saturday.

i can't believe it's already the last day of june. this month has gone far too quickly for me, plus i still have so many recap posts to write and share with you!

part of june going so quickly for me must be attributed to traveling three of the five weekends of the month. first to alabama, then in vermont for a weekend that included a day trip to fairlee, then to new york for liz & jon's wedding, back for a couple days of work, and then to indiana and back. i could not be more excited to stay put this weekend and enjoy being home. i've already had my most favorite weekend morning: reading in bed with a good cup of coffee, a snuggly dog & gentle music. a trip to the farmer's market is in order next, and then either hanging around town or heading out to the pond for the day.

friday.

happy friday, my friends! after a few busy weekends of travel, i'm looking forward to staying put & enjoying a most splendid vermont weekend. the weather is supposed to be hot & sunny, so i'm hoping to squeeze in some gardening, bike riding, farmer's market strolling, and hopefully a swim!

tonight, we're going on a double date with jen & al. we're going to check out the new wes anderson film at the savoy, and then go to the newly expanded three penny taproom. new kitchen = new menu, so i'm excited to try their burger (with fries! $8!).



have a delightful weekend.

strawberries.

i cannot get enough of the juicy local strawberries this summer. last year i totally missed the season, thinking it wasn't until later. i think strawberries have the biggest taste difference between locally grown and store bought (grown in california fields).  this summer i am enjoying every single day of it, some days eating a pint's worth all by myself! we've got two quarts frozen for further enjoyment, and i might try to go picking this weekend if it isn't too late.

i am wondering if i might turn into strawberry in the way that violet becomes a blueberry in willy wonka. what  do you think?

shake it out.

this is one of my summer songs for 2012. the chorus of the song just makes me want to dance barefoot, or roll down the car windows while driving. i love it. it feels empowering.

other summer songs so far:
hold on by alabama shakes
ho hey by the lumineers

what are your summer songs these days?

today.

my heart was in a lot of places today--

rejoicing with the official kickoff of summer: opening day for the aloha camps. thinking of those lucky girls embarking on another 'best summer ever' and the wonderful counselors who will work hard to make it just that. appreciating the online camaraderie that takes place among the hundreds of us who have spent time at aloha and have since followed paths that no longer allow us to be at camp for the summer.

mourning the massive fires burning all over colorado: thinking of the people, homes, trees, animals & mountains being burned rapidly as well as of the strong firefighters working to control the flames.

and lastly, readjusting from a brief vacation to indiana and kickstarting my short workweek with a five hour meeting at shelburne farms, followed by a two hour grant meeting operating on west coast time. that meant work til 7, home by 8, dinner by 9. and now: reading by 10.

lake wawasee, indiana.

that's happiness.

"And then one student said that happiness is what happens when you go to bed on the hottest night of the summer, a night so hot you can't even wear a t-shirt and you sleep on top of the sheets instead of under them, although try to sleep is probably more accurate. And then at some point late, late, late at night, say just a bit before dawn, the heat finally breaks and the night turns cool and when you briefly wake up, you notice that you're almost chilly, and in your groggy, half-consciousness, you reach over and pull the sheet around you and just the flimsy sheet makes it warm enough…and it's that reaching, that gesture, that reflex we have to pull what's warm—whether it's something or someone—toward us, that feeling we get when we do that, that feeling of being safe in the world and ready for sleep, that's happiness."

-Paul Schmidtberger, Design Flaws of the Human Condition

road trip.

Lu says: where are we going and why the heck are you making me wear this hat?

summer solstice.

the first day of summer: waking up with one of my oldest friends in my home, a steamy dog walk under brilliant sunlight, a productive day in the office, a csa share full of beautiful produce & delicious bread, a refreshing swim with best friends and best dogs, salads made of said csa ingredients and garden grown greens enjoyed on the porch with our sweet neighbor, dancing fireflies, and a little bit of ice cream to top the day off. 


here's to a hundred more perfect summer moments.


see also:
solstice 2011.
solstice 2010.

age.

happy father's day.

First sail of the summer- perfect way to celebrate. Thanks Captain!

girl pack in the city.

for memorial day, jenna & i headed down to brooklyn for a fun city escape and to catch up with her girlfriends down there. it was a wonderful weekend of dining, laughing, and enjoying a more urban setting. jenna has a great group of girls, and it was just so fun to hang out in a girl pack. we stayed with anna in her sweet space, and alex's sister phoebe hosted a wonderful dinner in her backyard so jenna could see all her girls. 

strolling the brooklyn botanic gardens

brooklyn

j's old neighborhood

rooftop patio

beautiful backyard

future sisters!

bffs.

uvm girls.

the whole gang

backyard fun.

one of my favorite things about the apartment we live in is the beautiful backyard. plenty of space for a great garden (the first garden pictured belongs to our neighbors. ours is much smaller!), clothesline for drying laundry, an assortment of lawn furniture, a grill, and an apple tree. perfect for growing veggies, puppy play, reading books, and hosting bbqs. on a recent backyard dinner, brett found me my first four-leaf clover!

can you spy the dog in this photo?

vermont's bounty.

if all i talked about for the next 14 weeks was how much i love eating in the summer, would you keep visiting the blog? because it seems like it's all i can talk about right now. 

last night we got our second share of our csa. what i love about this csa is that it is not just veggies (of which we will be producing quite a bit in our own backyard) but other local products-- eggs, bread, pesto, salad dressing, supposedly meat or cheese some weeks. it's a great way to try new local producers. let's be honest- eating local or organic is not cheap- but brett & i made the choice to support our local agriculture this summer, and you had better believe i will be enjoying every last crumb or leaf of our share. i chose to be the site coordinator at my office in order to make it more affordable for us, and the low cost of our garden will balance out the value (and the number of salads we will be eating). 

this week's share. 

our first garden harvest of 2012: kale, beet greens, butter crunch lettuce, spinach

salad made from our own greens, local cilantro & green onion, vermont grown golden beet, red onion, walnuts and gorgonzola. csa bread & pesto on the side. 

b & i literally high fived each other over dinner and exclaimed how much we love this food. i am not exaggerating. 

beauty.

via  Pinterest

a berry for you.

success to powering through long projects? a big bowl of fresh raspberries on my desk & the lumineers in my headphones. sidenote: raspberries always remind me of this poem that my mom shared with me in college. 

lucky ladies.

sometimes i can't believe how much i love that little black dog. 

after work adventures.

on sunday, i had high hopes of sneaking out for a bike ride. less fun activities got in the way, and an early morning meeting on monday meant that i skipped out on the gym. monday was another hot and beautiful day, so mid-afternoon i started to think that if i could just get out of the office early enough, i might be able to fit in that ride. and i did! i drove home, changed my clothes, grabbed a waterbottle, and was back out the door. i headed out for a fairly quick 8 mile paved-dirt road loop that brett and i made up last summer. it takes less than an hour, so it is perfect for a quick breath (or gasp, depending on which part of the ride you are on) of fresh air or an after work escape. the first three miles are all up hill with a 1000+ foot elevation gain, so i warm up quick and sweat my way up and up and up. but then, the hard part is behind me, and i get a few miles of rolling dirt roads. the ride comes out at the top of north street where i get to enjoy one of my favorite views in all of central vermont, followed by some cruising downhill, and then a flat paved ride back home. 

i really enjoy riding my bike with brett or with friends. there's so much fun to be had while getting outside and pushing yourself with good company. but there is also something so great about riding solo- when you can't measure your pace against anyone else. i felt like a kid flying down the hills with my two braids blowing in the wind- but with anyone else there i would have realized how slow i might have actually been going. i got to stop for water and photos whenever i wanted, and just enjoyed riding along smiling in silence. 

i got home sweaty and exhausted. brett & lupe had been on a bike ride of their own- mountain biking with al & od. we ate dinner in our bike clothes while lupe snored on the floor, and then all three of us sprawled out on the floor- tired and happy as could be. 

the weekend.

i intended to catch up on a bunch of blogging this weekend, but it was just too beautiful outside! friday night i met jenna for a drink at three penny, before heading to a birthday party in town. saturday i was fairlee bound for a day of camp fun- primarily with a few of my favorite camp kids from colorado. kat, james & colby were staples in my colorado era and it was great to make up for lost time with each of them. going to camp always feels like going home, and no matter how much time passes it seems to stay the same. after a lovely little breakfast with colby, kat & i sat on the canoeing docks with our feet in the lake and chatted forever. i've always been a sentimental one, particularly about camp, but after some time away it's nice to reflect on camp's influence and my experience as a camper, counselor, and now "outsider." kat's returning after 3 summers away and will be in a new role this summer, so we had lots to talk about! we went for a walk along the lake before heading down to hanover for some food. it was a most delightful day. 

sunday, we enjoyed coffee on the porch before brett headed to work and i jumped into my regular sunday chores... laundry, grocery shopping & cleaning. i hoped to get in a road ride but a bit of reading for work took up the allotted time. lupe & i went for a hot stroll, and then we had a wonderful backyard bbq with my folks, jenna & al, and her parents. an assortment of apps, fresh salad, veggie kabobs, juicy burgers & grilled pineapple with ice cream. plus a great crowd, two happy dogs, and a warm evening. mmm hmm. 

have a wonderful week and do check back to soon to hear of city adventures, southern builds, and of course- the balloons. 

summer in vermont.

flying into btv this week felt different from my other recent returns. i am always happy to get home, especially from a work trip. but this time, i felt downright giddy about coming home, and that feeling hasn't stopped (i got home 3 days ago). as we flew over the rolling green mountains, i could not get over how lush & thick the trees and hills were. since then, on each drive it seems like i am ooh-ing and ahh-ing over the way the light is hitting the trees, or how green the hills are, or how beautiful camels' hump looks in the distance. these are sights i see constantly, but my enthusiasm is bursting. a wet forecast panned out to be a mix of sweet blue skies and sunshine, and a couple of classic vermont downpours with thunderstorms. something about this season, the start of a new stunning summer, makes everything in vermont feel particularly alive and special. i love each season that vermont offers, but summer may be the season that each year holds the most promise for me. for the last two summers, i've made a 'bucket list' of all of the activities, events, locations and festivals that i want to be sure to pack into the ever too short few weeks of summer. there are hikes, bike rides, concerts, sails & trips that must be packed into the weekday daylight hours & weekends. there's no feasible way to fit every single thing that i want to do- but you had better believe that i will try!

and then, there are the sweet, simple summer moments that i appreciate so much as well. our garden this summer is even better than the last, and i love to see the itty bitty veggies growing so quickly. we already have greens to eat! we also got our first share of the CSA that we joined this year. getting the box full of vegetables grown right in this county, as well as bread, eggs & dressing also sourced locally reminded me how fortunate we are to live in such a delicious community and have the ability to choose to reap the benefits of that. brett & i rode our bikes to breakfast the other morning, and i had forgotten how fun bikes are for transportation. in colorado, i rode my bike mostly for transport and less for recreation. here, my riding is primarily recreation and rarely transport, as my commute is too far for riding! we live so close to everything in town that i usually opt to walk, but a quick morning ride to the diner sure was fun. walking in the late afternoon sun to grab a beer with jenna sure is a treat, too, though. and then! there are the flowers. oh, the flowers. first, there were the lilacs. and then, the peonies. our landlord keeps the most splendid flower gardens, and my only wish is that the lasted longer.  this week's rain has already knocked down the peonies that i love so much. i literally stop to smell them once a day. you may think i am being trite, but no. have you smelled those pretty pink things? you'd stop every day if they were out your front door, too. i promise. 

suffice it to say- june is one special month. each day gets just a little bit longer, and sometimes it feels like the last drops of sunshine could linger for hours. 

backwards.

before i left for alabama, i encountered this little scene. 

doesn't it seem like they got it backwards?

Alabama.

Here's what I have been doing this week. Background to follow.

Travel.

The convenience of a checked bag and the luxury of a three seat row to myself on one flight almost makes up for weekend work travel.

bikes & beer.

to celebrate brett's birthday, i planned a day including a few of his favorite things: biking, beer & good friends. we headed down to woodstock, vermont to do a scenic 25 mile bike ride. brett often complains that he hasn't seen or experienced enough of vermont during his time here so far, so this was a good way to get out and see some of the beautiful landscapes of vermont. the rolling green hills, immaculate old homes, vast farms and quant towns were just so picturesque. a washed out road made the ride a bit closer to 30 miles than anticipated (30 miles for 30 years?), so by the time we were back at the car we could not have been more ready for the cold beers and salty food awaiting us at the long trail brewery. brett & i are so fortunate to have the companionship of jen & al in our daily life and on our adventures. we are so well matched in interest, enthusiasm and ability. it makes everything that much more fun. we all drove home so satisfied with our adventure- here's to a summer full of exploring and adventures.