The Fourth

Today I'm celebrating two very important birthdays...America's and my brother Luke's!

I've always been slightly jealous of Luke's birthday- I think this is the best holiday to be born on. You never have to go to work or school, everyone's partying, and it's not so big a holiday that people forget about you.

My mom calls Luke her "Fourth of July firecracker." Seeing as how he used to catch snapping turtles, feed me crayons and terrorize my friends, I'd say that's an accurate statement. We used to not get along so great ("MOM!! He's on MY side of the car!!"), but I'm glad that as we've gotten older, we've also gotten closer. He always reminds me not to take myself too seriously.

So happy birthday Hoss! I hope you have a good one.

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Last night, I went out to celebrate my friend Jillian's actual birthday. It was a really, really fun night! We stayed until last call and I didn't get to bed until 3, so I'm pretty tired now, but it was worth it :)

I was DD, so yay for not being hungover! For breakfast, I had a mixed-up bowl of cereal: Kashi GoLean crisp, Kashi GoLean crunch, sunflower seeds, raw oats, a banana, blueberries and almond milk.

No red in this meal, but I've got the blue and white covered!

Nothing too spectacular planned for today- just lunch and dinner with friends. Happy Independence day!!

Any exciting plans for this holiday?

Y2K

Just blowing through the years now...my mom took fewer and fewer pictures as we got older, but the pictures she did take are way more out of order. It's kind of a puzzle trying to put everything together!

Y2K party! Remember when everyone thought the world would end?

My with my French tutor Laura. I loved her because she always did the homework for my correspondence course for me, then I'd re-copy it and send it in. Sorry, Mom.

Skiing in Copper Mountain, CO

In my bedroom before I had it painted. Like the ducky wallpaper? Also, please note the picture of kittens above my head.

I played the flute for a few years! And yes, those are chopsticks in my hair. So stylin'.

Right before my tonsillectomy. My doctor was amazed by how massive they were. I'm still strangely proud of my abnormal tonsils.

My 10th birthday at the City Tavern in Philadelphia. Luke's too cool to play the spoon game. The guy on the far right is Andre, who was our foreign exchange student from Brazil for a semester.

The day after I got Cali! She was such a sweet little nugget. Now she's just a rodent-killer.

On the Maid of the Mist in Niagra Falls.

Parents' anniversary dinner at Buddhakan in Philly. We were hip way before Sex and the City made it cool a few years later.

During my short-lived riding phase. I remember that horse's name was Cat, and he sneezed on me. It was gross.

During my swim team years. Are we picking up the theme of Gabriela trying everything then quitting?

With my grandpa and brother at the Jersey shore. Yay big J!

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In the midst of my picture organizing, I broke for lunch.

I wasn't in the mood to make anything, so I just heated up an Amy's teriyaki wrap and sliced up some raw veggies to have on the side.

The doughy wrap on the outside of these is hands down the best part. It's all flaky and delicious.

I also had an apple with some Justin's maple almond butter- a new favorite. It's the perfect balance of almonds and flavorful sweetness.

Hope you're enjoying your Sunday!

Where were you on Y2K? And have you ever had any surgeries?

Stuff Is Crazy

Like 1996, there seem to be some gaping holes in late 1998 and 1999. Pictures of France abound (unsurprising, given my mom's Francophilia. Pictures of everything else, however, seem to be missing...

Halloween 1998. I was Scarlett O'Hara, but everyone thought I was Rose from Titanic and since that seemed cooler I changed my costume title.

Couscous! He died when I was 17. Best cat ever. Miss you dude.

I had a tea party with some of my friends and apparently at tea parties you do interpretive dance in the yard. I throw a mean fiesta.

Christmas card 1999! Me and Luke about to pig out on sundaes in France.

At the Carcassonne ruins in the south of France. That night France won the World Cup and it was pandemonium.

With the popsicle. I look happy.

I caught a frog! They must love me.

First day of fourth grade. In case you can't see it, my tshirt has a picture of a kitten with a beanie and butterfly clips in its fur and says "Fly Girl" on it. I'm always available for fashion tips.

If you told me in 1999 that ten years later those buildings would be gone and I'd be living in that city, I would never have believed it. Stuff is kind of crazy to think about.

Piano camp in Montreal. I loathed that place with a passion.

I was Cleopatra for Halloween!! In addition to my Titanic phase, there were also shorter-lived phases about Ancient Egypt, colonial America and Marie Antoinette. And I always wondered why the other kids thought I was weird...

Determined to get the remaining years all organized by the end of the weekend. In 2002 we went to a digital camera, so there's only a few years left. You all have your barbeques and beer. I have my pictures. Hope you're having a wonderful holiday weekend!

Did you ever visit the World Trade Center before 9/11? What's one thing about your current life that your younger self never would have believed?

Longwood Gardens

This afternoon, I got bored. There was nothing to do around the house and it was a gorgeous, hot day, so I put in some dentures, grabbed my walker and headed to Longwood Gardens, a huge botanical garden in our area.

I've been going there since I was a little kid and always found it really boring, but going there alone was actually a completely different experience. It's nice to be able to decide where you want to go and what you want to do, instead of being dragged around by your parents.

I brought my camera along (with the memory card this time) and tried to capture how pretty everything was.

Fun fact: I used to want to get married in this rose garden when I was in preschool. It reminded me of the roses in Beauty and the Beast!

I have a thing for bonsai trees. One of these was started in 1910- can you believe that?!

I walked around for about two hours before it just got too hot. I headed home to make a huge, veggie-filled salad for dinner. It's been awhile since I had one!

Romaine, cucumber, tomatoes, carrots, red pepper and an avocado mashed with salsa and lime juice. I shook everything up in a Tupperware before serving it on a whole-wheat tortilla.

This little guy was sitting perfectly still while I took my pictures outside. He let me get like an inch away from him- I'm pretty terrifying.

I also had a bunch of watermelon chunks (this x2),

And a serving of Lindt Touch of Sea Salt dark chocolate- my favorite.

Laying low tonight. Am I the only person who doesn't have exciting plans this weekend? Tomorrow has some fun plans in the works, though...

What's your go-to boredom activity? I feel like I should have asked this weeks ago...I'm counting down the days until I start culinary school!