life

summer snapshots // currently…

July 26, 2013

snapshots summer

That top picture is my favorite. It speaks summer to me in this perfect way that doesn’t need any words. The mason jar and the straw add to the love language of bloggers and pinterest fanatics everywhere, and also, the light is just divine.

Le sigh. Iced coffee and summer mornings forever, please.

So, life lately. What can I say that hasn’t already been said? Dare I even say that summer seems to be going slow? Do I jinx it? Because if we’re being honest, it’s the truth. I’m stretching things out over here as wide as I can stretch them. And I don’t know exactly what I’m doing to make it move slower, but whatever it is, it’s working.

Here’s a little more about what I’m up to currently…

D O I N G: A lot of pinning lately. It’s been a daily ritual for me this summer {sometimes more than once a day!} and it just puts me in a happy place. It doesn’t overwhelm me or make me feel inadequate as I’ve heard some people say about it. For me Pinterest is a place to curate, to find the pretty, to collect the good stuff. I don’t often plan on making the recipes I pin, and a lot of the time I wouldn’t be brave enough to wear some of the outfits either, but I love Pinterest for the visuals. I’m a sucker for aesthetics.

{I have a separate Pinterest account just for my teaching ideas, too, if you’re interested! I’ve got a ton of first grade ideas and will be adding second grade ideas, soon. This way I can stay logged on to this account on my school computer and it keeps things separate + more organized.}

L O V I N G: Goodreads. I’m keeping track of all my books read over there and it’s super encouraging to see how well I’m moving along on my 2013 reading goal {I am currently at 20 books — out of 25!}. I’ve been doing a mix of fiction and non-fiction, young adult books, a few children’s lit, and also audiobooks. I don’t think I’ve read this much since I used to ride public transportation and so I’m pretty pumped about my progress this year. YAY, BOOKS. Speaking of…

R E A D I N G: Most recently I finished If I Stay {YA, liked} and The Rules of Inheritance {Memoir, LOVED}. Right now I am in the middle of The Art of Fielding and so far, so good. I’ll let you know the final verdict once I’m all finished!

L I S T E N I N G T O: CUPS from Pitch Perfect. My summer jam. I play this on repeat practically every morning and my neighbor is probably like, “What the heck is the matter with that girl?”, BUT WHATEVER.

W A T C H I N G: Season 3 FNL. Zan and I were going wild with this for awhile, with upward of 5 episodes one night {!}… then we freaked out that it was going to end too fast so we’ve cut back on our numbers to make the glory last longer. BUT. WE. ARE. LOVING. IT. Loving! I feel like I could devote an entire blog post to Dillon, TX. Every character has such goodness, but Tami T {want to be you!} and Tim Riggins {best lines. best hair. be still. MY HEART.} are my absolute favorites. JUST AMAZING.

T H I N K I N G A B O U T: My new school. Setting up my classroom. 2nd GRADE!

L O O K I N G F O R W A R D T O: There is still so much planned for summer. My friend EE’s wedding in Maryland this weekend, my cousin’s wedding in Syracuse next weekend, a week spent at home, Skaneateles! CAPE COD! Excited about it all.

M A K I N G M E H A P P Y: Getting mail from my old students. At the end of every school year, I give out an envelope with my address on it and a few pieces of blank paper. Then throughout the summer I get to smile when the mail trickles in. I’ve gotten a bunch of letters and postcards from this year’s 1st graders (and even two from last year’s!}. Such a fun way to keep in touch and encourage and practice authentic writing, too.

Oh! Also I just ordered a new lens for my camera. 50 mm f/1.8, COME TO MEEEEE. Totally stoked !

What about you? What’s something you’ve been up to lately? I hope your summer is going well and that you’re finding ways to make it move slowly, if that’s the way you like it. If not then keep your fall-wishing to yourself, please and thank you. We’re not even close to being ready for that sort of thing yet over here.

Happy weekend, everyone! XO

10 Comments · Filed Under: life ·

for the love

July 24, 2013

Oh, the lake. You precious body of water, you. I’d like to live by you forever.

Growing up in Upstate New York, we didn’t really have ready access to the ocean. Not like we do in Boston, anyway. If you wanted to go to the beach, the real live beach, you had to go on vacation for it. We may not have had the sand, the salt water, or the sea, but I liked what we had even better. We had a lake. A fresh water, breezy air, glorious, most beautiful lake.

I believe all people are either ocean people or lake people. You might like both {I do}, but one or the other stands out as your favorite. I am most definitely a lake person, so imagine my happiness when this is where we ended up after Zan’s cousin’s wedding last weekend. Here, at this perfect little lake tucked inside Connecticut…

Crystal Lake

I got to spend the whole weekend with Zan’s extended family some of whom I’ve met before, some of who I was meeting for the very first time, all of which I LOVE. We kayaked and swam and swam and swam. We ate hot dogs and drank beer and swam some more. The sun was shining and the temperature was just right and everything about it all just made me smile inside. Still smiling now even. I just loved it.

The wedding was fun {hooray, love!}, but the lake was even better. The highlight of my weekend, for sure.

Beautiful, isn’t it? Makes me 100 times more excited to be home at my own most favorite lake SO SOON!

Lakes forever. And ever and ever.

A-MEN.

5 Comments · Filed Under: life, summer, things i love ·

NYC // a sunny saturday in june

July 17, 2013

I think if I tried I might be able to run this blog on New York City pictures alone for the rest of it’s pretty little life. What do you think? I’ve been playing around with the idea of doing a little blog redesign lately, it’s just really a thought right now, but I was toying with the possibility of tabs or categories, and I was thinking one of them could absolutely be New York City, right? Forget that I don’t live there {never have, likely never will}, I just crazy love that place. Such fun.

Anyway!

Onward to my latest city adventure… June, 2013:

In late June, the very night that I was done with school, we hopped in the car to drive down to New York for the weekend. My good dance friend Kolbe from high school was getting married on Saturday night and I was so excited to be able to celebrate with her. I was completely exhausted with the end of the year, but something about coming to NY energizes me. The views! The taxi cabs! Even the crowds of people! Plus, I love Kolbe to the moon. The thought of watching her walk down the isle and dancing the night away with my old ballet friends just seemed like the perfect way to spend my first official weekend of summer.

nYC-5

Saturday Zan and I spent the day wandering around the upper east side. We stayed in a friend’s apartment on 86th street right by the Carl Schurz Park, which if you don’t know already, is an absolute GEM of a place. I honestly felt like we struck gold when we stumbled upon it– a small park right on the edge of the UES, well kept and beautiful, we loved it. We woke up on the early side {Gotta jam-pack the day! Always!} to get some NYC bagels. Oh, YES. Bagel Bobs. SUPER GOOD. Then we headed to the park, enjoyed some green grass and some water views before heading back towards Central Park.

We ended up at the MET, partly for the free air conditioning, but also because I’ve been wanting to head up to the rooftop garden cafe for awhile now. I have not been inside the Metropolitan Museum of Art since I was probably around 12 years old and let me tell you that place is just LOVELY. I love a good classic museum, and I think this one is the definition of it. The Roof Garden Cafe was really amazing, too. It was pretty darn hot in the sun, but there’s a nice terrace to relax under {no formal seating, fyi!}, and there are drinks to order and enjoy to cool you off. I got a simple mint lemonade. Hit the spot.

After the MET, we walked back down 82nd street {or up? across?} to meet up with Colleen, Molly, and Tina. I always try to see these awesome people when I’m in NY because I just love them so. We ate a late lunch at the Penrose and I loved it. This menu is my favorite kind of menu. I got the eggs benedict, because, I pretty much always get the eggs benedict. {It was a good one!} At lunch we got to hear the full story of Colleen’s engagement {!} and we raised our glasses to my new job and to new beginnings. Thanks for the fun afternoon, friends! Love you girls a lot a lot a lot.

You, too, NYC. Love you a whooooole whole lot. Forever. For always!

Tomorrow I will share some pictures of my friend’s wedding in Central Park! Because it was gorgeous and wonderful and it deserves its very own post!

9 Comments · Filed Under: friends, life, travel ·

on summer nights with blogger friends.

July 16, 2013

A few weeks ago Rachael, Natalie, Bridget and I went out on the town for some good old fashioned late night picnic-ing on the Rose Kennedy Greenway over by the North End. We threw around a few emails with a few ideas, picked a date that worked for everyone, and then a plan was born. And what a good one it was. We got a some Lobster Rolls from Pauli’s (they were HUGE. and amazing.), Rachael brought paper cups, Bridget brought a bottle of wine, and we parked ourselves right by the fountains for a delicious dinner for 4 overlooking the city. We even had some music entertainment for awhile— a street player who was actually pretty good. It was really quite the lovely setting.

Have you ever had a picnic on a summer night before? If not, then you must. We met just as the sun was setting and the night time air was cool, but not cold. Also, I think we picked a day early enough in the season that the bugs weren’t around yet (or maybe that’s a city thing?). Either way, it was the ideal setting for lobster roll eating and easy conversation.

I love these blogger friends of mine. Besides being around for fun adventures, they are also just downright wonderful people. Their company makes the night go by so fast (it’s always so late when we part!) and I always leave with such a happy heart.

♥

Some of our other adventures here and here.

Oh! And the first time we met here.

14 Comments · Filed Under: blogging, boston, friends, life ·