Category Archives: … at Not So Everyday Things
One of my Christmas gifts to myself over the holiday break (can you still call it that when you’re thirty?) was a new rose gold iPhone 6. I had been waiting with bated breathe for my upgrade, not because I’m so desperate for new technology but because I basically no longer had a wireless device with how often I had to be plugged into the wall. I know that iPhones aren’t known for their battery life (but have a pencil, so let’s count our blessings, right? #priorities), but now having a charge for more than a day is absolutely thrilling. It’s the little things really.
Unfortunately my new hardware cannot be celebrated in the true manner in which it should be because I’m currently sporting a plain black Speck case that depresses me every time I pull it out of my purse. I mean, a cell phone case says a lot about a person, and it’s literally the only accessory that is with you every single day. So clearly, attention must be paid.
I’ve been scouring the internet for cases since I came home and cannot pick just one. I swear I want to buy them all so I can change them depending on my mood. Since that’s completely impractical, the next best thing seemed to be to put it to the internet for a vote.
(l to r) beyonce/kate spade camera/gray malin/confetti/i am very busy/glitter & gold/cocoa & hearts/sparkles/glitter is my favorite
Things I’m considering:
- Like I said, I’m thirty. I have always loved fun novelty cases (which is why I’ve pretty much had exclusively Kate Spade ones since I made the switch to an iPhone), but given how much I used my phone at work, certain images may not be as appropriate as they once were. That being said, I’m not dead, so a few fun phrases snuck in there.
- The rose gold is a really nice, soft pink shade, but with most cases, you’ll never see it. I tried to find a few clear options to showcase the new color.
So which is your favorite? Leave your vote in the comments, because I certainly can’t make this very important decision alone.
~L
Happy Holidays everyone! Whether you celebrate Christmas, Hannukah, Kwanzaa, or Festivus, I hope that you’re enjoying it with your loved ones today.
Now that the holiday season has pretty much come and gone, I thought this would be a great time to reveal our holiday card. This was the first year I designed my own card and had it made through Vistaprint (sorry Snapfish). I used to go with the predetermined themes, but Steve and I were wanted to do a Star Wars homage in honor of The Force Awakens coming out in theaters this month. The best solution seemed to be to use my beginner to intermediate Photoshop skills design our own original card. Combine that with a 60% Cyberweek deal, and we were in business.
The inspiration was obviously Star Wars, but also incorporating Steve’s love of Christmas trees and my killer side eye. And Schooner, of course. If you haven’t seen The Empire Strikes Back, the wording is from when Princess Leia tells Han Solo that she loves him right before he gets frozen in carbonite and he looks back at her and replies, “I know.”
The name thing came to me at the end before I was about to hit “print” when I realized we needed to sign the card in some way. What are the odds that are names would fit so well with the original character’s? (Well, I guess Schoonbacca is kind of cheating, but you get the idea.)
This is our sixth Christmas card together, and even though we argue every year about the theme and Steve has a heart attack when he finds out how much I spend on postage, I love that we have a little collection of our holiday history to look back on. Someday I’ll get around to putting them in some sort of memory book in chronological order, but for now they live in my yearly Christmas card folders (that’s right, I save all the ones I receive every year).
So to you and yours: a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
And may the Spruce be with you.
~L
Whoa. How did that happen? I swear it was like a week ago that I was still scraping snow off my car, and now it’s the middle of July. There’s less than half a month until my 30th birthday (sidenote: WTF) and only like six weeks left until the Range Rover fleet begins their annual escape off of the island, like geese heading south for the winter. So I have to shake my head in wonder and say again… how did this happen?
Oh wait, I remember. From mid-April to the last weekend in June, I had plans every single weekend. And since I live on an island thirty miles out to sea, I think all but one involved traveling to some exotic locales. You know, like Vermont.
2015 has been the year of weddings for us. With that, also comes the year of bridal showers, bachelorette parties, bridesmaid dresses and travel. Seriously, if the Steamship Authority had a punch card like they do at frozen yogurt places, I would be able to travel for free probably for the rest of the year. When I heard that #SCOTUS had made gay marriage legal in all fifty states, the very first thing that popped into my head was: Dear God, I cannot go to another wedding.
I’m really not trying to complain. I was so, so happy that I could be a part of all of these special moments for my friends. I feel so lucky to finally have a job where I don’t miss major life events because I can only pick two weekends off in a six-week period. If anything, I’m more just trying to justify my severe hiatus from blogging as of late.
I always thought that the reason I was so inconsistent with my favorite hobby was my irregular schedule. Some days I worked early, some days I didn’t go in until noon, other times crushing the dreams of nine-year old children by telling them that no, Samantha is no longer available was just so emotionally taxing that my brain turned into goo by the end of the day. I always thought that if I worked in a different field, I would come home and write every evening, schedule posts on the weekend, things like that. But in getting the chance to have a life, I discovered that the more time you spend living that life, the less time you spend writing about it. But if you didn’t go out and live it, you’d have nothing to write about anyway, so it’s kind of a chicken/egg situation.
I guess you could say we were definitely “living” this year. We went through a similar time period in 2011, the same year we got married. I remember having a wedding (either as a guest or working) every weekend for six weeks straight, much to the horror of my manager. That was the wave of those of us that were crazy enough… I mean so in love… to get married at age twenty-five. Well now that we’re turning thirty, it’s more a wave of the tidal variety. And frankly, I can’t complain. And I couldn’t say no. You know how there’s some invites you get in the mail and you don’t feel bad about having to RSVP “we’re celebrating from afar!”? All of the people getting married this year just happen to be some of our closest friends in our lives. And again, that just makes you want to be a part of all of it that much more.
So you could say it was quite an eventful year, and it’s only halfway through. I’m still not sure how we made it this far, because amidst all of this, we also have full-time jobs, additional side hustles, and one very high-maintenance pup. But I wouldn’t change any of it (I mean, if I had my way, maybe spread it out a little bit) because to be there for these people during such momentous occasions in their lives – how could anyone be annoyed about that? When we got married almost five years ago, all of these people did the exact same things for us. It’s an honor to have friends like this, people in your life that want you to be there with them when they hit these kinds of milestones.
So thank you. Thank you to all the people that asked us to be a part of their journeys. Thank you to the bosses who allowed us to take time off and the coworkers that covered for us when we weren’t there. Thank you to our family members who dogsat and didn’t get upset (at least, not to our faces) when we had to miss things like a Father’s Day meal. And thank you to the Steamship Authority and Hyline Cruises, for only cancelling one of our boats (which, thank God, was a return trip).
And since I’m so backlogged on photos at this point that there will never be enough time to give any of these events individual posts, here’s a brief recap of the past few months:
First, there was Michelle’s bridal shower in New Hampshire. Michelle and I have been friends since sixth grade when my locker was on top of hers, and she helped me when I couldn’t figure out the combination lock even though I was a real brat about it:
Next, my best college friend Alisa’s bachelorette weekend in Portsmouth, N.H. I’ve known Alisa since I transferred to Plymouth State University (almost ten years ago!), and Steve has actually known her even longer. We were both in the wedding:
This photo brought to you by a selfie stick (P.S. I WANT ONE). The following weekend? Alisa’s shower in Andover, MA.
Which I left and immediately drove to Portsmouth, N.H. once again for… Michelle’s bachelorette party:
The next day, I got in my car and drove to Boston for Bridget + Ted’s engagement photos. The next weekend, we actually stayed on-island for the Nantucket Daffodil Festival, where I had my first hosting gig with the local television station, NCTV.
By some miracle, we were on-island two weekends in a row. But the wedding festivities didn’t stop there, as the following weekend was my boss Marjan’s bridal shower:
After that, things really kicked into high gear. The next weekend, Michelle + Adam got married in Chichester, N.H.:
Thus completing our quadfecta (which may or may not be an official mathematical term) of the same photo me and my core middle school friends (Crystal, Megan and Michelle) that we have taken at each of our weddings:
Luckily, Michelle’s wedding was on a Friday, because the following day, my sister Becky graduated from Southern New Hampshire University with her Master’s degree:
I felt bad, because the week following this was Steve’s 30th birthday, which sort of got overshadowed by everything we had going on. But since he tells me every year that he “just wants to be left alone” for his gift, we had just a few low-key gatherings, both on and off-island, sandwiched in between events (and my second appearance with NCTV). We left on Saturday morning to head to New Hampshire once again for Steve’s brother Anthony’s undergraduate commencement from Saint Anselm’s:
(Which I can only describe as sitting on the face of the sun. Seriously, it was the hottest day I can recall this year and it was May.)
After that, it was onto Alisa + Kevin’s wedding on Memorial Day weekend in Portland, Maine:
(Steve was in the wedding too, but of all the photos I took that weekend, there is not one of both of us together with the bride. Whoops!)
The weekend after, I made another excursion to New Hampshire for my oldest friend Hannah’s bridal shower, whose wedding I’m the maid of honor in this August:
The next weekend, Steve and I were on the road again, headed to Stowe, Vermont for Liz + Tommy’s wedding. Liz and I were roommates in Cambridge before we decided to live with boys – we met as the oldest interns at The Improper Bostonian (we had both already graduated college):
After that, a weekend off! We stayed on island, rested up, and reminded Schooner that we existed and that yes, we still loved him. But then the following weekend… Marjan + Andy got married (on-island, and at the museum that we all work at):
And yes, it was less than a month later but I recycled my bridesmaid dress from Alisa’s wedding. It has pockets – need I say more?
The next weekend was the last event of the “season,” Hannah’s bachelorette party in New York City. I took my first direct JetBlue flight from ACK->JFK, which overall was a good experience until my returning flight got cancelled after I sat in the airport for seven hours. I guess you’re not a true Nantucketer if you haven’t had a plane cancelled due to fog:
And just like that, it was the Fourth of July. I don’t know if you’re as exhausted reading this as I am reliving it, but if you had any questions about how M.I.A. I’ve been, well, there you have it. But you know what? I have the rest of my life to blog. Right now, I’m going to bask in these joyous moments with my friends and family, and worry about things like laundry and packing (oh, did I mention that we’re moving? More on that another time) and vacuuming my car and all the other parts of my life that have been neglected recently some other time.
I have three weddings left this year, two of which I’m photographing/attending, and one that I’m maid of honor in. I’m very excited for all of them, but I can also see the end in sight. In my head, I’m hoping that Steve and I can escape somewhere in the fall, just the two of us, and recoup a little bit. As long as it doesn’t cost any money, amirite? Unless I can pay for it in gently-used bridesmaid dresses.
Until then,
~L
I know I’ve said it before, but… is this winter over yet? While some New Englanders are dreaming of skipping off to a warmer climate, I’m just looking for new ways to keep the chill out. It doesn’t hurt to be stylish about it though, which is why I put together a little inspiration board of some things I think could help me beat the (lack of) heat. I love color, but for some reason I’ve been really into gray lately, perhaps something to do with my place of residence. After all, they don’t call Nantucket the Grey Lady for nothing. So since I’m home today due to yet another snow day (not complaining, just setting the scene), here’s a few things I found that satisfy my current longing for cute and cozy comfort during this never-ending snow-pocalypse.
Striped cashmere throw: As much as I love my quilt made out of middle school t-shirts, someday I would maybe like to upgrade to a more grown-up blanket, at least to display on my couch. I love these striped throws and the thought of them being made of cashmere makes me feel snugglier already. This assortment of colors from Parachute (a bedding company) all look like they would be the perfect neutrals that would match any decor, especially my nautical bedroom.
Pompom hat: I don’t know what it is, but lately I’ve been dying for one of the oversized pompom hats. I don’t even wear hats that often (I mean, for the amount of time I spend on my hair, it just seems futile). Of course it helps that it’s warm, but something about a giant fluff ball on your head that makes it seem like you’re taking this whole “winter” thing in stride.
Long distance mugs: Alright, I know that I don’t drink coffee and these are probably more appropriate for a couple with a further distance between them than New Hampshire and Massachusetts, but I just love this little set of mugs from Etsy. I think they would make the perfect gift for a bridal shower or something, or for me to just consume massive amounts of hot cocoa on my couch for the days when I don’t want to venture downtown.
Knit slippers: I know these are really expensive for something that goes on your feet and is pretty much never seen by another human, but I got my Ugg slippers a few years ago after Steve literally threw my old grungy pair out in the snow (seriously, they had seen better days) and I’ve never looked back. I think these little sweater ones are so cute and I’m serious when I say that your feet will never be as warm as they are in these babies.
V-neck sweater: I don’t know how many oversized gray shirts I have already purchased, but I can never shake the feeling that I need four more. Seriously, I think I have a problem. I just love having something to wear with my leggings that covers my butt, to be quite honest. My favorite weekend outfit as of late is one of these style shirts, Lululemon fitted yoga pants that have never seen the inside of a gym or sweat, riding boots and a fun scarf. Done and done.
To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before: I have quite an extensive “To Read” list on GoodReads right now, but this seems like one of those that you could cuddle up under a blanket and start and finish in a manner of one snow day. I’ve read good reviews, and every blogger I follow seems to be reading it in their book club right now. Maybe I can convince mine to try this one next month, but I’m hoping to get to it before then.
Thick socks: This winter especially I have felt like none of my socks are truly warm enough. I find myself having to wear two pairs more often than not and then I can’t bend my ankles when I drive, so I would love some more overall thick pairs. I also like wearing this socks like this sometimes instead of slippers – gives you a little more mobility and who doesn’t love doing a little slip and slide across the floor ever now and then?
Ribbed cowl scarf: Is it just me, or are infinity scarves like one of the greatest inventions of our time? Okay, fine, I’m sure there’s lots of other more important creations out there, but I can’t think of any of them because I’m still so obsessed with these connected scarf contraptions. I mean, talk about the seconds wasted on tying scarves everyday, yeesh. But seriously, these are super-cute, they come in multiple colors and they’re on sale!
What are you guys doing to keep cozy and cute during this ever ending snow-maggedon? Blanket forts? Fun socks? Just not even getting out of bed anymore? (I’m almost there.) Let me know!
~L
Remember when you were a kid, and a snow day was pretty much the best thing to ever happen to you?
Then you become an adult, and unless there’s a statewide emergency, you have a pretty slim chance of having the day off of work to frolic around in a sea of fluffy white powder. At least for me, working for four and a half years or so of retail barely ever warranted an actual snow day, instead, an ongoing game of “which employees will show up today?” In fact, the one day we did close because of a government-inflicted travel ban, we still had a complaint waiting in our inboxes when we returned the next day claiming that we ruined their daughter’s birthday by being closed, and that they had driven all the way to our store just to find out that they had to turn around and go home empty-handed. Do you know what also might have ruined her birthday? Her entire family dying in a wintery car crash.
When I moved to Nantucket almost two years ago, I never imagined I’d ever have a snow day. The amount of snow needed to make the three mile drive I have to work too dangerous to attempt hardly happens here. In general, we’re about 10 degrees warmer than the rest of America, and we tend to have more rain than snow in the winter. But last year, we had not one but two snow days. There is nothing more liberating as an adult (even when you like your job) than being told you don’t have to go to work on a Tuesday. It’s like all of a sudden, the possibilities are endless! Are you going to sleep in? Get up early and get things done around the house so you have your entire weekend free for fun? Binge watch a whole series that the rest of the world has convinced your life is nothing without? That’s the best part – you can do anything.
Unless your power goes out.
Ah, the dreaded kryptonite of what could be a perfect snow day. You know, when I was younger I actually thought it was kind of exciting to be without power for a night. We would have barbequed food on the grill, read books by candle light (especially American Girl, obv), play a game or something, and within a few hours, we’d be back to our twenty-first century, power-using selves. Then something shifted, and as I got older, the power outages in and around my hometown of Derry, New Hampshire seemed to get much worse, like the time my parents lost power in December 2008 FOR ELEVEN DAYS (which in case you’re wondering, is magical right before Christmas). Weird that even as technology gets better, PSNH’s way of dealing with power gets worse.
I have been told on more than one occasion that Nantucket never loses power. I still don’t entirely know how it works, but from what I gather, our main source of power from the mainland is underwater, meaning that it doesn’t malfunction the way that normal power lines do in storms. So even though I knew yesterday at around 3 P.M. that today was going to be a snow day, I did virtually nothing to prepare for the worst, other than braving Stop & Shop at 5:30 PM to get a loaf of sourdough bread for baked French toast. Yes, that’s right – despite the impending Juno storm, I planned a brunch. Between Steve’s X-Terra and the extremely short distance to my friend’s homes, I never really live in fear of getting around on the island, even in a storm. So when we woke around 6:30 A.M. today and saw nothing on the face of my digital alarm clock, I was surprised but too sleepy to be concerned. I figured it was a temporary problem that would be rectified before our scheduled brunch time.
It’s now 2 P.M., and nothing.
I had many grand ideas for how my snow day would go. After brunch, I would finish my SAG blog (because let’s face it, it’s my dream to have the day off after an awards show to compose my thoughts), catch up on a little DVR that I had been waiting for Steve to get back from his trip off-island to watch with him (because I’m such a good wife), organize under my bathroom sink (leftover weekend project that just didn’t quite happen), and of course, spend an ample amount of time snuggling with my little Schooner-pup under a blanket.
Instead, I have done nothing. And by nothing, I mean stay in bed until I physically had to pee so bad that I thought I had forever damaged my bladder, only to find that due to an electric water pump, we are unable to flush our toilet without power. I mean that I haven’t eaten anything, partially because I really don’t want to have to go to the bathroom and also because Steve is so paranoid about losing money that I’m not allowed to open the fridge. I guess I did accomplish one thing, which is make a dent in an overflowing pile of Entertainment Weekly magazines that have been accumulating on my coffee table for weeks. Oh, I also discovered that my new portable battery charger does NOT come out of the package 100% pre-charged and ready to go. After refreshing the #ACKJuno tweets repeatedly in hopes of hearing any news about what is happening on the rest of the island right now and when our lives… I mean power… would be restored, I am now at a strong 31% iPhone battery charge and therefore, am soon-to-be disconnected from the rest of the world. Literally.
There are so many ways we could have better prepared for today, had we even thought that we might be electricity-free for this long. Besides ample charging, we could have washed all the dishes in the sink (dirty from preparing the French toast at midnight last night), as we now have no clean pots to make soup. We could have filled the tub up with water, instead Steve spend the morning boiling snow on the stove (in the last clean pot, whoops) for us to pour in the toilet (which in case you’re wondering, a small Rubbermaid container filled with snow gets you enough water for about one flush). Most of all, I could have mentally prepared myself to return to the ways of my pioneer relatives (and Kirsten, everyone’s favorite Swedish-braided American Girl doll), instead of entering this weird stage of paranoia that is starting to take over with every bar of energy I lose on one of my devices.
Listen, I get that this is a #firstworldproblem. I know that there are people that live every day in extreme temperatures, without running water or a source of technology to entertain them. But I’m not one of them. I don’t ever plan on trying out for Survivor. I always expected to be the first to die when playing Oregon Trail, and every time I see a Hunger Games film, I debate whether or not I would be taken out in the first ten seconds or the first twenty seconds after they pop out of those tubes in the arena. I’m just not built for stuff like this. Why do you think I don’t ever go hiking?
So instead, I’m snuggled under multiple layers of clothing, blankets, and pups (well, just one) as we wait this one out, while the wind savagely beats trees against our apartment that I now consider to be a little too close for comfort. I’m trying to prepare myself for the loss of daylight we’ll no doubt experience soon, and am wondering how desperate for a connection I’ll have to be to venture outside and charge my phone in the car. Also wondering if eating an entire family size bag of white cheddar popcorn is forgiven when in a state of emergency. I’m going to say yes.
Stay safe, East Coasters.
~L
When you live on an island, your excursions are carefully planned but infrequent. So when I first got the email from Alison and Kate about the Boston Bloggers Home for the Holidays event, I figured there was no way I could make it work, and I filed it away in one of my many email subfolders (because even though it’s been a year and a half, I still can’t bear to delete my beloved Boston Blogger communication). I’ve been suffering from some major blog FOMO since I moved to Nantucket in 2013, and every time I get the notice about a meetup or workshop, I cry a little bit inside knowing that there’s no way I can go.
But the more I thought about, the more I was determined to make it work. I mean, it was a Saturday, so it would be possible to get to the city somehow. Only snafu? My previous commitment to work at the museum until midnight the night before. With fifty fourth-graders. The only solution would be to leave on the 6:30 AM boat on Saturday morning, which would require a 5 AM wakeup. But hey, for the chance to reunite with my Boston Blogger ladies and the potential for other off-island adventures immediately following (Panera, Target… need I say more)? Sign me up.
I’m so glad I went, because I had the best time. With all the craziness I feel I have in my life on a day to day basis, I had been feeling very neglectful of my little blog that I used to spend so much time on. It was invigorating to get back in that mindset and be excited again about the prospect of being inspired to write once again.
When they put the word “holiday” in the title, they were serious. This was a full-on seasonal extravaganza, which I appreciated because it forced me to think about the impending merriment that I have been horribly procrastinating on the last few years (case in point: I bought every single one of Steve’s stocking stuffers on Christmas Eve in Hyannis while I was waiting for him to get off the boat, because I’m like the most thoughtful wife ever). We were lucky to have Wayfair host the Boston Bloggers at their offices in Copley Place, which I arrived at approximately thirty minutes late (but still stopped for a photo, because you know, without it, I was never actually there), which I thought was really good timing for someone that had to take a two hour boat ride and then drive from the Cape.
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| i have arrived. |
I was immediately greeted by an immaculately decorated office full of beautiful furnishings… and no bloggers in sight. Because they were all in the keynote presentation that I had missed half of. Oops. I snuck into a free seat and promptly evaluated my swag:
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| getting my bloggy swag on |
After that, I embarked with group Mistletoe to our first stop, DIY Pennant Banners with members of the Wayfair team, Shelby and Lindsey. The minute they mentioned that this craft was the hit of the Alt Summit, I was like GIVE ME THE BURLAP. They had precut various colors, fabrics and shapes, and we could pick whatever our hearts desired.
In addition, there were strings, ribbons, paints, stencils – everything we needed to make our own masterpiece, perfect for blog holiday décor photos. I decided that mine would say “Merry Merry,” one of my favorite but not universally known holiday messages (it’s from a page in How the Grinch Stole Christmas, where the Whos are having their feast –it’s hanging in the background). Unfortunately I ran out of time and only made it through one “Merry,” but since I was freehanding it with black paint, I decided I would finish it up at home.
Next we moved on to the highly anticipated Tabletop Decorating session with Abby Larson, the creator of Style Me Pretty, aka, the Bible. You may recall I met Abby once at a signing for the Style Me Pretty book (she did too! She either has an amazing memory or is just perpetually nice to stalkers), and this talk did not disappoint.
With the help of a plethora of Wayfair accessories, volunteers designed their own holiday tablescape and the rest of us spectators gave them a thumbs up or thumbs down (we were kind, plus they did a great job). She also provided us with some great tips and tricks for photographing your holiday décor, which if I decorate more than a week ahead of time this year, I intend to put to use.
After that, we were treated to lunch by Kitchensurfing, who made us gourmet grilled cheeses (I went with the bacon + duck confit variety) and soup and I died a little bit.
As we nibbled, Alison held her own “fireside chat” and talked to us about how to balance your life with your holiday blogging schedule. I don’t know if you can tell, but she’s pretty much about to deliver a baby, so the fact that she did all this work and looked cute doing it is a testament of how awesome she is.
Next I was excited to move onto DIY Gift Tags with Kate, as I had seen her little creations on everyone’s Instagrams that day and knew that we were in for a treat. Under her amazing craft tutilage, we constructed our own gift tags from the likes of paint swatches, shower curtain rings, burlap, stencils, etc.
My mom was so excited about this that she immediately creeped our local Walmart paint section and snagged handfuls of holiday-colored paint chips and we continued the craft session for the next two days. As you can see, I was quite efficient and proceeded to make enough tags to give a present to basically everyone I’ve ever met. You’re welcome.
Our last session with our group was SEOAwesome with a few of the Wayfair techies that really knew their you know what (and obviously get extra ten points just for that name). I have been so inconsistent with just regular blogging things, that getting into all of the analytics that go along with having a successful blog is not something that I’ve really delved too deep into yet. I liked this session though, because even though everyone else there seemed like they were light years ahead of me, our presenters did their part to cover the basics without clearly talking down to the more advanced bloggers in the group. I didn’t even take any photos during this session because I was so obsessively taking notes on every single thing they said and I didn’t want to miss anything.
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| or i guess anyone + wine, but still. this is a fun bunch. |
Speaking of wine, our libations for the evening were provided by the new Andegavia Cask Wines, which I was very excited to find out had a major Nantucket connection, meaning that they are available at multiple retailers on the island. Since these fun little packages hold four bottles in one convenient recyclable container, it’s idea for picking up a few (red and white!) for holiday gatherings.
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| i thoroughly enjoyed the sauvignon blanc, but that’s no surprise. |
I spent the rest of the time catching up with some of my favorite bloggers, like Sara of Forever and a Recipe (who got married!) and Emily of Shell Chic’d (who got engaged!). And since we live our lives on the internet, a selfie was necessary.
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| l.l. bean ain’t got nothing on me, Natalie & Susan |
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| alana of the good girl gone blog is very excited about her cheese board. |
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| downside: it made me realize how dingy my other pillows are. yikes. |
Last weekend, I had one of those weekends that you look forward to for days and then you blink, and BAM! It’s over. While any gorgeous weekend on Nantucket is a gift from the weather gods as a way to repay you for the worst winter ever, these few days were especially noteworthy for me as it was my first Nantucket Book Festival. I missed it last year, and so I was really looking forward to get my book nerd on all weekend long.
Nantucket is famous for having a festival of some kind almost every weekend from May until August. Unlike many of the others, most of the events during Book Festival are totally free, which is great, because if there’s anything Nantucket is known for, frugality is not one of them.
But about the festival. Guys, it was amazing. Seriously. As someone who has loved reading for pretty much my entire life and writing almost as long, it was so inspirational to hear from all these different people who are from all different parts of the country and walks of life that are all joined by this common thread. Prior to the festival, I picked up a program to determine which programs would be the most worthy of my time. Turns out, the answer was all.
Since I appreciate a good theme and always try to dress for the occasion, I planned out my #ootd and accessories for the weekend accordingly.
h&m denim jacket / forever 21 top / j.crew skirt / payless heels / ily couture bracelet / kate spade clutch
l to r: kate spade pencil necklace / forever 21 typewriter necklace / scrabble earrings / kate spade book clutch
On Friday night, I started the weekend off with the Opening Kickoff: Reading in my Writing Life with Geoff Dyer, Ben Fountain, & Dani Shapiro at the Unitarian Meeting House. The event began with the Young Writer Award, in which they gave out prizes to the best writing submissions from a contest among local students. I got a bit nostalgic for my early days, entering writing contests and submitting pieces for my school’s literary magazine. It remember what it was like when I discovered that I loved writing and that feeling that I got at a very young age when I was sharing my stories.
All three authors talked about how reading is directly related to their lives as writers. Dani Shapiro gave what I thought was the best advice that evening, which is that you should start every day with good words in your head. She wasn’t implying that you needed to read a chapter of War and Peace before breakfast. It was more about how beneficial it could be to all of us if the first words we saw in the morning weren’t the subject lines of our email or the collective unimportance of A.M. Facebook statuses (which I am often guilty of both of). It’s about setting the tone for your day, and how much more positive your outlook can be if you start it off inspired by something. Immediately, I knew I would be showing up for her session the following day- I couldn’t wait to hear more.
The next day, I woke up bright and early, and while I didn’t start my day off with any inspirational prose, I did step outside my comfort zone with a little 8 A.M. yoga. I know, right? It’s like, who am I anymore?
Since we’re sharing, I’m not going to lie- the main reason I signed up for this session is because it was free and I figured it would probably be the only time I would ever get to work out at the super schmancy Westmoor Club. But as an added bonus, the class was being taught by yoga instructor/author Sara DiVello, who I loved hearing her story about leaving the financial corporate world after thirteen years to pursue her dream to teach yoga. She teaches yoga at a few places in Boston and if you’re in the area, I highly recommend taking a class with her, especially if you’re an inexperienced yogi like myself. I had to skip out slightly early to make it to the next session I wanted to attend, but I made a mental note of her book and the subsequent signing later that day and promised myself I would go back and pick it up.
I hightailed it back into town for Writing the Creative Life, Part II (I missed Part I due to yoga) at the Atheneum, where I got to hear Dani Shapiro and Katrina Kenison share their process about writing, specifically memoirs. I was mostly interested in this because I feel like blogging is almost memoir style writing, and I always debate myself on how much detail I should go into about real people and real scenarios, and they both spoke about dealing with that. The biggest point I took away from it is that relationships with people are always more important than anything you will ever write, but how you want to approach that fine line is ultimately up to you.
Next I attended Emerging Writers: A Conversation with Michael Schulder. There was a whole thing here about stealing books that I didn’t quite understand but was supposed to be a good thing. The best part about this session was being introduced to four really cool writers that all came from completely different genres: Molly Antopol, Cynthia Bond, Tim Horvath, and Anthony Mara. They all shared their many different words of wisdom about the craft, and how you always want your readers to feel like that they time they spent reading your book was worth it. I didn’t pick up any of theirs this round, but as soon as I finish the ones I did purchase, these are next on my list.
By this point, I was so full of inspiration and words but majorly lacking in nourishment, so I headed home to recharge and grab dinner before heading out for the evening’s final events, which grabbed my attention immediately when I saw them on the schedule: Authors in Bars and Book Fest Open Mic. Both are exactly what you think they would be – all the super cool people I had just been listening to during the day, who were now in front of me in line at some of the island’s local bars and restaurants. And they were so nice and approachable, it was almost like being around celebrities except for the were totally appreciative of you fanning all over them. I didn’t take any photos of the actual people that I chatted with (too busy fanning), but just to prove that we were there, here’s my friend Claire at the bar with everyone’s empty glassware.
Well folks, it was another beautiful weekend on Nantucket. I’m not saying that to rub it in, it’s just that sometimes I can’t believe I live here. Don’t get me wrong, it’s still winter (like it snowed again this morning), but this weekend was a great combo of beautiful weather (for March) + a successful work event + fun (and drinks) with friends + excursions. But let’s let the photos speak for themselves.
Friday night Steve & I took it easy, which now I’m thankful for after the excitement the rest of the weekend had in store. Saturday I was super excited because Steve was off (lately he’s been working Saturday mornings), and he promised me a homemade breakfast worthy of MaryAnn’s, and he delivered.
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| there was bacon, people. bacon. |
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| barn, ho. |
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| first trip to the barn = first panoramic photo |
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| smiles |
Now don’t tell Steve, but it was sort of refreshing to be outside. Even though I could barely walk the next day. But I had to get over it, because I had to be at the museum for a program, which was basically like a Nantucket version of Jeopardy.
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| what is… a dead whale? |
All of my coworkers worked super hard on this, so we felt like we had earned a beverage or two… or four in my case (hey, live-Tweeting events can be pretty taxing). Regardless, I discovered one of my new favorite drinks at Dune (the Island Affair) and then pretty much danced my legs off at the Rose & Crown with the five other people that were feeling the music as well. You know how I know I was having like, a really good time? Because there are no pictures of it. I was too busy to Instagram!
After discovering the next morning that we had been hit by the cruel mistress that is Daylight Savings, I forced myself out of bed (and wondered what age you have to be to be considered “too old” for shots of tequila) under the premise that Steve had promised us pre-hangover that he would make brunch for us, which meant I got to have bacon two days in a row.
After that, Steve took us on an excursion to explore some of the beaches we hadn’t seen before in his car, which made me realize that before I moved to Nantucket, I had never driven on a beach before. It was another gorgeous day, so beautiful that the girls and I jumped out of Steve’s X-Terra and began frolicking across the sand.
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| if you don’t look at our outfits, you’d swear it was summer. |
If I zipped my coat all the way up and just channeled as much of the warmth of the sun as I could, I almost felt like I could see summer when I was looking out at the waves. It definitely smelled like it. Despite living on an island, this was the first time I felt like I had smelled the salty air in months. Event the sight of driftwood seemed lovely.
We rounded out the weekend by shoving our faces full of pizza (because that cures most ailments, especially of the hangover variety) and heading back to the museum for a late night screening of… well, I don’t want to tell you and ruin our theme for Daffodil Weekend, but let’s just say that you can call us if there’s something strange in your neighborhood.
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| just another day at the office. |
I hope that all of you had an equally fulfilling weekend, but with less sand in your shoes and a few more glasses of water in between drinks.
~L
- Started the weekend off with a Valentine’s #Pinterestfail attempting this heart bun for work on Friday. Thank you to The Beauty Department for convincing girls like me that they can totally replicate everything they pin. I can’t wait to see how that ombre glitter mani turns out.
- Steve and I agreed not to exchange V-Day gifts, as he reminds me that he buys me things all of the 364 other days of the year and doesn’t need a made up holiday to confirm that he is a good husband. While I agree, it was still exciting to get this “@” necklace from Danielle Stevens Jewelry from my mother-in-law that day in the mail.
- Although I need absolutely nothing in the wardrobe department (and yet, everything), I couldn’t resist the Milly & Grace blow out sale. I had been eying this Kirribilla Lucy dress since the summer, but couldn’t justify the $410 price tag (especially when you already own approximately 100 dresses). I couldn’t say no when I found it on the $40 rack on Saturday in my size. I also picked up a super thick winter skirt for only $10!
- Spent a few hours at the museum on Saturday supervising a documentary film crew. I know, going into work on the weekend usually = bleech, but stuff like this hardly feels like work. Also I ran into Emily who was brave enough to visit the island during a storm for her birthday. Love that the Boston Blogger connection can extend thirty miles out to sea!
- We had a low key Valentine’s on Friday night, and by low key, I mean I was fighting a never-ending cold and fell asleep before Steve even had a chance to make dessert. Fortunately, he agreed to make it for me on Saturday, and boy am I glad I stayed awake. A warm peanut butter chocolate chip cookie + vanilla ice cream + melted Hershey bar + Reese’s Pieces = perfect dessert to be snowed in with.
- Awoke on Sunday morning to the snow that everyone freaked out about. Seemed like when all was said and done, Nantucket only got like five inches (child’s play once you’ve lived in New Hampshire).
- After church, we explored downtown, which by noon was melt city, yet still beautiful. Snow is way easier to deal with when you drive less than three miles to get anywhere.
- With all the snow, you could barely even see what was left of the Broho Elm that was progressively cut down over the past few weeks.
- All the wind on this island sure made for some interesting icicle shapes.
- While Steve recorded his radio show on Sunday, I grabbed my camera and explored some more of snow-covered Nantucket, including some of the historic sites like the Old Gaol, which somehow looked less creepy with a coating of white.
- Once Steve was finished with his show, we continued our snow tour out in ‘Sconset. It was so weird to me to see snow on the beach, despite having grown up in New England my entire life (I don’t usually make a habit of hanging out at the beach in the winter).
- Snowy boots in sand. Again, weird.
- We went over to Sankaty Head Light next, but the wind was so freakin strong that we didn’t last long. I snapped one Instagram + one Vine and then bolted back to the car.
- I can’t stop in ‘Sconset without visiting my favorite location, the Union Chapel. I don’t consider myself religious, but I still always find the sight of this place to be inspiring.
- All of that snow hunting wasn’t enough for you know who, so on Monday (which I had mistakenly thought might be a day of rest) we headed out to the Ram Pasture for a light winter hike. I tried, I swear.
Three years ago today, Steve agreed to hang out with just me for like, ever.
Sometimes I’m still not sure why, but I know one thing – I’m glad he did.
There aren’t enough blog posts in the world to explain how I feel about this guy. Well, there’s a few, but I’ve written some of those already. For reference, check out this post.
They say a picture’s worth a thousand words, so I will let some of my favorite photos of us from that snowy day, exactly three years ago, do the talking.
Get Snappy
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