Life in Denim and Flip Flops

Wow. It's hard to believe that it's the end of BEDA already. I've had a lot of fun this month. It seemed so much easier this year. I think that has a lot to do with knowing more people were reading it and having themes. Another part of it was having blogged 3 days a week since Jan. 1. I really think getting into that habit really helped get me in the mindset. I wrote on the themes sometimes but more often than not I ended up writing something based on what had happened during the day or something I'd been thinking about. I didn't do such a great job keeping up on reading other people's blogs. I didn't get around to RSS-ing all of them so I had to click through to see when someone had posted. My goal for May is to actually RSS them and go back and read what I've missed. This month has been a bit insane so I feel like actually getting through the month having blogged 27 times (I missed the weekend the girls were here) in April was quite the accomplishment,...

Black bean hummus- Ok so it's not officially hummus, (no tahini) but it is fabulous. This newest batch isn't quite as good as when I had Katie here to taste test and adjust. Somehow she got the seasoning just right. A yummy lunch for me either way. cute outfits- I've been rocking some pretty darn adorable outfits this week. The one set out for tomorrow is too cute. My new black dress, red 3/4 sleeve cardigan and my black and white polka dotted canvas flats with red trim and bow. :) Not sure how long I can keep this up. any shopping that requires me to visit Hobby Lobby, Borders, and Michael's all in the same day- I'd explain more, but some of the people who will be recipients of the shopping read this. So I won't. But I will later when the gifts have been delivered. An Abundance of Katherines- I love this book. I especially love it on audio. And I really love our Curriculum Librarian for buying it on audio just because I said I loved it. That's why it's ...

I didn't know what I was going to write about today until I decided to put my pair in pigtails. Now if you remember, last week I cut and colored my hair again. It's almost too short to put in pigtails, but not quite. :) So I put in playful pigtails. And when I looked in the mirror, I saw it. They were so Veronica Mars-esque. It made me think about how when watching that show, I just wanted to be Veronica. She's so hard hitting and witty and funny. And intelligent. Every once in a while I catch myself making one of her faces. I think if I could be any tv character for a day, it would totally be her. Now if I got to steal one character's wardrobe? That would definitely be Lorelei Gilmore. That woman has more amazing dresses and boots than anyone! One of the seasons has an extra dedicated to the evolution of her and Rory's clothes. She's got hip work clothes, but knows the value of a cute t-shirt and jeans. Also, her jewelry rocks! If I'm stealing mode of tran...

I love reading those top film lists. In college I watched a lot of movies. I did decently well in grad school too, but I've fallen off since then. It's my goal this summer to work my way through the college library's fabulous film collection. We've got an interesting collection of classics, current, foreign, and indie films. Part of the impetus for this happened in the last 2 days. I somehow let slip to one of my co-workers that I'd never seen Schindler's List. This from one history/politics buff to another was shocking. Now I have my reasons, but finally with a little goading (and a side deal) I'll be watching it soon. The other was reading Kyle's blog post . Boy did I suck at that one. Ten movie quotes and I know one. Wow. This led me to looking at AFI Top 100 and their 10 Top 10 . I do rather horribly in both. I have seen all 10 animated films. :) However, I haven't seen any in the mystery top 10! Even for the Yahoo 100 Modern Classics , I can on...

I'm going backwards and picking up this theme since I missed it before. As you can probably imagine from my current self, I was a bit of a book nerd when I was younger. I'd read just about anything I could get my hands on. Stuff too young for me, books traditionally aimed at boys, pretty crappy formulaic series, aliens, sci-fi, historical, mystery, joke books, random fact books. Like I said, just about anything. As I thought about how I would talk about all these books, I realized I could just talk about one of my favorite genres: adventure/survivalist fiction. Now I am by no means an outdoorsy person. I love being outside and totally did as a kid. I spent hours and hours outside in the playhouse and swingset and on bikes and playing basketball. I was not a camper. I get sick sleeping in tents. I'm not a hiker or a fisherwoman. But for some reason I loved adventure books. We're talking "My Side of the Mountain," "Island of Blue Dolphins," "The C...

It's been a crazy week but I had so much fun. Books- I finally finished Will Grayson, Will Grayson! It was so worth savoring. It's all the best of David Levithan and John Green combined. You get the complex flawed characters who work together to figure out life, or at least the next few days. I'll want to re-read it soon, but I left it with Manda so she could read it once she's done with class work. I also started The Mental Floss History of the World this week. The subtitle is "An Irreverent Romp Through Civilization's Best Bits." I'm not too far into yet, but so far, that is a pretty accurate description. :) Movies- Manda and I took Gretchen's suggestion and went and saw "How to Train Your Dragon" Saturday night. It was so freaking cute. Goofy and a bit snarky, but a nice storyline too. If you haven't seen it, you should. However, I think it's pretty hilarious that all the vikings have Scottish accents except some of the kids. L...

Quick post before I hand the only internet-capable computer in Manda's apartment over to her so she can do her homework before 11pm. We went out and saw "How to Train Your Dragon" this evening. It was so cute. We also went shopping and found me 2 new dresses. One looks exactly like one my library director owns. Yup, she's got good taste. The other is a dressy one for a facutly function I have to go to. :) Ok, time for homework for Manda and Will Grayson for me!!

How could I have forgotten that yesterday was TILT? Wow I really was a little more worried than I thought :) my co-workers: I adore my coworkers. Absolutely adore them. We drove down to the conference together and had such a blast. I really wouldn't trade them for anything. Everyone is so supportive, and I never would have been able to do half the things I do without the community we create at work. Hanging out and seeing how other staffs interact makes me realize how incredibly lucky I am. seeing Jean, Mary, and Jen: I didn't realize how incredibly awesome my librarians were at Cornell until I realized that not everyone got to see their librarians in so many of their classes. :) It's always great to see them again and hear how life's going for them. And now that I actually have something in common to share with them, it's fun! giving my presentation: I didn't sleep well last night, evidence that I was more nervous than I thought. Once I got up in front of the r...

It's hard to imagine that 2 years ago (on Saturday) I had my phone interview for my job here at Dubuque. What an emotional rush that day was. It was my first call back from anywhere. I had watched both Amy and Emily get jobs already, and I was languishing in the "what the hell do I do if I don't get a job" pool. I tried to stay upbeat, but I was really struggling as I watched my "I will be homeless and jobless" date grow nearer. And then I got the call (the day before I was scheduled to drive to the WI academic library conference). I was so excited about the call. I blogged: "I'm totally on cloud nine about the job interview. It feels so good to finally get a callback and feel loved again. As much as I love my friends for telling me that this would come, it was getting really hard to keep believing in myself." ( 4/20/08 ) And I did the phone interview and it didn't go as badly as I thought. And they asked me for an on-campus visit (on my ...

So I filmed this last Friday before the girls got here. I attempted to upload it then, but that's when my internet issues began. (Partly my fault, I think, this time.) For those of you who don't know, I'm not a terribly organized person in my personal life. Professionally, as a librarian, it's part of the job. So when it comes to cleaning and organizing, it's a bit of a big deal for me. Every once in a while I go on an organizing/cleaning rampage. Before the girls visited was one of those times. Since about mid-February, I've been working on cleaning/organizing/de-cluttering every room in my apartment. So I thought I'd finally show off the results. Even those of you who have seen the apartment will notice at least 2 rooms have gotten furniture rearranged as well! Enjoy!

I had so much fun hanging out with the girls this weekend. It was nice to just be able to chill a little and catch up with everyone. I may have to post a photo or two when I get home later. (EDIT: Added photos.) We ended up eating at a few different local Dubuque restaurants. We did seafood, Greek, rustic Italian/cafe, hip American, and 2 different coffee shops while they were here. We also had fun frequenting local shops. I really do love showing off my city. The river walk was especially fun. Amelia had us doing statue interpretation, which involved us taking pictures of us modeling statues. It makes more sense when you see it. I'll have to post a pic when I get them from Amelia. It was a nice break from the real (i.e. working) world where I am currently in the end stages of prepping my conference presentation and finishing and finalizing things for an online class I'm co-developing. Sadly all of that was still waiting for me when I got back to work today, but I'm feeling...

Sorry! I really did mean to post on Friday and at least attempt to post over the weekend. However, you know how things go. My internet got crashy on Friday and then Saturday and Sunday were tied up with friends stuff. And then I woke up early this morning, thinking I'd get a post out only to find my internet mysteriously not working again. Though I am glad to see that it doesn't appear to be a wireless router problem, just a Mediacom modem problem again. *shakes fist in air in frustration* I'm at the library now writing this quick and checking my schedule and downloading my presentation so I can practice/rehearse it tonight. Sorry for the absence. I really didn't mean it. :(

Oh so many things to love this week. I'm crazy busy so I'll keep this short and sweet. hair cuts- There's just something about getting a haircut that just makes my day. I let Lynn take the highlights lighter than before. Somewhere in the last 3 months I've sort of fallen in love with the ideas of highlights. I'd never let anyone color my hair before January so this is sort of new. I'll post pics tomorrow because I don't want to spoil the surprise for the girls. sunny weather-I love 80 degree weather. More summer dresses and sandals. :) Glee-It's back! Not my favorite episode so far, but the Madonna episode next week sounds amazing. Girls Weekend-24 hours from now Katie and Gretchen will be here!! I haven't seen Katie since her wedding the summer of 2008. And we'll pick up Ms. Amelia at Cornell on Saturday. So freaking excited. I really need a fabulous weekend!

I love to travel. I'm still not a huge fan of flying. Not on principle, just on actual execution. I know the fear is irrational (especially when compared with the higher likely hood of being in a car accident) but it's still there. But sometimes a plane is just necessary, or way more efficient. Any how back to my love of travel. I grew up in a family big on vacations. We would take 2-week driving vacations every summer. We would do lunches at rest stops on the highway, eating out of a cooler/suitcase of food we'd pack. There was usually an option of some sort of canned tuna/chicken/ham or PB&J, string cheese, crackers, chips, green pepper slices, mini tomatoes, granola bars, etc. There was also usually a half gallon of milk, a pitcher of ice tea, and a pitcher of lemonade in the cooler too. We did cereal for breakfast. And the tea/lemonade was the powdered stuff, so we could easily make up a new batch whenever we needed any. There are some foods I can't eat without ...

Right so I don't really have any really unique skills, but I guess I have a few unusual ones. I crochet, and have since I was in about 6th grade. I know most of the Catholic mass in sign language. I can quote the director's commentary of "A Knight's Tale." I can read chant notation (church chant music). Thanks to my many years as a church cantor, I can sing about 90% of the Catholic psalm settings from memory. I stamp and emboss cards quite regularly. I used to be able to tell a Canadien penny or quarter from an American one just from hearing it drop in the cash drawer. I can run a sewing machine and follow a pattern, but cannot handsew to save my life. That's all I can think of for now. You know of any that I've missed?

I'm sitting here trying to figure out what to blog tonight as I don't really have a daily routine per say, when I see the title of my blog. And I realize here I am sitting in my living room in jeans and my favorite old navy flip flops. I've never really explained my title. I mean on the surface it's pretty simple. And if you know me, you know that I am the queen of shoes. I've paired down on my collection a lot, but I've still got 5 pairs of flip flops. It's not just that I love wearing denim and flip flops. It's what I'm most comfortable in. I will wear flip flops until there is snow on the ground, and as soon as it melts I'm back in them. I think it's also partly what they represent. Jeans and flip flops are comfort, and home, and everything that is not work. The summer dress code states no denim (of any kind) or flips flops are allowed. It's sort of fitting that what you are most likely to find me wearing at any moment I am not at work...

What a day of cleaning! Headache is gone, and I've gotten so much done today. The laundry room and bedroom are officially done. *Except for putting clean sheets on the bed.* I'm getting there. I just need to take it one room at a time. Maybe not rearranging practically every room would help speed up the process. ;) Onto the wrap up. Music: I got my copy of Dave Barnes "What You Want, What You Get" in the mail this week. Even though, I just got it, I've been listening to it for about a month. Dave was nice enough to include a digital copy of the album when you pre-ordered it. So not only do I get a cd for the car, but I also got the immediate satisfaction of the digital copy. I really adore the first 2 songs on the album. " Little Lies " just gets stuck in my head in the best way. The catchy refrain starts it, but I easily move into the verse. There's nothing worse than getting a refrain stuck on an endless loop in your head. And I totally love ...

Ugh. I've developed a bit of a headache. At first I thought it was a "lack of caffeine" induced headache, but one Diet Pepsi later, I'm still nursing it. It could also be a sinus headache thanks to my spring allergies and all the cleaning/dusting I've been doing today. Either way, this post is going to be short and sweet. Today was a decently good day. I got to watch both the Twins and the Brewers on tv. Sadly only the former won. I cleaned and rearranged the front room, did some laundry, and put away a mountain of clothes. I'm still not quite ready for guests, but I'm slowly but surely getting there. Now it's time for bed and here's to hoping the headache disappears when the Tylenol and allergy meds kick in.

Hey, so I'm going to do a video instead of a written blog today. You're going to get the short version of a Supreme Court civics lesson I do in the COM classes I help with. However, before I post it, I'm going to attempt to set up my new wireless router. We shall see. This is just a placeholder. If this is still up at midnight, I've screwed up the wireless beyond all hope. :) UPDATED: Yay, I think I've got it working. Haven't done too much testing, but it looks good so far. Here's the video. Sorry for the wobbliness of the camera. It was resting on a pile of books/dvds resting on the arm of my couch. Enjoy!!

This has been a monumentally long week, but that makes the things I love all that more important. my work family- All the staff, faculty, students I see on a regular basis. You are what makes the job worth it. In weeks like this I'm glad I've got my work family to fall back on. And I'm glad that as the semester comes to an end and life seems to fall apart that I can be there for people too, whether that means chairing the imaginary "frou-frou" committee, making sure people have time to eat lunch, providing candy for those who don't, or being there to listen when life just sucks. listening to Brewers and Twins games online- For at least the beginning of the season, I'm totally optimistic and it's fun having it on the background while I work on other things around the house. And it doesn't hurt that J.J.'s had homeruns in the last two games!! picking up Will Grayson, Will Grayson- I'm taking it slowly and savoring the story because I don'...

Yep, it's mashup day. Originally I really was going to stick to the theme today. But then today happened, and the reality of this week caught up with me. So you're going to get both today ladies and gentlemen (and everyone else here not sitting on a cushion). Let's begin. So the librarians here teach a lot (about 500 a year) of information literacy sessions. For those non-librarians out there, that's when we go in and talk about finding resources, how to use them, and how to tell if they're good. Now 500 a year doesn't sound like that many until you realize that we've only got 5 librarians here. And one of those librarians is the director who does teach classes, but certainly doesn't teach 100 a year. Normally this is not a problem. My supervisor and I are getting quite good at juggling librarians and classes and rooms to make sure no one requires cloning on a regular basis. Some weeks it gets a little tight. Certain classes overlap in their research uni...

Time to go off theme. Usually I'm a little better about pre-ordering books I'm interested in, but with everything that's going on, I never got around to it for Will Grayson, Will Grayson . Which meant tonight I needed to get myself a copy after work. Now I knew going down to my local independent bookstore River Lights Books-2nd Edition I ran the risk of it not being on the shelf or in stock yet. But everything else about the indie bookstore makes it worth it. The individual personal attention. While I was browsing, the woman "behind" the counter was showing a couple her iPad and talking about it and e-books. When I finally purchased my stuff, she commented how excited she was to read it. And that got us started about John's books, and our issues with new paperback covers. (She's not a fan of Paper Towns paperback cover. I like that better than the new Katherines cover.) And then we moved on to our mutual admiration of If I Stay. I just love that individua...

Ok I realize that I post/talk about sports more than I probably should but I really can't pass up the chance to stick with the theme, today of all days (It's both opening day for baseball as mentioned by Christina and the NCAA Men's basketball championship as Katie said.) So for a spin I'll tell my story through a series of pictures instead. Let the adventure begin! My love of sports come from my parents. Before Manda and I were born, they used to drive the hour and a half drive to Milwaukee to watch the Brewers games. They watch basketball, baseball, football, and golf. Plus with the exception of football, my mom or dad play(ed) those too. Growing up, my dad had a pair of season tickets to the Badger football games. I loved going to those games all the way through high school. (Dad gave up the tickets when the licensing made them expensive the year went to college.) I was lucky enough to get a pair of tickets to the Halloween game when I was in grad school and I got ...

Media/fashion round up of my week TV: One issue with being a fan of a British TV show? Having to avoid spoilers until you can find a copy of it online to watch. Thankfully a twitter acquaintance posted a link to Matt Smith's debut episode of Doctor Who. I wasn't sure I was going to enjoy the show without the darling David Tennant, but it was ok. I still enjoyed it. He's no David Tennant, but I'll definitely still watch. I love the cheeky humor. I also watched the first 8 episodes of season 2 of Veronica Mars while cleaning. Is there a better way to clean? Books: I finally got around to reading "If I Stay" by Gayle Forman. It's amazing. I got quite sucked in to the book. It had me sobbing by the end. I really appreciate books that can tell a story so well that I'm emotionally tied to the characters. If you haven't read it or are not a YA reader, you should pick it up. It's about a 17-year old girl who has a major decision to make about life. I...

Wow, we really started out with the biggies didn't we? Music and then food :) I'm a fan of food. I think Food Network might be one of the best tv inventions ever, well after ESPN. I love cooking. Hanging out in the kitchen with my mom, I learned a lot. Same thing with my grandmothers. If you've been around me for any length of time, you know how I have this tendency and desire to feed people. There were the choir brunches, the random cookie baking, taking in break at work, making Christmas candy, etc. I love it. I'm not always great at it, and most of what I make is pretty basic. However, slowly but surely, I'm adding to my repertoire. My newest conquest has been baking homemade bread. My favorite so far is a white Cheddar bread. When I was at Amy's we ended up taking that (while still warm) and making mini-pizzas out of it. So freaking good! I'm always looking for new recipes. However, I really need to make the time to play around with some. Usually by the ...

I told you I'd explain that Spanish quote. I just didn't realize it was going to be this quickly. It's sort of the spirit of my high school choir career. In fact, it was painted on the wall of the choir room my senior year. The translation is basically "4 birds without direction are sitting in tall poplar tree." On it's own it doesn't make much sense, but it's the last line of a Federico Garcia Lorca poem that someone had set to music. The poem talks about making choices and aims for the future. Ok, actually it's about a river and the sea and a tree. But that's what I love about music. It really is poetry. You have to dig a level deeper to understand what it's really about. Music is about the experience. Whether it's the performing or listening end. It's the lyrics, the melody, the tempo, interplay of the instruments, the voice, all rolled into one. In high school, that choir became a family. I don't know that we saw it coming....

BEDA Intro Questions Name: Becky Jean (also Beckie Jean to you twitter followers) Age: 25 Where I live: Dubuque, IA Where I call "home": my impulse response is Dubuque (which is a total surprise...I'm tellin' you), but also Janesville and Madison, WI. Oh and anywhere else my friends are. Why I blog: I always journaled a lot as a kid. I had a blog (on Open Diary) when it was still a geeky thing to do, but the current incarnation is Amy 's fault. After grad school, she wanted a place to stalk me online. So exactly 2 years ago next Tuesday, I started here. Mostly it's a personal blog, but occasionally I get a little library/work-centric. What part of BEDA I'm most excited about: Having 14 other blogs to read everyday. (Some of you I really missing reading your stuff. You know who you are!) And getting to know everyone better. Why I'm doing BEDA [again]: Partly for the writing, but mostly for the community that grew up around it. Oh, and I love h...