Back to School

The air is getting a wee bit drier here in Baltimore. I dig it the most. We can keep the windows wide open at Stone Hill. I keep seeing parents posting their kiddos first day of school photos. Warms my heart. I guess traffic is pretty nasty. I live three miles from my office so I'm cool. I love back to school.  It makes me want to whip out the Staples catalogue and buy tape, glue and number two pencils. I want to file things this time of year.

I'm still learning the art of the blog and wish this photo of these snappy pencils would show up from Kate Spade. Take a peek. Santa brought these to Momma one year and I stole the pink and green ones. Naughty.

Kate Spade Pencils

I live for plaid in the fall.  My Catholic school upbringing maybe. My grandmother would send piped Peter Pan collared shirts with yellow, red, and green piping. Turns out they were against regulation at Saint Monkey's so I never got to really wear them. Maybe that is why I'm still so preppy. I was denied the preppiness as a kid. Our uniforms were seriously so ugly. They needed some pops of color. The penny in my penny loafers was maybe the only cool thing about it.

This is also the time to reflect back on the summer and write our reports on what we did for three months.  I've already told you about my sweet cousin Tayloe. That visit was a highlight. The week prior was however a full on laugh-riot. My 20th High School Reunion. Gag...can that seriously be true?

My class was so small that I have truly stayed friends with a ton of my high school pals. Thanks to Facebook we all have reconnected and continue to speak often, sometimes daily. This time of year kind of makes me kind of miss high school.  I freaking LOVED high school.  The tennis team. Football games. Making floats. Fall Formal. DJ's. Musicals. I was super Suzie Joiner and wanted a piece of it all. I was voted Teacher's Pet and Most Enthusiastic.

It was great catching up with so many of my friends and it was one of my favorite memories of the summer.  Only sad part is that Uncle Charlie had to stay home and work.

It was a ton of fun. We partied like it was 1999 and many complained of being sore the next day. I attempted to do the splits on stage. My knee hasn't been the same since. Ridiculous. Even more fun was being able to meet so many of my buddies kids. Holy adorableness.

We also went to New Jersey to help put E's grandmother's home on the market. We dug through the house and gave a carload of kitchen gear to the Good Will. This bowl was a find for us! We have all of this way cool, vintage Pyrex from Jessie's house and it is so neat to channel her in the kitchen. I search it out at antique malls. My mother-in-law was so tickled when I squeeled, "we've hit the motherload" when I saw the snowflake casserole dishes deep in the cabinets.

I also got to go to LA for work this summer. I seriously feel like the luckiest duck in the whole world. I love my job and I get to go to fun cities, plan amazing events and get to attend them. Yeah.

I'm a foodie. I want to go to the funky, cool, food spots in any city. Staying in the hotel for dinner or even breakfast is just so not an option for me. E has helped encourage me to seek places out that are off the grid. He suggested for instance that I go here, which led me here for vodka and dinner while in Seattle. He is the coolest man I know. 

This is a photo of me in the Nickel Diner in LA. That is a maple glazed bacon covered donut. Uh huh. Pretty freaking unbelievable. I saw a show on the Cooking Channel and just knew I had to go. The staff was amazing and gave me other great suggestions for places. That is the best travel tip ever. If you have a cool waiter, ask them where to go for breakfast, bars and hot dinner spots.

The very beginning of the summer was kicked off by a visit from my maid of honor Nette and my goddaughter B and baby sister H from ATL. We had a little party for her and got to see so many of our DC friends too. We had the best visit. 

Fall is a time for letting go. I also think of the harvest as a time of good, hard work. Get back to it. Back to school. Back to work. Back to business. Let go of expectations and keep your nose down and just bang it out.

I'm so thankful for so much this summer. Getting to spend over a week with Momma at the lake and seeing my Daddy, Macker and Elise.  I loved seeing the Sullivans, the Leuke's, the White family, my HCC pals, and having a long weekend with E in NJ. I am also thankful to have a job that I love. Thank you summer. It's been a blast.