Shopping for my imaginary beach house at Pallian & Co. in Wells, Maine.
Category: Places to Love
bits of inspiration – #35.
Every year I look forward to these beautiful purple sensation alliums in Copley Square. I walk by this spot every morning and I’ve been watching the buds over the past week or so just waiting for them to burst. As of this week they’re finally in bloom!
bits of inspiration – #32.
When the most flawless spring day falls on a Saturday when you have zero plans, this is the way to spend it. Clearly a lot of other people felt the same way.
SoWa open market.
Couldn’t let a little rain stop me from coming out to the first SoWa Open Market of the year. Per usual, lots of incredible art, jewelry, crafts, furniture and food. Snapped a few photos as I walked around the market. I’m resolving to make this a regular occurrence this year.
Strawberry shortcake mini cupcake, courtesy of Whipped Urban Cupcake Co. – amazing.
The vintage section of the market was probably my favorite part. No purchases today but I will for sure be coming back.
Had to bring home some goodies. These Corn & Co popcorn flavors were delicious.
hiking in arches national park.
I think the American West really attracts me because it’s romantic. The desert, the empty space, the drama.
-Ang Lee
Last week I went on a mini-vacation to Utah and had the opportunity to visit Arches National Park in Moab. I’d never been to Arches or any of the other parks in Southern Utah and was really excited to spend a couple days hiking and taking in the incredible scenery. The pictures below really do not do justice to the beauty of this place so if you have the chance to visit I highly recommend it. Enjoy!
long weekend in north conway.
“I prefer winter and Fall, when you feel the bone structure of the landscape–the loneliness of it, the dead feeling of winter. Something waits beneath it, the whole story doesn’t show. ”
–Andrew Wyeth
Over the long weekend my family celebrated my mom’s 60th birthday in North Conway, New Hampshire. Growing up, my mom’s family used to rent houses in New Hampshire and Vermont for ski getaways at least once every winter. As we’ve all grown up and kids have become adults, this tradition became a lot more difficult to keep up and we probably haven’t all been away together in about 15 years. I took on the planning of this weekend and I was so happy that everyone was on board. I had heard a lot of good things about North Conway and the town did not disappoint. The town’s center has a lot of little shops and restaurants that I wish we could have had more time to spend exploring.
One of my favorite parts of the weekend was snowshoeing for the first time at Peaked Mountain. It was snowing the whole time we hiked and really looked like a winter wonderland. On Sunday I went skiing at Cranmore Mountain but the conditions were pretty icy since there hasn’t been a ton of snow this winter. Luckily there’s always the lodge! Here are some photos I took throughout the weekend. Enjoy!
Here are a couple photos of the house we rented. This home was perfectly situated between the mountain and the town. Super cozy with two fireplaces. It was a great place to stay with a large group.
This was the house next door but I had to get a picture because of loved its retro chalet vibe.
Start of the hike
Here was Jared’s favorite of North Conway’s shops
Icy day on the mountain
But the view was still beautiful.
SoWa holiday market.
On Sunday I visited the SoWa Holiday Market for the first time. Although I’d heard good things I arrived with pretty low expectations. I’ve been to other holiday craft markets and was envisioning a collection of kind of chotchkie ornaments and snow globes. I have to say that I was SO pleasantly surprised by the quality of really everything at this market. I was actually overwhelmed by how many things I loved and wanted. I kept myself in check and only made two purchases but the damage could have been much worse. Here are just a sampling of the photos I took.
and then the food…
My two purchased items:
a screenprint on vintage newspaper by Nate Murrell
and some gourmet hot chocolate by Yummy Mummy Brownies.
south end flower boxes.
My mom is really good at gardening. Just about every time I visit my parents (which is really often) she has a new plant or two and they’re always thriving. It seems though, that a “green thumb” is not a genetic trait since I genuinely cannot keep a plant alive. I’ve made a habit of keeping cut flowers in my apartment because I really do love the energy they add to a space. Even though I no longer try to keep my own live flowers in my home, I am fortunate to live in a neighborhood full of beautiful urban gardens, maintained by those people who don’t kill everything they plant. Because we’re in the city, front lawns are few and far between but flower boxes are really really prevalent.
Over the past weekend I took advantage of what may have been one of the last really mild days and walked around my neighborhood documenting the flower boxes that I saw and liked. I am so envious of these people who are able to enjoy these beautiful little mini-gardens adorning their homes. To numb the pain I also stopped for snacks.
obligatory foliage pic to start the afternoon.
now on to the flower boxes…
the flowers pictured below belong to Mike & Patty’s in the Bay Village. I stopped here for a sandwhich and you should too because it was amazing! pro tip: call ahead to order.
walking is exhausting so I also stopped here for a coffee and a macaron. both were great.
great island – wellfleet, ma.
“The crickets felt it was their duty to warn everybody that summertime cannot last for ever. Even on the most beautiful days in the whole year—the days when summer is changing into autumn—the crickets spread the rumor of sadness and change.”
– E.B. White, Charlotte’s Web
I could make an entire blog devoted to how much I love the outer cape. Throughout most of my childhood my family would rent a house for two weeks of the summer in Eastham or Wellfleet. Now my parents own their own home in Eastham and if I could, I would spend every moment of every summer there. I spent labor day weekend determined to soak up the last essence of summer while it’s still here. On Labor Day – the unofficial last day of summer, Jared and I went to Great Island in Wellfleet. Being an island, the beach is more secluded (and much less crowded) than other Cape beaches and involves a short hike to get there. The site was formerly a whaling hub, used by the Punonakanits, and later by Pilgrims for near-shore whaling. Great Island is now protected by the National Seashore, as is much of the coast in the mid to outer cape.
It was truly a perfect day and a bittersweet goodbye to a summer of wonderful adventures. Apologies for a couple slightly blurry photos. I am by no means a photographer but had to capture this day.
stairs from the woods to the path along the marsh
ultimate real estate fantasy
this past winter’s storms pushed so much sand up onto the shore that this sign was almost completely covered
I come across little driftwood structures like this one on cape cod beaches all the time. I have never actually witnessed anyone building one but even in the winter you’ll see these while walking the beach.
“Summer afternoon—summer afternoon; to me those have always been the two most beautiful words in the English language.”
– Henry James
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