I’ve been hoping, wishing, and praying for a vacation this summer and this weekend we made reservations! Although it was too late to book for early August as I had hoped, we’ll be camping in Acadia National Park in late August. Hey, it’s better late than never. My husband and I haven’t had an almost week-long getaway in almost 2-3 years.
I cannot put into words how excited I am.
{image shown belongs to shrike1964 from Flickr}
We had such a lovely weekend in the Berkshires. We camped, we hiked, we explored small towns, we read, and I ran. I participated in the Berkshires Memorial Day Race Weekend and ran in my second 5K race. It was quite an experience and I have to say hands-down the most gorgeous run I have ever been on. I’m still fairly new to running, but it hit me while running alongside a meadow with a full view of a mountain that one of my goals for 2010 was in action: I was running a 5K race. Sometimes you set a goal for yourself, but to reach it and be in the moment, feeling your accomplishment happening was very moving for me. Running has been more than just exercise or a place to burn off calories. Running has taught me patience, motivation, and to never give up, even when things get complicated or frustrating. It’s something I’m constantly trying to remember during all parts of my life.
Camping was wonderful and although we didn’t get to hike as much as we liked, it made us realize how much we need to go away more often (and not every two years!). We definitely felt the importance of getting back to nature, slowing down doing things like cooking a simple meal together, enjoying the peacefulness of the woods and birds, and just getting away from it all. It’s important to take care of yourselves and recharge… something I haven’t done in a while. We’re already planning another camping trip for August in Acadia National Park (a place where I’ve never been but have always wanted to visit)!
What did you get to do on your weekend? Hope it was relaxing and recharging for you!
{for more of my outings and experiences photos, check out my Flickr}
I cannot tell you how excited I am for today. I haven’t been camping in two years, and I do think I haven’t had a night away with my husband in that long as well. We’re going into the Berkshires for a mini vacation surrounded by woods and wildlife. Unfortunately we waited until the last moment to reserve a campsite, so we’ll be staying at one of those family/RV-ish private campgrounds (apparently there’s all ages bingo Saturday night…) because all the national and state park campgrounds were booked solid. I don’t mind as long as we can get a site that’s a bit further away from all the hub-bub. I plan on reading, hiking, sunbathing, spending every minute with my husband and on Sunday I’ll be running a 5K race. To be able to run a 5K was one of my goals for the new year, and this one will actually be my second race so far. I’ve already started my 10K training and hope to run a 10K in the late summer. This race should be interesting as it will be out at Tanglewoods and the location is beautiful. Anywho, back to the camping… here’s a few images that have me very excited for the weekend…
(from unruly things)
(from stephaniecb – little birds)
(from Peonies and Polariods)
I hope you have a lovely weekend, especially those of you celebrating Memorial Day here in the States!
- Colleen
{images shown belong to their respective owners listed above}
Spent some time in the garden this weekend, and all I have is one word for you: lilacs. Oh my god, are they heaven on earth! You can be anywhere in the entire yard (even in the front, but the lilacs are out back) and the wind will carry it’s heavenly scent to you. Why, oh why, can’t lilac season last forever?
I’m thinking it’s right about time to have a spring tea party for all the wonderful women in my life…
{image from my Mom’s winter tea party in February. For more of my images of this tea party, check out my Flickr}
Sunday was perfect: family, good food, lots of tea, a hot fireplace, and plenty of relaxing and gabbing. The birthday tea party I hosted for my Mom went well, with the exception of some very missed and loved family members (who were all sick… and I hope are all on the mend!). I did a little bit of decorating for the party, including making 2 paper garlands for the fireplace mantel (after being so inspired by this garland by Lobster and Swan). Surprisingly, preparing for the party went well and there was no rushing or stressing at all (hopefully my new outlook on parties and holidays is paying off). The soup was delicious, the sandwiches perfect, and the desserts and scones absolutely scrumptious. I think everyone enjoyed themselves and got to relax and catch up with each other. I’m now thinking tea parties should happen at least once a month… or even once a week, for that matter.
{for more of my perfect parties photos, check out my Flickr}
Some images from my walk through our Audubon Sanctuary with my husband over the weekend. Even in the middle of winter, there is still so much to see.
Saturday started out being so-so, stuck on the couch with a sniffly cold and watching endless DVR-ed episodes of Martha and Rick Steves (I bet that combination says a lot about me!) and watching the rain come down all afternoon, but that changed in the late evening. My husband went to bring the trash outside and came back exclaiming, “Snow! SNOW! It’s snowing!” I peeked out the window and sure enough, it was definitely snowing, even still falling when we went to bed. Sunday morning, I woke up early to this gorgeous sight: the first snowfall of the season.
Hope you got to see some snow or do something festive this past weekend that put you in the holiday spirit!
Thanksgiving was held at our house last week and was lots of work, but well worth it. There was so much food (oh my goodness, the leftovers) and lots of good times had by all. I especially love how all of our family is together at Thanksgiving, not just my side but my husband’s family too… and to me, they’re all our family and all so special to us both. There was lots of cooking and baking (I decided at the last minute to stick to my tried-and-true Oatmeal Raisin recipe but I do have to try Smitten Kitchen’s recipe soon) and of course, my favorite part was dessert. My husband and I ordered a delicious turkey from Wholefoods and it was his first time carving the holiday bird (and he did a great job, thanks to a few videos from youtube!).
After Thanksgiving had officially passed this weekend, we decided to get going on Christmas decorations since it’s not that too far away. We spent this past Sunday night relaxing in our pj’s and decorating the tree; or rather, I decorated it while my husband sat and read a book on the couch. However, it was still a sublime evening with Christmas music playing, a fire blazing in the fireplace, homemade soup and hot apple cider for dinner, and our kitties joining us for the relaxing evening too. It’s past all the hustle and bustle of the holidays to these special moments at home with my loved ones that I really enjoy and always pine for.
I hope you made lots of wonderful holiday memories with your family this past week too!
Halloween was very special this year as we attended a friend’s wedding, held at the Worcester Art Museum. The request made by the brides was that we come either in black or period costume (from any period we wished), so we of course could not pass up an opportunity to dress up. After many hours of searching for costume rentals, looking at vintage pieces online, getting ideas from period movies and vintage illustrations, and a whirlwind day visiting 7 thrift stores at once, our costumes began to take shape. I decided to choose a late 19th century or Victorian look, while my husband went for a Colonial approach (although I think the final result looks very Regency).
For my outfit, I ended up purchasing two dresses on Etsy, one black 100% lace dress and another black dress with a fitted top and layered lace skirt. I almost simply purchased a slip for underneath, but instead decided to purchase another dress since it would hopefully fill out the skirt to get the fullness I had hoped for. I have to tell you a funny story about this… thank god in dear heaven I wore that dress underneath because it saved my hide! The lace dress was fairly tattered to begin with (I figured it would go with the Halloween look and was still very lovely), but after the ceremony and getting it repeatedly caught in my heel, I managed to rip it to the point of no return. At the reception my feet were stepping through the lace in front and the dress was dragging far behind me. When I went to the ladies room to see what first aid I could do (with 3 safety pins – ha!), I saw in the mirror that the waist section was ripped apart from the chest area and was literally hanging on by mere threads. In only a matter of time the bottom half of my lace dress would fall to the floor while the top half would stay on. I knew enough was enough and simply gave up, thanking my lucky stars to have the second dress underneath. Can you imagine if I had only wore a slip! And the second dress was just as pretty and I felt very much like “Madame X” in it.
Back to the costume story – to complete my look I purchased white opera gloves, a gorgeous teal feathered fascinator, and a black bird cage veil. I bought the veil material itself so I it would be less expensive and so that I could make it detachable, since I only planned on wearing it for the ceremony. I also was able to wear the same earrings I wore for my own wedding, which was very special since I haven’t been able to wear them in the three years since. It was a nice feeling to bring something with my own happy wedding day memories to the Halloween ceremony of our friends.
For my husband’s outfit, he started with inspiration from Johnny Depp in Sleepy Hollow. We weren’t 100% true to it, but it was a great launching pad and really helped us look carefully for the key pieces of the costume. This definitely helped during our marathon thrift store day (when we decided the online route wasn’t going to work for him as it had for me). We ended up purchasing old tuxedo pants, a women’s vest, a women’s jacket, some cotton fabric for a cravat, and some soccer socks (which honestly were to hardest the find as apparently thigh-high white socks are difficult to get in stores). He luckily got to wear shoes and a white shirt he already owned (funny enough that they’re the same shoes he wears to every wedding we go to!). I did do a fair amount of work to his outfit: pinning back the fronts of the jacket as well as the collar and then taking in the back, shortening and blind hemming the pants and adding decorative buttons, and taking the collar off the vest as well as covering all the metal buttons with fabric. However, all the work was well worth the effort and my husband was honestly more excited than I was to finally wear his outfit. He had been growing a beard and thought of keeping it, but at the last moment we googled images of men in BBC period dramas and realized he had to shave and keep the mutton chops. He also styled his hair in the same 18th Century manner, and we both agreed this really completed the look for him.
We absolutely loved the planning, research, and most of all wearing of our costumes for this Halloween wedding. I have a feeling my husband will definitely be wearing this outfit more often, and my feathered clip and my 2nd dress are definitely wearable again. But what we enjoyed most of all was to be able to attend such a beautiful, loving wedding of friends and we were honored to be asked to attend.