Archives for September 2012

summer bucket list 2012 (concluded) + a video.

I’m here! It’s a Sunday night and it’s nearly October, but I’m here with summer still in my heart, and long list of cool stuff I did to prove it. You’re probably thinking, Girl! Get over summer already! That season is long gone! And to this I will say NEVER. Long live the idea of summer. Long live the memories!

To be honest, I’d really love to be blogging about the present, but I nearly forgot about doing this little recap on my summer bucket list and I thought I should for some closure, and also just to see how well I actually did crossing things off the ‘ol list.

If you do nothing but watch the video I made at the bottom (one of the things on my summer list), then I will be grateful. It took me A MILLION HOURS and was really tedious, but I’m really happy with it. My brain is now saying STOP PLAYING THAT SONG, but my guess is you haven’t butchered the song like I have, so here’s to hoping you’ll think it’s rad.

Also, I’m pretty pumped I did so much on my list. Consider me accomplished. And thanks for following along!

Here is the run-down on Dear Friend’s Summer Bucket List 2012:

1. Shop mostly at the farmer’s market.

I did this to the best of my ability. Sometimes I went twice in a week, sometimes I went every other week. I was away a lot towards the end of the summer, and finding time for a regular scheduled lunch was hard with my summer job, but I made it work. The summer fruit was my favorite, and we did a good amount of veggie eating, too. My favorite picks? Strawberries, blueberries, summer squash, and corn on the cob. YUM.

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2. Run 3x a week, increase my running stamina, and sign up for a 5K for the fall.

MAJOR FAIL. Bummer. Maybe someday?

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3. More yoga. Do the 6:45 AM class a couple times a week. (I did this last summer and it’s completely worth it. I need to remember this.)

Also, failed at this one. My yoga studio was closed for renovations for the month of July. Not really an excuse, but I took it as one.

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4. Take a photography workshop.

Nope. Didn’t do this one either. But I did feel like I practiced my skills on my own. And I’m fairly pleased with how a lot of my pictures came out this summer. I still don’t know how to fully use my camera, but I just see that as something to look forward to. Someday. When I get the motivation to learn.

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5. Photograph my way around the city of Boston. And do weekly blog posts about my favorite spots.

Can’t say that I did this either. Whoops! Too busy enjoying the summer sun!

(I promise I crossed things off! Keep reading!)

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{above photo by Doug Levy}

6. Flash mob. Doing it.

Hands down one of my favorite experiences ever. What a rush.

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7. Read 10+ books.

So proud of myself. SO PROUD!

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8. Picnic and/or canoe on the Charles.

Yes! With Clair!

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9. Swim in Skaneateles Lake.

BEST. That is all.

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10. Eat a lobster roll in Cape Cod.

It was amazing. Always has been. Always will be.

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11. Make homemade ice cream.

Remember when I made Graham Cracker and Strawberry flavored? Yeah, me too.

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12. Get a bike. And a cute helmet.

My bike got stolen (you can read about that when you click on the link), but what I didn’t yet tell you is that I rose above that terrible situation by getting myself another one. BOOM. Ain’t nobody gonna hold me down.

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13. Have a BBQ. Send invitations.

SUCCESS!

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14. Take a flying trapeze class. I’m totally serious.

I didn’t do this one, but I DID get a gift certificate for my birthday. So it’s happening! And I’m psyched about it.

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15. Write a handwritten letter to a friend once a week and walk it to the local mailbox.

This might have been one of my favorites on the list. Such a feel-good thing to do. HIGHLY recommended. (I’ll send you my address if you’re interested.)

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16. Go to a Red Sox game.

Too bad they were terrible this year. SIGH.

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17. Make a homemade video to music on iMovie. Been wanting to do this, but not sure what to do it about.

I did it! And the evidence is below!

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18. Create a piece of artwork. I even bought a canvas.

Inspired by this post here. This project was a fun one!

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19. Visit the following list of Boston museums:

Isabella Stewart Gardiner Museum

Orchard House (Little Women!)

Boston Athenaeum

Harvard Museum of Natural History

I actually visited quite a lot of Boston museums this summer (MFA, Aquarium, Museum of Science), but I only got to two out of four on my list. Okay, but not great. I will just have to do the other two this fall! Thinking maybe I can go to Concord on the way to apple picking, or even after school one day, seeing as I work close enough.

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20. Take public transportation every possible day I can.

Totally loved doing this. 1) I hate (loathe!) driving. and 2) This is how I was able to read 11 books.

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21. Nantucket!

TAKE ME BACK.

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22. Print my favorite instagrams and do something cool with them. I like this idea a lot.

Still want to do this! And I will!

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23. Have a romantic dinner with Zanner at the Top of the Hub.

Still want to do this, too! And WE WILL!

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24. A weekend in NH at the Farmhouse/ Hike Mt. Lafayette in the White Mountains

Twice!

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25. See Ingrid Michaelson in concert.

LOVE!!

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And so concludes the Summer Bucket List 2012. And the crazy amount of exclamation points in this post.

Here is my video… I’m really glad I have it, and almost pulling my hair out while making it was completely worth it. ENJOY.

You can watch the video full-screen here.

{All pictures by me. Song by Phillip Phillips.}

thanks for the wishes.

This year’s birthday was everything.

I had a great Monday in first grade.

I came home to balloons all around the apartment and streamers as decorations, too.

There were dinner party people with hats and cheer and smiles.

There was taco soup and root beer and raspberry chocolate angel food cake.

There was the best present ever.

And some pretty cute new outfits for school!

There was thankfulness for everything.

So, thanks! Thanks for the wishes and thanks for the love!

This weekend I’ll continue this celebration called life by heading on down to the one and only New York City. You’ve probably figured out I kinda like that place by now, huh? I can’t wait to spend a little time there in all it’s fall glory. Zan and I are staying in a hotel that overlooks Manhattan, and there’ll just be a lot of skittering around the city like I do. I was hoping to cross this off my bucket list (I got a gift certificate!), but the classes are pretty much all filled at this point, so it might have to be saved for another time. I always want to see and do everything, and there’s never enough time in one trip, so others will be planned in the near future. New York is one of my favorite cities to visit and I have no desire to stop any time soon. I’m never too stressed about not getting everything in because there’s always next time!

As far as this trip goes, I’m excited to have Zan with me this time around, and my sister is going to be there, too. The weather is going to be beautiful, which is great because that’s how I like to roll. YAY for fall weekends in awesome places.

Have a good one!

a list for the book lover.

Yes. Yes. And YES.

7. Read 10+ books.

Well, friends, call me a machine or call me a reader, I don’t know which one’s more of the truth. One of the big things on my bucket list this past summer was to read 10 books, which was quite a stretch since my reading record over the past few years has been slim pickings, but low and behold… I read 11! Well, I guess technically I read 9 (two I listened to as audiobooks), but still 9 is pretty amazing for me. Not that I don’t love reading, I actually absolutely LOVE IT, but it’s proven to be a bit of a challenge since I started teaching two years ago. I used to devour books when I took the train to and from work in downtown Boston and into Harvard Square for grad classes. But somewhere between the busy days of first grade and driving back and forth school, the reading magic’s gotten lost.

Well, this summer was all about finding it again.

And boy did I ever.

Here’s the run-down (books can fall into more than one category):

3 memoirs (2 humor)

3 YA literature

2 thrillers

4 fiction

2 historical fiction

Basically, I enjoyed them all. Some I liked. Some I loved. And a few I devoured. Below are my reviews of the books. They’re aren’t any spoilers, but a few times I did write out a mini-synopsis of the story. I used the goodreads rating system (three stars = liked it, four stars = really liked it, five stars = loved it), and hope you’ll find it helpful in the search for your own next book to read. There are some real winners in this list.

Here it goes (if you click on the book title and stars, it’ll bring you to Amazon)…

 

I thought this book was really terrific. It’s a pretty thick book and I finished it in under 4 days. The story takes place in rural Vermont in the 80’s and the main character, Sybil, is a traditional midwife. An accident happens with one of her patients, and the blame is put all on her. The story is told from the perspective of Sybil’s daughter, who is now grown, but was just a teenager at the time of the incident, which makes it all the more interesting. Totally engrossing and smart. Loved this one.

Also a beautiful story. Terrible and wonderful all at the same time. This book is written from the german perspective during WWII. Many ordinary German women were simply trying to survive the war in any way that they could, and this book is the story of one German mother’s path to survival (her own and her daughter’s) during a truly terrifying time in history. It’s interesting to see the tragedies that some of the German people had to face (the stories we don’t often hear, but surely were happening in WWII Germany). An eye-opening book that tugged at my heart big time.

Tina Fey, people. It’s got to be funny, right? And it was. Tina Fey just tells it all in this book and it’s not hard to find yourself laughing along as you go. I liked it a LOT, didn’t love it, but like it a lot a lot a lot. (Oh, and listen to the audiobook on this one. It’s the only real way to go.)

Oh, Julia! How I love thee. The thing that I truly admire about Julia Child is that she completely lives her life to the fullest. I would certainly say she is one of my role models, as I love her spunky spirit and outlook on life. Plus, she’s a hoot. Have you ever seen some of the Valentine’s cards her and Paul sent out back in the day? I wish I could be so clever and brave! This book made me want to visit France like crazy. It also reminded me that if you work hard towards a goal, with a lot of perseverance and a little bit of luck, you can make your dreams come true. Julia is inspiring. What a lady.

This book was written by one of my all time favorite picture book authors, Kevin Henkes. I knew Kevin could write, but, wow, can he WRITE! This story is beautifully written. I felt like the words were almost singing to me. The young adult story is about youth, and family, and death, and life. I fell in love with the main character and found myself rooting for her the whole way through.

Can you imagine waking up every morning having no idea who you are or what your past is like? Then finding a notebook that you wrote that scarily explains everything including the fact that you cannot and should not trust your husband? Completely suspenseful. This book hooked me from the start and I read it quickly through to the end. A very entertaining, easy read. Great for people who like a page-turner!

I also listened to this book, verses reading. With a funny memoir where the author is narrating, I think it’s absolutely essential. I was totally LOLing throughout this entire book. I actually feel like I could relate more to Mindy’s book over Tina’s probably because of my age. So many of her memories and experiences are my memories and experiences too. For the record, Mindy is HILARIOUS. She totally writes like she talks (which I am a big fan of, obvi) and there’s even a chapter that made me tear up, which I always love in a book. 5 stars for Mindy!

I enjoyed this book. I loved the beginning, and stuck through it til the end, but somewhere along the way the excitement of it faded for me. The story is focused around Asha, a “secret daughter” who was born into an Indian family that, because of cultural norms, will only accept a son. The story continues on and deals a lot with differences in cultures and family dynamics. It’s a story about mothers, sacrifices, worries, happiness, and finding peace.

I’d been wanting to read this YA book  since it won the Newbery Award in 2010. It definitely lived up to my expectations. It’s entertaining, with memorable characters and has a very detailed story line. This is one of those books where everything comes together just perfectly at the end and you’re shaking you’re head with a smile on your face. Also, the fact that it highly references Madeline L’Engle’s A Wrinkle in Time is just all kinds of wonderful.

So my friend Caroline first told me to read this book, and then shortly after Hannah was sending me messages about reading it too. It came highly recommended to me and now, I’m making sure to recommend it to you! It’s good, guys. REALLY good. Definitely a suspense book, a clever mystery. I just kept turning the pages thinking WHAT NEXT! WHAT NEXT? Loved it!

I gave this book 6 stars. I know 6 stars doesn’t really exist, but this is my blog, and I can do what I want. PLEASE PLEASE READ THIS BOOK. It’s the best book I have read in a long long time. One that stays with you and makes you think and makes you look at life a little differently. It is beautifully written, and smart, too. Oh, it is truly terrific. Devote some time to reading this book and you will not regret it.

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Here’s to hoping I can keep somewhat of this reading frenzy up, even in the midst of a busy school year. Or at least to making some library stops to find audiobooks for my daily drives.

If you want to follow me on goodreads, you can find me here.

HAPPY READING!

birthday.

Today is my birthday.

I am twenty-nine.

Can someone tell me how I got so old?

Twenty-nine seems kind of old to say, but it doesn’t really feel old at all.

Mostly, I still feel twenty-five. Sometimes I even feel twenty-two.

Anyways, it’s my birthday today and if I can make this year anywhere near like the last twenty-nine, then I guess I’ll be doing something right.

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The best part of today is that it’s my mom’s birthday, too. I’ve always loved that about us.

Happy birthday, Mom. I LOVE YOU!