Older, wiser, and apparently more photogenic

A couple weeks ago, I got my senior portraits done!  It was really fun, and I got some great pictures out of it.  I'm not sure which one I'll pick for the yearbook, but I thought I would share a few of my favorites.  All pictures courtesy of Tracey Washburn photography.

This is probably my first pick for my yearbook photo.

 

I was so itchy after doing these pictures in the grass in my shortest dress.  The color contrast was worth it in the end, but it was rather unpleasant at the time.

This is definitely one of my most favorites.

I also just recently had my birthday, and I am now officially an adult!  (Which is a really frightening concept.)  I spent the entire week at the beach with my family and friends having a fantastic time.

 I got a fun hat.  I also got an awesome Doctor Who mug, the Marauders' Map, a unicorn pillow pet, spectrespecs, loads of Tim Burton movies, an Audrey Hepburn picture book, gift certificates to the Tea Room, and some other cool stuff.

Me, my siblings, and our friends.

Birthday dinner!

 We had fresh seafood for dinner almost every night, which made me very, very happy!

Can you tell I wear this dress a lot?

We had breakfast on my birthday at Yana's, which is one of my all-time favorite restaurants.  It's packed floor to ceiling with 50s memorabilia (mostly focusing on Elvis and Marilyn Monroe), and they have the most amazing fruit fritters and pancakes.

 Sadly, this week has been back to the real world of homework and college applications.  (I got my first application sent in, though, which was very exciting!)

International Delights

Today was the International Festival!  This is the second year I've gone, and I love it so much!  Eleanore and I left for the festival right after school (as it's only a few minutes from our school), and then had over an hour to kill before it opened.  So we wandered around, got slightly lost, and managed to, eventually, find one of my favorite thrift stores!  The clothes are a little pricey, but there are so many treasures to be found.  I found these awesome old comic books and am already planning the different crafts I can use them for.

The festival is in the convention center, and it includes rows of booths selling stuff from different countries and cultures, booths with cultural information, and a long row of booths selling different foods.

Our strategy was to wander around all the booths, then wander back through, then wander through the food section, then wander back through all the booths, then wander back through the food, then back through the shops in no particular order at all.  We looked at everything and bought probably far more than we should.

Eleanore hates it when I take her picture.

We had some awesome food, too.  We both had some pea soup from the Dutch stall, which was delicious.  And then we shared some matcha ice cream from Japan, which is what Eleanore's eating in the previous picture.  And I also had a custard bun from one of the Asian countries, but I forget which.  We had bubble tea, too, but I didn't really care for it.

Proof that I was, in fact, there as well.

Some of my favorite things I got were a beautiful Egyptian glass bottle, an Egyptian necklace I'm fairly certain is Isis, a Chinese purse, and a couple hair clips, one from India and one from Russia.

 

A great time was had by all, and by all I mean me and Eleanore, because our other friends couldn't make it.  I think several of them will go tomorrow, though, so that's good for them.  It was an especially lovely reprieve from the hectic rush of school and college applications. 

Also, I have recently begun (and finished, so far) listening to Welcome to Night Vale, a highly amusing and wonderfully bizarre podcast that I recommend to everyone.  And I finally watched the 1995 miniseries of Pride and Prejudice, which is one of my favorite books.  I think some parts are better than the recent movie, especially the close following of the book, but other things I like better about the 2005 movie, like much of the acting (though I do love Colin Firth), Longbourn, and some of the costumes.  By the way, the Lizzie Bennet Diaries series on youtube is delightful and everyone should watch that as well.

I hope everyone has had a pleasant week, and if you haven't, you should watch Pride and Prejudice and listen to Welcome to Night Vale.  I believe it would instantly brighten your week!