heather & olive

a most welcome friday mai tai.

delicious smelling flowers on a walk with olive.

a gorgeous yacht club saturday.

I'm all about making the most of this summer. Here's what's on my list:

• Take a goat yoga class. I've never really been into yoga, but there's something about taking a class with goats that's calling to me. Luckily, Smiling Hill Farm in nearby Westbrook offers a number of classes with Ashley Flowers Yoga until September. I'm definitely planning on saying Namaste among some four-legged friends. 
• Farmers' market Saturdays. I'm pretty embarrassed to admit this, but I didn't go to my local Farmers' Market once last year. It's 1/2 a mile away so all I need to do is grab some cash and a reusable bag and I'll be in fresh veggie heaven.
• City bike rides. Yet another thing I didn't do last year was ride my bike--I'm still a little nervous about navigating city streets on two wheels, but I'm not going to get more comfortable sitting on my buns. (Also, it's going to cut my walking commute time in half so I need to just suck it up and hop on it).
• Utilize my beach pass. I mentioned this before, but I pulled the trigger on a beach pass for the summer--it's good at four local beaches and I'm all about taking advantage of sandy toes and salty water
• Take a stand-up paddle tour. Yet another thing I meant to do last year and never did was take a stand-up paddle board tour. With options for sunset, harbor and full moon tours I'm going to dive in (hopefully not literally) to what Portland Paddle has to offer.
• Try new restaurants. This isn't restricted to the summer, but what better time to walk around and try new restaurants than when it's not subzero temps? I certainly have my Portland favorites, but there are a bunch of places I haven't tried yet--and I sure do enjoy a nice meal out.

honey lavender latte.

northern california coast work trip.

king lear at the cort theater.

cheese dreams coming true at the portland cheese shop.

post-dinner york harbor views.

Hi! I can't believe we're almost halfway through June and it's been a month since I checked in here (just kidding, I totally can). The past few weeks have been super crazy and every weekend I was all over the place--I'm really glad I have nothing planned for the near future aside from a trip in July to visit my sister in Pittsburgh. I'm really looking forward to soaking up summer in the city and making the most out of my local beach pass.

But the past few weekends have been great--my work trip to the Northern California coast was somewhat exhausting, but really good (and I continue to be happy on the work front--I truly love my job and the people I work with). After California, I had a few trips to my parents' house--the first of which to celebrate my mom and her retirement. A bunch of family congregated over Memorial Day weekend in Massachusetts and it was really great to raise a glass to toast my mom. I'm so proud of everything she has accomplished and I can't wait for her to enjoy this next phase.

The second trip was to meet my mom and a friend to trek down to NYC and catch King Lear at the Cort theater--it starred Glenda Jackson, Ruth Wilson and Pedro Pascal among other amazing cast members, and it was so cool to see the performance in such an intimate setting. I'm bummed it's closing early, but so grateful for the experience.

And last week my mom came up to paint my kitchen cabinets (before and after to come soon). It has completely transformed the space and I'm obsessed and super thankful that her first act as a retiree was hard labor at my humble abode. She's the best. She also came to cheer me on at the Twilight 5k and I think that might have been the inspiration/motivation I needed to get back into a running routine.

That's pretty much it! Spring has finally arrived up here and I've been loving the extra sunlight and warmer temps. I can't wait to settle back into a routine and relish in all that is Portland in the summer (including hitting up the local cheese shop on the regular because I finally went and it's amazing).

Strawberry pie workshop with Joy the Baker.

Lounging with a pre-sneeze Olive.

Views from a freezing and rainy Chicago architecture tour.

Kinoko Mochi from Slurping Turtle.

Oh, hello! I'm currently typing this in a very sleep deprived state while waiting for a flight to northern California for work. It's been a long day, and I'm wiped.

But things are good--I spent the past weekend in Chicago for a Mother's Day/sister trip. We had a great time staying at the Drake, hit up some old haunts and had the best meal I've had in a long time at Roister. It was so good to have some mother/daughter time, especially now that we're living farther apart.

The weekend before that I was in Boston making strawberry pies with my mom and Joy the Baker, and it was seriously the best--she is so nice and down to earth and a truly incredible cook/baker. I think it's always a little scary meeting people you've followed online or admired from afar (lest they be total assholes) and I can say without hesitation she is a total sweetheart of a person. And, we made delicious pies which was icing on the cake of the day.

Other than that, my weekends and work have been super busy, but really great. I think the only thing I can complain about is the weather, which has been hovering in the low 50s with near-constant rain (but if that's my only gripe, that's not too bad).

Here's to a good week--I hope spring has sprung where you are.

On Friday I turned 37. There was little fanfare but there was a delicious dinner at Street & Company with champagne and some pot de crème, which is always a good way to celebrate in my book.

Before I went to bed I wrote in my One Line A Day journal and in reviewing the previous years it dawned on me that this was the first birthday in a very long time that I didn't have a total mental breakdown. Birthdays have generally been tough for me: for whatever reason, I take the passing of each year as a moment to reflect and think about all the boxes I haven't checked, and all of the things I should have accomplished by a certain age. I get down on myself and think "this will be the year that x, y or z happens and then everything will be great". And then it doesn't and another year has passed and I spend what should be a celebratory day feeling crappy. It's a vicious cycle and quite frankly, it's dumb.

For whatever reason, this was the year that I decided that I've had enough of the annual pity party nonsense. It's one thing to have goals and work towards them, and it's another to think that accomplishing one of them will magically solve all of your problems and everything will be amazing. I've come to realize that I'm exactly where I should be in this very moment, and just because my life doesn't exactly look like others at my age, doesn't mean that there's anything wrong with that. Things are actually pretty amazing, and I need to celebrate that.

So here's to 37. Life is good.

catbird earrings.

j.crew sophie open-front sweater-blazer.

blundstone boots.

everlane work pants.

maple duck confit hash at Chaval.

Happy Monday--did you have a good weekend? Mine was pretty low-key, and I was totally fine with that. On Friday I went to Mi Sen Noodle Bar with some friends. I was wiped after a long week but it ended up being great to get out and catch up. We shared chive cakes (so good), crab rangoons and then I had drunken noodles that I requested to be low spice but ended up being super spicy. I was as red as a tomato, but it was worth it.

Saturday I took a Pure Barre class, grabbed lunch at Pai Men and watched The Inventor on HBO, which was insane. I had read Bad Blood, but no amount of descriptors can truly capture her deep voice. I highly recommend. And that evening I decided to just hang with pizza and The Favourite, which I also recommend--it was great.

Sunday called for laundry and a long walk with Olive in the 50 degree weather, and I also went to Chaval for brunch--it was Maine Maple Sunday so they were running a special of maple duck confit hash and I had to have it. So lucky to have such a delish restaurant right up the street.

And that was it--this week is going to be a little nuts with some travel for work but I'm looking forward to mixing things up a bit.