right as rain.

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Hello sweet springtime, hello sweet friends.

Life lately has just felt so full. Full and good of weekends and workdays and somehow every day passes by and there’s not a minute to sit down and write. I think about this space a lot and all the pictures I want to post and all the things I want to say, but for now life is happening fast and busy and I am just running though it— speed on high, senses turned up.

It’s the time of year when my brain is spinning and I can’t for the life of me keep my house clean and mornings are early and nights are late and weekends are GLORIOUS and summer is ALMOST H E R E! And I love my job, adore it! But I  just can’t wait to sit the frack down and DO NOTHING. Imagine! What does that even feel like? I’m not sure I remember but I can’t even wait.

Spring is the best isn’t it? Before I get all high on summer I feel like it’s only right to take a moment to really love on spring. It’s such a sweet spot in the year— WAY BETTER than fall in my personal opinion. I’ve wondered to myself quite often, how can anyone say their favorite season is fall when they’ve come through the depths of winter and felt the glory of May? I just don’t understand it. SPRING WINS.

Spring and it’s rain and it’s flowers and it’s newness and hope will always and forever win.

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A few favorites lately:

Kate’s soundtrack {always}.

Mary’s “A Picture is Worth” series.

AmeliaMeghan, Belle and Sheena’s instagram feeds.

And! I also managed to get a few reads in this spring. Whoo!

Delancey // Mumbai New York Scranton // We Were Liars

All very different from each other– all very good!

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Until next time. xo

san francisco no. 5

san-francisco--the-last-day

Oh, sigh. We’ve come to the end of San Francisco. Feel free to imagine me tearing up over here. As is only natural— I know you understand.

Now if you’re confused as to how many days we spent in San Francisco as a result of my crazy number of blog posts, I get it. I went vacation post crazy. We were there 3 days— yes, yes, I know this is blog post no. 5— it’s just, the pictures! I couldn’t possibly decide! 3 days was surprisingly enough for us, although I would have gladly taken more. My feeling on it all is that we will just have to go back. Would I rather spend a whole week in San Francisco alone OR try my hand at SF, Big Sur, and Seattle? A big feat, but seeing as we hardly ever travel to the west coast, the latter was a no brainer. Because L-I-V-I-N-G!

Out of our three days in SF, it’s hard to say what the best day was, because they were all pretty spectacular, but this day was a treat! Even despite the cloudy skies {which true to our luck, only lasted the morning hours}. On the last day we woke up early and headed, once again, back over to the Mission. I was on my OWN mission to get those Tartine pastries IF YA KNOW WHAT I MEAN. ;) And yes! We finally got them! And yes! They were delicious!

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Besides the pastries, what I loved most about this place was how it was so unassuming. Without even a sign on the exterior, I would never had known about Tartine if it didn’t come recommended. But recommended it was— by lots! And I can absolutely see why. I’d like to return to San Francisco someday if just for the pastries. And I wouldn’t mind trying the bread pudding and sandwiches, either. My personal favorite out of the three pastry treats we tried was the morning bun. SIMPLE AND DELICIOUS. The way it should always be.

After that we were off— Our last day in the city and I signed us up for a walking tour. YUP. Tourist me up!

When I think about myself, I don’t usually pin myself as the tourist type. I mean, SURE I do touristy things sometimes, but as far as vacations go I’ve never signed up for anything like this before. And yet. When I think about it a little harder I TOTALLY AM the touristy type. Ferry ride to the Statue of Liberty anyone? Gleeful walk across the Brooklyn Bridge? Scooters in Nantucket? Are you kidding me? I was giddy giddy on the Golden Gate Bridge and had tears of joy through the entirety of Muir Woods. I LIVE for this stuff, honestly. And I’m not afraid to admit it.

Also, the tour was another tip that came highly recommended. {Thanks, Melissa!}

So here are the photos from our third day in San Francisco. The very last day and we spent it seeing it all…

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Chinatown! The most colorful to see!

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“When you’re lost out there and you’re all alone
The light is waiting, to caaaaryyyyy you hoooooooooome…”

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Smitten Ice Cream!

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D-O-L-O-R-E-S  P-A-R-K
{DREAM}

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Whew! We literally went everywhere. And the sun decided to shine! This tour took us through so many neighborhoods– we rode a cable car, saw Chinatown and the first fortune cookie factory, visited Lombard Street and the Painted Ladies, we went to Ghirardelli Square and sampled chocolate, enjoyed the views and murals at the SF Art Institute,  went to Pacific Heights, Hayes Valley, and the Castro District, caught Dolores Park in the sunshine AND MORE!

It really was pretty awesome, and we loved our tour guide, too. So much, in fact, we still talk about him today. “THE REAL SF! THE REAL SF!” He’d shout through the busses and subway cars. It was the best.

The Real SF Tour— we recommend it too!

After the tour we grabbed drinks at La Mar— right by the ferry building and one last trip to the Embarcadero. A perfect retreat after a long day of walking around the city. Then, to top things off, we met up with Jackie, a friend I’ve gotten to know through instagram. She is one of my favorites to follow, as she really has that THIS IS LIVING! spirit that I love so much. {Love you, Jackie!} We got some cones at The Ice Cream Bar, an awesome old fashioned artisan soda shop that’s right in her neighborhood, and then she took us on a drive to see some of the last few must-dos on our list! LUCKY LUCKY, I kept thinking. We were so lucky.

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Jackie drove us to the Cliff House and the Sutro Baths, through Golden Gate Park, AND! Twin Peaks! The views cannot be beat. I don’t think the ending to our trip to San Francisco could have been any better.

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We love you, San Francisco. Thanks for everything.

san francisco no. 4

SigNote (15)

Watching the sun rise and fall is one of my favorite things to do. In Cape Cod every summer we make a point to get up before dawn a few times while we’re there to head down to the beach and watch the sun pop up over the horizon. Sunsets are just as special and in my experience, sometimes even better. Especially after a long, eventful day. It’s a time to sit back, relax, and think, This day! This adventure! It is so so good.

On our second day in San Francisco, after spending the morning in the redwoods, we walked ourselves through town to do a little exploring. We found Lombard Street, and then headed towards Union and Filmore to do a little window shopping/book store hunting. It’s kind of crazy to be in such a big city for only 3 days and try to see it all. So, we did what we could and left it at that. I went into a few shops, took a few pictures, and felt happy about being in the sunshine taking in the views.

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One of the places recommended to us was Tacolicious– probably 5 different people told us to go here!– and luckily there was one close to where we were walking around that afternoon. THANK HEAVENS! It really was everything you said it would be. We sat outside {UNDER THE HEAT LAMPS} filling ourselves with margaritas and tacos, reflecting on where we’d been and what we were about to do next. I loved sitting in that spot. Warm feelings and warm shoulders. Loving our trip and loving life.

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CAN YOU BELIEVE THOSE BEAUTIES?

Perfection on a plate.

After dinner, we realized we were very close to the Palace of Fine Arts, so we took a stroll over just as the sun was starting to fall. Talk about grand! This place is gorgeous. We walked under the tall pillars feeling so small once again in such a big, big place. The light was amazing– making the color of the rotunda look like the prettiest shade of pink.

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And then, a sunset to beat alllll other sunsets {sorry Cape Cod!}.

This one was IT.

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Oh, sigh. A hundred times over.

God bless vacation and God bless AMERICA.

spring!

SPRING // dear friend blog

Spring! It’s really here at last! For awhile there I didn’t dare say the word– you know, lest winter decided to show it’s face again– and I just didn’t feel it was fair to toy with my emotions like that. But this week! Well this week I have certainly been dancing to the sweet songs of spring.

I hope you’re enjoying my west coast posts as much I am enjoying putting them together. It’s fun to be reliving our days out there, and it’s also fun to be blogging so much again, too. It’s been pretty good since we got back into town. At school, our big “Second Grade Day” came and went without a hitch. The parents came and the kids showed off their hard work and projects and everything was grand. I have really loved this year. It has been challenging and it has been GOOD. As the year comes to a close I find myself wanting to hold on just a little bit longer to this group of kids. This always happens– May comes and then June, and I get all clingy and nostalgic. Every time without fail. I think it’s because we always get into the best groove right towards the end and I love that SO SO much. 6 weeks left and it’s going to fly right by.

The weekends lately have been for enjoying springtime in the city. Last Saturday I ventured to the South End and yesterday I spent the afternoon in Fort Point. Both are areas of the city that I LOVE. It’s been such nice weather {even despite the rain} that I feel this energy and love towards Boston. THIS always happens each year as well. Spring marches in and I get passion eyes for this city all over again. Cheers to you, Boston, and your places and your people. Spring really suits you.

spring // dear friend blogspring // dear friend blog spring // dear friend blog

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HAPPY MOTHERS DAY to all you mothers out there,
and your mothers and grandmothers,
And loving women everywhere!

I love you, MOM!!!! XO