24 hour adventure

instagram: @alostfeather

Marissa and I spent exactly 24 hours in Montauk from Thursday to Friday morning. It was cold, gloomy, rainy at times, and wonderful. We climbed trees, watched seals, hiked to high bluffs, and had a couple of large feasts. 

Marissa is my younger sister, but people who don't know us think I'm the baby. When we ordered a couple of beers at a local pub I was carded and Marissa was not. I love being carded.. it is glorious.. and I'm not even slightly kidding. I hope I still get carded when I'm 35.

Today

instagram: @alostfeather

How difficult is it to sit in the window seat of an airplane and not take an "out the airplane window" photo? It's pretty impossible.. for me, anyway. I took about 20 today. I mean, how often do you find yourself 30 thousand feet above the ground? Not all that often, right? Right. Photos must be taken.

Plus, instagram lets you save a photo with a filter even when you put your iPhone on airplane mode!

So good.

There were plenty of pretty things to photograph today in Florida, but I think I'll actually do that over the next few days. My favorite moment of the day was the one above.. Mel and Sonny saying "hello" after a long time apart. 

a quick trip with my iphone

instagram: @alostfeather

Yesterday afternoon I watched Manhattan disappear through the side view mirror. We drove out of one city and into another- Philadelphia. Marissa started classes again today, so I took a trip down to Philly with her and my mom-  to have her company for a little bit longer and to visit and shop at Wegmans (of course.)

Now that Marissa is back at school I think that means my vacation is over as well. November and December were insane, so I feel like I earned the break!

I hope the end of this vacation means the end of my workout vacation as well. Hm. I saw something on tv last night about how the people that go on "dancing with the stars" work out 8 hours per day.. 8 HOURS in one DAY. I think my body would seriously protest. I guess I've done 8 hour hikes, but that doesn't seem nearly as awful. An 8 hour hike actually sounds wonderful. I wish the idea of hiking in 20 degree weather didn't sound like torture to me. Yes. If I lived closer to the mountains and in a warm climate I would be in amazing shape. Shoot.

if you asked my iphone...

..what a full day in Montauk looked like, he would say it went something like this...

7am. Watched the sunrise from the living room window, bundled up and headed out into the chilly weather.

8am. Drove around town photographing some old family photos in the spots they were originally taken. (more on that tomorrow!)

10am. Met up with Kate (who didn't want to wake up at 7am on vacation) and went for a jog/bike ride around town.

12pm. Brunch at John's Pancake House. (We ordered the same exact meal, which included chocolate chip pancakes, 2 days in a row.)

2pm. Headed over to the docks to do a little shopping and meandering. Since it's already November, most of the restaurants and shops are closed for the season in this little beachy town.

4pm. Rode our bikes out to the bluffs. Watched the sunset and then tried to race back to town before nightfall, but didn't quite make it.

8pm. Made it back home (away from home), enjoyed some leftovers for dinner, and drank wine by the fireplace.

1am. (or so) good night!

If you asked my iPhone..

he would say that fall is in full swing.

instagram: @alostfeather

Last (2) Week(s) in Instagram Snaps

instagram/ twitter: @alostfeather

1. budlight lime and a lobster.  2. puffy clouds.  3. sister in a daisy crown.  4. happy 4th of july.  5. i'm really good at making salads.. and other foods that don't require cooking.  6. fireworks.  7. lobster rolls from jordans.. mmm.  8. Boo and a potato chip.  9. making my desk 10x cooler with this diy calendar.  10. banana, nutella, peanutbutter.  11. Boo and his buffalo.  12. handmade mini sculpture.  13. found my round ray bans from 6th grade.  14. what are these called again?  15. clouds and sunshine.  16. basil on the front porch.  17. toms vs. l.a.m.b. p.s. i don't own those heels.. i was just trying them on for fun.. i'd break a bone for sure if i wore them.  18. 5:45am.  19. loving my boo radley bear.  20. giant long island duck.  21. harbor at shelter island.

Things here are busy, busy, busy.. working on a new series of paintings. Can't wait to share! I might just have to share some work-in-progress because I still have a long way to go. Yes,  I think I'll do that soon.

Last Month in Instagram Snaps

July! Welcome.

First, (this is fun and you can play, too! keep reading..) I wrote a list of 10 things that make me reaaaalllllly happy and you can find it here on TJ's blog along with a photo from my Yosemite trip that also happens to make me very happy. Anyway,  every week TJ publishes a list of 10 things that make one of her readers happy. You should definitely become one of her readers and send her a list of your 10 things, too!

Now back to our regularly scheduled programming.. Mmm, yeah last month. I normally post "Last Week in Instagram Snaps," but somehow June just got away from me...

instagram & twitter : @alostfeather

1. coffee.  2. Memorial Day Fair (ok this was the last day of May, you got me)  3. Lilly Pulitzer for Animal Crackers?  4. just me.  5. banana, peanut butter & honey for lunch.  6. sun through the trees.  7. boo gets a bath.  8. flat iron building.  9. mets game.  10. rose.  11. fluffy birds.  12. boo sunbathing.  13. i love nutella.  14. i also love boo.  15. and watermelon.  16. oh and red mango frozen yogurt.  17. crazy thunderstorm coming in.  18. boo guarding my stuff while i pack.  19. catch ya later ny.  20. mid-air.  21. toms on the airtrain in san fran.  22. convertible upgrade.  23. half dome.  24. giant sequoia and i.  25. rock climbing guide setting up our ropes.  26. toms in the convertible.  27. cheeseburger from in 'n out burger and if you're reading this you get a gold star.  28. looking down on lombard ave in san fran.  29. lunch by the water.  30. bye california.  31. sleeping a lot from jet lag.  32. train to brooklyn.  33. brownstones. i want one

I'm still busy going through my photos from our trip to California. I have plenty more to say about that. I'm kind of glad I didn't bang out 5 posts about that trip as soon as I got home.. it's nice to relive little parts of it over time. If you haven't seen the first few posts and you're interested in photos from Yosemite you can see..

a video I made here, a collection of road trip photos here, and a bunch of hiking photos here.

Happy Friday! / long weekend! / 4th of July!

Last Week in Instagram Snaps

This is random and doesn't have anything to do with the rest of this post, but: I ran 2.5 miles last night! This is major, you guys. Even when I was in the best shape of my life (thank you high school sports) I could not run a mile without being in pain (I was a sprinter- 200 meters was straight up torture because it was so long.) I have to be in shape for Yosemite in a few weeks.. I don't want to be exhausted during our 10 mile hikes and 7 hours of rock climbing.

Back to the point of this post.. last week..

instagram name: @alostfeather

1. Crazy huge purple flowers taking over the backyard.   2. Boo, Matt and I went to the beach and Boo loved the water which was very surprising! Maybe he just hated the water less than he hated the sand?   3. Manhattan skyline from my train ride into the city   4. Times Square packed at 11pm on a week night   5. Playing dress up on Friday night.. I can't wait to wear this hot pink hat to some sort of summery event.   6. Marissa and Boo- he looks like a giant dog in this photo! A giant dog with an attitude.   7. Yummy peach spritzer at dinner with my family.   8. A piece of cake that made it all the way to my house via my neighbors house via their friends from out of state via WEGMANS. Fact. I am madly, fully, eternally in love with Wegmans and we do not have one within 75miles. Depressing.   9. One of the first roses to bloom.. I took this before 8am which is impressive for me because I am rarely up before 8am.. so to be taking photos also? Pretty crazy.   10. Hiking with Marissa on the yellow blazed trail to Black Mountain.   11. Marissa laying down on the very slanted trail.   12. BBQ! On Memorial Day.

Back to work now. I made myself a schedule for the day down to the exact minute. It's kind of strange actually, but it's really working for me! I am exactly 24 minutes head of schedule right now. I'm never ahead of schedule. Marissa and I were talking about how much of a procrastinator I can be.. like that one time in high school that I waited until the night before a paper was due to A. start reading the book (Jane Eyre) and B. write the paper. I got an A. Who knows how.

Maybe June will be a productive month. It's June 1st after all.. a whole new slate. I said "rabbit, rabbit" at midnight for good luck, so I'm golden.
We should make this month awesome. Who's with me?

Last Week in Instagram Snaps

I just spent this entire day making a new blog banner. That's not entirely true.. I spent this entire day making 3 blog banners and left each one up for an hour before taking it down to make a new one. This one's staying. I really wanted something light and airy and I feel like this is it.

This past week has been a little odd for me. I'm trying to learn how to fit exercise into my schedule. Every few months I start doing this and end up failing miserably. This time I am not failing. Seriously, it just needs to happen. Just getting that 2 hour block of time into my day has proven to be a bit difficult, but that's ok, I'll deal.

This is what last week looked like in Instagram (iPhone app) photos. I think I like this type of post. I might make it a regular! The week in Instagram Snaps. I like it.

instagram username: @alostfeather

1. & 2. On Monday I started working out (hence the sneakers) and took Boo for a long walk in the semi-rain. It wasn't exactly raining, but it wasn't not raining.   3. Coffee.. mmm.   4. Boo Radley curled up into a fluffy ball.   5. Original drawing on a natural wooden plaque (look familiar? it's like my dream catcher sketch on my blog!- top right corner.)   6. Eating healthy salad.   7. Hiking the Long Trail (turquoise markers) with Matt on Sunday.   8. Chubby mama bird in her nest in the tree outside my house.   9. Another long walk for Boo in the park.   10. Chevron and florals for my parents 29th Anniversary dinner.   11. Boo cuddling with his duck called Duck.   12. Boo gets a lot of walks.. this one at sunset.

That's what's up. And on a side note, I love you guys. I love reading your blogs and chatting with you on twitter. I'm so glad I started this little adventure <3

Early Birthday Present

So, my parents (bless them) got me an iPhone for my birthday! My birthday isn't until March 26th, but my BlackBerry died. Really, it did. The little trackball (that operates the phone) had fallen out and I've had it scotch-taped in there for the past couple of months. I lost the trackball numerous times, rendering the phone completely useless.

My iPhone came in the mail yesterday and I fell in love. I immediately treated myself to a bunch of the cameras in the app store. So far my photos are mainly of my dog, but hopefully I'll get more adventurous.. it's only been 24 hours!

Are there any must-have apps out there that you guys love? Also, I'm obsessed with "Words with Friends." My user name is "alostfeather" so.. want to play?