Happy Father's Day おとうさん！

Neither of us are into mushy stuff so I'll leave it at

you're my favorite dad :)

Love you!

There are just some days that are refreshing. Today was one of them. Went to Pike Place today and it was work as usual. But it went really well compared to Wednesday {which was an absolute nightmare}. I met the guy that sells the slippers and hats and he was really nice. Sadly...I already forgot his name. Woops! The sun came out and shined alllll day :) Then this guy came by and bought honey sticks four different times. Each time he did, he had a smile for me and was really nice. And then he whipped out a cheesy pick up line that made me laugh. People were polite and made an effort to be friendly. Knock knock, one of the fish guys, bought me cherries and was his his usual goofy self. But more than other people being nice to you, it's almost even better being nice to other people as well. It's like paying it forward.

Basically, it's amazing what a little friendliness will do. One of the dove chocolate I ate today had such an applicable little saying. 

SMILING IS FREE

Two of my goals for this summer are learning (re-learning) how to sew/alter clothes and to knit. I may as well have told my mother that someone else has taken over my body and that I'm no longer her real daughter. For years, I have absolutely refused to sew. Most of those conversations started with a "Mei, would you like to learn how to sew/hem/alter/stitch/basically anything in this area?" and usually ended with a firm "No."

You should've seen her face when I asked her if we could sew together this summer. I totally rocked her world. Literally. To make matters even worse, Jessica, Jillian, and I are going to have sewing nights. Like little old ladies who have nothing else better to do. And I'm actually excited. Jessica's mom offered to teach us how to make dough as well...

Basically I'm becoming domestic. I feel

my pioneer ancestors glowing with pride.

Anyways, there's an update on what gets me excited these days. I'll post my results when they're done! :) 



Successful Sunday

love me some letter writing.

Dear 7th grader Elizabeth Mei,

Right now you are a huge weirdo. You'll become a bigger brat to your parents but luckily they'll forgive you. You'll get your license and gain a little more freedom. You'll go on your first date, take multiple AP exams, get your first kiss,  fight with your friends, get a boyfriend, fail your first test, and basically survive high school. Oh but don't worry, you'll actually score a date to prom. Luckily, life will then get even better (you won't even miss high school, trust me).

You'll graduate, not say good-bye to the people you don't care about, leave the tiny town of Enumclaw, and go to the nice school that accepted you. Your OCDness about your grades paid off friend, don't worry. In fact, you worry too much. Middle school doesn't even mean anything. But anyways, I digress.

Basically, my life is way better than yours. I actually have friends and I talk to people at school. I don't live under my parents' rules (although they never had many). I get to choose what I want to do. The people I meet now don't even believe that I used to be shy, like silent, in school. Crazy, huh? But there is one thing that I am jealous of. You don't care what other people think. You speak your mind, your serious about world issues, you care about saving the earth, your opinionated, and you have a strong spine. Yes, your fashion sense is horrible. And believe me, those army cargo pants and that black shirt with the skull and crossbones will not always be your favorites. Nor will knee socks, those nascar jazz pants, or that striped black and red scarf. But, you just don't care. And that inspires me. Because right now, I'm trying to reach that. I'm hoping I'll look a little better than you do when I try something different but I'm going to need your confidence. I know you suffer from pre-teen insecurities just like all girls do but your defiance in going against the fashion grain is valuable, especially to me now.

I now have have two mottos: What Would Sydney Do (from The Daybook) and would 7th grade Elizabeth be afraid to wear that?

{bring it on}

P.S. Goodwill will become your new best friend. Embrace it.