then comes marriage: vermont!

vermont was a ton of fun! particularly because i got to spend lots of time with my buddies gillian, dan, christine and josh! look at how awesome they are...

and look at how beautiful jenny was (i like to think this image has a certain 'photo journalistic' quality to it)!

and this one has a certain blurry quality to it! but look at how cute they are! in my opinion, the couple that karaokes together (and high fives to their success) stays together! YAY brian and jenny!

look at what we found in the burlington airport: gillian's 'sharp objects,' the new paperback edition, front and center at hudson news!!

first comes love: virginia!

last week i made my bi-annual pilgrimage to aylett, virginia to visit my oldest, bestest friend in the world, sarah pope. i've known sarah since we were 8 and she is one of the smartest, kindest and most beautiful people i have ever known (our 31 year friendship is a testament to that). for the first time ever, i spent a couple of days with her at where she heads the menokinmenokin foundation. menokin is an estate that was once owned by francis lightfoot lee, a signer of the declaration of independence. it is now a historical landmark. the property was last owned in the 70's by a family of eccentrics who let the estate fall apart. during a storm a tree fell through the foundation and rendered it unlivable. sarah and the menokin foundation are preserving the estate and establishing it as grounds where architect students can come to study how homes of that century were built. it is an unbelievable destination that you should seek out if you are ever in the area (plus they sponsor an annual, kick-ass, bluegrass festival on the property)!

the areas outside of richmond (aylett, tappahannock, warsaw, saluda) where i spent my formative years are rural and picturesque. driving down the narrow, curvy roads you see many abandoned properties, like this barn. i believe this is why so many artists reside here: there is something very romantic about these old places and the landscapes surrounding them. my mom was a wildlife artist and many of her paintings were inspired by views such as this.

(this one's for jeanie!) um, tattoo parlors were not around when i was growing up, but it was the 80's so establishments such as 'immortal ink' wouldn't have been popular then. now this is the landmark where you turn left to get to menokin. don't you love how it's housed in what looks like an old country store (wonder if they specialize in inking john deer tractors and chevy logos?)? i told sarah's 7 year old son flannery (perhaps you've heard me mention him: the boy who proposed to me when he was 4 - adorable!! when i left this time, he gave me a plastic, red superman ring to remember him by - the sweetest offering in the world!) that i'd take him there for his first 'piece of work'. he looked more terrified than flattered by the offer...

and finally i leave you with an image from the wall of nathan pope's art studio (sarah's talented husband). nathan is one of my favorite landscape artists who, despite growing up in georgia and north carolina, appreciates the beauty of rural virginia and perfectly captures its' colorful grace in his work. currently he is using a lot of sea-foam greens and blues in his pastels, which are my favorite! one day i'm going to have my own pope collection and will feature them in my future, bad-ass cottage in ware's wharf, virginia!! oh, the coloring book images are not done by nathan, but by the also talented flannery. i love that nathan hangs them with his own work and have happy thoughts of them making art together in the studio.

in addition to seeing sarah, nathan, flannery and rebecca (beck!), i got to spend time with sarah's cousin (and my old nyc partner in crime) lizzie and finally meet her sweet 8 week old baby, libbie, who she is madly in love with. lizzie hosted a fun girl party my first night in town with sarah, her sister ella and me. lizzie's cool baby nurse, norma (baby nurse to the nyc stars, but you didn't hear it from me) hung out too and there were appearances by both lizzie and sarah's parents (the 'adult-adults'). it was such a relaxing and fun week on the rappahannock river. can't wait to be back home with them for christmas!!

cat in a dryer

tonight i almost shut the dryer door on 'dear prudence' because i didn't see her amidst all the other 'white' things going on in there...

what is she thinking (um, is she thinking)?

so i'm away all week and this is what i had available to leave you with until i can post again. when i return there should be some fun stuff from my trip to virginia and then on to brian's wedding in vermont. and if that's not enough for you to look forward to, by that time the intimate ryan adams show i attended last week should be online. i can't properly describe the dual feelings of ridiculous happiness/helpless fascination i felt for those few hours without the visual. hopefully all of his craziness won't be edited out of the online edition. i felt like a mouse trapped in his cat house and it was kind of alright (and now these pictures of prudie fully tie today's musings together!)...

marc's bringing smart back!

it seems there is a problem in upstate new york: college educated kids don't want to stick around. marc vera is an exception to the rule and for that reason (plus he's bad ass), the local rochester news interviewed him. you can watch it here.

this is just a sampling of the wonderful clothing and gift items you can find in his unique boutique :nook (he was sweet enough to give me that blue shirt pictured front and center. i love it! thanks!).

and here he is in :nook apparently saving rochester's day (quote: 'i love it here. i really do.')! MY HERO!

did josh start a camp counselor trend?

so, josh writes a book about being a camp counselor and today i see this in the new york times style section: a style spread featuring camp counselors from a camp in massachusetts!! i know it's summer, but i don't think it's a coincidence...

i went to camp for one summer and it was fun but 1. you had to get up too early and 2. it was outdoors. i had a huge crush on camp counselor charlie because he was 1. tan, tall and skinny 2. had floppy hair and 3. wore glasses. i had to admit it during the 'roommate game' and was embarrassed beyond belief. he winked at me though...it kind of helped.

TRUE CONFESSION TIME: my roommate and i won the roommate game, but we cheated. she leaned down to scratch her foot and told me an answer. i can't believe we didn't get caught.

gardenia!

most of you may know that gardenias are my favorite flower. well, my first gardenia on my patio bloomed over the weekend and it smells amazing. one day, there are going to be thousands!! one day, i'll be able to get a crisp shot of it too (this was about the 20th i took before i settled).

at work today, a few of us interviewed a potential candidate for a producer position. we discussed some job requirements, our content tool, celeb porn, strip clubs in las vegas and smoking pot. did i mention i was holding a big, stuffed shark the whole time too?

sunday sucker!

i added 'the holiday' to my netflix queue because i thought i'd watch it with a snarky little attitude and then would heckle it a bit. but then this happened: a british boy put glasses on (i put my glasses on too)!

then this happened: little girls with british accents adored him (and i adored him too)!

and then he had to go and do this: cry (then i cried). i'm so ashamed.

TRUE CONFESSION TIME: i watched it twice!! in case you're worried i also watched 'the science of sleep' and fell in love with it too.