Yellow + Sunny

More flowers from the photo walk I took yesterday morning. These were just so pretty bathed in sunlight.

I'm pretty sure these are Black Eyed Susans. They're like the nieces and nephews of Sunflowers.

Cosmos

I've always been a fan of cosmos. (The flowers, not the drinks.) My mom always had them in the garden on the edge of our yard, and whenever I see them I think of home. More specifically, I think of summer days spent running around with my friends and warm evenings catching lightning bugs.

This morning I went for a photo walk and I spotted these guys. You know I had to take pictures with memories like that rushing through my head!

How did you spend your summers as a kid?

*I posted some photos from my walk yesterday afternoon over on the ELM blog today, too. 

Birthday Party From Afar

Most of the time, it's easy to forget that I live in a city. Our tiny road has several small apartment complexes and the surrounding streets are filled with similar buildings and a good number of multi-family homes. It's quiet around here, and that's pretty great. But we don't have a yard, or even any grass. Just some weirdly fenced-in wood chips out front, and a parking lot in the back. So in the summer, if I want to spend some time reading in the sun, I have to pack a bag and walk a few blocks to the park. I am joined by others who read and picnic and listen to their iPods on towels and blankets scattered all over the hill. We're all there for the same reason, I presume: to spend some time outdoors and it's closer than the beach.

On Saturday, there was a little birthday party going on at the house right next to the park. There were a bunch of kids running around chasing balloons and playing games. It was an overcast afternoon, so there weren't many people sunbathing and the kids had a lot of space. Birthday parties used to be so awesome with all the fun decorations, games, arts + crafts, and running around like maniacs. 

I only had my Blackberry with me, so this is the best picture I could get from a distance. I polaroid-ized it, which made it a little awesome-er.

Historical Walk In Cambridge

On Wednesday, I went for a walk with some friends. We visited some of the historic landmarks in Cambridge. 

We started at Cambridge Common, at the gate you see above. We also checked out a really old cemetery, The Longfellow House (pictured below), and the Cambridge Historical Society. We made a few other stops and saw some other great looking houses in between, too.

The weather in Cambridge was perfect for our little excursion, and it was nice to be out and walking around as the sun went down. Warm summer evenings are awesome! 

Hope you have a great weekend! :)

Glorious Lilies

It was so perfect outside when I woke up this morning that I grabbed my little camera and set out on a walk around the neighborhood.

These lilies were certainly worth the trip. Just wonderful, no?

*The latest edition of Lost in Thoughts is up on the ELM blog. I'd love it if you stopped by for a little visit!

Vintage 1983

I adore my Vintage 1983 tank top. Sara made it for my birthday a few years ago, and I wear all the time. It's orange, it's personal, and it's from one of my favorite people. What's not to love?

I'm wearing my lazing-about-the-house shorts, because it's pretty warm in my apartment, and these shorts are a necessity for three months of the year. I'm also still rockin' my awesomely pink nails. All in all, it's an outfit suitable for a photo shoot. Which is obviously why I had to have one. Ha!

I also wanted to let you know that I haven't forgotten you, I've just been sick. As I tweeted yesterday, my voice has officially entered the realm of sexy (if sexy=hoarse croaking). It's been like this: cough cough cough, gasp for air, cooooooough, breathe. Today's definitely better than yesterday, and I feel okay, I just don't sound too great. But I'm alive and (mostly) well.

The photo shoot was a fun little experiment; I think you should have one of your own! ☺

New Suit

Recently, my brother has been growing like crazy. He's at least 4 inches taller than I am at this point. He's also got friends who are old enough to drive, which means he can go places sans parents. (Remember that milestone?) Friday night, his friends picked him up to go to a movie, but when they arrived, the theater was closed. They decided to go to Wal-Mart instead (we're from a small town; there's not much for teenagers to do). And Max bought a suit. At Wal-Mart. For $7.00. In the children's section. 

Yes, it's hilarious. I'm so glad he put it on so I could see. Tall guy in a little suit. My brother may have gotten the idea from this little clip, which we were watching the same day he bought the suit.

I put the vest on and it fit me perfectly, so I wore it to dinner on Saturday. Both my mom and my gramma commented that I looked just like Degas' Dancer, so I struck a pose and my mom snapped a photo. 

*Today's Lost in Thoughts draws inspiration from my visit home. 

Independence Day Fireworks 2010

As promised, here are some more photos (in the form of a little video) of the fireworks.

All of the pictures are from the finale, which was awesome.

Jamie's Rabbits

Today you can find me on Jamie's Rabbits. Jamie asked me to write a guest post for her wonderful blog. It's all about photography, including some tips and tricks.

Thanks Jamie, this was so much fun!

Pink Nails

I used to hate the way I looked with my nails painted. But then, in the winter of '08/'09, I discovered navy blue nail polish. I rocked it during the cold months this past winter as well, but when the spring rolled around the nail polish came off.

Until yesterday.

A bottle of pink quick-dry nail polish caught my eye (for some unknown reason it's called Penn Station). I'm surprised by how much I like it. I keep my nails really short, and these deep colors are good for that style. I feel so fancy now. And summery. 

(I didn't match my toes to my fingers; I chose my favorite orange-y color instead.)

Professional Sideburns With Mustache

I gave my brother of really old set of professional sideburns + mustache for his birthday. I couldn't resist buying the costume kit because it looked like it had been in the store for 50 years just waiting to disguise somebody. Yesterday, we busted it out for a photo shoot.

Max got his hair cut on Wednesday, and he thought that with a mustache he and the dog would have the same do.

And I look like a Mexican bandit or something. I had to be serious so the mustache wouldn't fall off. But the sideburns are looking a little too real. Yikes!

Toy Robot

I found this little robot on the hutch in our dining room. I couldn't resist taking it outside for a mini photoshoot, because it's super cute.

Added bonus: it's also a pencil sharpener, so it's both useful and fun! 

*I wrote about my goals on the ELM blog today. 

Store Closing + Watching Fireworks

It's been a whole week since I last posted, because I have been helping my mom. On June 30, she closed her store in downtown North Adams. It has been really hard work. Everything that wasn't sold in the going-out-of-business sale had to be moved. To our dining room and front porch. And from there to a suitable place for either usage or storage. This includes everything from merchandise to shelving units.

The final days in the store were really sad. For 13 years, my mom worked to create beautiful shop. It was unnerving to see it gutted as we hauled garbage bag after garbage bag to the dumpster and box after box to the car. It will take some serious time to sort through everything we brought home, but the past few days we've made major progress. It's been a challenge, both physically and emotionally, but now it's time for a new chapter. I'm looking forward to what comes next, and I think my mom is too.

I'm happy that my jobs are flexible enough to allow me to be here to help. It's been great to spend time with my family, and I've even been able to relax a bit between the organizing and heavy lifting. On Sunday night I went to watch the North Adams fireworks with my dad. The last time I saw them here was 2005, and they are just as awesome as I remember. 1) We pretty much sit right where they shoot them from (ash falls on our heads), so we have a perfect view and full sound effects. 2) North Adams is in a valley, so the sound effects I mentioned are really like 3 times more awesome than you're thinking because the sound bounces off the mountains on all sides. I don't just like to see and hear fireworks, I like to feel them. And in North Adams, we do. I took the above picture as fireworks exploded overhead, illuminating the crowd in red light for just a moment.

I will share pictures of the fireworks soonish. How did you celebrate America's 234th birthday?