He had a great time!  Looked a little in need of a good scrubbing, but tanned and happy.

As the flag was lowered ending another week of camp, the Scouts stood at attention. My son got three merit badges and came away with tales of swimming great distances and hikes and his special pocket knife and how he said after Wednesday "I didn't see any point in changing my socks."  Oh that's what I smelled on the ride home.

On our way out of town we saw this cute pottery barn and stopped in to check it out.  Completely quaint, charming and unique. A real pottery barn...not like the one in the Mall with glass doors and air conditioning.

When I see a joyful display like this it makes me want to try something very bold in my own "barn".

Two Perfect Days

With my youngest son in Scout Camp it was the official start of my vacation week.  More of a mental stay-cation sort of thing but a nice break from "will you make me a smoothie" and "I'm hungry" and "can I have a friend over?"...and the words that kept coming out of my mouth..."you have been on the computer for two hours!"

Off I went to meet my friend, Peg, and enjoy an absolutely, positively perfect 10 of a day.  We've had the heat, we've had the rain but this week 80 degrees and low humidity moved in...aahh.

We took in the craft fair at www.yankeehomecoming.com and then a boat ride along the marshland in the harbor.  Transforming.  What a difference it makes to get off the land for however long (in this case it was an hour ride) feel the wind off the water and be needed for nothing.

Then a nice stop for dinner.

The annual road race went by right outside our restaurant window.

This beautiful old maritime town was transformed in the late 1970's and early 1980's.  

It is a charming combination of brick and cobblestone walks, unique restaurants and hip high school kids with fun colors in their hair and black Converse sneakers.  You can go into a dimly lit bar for a cold beer or spent a lot of money at a destination waterfront restaurant.

Or what I think is best of all...bring a picnic and sit in the park and check out one of the prettiest views on the North Shore.

It is my hometown that I do not live in, Newburyport, Massachusetts.
I declare my love.
I am happier every time I go.
I have 20 years of memories through all the seasons.
Kids, boats, fireworks, pumpkins, craft fairs, amazing window boxes, pizza, coffee, bagels at Abraham's, Winfrey's Candies...I could go on and on.  

Back down the road to my "actual" hometown of Reading.  Taking another great day of memories with me.

The second of the perfect days was the first one to have "Beach Day!!!" written on the calendar.  I had not gone yet this season, Ronan doesn't love the beach and would prefer to go swimming in my brother's pool and I usually go with that...  But Carter wasn't working and said he would come to Maine with me.  That sweet beach air on the Maine Shore is restorative. York Beach is only about an hour from home but I always need everything but the kitchen sink.  Food, change of clothes, couple of towels, books, magazines, etc. My comfort.

Next to me is this chic couple who brought nothing more than a towel and sunglasses.  I was shamed.

And shamed again when my erudite son pulled out his book "The Remains of the Day", reading not for school, not because it is assigned, but for his own pleasure.

This is my book.  Life is serious enough.  I like fluffy, happy, British novels if I am being honest.  But when your own kid laughs at your choice of beach read, you cringe just a little.

But being handsome will only get you so far when your mom beats you 3 games out of 3 in Skee-Ball, brother!

Finishing up the day with a must-stop at the legendary Goldenrod for taffy and what turned out to be quite a long ride home due to an accident on the road out of town.
I am learning to take your vacation where you can find it.  It doesn't always have to be a big planned out trip, stay-cation doesn't have to be just a "poor man's" version of a vacation.  In summer, wonderful things are happening around every corner and no matter what the budget, there is something for all of us.

Summer Crush

Am I late to this party?  For lovers of it already, the answer is YES! 
But I am having a serious summer crush on Fiestaware. 
Gorgeous colors and everything you put in it makes you look like a pro.
http://www.kohls.com/catalog/fiesta.jsp?CN=4294874671&pfx=pfx_google_roi&cid=tbnfiesta&gclid=CJjNnoCyyLgCFUmk4AodTXoAng&gclsrc=aw.ds

The Walt Disney Effect

They were doing construction on an area at Epcot in DisneyWorld this past Spring.  The blank walls were filled with quotes from Walt Disney.  Couldn't take my eyes off this one...
"The way to get started is to quit talking and begin doing."

So I made little changes and listened to advice from professional bakers who told me if you want to be a better baker, you have to bake - a lot.  So I rolled up my sleeves and got busy.

I ordered cupcake boxes from http://www.webstaurantstore.com/, started reading great baking blogs and watched a lot of youtube videos on cake decorating.  I baked for everything that I could, teacher luncheons, parties, friends and family.

And one day I got an email with a cupcake order.   A real order!  It was for a baby shower.  And then I tackled my first order for a tiered cake, and then another.  I just finished another order for five dozen cupcakes.  And so I can't help but notice that it's really happening.

Now whether this will turned into a big old baking business or not, even to get to this point I consider a great achievement, a bucket list item...

So I keep taking little steps like putting it out there on a business card.

And here's my first big paycheck!  I know it kind of looks like it's floating, but that is just a weird way the tablecloth was wrinkled in the middle, it's kinda funny.  So what I learned is that I really love to bake and I learned that loving it isn't enough when you are in the muddy middle and you have to make a whole other batch of Italian Meringue Buttercream because your crumbcoat is showing on one side. Or when you have been standing on your feet for four hours but have only walked the five feet from the oven to the KitchenAid Mixer (God Bless THAT inventor) to the refrigerator and back and forth and back and forth and...

You have to have tenacity to see it through. And so Mr. Disney, you have motivated and inspired yet another person on this earth.  It is not all Cinderella fairy-dust, achieving these goals, but so gratifying to stay the course.  The pans are all put away now, mixer back in the corner, decorating bags, tips and food coloring tucked back in the cabinet waiting for the next inspiration.

Boot Kickin' at Fenway Park

Another stop on the summer tour.  Oh boy do we have a boot kickin' good time, Julie and me.  We've traveled from shed to shed, but it was thrilling to see Jason Aldean right in Fenway Park.  It's only been a few years that they have opened the Park up to rock bands and although The Stones, Springsteen, Aerosmith and Jimmy Buffett have all played there, Jason Aldean was the first headlining country act.  So exciting!  We might be Northerners, but we are country at heart.

Jason Aldean was the headliner and Miranda Lambert opened for him.  There was not a spare seat and the beer selling records were broken on these two summer nights.

Jason's tour was called "Night Train"...so cool.
 
My kinda party.

Like minded gal.  On this night at Fenway, cowboy hats were traded for baseball caps.

Nat Geo Pic

Perhaps the most unlikely photograph I have ever taken.
Early last Sunday morning, I was delighting that the 5, 8, 10 day - who knows how long it lasted, I was delirious - heatwave had finally broken.  While the air was still not terribly cool, it was dry.  While I was puttering around something kept catching my eye.  I couldn't figure out for the life of me what the heck it was.  A bug?  A bee?  A bird?  What the?
My facebook friends came to my rescue with the answer.  It is a Hummingbird Moth.  And a couple of people even said that they only come around really great gardens.  Little pat on the back.  Makes me feel good for all of the babysitting required for any garden in the summer, especially keeping it alive in a heatwave.

Ok, so back to the pic.  Once I realized it was a fairly unique winged thing, I ran in to get my camera.  I took about 10 photos that were quite blurry, changed my setting to "action" and got this in a single shot before it flew away.  Oops, gotta go, there's the phone.
 Nat Geo calling.