4th of July

Nothing like a heat wave to celebrate the 4^th of July!  This summer I headed up with my brother to Vermont to visit my dad and Barbro.  They had also invited up my step-sister Karin and her family.  They had come up the day before on the train from Richmond (and swear it beats driving).  Mateo is about 3 and a half and dealt with the heat by running around naked - mostly because he was in and out of the water.  I was also able to meet my new niece, Marianna who isn’t quite 2 months old, but is already growing out of 3 month old clothing.  She’s very long!  I’m always amazed by babies, how they just sleep, eat and poop with little bits of consciousness in between.  But most of their life at this age are just the bare necessities. 

We also had my cousins Catherine, Barry and Tyler up for a few days too.  They arrived right after we had pulled out the kiddy pool and had pulled our chairs up to the edge so we could cool down with our feet in the cold water.  It was so muggy and humid, it was the only way to make it tolerable.  Needless to say the heat and humidity limited our activities.  We hung out and chatted and ate and did not do much else.  Although Adrian, Karin’s husband, had brought up a bag of tools (on the train mind you) and rebuilt the front steps - quite impressive!

Barbro's friend Jane also popped over for the fourth and hung out in our low-key festivities.  I brought up both of my fans and we still ended up picking up an extra air conditioner.

Mateo loved Tyler.  He kept asking where the boy went.  And Tyler was great with Mateo - very patient and put in time playing with him.  It was a nice break especially with the heat.

Nick and I packed my car up and headed back home to Boston with the pick-up truck loaded with some furniture for Nick’s new apartment.  I was quite glad I was driving with Nick, since I ended up driving behind him to make sure everything stay put.  Which also meant I drove much slower.  There were a ton of police out waiting for speeders.  I’m still trying to recover from the speeding ticket I got last year.  I was on my way up to Vermont for Christmas and the police pulled me over for the speed I was going when I was passing this really slow car.  I was very bummed but didn’t try hard to talk my way out of it.  It was a $100 but figured it helps out the small town and their budgets.  It wasn’t until this spring that I realized it cost me something like $2,500 due to the increase on my insurance.  I no longer qualify for the clean record discount and it takes 5 years to get back to where I was. 

One way to escape the heat was shopping.  My step sister and I made a run to the outlet mall in Brattleboro.  I’ve been visiting for 10+ years and just visited it this spring.  I never gave it any credence - it has four or five stores - a Van Huesen, Carters (baby clothes), Dress Barn and a Bass.  Not stores I usually visit.  This spring I had to pick something up for a baby shower and was pleasantly surprised by Bass - got a great pair of super clearance boots.  This visit I picked up a pair of wedges (which I’m wearing as I write this) and some t-shirts.  Wedges weren’t on my radar but then I saw Kate Middleton wearing the cutest outfit and I had everything but the shoes - they were wedges!  I started to reconsider my apathy towards wedges.  And I cleared out their v-neck t-shirts.  They were just the right thickness (not those paper thin stuff that shows your bra), cotton (not that other material that shows all the love handles) and the right length for a long torso girl like me.  And they were on super sale - $5.99 from $28!  I’ve been wearing them non-stop and loving the new staple.  Only wish they had more I could stock up on.  I bought 3 white, 1 grey and 1 black.  I might have to do some sleuthing.

It got me thinking about staples for the closet.  I had been searching for another white v-neck t-shirt and was amazed how long it took to find something.  The other staple I’ve been circling around but not finding was a new bikini.  I finally just searched and searched and searched online and bought something last night.  I actually bought 4 bikini’s from Aerie (they’re with American Outfitters) and seem to have some cute push-up bikinis.  I like the way I look in my bra and undies but in a bikini, not so much.  I realized it was the wonder that push-up bras do these days.  I ordered a few (Brooke, Emma and this other Emma in two different styles)  in the hopes that one will fit and I can return the rest at my local store.  They were on sale and free shipping, otherwise I would be reluctant to order something like this online.  I did start to wonder if I ordered the right size bottoms.  I will soon find out.  Fingers crossed.

The other staple I have is this blue chambray shirt I picked up in London.  I’ve been looking for this kind of shirt for about a year and a half but never finding just the right cut, color, material.  It’s my new favorite piece of clothing (which I’m also wearing as I write this).  And I love that it’s a sample from this boutique designer I found in Notting Hill.  So that means I own the only one in the whole world!  (I have a better picture on my camera but decided to take a quick pic in the bathroom at work at lunch - not great lighting).

Getting ready for Nick’s move next week - he’s moving from his sublet to his apartment.  I realize this is an opportunity to do a little more purging of my stuff.  I have a ton of linens that I could share.  Like that beautiful green blanket I got but then realized I could never use due to the cats snagging the weave.  And the duvet cover I got at Ikea but rarely use.  And those extra knives and the lamp I don’t have a place for.  For some reason it’s easier to let go of stuff when you know where’s it going instead of just donating it.  The only issue is that I’m in the middle of projects so finding some of this stuff is challenging.  I think the box with the duvet cover is buried in the back of my loft.  Thank goodness the heat wave finally broke yesterday and I now have the courage to brave the heat of the loft and rummage through things.  Enjoy the heat and summer!