it's like middle school all over again

it has happened.

the bangs have reached that awkward place. that half inch too long that is easily snippable, nothing a few minutes with the shears won't fix, but i don't have nerve to tackle it myself.

because i'm the girl who thought, oh it's just a few weeks. let's schedule my next hair appointment about a month out. and i'm left with fringe over my eyebrows, a little tickle of hair that sweeps over my lashes. frantically searching my bathroom drawer for bobby pins or hairspray or something of the like to hold these babies in.place.

it's a minuscule little pesky problem. nothing in the grand scheme of things. nothing a sweep to the side won't fix. but it's 8:30 a.m. and my coffee cup is sitting empty beside me and right now, it is akin to a catastrophe. but sunshine is streaming in through the window to the right of me and it's okay. it's going to be just fine.

and like that big t-shirt phase i went through in middle school (which happened to coincide with those few months i had my hair cut in an awful bob to look just like rachel leigh cook on the babysitter's club movie), this too shall pass.

i also have a label maker

 via

i didn't have a blog last september. the month i spent creating my travel binder for our west coast road trip. the one with the sheet protectors and the tabbed dividers. with the cover illustrations and spine decoration. it was a beauty, and i'll keep it forever. it's got ticket stubs, copies of plane tickets, pictures and reservation numbers in its clutches. what started as a way to organize all the chaos that comes with a long journey turned into a scrapbook without my intention.

and i've started another one. for our october 2011 trip. this time, we want to head up the east coast on route 1. to explore everything our side of the nation has to offer. from philly to atlantic city. from NYC to cape cod. i want to see the leaves turn as we head north and pull on jeans and heavy boots to walk around old city streets at night. i want to stay in little, inexpensive motels and save our money for the food. to stay up late and get up early and pack and shove all we can into about one week.

it's such a process, planning. but when it comes to life, man oh man. when that scanned, black and white picture of the golden gate bridge is replaced with the real, towering structure itself, and when the reservation number for that special cafe only the locals know about transforms into a bowl of steaming chowder on the misty oregon coast, it makes it all worth it.

in college, i once assembled a massive binder of 65 daily news clippings for an extra credit assignment in my sophomore year journalism class. when i pulled it out of my book bag, contents poking out of the edges, thick with effort and time and long nights with glue sticks, my professor looked at me in disbelief. i didn't think anyone was seriously going to do that assignment, he said as he took my project.

don't underestimate the power of a girl who loves organization.

(and extra credit in a terribly difficult class.)