the journey to nu hempstar: part c

 

then we went out! on the town! specifically, a beach town. chrissy took us to a trashy beach bar but made the mistake of walking me past the arcade on our way in. as soon as i saw those neon lights i was itching to get my skeeball on. we stuck around for one drink and got hit on by some creepy dudes before we decided to bounce and hit up the arcade. score one for caitlin.

we all got our skee ball on and set our sights on a prize - the harmonica. i went back to inform the posse that we were still short fifty tickets and some young man in a suit (what?) came up and gave me all his tickets. it was just like an episode of touched by an angel. i almost wept on the spot. we got our harmonica and beth said it sucked because it only played three notes and you couldn't breathe in the make a sound but she is a hater and i recognized the magic of the harmonica that was made possible by the kindness of strangers.

then we got photobooth pictures!

then we went to a bar that looked like somewhere freddy prinze jr. frequented in 1999 - low ceilings, all white, with blue ocean-y lights everywhere. their clinetele was all over 40 divorcees but they had a swinging band and we got smoking patron shots. bliss bliss bliss.

the next morning was full of brunch and good byes, followed by another crazy long car ride. but it was a beautiful beautiful weekend in the most summery fantasyland of all time, the ever lovely, new hampshire.

the journey to knew hamper: part dos

 

DEAR SWEET GRAVY BEANS. there are so many pictures from this one weekend! looks like someone can't be trusted with an i-phone, ammiright?!

after the beach, we all took turns taking showers (one bathroom, ten buddies, tons of prep time) and getting ready for dinner and sitting around in christine's gorgeous backyard. she lives on a tiny back road and has a total backyard fantasy working behind her already adorable home. there's a hammock, a barn, a garden, a fort, a firepit - the works. seriously ideal. i was cruising around in bathing suit bottoms and a t-shirt feeling like a billion bucks. if heaven is in new england, i'm pretty sure it's at christine's house.

after we were all ready, we put on red lipstick. then we were really all ready.

drove to portsmouth and had dinner at the friendly toast. oh man. serious food coma. they pushed two tables together and we all sat around like a giant family dinner. highlight: christine got pbr in a bottle! crazy pants!

PART THREE IS ON THE WAYYYY! HOLD ONTO YOUR HORSES!

the journey to new hamster: part one

 

we went to new hampshire ya'll.

former roommate and dear friend, chris fish, was living there for the summer with her parents in the most adorable home surrounded my all of gods green earth. the EIGHT HOUR DRIVE (capitalized, because it should have been six hours, but connecticut hates us) was full of mix cds, frustration over the people crossword puzzle, cheesey party mix, and delirious conversations. but upon arrival we were greeted by the rest of our posse and fireworks and solo cups full of rum and ginger beer.

all ten of us slept in the house like some sweet ass camp. the next day we ate salty bagels and went to a class england beach with some wes anderson-y name like 'little plum island' or something. the sand was chunky and the water was cold and somehow we all magically had black bathing suits on (though veronica was quick to point out that hers is actually navy - typical new england shit). this baby fell asleep on the beach as expected and got sunburn all up on my lower back, also as expected.

PART TWO ON IT'S WAYYYYY.

hitting the trails

 

i remember not liking camping that much when i was younger. or at least being neutral about it. not really pumped to go, but not totally distraught at the idea. but many things, like dogs and dishwashers, have started to appeal to me as i age and finally make sense. i get why my mom was so jazzed about sleeping outside.

i went camping to rickett's glenn a few weeks ago with some friends. fear of rain and thunder (and more specifically, rain and thunder causing trees to fall onto our tent) caused us to skip out on our first night but we woke up before the crack of dawn saturday morning and drove up in the mini-van. judging by the way we packed into that van, you would think we were moving out west with all our worldly possessions ala oregon trail. in which case my mini van would be a Conestoga wagon. the van was PACKED and we squashed our friend matt in the very back - when i looked in the rear view mirror all i could see was his cowboy hat.

we spent the weekend hiking the trails, splashing in falls, being surprised by how cold it was (pro: no sweating! con: no swimming.), eating food, napping like sardines packed into one tent, making pancakes over the fire, trying to start fires, finding good fire poking sticks, talking about fire, throwing cheese-its in the water (which i'm sure no park ranger would advise) to see if they float, racing our cheese-its down the river, and just generally reveling in the freshness of the air/greenness of the trees/mightiness of the falls. summer in the city is wonderful, but there's something amazing and perfect about being in nature. i think it's the trees.

slim pickin'

 

  there is nothing more summery and perfect than picking fruit. my grandparents used to have a blueberry bush in their backyard and after spending an afternoon swimming in their pool or picnicking under the willow tree in their side yard, my grandma might give me a little green container to take to the blueberry bush and fill up.

i haven't picked any fruit since then and a few weeks ago my friend jonah suggested going to pick strawberries. my roommates beth and keiran joined and we trekked half an hour outside of the city to linvilla farms. with visions of sweet summer berry picking, we all dressed completely inappropriately for the weather. it ended up being super chilly - so much so that keiran and beth grabbed some makeshift winter wear from my car to warm up (keiran actually has a rug around her shoulders.) we picked strawberries and cherries, ate probably twice as many as we actually picked, and made faces at the thousands of babies who were also there picking berries. seriously. berry picking is prime baby watching turf.

when we got back we made strawberry salads and a strawberry crumble and strawberry pancakes and then bagged up the rest and froze 'em. i'm hoping to make some strawberry balsamic jam later today - seems like a worthy use.