Picnic

I finally got to use my new Picnic Basket from The Nantucket Bike Basket Company and my monogrammed picnic plates! It was a beautiful fall day by the river, complete with some Graul's Market snacks and Martinelli's Sparkling Cider, which always makes me feel like a kid again.

Apple Picking

One of my favorite things to do every fall is to go apple picking. It makes me feel like a kid again, I love the fresh country air and the excitement of coming up with ways to use all of the freshly picked apples. Max and I have gone up to Brown's Orchard in Glen Rock, PA the past two years, it is quite the hike to get up there, but the orchard and family market (we bought the best homemade chocolates this year!) are totally worth the trip.

We Finally Have Power!

Hurricane Irene had me terrified; hiding on the living room sofa away from my bedroom from 3am until 6am. I waited and waited while the storm passed my house which is surrounded by giant trees. (My bedroom is the two windows you can see in the linked photo). When I finally fell asleep I had the weirdest dream that a  tree fell into my house and inside was a talking owl that reminded me of  X the Owl from Mr. Rogers. I was definitely sleep deprived.

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Selfies with The 8.

As everyone heads back to school I cannot help but be sad and depressed. This is the first time in 18 years that I am not going back to school, which means I am not going back to school shopping AHHHH, the horror!!! I'm seriously upset. Here are some self-timer pics from before our Senior Bar Crawl just before graduation this past May. I wish I was back there now.

Clipper Mill

Baltimore's Clipper Mill is located in the neighborhood of Woodberry which lies along the Jones Falls river. The Jones Falls provided water power for the mills in the Baltimore area, including The Clipper Mill Industrial Park which was originally established in the 1850's. Today the multiple mill buildings and surrounding area has been renovated into magnificent offices, apartments, restaurants and even a lovely community pool. The Tractor Building, pictured below, was built later than most of the surrounding buildings in 1916. The building was used for the manufacturing of large machines. This is one of the few parts of Clipper Mill that has yet to be renovated but, will become more offices and apartments in the future. For now it shows what once was and the beauty in it's abandon.

Baltimore Free Farm

Lauren and I went to the Baltimore Free Farm the other day in Woodberry. It is a relatively new project, beginning in January of 2010, which aims to promote urban green spaces, sustainable living and local agriculture. From the street it didn't seem like much, but through our climb up we realized what a wonderful and full garden it is, both in the quantity and variety of crops it hosts. I recommend a visit to anyone living in the Baltimore area so you can see what urban green spaces are all about. And for those who live in the Hampden/Woodberry neighborhoods in particular, join in and volunteer -- you'll enjoy the fresh local veggies!

Block Island Sunset

Spent another weekend on Block Island where I saw the most wonderful sunset on Friday night and was snapping pictures the whole way through. I hope everyone had a fabulous Fourth of July weekend - the best weekend of the year in my opinion!