August: Three trips. No pictures.

If ever a month has darted past like a tiny hummingbird with beating wings, it has been this August. My work has ramped up so much and so quickly with the approaching school year that I hardly noticed my workday gradually expanding to include more and more hours of these late summer days. Long gone are the relaxed July mornings waiting in the long coffee line to order my Americano--this morning I was stirring instant coffee granules into hot water as I walked out the door! Hummingbird pace and instant coffee aside, I am finding much to think about and to love in my everyday work. Today I got to bring new books to a school without a library, and then to go and have a discussion with a group of adults about Winnie the Pooh, and then I got to read Olivia out loud. I don't mind long hours so much with Olivia by my side.

If I had taken the time to take three pictures of this month, the first one would have been at my little cousin's beautiful wedding. I would have taken a picture right as we were all waiting for the ceremony to start--the air was so hot and so still and the sun so bright, that everything had a little shimmery halo around it, like how it sometimes does in a movie when something very important is about to happen.

The second picture would have been in Pennsylvania. I would have had someone take a picture of me napping on the porch of the bed and breakfast where we met Sumanth's family for a mid-summer reunion. The street the house was on was so quiet and the couch so deep and wide--the best nap of the summer, no question.

The third picture would have been of the fountain in the center of the Italian Federal Hill neighborhood in Providence, where Sumanth and I celebrated our fourth anniversary. The fountain was just the perfect height with just the right amount of water spraying out of it, and we made wishes with nickels.

Three Things to Love about the Way to Work

The bold, brave bus that zooms through Boston traffic to drop me right in the heart of downtown. Sometimes I'm the very first person on in the morning, which makes me feel like the whole bus made a special trip just for me.


This green park that I walk through every morning. On the day of this picture, they were filming a movie here--hence the paper lanterns and fully set tables.


And lastly, an imperfect cell phone picture of my perfect morning americano. The last step before the workday starts.

What June has brought...

Summer flowers in the house. (The big, blueberry-looking things are poppies.)



News of a new job (!) at an early-literacy non-profit that is nestled onto the 9th floor of the middle building in this picture. Tomorrow is my first day.



Baskets of strawberries that we picked by ourselves and then brought home and doused in chocolate.

My mom takes her coffee black, I take mine with cream.

Saturday morning, at my kitchen table.


Yesterday morning, at our favorite coffee shop in Boston.

"All things seem possible in May." - Edwin Way Teale

Saturday morning iced coffee and a cinnamon roll from Flour bakery. Sumanth doesn't usually like eating on the ground, but he made an exception this time, evidenced by his shoe in the corner.


The fireplace in my beautiful room at an inn in Vermont where I helped with a Children's Literature New England conference. It was snowing that weekend, so the fireplace got some use.



Watching gorillas blows my mind--this one in particular because we kept locking eyes and her expressions and gestures were so recognizable.

Menu, May 2010

Written on D'Nealian pad while waiting to be retrieved from T.F. Green airport near Providence. Emily presumably stuck in traffic meanwhile, clutching the GPS with her free hand. Edits mostly from her.



And some more from Emily's dad's visit — walking the arboretum, circling the bonsai exhibit, and then supper.

Three things this April has brought...

A walk with my dad through these brilliant tulips on Boston Common.


A formal occasion that entailed the curling of my whole head of hair.


Dinners cooked outdoors on our little new grill in our little new yard.

Three Things to Love about Our New Apartment

My mother has always had a hutch for all of her favorite dishes and now I have one, too. I love lighting the lemon candle (thanks, Jodi!) on the top shelf first thing in the morning while I make coffee and putter around the kitchen.


After years of not having a window above the kitchen sink--we have two! (Although, if I were making a list about three things to be confused about about our apartment, I would have to add the fact that that is our neighbors' laundry hanging in our "own" yard.)


This extra room upstairs is the spot I love the most. It's the perfect place for peppermint tea and reading in the late afternoon. And, it doubles as a cozy guest room, so if anyone wants to come to Boston...

Lots of things to love about Valentine's Day (including a 12 inch wide everything bagel)

2010 has started softly,

with small trips, like this one to the Gloucester shoreline, where the water had washed away all of the snow,



with fancy desserts for Sumanth's birthday,



and time to read whatever I choose, including this lovely edition of Anne.



Oh, yeah, and some shiny new shoes...