109 - saturday

I am in love with August and all the summer bounty it has to offer.  brought these beautiful heirloom tomatoes home from this morning's farmer's market.

the green one was mighty ripe and so I sliced it up on the spot, topping each slice with a dollop of my mom's famous pesto.  mmm.

107 - thursday

I went to IKEA today, to buy a few things and finally (2 months later!) get our apartment furnished and finished.

fact: IKEA alone is no fun.  it involves varsity multiple-cart-steering maneuvers.

it involves carrying very heavy boxes (marked "team lift") to my second-floor apartment, alone.  then, putting together the contents of said boxes, while sweating like a man because it's 97 degrees and a bazillion-percent humidity outside.  but IKEA alone also has it's perks:

bragging rights to having put this beauty together all by myself.  I don't know why the picture is weird and grainy.  but I'm immensely pleased with the result!

105 - tuesday + 106 - wednesday

what does the collective joy of four grad students finally done with their summer research practicum look like?

wednesday night update: we are really done.  final report submitted.  onto a month-long vacation! that's what's up.

happiness is...

...my wonderful boyfriend, safely home from his deployment!  welcome back, I love you!

104 - monday

to distract myself from the facts that

1. t is landing in the united states (home! USA!!!!!) sometime VERY soon, and
2. my practicum research team is presenting tomorrow morning (aka, VERY soon) and we still have a scary ton of work left to do,

I bought these. from here. 

and I'm not calling this what it is and that's the end of it.  om nom nom.  

103 - sunday

this morning, I went for a run on the blackstone river bikeway.

the path is absolutely stunning - it winds in and out of the woods, through three towns, and is flanked on both sides by the blackstone river and its estuaries.

I am already dreaming of leaf-peeper runs on crisp fall mornings.  ahh.

102 - saturday

tonight was beachfest, my family's annual reunion.  I hadn't planned on attending because of all the research work I have to do before tuesday.  I spent four hours holed up in the library this afternoon with my team.  eventually we decided that being inside on such a perfect day was a violation of our souls and that, since we weren't getting anywhere productive, we should break for the day.  

I'm glad we did.  I made it down to the beach in time for a preemptive celebration of my grandfather's 80th birthday (technically, it's in november, but we celebrated now because everyone was together).  nearly 75 of my relatives were in attendance.  quality time with my family (who have been grossly neglected since I sold my soul to grad school) was a wonderful way to spend saturday night.  

my grandparents and their five kids. my mama is furthest to the right!

papa and me