"summertime and the livin' is easy. fish are jumpin' and the cotton is high."

"Summertime and the livin' is easy. Fish are jumpin' and the cotton is high." That is my favorite line from Billie Holiday's "Summertime" and every time I am home in the deep south during my favorite month of June, I hear this line play over and over again in my head and it takes me to another place in time. When I look at these photos on the island with our palm leaves I hear this melody. No one else will fully understand it but me.

Livin' use to be easy in the summertime with not a care in the world. I now live vicariously through my cousin Estelle and when I'm with her and when I'm back home, I feel like a young girl again and all my cares are set free. We were up to "trouble" when these photos were taken, and I remember laughing so loud and hard as my heart was beating running down the boardwalk into the sizzling sand dragging our palms leaves in hand. Estelle was behind me capturing the moment and trying to not loose it. I'll always try my best to never loose the child in me and the adventure and the naiveness that a child can hold. Life is too precious to take it so seriously. Though I am back to reality and far from home, I dream about it and have these photos and memories to hold on to. And it makes me smile, and I can see the fish jumpin' and my how high the cotton has grown back home in the deep south...

into the wild among the majesties.

Tucked into the Aspens & Pines and into the wild we slept this weekend. Into the canyon and beyond Tibble Fork Reservoir, the Zoo and I along with friends, camped among Utah's majesties. From time to time, though I am surrounded by the mountain range, I forget how beautiful Utah is until I emerge myself into the deep woods of the pines.

We found the most perfect camping spot right along a stream which the Zoo and I went in and explored for hours. During the day, the Zoo fished at the reservoir, though we caught nothing, he did teach me a thing or two. With a campfire, hotdogs, marshmallows and the smell of fresh sap we spent the night telling ghost stories and laughing. We could sense fall just right around the corner, and though summer is my favorite season, I will say when in Utah, it's fall I look forward to.

I've always loved camping. I grew up camping with my family and grandparents in the woods of West Virginia and Florida and it was always some of my favorite times spent with them. With that, I do have a liking for camping but I'm always reminded the next morning how just a weekend of camping is good enough for me. I feel like death warmed over, and I probably smell like it too. To end our camping trip we decided to take a detour and drive through the Alpine loop looking for moose and all sorts of wildlife. Unfortunately, my car decided to dish us some trouble and basically died up in the mountains so we coasted all the way down the mountain till we hit the Sundance Ski Resort and waited in the shade for a tow truck in major style. Sweat pants, hoodie and a nasty top knot having not showered in quite some time. It was awesome. Some guy named Shane saved our lives and we had to take Ryder my 4Runner to the shop.

Didn't see that one coming, but it also didn't put a damper onto our trip, just a little bit of excitement to our adventure. I'd say we had a blast overall. It was a great reminder that we need to spend more time in the mountains and take advantage of Utah's purple mountain majesties.

Tomorrow we leave for a week in California to celebrate the marriage of a good family friend of ours. We'll be taking a pit stop over night in Vegas staying at the Luxor Hotel which I'm pretty pumped for. Oh you know, it's just the Egyptian Pyramid along the freeway, you see. And you know I love all things Egyptian so let the wild rumpus begin!

a dreamy summer night at the carnival.

The date is November of 1959 in California. A fatigue man meets with his psychiatrist explaining his reasoning for forcing himself to not fall asleep, ever. Hardly able to explain himself while he fights to keep his eyes open, he tells the psychiatrist he will die of heart failure due to the triggering of a nightmare if he falls asleep. The nightmare takes place at a magical and eerie carnival on the Santa Monica Pier, where ferris wheel lights glimmer and sparkle like fireworks in the sky.

The man spots a woman, whose looks are fierce and intriguing, with cat-like eyes and hair as dark as midnight. She is dressed in the most fantastic gown of diamonds that would even make the jaw of Elizabeth Taylor drop. This woman was dangerously beautiful and had her eyes set on this man. Her name was Maya and she was a carnival dancer.  He couldn't resist her temptations, as he regretfully followed her through the glimmering lights. Dizzy and confused, he grabs her hand as she mysteriously smirks at him while luring him onto a wooden roller coaster in a fun house in an attempt to scare him to death.

 With no control, he begs her to let him off as she tosses her head back and cackles. The moonlight lights the surface of the ocean as the man looks out into the world he is about to leave. He grabs his heart and begins to drown in the noise of the witchy woman's cackles. Her cat eyes gaze into him as he sinks lower and lower into his seat.

The man wakes from his dreams as he finds himself laying on the couch of his psychiatrists office. When the receptionist walks into the room, in horror and disbelief, the man realizes that the woman looks exactly like Maya. Terrified, the man jumps out of the window to his death.

In reality, the doctor calls the receptionist into his office where the man is still lying on the couch with his eyes closed. The doctor begins to explain to the receptionist that the man had come into the office, laid down and then immediately fell asleep. Within a few minutes, the man let out a scream and died on the couch.

"Well I guess there are worse ways to go", the doctor says philosophically. "At least he died peacefully.... in the Twilight Zone.

This is one of my most favorite episodes of the Twilight Zone. Every time I go to a carnival it brings me back to this episode. You know I love eerie and mysterious thrilling stories and shows especially when its set in the 50's. This episode was obviously filmed in black and white, but the way that it was filmed and portrayed with the carnival, all of the lights, the fun house and roller coasters - not to mention Maya's outfit was nothing short of glamorous and perfect for the carnival occasion of the 50's.

Carnivals are always a place of interest, with carnies and flashy lights. The chaos and rush of it all brings me back to this episode. I feel as though carnivals are a place where time has consistently stood still. I'd like to believe that everything was the same back in the 50's as it was now- same rides, same food, same sorts of crowds and it gives you a whiff of nostalgia. Once again, I do live in a dream-like world of the past in which I have never lived in, so for me, Carnivals become very dreamy and it's exciting.

With all of this said, I had a field day on Saturday, as it was Steel Days in American Fork, Utah and we spent the whole day cheering on my favorite girl and cousin Estelle in the American Fork Parade. She's going into the 9th grade and is on the Freshmen Cheer squad and rocked it in the streets of Utah. She gets cuter and cuter every day. Following the parade I spent the whole day with my cousins at the public pool where we fooled around with underwater cameras, made up olympic pools games, ate popsicles and got fried. As for the night time, we continued our Steel Day shenanigans at the carnival where we literally rode every right in site no matter how long the lines were. We lost our voices and about spewed, but that didn't stop the Zoo and I from getting cheeseburgers on the ride home. It's summer days like this that really feels like the Sandlot, if you know what I mean. I love spending time with family, especially the younger ones. They are my favorite people in the whole wide world and they bring out the best side of me. I love feeling like a kid again and with them, every day is an adventure. What a fun weekend we had, one that I'll never forget.

swooning over these beach paintings, perfect for july.

There she goes again, that Teil Duncan doing her thang and doing it more than well. I can't stop day dreaming of her beach and pool paintings. They are some of my favorite things in the whole wide world right now, and what I'd give to be able to paint this way and what I'd give to have one for myself. I know what's on the christmas list this year, that's for sure! I don't think words can explain how perfect these paintings are, so I'll let them do the talking for me.

june spent on the island.

Talk about an image overload! How could I not when this family vacation of 17 or 18 years now is my favorite week out of the whole entire year? Hilton Head Island, South Carolina has my whole heart. This island has seen me grow up into a woman and it's safe to say, this island is my second home. Luckily, with my parents recently purchasing a home on the island I really will be coming here every year for the rest of my life. This island is a treasure in our family and it will be a tradition for generations and generations to come. The countdown has already begun for June of next year, as it always does once July 1st hits. This is my favorite place to be, and I'll always love it so. Until next year...