I have more to say about this little car than my blog could possibly handle. My sweet 16 was made extra sweet when my parents handed me the keys to my dream car. I used and abused my little bug in every way possible over the past 10 years but she was so, so good to me. I drove my car all through high school, college and then packed it up and drove it half way across the country to start my new life. I think I held onto the bug as long as I did because in a way it was holding onto a part of me that I had to move away from. I loved that car dearly and was so sad to leave her behind but I’m lucky to have had such a memorable first car.

Boston fireworks are amazing. If you’ve never seen them, get yourself to Boston next July, you won’t regret it. It’s challenging to get in and out of the city but if you don’t mind a long walk and a large crowd it’s an unbelievable sight. This year we arrived at 4:00 (approximately 4.5 hours early) and got a prime spot with some of our friends and their families. Most of the families had kids which made the experience so much more fun. The enthusiasm and the energy these little girls had was contagious. I couldn’t have asked for a more perfect 4th of July.

I promise not to turn this into a home improvement blog…kinda. We’ve finally started working full force on the new house and lots of exciting things are happening. The back garden was our first big project followed by the tearing up of the hearth.

This weekend marked the first full weekend Ryan and I spent working on the new house. Ryan’s Mom came into town and was nice enough to give up her holiday weekend slaving away with us (in exchange for a front row seat to the Boston fireworks). We spent Friday making plans and shopping, Saturday shopping and laboring in the garden, Sunday cleaning up our mess and Monday we rested a little and enjoyed the 4th by watching the fireworks. We’ve got a long way to go but making such visible progress this weekend was just the motivation we needed.

Ryan and I eat A LOT of sushi. But the funny thing is, I don’t eat fish – or any seafood for that matter. This past weekend we decided to find out just how hard it is to roll cucumber maki. Besides making them way too thin and way too think I think we did alright. It’ll take some practice but it was a lot of fun.

For my birthday this year Ryan got me tickets to go to the Clambake. A concert that gathers several bands to play, some outside and some later on inside. My clear favorite was Foster the People but I also really enjoyed Noah and the Whale once we made our way inside. It was the perfect summer day and all of my friends had gotten tickets too! We all left work early

Last year Ryan installed an adorable little flower box outside the window of our apartment. The goody-goody in me is always afraid we’re going to get yelled at by our landlord but it really is cute. Last year we experimented with some vegetables and we had a great time watching out little tomatoes grow. This summer we went for jalapeno peppers and some pretty flowers. It’s amazing how such a small touch of nature makes a summer evening so much more enjoyable.

I had the pleasure of taking my beloved Conrad for a lunch time walk today. I cannot express how happy it makes me when people bring their dogs to work. It’s always the highlight of my week when this little guy shows up!

Every month or so my team at work gets together for a ‘Brands Outing’. Chris surprised us by announcing that he had gotten us all tickets to see the cast of GLEE in concert. I have to admint, my first reaction was uhhhh, I’ve never seen GLEE, is it good? But as soon as we got to the show and they started singing all of my favorite songs I was totally into it.

Ryan and I recently attended Dave and Adam’s wedding at the Crane Estate. When asked how it was I literally could not find the words to describe it. Everything was just so beautiful. The location was breathtaking and the decor was too interesting to take your eyes off of. Adam and Dave both looked incredibly dashing and their vows brought tears to my eyes. I felt lucky and honored to be part of such a special day.