Where I've Been.

Just in case my one, singular (and incredibly lonely) post from this month hasn't dropped a rather large hint as to how crazy this summer season has been, something tells me my complete absence from all things blog related has surely spoken volumes. Yikes. Sorry for straying so far from posting daily, or even weekly for that matter, friends. This whole cycle of irregularity that I seem to have subconsciously fallen into has been frustrating. And for weeks, there has been a scratching at the back of my brain, desperately asking to be to rectified, but alas the timing just hasn't been right. There were too many interruptions already written into the calendar, too many roadblocks down the road still yet to be hurdled, but hey- such is life, right? Well, here we are. And I could not be more thrilled to give you all a big, warm hello. Boy have I missed this little space of mine.

So with that, and before looking onward, I wanted to share a little bit of where I've been these past few weeks (apologies for the constant reliance on Instagram; I promise the dust will be blown off of my Canon oh so very soon)--

The beautiful coast of Southern California where the air was salty and the sun was strong

An open air theater in San Diego where a little FUN. filled my heart and awakened my soul  

The streets and landmarks of Coronado that have felt like home to me since I was young

Charlottesville, VA where I wished with all my might that time might stand still for a few days

Lexington, VA to celebrate a sacred milestone in the life of a dear friend from high school

My dear New York where spending a lazy Sunday in places like Fish's Eddy reminds me of all the many reasons I love this city

And finally to the little cafes and ice cream shops here in Brooklyn that have allowed this borough to firmly establish itself in my heart for a good long while.

It's been a busy, but wonderful, couple of weeks over here, friends. And I hope you've been well. Looking forward to checking in again soon. 

xo

A Retreat.

Well hello there, friends. My gooodness, it's been a while. Apologies, once again, for checking out these past few weeks. As seems to be the case a bit far too often for my liking, life has proven to be a bit tricky to navigate as of late. (sigh). Between the general stress of work and travel coupled with a few of life's unexpected and rather humbling hard knocks, I came tumbling out of July last week in a state of exhaustion that just about knocked me flat out. It was time for a break. Time to find that much-needed release that both my mind and body had been so desperately craving for weeks. And the time to do it, was now.

Well, come Friday night, I found just that. With a dear friend at the wheel, a set of directions pointing due North, and a spontaneous urge pushing us onward, we took to the road and left reality far, far behind. Four hours, a belly full of laughs, and a few wrong (but highly memorable) turns later, we pulled in next to the white country farmhouse we were to call home for the next two days and stepped out under a beautiful Vermont summer sky. The air was crisp, the grasshoppers loud, and for the first time in a long while, my head was clear. It was the perfect start to a weekend spent enjoying every last bit of life's simple pleasures and that wonderful, but often fleeting, gift we call time. 

Vermont, here's to you. 

 

More to come soon, friends.
xo

(Long) Weekend Snapshots.

To say that our miniature army packed in a whole heck of a lot this weekend would be a grave underestimation. I swear, it's truly hard for me to conjure up more than a few brief moments when we weren't on the move, off to yet another destination, exploring another neighborhood, and sweating our tushes off the whole way there. (Thank you OCD tendencies for fueling me with the unnecessary urge to plan out every second of every day with a suggested schedule of activities. Yikes. Major kudos to you nine crazy fools for dealing with me for that.) But it's funny you know, despite all of the wonderful things we were able to do and see-- all of the things I successfully checked off my cerebral "to-do" list-- looking back through these photos, it's really those moments of unplanned and unscheduled occurrence that stick out as the most memorable.

It was that early evening spent soaking up the last of the city's summer sunlight from a perch by Central Park's boat basin, listening to the string duet across the way and just enjoying each other's company while speculatively people watching the city's passerby. And the afternoon spent deciding not to trek to that baseball game out in Queens and instead spent headed back to that local Mexican joint down the street for another pitcher of sangria for a second night in a row. And the decision to get the heck out of the sun despite the incredible food market we were leaving behind in order to stumble into the nearest coffee shop and just spend the next few hours talking over the most delicious cup of cold brew while praying for the rain to come. And that late night spent lounging around my living room, washing down cold beer with wedges of squeezed lime and dying with laughter over yet another successful achievement of scaring the living bejesus out of me with a ginormous rubber spider hidden under my pillow. 


It's funny how that all happens, isn't it? The way the most meaningful moments often can't be planned, or scheduled, or booked in advance; the way sometimes simply being in the presence of good, dear friends is all you need.


So with that, a (not so) quick peek into some of our crew's adventures from this past weekend, with a heck of a lot of good fun left out thanks to my negligence in properly documenting our treks--

A Brief Moment.

Where-- In the living room, curled in my usual perch

Enjoying-- a cold glass of homemade chai

Thankful-- for an unexpectedly quiet night and time to finally stop by to say hello

Wondering-- how it is that July has already arrived

Realizing-- that even a strong will won't stop December from being here far, far sooner than I'd like

Still-- mulling over the wisdom embedded within this incredibly poignant article

Eager-- to shut the world out for a bit and get lost in this most recent edition of Kinfolk 

 

Thanks for your patience as things have gotten a bit slow around here, friends. 

Life's balance still throws me for a bit more of a loop than I'd care to admit sometimes. 

More to come, soon.

At Peace.

 

Nestled-- into the corner of my living room couch.

Enjoying-- bowlful upon bowlful of these plump, succulent berries.

Surrounded-- by the intoxicating smell of crisp, freshly laundered linen.

Listening-- to the sweet sound of silence for the first time all day.

Accepting-- that summer has surely arrived. 

Eager-- to tumble into bed and get lost in a good dream.

Feeling-- at peace.

Weekend Snapshots.

Holy moly. What a beautiful weekend we had here in the city-- bright blue, cloudless skies and endless amounts of strong, warm light to bask in. It was was one of those incredible, sunshine-filled weekends that reminds you of all the many reasons you've anxiously awaited summer's arrival. And boy did it feel good to soak up every last drop.

While a good portion of Sunday was spent lounging on my patio-- fresh squeezed lemonade in hand and a book I've been itching to get into draped across my lap-- Saturday proved to be its own unexpected adventure. After finishing an errand all the way up on 96th St. circa 11am, I realized with a free afternoon ahead of me there was no reason not to enjoy the sunshine and take a long walk home. So, walk I did. Well, 11 1/2 miles, 3 local farmer's markets, 8 playlist shuffles on the iPod, a (not so) quick tour through Chelsea Market, and a highly unfortunate (but not so surprising) sunburn later, I crossed back into Brooklyn already craving another free afternoon to do it all over again. Well, perhaps minus the sunburn next time.

God, I love this city.

How about you, friends? Hoping you had just as much luck with the weather as we did over in these parts. Here's to a wonderful week ahead.
xo