I think I wanna marry you.

You may have noticed that I've been MIA for the summer.  That's because I was in New Hampshire slash the greater New England region for the summer, hanging with my sister and helping her plan her wedding.  Well, it happened last Saturday and, I'm pretty bias, but it was the funnest wedding ever.  After a weekend of lawn games, hiking, delicious food, great company and more dancing and sweating then humanly possible, I'm incredibly tired, incredibly happy, and incredibly grateful for my amazing, hilarious, crazy family that got a little bit bigger this on Saturday.  As an added bonus, I did not pass out, pee myself, or cry during my speech.  All three were distinct possibilities.  Now I'm back in DC and back to work and in complete denial about both.  I will also be back to blogging shortly.  For now, I'll leave you with a quick preview of images from the day, taken by the uber-talent Amanda Borozinski of Boro Creative Designs.  If you're having a New England wedding, you're crazy if you don't look at Amanda's work.  (Oh, and she got these pictures while it was raining.)

xo kate

A person's a person no matter how small.

Dr. Seuss is one of two authors that made me love to read.  (The other was Roald Dahl.)  I struggled to learn to read -- I was a low reader through first and second grade -- but when I got it, when it clicked, I read everything.  And I haven't really stopped since.  Loving to read has changed the course of my life and currently I spend my days, largely, trying to convince 23 second graders to love to read as much as I do, because I know it will change their lives too.  Thankfully, I have Dr. Seuss and Roald Dahl and Jon Scieszka and James Marshall and Giles Andreae and about a thousand other fantastic authors to help me along the way.

In a crowd of giants, Dr. Seuss stands the tallest to me.  I love him, not just because Green Eggs and Ham is inspired by my hometown -- Hanover, New Hampshire -- but because his wit and humanity shines through in all his writing.  Dr. Seuss teaches us to care about our environment, not to be racist, to believe in our dreams and to love the people around us.  Today would have been Dr. Seuss' 108th birthday and is a holiday in hundreds of thousands of school across America.  In my classroom, we'll be eating green eggs and ham (technically turkey bacon because I'm not allow to serve ham to students) and talking about our favorite books.  For those of you who don't spend the day with seven and eight year olds, here's an opportunity for you to celebrate at your desks with the wise words of the great doctor.

xo kate

From the truth you can't escape, I can tell real from fake

Seeing Brandy and Monica hanging together at the Grammy's just made me want to watch the video for The Boy is Mine.  So that's what I did.  Sometimes it's great being an adult with internet access.

This video debuted in 1998, I was in eighth grade and at the absolute apex of my MTV phase.  One of my favorite conversations to have with friends what about whether we more identified as Brandys or Monicas.  It was like the 1998 version of being a Carrie or a Charlotte, or deciding which Disney character you'd want to officiate your wedding.

I was a Monica, obviously, because she was so cool and cosmopolitan.  You could tell by her icy blue and white decor and that really tall vase off wheat she kept in her living room.  Compared to Monica, Brandy was like a little girl with all her sun-theme bedding and oversized fans.  Even at 13, I knew that I was way too cool for Brandy.  Monica brought a certain gravitas to the role of scorn girlfriend, and you just know it was her idea to catch Mekhi Phifer in the act.  As an eighth grader growing up in rural New Hampshire, I completely identified with Monica's mature, urban chic vibe and her penchant for payback.



Who are you -- a Brandy or a Monica?

xo kate

Half hippy, half French, all upper class.

xo kate

Vox Clamantis in Deserto

I think you'll like it even if you don't know the second verse to Dear Old Dartmouth, or where West Leb is, or why he's standing behind a tree trunk.  But you'll love it if you do know all those things.



xo kate

He's from New Hampshire!

I'm not going to lie to you, it feels pretty weird to be writing about something that is not the royal wedding. Regular life is so much worse than a fancy-pants wedding across the pond.  It's like coming home after a great vacation.  Oh, well.  I did try to recapture the magic by watching the William and Kate Lifetime movie.  They really took some liberties with the phase "based on a true story" with that one.  (Look at that, I did manage to make this about the royal wedding.  It's like I have a special skill or something.  Is there a way to make that my full-time job?)

At any rate, I actually meant for this to be about Seth Meyers at the White House correspondents dinner.  He was super funny, taking digs at Joe Biden, John Kyl, President Obama and, of course, Donald Trump.  Meyers' performance was relevant and stayed pretty appropriate as far as these things go.  Although The Donald definitely did not appreciate it.  Does he think laughing isn't presidential? Maybe he should have thought about what was and wasn't presidential when he was hosting Wrestle Mania, not voting in 20-plus years, hocking vitamins on late night TV, or mediating fights between Meatloaf and Gary Bussey.

I've always thought that Seth Meyers was funny, although I've been disappointed by SNL during his run as head writer, perhaps most importantly though, Seth Meyers is from New Hampshire.  And I love people from New Hampshire.



President Obama's speech was also funny, particularly the part where he releases his birth video.  One of the things that I've always really liked about the President is his sense of humor and his ability to make fun of himself and the ridiculousness that sometimes surrounds him.



Enjoy!

xo
kate

Who's gonna plow this town tonight?

There's a million reasons why New Hampshire is the greatest state in the union.  This is just one more:

Live free or die, bitches.

xo kate