Summer Bucket List

Yesterday was the first day of summer and I am ready to dive right into amazing weather, beach days and reading outside. The reality is I’ll probably be hiding in air-conditioned libraries, sleeping with a wet facecloth on my face and scratching mosquito bites for months. Whatever. I am hopeful. So I made a list of things I would like to do / learn / see etc before the leaves turn colors and pumpkin spice is back in season.

Learn to parallel park – we never had to learn this for our drivers test and therefore I really can’t park unless I’m pulling (or backing) straight into a space.

Climb the Pilgrim Tower in Provincetown. It’s only 116 steps but I feel like that’s a sensible fitness goal for summer

Finish the first draft of my novel. I’ve been working on it for three years. It’s about time.

Have five go-to recipes that taste amazing and are easy/ simple to make and eat.

Learn to paddle board

Take a beach yoga class, or tai chi or qi gong

This list isn’t set in stone, I may update it as the summer passes and I hope to update you as well!

What’s on your summer bucket list?

Xo
Melanie

Things I Love Thursday

Sometimes the days go by so fast but once you’re at the other end of the week it seems like what happened over the weekend was forever ago.

On Saturday I was part of a beautiful wedding ceremony. A dear high school friend married her love. They’re in Aruba now and I’ve been respectfully singing The Beach Boys’ Kokomo all week long.

Here are some other things I love this week:

Star gazing from the bridge over the pond near Jenny’s Grist Mill in Plymouth

Finding inspiration for blog posts

Excitement over starting NaNoWriMo this year

Plans to explore libraries

Cake

Copious cups of tea

Festive Lush bath bombs and bubble bars

Forever ongoing Facebook chats

Solo Starbucks dates

Slowly introducing this new boy (what should I refer to him as, anyway? Anonymous nicknames are cuter than real names, I’ve decided) to people I know.

70 degree weather when the sun is shining

Walks / flat hikes through nature

Adagio Tea

What do you love today?
❤

June Love and Gratitude

So it’s the last day in June and the weather in New England is already crazy with thunderstorms and humidity and days where I should be at the beach. I feel like we should make gratitude and love lists daily to keep our lives in check and keep on appreciating the good things, but for the sake of repetition I’m going to post monthly on the last day of the month.

Sleeping in – there’s nothing like not having an alarm blaring at any hour of the morning

Brain storming a new novel – it includes a road trip, best friends and live music. I’m super excited about it.

Anna Claire, my brother’s new puppy. I’m officially a puppy auntie. Ill write more on this soon

New pillow covers and sheets – sometimes this is just enough to change the cool and feel of a bedroom

Collecting recipes and cookbooks – now I just need to use them and cook and ill be set

Concerts – the counting crows and the wallflowers were an amazing show. I have a She & Him concert coming up in a couple weeks

Round trip nonstop plane tickets for $149. Insane.

New Hanson albums

The Ocean At The End Of The Lane by Neil Gaiman

The ocean

Clambakes

What did you love in June?

Xo
Melanie.kristy

13 Things to do in Summer 2013

Ah, it’s finally here. The bugs are out, the sun is burning and we are where we always are on June 21st, the longest day of the year. We have the facade of a fresh start, juicy fruit to snack on and lively animal noises. Everyone is enjoying it, most of the time. But at the same time, we still have those days we’re stuck in our jobs wishing summer vacation still existed for everyone, everywhere. To avoid getting into a rut this year, try thinking up some awesome things to try out and make your summer tasty! Here are 13 suggestions to get you going.

Go to a food truck festival

Seek out a water slide and use it frequently

Master the art of iced tea, particularly sun tea. Drink it daily

Take a day trip somewhere you haven’t spent a lot of time at before

Go to a faire/ carnival and take lots of black and white photos

Rent (or buy??) a bicycle and ride around new towns

Have a picnic. Bring lots of cheese, sun tea and Kentucky Derby style hats

Watch meteor showers and/or the sun set/ rise

Make your own sorbet/ ice cream/ popsicles

Have a television show or movie marathon party and serve food related to what you’re watching

Escape to the library to cool off, check out more books than you can carry and learn something new.

Go berry picking

Host a Christmas in July Yankee Swap with regifted items or things found around the house. Don’t forget to drink frozen hot chocolate and make apple pie ice cream

What are your ideas for summer?

xo.Melanie.Kristy

May 2011

(weheartit)

Don’t ask what the meaning of life is. You define it. – That’s what my YES&YES Calendar says for the Month of May.

I failed miserably last month with my goals. I failed to the point where I’m not going to bother recapping them. I’ve been sick or distracted for the entire month of April.

This month is going to be filled with a lot of unfamiliar things, so instead of setting specific goals for myself, I am going to set vague ideas.

Balance. I need to work on it, I’ve always needed to work on it. But this month I’m going to pay special attention to balance because without it I slip away from myself.

Health. Working out just hasn’t been… working out. But that’s not something I’m going to give up on. I think I just need to be more structured when it comes to exercise. And also I’ve been toying with the idea of cutting sugar almost entirely out of my diet. This may be the time to put that into action, or if not, at least plan to make that work for June.

Write. Oh that five letter word that is always on my mind. There’s nothing more to say about this, it all goes back to balance. Make time to make writing part of my life.

Also, the weather is beautiful, the sun is shining and I want to spend as much time as possible outside and soaking in Vitamin D.

May Events:
May 2nd is Miranda’s birthday.
May 6th is Hanson day. Let’s remember the times we wore Hanson t-shirts to school and secretly hummed Mmmbop all day. Just me? Oh, okay.
May 13th & 14th are bachelorette party/ kidnapping nights.
May 18th Miss Sarah Day turns 26.
May 19th Shaylin’s rehearsal dinner
May 20th ladies luncheon, getting nails did, hanging out in a fancy hotel, taking multiple bubbly baths and hosting a two person dance party.
May 21st Shaylin’s wedding. Maybe I should schedule in a day to write a toast. Eeek! Anyway, lots of dancing and wine and photographs and an after party. And an after after party. Generally just a lot of partying.
May 22nd I don’t know, I think I’m going to want to go out for breakfast.
May 23rd- May  31st probably 216 straight hours of sleep. Sounds good to me.

What does your May look like?

Welcome To March

(wehearit)

Take a big, deep breath in. Close your eyes. Exhale slowly through your nose. Do you smell that? It’s the scent of winter fading. It’s the smell of hope. Feel the warmth on your cheeks, sunlight will be amongst us soon.

March feels like a huge exhale after the long rough winter. “Spring” weather doesn’t even typically arrive here until April, sometimes later. I distinctly remember one year during elementary school we had a snow day on April First!

Anyway, in the spirit of what Penny from Star-Stuff did in her blog, I’m going to do the same. Goals for March.

Since it’s the third month of the year, my goals are themed by threes.

1. Go to the gym or work out at least three times a week.
2. Post here 3 times a week.
3. Launch my second blog. Post there (you guessed it) three times a week.
4. Sit down with my HP Mini, probably elsewhere, and write three times a week.

Hmm, this all sounds like work. (And, I have a lot of catching up to do, already!). I’ll add in some fun stuff like:

1. Pick up my bridesmaid dress and eat amazing pizza (check!)
2. go on a date
3. try a new kind of food
4. play on swings
5. celebrate the equinox with someone awesome (any takers? It’s SUNDAY MARCH 20th).

How are you spending your March?

lovelovelove,
Melanie.Kristy

For the Love of Blogs

(credit)

I entered the world of blogging in 2000 armed with nothing but my own version of teenage angst, a love of Hanson and the knowledge that I wanted to be a writer. Since then I’ve met many amazing people. I’ve moved from Open Diary to Blurty to Xanga to Livejournal, following friends or sometimes they followed me. I shared a love of all things word related, gained a connection to amazing people. My life wouldn’t be the same without those people.

 

Figment Literary Journal – Ashley Lorelle no longer blogs, but she’s in the process of launching a literary journal. Visit the site, submit some projects. I’ll write more about this later, but for now she couldn’t go unmentioned, the experiences that mean a to to her and everything else.

 

The Good Groupie – “They don’t know what it’s like to love one band, one silly peice of music so much that it hurts.” – Almost Famous. The Good Groupie, oh she knows. She writes about the music that means a lot to her.

 

Girls Like Words  – a return to personal blogging, Miranda just added one more project to her writing agenda. She describes herself as,”being the Carrie Bradshaw of the suburbs, writing about daily adventures as a magazine editor, life lessons still in the learning process…and the constant quest for the perfect faux snake skin bag.”

 

Kirstin is living in Norway with her husband. She’s taking weedgie classes, just got her Norwegian driver’s license and writes about her love of literature.

 

Kate  mostly makes sporadic Things I Love Thursday posts. I’ve known her since the days of AOL when I sent out chapters of a novel via e-mail as I wrote them. Kate would bug me to write more. So I am bugging her to do the same: write more!

Erica  writes about her married life in Indiana. The Canadian native has been blogging for at least as long as I have, she’s another I met through Open Diary way back in the day. 

Saturday Seven October 02, 2010

Happy Saturday everyone! I really had the best intentions of writing  every day this week. In a way I did write, a little bit anyway, because I’ve been trying to free write in the mornings. So here’s seven great things about this past week:

* Book purging – this is actually really painful. I have piles of books on my floor that I’m telling myself I’m going to “get rid of” (Anyone want to look at the list? $5 for paperbacks and $7 for most hardcovers, including shipping…). I’ve been a little too lazy to actually list them on Amazon, and it hurts seeing all of my bookshelves a little more bare. But it’s for the best, I know.

* New books! Francesca Lia Block’s new book The Frenzy hasn’t reached my doorstep yet (though it was supposed to be delivered yesterday) but I can’t wait to read it.

* Girl With The Glass Feet –  Ali Shaw. I finished it. I cried. Oh books that make me cry… why do we even read this books, when we know they’re going to be sad? Next up, Geek Love.

* October! Yesterday was Shaylin’s birthday. October 1st marks a more real beginning of fall. It’s the 6th week mark to my birthday.

* Ordering Radish earrings from Etsy. Anyone guess who I’m going to be for Halloween?

* Dinner with my dad. It doesn’t happen often, and hey we ended up hanging out at the bar after with my brother and some other people they knew, but I had a good time.

* My friend Lorelle is starting a literary journal! I don’t want to give out all the details here, so I’ll do that in a post of its own. But let’s just say I’m really excited for her.

Seven Things!

Pizza in Lucca, Italy

So, Kate from I Dream Loudly tagged me to do a Seven Things post. Being one who absolutely loves lists, how could I object to that? Even though I just ate lunch and I’m full and sticky from my own sundae invention (Peaceful Meadows apple crisp yogurt, toast coconut, “cinnimon crunchies” etc Cinnimon Toast Crunch and butterscotch YUM) — don’t ask how I managed to spill it all over myself — I am going to list foods that I absolutely love.

Food and I have a love/hate relationship. But regardless, my tastebuds love it. And when I fall for a dish, I fall hardcore. So here’s a list of the top seven foods that I absolutely love and would eat well, whenever.

Listed in alphabetical order because I don’t have the heart to pick favourites ABOVE the list that I’ve made.

Clam Chowder – You already know about my love of Clam Chowder from this post, so it automatically has to make the list.

Ice Cream – I’ve worked on and off in an ice cream shop since I was sixteen. Right now, it’s how I spent my Saturday nights. I could also eat ice cream every day. It’s so cold and sweet and creamy and delicious.

Peanut butter and banana sandwiches – Especially grilled, these beat out peanut butter and jelly sandwiches any day. I love the flavours together, and it what’s even better is that it’s an Elvis Sandwich. Who wouldn’t love a meal preferred by The King?

Pizza – Okay, so I couldn’t really pick favourites but I must admit that pizza trumps everything else, ever. I could eat pizza every day. In fact, I often do. Of course the best pizza I’ve ever eaten was in Italy, but I’m not about to turn my nose up at an amazing slice right here. Some of my favourites are mushroom, white/ Greek, and extra cheese.

Smoothies – I love smoothies because they’re so versitle. They can be the perfect breakfast, dinner or snack. I’m not talking about the smoothies that McDonald’s now offers, either. I’m talking about the home made kind. The kinds where you throw in whatever seems to pop out at you. I tend to use brozen berries with milk and either a Weight Watchers shake packet or cocoa powder or any other powder especially if it has protein. I’ll add in peanut butter or flax seeds too. Lately I’ve been adding baby spinach to my smoothies. You can’t taste it, but it makes the smoothie turn green. How fun is that? Not to mention the added benefits of getting spinach daily (okay, so I haven’t been making them daily, but I should be!).

Tofu Fritters – I’ve only been able to find these at one Thai restaurant I’ve been to. This makes me wonder if they aren’t actual a Thai appetizer, but one of the other cuisines they offer (Malasyan and Japanese specifically come to mind). This is how they’re described on the website for The Chattabox. (Mind you, they’re also called TUFU Fritters on the site, though the menu says otherwise…) Smashed tofu with shredded vegetables in tempura flour, deep fried until golden brown. Served with cucumber mint sauce.

Vegetable Samosas – I’ve tried making these on my own, I’ve bought them frozen at Hannafords (though, I can’t seem to find the anymore, what’s up with that?) and I order them every time I’m in an Indian Restaurant. I find myself craving them sometimes when it’s been too long.

Also, Secret Society of List Addicts does guest posts every Tuesday. Should I think up some creative lists and send in for a guest appearance?

<3.Melanie.Kristy

Wish It Was Sunday 08/23

It’s the dreaded Monday morning, a dark and rainy one at that. I’m left feeling like a failure from my one-day weekend (which, in case anyone was wondering, is not enough time to recover from a 50 work week) because I ate chicken with my lunch yesterday and all Saturday night contemplated giving up this Pescetarian business all together.

So all in all, I need a reminder of what is good about today.

* strawberries and berries for a snack
* the temperature is ideal, if albeit a little too wet
* there is a bar of chocolate in my purse
* gchat keeps me sane
* a three minute conversation with a certain guy this morning
* yoga last night (yoga any night seems to make me feel better in the AM)
* the Kitten  Mittons episode of It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia airs tonight on Comedy Central

What is good about your day?

<3. Melanie.Kristy