I just got back to California from Ohio, and since I never did blog about my ballgame or Chautauqua, I might as well do that now. Better late than never, dudes. Indians game: Water is wet. Grass is green. I'm pretty into baseball. All obvious statements. So I've basically been excited and waiting for this game all 364 days that I wasn't at Progresssive Field. I'd picked the date out pretty much a week after the 2017 schedule came out. July 8th. It was one of three of the Indians sold out games of the year, and clocked in at 47,000 diehard, crazed Indians fans, all ready to crush one of our arch rivals, the Detroit Tigers. It was also Andrew Miller's jersey night, so that was one of the big factors for me. We got there at 3:40 ish, and just to clarify, that's about an hour and a half before the gates even opened. So we walked all around before being the first of one of the lines. Of course we weren't the only ones though. Anyways, we were probably one of the first 200 to get 2 of the 12,500 Miller jerseys that they were handing out. We got great seats right between left field and third base. My dad stayed in his seat while I ran down by the Tribe's dugout to try for an autograph/get to be super close to the players. Francisco Lindor was signing, but of course he stopped right when he was getting towards the middle section where I was. ![]() □ I got to watch them warm up at basically this distance away from me, which basically made my year. This is them standing for the National Anthem, or, as I choose to believe, them posing for me to take the perfect photo that will eventually become my wallpaper for the next 6-8 months. Thanks dudes! Cleveland fans are hardcore. It was only in 2016 that the city of Cleveland won its first championship in 52 years and ended the drought. The city's sports history is so impressively tragic that you'd think the fan count would be close to nothing. But nope. To me it is a friggin miracle that the Cleveland Browns' FirstEnergy stadium could continue to sell so many tickets game after game with the Browns being, well, the Browns. But that's just who we are. And it is the best thing ever as a Cleveland fan to get to experience a sold out crowd screaming their lungs out, booing the other team, and attempting the wave, all while watching your favorite players 100 feet away. Yeah, I had a pretty amazing time. We shut them out 4-0, which was not the most intense score but I'll totally take it. Chautaqua: If you've never heard of Chautaqua, just picture a summer camp/country club for grown-ups. It's got lectures on all sorts of topics; it's got orchestras and plays and ballets; it's got an amazing bookstore and a lakefront; it's basically a nerd's paradise. My gran goes there every year, and this time she decided to bring me (Shoutout to Gran, thank you so much for taking me!). I had been there once before with a day pass, and it is such a cool place that I totally wanted to go again. There are lots of places to walk or bike since there's special brick streets with no cars. Lots of photo-worthy buildings and houses, very old/Victorian style. The day we got there we ate pizza in the main square and then walked back to the Athenaeum Hotel, where we were staying. I read on the one of the many porches for a couple of hours, and then went down to dinner at the hotel restaurant. After dinner we went to the huge amphitheater to see a ballet, which I unfortunately was not allowed to photograph. It was pretty amazing, and the amphitheater was really close to the hotel, so we didn't have to walk very far. In the mornings I went to go get coffee and did a lot of walking/reading. I then met up with Gran and we went to a strange but entertaining play (Noises Off!) that afternoon, and had dinner shortly after. We left in the morning fully rested and happy. So yesterday we got off the plane in San Francisco, took the Airporter to Larkspur, picked up my sister, and *surprise!* got on the San Francisco ferry to go see another baseball game! San Francisco versus, wait for it, the one and only Cleveland Indians. I know. How crazy is that?! I mean really, we had just been in NorthEast Ohio, then after a 5 hour plane trip we go and see the NorthEast Ohio baseball team. It took some logistics, but we made it happen. We lost, which I don't really want to discuss, but it was a pretty cool experience to get to see a baseball game, especially your team, right after getting off the plane. It was perfect weather, and, for my sister's first major league game, we could've done worse.
whew, I'm done bloggin. I'm gonna go to the beach. xo, Victoria ✌️
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I don't know, but I think that my summer has peaked. I honestly have no idea what's gonna top this concert. It. Was. So. Great. So this was my first big concert. This summer going to a concert was probably the main thing on my bucket list, and I'm so lucky that it was U2. So my dad and I headed to Cleveland to see the 30th anniversary Joshua Tree show, which my dad had seen live 30 years ago, making it super special. We got awesome parking (always a priority that pays off so much), walked around downtown before the show, and got to FirstEnergy Stadium an hour before it started. OneRepublic started for them, which was another bonus. U2 came out right when it started to get dark, and it was lit. Two and a half hours of perfect music, as well as amazing lights. After doing 6 of their other hits, they began Joshua Tree in order from start to finish. Ugh it was so good. They did encore songs too, which were all perfect. We had the best time, and like I said before, I don't know what's going to top it. We left Cleveland at around midnight. There was some major traffic going on so we had to wait for about 25 minutes, but it was entertaining with the awesomely obnoxious Clevelanders laying on their horns and sitting out their windows. We got home at 2 ish. It was so awesome to be in Cleveland, and l'll be back there soon for the Indians game!
Earlier this week, I took a day trip with my mom, sister, and gramma to the DeYoung museum in Golden Gate Park, San Francisco. Since it's way far away from the ferry terminal, we drove instead of taking the ferry, which is kinda sad but at least we got to go over the Golden Gate bridge. It was beautiful. By beautiful I mean you could actually see it without fog completely hiding it like last time, when Gran and I had no clue that we were going over it until about halfway over (shoutout to my Gran, can't wait to see you!). So the main purpose of this seemingly random museum visit day was to go see the Summer of Love 50th Anniversary Experience show that was there. We decided that we were going to dress up in hippie clothes and march through that museum flashing peace signs at everything. Well almost everything. We got an amazing parking place and went through the Summer of Love exhibit first, of course. I love pretty much anything old-school, so naturally I loved this. You could have spent a lot more time looking at the posters than we did, because there were so many and we didn't spend a whole bunch of time looking at them. After that we went through some of the classic art exhibits, which was cool too. It was a pretty cool day.
Okay, tomorrow my dad and I are getting on a plane heading east to O-H-I-O. And this time I'm gonna try and document my time there instead of just one post. Expect at least 3 posts, because I have 3 major blog post-worthy things as of now that I know of. I am so excited. Stay tuned people. ✌️ So we're in California now, and since there wasn't really enough content for a full blog post, I decided to put some pictures from our road trip with some captions. Those are the only pics that turned out okay, maybe I'll post something else in the next week or so. Ciao fo now.
Blogging this a few days after Ugh, being in Seattle is the best. This trip we spent the day shopping and nothing else, and that was more-than-fine by me. We left in the morning and had an amazing ferry ride. It was really sunny and not too cold, and we saw some porpoises too. We then got off the ferry and headed to The London Plane to eat (of course we had to do this first, eating is always the foremost thing that we do). We got croissants with butter and preserves, which were beyond amazing. The place was absolutely beautiful; but my only complaint was that the employees were not the most hospitable. However, I would likely recommend going because the food was so good and it was such a good setting. Then we started our shopping. We went to so many stores, from Watson Kennedy to Urban Outfitters and Anthropologie, with a couple coffees in between. Saw a couple of Cleveland shirts, and that made me pretty happy. We had a blast. We had to almost sprint to catch our ferry ride home, but we made it. Mariners fans were starting to head to the ballpark, which I was slightly jealous about but also comforted that I was somewhat near the action. Soon enough, Victoria, soon enough. The ride home was fairly quick, and we got home in time to see some of the game, which I don't really want to talk about but will say this: this was the first game that was an actual 2-way contest. The Cavs were finally playing like they were in the Finals, and I'm glad to see my team playing like themselves again. So anyway, of course I was upset about the loss but I'm also so thankful that I got to spend time in such an amazing place as Seattle. Some other stuff that's happened: My sister got her ears pierced, so that was exciting for her. We also went to see Wonder Woman, which was totally awesome and is something that everyone should see. We're leaving tomorrow for California, so I'll probably post some pictures on Instagram and on the blog as well. GO CAVS.
Welp. I'm In Port Townsend already, and I did not blog the days of the road trip. Whoops. Sorry. Honestly, it wasn't the most exciting trip, and was pretty darn uneventful. We basically stayed in the same places that we did on the last road trip, and didn't see much wildlife at ALL. It went by really fast luckily, and we at moderately healthy food. So yeah. Glad that we're in Port Townsend. We already went shopping downtown, and I added 2 Lila Drake rings to my collection as well as bopping in and out of just about every shop that we walked by. Now that I'm done with the road trip/boredom and we start doing more exciting things, I'll probably blog more and have some more content to blog about. There will probably be a Seattle trip sometime in the next week, so stay tuned. This summer I'm going to try and cover all of the major things that I do, and I hope to this time document more of my time in Ohio. Last year I think I only blogged like once, and since the time I spend there means so much to me, I want to share some of my experiences. By the way, this summer I hope to do a couple of young adult book reviews, so stay tuned for that as well. I just discovered GoodReads and, like a good devoted book nerd, have completely planned my summer book list. Also, make sure to follow my 'Gram account; I've been trying to put some stuff on there. Again, it's victoria.adams.22 , follow it!! Yep, that's about it. Go Cavs.
Victoria Finally, finally, I can start talking about summer! I hate stating the obvious but... sooo happy that summer’s just around the corner. I only have 3 weeks left of school, and even though I seriously can’t believe that it’s gone by so fast, I’m super glad it’s finally coming to an end. I’ve gotten most of my major end-of-year school stuff out of the way, and I can finally start getting excited for summer break!
I’ll just dive right in: this summer we will be moving away from Alaska to California with my grandmother (can’t wait to see ya Gramma!). It’s gonna be weird not living here, but also pretty exciting I think. So we’ll drive down again, same as last year (I know, deja vu, right? This summer’s going to be similar to last year, but of course we’ll do new different things and have new experiences. I blogged about this roadtrip last year, but this time we’ll probably be staying at different places and see different things. Plus, I’m gonna take more great pics, and it won’t be exactly the same.) We’ll do our usual stop in Port Townsend thank goodness, and then we will likely take a different route through California, closer to the coast. We’ll slowly start moving in, and in late June my dad and I will leave to go to Ohio again. When we come back we’ll continue moving in and enjoy the ability to go to the beach anytime we want. :) So yeah, that’s what I know right now; I’ll be able to document a lot more this time around I think. Which brings me to my next point. I have created a “Redwoods & Raspberries” Instagram page to extend my blog. This way I’ll be able to post more content faster and easier, and keep the content comin’ without having to write a whole blog post. My blog posts will still be regular and not change, this will just be another way for me to share pictures in a faster, more casual way. The account is on Private mode, so just send a follow request and I’ll probably accept it. The handle is victoria.adams.22 , make sure to check it out! Thanks people, summer’s just around the bend; hang in there! -Victoria ✌️ Hey guys! We're in Anchorage right now and just got home from seeing the new live action Beauty and the Beast and I thought since I haven't posted anything in a while that I could do a review of the movie. As you probably know by now I'm a big movie geek, and critiquing movies is one of my favorite things. This is the first real movie review, so bear with me people!!
I'm sure a lot of you either plan on seeing this movie soon or have already seen it, but just in case this is your only spoiler warning. Well, not much to spoil since it is such a classic story, but just in case.... Anyways, I think that this was a really, really good adaptation of the beloved original Disney princess story. I'm not gonna say that it was better than I thought since I had high expections for it, but it did not fail to meet any of them. Quick summery: Belle is different/not appreciated by the people in her village, and feels all out of place. Strong, impressive, yet brutish dude wants to win Belle's affections, but she turns him down. Belle's dad goes away to sell his inventions or whatever it is that he works so hard to make. Dad gets lost and captured by beast. Belle is taken to castle by her loyal horse and takes place of dad as a prisoner. Beast is extremely bad tempered and all the furniture ship him and Belle but he believes it is no use. Beast and Belle slowly start falling for each other. Belle sees in magic mirror that dad is being sent to a crazy asylum for telling stories about beast by brutish dude who likes Belle. Beast sets Belle free to save her dad, which only gets her into trouble. Bad dude and majority of village storm beast's castle. Belle escapes and goes to try to save her beloved beast. Bad dude shoots beast, then falls to his death off the castle. Beast ressurects and turns back into a prince, as do all the furniture. Belle and beast get married. The end. Wow, as I'm reading back through this I see how bad of a description this is, but seriously, you all should know this story. It seriously is (get ready for it) a tale as old as time (I'm so sorry, I really am). Moving on, I guess I should probably start talking about the movie, cuz there's a lot that I need to touch on. Again, I realllly liked this movie. It was not boring, contrary to my number 1 worry, and it kept me fully engaged through the whole thing. My sister and I had just watched The Dark Knight Rises the night before, and I thought that after watching a major action movie that it'd seem all dull and slow after that, but it totally didn't. So don't be afraid to watch a Batman movie before Beauty and the Beast; if I didn't get bored then you won't. Okay, so now I'm gonna touch on some major things that need to the said from the critique standpoint. Message/Theme/What to Take Away I think the main message of this movie was that it's okay to be a little bit different, and you can't judge a person because of being different. Belle knew that this monsterous beast had a big heart, and that her attractive suitor was such a jerk. I like to blame this wisdom on her being so well-read and her love of reading, but that's just my nerd side really shining through. What was the best asset of the film? I think probably the music. It was amazinggg. Now granted, there was a LOT of it, which is probably not for some people. Now granted, if I was watching it at home I would have totally skipped through all the slower songs, but actually listening to them, I thought that they were really thoughtful and well-done. The casting was another of the big selling point for me, because I know that I would not be so enthusiastic about this film if it weren't for Emma Watson playing Belle. Any weaknesses of the film? I think that the costumes were just mehh, everyone's wardrobe except for Belle's was kinda ho hum. But that's probably just an opinion. Favorite Characters Probably Lumiere the candlestick, partly because it was Ewan McGregor. I also liked the Beast, he was pretty awesome. Least Favorite Characters I should probably say Gaston, to be honest I couldn't completely hate him until the end. My soft spot for evil characters (Moriarty, Darth Vader, Snape, Loki, etc etc ect) knows no bounds. Best Scene The best scene was probably the "Be Our Guest" scene when all the enchanted household items served Belle her meal. I can't wait to watch it again. Worst Scene There were no bad scenes, but I thought that the ballroom dance scene was not all that it was worked up to be and could have been a bit more extravagant. Movie-Going Experience My mom, sister, and I went to a matinee (exciting, I know) , and a highlight for me was when a little girl behind us screached "Belle!" when Belle first came out. It was pretty adorable. Thanks for reading, I hope to blog about summer plans sometime around the end of April/early May!! Ciao for now! I saw these Vogue "73 questions" videos on YouTube with celebrities, and since I'm totally celeb material (just kidding) I thought that it would be fun to do something like that. I didn't do all 73, I had to stop and do homework. A lot of these questions could be great for conversation starters or games at parties, or if you have a lot of time on your hands and nothing else to do.
On another note, in about a week I WILL be changing my blog address and name to just "Redwoods and Raspberries" to make it shorter and easier to say. When you see that my blog "no longer exists" or something like that, just go to redwoodsandraspberries.weebly.com instead. Thanks! P.S. sorry for kinda boring blog posts, not much exciting has been going on around here lately.
For the record, I did not write this in my free time. It was an assignment for my English class, and I decided to share it with you guys. It was supposed to be 500 words or more , but I kinda went overboard and my nerdy self "decided to take it to the next step." (That was a Joey Tribbiani-Friends reference, by the way. Get it? No? ok.) Anywho, hope you enjoy it! :)
Narrative Essay Driving up through pastoral countryside, I could already smell summer. Freshly baled hay, front lawns being cut, the faint smell of manure, the slight sweet trace of growing corn, fresh rain. I leaned back in my seat and stuck my hand out the car window to feel the humid air. As we drove up the hill to the house, I looked out down the narrow rows of corn growing in rolling fields. We passed by them so fast, they created a sort of illusion that was so mesmerizing, I couldn’t take my eyes off of them. I was so glad to to be here; the smell made me giddy with excitement. Maybe jet lag made me sentimental or idealistic or something, but all I could think about was how many fun times I’ve had here in the summer. How many fun things I had in store. In the summertime, I’ve always gone to my grandmother’s house in northeast Ohio. Sometimes it’s just me and my dad, sometimes it’s my whole family. This is how it’s always been, and hopefully will continue to be for some time. Not a real exciting place, and definitely not a bucket list destination. Nothing like the glamorous Marin area in California, where my other grandmother lives and where we also visit. Looking back though, I know I would not be the person I am today if it weren’t for these annual 3-6 week visits. My grandma, or Gran, lives in a small, ranch-style house painted red with white trim. The house looks out to two large hedges that make a sort of aisle leading out towards the lake. As you walk through the open area towards the lake, to the right there are tall trees of all different kinds blocking out the road and everything else. In front of the lake stands a magnificent weeping willow, the first thing you see when you look out in front of you. Its long, sweeping leaves brush the surface of the glassy water, causing ripples when the wind blows the branches. Two more guard the sides, not nearly as big but still impressive. Underneath the largest one is the small dock, where we used to launch the old paddle boat that still rests under the tree. We never swam in the lake. Gran said there were snapping turtles, and that they would bite us if we ever dared to go swimming. To this day, none of us has ever actually seen a snapping turtle, but we just somehow know they’re there. Plus, the lake is full of lily pads and algae, so it’s not really fit for swimming. To the left of the lake, there is an apple orchard, overflowing with perfectly round, bright green apples.There is also a mulberry tree. Behind it is a small building that Gran affectionately calls the “she-shed.” It’s a studio-like place that has a daybed and desk that looks out towards the lake. Sometimes I spend the night out there, dropping off to sleep to the sound of frogs and crickets, and the blinking lights of fireflies shining all the way out to the lake. When we finally pulled into the gravel driveway, my dog hopped up onto my lap and leaned out the window. This is one of her favorite places, so much space for her to run around and “hunt.” We parked the car and she took off, heading towards the front steps which she nimbly climbed like she’d lived there forever. I grabbed my suitcase and walked inside, ecstatic to hear the perpetual singing of the cicadas. The shrill sound is literally constant, and takes some getting used to if you haven’t heard it before. I took a shower, changed into my shorts, and went down to the basement to get my bike. As I lugged it up the stairs, I looked at it affectionately. It’s a really old, vintage bike, with the red paint chipping off and the handles worn from constant use. I got it at a flea market, and you would never know how well it works by looking at it. Seeing it again was like getting out holiday decorations at Christmastime; knowing something so well, but not getting to see it very often. I put some air in the tires, and wheeled it out to the beautiful country road. Riding down the familiar route that I know so well, I looked at all the little things that I used to notice. The black pavement in front of me that has been heated by the sun so much that it’s soft enough to put fingerprints in, the telephone lines with blackbirds perched on them, old fashioned houses that I knew so well but had never been inside, cows looking out at me like, her again. I got home just before dusk, and, still really jet lagged, turned on the TV. The Indians baseball game was starting, and I felt another jolt of excitement. I could never watch my favorite team at in Alaska, the channel isn’t available. Baseball games are always a big part of my summers, and I make it a point to watch almost every game. My father introduced me to baseball when I was really little, and I’ve gotten to be more and more of a fan as I’ve gotten older. I have some of the best memories going to Indians games with my dad; driving the 80 miles to Cleveland, waiting in line for autographs from players, stopping to get milkshakes and fries on the way back, driving through the humid night air with the classic rock radio station going. I always record the game on TV and then watch it on the screen from home. It’s such a great connection that my dad and I have, and is an attribute that has rubbed off on me and will stay with me forever. It took a long time for me to fall asleep that night. Finally, I got up and opened up the window, and took a deep breath of the warm, damp air. Tomorrow we would probably go to town to go to the store and library, and maybe go see friends later in the day. Considering my internal clock was already really messed up, I really needed to try and get some sleep. I took one last glance out at the moonlit trees, and slid back into the silk covers; pulling the blankets over my bare arms and slowly drifting off, dreaming of fireflies flashing ceaselessly in the cornfields. |
Victoria Adams is an Alaskan teen who loves photography, airports, baseball, books, ferry rides, anything aesthetically pleasing, and strong coffee. She impulsively wanted to start a blog to post pictures of her travels and write about them in article format. Her pictures on this blog are taken on an iPhone 6s.
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