grilled pizza.

hot & muggy evening on the deck grilling pizzas! local dough topped with local mozzarella, garden basil, cherry tomatoes, chicken, spinach & olives with a bit of olive oil. yum yum yum. 

incredibly wonderful video of my ol' town. steamboat, i miss you every day.



FPV Hexakopter over Steamboat Springs, Colorado from Jeff Scholl on Vimeo.

saturday.

things that are of note but i don't feel like focusing on right now:

• there is too much water in vermont right now. the lake has been higher than it ever should be for weeks now, and 6 inches of rain in 6 hours caused big flooding in montpelier and barre this week. 
• i have so much coffee that i keep a secret supply under my bed. i guess that's not a secret any more. 
• i'm really into bon iver right now.
• i finally got new tires, so i'm not driving studded snow tires all up and down the highway in late may. yessss.
• friend groups. and reunions with such. see: later.
• the rain took away my crabapple blossoms and lilacs. and for that, i am sad.

things that i'm more into discussing:

• an ideal friday night-- lawn games with kim & dave, a wheat beer, another giant rainstorm x 2 (less ideal), thai takeout & starting the movie up on netflix instantly. i just renewed my netflix account after months away. in my prior life, i didn't have internet at home and couldn't enjoy watch instantly. i can see us being mighty close now!
• brett and i got the amazing apartment we went to see last week! did i tell you when we went to see it? well, we did. it has huge windows and lovely light and good sized rooms and a garden and parking and laundry and built in shelves and we can walk downtown in minutes! yippee!
• and this has us both feeling mighty blessed. the stars have really aligned for us in the past few months, starting with me getting this job i've dreamed of, and then within five days of his arrival, he got his fabulous job that will hopefully make us lots of new friends & now we got this great place to live. life is lovely. 
• jenna is gone to the city this weekend and i miss her. never mind that we lived a day's travel apart for 9 years. now that i'm used to getting lots of jenna-time, the idea of spending 3 days apart is dreadful (yes, we survived a whole week last month). we got off the phone on thursday night saying "i'm really going to miss you. have fun! i love you." as though we were parting forever. ridiculous? certainly. marvelous? definitely. 
• the good news is that with jenna's return to vermont next week, alex joins her. and that makes this next chapter very very real. 
• today is mom day. hooray. 

high five friday.

when he moved to steamboat, my friend schmeltz brought with him a tradition. as we gained more friends, the tradition got better. what is this tradition? 

HIGH FIVE FRIDAY!

it's as simple as it sounds. on fridays you high-five. and it's great. 

a few weeks ago i asked schmeltz to pick up a check from the consignment store for me and send it to me in vermont. he did as asked, of course, and sent with it quite the gem. it made me grin. 

yes, people, i got a postal-high-five. am i not the luckiest?

(click to read the fine print!)

sweet summer.

while my workday was filled with computer virus frustration & a slow progress on necessary tasks, it was balanced out by lunch with an old friend, and an unofficial work picnic at waterbury reservoir. i wasn't planning to attend, but my computer issues were making my day fairly unproductive as it was, so i figured i may as well call it a day early and do some meeting & greeting with other departments (ok, so i really went for the sunshine, lawn games, chips & beer. i won't lie.)... it was lovely!

round that out with two separate phones calls from some of my dearest darlings in steamboat, fun with the coworkers, a kind call from my boss, and then give me a truly delightful evening:

lilacs blooming (and centered on the table), organic burgers on the grill, sweet potato fries in the oven and a salad in the works. put it all on a table in the yard, build a fire in the pit. and then, throw on a flannel and jeans & take my mother on a little date for dessert and wine and beautiful music by myra flynn.

happy girl? yes indeed.

spring is in full effect in vermont, and i'm even starting to think summer might be on it's way!

"in the time of daffodils (who know

the goal of living is to grow)

forgetting why, remembering how..."

--e.e.cummings

sunday funday.

today: coffee, a walk down town with brett, breakfast at kismet (huevos rancheros. yum.), a core-focused yoga class, a stroll back up the hill while talking to miss cayla, some apartment-hunting calls, cleaning & laundry, a walk with jen & the season finale of gossip girl. all with a sprinkle of sunshine. yes please.

"look under your feet. 

the great opportunity is where you are.

 every place is under the stars. 

every place is the center of the universe...."

-john burroughs

weekend again.

i'm not quite sure where this week went, but it flew right by and there was no posting to be seen! luckily as soon as friday rolls around, the pace slows right down. last night i got home early & walked downtown to meet brett at three penny for a beer. it was lovely outside, and the taproom was full of familiar faces. a crew of b's new coworkers were there & it was fun to actually know people! we left there to try and check out a potential apartment, and then picked up pizza & a movie and walked back home. we enjoyed delicious pizza, raspberry-topped salad and watched the fighter, all joined by jen.

today's been mellow with glimpses of sunshine. slept in late, enjoyed coffee, and then headed down for a workout. i even hopped on the erg for some short spring pieces, and was shocked by how great it felt. came home for a shower & grabbed brett to go to the farmer's market before it closed. we stocked up on amazing locally made cheese & bread, and i had a tasty tamale, and then we did a few errands and headed back home. we enjoyed a bit of sunshine on the deck and now that it's raining we're going out for a little shopping before we head to a fun show around the corner tonight!

the weekend went all together too quickly, but was filled with glimpses of a delightful future.

a few highlights....

• a visit from colby, a long friendship that's spanned from vermont to colorado and back.
• walking down the hill for thai dinner on the porch of the restaurant, followed by a continued warm evening & rounding it out with ice cream.
• randomly running into jen & al first thing on saturday morning, rounding it out with all 4 of us (yes! the boy lives here now!) stopping in for coffee and then a tour of the farmers market.
• a rainy afternoon of tv and lounging.
• going out for a late dinner with two other couples. visions of a social existence!
• balancing exercise, jenna time, and the boyfriend. 

i miss this girl!

easter.

i've fallen behind! pardon me for taking a whole week off posting. all sorts of things to post about-- but to start i'm going to go back a few weeks to easter weekend. mom & i headed down to the cape for my first holiday with that side of the family in over five years. we had a nice visit with everyone. mom & gran & i had a great morning on saturday doing errands around town, walking on the beach, and going out for a tasty sandwich. in the evening, the entire clan went to an art opening, had a big dinner out, and then feasted on sunday. mom & i also snuck to the beach for a quick warm & sunny walk. although easter has never been a major holiday for our family, there ended up being 18 of us there on sunday, so i really got caught up quickly on family affairs. my grandmother & fred are simply amazing and the day was lovely. it was one of the moments when i was reminded exactly why i chose to move across the country.

saturday.

what does a perfect friday night look like in my eyes?

a date with miss jen-- a walk down the hill, a fabulous cheesy movie that left me grinning, and a cozy burger & beer dinner full of, as always, good talk. a walk back up the hill, a bit of reading, and still early to bed!

and today:

heading down for a workout, and then the first outdoor farmers market (!!), and a bit of erranding. perhaps some new polish on my toes and an episode of gossip girl. i love days with few plans. 

have i mentioned that the sun has reappeared after several months of rain? i couldn't be happier to see shadows and light. 

enjoy this video (click here, it's lovely, i promise!)

may musings

moments to appreciate this week:

• a meeting with a group that has received several grants from gmcr. in a greenhouse. with a plate of local bread, farm-made cheese & brownies. learning about the incredible local foods projects in vermont.
• a rotation of mumford & sons and adele as my soundtrack. 
• an absolutely incredible and delicious meal at hen of the wood as part of vermont restaurant week
• a very interesting conference. it took place in fairlee, where my camp of 12 summers resides. it has been several years now since i last set foot in fairlee, and the word i mouthed as i rounded the familiar curves in the road, catching sight of the white main house, the bare tent platforms, the high water, and the empty building was simply "home." i've spent enough time in the area during the offseason that i stopped feeling strange about seeing aloha when it wasn't alive with laughter and song a long time ago. i didn't stop for long on this trip, just long enough to snap a photo, but other times i've sat in peace next to the water and felt gratitude for the many people the camp has brought into my life, and the impact both my time at camp and those relationships has had. 
• a quick trip to farmway. a frequent time-off destination when i was a counselor, i took a little journey up to the bargain balcony and found a 50% gem.
• sharing a yoga class with my mom!
• a flash of a friend.
• another delightfully fun zumba class with my kidney girls. 
• few plans for a lovely, lowkey weekend.
• a boy arriving on the horizon!

celebration of love.

this weekend was one of those ones that leaves you both smiling & exhausted. it was a whirlwind-- pulling me in on friday, spinning me around and around, and then spitting me back out on monday morning leaving me saying "but wait! where was my down time?"

but all for good reason. one of my girlfriends from middle and high school got married! the setting was gorgeous, the weather somehow was perfect, the details of the wedding were lovely, erin was a graceful & sweet bride. many of my oldest friends gathered to celebrate her marriage to a wonderful man, and we all had so much fun. i danced the night away with all of the girls-- but jenna and i really outdanced the rest. lex, cayla & i stayed up too late chatting about grown up things and snuggling in the most ridiculous room in the entire inn. enjoy a few snapshots that won't do justice to the setting or the pretty ladies.