today i'm looking at:

100 abandoned houses


& flights to chattanooga, tennessee.

what is up:

i've been back in the states for a week now, and it's been almost a month since i last updated, so i'm sure that the foremost question on your mind is, "what on earth has whitney been doing?" well, this is it:

1. keeping my body temperature regulated. it's much hotter outside here than it is in costa rica, and much cooler indoors. so i usually spend the heat of the day under a blanket in my house (where i read my book or make jewelry [i didn't make this, but i made one very similar to it] or catch up on the 1000+ blog entries in my google reader [eek!].)

2. cooking. i promise never to take my kitchen for granted again. i really missed the freedom to prepare my own food while i was gone, and bradley and i have been making up for it since i've been back. a few nights ago, i made gallo pinto, chimichurri, and sauteed fish (that my dad caught!), and it was absolutely delicious. i went to the denton farmer's market yesterday and got a handful of pickling cucumbers from a sweet, toothless old man, so homemade pickles are next on my list of things to make.

3. floating in the lake/getting drunk with friends. this is pretty self-explanitory; i missed out on a lot of both while i was away.

i hope to be much better at keeping this old thing updated from now on.

on costa rica:

i´m having a great time, slowly getting to know the region and improving my spanish and sweating constantly. i have attended a dance class, a photography class, and a traditional costa rican cooking class, in addition to the spanish language and culture class from 10:45 to 1:45 every day.

my classmates and host family are great, and i sort of have a girl crush on our director, janiva, who is probably the most interesting, accomplished young woman i know. i´ve been so busy from dawn until way past dusk every day; i feel like i´ve been here for weeks rather than days.

missing you all. don´t have too much fun without me. besos.

leavin':

¿qué tal, dudes? i'm leaving for costa rica today; don't be surprised if i decide to expatriate

just kiddingggg. see y'all in three weeks!

dime dime dime:

i've been listening to hispanic pop radio for the past few days, sort of in preparation for my trips to méxico and costa rica and sort of just for fun. anyway, as a result, this song has been stuck in my head for approximately 48 hours. i think it's getting on bradley's nerves, but it is SO catchy!

sad, sad news:

i'm visiting my family in sour lake, and they just told me that maribelle was hit by a car in front of our house a few weeks ago.
r.i.p. baby girl. i'll miss you forever.

two things:

1. i'm finally done with final exams. remind me, why exactly did i think it was a good idea to get this second degree?

2. phat camp 2 is this weekend, and i'm really looking forward to bike parades and music and dancing and capturing the flag and hanging out with friends, and hopefully the weather won't get in the way of any of it.

stop raining:

...please? i really need some sunshine.

and speaking of the sun... the other day i came across one of my favorite photos from our family trip to belize last summer. it's of bailey and me, donning dark suntans and printed dresses in front of the rainbow hotel on caye caulker. bailey is leaving for barcelona in a few days, so i'm not going to see her until mid-july. i'll miss you, little sis.

"my first 'mader":

by whitney radley

also, i have baby european starlings living in the hole above my backdoor and they are so chirpy!

show and tell with ms. monét robbins:

"this is my new blackberry! it's sort of ghetto and it doesn't have a built-in camera."

"this is my kitty, benny! he's sort of chubby and very sleepy."

p.s. i'm so lucky to have amazing, beautiful, smart, talented, fun gfs all around the state and the country and the world.

my mint:

the mint plant (of an unidentified variety) in my windowsill is producing an inordinate amount of fragrant leaves on its unruly stems, and i just figured out what to do with it. who's in for mint juleps and/or mojitos? eh? happy hour to celebrate dead week?

p.s. you all should see how my little garden is reacting to this rainy weather. perhaps i have a little bit of a green thumb after all.

swimming cities:

how beautiful! i want to ride on one! read more about them here.

my garden:

i've got garlic sprouts!

and lavender blossoms!

and here's a shot of my dinky little container garden:

you're looking at: jalapeño and serrano pepper plants, spearmint, golden oregano, marigolds, basil, (dying) cilantro, rosemary, begonias, and a tomato plant. it's a modest start. easily movable.

i'm reading a book right now called "grassroots gardening: rituals for sustaining activism," and the author, donna schaper, talks about how she moves around pretty often and leaves a little garden behind everywhere she has lived. this sounds really nice, and totally practical for me, since i don't really plan on being sedentary for a while...

things:

i really like these portraits of the presidents' girlfriends. (from here.)

i wasted a lot of the day feeling gross and embarrassed about my behavior last night; but it's okay to get a little wild and crazy and obnoxiously wine-drunk sometimes, right? since i'm 23 now, i don't think i'll be able to justify that sort of recklessness for much longer...

i don't mean to brag, but:

i get to eat really, really delicious things sometimes, like this cranberry orange french toast. i'm a lucky girl.


i walked to the public library earlier and came home with an armload of books on organic gardening; now i'm reading up a little before i go to the nursery. finally. i'm feeling a little bit more confident.