Thursday, July 30, 2015

Vintage Shops

At the beginning of this year my mom began refinishing furniture, which she's really good at. She especially liked refinishing dressers; and, at one point she was on the search for a very specific style dresser. She couldn't find it on any of the used furniture sites that she usually found furniture on, so she decided to go look at the local thrift/vintage shops. We have quite a few around where we live, so there was tons to see. We spent nearly an entire day looking around all of the different shops, and ever since then we've been obsessed with vintage/thrift shopping.

Whenever we have a day where there's nothing planned, we can usually be found at the vintage shops. My mom, of course is usually more interested in looking at the furniture, whereas I love looking at all of the many knick-knacks. I especially love looking through old books (as pictured below). There's something that I think is so interesting about owning a book that so many others before you have owned.

We usually stick to the same four stores, but today we decided to venture out and look at a few different shops. Here are some pictures of the many interesting things we found...

My mom actually used to own this record when she was younger!

I hope you enjoyed looking through those photos! That's all for now. See you next time!

-Melissa P. Cooper

Monday, July 27, 2015

Last Summer: Florida

A few months after I came home from California, one of my friends, Kaitlin, invited me to go along with her and her family to Florida. I was so excited! I've been to Florida once before, on my little sister's Make A Wish trip, but we spent most of our time at Disneyworld; so, this was going to be my first time seeing Florida outside of what Disney had to offer.

After talking for weeks about this trip, the day finally came for us to head to the airport bright and early, and board the plane. We spent most of the morning travelling, and then around mid afternoon we landed in the Sunshine State (although funnily enough it wasn't sunny at all- it was raining, which I came to learn happens nearly everyday in the afternoon for an hour or two). Her grandpa, whom we would be staying with for the first seven days, had kindly offered to pick us up from the airport, so we squished into his car and headed to our temporary home for the next week.

For that next week we spent our days in the water, whether it was at the beach or in the pool, and our nights playing board games. The Game of Things was a favorite of ours- I don't think one night went by where we didn't play that game. It was the best (and probably the closest I'll ever come to being tanned)! Not only were her grandparents kind enough to let me stay in their home, but they also introduced me to many of their friends who were just as lovely. I don't think I've ever met so many wonderful people in such a short amount of time in my life, or felt more at home in a home that's not my own.

When I was younger I used to call palm trees, hurricane trees.
This was only the second day and I was already sunburned.
It will forever bother me that my fork is upside down in this picture.
The Shell Shop!

 Once the week was up, we said goodbye to Dick and Kit (her first set of grandparents) and headed just a few hours away to Miami where we would be staying with Doug and Karen (her second set of grandparents) who were also unbelievably generous; and, for the next week we spent nearly everyday exploring a new part of Miami. We went on a boat tour called 'Millionaire's Row Cruise' where they show you all of the famous homes that reside in Miami. We spent a day at Jungle Island, where I held a parrot. We even went to a WINN DIXIE grocery store, which I've always wanted to do!

Both sets of my grandparents passed away when I was quite young, so getting to share Kaitlin's grandparents for a short bit of time was amazing. I remember my first night in Miami we went out to dinner at Johnny Rocket's (cutest diner with the best milkshakes) with Doug and Karen, and they asked me where my grandparents lived. I told them that I didn't have any, and they replied with, "Well for the next week you do," and that's something that I'll always remember.

The funniest cat I've ever met.
I've always wanted to go to a Winn Dixie ever since I read Because of Winn Dixie in elementary.
Not exactly what you want to read when you're about to see a show involving tigers and lions.
Yes, that is a goat. Yes, I am feeding it juice through a bottle.

Overall, this trip was amazing. I'll never be able to thank Kaitlin's grandparents enough for all of the kindness they showed me in those two weeks.

-Melissa P. Cooper

Friday, July 24, 2015

The Foreign Exchange Student Mix Up

On my way back from Florida last summer I had a connecting flight where I had to take a monorail over to another terminal. When I first boarded the monorail there was no one else aboard, except for a small family of four. Then, just before the doors shut a huge wave of people boarded, including a large group of foreign exchange students from Spain. They were all wearing the same shirt, which had an embroidered symbol of what I assume belongs to their school. They were chatting excitedly the entire time in Spanish about where they were headed off to next. I took basic Spanish for two years in high school, so I could only pick up a few words here and there (Mostly 'Si' and 'No'. I know... Those two years were definitely time well spent).

Once the monorail stopped and everyone began to exit I somehow got swept up into the group of students, as we all stepped onto the escalator, that led down to the gates. I didn't think much of it though. Connecting flights always make me anxious- therefore, all I could think about was checking the arrival/departure board to make sure that my assigned gate hadn't changed. So, after stepping off the escalator I headed straight for the boards. After finding that my plane was still leaving out of the original gate I was relieved, and tired, and more than ready to be back home, so I decided to go find somewhere to sit down and wait out my hour long layover- but, then something funny happened.


As I began walking away from the boards, this man and his wife tapped me on the shoulder and said very loudly, "EXCUSE ME. WHERE ARE YOU GUYS FROM?" I was so very confused, so I just sat there staring at the two of them for a few seconds. Then the man turned to his wife and whispered, "I don't think she speaks English." After this I understood... He thought that I was apart of the foreign exchange student group. I began laughing, which made them look at me even more apprehensively. Then after a few seconds of not being able to contain my laughter, I pulled myself together and said, "Oh no. I'm sorry. I'm not apart of their group. I somehow got mixed into their group as we were heading down the escalator." At this, the man's wife hit him on the shoulder and said, "I TOLD YOU! She's not wearing the same shirt as them." Then after apologizing profusely they walked away.

I could not stop laughing. When I arrived home I told the story to my family, and still found it just as funny as if it had happened a few minutes earlier. Even now as I'm typing this I'm laughing. I've had lots of funny things happen while travelling before, but none as funny as this one.

-Melissa P. Cooper 

Tuesday, July 21, 2015

Last Summer: California

Last summer I was lucky enough to find myself spending more time in airports than at home. I got to go places I never thought I would be able to go to. I got to see things I never in my wildest dreams thought I would see. Overall, it was a summer of dreams, so I've decided to write a few posts about these amazing places I visited.

The first place I visited was California! I was invited by my aunt to go with her and her two children to Disneyland. I am such a big fan of Disney, and I had never been to Disneyland, so of course I said yes. The first night we stayed at the Disneyland Hotel, which was beautiful. Then we moved to a smaller hotel for the next four nights, which I didn't mind at all. I'll never understand why people are so adamant to stay in big, fancy hotels on trips like these, because you're going to be spending so much time at the park. Anyway, that's enough about hotels for now- let's talk about Disneyland!


The park was just as magical as everyone says it is. I don't think I really comprehended just how vast and amazing Disneyland is until I stepped onto Main St. and saw the castle. That for me, was the moment when I realized just how amazing it was that Walt Disney was able to make all of this real. Everywhere you look there's something spectacular happening... Characters that you have read about and watched in movies are suddenly standing there, right before your eyes. Parades full of dancers and floats fill the streets. Rides that teleport you into your favorite characters' stories for a few minutes are there waiting for you. It's all so magical. You literally get to spend the day living the life that all of the Disney characters live; but, I think my favorite part of the whole day is when it starts to get dark outside, and Main St. lights up, and you know that it's just a matter of time until the fireworks begin to shoot off behind the castle.

I could go on and on for days, and never be able to truly convey to you just how amazing I think Disneyland is. I loved every little bit about the park, and I wish that I could personally thank Walt Disney himself for having the imagination and determination to create such a wonderful place. As I've said before... One day at Disneyland can feel eternal (but in a good way). When you're there all of the stress of regular life is gone, and you're just you, walking through a perfectly made town, without a care in the world.

-Melissa P. Cooper