One Classy Bea

I live in Madison, WI with my husband Josh. When I'm not working on my PhD, we like to share adventures on the isthmus.

[oneclassybea]

The sugar snap peas in this week's CSA box are so good! I'm going to eat them all before Josh gets home.

[oneclassybea]

Enjoying some Kansas City coffee in Madison WI.

[oneclassybea]

Found this gem at St. Vinny's for a $1.25! This album will always remind me of my parents and our night at the Starlight theatre. I saw more tie dye-wearing baby boomers than I ever care to see again. A week later I made copies of all my dad's CSNY cds.

[oneclassybea]

Josh and I camped on our patio last night. We're getting pretty excited about backpacking the Oregon Coast Trail in a few weeks!

[weekendreverie]

Graham Coleman, how’d I get so lucky? 8 lbs 1 oz. 20 inches.

[oneclassybea]

A classy broad had a baby! Congratulations, Sarah and Daniel!

[oneclassybea]

Summer of Huxley

[oneclassybea]

A few updates

It's been a few weeks since I posted last, so I thought I would do a quick check in. 

I successfully completed my final papers and received all A's for my coursework. Dad, that means you owe me $15, $5 per course. He knows what I'm talking about.

There was a bat in our apartment last night at 3:00 am! I should have been more prepared since Sarah and I ran from our apartment to our parent's house successfully captured a bat in our college apartment in the summer of 2004 or 2005. I woke up as Huxley (our cat) was racing back and forth between our bedroom and the living room. He jumped up on our bed and chirped at the disgusting creature as it flew behind our curtains. After waking up Josh and running to our living room, Josh and Huxley (it was definitely a team effort) caught the bat in a trash bag and then set it free into the night. The clicking sounds the bat made every time Huxley pawed at it through the curtains still haunts me. 

Josh and I bought our plane tickets to Portland, OR. From July 17th to August 14th we will be hiking the Oregon Coast Trail. We are super excited!

Sarah is having a baby this week! I can't wait to meet my newest nephew.

[oneclassybea]

This is helping me get through my final papers. Thanks for the encouragement, Lindsay!

[newyorker]

A cartoon by Shannon Wheeler. For more cartoons from the issue: http://nyr.kr/106KD9I

[oneclassybea]

Josh and I can relate.

[oneclassybea]

This song is helping me get through my final papers. 

[oneclassybea]

No charge. No trial. And I’m being force-fed while bound to a chair.

[politicalprof]

The blunt, pathetic reality today is that a little old lady has died, who in the winter of her life had to water roses alone under police supervision. If you behave like there’s no such thing as society, in the end there isn’t. Her death must be sad for the handful of people she was nice to and the rich people who got richer under her stewardship. It isn’t sad for anyone else. There are pangs of nostalgia, yes, because for me she’s all tied up with Hi-De-Hi and Speak and Spell and Blockbusters and “follow the bear”. What is more troubling is my inability to ascertain where my own selfishness ends and her neo-liberal inculcation begins. All of us that grew up under Thatcher were taught that it is good to be selfish, that other people’s pain is not your problem, that pain is in fact a weakness and suffering is deserved and shameful. Perhaps there is resentment because the clemency and respect that are being mawkishly displayed now by some and haughtily demanded of the rest of us at the impending, solemn ceremonial funeral, are values that her government and policies sought to annihilate.

Russell Brand — yes, that Russell Brand — on Margaret Thatcher. It’s absolutely worth the read. (via politicalprof)

It seems that all my course readings this semester are about neoliberalism, and Thatcher's name comes up a lot. In my opinion, she was no classy broad.

Let me know when Meryl Streep plays Hillary Rodham in a movie. I would go see that one.

[oneclassybea]

Josh and I worked on our national parks checklist map last night. We added colorful trees to the parks we’ve visited and yarn and pins to map our road trip routes. I’ve always thought of our relationship as an adventure, and what a great way to document some of the journey!

Buy your National Parks Checklist Map here.

[oneclassybea]

It's snowing again and other things

Madison is supposed to get somewhere between 6-10 inches of snow today, and I have never been more ready for Spring. 

In other news,

I had a wonderful 29th birthday last week. Josh scheduled a one hour massage for me, and I later met him at Forequarter for a wonderful dinner. 

Josh has recently become more involved in the community. He recently spoke at a city council meeting about putting in a bike lane on North Sherman Ave., and he joined our neighbor association. I couldn't be more proud!

And all I've been doing for the last week is writing a literature review about a model of professional development. It's thrilling!

Things I'm looking forward to,

My parents are visiting in two weeks, and the four of us are going to the Leonard Cohen concert in Milwaukee.

Spring break is in three weeks which means I get to see my two best friends, sister Sarah and Lindsay! Lindsay will be in town for Sarah's baby shower. Yay!

[oneclassybea]

Josh will often say, "You are just like your dad." This includes never smiling just for the hell of it and falling asleep during other people's parties. Both traits cause my mother-in-law to stress out. When it comes to writing papers or similar tasks, I inherited my mother's need to snack. For some reason the act of grabbing a chip or piece of candy makes this process of sitting for hours easier. I'm surprised my 8th grade science homework didn't have cheeto fingerprints all over it. Thanks for the Valentine's candy, Sarah! I promise to not eat the whole bag today.

[oneclassybea]

Jens Risom's prefab weekend retreat Bea and Josh's home

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[oneclassybea]

National Parks Checklist Map Print

This would look so great in my apartment, and I would have 13 trees to add to our growing list of visited parks!

Edit: I bought the 11x17 print!

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