July Favorites

July was a very busy summer month for me. I got a bit thrown off my game with traveling 3 weekends in a row. They were all very nice trips, but I've been finding it hard to get back in the groove of making art after I get home. Hopefully my new travel palette cures that a bit! And I've got a few more travel-free weekends until Disney (EEEEE)! Here are some things I love this month:

  1. Vermont: Went to my boyfriend's sister's cabin two weekends in a row and had a lovely (relatively unplugged) time. I wrote a blog post about it here.
  2. Pokémon Go: Yes. So obsessed. A little disappointed with the last update (I really liked the battery saver feature!) but still having fun with this. As a freelancer who works from home, I love that this is an excuse to get up and walk around my neighborhood.
  3. My travel watercolor palette that I made with a pill case from Muji and some really old (like 2004 old) Van Gogh watercolor pans that I glued in. I also needed a water container to match so I took out the sauce pod from my Sistema lunchbox. They're the perfect size! Will do a more thorough blog post on this later.
  4. Maple syrup soft serve ice cream in Vermont from a place called Hidden Springs Maple. I had dreams about it afterward. That is all.
  5. Peaches! It was the peak of the season and I gobbled up so many (despite being slightly allergic...)
  6. Rimmel Kate Moss Sculpting Palette: Great quality for a drugstore contour palette! And really convenient for travel.

Vermont

Spent a few restful weekends up in the Green Mountain State. Vinny's sister and brother-in-law kindly took us to their cabin on 4th of July weekend and then we went with a couple of friends the following weekend. I was so grateful for the break from the hot city air and noise. The views weren't bad either.

We hiked in Jamaica State Park both weekends. Both were very different experiences. The first time was hot and sunny and the second weekend was rainy and mosquito-filled, but somehow more peaceful when we got to the top.

Somewhere on Stratton Mountain

Somewhere on Stratton Mountain

One day we hiked up what is typically a ski slope. Needless to say it was STEEP and strenuous but they views were worth it.

At the top(ish) of Stratton

At the top(ish) of Stratton

On another day, we visited Hidden Spring Maple, basically the Valhalla of maple syrup. I wish I had gotten a picture of my maple syrup ice cream but, alas, it was gone sooner than it was meant to be.

Bernie, Vinny's sister's pup

Bernie, Vinny's sister's pup

A lot of the time was spent hanging out with this angel. At a little over one year old he's still got that puppy energy, but all the hiking and running around tired him OUT.

I was able to squeeze in a painting the second weekend! It rained while I was painting but I think it gave it kind of a nice effect.

Hope to be back sometime during the fall! I'm sure the foliage would be be-yoo-tiful.

June Favorites 2016

Supplies: Uni-ball Signo Pen and Copic Ciao Markers

1. Strawberry cucumber lemonade from the Lizzmonade stand at Jersey City Project eats a few weeks ago. So refreshing, especially on that hot hot day.

2. Tarte Amazonian BB Tinted Moisturizer: I'm finding myself wearing less and less makeup out of laziness and summer-ness, and I find that this is the best thing to even out my skin tone that I can just slap on with my fingers!

3. Game of Thrones: OMG this season was SO GOOD. I was never such a huge GoT fan before, always able to wait until the end of the season so I could just binge watch. But I followed along this time and I'm so glad I did. The finale was incredibly satisfying!

4. Mine and Vinny's trip to the Bahamas early in June was so lovely. It was a bit uncomfortable at first as most of our trips consist of DOING things EVERY SECOND, but we finally succumbed to the life of laying out on a beach, drinking piña coladas, and eating raw conch and, hey, I'd do it again.

5. Tiny Beautiful Things by Cheryl Strayed: This book, or rather collection of advice columns, really pushed my heart buttons. I read 'Wild' last year and loved it and only recently realized that I should check out more of Strayed's work. Wasn't disappointed. Made me cry on a beach. That is all.

6. Bought some more pastel-y Copic Ciao markers. Need to use them more!