Search Results for: snapshots

snapshots {from winter to spring}

April 17, 2013

SNAP·SHOT [snap-shot]
noun
1. an informal photograph, especially one taken quickly by a hand-held camera.
2. an impression or view of something brief or transitory <a snapshot of life back then>

ONE: A few weeks ago I met up with my lovely friend Tania for brunch in Harvard Square. Tania is a friend I actually met THROUGH instagram, which is pretty wild, but also pretty awesome. I felt like I could have talked with her forever and I’m so glad I got the nerve up to email her when I saw a photo she posted showing she was in Boston. This whole internet-friend thing hardly phases me anymore, and I’m happy to have found some wonderful people because of it.

TWO: Shake Shack. Now in Chestnut Hill. Get after it.

THREE: A favorite bookstore of mine, The New England Mobile Book Fair. Get some Shake Shack and then head over to check out the crazy book collection there. Or better yet, go buy some books, and then read them while you wait in the LONGEST LINE EVER to get a burger and fries (we waited over and hour… BUT, it was worth it).

FOUR:

HUG O’ WAR

I will not play at tug o’ war.
I’d rather play at hug o’ war,
Where everyone hugs
Instead of tugs,
Where everyone giggles
And rolls on the rug,
Where everyone kisses,
And everyone grins,
And everyone cuddles,
And everyone wins.

by Shel Silverstein

FIVE: Speaking of internet friendships, this is Natalie. We met through the Boston Blogging network and I feel so lucky to have found her (almost 2 years ago!). She’s sweet and thoughtful, and as soon as I saw Nat the Fat Rat’s #mightylove project, she popped into my mind as someone who I truly appreciate and admire.

SIX: In a little over one week I will be flying to Denver to visit Beth (a best friend from high school). My friend Bailey and I are spending 4 days with her in Colorado and I am so excited I could squeal. I imagine she’ll have a plan for things to see and do, but if you’ve ever been to Denver and have any recs, we’ll take ’em!

SEVEN: I found High Rise Bread Company while riding my bike one weekend and I’m ever so glad I did. It’s bakery food is delicious and they make the bread right there in front of you, which is local business at it’s best.

EIGHT: I also found a great antique shop while biking around Cambridge that very same afternoon, and I’m going to take my mom there when she comes to visit in May. Although definitely on the expensive side, it’s a fun place to look around and reminds me a little of this place we used to visit on rides to my Grandmother’s house years and years ago. Give me something that makes me feel nostalgic and I’m all over it, no question.

NINE: The Cambridge Public Library is the best (and fairly close to where I live, too). Have you been? I love love love it– especially the children’s floor. Books for DAYS and there’s a bright, fresh, modern feel to the place. Definitely worth a visit if you have work to get done, or even if you just want a quiet, happy place to read.

TEN: Thank you all so much for your kind comments yesterday. My friend Alex was a runner in the marathon and her heartfelt post was an inspiration for writing out my own thoughts about what happened here in Boston. Other favorite posts are here and here and here and here. There has been so much beautiful, honest writing all around the internet these past few days— so much kindness and hope and bravery and strength. We’ve all been touched in some way or another by this tragedy, and have all felt a great amount of sadness and defeat. There’s worry, and helplessness, and confusion, and fear, but there’s also one thing that is very clear: LOVE. Love comforts. Love heals. Love is shining through the darkness. And I truly believe that in the end, love always wins.

9 Comments · Filed Under: blogging, instagram, life ·

snapshots // currently…

March 19, 2013

Just a few things about life lately:

T H I N K I N G A B O U T : my seventh snow day today. SEVENTH! The part of me that grew up in Syracuse, NY thinks Boston is being a big ginormous wimp. The part of me that loves summer vacation is getting stressed and disappointed. The part of me that enjoys sleeping in thinks these days off are not so bad. Mostly, I’m just going with it. Telling myself that time off in the summer is a luxury that not everyone gets. And that school in June is hardly school at all at that point. More like one fun, sunshine-y party with a bunch of seven year olds that love you to the moon. I can handle that for sure. I always get weary of letting the littles go at the end anyways. They make their way into my heart and I always feel like I want to keep them.

R E A D I N G : The Count of Monte Cristo. It’s only my 3rd book this year, so I’m slacking for sure. My goal is 25, which means I’ve got to get moving on the reading front, but this book is crazy long and was a little hard to get into. It’s picking up, so I’m confident I’ll finish it– and I’m motivated to keep going with all the great recommendations I got from friends + bloggers. Have you ever read it? What did you think?

L I S T E N I N G T O : A lot of The Shins radio on Pandora. Also, Ingrid Michaelson radio never lets me down. Are you a Pandora listener? It’s my favorite because it introduces me to so much new music that I would never have found on my own. I’m hoping to make a spring playlist soon to share on the blog. Something upbeat + happy to put a little skip in your step.

W A T C H I N G : Girls. I just love it with all my heart.

W O R K I N G O N : Knitting. I was able to get some good practice at casting on and learned how to knit and purl with the help of my cousin last weekend. Haley is a serious knitter and she came to Boston {with her little baby Hope!} for the North Shore Yarn Crawl last Saturday. I tagged along and picked out some yarn for when I get really good and am ready for my first project. But for now, I’m just practicing little squares. It’s getting easier so that counts for something!

D O I N G : The couch-to-5k running program. I started it last week when the weather was nice {using this app} and am really confident that I can for real make this happen this time around. I am not a runner, but I want to be. And I hope to become a healthier version of myself in the process. So, here’s to trying. And to feeling pretty motivated about being successful, too.

L O O K I N G F O R W A R D T O : Easter at home. I just can’t wait to be with my family in the little town I grew up in. I’m also excited for the chocolate and the cupcakes. Always a good time. Always delicious.

M A K I N G M E H A P P Y : The fact that the end of ski season is in sight! Zan has been gone most weekends being the ski bunny that he is. We’ve been pretty good at making more time for each other during the week {going out to dinner or spending time in the kitchen together}, but I’m excited to spend spring and summer weekends with him again very very soon.

P.S. I have a really sweet giveaway in the works for tomorrow. It involves instagram {YOU LOVE IT} and will be my first official giveaway ever, so be sure to come back and check it out! I think you’ll be excited about it too!

OH! and I got the idea for this post from my sweet friend Mary.

37 Comments · Filed Under: blogging, books, family, instagram, life ·

snapshots // winter edition.

February 4, 2013

You know what the thing about winter is?

It’s freezing cold and the sun doesn’t like to come out a lot. I like to complain about it, but the truth is, I’m used to it. It’s all I’ve ever known, really. I grew up in Syracuse, dubbed as the “snowiest city in America”. So, yeah, I like to complain, but this whole winter thing is nothing new to me. I grew up with it, I went to college with it, and now I live in a place that continues to embrace it every. single. year.

{except for last year, and that was weird.}

But the REAL thing about winter is that’s it’s okay to be lazy. It’s okay to wear the same thing over and over every single day and it’s okay to hunker down and hibernate. Goodness knows I have been, and I hope you have too.

Here are some other fun facts about different things I’ve been up to lately…

1. This is the view on my drive to work. Every day it is beautiful, but on especially blue days it’s my favorite.

2. About a year ago I started to write “A Guide to Boston, according to me”… after a few hours I became increasingly overwhelmed and I gave up on it {typical}. It now sits in my drafts folders just waiting to be brought to life, or rather, waiting for me to get inspired to work on it again, but until that day comes I will tell you this: if you ever come to Boston you must go to Bates Hall, the reading room inside of the Boston Public Library. It will be magic and you will not regret it.

Other places to check out:

Acorn Street and all of Beacon Hill

The Esplanade on the Charles River

Top of the Hub and the Skywalk Observatory

MFA and the Isabella Stewart Gardiner Museum

The South End on a Sunday

{Okay, okay, maybe I will go back to that guide someday.}

3. I’ve been super into the “Throwback Thursday” phenomenon lately. Can you find all the throwbacks sprinkled throughout this post? I got a bunch from my house the last time I was home— enough to last me a few more weeks at least. So fun and I especially love when other instagram friends do it too. I love old photos and especially love seeing friends in their little days.

4. Me, in winter. I hate the cold, but I LOVE wearing all my hats.

5. A few weeks ago I happened to stop into Urban during a super sale. I got these boots for $20 that day, and this shirt because, well, IT’S ADORABLE.

6. Garland is all the rage over in this neck of the woods.

Last month I put up this pretty paper garland in my kitchen from Sycamore Street Press. I’m pretty in love with it.

And last week I bought two more kinds of garland {one for my home + one for my classroom} from sweet Janee. She hand delivered my goodies to me while we sat and chatted over warm tea + coffee and the most delicious Buttery Biscuits. Janee has an online shop, Yellow Bird Yellow Beard, that is AMAZING and you can check it out here.

7. If heaven was on earth it would be here. I just know it.

8. Speaking of books, I just finished this one. Oh my. Oh, oh, my. Captivating, mysterious, full of love and hope and betrayal and longing. This book was wonderful. It brought me to tears and gave me chills as I turned the very last page. Everything I love about a well-written story. Tragically beautiful. I absolutely loved it.

ARE YOU STILL READING? Because I’m still writing…

9. Jarlsberg and raspberry jam on grilled french bread. Try that on for size and tell me that you don’t like it. I DARE YOU.

10. Me, in a dream. Except it was REAL. OH, my heart. Oh, my Venice. {working on a post! living in a dream!}

11. Being here reminds me of summer.

12. This weekend brought me to Allston for breakfast with my very good friend Clair. We hadn’t seen each other in MONTHS! And she just got engaged! So it was a happy reunion. I usually like to make jokes about Allston {I can, I lived there once}, but this venture out was worth writing home about. The Allston Diner is terrific, people. It truly, truly is.

13. A GIFT! From the nicest! Last summer Elizabeth started a pen-pal project on her blog. She matched up, as best she could, two readers together to be pen pals for the summer. My pen pal was Emily, a teacher from Santa Barbara, California {cool, right?!} and yesterday I got a gift subscription from her to a really great, well-known online software training website, Lynda.com. She read my recent blog post on photography and basically warmed my heart with her gift. Camera tutorials! Lightroom videos! Photoshop lessons! All at my fingertips. It really is the most exciting thing, and I’m so so thankful. Thanks again, Emily! I think you are amazing!

And that’s it, friends.

That’s my life in a nutshell.

{And apparently, in a really long blog post.}

HAPPY MONDAY! Keep it real, kids.

27 Comments · Filed Under: instagram, life, Uncategorized ·

holiday snapshots!

January 8, 2013

Oh, HAY FRIENDS.

Is it already January 8th? Seriously?

I’m still in holiday mode over here, so don’t mind me. The Christmas tree’s up, the music’s still playing, and the cookies are flowing like water.

Delicious.

I just thought I’d take a minute to share some of my instagram snaps from the holiday season. You know, like I do. This holiday was a good one, filled with traveling and family and presents and hot chocolate and parties. When I think about it, all I can really remember aside from the photographs is that I was BEYOND BUSY, and although tiring, it was also extremely amazing. For Christmas I got to head home to Syracuse to spend time with my parents (and bask in the snow!) AND I visited my Grammy + Co. in Connecticut, and even took a little jaunt to the City.

{We saw the Rockettes. Craaazy good. Have you ever seen the Rockettes? More specifically, have you ever seen the Rockettes Radio City Music Hall Christmas Spectacular? WHAT. A. DREAM. I was practically in tears I was so happy. Oh, New York City. You get me. You get me every time.}

Then, I took a lovely train ride back to Boston to ring in the New Year with my one and only.

It was pretty special.

And now, behold! My wonderful holiday season, for the memory books…