in Queens for a day

my first hookah experience...

the best quote of the evening: "White Castle shouldn't be painful, it should be a celebration" ~ Chloe

the birthday girl and her mom

yesterday, my new friends and i ventured to the queens beer garden (it's even listed as a tourist stop on the web) for marissa's birthday. the beer garden was definitely an experience. even better was the spontaneous trip to white castle!

adventures in manhattan, part 1

today i hung out with two men from france that i met my first night in new york. we stay in the same hostel. we had three goals for the day: buy a guitar, see the statue of liberty, and
visit MoMA (SOOO excited to see it!). we accomplished the first goal easily. the second didn't work out - we thought that it was free on fridays, and i was NOT about to pay $20 each to see the statue and ellis island. but MoMA was FABULOUS!!!

the transition

the front section is straight from having pressed it over the past year...

after the (big) wash...

the "big chop"... (not really, just cutting off the last 2-3 inches of perm)

this is my third time trying to grow out my perm. the first time was right after junior year at spelman, when i found a fabulous hairdresser who could press the hell out of my roots. then i decided to get a perm before leaving for a summer program. the second time was my first year at UT... until the texas humidity left my hair in an unmanageable puff/roots + dry straight ends... again, i RAN to wal-mart to get a dark and lovely perm kit. this time, however, my infatuation with my wavy roots motivated me to hold out. i became curious to know what it would look like completely natural. my last perm will be a year ago this coming monday.

SO, last week i told the beautician to cut the rest of the perm off before straightening it. this morning, equipped with my carol's daughter's hair balm (i think that's what it's called - shout out to lauren), i washed my hair and saw it "as is" for the first time. i'll admit - i had no idea what i was doing... or what i am doing, but i'm excited to experiment. more pictures to follow when i figure out an actual style

philly fam & sites

at penn's campus...

lauren & lauren

i heart Rita's...

driving home

from texas...
through oklahoma and st. louis, missouri


and finally illinois (pictured: the exit my dad and i missed that added an extra 1 to the trip)






reunited with my cornfields! okay, so in deKalb the fields are slowly giving way to new subdivisions and shopping centers; the schools are overcrowded; and you are less likely to see you neighbor out while shopping at the wal-mart... but driving through the country reminds me of being a kid in a college town known for its corn. i had forgotten that 80 degrees is an average summer day in the midwest.

this next stage is a little scary for me - leaving austin, driving my car to deKalb, and beginning a year of travel - but i'm trying to look at it as an adventure. more pics to follow

self-portraits...