Quick Pics

I know, I know. I've been a little absent around here. I looked at my posts from this month and realized I only posted 5 times. 5! That's absurd! Grad school is kicking my butt and the stress is enough to make me not have the wherewithal for much else. I've still been able to take day trips, take photos, etc. The problem is not that I have no material, but that it's hard to find the time to edit pictures and write a post! Editing pictures usually is a big project for me. I've actually been meaning to dedicate a whole post about it because I'd love to get everyone's opinion on it. Anyway...there's tons of catching up to do!

[New London]

June was such a crazy month for me! Between weddings, baby and bridal showers, Father's Day, a camping trip, friends' birthdays, and a renaissance faire plus school, things got a little hectic. The month started off with the weddings and showers. One of each for the first two weekends of the month. I was the official photographer at the bridal shower for my friend's sister. It was dessert-themed, so I was in heaven. :)

[Orange-peach moscato]

[Champagne cupcakes]

With all this stuff going on, I still tried to get back into reading. I got to read The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, and I really enjoyed it. I tried to start Congo, but I always got distracted by something and haven't really gotten to start it yet. One of these distractions included an older man chatting me up at the beach while I was just trying to relax. He started talking to me, and then proceeded to sit down on my blanket with me and kept yacking away about life and bike week in New Hampshire while I was just trying to enjoy my book in solitude. WHY ME? Finally, he asked if he was being rude and I said "Well, I'm just trying to read my book and relax". But did that stop him? Nope. He kept going. It got to the point where I had to just leave the beach after only being there for about 15 minutes. I made the excuse that it was too hot for me (which wasn't really a lie), collected my things and started off. He then invited me to the restaurant across the street where he said he'd like to buy me a drink. No thanks, bud. I'll sit this one out.

Katie of Beautifully Pure sent me a present this month! She said that they got it in at the store she works at and when she saw it, she knew I had to have it! I waited (not so) patiently for it to come in the mail because I was so eager to see what it was. It turned out to be this adorable little anchor necklace! I was so excited. We all know what a huge fan of nautical things I am, and of course that's why she sent it to me! Thanks again, Katie! :) I wore it for an outfit shoot that you will be seeing soon! Another fun thing I got this month was a pretty light blue vintage dress from the 50's and the best part was that it was only $10! It was a very lucky find at the local church's annual flea market.

Father's Day was spent having a cookout at home. My brother, sister-in-law, and their kids and my grandparents all came over to celebrate. That same weekend, I went strawberry picking which you will also see more of eventually. :) Oh, and this month I also discovered something glorious...they sell Panera's broccoli cheddar soup at Big Y, which means I can enjoy it at home whenever I want! This is dangerous and amazing all at once.

[My dad and I when I was little]

Last weekend I went to a renaissance faire! It was a little smaller than the last one I went to in the fall, but it was still fun. I ate a giant turkey leg, had really delicious fresh-squeezed lemonade, threw knives at a target, and finally got my very own flower crown. I'd say it was a successful faire. I'll have a whole post on this coming soon as well. There's just so much to catch up on, guys. It's crazy!

My friends and I went on a group camping trip. It was just for a night at this camping facility that's about 45 minutes away. There's a lake where you can go canoeing and kayaking and whatnot, but we didn't do any of that because it was just too muggy and buggy. None of us got good sleep so we ended up just leaving early in the morning to go home. I did however get to try summer Woodchuck for the first time, and that was delicious. I also caught the end of the sunrise which I rarely ever get to do.

Things are going to be slowing down school-wise this coming week and I'm excited to be able to give more attention around here. I have so many posts that I'm behind on and I can't wait to share them all with you! Life is such a balancing act sometimes, and sometimes I'm not very good at it but it'll get better with time.

Wedding Times

I absolutely love weddings. I love what they stand for, I love seeing the decor and colors the couple chose, and I of course love seeing the bride's gown! I also love a good party and that's pretty much what the reception is, right? Food, drinks, music, friends. It's perfect!

I wore this outfit at the last wedding I attended a couple of weeks ago. I specifically went out looking for a necklace to wear since this dress is a little plain and I discovered this one at Kohl's, which felt very fitting for a wedding. Plus the letters are reminiscent of Scrabble tiles and I'm a huge Scrabble fan.

Dress: ASOS//Shoes: Payless//Necklace: Lauren Conrad//Purse: Koltov (handed down from my mom)

I had the pleasure to have been in my brother's wedding last fall right by the beach in Ogunquit, Maine, which was fun! I also got to attend two other weddings that season as a friend's date. This month I got to go to two weddings as well! My family is pretty deprived on the wedding celebrations, so I'm always glad to get to go to one, even if I'm a plus one. I feel like one year in the future everyone in my family is just going to get married (not to each other, obviously) and there's going to be a TON of weddings to go to.

[My niece and I]

Here are some pictures from the other wedding I attended this month. I really liked the reception venue, and the area it was in was so cute. It's right by a river and a ferry dock! It was so hot that day, though, and both the church and the hall didn't have air conditioning. The breeze by the water felt amazing.

Dress: Masquerade via Windsor

A bunch of us joke that I should start charging people to take me as their wedding date because I got asked to go to all these weddings. I wish I could go to a wedding maybe at least once a month. It's just always such a great time and atmosphere. It's pretty incredible to watch two people commit to each other with so much love, passion, and genuineness. I always get a little teary-eyed during the ceremony. :')

New London

A couple of weeks ago, I spent a day in New London, CT and I absolutely fell in love. It was so perfect that I'm finding it hard to put it all into words. It's right by the ocean, it's full of nautical goodness, and there's a lot of antique shops and little boutiques! There was even a giant whale fountain/statue! There was also this little historic section full of houses from the 1800s that were so cute and quaint. It was a really nice area. I could definitely see it as a potential place to live someday, although I'd be pretty far from everyone I know. Prepare for a bit of picture overload...

One of the antique stores had three floors, with the top floor being mostly clothing and furniture. There were so many things there that it was slightly overwhelming. I didn't end up getting anything, but it was definitely fun to look at all the neat things. It takes a lot of time to really look through everything!

[...what?]

One of my favorite things about summer is outdoor patio seating. I love being able to eat and drink outdoors in the warm weather. We stopped at this restaurant that had a big outdoor seating area when I noticed that they were having happy hour drink specials on sweet tea drinks. So we enjoyed some alcoholic Arnold Palmers while soaking in the warmth and sun.

[Just being myself...]

There were tons of ferries and sailboats on the water, which I loved. There is a state park that used to be a fortress and it had great views of the water and the area in general. We also found the biggest dandelion EVER.

Dress, shoes, jacket: H&M//Purse: Fossil (thrifted)//Sunglasses: Forever 21

Most of the time was spent in the downtown area where all the shops and restaurants are, along with the library and parks. I'd love to actually try the food at one of the many restaurants one day. I'd definitely like to go back there every now and then and just hang out, especially when summer really starts to kick in.

You know when a day is pretty perfect, but it's somehow hard to describe it to someone else? That's what my day in New London was like. The weather was perfect, the air smelled of the sea, and the whole general atmosphere of the place was so calming and serene. It was the middle of the day in the middle of the week, so nowhere was really crowded. It was a new place with a ton of places to explore, and everything just felt so carefree. I love places like that where you can get away and just kind of forget about everything else for a while. Traveling keeps me sane. It's good to get lost in something like that every once in a while.