best of summer : : one

You can feel it right? The ripening of cucumbers on the vine, the misty mornings in the mountains, the thunderous afternoon rainstorms, and the creeping heat that prickles the back of your neck. Summer.

Whether it is summer in the city, at the shore, or in the mountains, something magical about these long days. Unfortunately, this is the first summer in nearly 6 years where I have been cooped up inside--now in a windowless office, blah. So many of my graduate summers were spent sitting at a sidewalk cafe making sense of yet another journal article or frantically racing to the next dissertation interview. One summer was trolling through the cool library stacks drinking in the smell of aging books while figuring out how I would write my own. In Philadelphia, the summers seemed to last into November--at least the weather did. Drives to the beach in October! Shells, sand, beach smells in your pores for days...

So this summer might not be so grand, but it has been lovely. What I trade in not being able to order my day by the sun and stars, I've gained in appreciating the porch life, the long weekend, and the PAID vacation. I cannot tell you how awesome it was to be sitting drinking tea in London and making money while I was at it. I guess that is what the degree is for after all...

In today's best of summer post, I'm showing you two pics from the outdoor show I went to last night with friends--KT Tunstall at the Empire State Plaza. The whole day was a food festival with flavors from around the world and right in our backyard while the evening was live bands and the headliner closing it out.


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Perfect weather for it, perfect big sky moments. Great conversation. Walking home in a sort of glorious daze that this is your life, the life worth living... The best of summer.