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oh what a delight of a week it's been.

flew to california last weekend for a few days of catching up with friends and warm sunshine. got to wedding-dress shop with my cousin ashleigh and meet a new little friend in cody, son of my friends john & nancy. then of course there was film classes and rough cut screenings and lots of coffee breaks with my darling mandy. and also: my own personal frozen yogurt review tour! i've been addicted ever since emily and i first tasted red mango this summer. my tastebuds got to compare the taste to pinkberry (the prime competitor according to my online research. i think red mango is creamier and a little tarter while pinkberry is a bit sweeter. they are both delicious) and also a local favorite of the biola crowd, berry cool where i discovered that mochi and blackerries are divine when mixed with original tart). mmm, what fun!

amiliah and i flew virgin america, which i would most highly recommend if they only flew boeing jets. blast. the state-of-the-art in-flight entertainment system is the best ever. you can create your own music playlist from hundreds of artists or watch live TV. on the flight back i was able to watch nearly the entire presidential debate! very cool.


















on friday night stephanie and i went to see the touring broadway musical, spring awakening. i didn't know what to expect and generally don't care for broadway musicals terribly much. but i'd heard the buzz on this one...it won the tony for best musical at last year's tony awards, and seemed to be centered on youth, plus the music was scored by duncan sheik (whom i've loved since his debut album came out in the mid-nineties.) if you've read anything about this show, it's true that it deals with weighty topics and teenage angst in spades and is quite racy and shocking in parts. it's also real and energetic and tragic and full of life and yearning. that said, i loved it. the more i think about it, the more i love it. so much that i want to see it again. i can't get the songs out of my head (stephanie bought me the soundtrack for my birthday so i can sing along). it is provocative and charged and we couldn't stop talking and analyzing the whole bus ride home. so, broadway has a new fan. on this one at least.





















saturday night i went out to dinner with the family at our new little haunt and came home to my favorite french silk pie with freshly whipped cream.

and then, sunday: my birthday and the mad hatter tea party! i don't know where i got the idea; it just came to me while i was sitting by the fire reading while my parents were away. i wanted color, vibrancy, a celebration of youth, innocence, eccentricity, uniqueness, wit, and creativity. i miss summer and camp so it seemed a good reason for all of us to be together again in a whirl of festivity. a very merry un-unbirthday!

...and now the afterparty blues. or more like grey. it was fabulous and all i wanted; my head aches; i love fall but it's cold outside.

the end of summer as i know it

Home from camp yesterday, for the last time in '08. Home is relative as I am packing up all of my earthly belongings today and moving them nine blocks south and three blocks west. This process is always so frustrating for me. Why do I have such a large bed? Why is the frame made of iron? Why is my television so heavy? Why do I need such a large dresser? (Okay, that one was my father's and has chevron-engraved handles and I love it. But it is a beast.) How on earth do I have so many clothes and so much junk and so much accumulated mail?! Not to mention books and magazines. Aye, me. Mostly I think I don't like it because I need to ask for help. There's the rub!

So anyway. Had another fantastic, utterly exhausting week. My back hurts and I'm sleep deprived. Now I start looking forward to the fall. A quieter life perhaps? We'll see.

And now for something completely different. If you want to laugh so hard you cry (like I did), click on THIS. Haha!! (Some content may be inappropriate for young children.)

bring back those...

...lazy hazy crazy days of summer!

It's pretty grey today. Blah. Blah. Blog.













Heh.

Okay, so last night was the perfect way to spend a summer's eve. Sarah and I went with my parents and a few of their friends out to the Chateau Ste. Michelle winery in Woodinville to enjoy (the legendary amazing wonderful gracious talented) James Taylor...and his Band of Legends!

Snacks, sunshine, ice cream, wine, music dear to my heart, an energetic (and entertaining) crowd..."two good friends on my left and my right"...perfection. Three hours flew by like fifteen minutes, the whole crowd was dancing on the grass by the end, and Rod gave it an A++.

So. There's that glory, and then today's lethargy. I am driving myself CRAZY with my inefficiency, lack of motivation, and slothfulness. I have been home for a whole WEEK and feel like I haven't taken a single bold step down the golden path of my future life. What happened to my great ideals, optimism, determination, and zest? Poof. Don't get me wrong, I've been quite content. That's the problem. I need a swift kick in the pants. Get going you fool! You're wasting precious time! All I know is life is just fine but could be extraordinary if I would just get it into gear and not settle for the same old, same old. I am totally frustrating myself! Okay, vent over. But seriously. Carpe diem and all that. Soon enough I'll be food for worms, let's make something happen!

I think what I am missing quite honestly is a sound structure in my life. Too many hours of waiting and wondering and I just topple into despair.

dream weaver

...couldn't wait for Bridget to be back from her blog vacation so i could read up on the Collins summer so far. She'd posted this suggestion for the imagination:

"If you could travel with any famous person in any location which person and which location would you choose?"

I let mine just write out whatever first popped up. And she made this spectacular series of collages:

George Clooney - Lake Cuomo, Italy

JD Salinger - New York City

Wes Anderson - Antarctica

Meryl Streep - Tanzania & Kenya

Kurt Cobain - Lakeside Bible Camp

...how good it is to dream. That is one thing I am working on...not stifling my imagination. I think I have been living a little too much in reality. It's good for the mind to let loose a little now and then. And I've had a renewed respect and admiration for imaginative people as of late.

This week:

Sunday, Monday, Tuesday: essential seattle with the out-of-towners. Delaying the inevitable post-camp crash. Waking up Wednesday to a grey & cloudy sky and the sad reality that i would see no TCLers that day. Lunch with Vena was a gift from above and then I spent the entire evening telling my parents every detail of the previous weeks. *sigh*

Thursday: sushi birthday lunch w/ Kellie, Sarah, and Mary and then dinner at the Roundhills'. Nice and cozy.

Friday: The Dark Knight and Cheesecake Factory with the TCLers. Got a migraine halfway through the movie and still have not fully recovered. Yuck.

Saturday: surprise birthday party for Kellie/TCL '93 reunion. Incredible, strange, surreal, marvelous. 15 years?! Not possible.

Sunday (today): sunny skies, LBC staff at church, wedding celebration, TCL '08 1-week reunion (ha!) I LOVE these kids. blanket time, river dipping, barbecue, ultimate frisbee, worship, prayer for our absent friends.

So. It's been a transition week. I am back in my real world but a different creature. I keep forgetting i have wings; i'm crawling around on the ground and forgetting to use them.

back from rehab

home.

("home". i actually feel like i've just left home.)

couldn't have asked for a more perfect 21 days.

(i didn't even dare to ask. i simply stand in awe of the blessings poured out on me.)

1993. 1996. 2008.

legendary years in the lakeside life of erin hanson.

as close to perfection as time on earth can get.

a glimpse of heaven.

God's love made tangible in unbelieveable fellowship.

sigh.

golden days.

speechless and exhausted.

(here is just a smattering of moments:)

\

camp.

three weeks.

goodbye...

a little bit of this and that

Friday night, attended a screening at the SIFF at long last. Every year I want to go soak up film culture and somehow the time gets away from me. This year was no different; suddenly it was closing weekend. We picked The 27 Club. Joe Anderson - one to watch. Maybe you saw him in Becoming Jane as the Wickhamesque Henry or Across the Universe as Max? One of my new favorites.

I went for long walks this weekend. I organized some junk. I talked on the phone. And a slight worry began to creep in about the unknown future. It's really happening and I'm about to take flight.

These are some goals for this summer:

*Read at least ten books.
*Improve the dexterity of my right eyebrow so that it is equal to the abilities of my left.
*Run.
*Apply for things I'd never get, just to (for once, come on you coward!) do it.

More to come I'm sure.

Twenty-six years ago today I gave my life and heart over to Jesus. No regrets.

the chrysalis cracks

this is what it's like

finding your feet again

the part of you that couldn't

finally thinks you can

you're taking off some time to do this

a small apartment bedroom rearranged

to know that you are loved

you're finding your feet again

the part of you that couldn't

finally thinks you can...

...and you said:

Go now in the light of your God

Go now in the love of your God

Go now in the peace of your God

Go now in the joy of your God

(denison witmer)

One week until the new chapter begins.

tagged by bbc

I am: imaginative

I think: best when i am moving

I know: who i am

I want: to be significant

I have: everything

I wish: on stars

I hate: to disappoint you

I miss: the '90s

I fear: mediocrity

I feel: hopeful

I hear: the blood pumping in my head

I smell: like i need to take a shower

I crave: leisurely mornings

I search: for where i fit in

I wonder: if i will ever be satisfied

I regret: keeping my feelings to myself

I love: having friends of all ages

I ache: for the truth

I care: about the little things

I always: say 'i love you'

I am not: kind enough

I believe: in the resurrection and the life

I sing: out loud

I dance: as therapy

I cry: few and far between

I don't always: take care of myself

I fight: when i'm anxious and insecure

I write: about what i can't say out loud

I never: pay my bills on time (well, rarely)

I listen: to the lyrics

I need: to be unique

I am happy: when i'm outside

ok? ok!

snippet of a note from a very dear friend:

...Therefore, let this be our summer motto, I feel it in my bones, "long live happy."
OK? Let's just be ridiculously happy. Let the sun shine down on our pretty faces and let us laugh and walk among trees and shine flashlights and listen to fires crackling pine needles and let us embrace the magic of who we REALLY are.
long live happy...

rain rain you can stay

Oddly enough I haven't been minding the rain this week. I do wish it was warmer but what can you do? It's finally June in Seattle.

Last night I spent a few hours moving everything I have from the bedroom on the ground floor to a bedroom on the third floor. Every time I move (an activity I truly despise) I am disgusted by how many things I own. I grumble and moan and in my heart there's a desire to just pile it all up and burn it. Simplify and reduce so that at any given moment I could pack up and take everything with me. I guess you could say I've never been a homebody. Even so I am gladly anticipating a summer spent in Washington...I want to breathe it in (Anne Shirley). I am so looking forward to quality time spent with those that know me best. Still, it's fun to daydream about where to go next and what possibilities might be out there...! I just can't help myself.

in a little while i'll feel better
gonna travel all around the world
gonna see it all

gonna go to paris, maybe rome
but i'll feel better miles away from home,
gotta figure some things out

so sell all my things, i'm not coming home
there's nothing there to keep me there
just heartache and headache and worries and things that'll bring me down
my head feels much clearer being here

in a little while i'll feel better
gonna spill my heart to every stranger in every town
i'll visit castles in ireland,
have some fella play the violin and play a song for me

so sell all my things, i'm not coming home
there's nothing there to keep me there
just heartache and headache and worries and boys that'll bring me down
my head feels much clearer being here

(rosie thomas)

like a virgin

Okay, so is it wrong that I totally loved the SATC movie? I've barely ever seen the show...maybe snippets of one or two episodes. Of course, there was beyond-gratuitous nudity here and there (HBO + "Sex" in the title = lots of HBO-style sex! Avert your virgin eyes!), and then there was that tediously annoying humping dog that every romantic comedy seems to employ these days...but I've already forgotten about all of that. (I wonder if there will be a TBS-cleaned-up version of the movie one of these days?) I admit I have become a big fan of the fashion and the friendships. I want more! It was such an experience to sit with my girls in the ArcLight Hollywood with a gleefully raucous crowd and get all wrapped up in the hype. Nicole is so Charlotte and Ashleigh is so Miranda. Which leaves me as some sort of Carrie-Samantha hybrid?

Dinner at Magnolia on Sunset capped off the fun. Delicious and so swanky. "Bring me another Gimlet please!"