Island Ride

 

Even though I had just ventured home a few weeks earlier, I felt that I needed one more small getaway to tide me over until my next school break. I needed just a little more nature. Luckily, when I arrived back at my parents house, the two had already planned a day trip to Vinalhaven. We boarded the ferry early the next morning with road bikes and backpacks for a short island adventure.

I couldn't believe how many raspberries and blackberries we saw during our ride! Of course, I had to stop and try a few each time we spotted a patch. Before we hopped on our bikes, we stopped for a quick brunch at Vinalhaven's best breakfast spot. The ARC, Vinalhaven's arts and recreations community center that just so happens to be an excellent breakfast and lunch nook, boasts local produce, farm fresh eggs, and a breakfast sandwich on a homemade biscuit that will make you yearn for your childhood Sunday morning.

We just couldn't believe how perfect the weather was. We welcomed the breeze off the Maine coast as we chugged up the island hills and as we soared down the other side.

a fruity afternoon treat

 

Summer isn't summer without sangria. After weeks of discussing the tasty beverage, my girlfriends and I finally decided it was time to concoct our own version of the summertime special. We headed to Trader Joe's for some inexpensive fruit, and grabbed some cheap wine on the way home and set up shop in my tiny kitchen. Unfortunately, we realized when we got home that I didn't have a pitcher, and neither did  Gracie or Haley. With some quick thinking, we grabbed my yellow Le Creuset soup pot instead!

Summertime Sangria:

1 bottle red wine

1 cup raspberry vodka

20 ounces of your favorite sparkling fruit juice (something citrus-y would be best)

1 cup blueberries

4 cups sliced strawberries

3 cups thinly sliced watermelon

3 cups chopped mango

Mix alcohol, juice, and fruit into a pitcher (or soup pot). Serve in chilled glass with plenty of ice. Add bendy straw and slurp for summery effect.

It was the perfect way to welcome the last month of summer before we all head back to the grind of the school year. Yummy! Sluuuuuurp.

a little trip home

The city during the summer becomes a muggy, mushy, and simply uninviting sauna of full to the brim with tacky tourists and frustrated locals. I needed to get out. The hottest week the city has seen in over 50 years happily coinscided with my weekend off. I jumped at the chance to hop on the Downeaster, and visit my parents in Maine. Upon my arrival, lunch time, a craving for seaside dining and fried fish beckoned us to Shaw's Wharf, in New Harbor. I got my childhood classic; fried haddock dinner. With every buttery bite, nostalgia for my hometown grew. 

My travel outfit is a mix of borrowed (thanks, Gracie!) and the sale rack at Urban Outfitters. Perhaps not the smartest choice for swabbing the deck... My mom insisted that I take a photo in the lobster head, despite the roll of my eyes. She reminisced about my first trip to the wharf. Apparently, my infant self was toted around all day in a baby backpack. Those were the days... 

 

When we arrived at my parents place, the coastal weather cooled my hurried Boston thoughts and I spent the afternoon relaxing on my screen porch drinking ice tea and catching up with Sage, my best childhood friend. My mom's garden's looked stunning and I ran around the backyard (11 acres!) and snapped some shots. She had so much beautiful and fragrant lavender! Of course I'm partial to those photos...

Hello, again!

What a whirl wind life has been the past couple of months!

First of all, apologies that I haven't updated in quite sometime. The end of semester was absolutely insane, and all of my time and energy went into acing my finals and singing well on my jury (both of which went very well!). Summer is in full swing, and I'm finally getting into some sort of a rhythm with working full time and spending as much time outside as possible. I'M BACK!

Here's a little taste of what summer has been like for me... Regular posts have returned.

And besides, who wants to be in front of a computer when summer weather beckons?

these cupcakes are the irish car bomb

I am always in the mood for a cupcake. The other week I was searching for a cupcake recipe with some new flavors and a chance for me to attempt creating a pastry more with slightly more complicated steps. After browsing a few food blogs, I turned to Smitten Kitchen, one of my new favorites, for some inspiration. Even though St. Patty's had passed, I decided to try my hand this delectable Irish Car Bomb cupcake. Obviously, several types alcohol (Guinness, Irish whiskey, and Bailey's Irish Cream) gave these little guys their kick-ass flavor! 

I had never baked with alcohol before. As I was simmering the cup of Guinness with a glorious amount of butter, the mixture was not combining. The oil from the butter and beer looked like a sad mess. No matter how many times I whisked the liquid it looked disgusting. I was about to throw up my flour clad hands, throw off my apron, and pout on the kitchen floor. I'm happy to report that I pulled myself together and decided to add in the flour mixture anyways and hope that all the ingredients combined in harmony. They did. All was right in the world. Your beer will not ruin the cakes. Attempt the recipe here!

Though aside from the near Guinness catastrophe, the problem with making cupcakes in my apartment is that Erin and I can only eat so many! Suddenly, after a day of gazing at their lovely piped buttercream and wistfully thinking of the ganache filled centers, I realized I still had 20 cupcakes sitting in my fridge. They needed to GTFO of the apartment before us two college students started using them as meal substitutes. Mmmmm, buttercream...

PS- And why haven't I posted on my bike?! I keep forgetting to take my camera with me when I unlock it from my basement below. I need a sunny day (Friday, I'm hoping!) and the little Fuji will get it's very own shoot! It's a beaut.

sans color

It is finally spring! I can wear little flats and not die from the frigid bitter cold! Yippie! Sadly, the start of warm (OK, above 40 degree temps) usually signifies the beginning of baseball season and one crowded Fenway area. Needless to say, this past weekend (the opener) was a crazy time to be running around my neighborhood, but what the hell. It was gorgeous! The photos this week are not the best stylistically. The sun kept dipping behind the clouds, making the light impossible to maintain! UGH.

This little vintage jacket is one of my favorite new pieces. I bought it at one of my most treasured vintage clothing stores in Jamaica Plain, 40 South Street, last fall when my mother was visiting. It is an awkward piece to wear sometimes, I fear. The structure and line of the jacket usually require a "three piece outfit" to be broken up but a few accessories or else I tend to look too androgenous and less like my girly self. The cords are from J Crew, the Jeffery Campbell flats are from Goodwill (!!) and the top is most likely from UO.

Also, I bought a beautiful new bike today. I'm super excited about it and will post soon! Have a wonderful week!

trinkets

The looming, disconcerting, and simply uninviting Boston weather kept me indoors this afternoon. After a short jaunt to Jamaica Plain to my favorite kitchen store Kitchen Witch with my darling friend Leia, I settled back into my apartment to try out my new stock pot with a new recipe. While waiting for my load of laundry to tumble-dry and my chicken stock to simmer, I grabbed my Nikon and snapped some some photos of the collection of dearly loved trinkets that cluster around my apartment. 

My mother is Swedish and was sure to send me off to school with little reminders of my heritage; Tomtes (Swedish elves) and a Carl Larsson tin! Aren't they precious? Also before moving back to Boston for the school year, I had this urge to make a boatload of paper flowers to decorate my room. You know, those ones you made in 3rd grade for May day, or whatever. I ended up buying an obscene amount of colored tissue paper by mistake...Geez.

What are some of your favorite treasures? I love my collection of vintage saucers. I have them in so many colors! A post on those is soon to come... Have a fabulous week!