Too Damn Hot

More food! Ya'll are going to start to think all I do is eat! What can I say? Summer dining inspires me to no end. Last night I had dinner at The Local with one of my best friends and her always charming beau. There were no indoor tables available...at any restaurant in Belmont. Did I mention it was HOT yesterday? 90-something degrees, with no breeze to speak of. As you can see from the top two photos we were among the very few crazies who decided to brave the deck (though it did start to fill up a bit later). Not to keep talking about the heat, but it was kind of too hot to eat anything much, so in addition to the cheese board and mussels we shared, I had a salad. If you know me, you know that I DO NOT EAT SALAD when I go out to eat. My stomach is generally much too demanding for a few paltry lettuce leaves, but last night it was like "whatever...it's too damn hot." Anyhoo, despite the heat, we had a roaring good time. I just wish I'd remembered I had this fan in my purse.

P.S. to my bestie: Maybe the mango ate your what, Cole? : )

Picnicking and Tulip Picking

Just celebrated a dear friend's birthday with a picnic at a local organic tulip farm. It was such a perfect way to spend a Sunday afternoon. The weather was lovely and the food we packed (all from local shop Feast) was super yummy delicious. Oh, and we went home with arm loads of tulips ($1/stem)! You can see my tulip haul in the last photo above (vase made by me in ceramics class).

A Tourist in My Hometown

When you grow up in a town with as much beauty and history as Charlottesville, Virginia, it's easy to take it for granted, or even resent it after the millionth field trip involving some architectural wonder associated with Thomas Jefferson (I've been know to roll my eyes while driving past the UVA grounds). But this weekend I put all that aside. My college roommate was visiting with her fabulous new Nikon DSLR, and she wanted to take some pictures while she was here. I knew just where to go. We wandered around the University of Virginia grounds snapping lots of pictures of beautiful old doors and rocking chairs (top photo), and we eventually found ourselves at the Rotunda, the target of much of my eye rolling. "You want to go in?" I asked. I couldn't believe what I was saying. But in we went. And as we wandered around the light-filled rooms, I felt grateful, grateful that my aesthetic roots are so tied to this beautiful place, this history.