Mona!

we went to the city last night to see Mona which was a really great indie movie :)








very tired now.

Oh, Lake George..Summer Adventures

the village of lake george from the lake


we had great weather :)


day trip to Howe Caverns

View from the deck

white wine sangria...delicious

sunset from the lake


tubing.


wonderful view from the lake

pre-fireworks sky

shepard beach in lake george

sunset

beautiful moon


fireworks!

fishing

great food

more caverns



fires!

more great views!

duckies!

more fire!

our independence is wonderful

ah independence day..

for july 3rd, we hung out in sono at angies house, sipped wine and watched the fireworks. it was really great being outside. angie's landlord has an amazing garden that just makes you feel like you're in another country...completely removed from norwalk.

note to self: fireworks are really hard to take pictures of from a distance...

creative deliciousness in the kitchen

today we had a marathon-barbeque celebrating the 5th of july!!!

well...not really...but it was celebrating the weekend, and we were in wonderful company filled with LOTS of laughs, singing, silly-ness, and just a ton of fun.

we had enough food for probably three times the amount of people that came, but it was all enjoyed VERY much.

the food was snacks, guac, beer, chicken, michelle's fluff.....everything you can imagine...but some of the great crowd pleasers were simple, adorable, and DELICIOUS

joe's wonderful fruit salad. summer really can't be beat for quality of fruit, and this was showcasing all of the delicious, ripe fruits that are available now..it was really amazing.

good ol' guac. avocados, tomato, onion, garlic and lime juice...so simple, but SO delicious :)

michelle found this recipe idea online, and it definitely eye candy. she made fruit-ladybugs which came out adorably..and seemed to be a really fun project to do with kids...taste buds were loving them :)

The american flag cake...the no-bake secret. yummy yummy.

what a nice surprise!

kristian and i were making my american flag cake today, and cutting up the strawberries...and look at what i found:

how wonderful is that????

...i think that's pretty wonderful.

favorite you tube video ever.

my favorite you tube video ever.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=V5BxymuiAxQ&feature=PlayList&p=6A28B3B96E790BDD&index=14

an ode to george

11 days.
tomorrow it will be 10 days.


i will be taking my yearly journey to one of the most relaxing places in the world for me (so far). granted, i will take a tropical beach and a pina colada any day.


this journey is to one of the most simplistic vacations there can be.
Nancy has been extremely generous enough to let me take this trip up to her cabin for the past 5 years. When you're up there, you have the bare essentials and it's fabulous.

This year is also special because it means that i am done with summer courses (and the headaches, ulcers, an panic attacks they bring)

i can't wait.

of course I will be documenting the 'simple pleasures' up in the cabin, although since it is such a simple life up there, they will have to be posted when i return.

a short search for the simple things...

To start my search for the simple things...I took a look at my own environment first.
Two things came to mind.
The first is organization. while it seems the opposite of simple, and sometimes finding organization is extremely confusing, stressful, and complicated. However, when it is found, it can be one of the most simplified pleasures, especially in the home. I took the afternoon to go through my overwhelming t-shirt, tank top and comfy-pants drawers to purge all of the absolute *crap*that I've been collecting for years.

the result: a breath a fresh air.

Now while I probably seem like a nut-job to everyone in the world for finding a sense of nirvana after organizing my clothes (that should have already been organized in the first place), it made me proud and definitely gave me an amazing sense of clarity.

The second thing that gives me absolute joy in life is a basic, simple, vanilla iced coffee from Starbucks. MAN. Nothing can give me such a surge of relaxation than a fresh, iced cold cup of goodness. On the other side of the spectrum, there are few things that are as sad as the very last sip of vanilla caffeinated goodness.

Now yes, when I go to Starbucks myself and order my frosty beverage myself, its great. BUT, what an ecstatic feeling can come from someone loving you enough to bring a surprise delivery of the goodness-in-a-cup :)

the beginning

while this is not really the beginning of my love for the simplified, it is the first time i've decided to actually document it. i really do not know when the first time was that i received such a surge of giddy-ness from these 'simple' things. however i know that during the complicated and stressful times in life, it is much more than a cliche to 'remember the simple things in life'.