Making Maple Syrup

We are back in Vermont after spending a fun weekend with family in New York. We stayed with Owen's parents, who make a ton of maple syrup every year that they give out as (very welcome) gifts. Its the first time I've gotten a chance to see how they do it, and it was so fun to see the process! My mom, along with Owen's sister and family, came over for the afternoon as well. Even though it was pretty chilly, it was toasty by the fire, and everyone had a great time hanging out watching the sap boil, drinking beer and roasting hot dogs. Now that I am back in snowy Vermont and looking at these photos I have spring fever! Hope your weekend was just as fun.

boiling sap

keeping the fire burning

holding a nice warm Hannah : )

frozen sap dripping out of the tree

happy with grammy!

my mom, home from California for a bit : ) miss ya mom!

swinging

cheesin

adding more sap

sap buckets // climbing on her pop

enjoying the fire

happy to be back in the nice warm house! (and eating her puffs)

a tired dog // finishing the syrup on the wood stove 

clean jars ready for maple syrup

Thanksgiving Part Two

And very late, here are the second round of Thanksgiving photos, from our time with the Perks' side of the family in Plymouth. Fair warning, if you don't like adorable pictures of adorable babies, you may want to skip this post. We are a little camera happy with our niece Hannah : ) Lots of games, good food and a night listening to guitar music and singing by the fireplace. Cozy!

Weekend Recap : Thanksgiving Part One

Part one of our Thanksgiving weekend pictures : ) We spent Thanksgiving day with my side of the family this year, and it was such a fun time. We played croquet, watched the parade, drank cranberry margaritas, and cooked up a storm. All in all a fun holiday spent at home. Hope yours was the same! Part two coming tomorrow ; )

Weekend Recap : Halloween and Puppies

We had such a great holiday weekend. Owen's sister and her fiance visited, and my sister, her fiance and some other friends came over for a Halloween party Saturday. We were "winter princesses" after a failed attempt at wearing our wetsuits to be scuba divers. Let me just say, wetsuits are not flattering on land, and very hot. We sat on the porch with "Thriller" and "Monster Mash" on replay, drinking sangria and handing out candy to so many cute trick-or-treaters. My favorite costumes have to go to a little girl in a big hat and frilly dress, dressed as a "fancy lady", and another little girl who constructed her own (opening) refrigerator costume out of a cardboard box. She had little hand drawn foods on the inside, which included a bottle of red wine (hah).

Other than that, we took a few walks down to the (very chilly) lake, enjoyed some movie time at home on the couch, made some Halloween candy and then puppy-sat our friend's dog Monkey on Monday. It was hard not to steal her. Hope everyone had a great weekend as well!

Weekend Recap : All Things Fall

A few photos from my weekend. I worked Friday and Sunday, but fit in a lot of fall activities in between. I visited Shelburne Farms twice with both my sister and Owen, went apple picking, attempted making a "fire cider tonic" with apple cider vinegar and failed (next time less garlic!), sampled a flight of beers at a brewery with some good girl talk and went thrifting (obviously). Hope your weekends were great : )

Weekend Recap : Labor Day Weekend

A few photos from Labor Day weekend, which was spent split between hanging out at my parents boat, going to the Champlain Valley Fair, setting up my new photo studio kit (yay!) and waitressing. Hope yours was just as fun : )

Weekend Recap : Girls' Day

A little late weekend recap from this Saturday. My sister Kelly and I had a "girls' day", and it was so wonderful. She is getting married next summer, so we did some wedding dress shopping in the morning at a local shop. She looked amazing in so many of the dresses that it was seriously hard to pick. There was one contender, however, that was stunning and looks like it might be "the one". It made me want to get married again just so I could pick another dress! (Justttt kidding, that was enough work the first time hah) Afterwards we walked around the Burlington Farmer's Market and got brunch at Magnolias, a favorite restaurant of mine. I got the lemon ricotta pancakes and she got the lime Belgian waffles, and we both got grapefruit juice mimosas. SO. GOOD. It was great to have a nice morning off together as we've both been so busy with work that we haven't been able to see each other very much lately. Happy hump day everyone, and plan a girls' day for yourself soon, its good for the soul!

P.S. She vetoed the dress below, otherwise I wouldn't ruin the surprise ; )

A Farm Wedding

A few weeks ago my family and I went to my uncle's wedding in Walton, New York. My mom grew up here on a dairy farm, and the reception was held in a field on top of a hill overlooking the farm and the expansive valley views around it. It really was beautiful, even though it downpoured on us the first ten minutes (check out the dark, ominous ski picture below). Luckily it cleared up quickly and everyone had a great time drinking beer, playing games and eating delicious smoked chicken. The ceremony was held in a gazebo in a park beforehand, and the wedding party showed up on a hay wagon on the back of a tractor. They had camouflage bridesmaid dresses and the guys all wore camo hats and their work boots. So awesome! All in all it was a fun day catching up with family we don't get to see very much and celebrating their marriage.

Long Beach Island : Part 2

Part 2 of the vacation photos. Makes me want to go back!

Long Beach Island : Part 1

Apologies for my absence this past week, I meant to update while on vacation but I was just too darn busy vacationing to get on my computer. We had a great time at our annual get together with Owen's extended family at LBI in New Jersey this past week. This year included lots of Kan Jam, cornhole, reading on the beach, holding baby Hannah, drinking Coronas, fishing, trying out surfing, reading Kindles, building large dragons in the sand, playing cards, eating fresh crabs and clams at happy hour, and long swims in the ocean. Part 2 will be coming tomorrow if you're interested, so you're not overwhelmed with photos (hah). Hope you all had a great week!

Summer Cottage Inspiration

Kayaking around this weekend and last, I had a ton of fun peeking in at the camps and cottages nestled in along the shores of Lake Champlain. I grew up going to a family summer camp on the lake with all my cousins, aunts, uncles and grandparents every summer for a week or two, and when I see a cozy, comfortable looking lake house it reminds me of the great times we would have all together. Playing cards, water-skiing, making s'mores by the campfire on the beach; time just seemed to slow down and everything seemed a little more special. I got a little caught up on the internet dreaming up what my future lake cottage might look like, so I'm sharing some of my inspiration with you guys. These three places have some great details to them that would look great in any summer place, with lots of vintage additions (duh). And apparently I have a thing for blue. Enjoy!

1. A relaxed bungalow in Portland, Oregon

2. A Swedish "Kolonistuga"

3. An elegant cottage in Muskoka

Weekend Recap : July 4th, Kayaking & Waitressing

This weekend was spent working a lot at the restaurant (gosh darn service industry schedule), but in between shifts we had some fun times. Friday night we met friends out for drinks after work to celebrate July 4th (Burlington does their fireworks on the 3rd every year). It was nice to be out downtown after a lot of nights at home with Netflix on the couch lately. Saturday afternoon I read my book and took a long nap with the windows open and a light breeze coming in. It was glorious, and followed by a busy night at work so was well needed. And Sunday morning my mom and I struck gold at an awesome estate sale, where among other items I found a wedding gown in pristine condition from 1939. Vintage heaven. That afternoon was spent floating in tubes with the fam and kayaking before heading into another shift at the restaurant. And today folks, I am tired. But feeling good. Lots of cleaning and mending are on the schedule in preparation for a ton of new listings this week. Hope everyone had a great holiday weekend!

This and That : Life Lately

Babysitting my niece Hannah, dressed in red, white and blue to cheer on the US women's soccer team

New porch plants : mint, basil, succulents and some large purple plant I got on clearance at Lowe's last year hah