We Love Curiosity!

How exciting that the Mars Rover Curiosity has landed and is now traversing the surface of Mars. It landed pretty much without a hitch and is already sending some cool information back to our lovely home planet. NASA got a higher resolution photo just earlier. This is so very exciting, don't you agree? The photo features part of the Mars crater and Martian horizon, looking right into the sun. You can even see part of the rover. NASA decided to wait 28 months for Earth and Mars to be aligned again, costing more money and time, instead of rushing with an okay product earlier. Although it required more resources, the wait was obviously worth it. The director of the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Dr. Elachi, explained that the rover cost less than seven dollars per American to produce, and the result are spectacular. Aptly named, Curiosity is truly a testament to the creative and brilliant minds that never cease to amaze in our country. 

Stay up to date with everything Mars related by checking the Facebook and Twitter platform for Mars Rover Curiosity. 

Photo via NASA

{Weekend Update}...Chalk It Up to Summer

 A fantastic event illustrated our weekend in Eau Claire. A local downtown park hosted the fourth ChalkFest, an annual festival-meets-competition for local artists. Each participant is allotted a section of the twisty, woven sidewalks in gorgeous Wilson Park. The viewing starts in the late morning around eleven and last all day, into the summer evening. Although rainy in the morning, it cleared up and proved to be a beautiful evening for strolling down to the park to enjoy art, music, and summer lovin'. The winning piece for adults was the amazing lion (pictured below) and the youth competition winner (top photo) is a family member! Holla! I'm so proud to live in a community that celebrates creativity in so many ways!

These great creations made me think back to childhood when my masterpiece was dusty, and I, covered in chalk dust, was so sad when it was washed away by midnight rains. But there was nothing better than creating something just as new and special the very next day.

I hope your summer was a fantastically summery one, filled with color, sunshine, and maybe some chalk!

Will You Read?

J.K. Rowling's new novel, The Casual Vacancy, will be released September 27. Although the Happy Potter series turned franchise was embraced by all age groups, ranging from infants to elderly, Vacancy is specifically recognized as an adult novel. Like most people, I'm almost hesitant to pick it up, for how will it ever compare to the enchanted magnitude of dear old Harry? 

However, HP was a success because it was a brilliant book written with a skillfully clear voice. Rowling made reading cool again. For everyone. After years of gossip magazines and depressing news, maybe it's time the adult population fell in love with books again. 

Dorm Life

Remember the dorms in college? 

The summer leading up to your Freshman year is crazy. You're checking your inbox everyday anxiously awaiting your roommate match. (I was lucky a roomed with my twin sister, Abby.) You gush to everyone which dormitory you're assigned and you're (secretly) thrilled that you're in the coed building! Extra long twin sheets, matching towels, a coordinating shower caddy, and several air fresheners later, you're more than ready for the ultimate collegiate experience.

And then you move in.

There it is in all it's tragic mess. After dreaming of a room like Rory's from Gilmore Girls, you're horrified by the pee yellow walls and dusty carpeting. Even though you've opted for lofted beds, you have just enough room for one of the two of you to pace in a narrow line the night before a term paper. Gross!

I'll admit it. I wanted to barf, cry, furiously clean, unpack, but also leave all at once. It was the strangest tumult of emotions. Thrilled, and yet terrified to be there, I was moving in no matter what.

And guess what. I survived. A whole year! I helped that I roomed with Abby, because if I was feeling miserable, at least we could miserable together. Despite what you might think, dorm life was not a great catalyst in the friends department.

I was expecting to become best friends with everyone on my floor. The highly romanticized theory that you are thrown together and suddenly mesh is just that. It's just a theory. I was one a cliquy floor inhabited by people that were extremely different from me.

So in all honesty, dorm life was awful. At least for me. Instead of feeling surrounded by good friends and good times, I felt completely isolated. If it weren't for Abby, I would have been desperately sad and home sick.

I hate to make it sound so terrible, but my experience was eye opening. I am grateful for the friends I did make. It forced me to actually leave such a cloistered setting and branch out.

Don't forget, living in the dorms made me truly appreciate little things like baking and cooking, cleaning my own bathroom, doing my laundry without taking eleven flights of stairs. I never thought I would be thrilled about such simple things!

I'd love to know how you felt about the dorms! Did you love it or hate it? Did you make some of your best friends there? Did you ever feel isolated or completely claustrophobic? Or was it exhilarating to be surrounded my so many different people you didn't really know? Let me know about your experience!

Jet Setter Luxe

This fall we've seen a resurgence of American Sportswear silhouettes and denim on denim. I saw a wonderful title for this next look of fall. It was named The Global Aristocrat, which I find to be so utterly luxurious and decadent. It just sounds expensive. Encapsulating all things fine, this jet setter look includes furs, sequins, leather, metallic embellishments, and a variety of beautiful textiles. 

Photos via