Flip-flops are a habit I need to break. It was hot out, so I feel like I have an excuse. Sort of. Sorry for the bad picture, too. I positioned my head right with the birdhouse and the mobile, and it's not working.

The bracelet is actually a lot more gold than this.
Adorable little nautical necklace! I believe I have another one with a different picture, but I forget what of...
Lovely lacy earring. Also, my beauty marks? flat moles? big freckles? What are they called? I honestly don't know.
Carousel horse mobile from when I was a baby.

Much love, (I need a closing. I'm not sure I liked "Shine on"...hmm.)

Renée