The {un}story

Monday, October 6, 2014

I try to avoid the “lately…in pictures” type of post because capturing a story is so important to me. There’s always a story, and one of the most joyous parts about writing this blog is getting to tell it.

But sometimes there isn’t a story. This week, we didn’t visit a Halloween Festival Megaplex Spectacular. We didn’t travel to an exotic foreign location with tall ships and Canadian beer. We stayed home, we nested, we ate some old-fashioned home-cooked food. I guess that’s a pretty good story after all.

Chocolate croissants in the park….

Blink and you’ll miss this speck of a park in Chelsea. Look for it and you might see little ones at play.

Quiet moments…

Wild moments…

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Travel

Heaven Hill Farm, New Jersey

Tuesday, September 30, 2014

I once dated a guy from Australia. I won’t go into the details, but if you’d like to read more about that ill-fated situation, you can always check out this post where I discuss things like his fire-fighting skills and clinical amnesia.

This guy, let’s just call him D– once claimed that everything Americans do is done on a big scale. Every movie theater is a Megaplex, every stadium screen is a Jumbotron, every soft drink is a 64-oz Big Gulp.

I acknowledged his point, responding that while yes, this is sometimes the case, America can also be quaint and lovely and not at all grandiose.

Take for instance the Fall Festival that we attended last weekend. The event organizers could have made it over-the-top and glittered with gold. But really, who needs to be the best Fall Festival in town? Not these guys. Modesty was the name of the game.

We were welcomed by some ghostly goblins.

And became acquainted with seasonal farm equipment.

Next we found a carousel…

A Ferris Wheel…

Carnival-moving vans with all kinds of amusements and curiosities …

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Family

The hybrid season

Monday, September 22, 2014

Like its sister June, September has an uncanny ability to confuse the senses. One day it’s warm, calling for T-shirts and frilly pink dresses…

…polar bear dips in the lake…

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Family

The endless summer comes to an end

Monday, September 1, 2014

Last week we enjoyed our last full week up at the lake and I shared some of my favorite last moments in last week’s post. As a final Summer sendoff, I’m doing things a little differently this week. I had such a fun time revisiting my New York City pictures and processing them through the Waterlogue app before we left for the lake – I figured that I’d do the same with my Summer images. The set of pictures is quite long, but when you’re choosing from hundreds of memories, it’s hard to pick just a few…

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Family

Where Tuesday is Friday

Monday, August 25, 2014

“I wish it were Summer every day” Lauren told me last week. “That way our Summer would never come to an end.”

And that, my dear girl, is exactly why Summer should come to an end. Nothing is special unless it’s sacred. A weekend isn’t indulgent unless it’s well-earned. And so, too, with this perfect string of weeks that separates Memorial Day and Labor Day. Days that bleed into each other, leading me to ask on repeat – “is today Friday?”

Rodney was traveling last week, so we did what we do on most days, which is make things up as we go. It was our last full week at the lake.

Last visit to the Ringwood Farmer’s Market (at least for a few weeks) to pick up some really big shoe-matching carrots…

Last time to make a mess of my closet and try on our bridesmaid and flower girl dresses for an upcoming wedding one…more….time…

Last time to crash our friends’ houses for frozen treats. Those red treats, dangerous….Unless you intend to look like Batman’s archenemy, in which case, perfection….