This place is magical.

The more time I spend at Greystone, the more I see God's blessing over the whole thing - and the serious generosity that the directors have. Mainly, Jimboy and Margaret (the family that owns the camp - 4th generation!). They love the counselors and try to do everything within their power to make us excited and happy so we can then go love on the campers to make them excited and happy.

The campers aren't even here yet and I've already had the time of my life. I don't know how God could make this any better. 

Throughout this week we've been doing normal staff training things - meetings about this, that, and the other thing. But sprinkled throughout were lip-syncs, AWESOME food, and a nice with ice cream and Pitch Perfect. The accommodations are more than fantastic and genuinely, I just can't believe this place is real sometimes. 

To prove this point further, tonight we picked money out of a trashcan. Casual. 
We started the night with dinner and dessert at the owner's house (catered by Hubba Hubba) and then had a mad dash Amazing Race type competition that had camp activities with counselor responsibilities mixed in. Afterwards, the winners got cash - cold hard money. And after that, they said that everyone was getting a chance to dip into this trashcan that had $1, $5, $10, $20, $50, and $100 bills in there! Multiple of all! It was surreal. One by one, all 120+ counselors, leaders, and men staff got their turn to dip in. I got a $20! 

They are spoiling us, and it is awesome. My guess is that they know the hard (but so fun!) summer that lies ahead and want to love on us. Who knows. 

Seriously people. What kind of camp is this. 

Miscommunication. The story of my life.

I would really love to be one of those people who always knows where they are going, what time they have to be there, and what to bring. Unfortunately, no matter the amount of preparation, God humbles me every time.

Before school last year, my sister Caitlin and I wanted to attend our Penn State local chapter before-school picnic! We were nervous about going but built up the courage and ventured to the picnic together. We decided to do a drive-by first to see how many people we there and through that, it looked bleak. Hardly any cars. We decided to stop and go inside the Elk Club it was at and after wandering around for a solid 15 minutes, figured it had been cancelled. Sad day.
Then I decided to check out the email again they sent us and realized the picnic was the next day... light bulb moment of realization. Woops.

And this happens way more than it should.

A few weeks later Caitlin and I were at a concert for Gavin Degraw and decided to look up other concerts that were happening that year. We saw Brian Regan was coming to State Theater and immediately bought tickets on my phone! SO EXCITED. The day of the show her and I got all pretty and walked to State Theater to see people pouring out of the theater. We came to the conclusion that maybe there was two shows in a row... but something was off. Again, being the brilliant people we are, we more closely examined our tickets. They were for the State Theater. In New Jersey.

Now to my morning.
I tweet my camp all excited I'm coming! They favorite it and I travel the mere 15 minutes to camp (something I planned so I wouldn't have to worry about traffic). I arrive at camp at 8 am and the gate is closed. Not good. I use my brain and modern technology and tweet at the camp that I'm at the gate! They tweet back I don't have to be there til noon.
Oi vey.

My life. I could have sworn I read I had to be there by 9 am! I must have made that up in my mind. Bah. Oh well.

Gave me time to right this blog post. That's a plus.

Things I'm Loving: Roadtrip Edition

Considering nothing eventful happened today, I thought I'd share some of the things that have been life-savers (well, not exactly life...) during my trip!

Okay, one eventful thing happened. The exit I took today was this:

My car's name is Bruce Wayne and I just couldn't get over the fact that I was taking the exit for the Bat Cave! So perfect! 

Now to the good stuff! 
These products are great during travelling and regular life as well! 

1. Teavana Tumbler

  I bought this tumbler a few days ago (because making tea in the cup thing is just far too much work for me) and it is GREAT. Not only is it great for making loose tea, but a great tumbler in general. The top of it clicks open and shut, and when shut is an air-tight seal - that means no leaking at all. Seriously. It's phenomenal. 

2. Essie Nail Polish in "Spaghetti Strap"

 A classic for me. I always bring a nail polish, top coat, and remover pads (these are my favorite!) along with me! It's a great I-have-nothing-to-do-for-an-hour-so-I'll-sit-here activity and the color is perfect. Goes with just about everything. I need a solid 3 coats for it to be opaque enough for me, but one-coat gives the my-nails-look-perfectly-shiny look. 

3. Blowpro Faux Dry Shampoo

 I don't like to wash my hair everyday (it's actually pretty bad for your hair) so in between washes (or when I just don't have time to shower), dry shampoo is a genuine hair-saver. It  is a powder that you put within your hair that will soak up the oil and add extra volume. I personally take a slice of hair (1/2" thick) on either side of my part, put in a little powder, and then work it in with my finger tips. Add a little to underside of the crown of hair and BAM. SUPA-FRESH. 

The trick with this stuff is to not put it in your actual part, but next to it, if that makes sense. The powder is white so you need to work it in to your hair but once you've mastered this stuff, you'll wonder how you ever lived without it. 

4. Stila Stay All Day Waterproof Liquid Eye Liner

 Being the makeup junkie I am, I have to include this gem. It's been a staple in my makeup bag for years and always comes with me no matter where I go. It does not budge. Through sweat, tears, and oily eyelids, this stuff stays put. Between the staying power, the intense black color, and the pen applicator - I'm sold. As an added bonus, it stays liquid (as in, it doesn't dry out) for ages. I normally toss them after a few months because the applicator loses its stiffness and gets a bit floppy. 

 Using a pen applicator for eye liner can be a bit tricky, but just like the dry shampoo, once you got it - you got it. And you never let it go.

Virginia is for lovers. And slow drivers.

Road update! Hanging out in Panera drinking iced coffee (shocker!) mid-travels to camp. I'm sleeping at a friend's place tonight but they won't be home til 7... so I'm here. I'll probably begin knitting soon.

This is me right before I left! Happy camper! 

I passed an awesome biker gang early on in the trip, always a good way to start off a road trip! 

Here's the route I traveled today! 

Began in Annapolis, traveled right through Virginia to reach Lynchburg, where I had lunch, and now I'm all cozy in Greensboro! 

Observations from driving through Virginia:

1. Slow Drivers

 - It's not just a stereotype, ladies and gents, people in VA seriously drive at the speed limit and nothing more. Being from MD, I'm used to the stereotype that MD drivers are aggressive, drive too fast, and are bad drivers in general (my gender doesn't help me on that front either). And let me tell you, I exemplify ALL of those. 

- Virginia is fascinating. People drive at the speed limit. They use their blinkers a half-mile before they are going to make there turn. No sudden stops. Obviously there are the out-liars, but I'm impressed Virginia! Go you! 

2. Beautiful Roads

- This became my explanation to why everyone was driving so slow. The roads here are gorgeous. The trees are phenomenal and flowers are blooming everywhere! I had to snap a few pics (I'm a MD driver, so obviously I live on the edge) to share! 

I know, I know, it's so simple, but it was just so peaceful and beautiful. 

3. Suicidal Bugs

- I'm convinced that VA has a higher than usual population of bugs. Plus, they are ginormous. I am not a fan. My windshield is nasty-nast. They are constantly flying from the beautiful flowers in front of my car and getting smushed. Neither of us are happy about this situation. (I flinch every time I hit one, again provoking my bad driving) 

4. Roadkill Galore

- This one I don't understand at all. SO MUCH ROADKILL. Small animals, large animals, birds. Everything. Killed on the side of the road. I counted over five deer, three opossums, and four vultures. Vultures?! How does that even happen?! It was so weird.

And after venturing through the big ole state of Virginia, I reached the motherland. 

That time I left for camp.

Last day at home. Geez. I never thought it would come so fast. I AM NOT PREPARED.

I've said some final goodbyes and nearly lost it every time. Part of that has to do with the fact I'm a woman. Part of it has to do with the fact that I'm slightly over-emotional. And the last part is I'm actually sad to be leaving these people so soon after arriving home from  college. :(

I'm almost all packed (even though I'm certain I'm forgetting everything I'll actually need), have made a final trip to Teavana (YUM.), and will be packing up the caravan tonight to take off tomorrow morning (8 am, oh yeah).

For anyone that's curious from what I got from Teavana for the summer:
Golden Monkey (Black Tea)
Slimful Chocolate Decadence (Oolong Tea)
CocoCaramel Sea Salt (Herbal Tea)
 - Mix this with Golden Monkey and OH MY GOODNESS MOUTH EXPLOSION DELICIOUSNESS
Gyokuro Genmaicha (Green Tea)

Back to the point at hand: leaving for camp.
WHAT. 
How did I get here. 
Where did the time go. 

I remember Dr. Holleman (whose awesome blog you can find HERE) encouraging me to be a counselor and how it remarkably changed her life. I remember getting a call from the director, lovely Kelly, and meeting in Irving's for my interview. I remember signing my contract and couldn't believe I was actually doing this. 

And now I'm here. Tomorrow I will travel to Lynchburg, VA for lunch with one of the girls in the Bible Study I lead at school, and then will spend the night with a friend from Summer Project in Raleigh, NC. Monday will be touring Raleigh, eating yummy noms and then travelling to Hendersonville, NC for the night.

Tuesday morning, bright and early, I'll report to camp! I can't wait to meet all of the other counselors (even though I'm terrified) and getting to know the layout of the camp again! 

I need to learn to say "ya'll", drink sweet tea, and how to rock cowboy boots (I don't even own cowboy boots).
 - none of which I've done before... properly. 

Please be praying for my safe travels, community with the other counselors, and for the campers that will be arriving in a little over a week! Can't wait! 

Le Massage.

A few weeks ago I bought a Living Social deal for a spa in my area for a massage! I wanted one before I went to camp to relax and de-stress.

Before ever buying a deal on Groupon or Living Social I thoroughly look at the reviews of the place in mention. The place I bought my deal for had really good reviews, so I thought I was in safe territory.

To begin, this wasn't a horrible, no good, dirty rotten experience... it just definitely was not what I expected.

When I called to make my appointment, the owner of the place answered the phone and was an absolute peach. Wonderful woman. I needed to make the appointment before I left for camp and on the phone it sounded like she literally was booked up until the end of July - which is a good sign! Busy spas/salons means they have repeat customers or at least are decent enough to stay full!

I arrived at the spa 15 minutes before my massage, the usual, and noticed that there wasn't a soul in the place... which automatically worried me. I expected it to be super busy, but literally it was me and the owner.   She took me down a hallway to and I met my massage therapist, who really took me for a surprise.

It was a man, early twenties (literally looked like I could have gone to High School with this kid) and had a remarkable resemblence to this character:

Yup, that's Connor Paolo, who plays Declan Porter on Revenge (an ABC show I'm mildly obsessed with).

So now I'm just super uncomfortable already. Great way to start off. Empty salon. Young guy massaging. Tiny room. 

Oh boy. 

The massage itself was decent, but kept being interrupted by him telling me, "Relax, just let me do my thing."

I would like to, good sir, but you look my age and I am naked (even though I'm under a sheet). This is uncomfortable. 

After going over neck, right arm, left arm, right leg, left leg, he finally got to my back (which is all I wanted in the first place!). He dug hard into my back (and I said to go lightly!), which left me sore for the next few days and honestly the whole experience stressed me out more than relaxed me - not fun. 

After my hour (of which most I was wishing for the entire awkward experience to end), he said, "Well, Emily, I'd love to continue working on you, but our hour is up. Would you like to continue for an extra 30 minutes?" (Which I'd been told earlier would cost a sum of money). I promptly replied a quick, "No, thank you. I have lunch plans."

I left all oiled up and could barely make eye contact as he walked me to check out. 

I learned my lesson - always ask the gender/age of the massage therapist when making an appointment. But, I now know which salon to steer clear of. Let's take the positives out of this! 

The Monstrosity of Packing

Packing for a trip and parking a car are the two things I simply cannot do right the first time. With packing, I over-analyze every situation that could ever possibly happen on a single trip and end up packing nearly everything I own.

On the other hand, I'm terrified of parking. I'm really bad at judging distances in general (which proves interesting when people ask me how far something is away and I give them the "10 feet" answer - always) and therefore am convinced I will hit the two cars between which I am parking. 
    I know what your thinking, my life is so hard. 

Coming back to the point at hand. Packing for Greystone is the top priority! As it should be considering I'll be taking off in t-minus 3 days and 10 hours. YIKES. 
Being the type-A personality I am, I make lists. LOTS OF LISTS. Lists of everything. I would rather make the lists than actually pack. (I'm the same way with schoolwork. Tell me to create a list of what I need to do - nailed it. The reality of me completing the list - little to none.)

Do I pack 10 pairs of shorts? Is that too many? Is that not enough? What about rain boots? flip-flops? comfortable shoes? nicer shoes? How much can I do laundry? Do I have enough of this, that, and the other thing? 

And instead of solving all of those questions, I simply don't answer of them and leave it til the last minute. I'm glad I'm so efficient and prepared. 

Love,
Your Wanna-Be Prepared But Ultimately Unmotivated Teenager

The Straight Bangs Debate.

Such a silly topic - but so extremely stressful.
I'm a huge believer that hair is hair and it'll grow back. However, chopping it off still frightens me greatly every time. I'm determined to let it grow long... but as you can see from the last post, I'll never actually get it there.
I will get bored at just past shoulder length and chop it all off again!

Which leads me to my current hair dilemma.
I want to grow out my hair all summer. That is my goal. I'm also really thinking about getting straight-cut bangs. DILEMMA. What to do, what to do.

(If I ever had any guy readers, I've lost them by now).

I've had really long hair, short bobs, long bobs, no bangs, side-swept bangs, super choppy layered hair. But it hasn't been long in a while, and now that I can maintain and style my hair more properly, I want it back!

Bah. Commitment issues (but not really). My life.

Or just a mid-night ramble. That could be it too.

Goodbyes Suck.

I couldn't think of a more eloquent title. It's a down-fault of mine. 

I'm a starter. I love to start new projects, learn new skills, make new friends, cook new food dishes, all of those things. Want to know what I fail at? Finishing them. 

Earlier this year I watched all six seasons (121 episodes) of LOST on Netflix and simply tuned out the last ten minutes of the last episode because something distracted me - arguably the most important ten minutes of the entire series. I still haven't gone back and watched it. WHO DOES THAT.

With knitting I learned smaller projects are my forte. Baby booties - done. Hats of all variety - got it. Scarves - boom. Sweater - yeah, bout that... 
I get bored with what I'm doing and just stop! 

Not a good habit. 

The same thing is true of my sister. We both had a scarf phase (don't lie, you had one too!) where we both bought (separately) over a dozen scarves of all sizes, colors, textures, etc. 
Did we each need a dozen scarves? Of course not. But we loved scarves. They complemented every outfit! 

With music too! Mumford and Sons is my favorite band. You can nearly always find their C.D. playing in my car because I can genuinely listen to it on repeat and not get bored.

My sister, however, is a repeat song-abuser. The song below is one I can't even listen to anymore because of the vast number of times she played it on car rides. Considering we drove to and from Penn State together (3.5-4 hour drive), I nearly went crazy. 

However, I do still love me some Chris August. 

This whole post is basically leading to the point that I realized this morning, I don't like the endings. I avoid friends near the end of the year because I don't want to say goodbye. I would rather our last memory be a pure one than an over-processed gaggle of hugs and tears. I leave for camp in a week and have to leave my friends from home - whom I've only been with a grand total of three weeks. But still, rather than be all "Wahhhh I'm gonna miss you." I'd rather spend a final bonfire with s'mores and say "See you soon!" 

This time it's coupled with real goodbyes though. One of my best friends from home is moving out to California with her family and the other is travelling to Ohio State where she'll be attending in the fall. These are real goodbyes. And I can't process that. My mind doesn't like it. 

Therefore, I just end up here. Goodbyes Suck. 

I fail at blogs.

Believe me, I have no trouble keeping updated on other people's blogs, twitter, Facebook pages, etc. but keeping up with my own? Now there is a struggle bus if I've ever seen one. 

So, after several unsuccessful attempts, why not try again? 

Summer is here which means two things: lots of free time and lots of work. (Sounds contradictory, I know)

Either I'm working as a lovely receptionist (which is a glorified phone-answering machine that occasionally answers emails and schedules conference room) OR I'm watching some show on Netflix whilst knitting away furiously. 

I'm already losing you, aren't I?

This summer will be incredible for a few reasons:

- I'm working at Camp Greystone for the majority of the summer (end of May to middle of August) 

- Through said camp, I'll be in the mountains for a good portion of summer which leads to lotssssa time with Jesus - YES. 

- Also through camp I will be teaching cooking! HOW FUN IS THAT. 

- (Fingers crossed!) Sometime this summer I'll be donating bone marrow to a woman that needs it through an awesome bone marrow matching organization called DKMS

- Knitting beast I am. Current project is a lovely Weasley sweater for one of my best friends! (But seriously, been working on it for a month - IT WILL NOT END)

Join me!