a big thumbs up to...

my beautiful creation!

-fresh, local carrots from the farmer's market
-an upcoming trip to Burlington and (hopefully) an apartment
-a new planner
-Color Me Mine: you choose colors and paint a pre-made pottery item, and they glaze/fire it for you!  so much fun!
-summer reading, just started book #14
-lots of beach trips
-lots of sleep
-LONDON 2012!!  opening ceremony in 2 days!
-eating gelato at Gorgeous Gelato in Portland

So, clearly, summer is lovely.  Here's to one more month of relaxation before real life begins!

happy fourth of july!

Slept in late, went to the beach/swam in the ocean, and read.  I'd call it a great holiday!

Here are some of my favorite songs I've been hearing a lot of on the radio this summer:
-I Won't Give Up by Jason Mraz
-The A Team by Ed Sheeran
-Where Have You Been by Rihanna
-Back in Time by Pitbull

Short post for now...be back soon.

food!

Yakitori

My elegant plating :)

Though the sunny side generally isn't a food blog, I wanted to share a few pictures from my latest cooking adventures.  Usually, I cook about once a week when I'm at home, but I'm not the most adventurous and kind of prefer to perfect a couple recipes.  This week, however, I branched out and tried a recipe for Yakitori from my mom's "The Best of Cooking Light, Everyday Favorites."  It was basically Asian-style chicken kabobs, marinated in a really good soy sauce/sake/ginger/garlic/sugar/red pepper mixture.  With assistance from my dad, we grilled them, and it was pretty delicious if I do say so myself.

On the menu for tomorrow night is a salad with:
-leafy greens
-grilled chicken
-goat cheese
-candied pecans
-blackberries
-dried cranberries
-balsamic dressing
I really like good salads so I'm looking forward to this one.

It has been really hot in Maine for the past two days, but I couldn't resist making some sweets.  NO BAKE COOKIES!!  And it just involved the stove, not the oven, so it didn't heat up our house too much.

In other news, I swam in the ocean for the first time this year on Wednesday.  It was a record-breaking 93 degrees in Portland, so a quick dip in the Atlantic was a nice way to beat the heat.  I'm excited to go a lot more before the end of the summer.  I also checked out a Sony ereader from our local public library.  I have been surprised by how much I like reading on it, and even though I love physical books, I might get one eventually.

It's off to the Sea Dogs, but happy second day of summer!

summah livin'

It has been almost 3 weeks since graduation...it actually feels like awhile since senior week and hanging out at Midd.  I've had a pretty relaxing summer so far, mostly consisting of catching up on sleep from my entire life, unpacking stuff in my room, and READING!

Here's my SUMMER READING LIST!! so far...
1.  Chemistry for Beginners
2.  Maine
3.  The Last Summer (of you and me)
4.  Interpreter of Maladies
5.  1Q84

1Q84 was a marathon of a book...925 pages and a pretty confusing/odd premise.  I enjoyed it though and am glad I read it.  Next up is some nonfiction to supplement my picks so far.

Here's a video: Edward Sharpe and the Magentic Zeroes recently released a new CD.  I haven't listened to all of it yet, but I really like the song Man on Fire.

Anyways, that's about all the excitement in my life now.  Here's to the summer!

less than a week until graduation?!?!?!!!

I'm getting rather sentimental and sad about graduating and going separate ways from my Midd friends.  So here's a list of things I'm psyched about:
-2 new dresses for senior week festivities (gotta love TJ Maxx)
-one last row on Dunmore tomorrow
-finally watching The Hunger Games
-soup in a bread bowl/Ben & Jerry's milkshake
-reading books for fun
-panther points/new Midd swag

Also, some entertaining links:
-One of my favorite newish songs, Brokenhearted by Karmin
-On the last episode of Glee, Dinosaur by Ke$ha!

I've been rather absent from my blog this semester, but I'm hoping to post more over the summer.  Here's to the end of something great and the start of a new chapter!

stressful week

One of the worst things: how life is pretty under control, and then all of a sudden everything hits at the same time.  This week is pretty nuts...but it's finally Wednesday meaning the weekend is in sight!

I'm SO SO SO excited for this weekend.  We're hosting the sectionals round of the NCAA D3 men's basketball tournament, meaning we are playing Friday night and maybe Saturday.  The games should be really fun.  It is also the Chili Festival in Middlebury, so much of my Saturday afternoon will be spent sampling chili.  And it's the 100 days party!!  But there are really ~80 days left until graduation, which I cannot believe.

Also spring ahead is on Sunday.  Usually this is my least favorite day, but I'm looking forward to having more sunlight in the evenings.

Courtesy of Robin: one of the cutest videos ever.  Sloths are the best.

Gotta go return to the homework, but with this insane 50+ degree weather, it's impossible not to be on the sunny side!  Happy end of the week!

Inspirational Song

I'm not the hugest Kelly Clarkson fan, but I do LOVE this song!!  What doesn't kill you makes you stronger.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xn676-fLq7I
Back to work, though I am super excited about the impending 3-5 inches of snow (knock on wood).