Things I'm Loving Friday X

Happy Fourth of July!!! I am thankful every day that I live in America, but I am especially thankful today, on the day of our country's independence. We are the land of the free and the home of the brave, and I am truly so proud to be an American.

SRD is decked out for the Fourth

I hope this holiday treats you very well - I have quite the full schedule ahead of me, crossing a few things off of my list - and I hope to round off the day watching fireworks in the great city of Austin. It occurred to me just last week that I have yet to spend a Fourth of July in Austin. The summer after my freshman year I was in Colorado at Crooked Creek Ranch; the summer after my sophomore year I was in Barcelona with Sarah (singing songs about America); and last summer Dylan and I went to Houston so that he could meet my parents. Crazy how time flies!

That makes this my first Fourth of July in Austin, and I am hoping to go to my very favorite spot in Austin - Mt. Bonnell - to watch the fireworks. I'm not one for crowds (mainly it's the traffic that gets to me), and I tend to prefer the more low-key watch-spots, so I'm hoping this spot won't disappoint.

Anyway, I'm off to get in a workout for the day - I'm sure to report back on that one - before beginning to cross things off of my to-do list! But, before I go, let's end this post with my tenth edition of Things I'm Loving. Enjoy!

Things I'm Loving

Shakespeare

My roommate Jamie Lynn surprised me with some Shakespearean Insult Gum the other night, which contains a different insult in each pack from Macbeth, Hamlet, Henry V, King Lear, Romeo & Juliet, Othello, and Richard III. I received this fabulous poster for my classroom that is filled with phrases coined by Shakespeare in the mail just this past week, and finally, I treated myself to this Shakespeare action figure from BookPeople here in Austin. Do I need it? No. But it was just too good to pass up!

Lululemon Fly Away Tamer Headbands

If you guys haven't figured it out by now, I love to workout. Or more accurately, I love the feeling I get after a good workout. And there is nothing worse than having your hair get in your face in the middle of said workout, which is why I rely on headbands to tame my somewhat unruly curly hair. I have a fairly small head, and many headbands won't stay put on my head. Lululemon Fly Away Tamer Headbands, along with these Nike and Under Armour Mini headbands, are about the only headbands I have found that manage to do their job.

Should I even admit that I have more of these headbands than this?

25 Movies From the 90s That Taught Us Life's Most Important Lessons

You guys know by now that BuzzFeed is one of my guilty pleasures. I should probably be ashamed to admit that I can easily get sucked into reading article after article for over an hour. Some of them are dumb, some of them are interesting, and some of them bring back sweet memories. This was one of those articles, and though I haven't seen every movie on this list, I have seen quite a few of them, and I loved being reminded that there is always more to something than what is on the surface.

The Sandlot (Source)

Castle Hill Graffiti

As I mentioned yesterday, I decided to get a little bit more specific with my goal of seeing all of the Austin Murals that I wrote down on my Summer 2014 To-Do List. Castle Hill - also known as the Hope Outdoor Gallery - was one of the items on my sublist, and Hanna and I crossed that one off just the other night. We vowed to come back before the end of the summer with our own bottle of spray paint, but for the time being, we enjoyed admiring what was currently on this constantly changing educational art project.

And with that, I'm off to begin my Fourth of July. I have lots of fun on the agenda, so I will certainly be back with a full report. Have a GREAT (and safe) holiday weekend!