a couple of weeks ago, brett and i headed to trapp family lodge over in stowe (yes, same place i skied with mom & where the real heros of my favorite musical landed) for an outdoor concert by crooked still. i know i've posted crooked still songs a few times here- they are a marvelous newgrass/bluegrass/young/fun band out of the boston area. we saw them in steamboat a few summers ago and i really enjoy their sound. i'd seen they were playing at trapps, and i've only heard incredible things about the outdoor venue over there. despite some ominous clouds, the weather held off for us. the setting was phenomenal, the sounds heavenly, the picnic delicious, and the company superb. 

sailing on dreama.

july 10: another beautiful day aboard my parent's boat enjoying swimming, sunning, thai chicken wraps, reading, a strong breeze, good company, and a beautiful view. so far, some of my strongest "this is why i moved" moments have been sitting on their boat, gazing out at the adirondacks and camels hump, listening to the splash of the water, and smiling at the company. here's to many more perfect days. 

what's better than an afternoon spent getting dirt under my nails weeding and playing in the garden, and fully soaked with sweat riding my bike on dirt roads? the answer, my friends, is the sweet shower & big dinner & sleepy crawl into bed that follows.

fun in the backyard.

one of the best things about our apartment is the giant backyard, which we share with the other tenants. it is a lovely spot to spend some time, and no one else seems to spend much time out there. we have a wonderful garden growing, where brett can be found every morning, noon & night. 

a man in his garden

lovely late afternoon light

brett with his new friend o.d. (not ours!)

anniversary feast.

i've got a giant grin on my face tonight because i got to video chat with my darling miss molly! 

"laughter is the shortest distance between two people." - victor borge

summer's fresh delight.

my new summer salad is adapted from the famous new york times article of 101 simple salads from last summer. this is #2. so fresh and delicious. i bought pete's greens local heirloom tomatoes, pennsylvania peaches, and cut cilantro out of our garden. i mixed all those together, topped with olive oil, white balsamic,  lemon juice, red pepper flakes, and salt and pepper. the flavors are wonderful- especially if the salad sits for a few hours or days. i've made it twice and both have been splendid, and next time i'll try adding a bit of red onion. so easy & fresh. 

"For some of us, books are as important as almost anything else on earth. What a miracle it is that out of these small, flat, rigid squares of paper unfolds world after world after world, worlds that sing to you, comfort and quiet or excite you. Books help us to understand who we are and how we are to behave. They show us what community and friendship mean; they show us how to live and die."

-Ann Lamott

it was 96 degrees on my drive home today. walking out of the office, it felt like i could swim through the air. luckily, we're headed here for a long weekend for some swimming, sunning, boating, playing with family & lobster-eating. hooray.

do the best you can.

"It's funny: I always imagined when I was a kid that adults had some kind of inner toolbox full of shiny tools: the saw of discernment, the hammer of wisdom, the sandpaper of patience. But then when I gew up I found that life handed you these rusty old tools - friendships, prayer, conscience, honesty - and said 'do the best you can with these, they will have to do.' And mostly, against all odds, they do."

-Ann Lamott

the perfect start to the day:
an asiago bagel with veggie cream cheese, and van morrison playing in the bagel shop.

happiest of birthdays to my most favorite twins. i hope you have a lovely day celebrating each other together & enjoying a perfect evening with the avetts. cheers to another rotation around the sun- thank you for being born & for being the best. xo

"feelings are everywhere - be gentle." -j.masai

my friend kate took this photo in steamboat on the 4th of july. isn't it simply stunning? it reminds me of so many of the reasons i loved the life there. adorable downtown strip, river flowing through town, sloping mountains, wide open sky, and the heavenly glow of the sun setting.

there's an interesting article in today's steamboat paper. there seems to be an exodus of folks in their mid-to-late twenties rolling out of steamboat this summer. many of us found it to be time to move on and it's interesting, but not surprising, that that is true beyond my crew of friends there. i knew joel, the author, but don't know many of his friends. as a good friend said last week, "now that some of you have left, and we can see how well you're doing outside of steamboat, it makes it seem a little bit easier for us to leave too." there comes a time when you either commit to life in the boat, or you leave before your roots grow too strong.

today's market bounty.

another saturday, another trip to the farmer's market. i didn't get so crazy this week as i did last week-- swish chard, cauliflower*, two fig anise rolls for sandwiches, and a beautiful supply of heirloom tomatoes. i've got a tomato salad recipe i'm dying to try, and those pretty things will be just right for it.

*cauliflower note: my friend tarunya recently introduced me to the concept of roasted cauliflower. tossed in olive oil, salt & pepper, spread on a pan & thrown in the oven at about 400 until it's brown and beautiful. i roast brussels and asparagus and so many other veggies, but cauliflower was a whole new idea for me. i love it. have you had it? what veggies do you roast?

here are a few visuals from the lovely evening we had this week. remember this day?  here's what it looked like. 

 1. beautiful evening bike ride on county roads.

2. fresh homegrown mescalin greens

3. one of the best homemade pizzas i've ever made. spinach, basil, onion, portabella mushrooms, green olives, excessive garlic, heirloom tomato, fresh mozz & olive oil. oh yum.

hello, weekend.

my lovelies- today is probably one of the most beautiful days of the summer thus far! it's been torture to be hiding in my cube all day, and i am so excited to get out and play in the sweet summer sun. beyond that, i've got few plans for the weekend. some farmer's marketing, as always, and hopefully a trip to the stowe st arts festival in waterbury, and possibly a concert by one of my favorite bands in a beautiful setting if the weather holds for sunday night. brett's working all weekend, my parents are out of town, and jenna & al are also respectively gone. so-- who wants to play?!

"always be pure, simple & honest."

-today's yogi tea

today i am grateful for:

• a delicious salmon spinach egg scramble for breakfast
• a super helpful Word class (yes, i am a nerd.)
• working in Waterbury and being able to stroll town
• an iced maple supreme coffee-- it's good i don't work in Waterbury every day or this would be a new treat!
• a long, healthy chat with my sweet friend molly
• plans for a long bike ride after work
• homemade veggie pizza for dinner!
• sunshine

grace potter & the nocturnals.

one of the many things i absolutely loved about steamboat was the free summer concert series. each summer, they bring in 5 bands to play free shows right at the base of howelsen hill. it's a perfect little amphitheater, right in the heart of downtown, with plenty of beautiful space for dancing and a great view of the yampa valley. i took great joy in hopping on my bicycle to ride into town, meeting friends for a snack or drink, and then heading to the show for dancing & more good local food, and always great music. afterwards things tend to get a little rowdy downtown and some of my favorite memories involve such shenanigans & chilly bike rides home! the concerts are wonderful community gatherings with folks of all ages enjoying good music and chatting. over the years i saw phenomenal acts including michael franti, the avett brothers, freddy jones band, easy star allstars, susan tedeshi, drew emmett, sam bush, matt costa, and many more. i would wait each spring for the concerts to be announced, and to be honest, i even waited this year for the concerts to be announced on the off chance that i could arrange a trip out there based around the free concert schedule and the red rocks schedule.

tomorrow night, grace potter will take the stage in my little town. she will rock, the crowd will love her, and i will be here wishing i were there. not only do i love grace's music, but i knew her when we were wee ones. we played together as little kids as our parents were friends, and later on our lives crossed through dance, figure skating & mutual friends. we were never particularly close, but we absolutely knew each other. we were barely out of high school when my mom was sending my gracie's debut cd and a letter describing attending one of her first concerts in a tiny cafe in waitsfield. since then, her career has absolutely taken flight and i think it's safe to say she is on her way to making it big!

luckily, i've got plans of my own to see her perform back here in august, during her annual waterfront concert in burlington. i've seen her there twice before during visits home, and its certain to be a good time.

i'll still be jealously thinking of you all in steamboat tomorrow though. grace had it right when she called colorado "vermont's big sister." see the story on the show here!

4th of july festivities.

as i've mentioned, my holiday weekend was spent with some of my old aloha friends. these wonderful girls played such a huge role in my final years as a camper, and my early years as a counselor. we were a pack, supporting each other through many of the challenges a girl might face between the ages of 15 to 20. they were my summer support network, and we carried summer into the rest of each year through lengthy email chains and annual new years gatherings. after college, we scattered across the country, and the news years reunions simply weren't feasible. so, after ringing in 5 years apart, we finally managed to reunite for a different holiday- the 4th of july. it was like we were quickly transported back to our younger days, carrying on nostalgic conversations and sharing funny memories. during my late teen-early 20s years, my friendships were largely made up of small "teams" or packs of friends, many of which even had names... Quints (these girls), Five Alive (high school), TA8 (college), and many others. my relationships with each person depended in many ways on the larger group energy and dynamic-- it was as though the friendship was truly based on each of the group members united together. in my years since, the friendships i have made have focused on have been much more individual. sure, many have been part of a larger group, but in an entirely different way. my point here is that being reunited with such a core group was so interesting. our dynamic was just the same-- despite years apart and a wide variety of experiences, we were all back together with the very same group relationship. 

so. we enjoyed our old haunts in hanover-- dinner at molly's, lying on the quad, relaxing on t's porch. we cooked tasty food and told stories and remembered moments past. we tried some delicious new food-- nationally known gelato and yummy breakfast.  we went to fairlee for the parade, and returned later for the traditional bonfire & fireworks. i saw many old familiar faces but wasn't really able to catch up with the ones i wanted to-- i felt at home, yet entirely removed. it's strange to have spent 4 summers away from aloha, and to now only be one hour away but living such a different life. 

overall, we all had a grand, though packed, weekend. we're hoping the next time we reunite might be out in california, where the farthest quint just got herself a great new job!

inaugural sail.

on the friday of july-4th-weekend, i met my parents after work for a picnic and sail on the boat. it was my first time out on the water on their beautiful new boat, aptly named "dreama." they sold their last sailboat in 2009, and i used to joke that i wasn't moving back to vermont until they got a new one. it turned out to be true, as they bought this boat in the fall, and i moved here in march. i've dreamed of jaunting down after work to sail with them, and the evening was every bit as delightful as i imagined. the wind was light, but we put the sails up and drifted around, enjoying a glass of wine & tasty food. it was lovely. cheers to many more beautiful sails on lake champlain!

the captain himself

farmer's market treats.

 i often have company when i go to the farmer's market on saturday mornings, but today i went solo. this meant i was focused entirely on the vendors and less on the social aspect. as a result, i came home with some serious loot! both here and in steamboat, i've always been good about choosing my treats (yes to bread means no to cheese, etc), but today i indulged entirely. fresh baguette and a fig roll for my sandwich, local cauliflower, heirloom tomatoes, squash, and a new local cheese. then i even splurged on flowers. one of the indulgences i enjoy the most is fresh cut flowers to brighten up my apartment. this beautiful bouquet jumped out at me today, and now it's the highlight of the kitchen.

it seems like it's been a lifetime since i had my last relaxing saturday morning. the past few have been full of visitors, travel, moving and being gone. i so enjoyed sleeping until 8:30 (yes, that's sleeping in for me), drinking my coffee at our little kitchen table, and listening to the avett brothers while i cruised the internet. now it's time to head to the gym for a sweat prior to a haircut and a tour of the farmers market. after that, the day is wide open. what a lovely feeling!

what does your saturday look like?

recently.

i've been a bit too busy galavanting (and living without internet) lately to share with you some beautiful moments. enjoy. more to come, soon.

a few weeks ago, several of my dearest girls were in town. five of us got together with our partners & husbands (!) for a grilling feast. unfortunately i didn't get the camera out while we were all together-- but it was a lovely evening celebrating all things old & new, and enjoying great food and ben & jerrys sample flavors. yum.

for father's day, we had a tasty dinner in my parents back yard. grilled pizzas and a spinach & blackberry salad. the weather was perfect and the company delightful.

i spent a day in fairlee with kat, who i worked with for several summers at aloha and who became a close friend. we shared many a concert, ski day, and song during three (four?) years overlapping in colorado.  she was in vermont for school, so we met up for brunch and catch up time. we stopped by aloha to dip our toes in the lake, and enjoyed a quiet swing on the porch.

i nominated a couple who i worked closely with at yvcf to be the philanthropists of the year in steamboat. pam & steve are incredibly generous, and even more humble, and this award left them stunned. they were a pleasure to work with, and were so caring and considerate in all of their actions and donations. they are some of the only people who i knew through work who i have stayed in touch with this spring, and upon my departure they sent me a beautiful photograph of the classic more barn with mt werner in the background. we have it hanging in our apartment. read more about the williams here, and enjoy this adorable picture of their calves below. 

that's all for now, my dears. happy friday! i'm off to a friend's pottery opening and then to eat some pizza.