Happy Trails

I had a little bump in the road with the old "one big hike per week" resolution—a bump that my new physical therapist thinks is compressed discs in my mid-back. Wow, way to make me feel old, body—thanks!


So I took two weeks off to speed some healing and I just got back to going on "real" hikes yesterday. I was pressed for time, so I just did a little one—South Sugarloaf in Deerfield, MA. I have to say, there's nothing that makes you feel more self-conscious than hiking and huffing and sweating to the top of a hill and then mingling with all the folks who drove up the mountain road to the summit. The attraction of Sugarloaf is a nearly-iconic view of the Connecticut River valley, the Holyoke mountain range, and the patchwork of fields in between.


As I wound my way up the smallest, narrowest spiral staircase I've ever been on to the top of the observation tower, a charming older man below me said to his friend, "I bet this is lots of fun when a girl in a miniskirt is above you!" Yes, I'm sure that makes for a grand time all around. Then, as we shared the 5x5 foot square deck, one of the (old, chubby) charming men pointed to a man nearing the summit on the road—"Look at him, he jogged up here." His friend said "Eh, jogging is bad for your knees." Truer words have never been spoken by an old dude who drove his car up to the top of a 700ft hill to take in the view.

Sparkly!

So I've kinda been neglecting my little bead-n-stuff destash shop, LuluBeads. But I've got so many supplies that I can't possibly ever use--it's time to refill the shop. And looky here! Gorgeous cubic zirconia stones, tons and tons of 'em, just waiting for someone to incorporate them into some PMC or artclay or metalwork projects. Plus, aren't these pix hotttt? I want to blow them up and put them above my desk or something. If you make jewelry, come by and see what I've got in the shop!

Book Review

In today's New York Times Book Review, my father's memoir. We knew the book was assigned for review several months ago; my mom and I had given up hope that the review would run. But low and behold, here it is. And as my mom said, "boy, did that reviewer sure have Bob's number." Especially that part about the Morphine haze! Oh, if she only knew.

My dad would have been ecstatic to see this review. Please excuse me while I shed a few tears—grief and pride, combined.

the living is easy

Finally, it's summer. Hot, hazy, humid. Just in time for the back-to-school push.


I celebrated this past weekend with a music festival. Outdoors + Josh Ritter = swoooooon. The first ever MASS MoCA music festival was really quite nice. Great food (and totally reasonably priced, to boot) and local BBC beer on tap. Carleen and I found a spot on the grass and spread out a blanket. The mill architecture was brilliantly lit. When Josh came on to close out the fest, we abandoned the blanket and parked ourselves front-and-center. The only disappointment? He didn't do "Kathleen." Boo to that. (Oh, and for Carleen, it was spotting the wedding ring on his hand.) But all in all, a lovely way to spend a summer Saturday.

Holy mother of all sales

Okay, you know I have a deep, deep love of all things Bailey Doesn't Bark. Seriously, I think RJ is this --><-- close to taking out a restraining order on me and my effusive, loving mouth (that sounded gross, but I think you know what I mean). Holy shiznit, people, she's having a 50% off sale right now! On EVERYTHING. She's off to Ireland so everything will ship in a few weeks when she's back. But holy cow. I think I did well, I only bought 3 things. But then I emailed my mother and told her what she needed to buy.

There's a coupon code involved, you'll have to click on over to the announcement on Heart Handmade to see the deets. Then shop till you can't breathe!

Super Summer Sale!

The goldenrod is out, the cicadas are droning.... It's time for the late summer Clementine clearance! I've got so much cool stuff waiting for its fall debut, but first I've got to make some room. So I've put a large number of items on sale, some up to 40% off! Come treat yourself or someone you love—everything here is on sale.

Flowers make everything better.

These flowers are for you, my sweet blog readers. Because they're lovely. Because you've been so kind with your comments recently! Because summer is so fleeting. Because I have A TON OF PHOTOS OF FLOWERS IN MY IPHOTO. I might be slightly obsessed with taking pictures of flowers. Also, did I mention they're lovely? :)

Stamp Envy

I got a package from Finland recently. The stamps were the most amazing I'd ever seen. I had no idea stamps could be sexy. Those crazy Scandanavians! They are so frickin' cool. I'm seriously considering framing this envelope. Such a shame they had to be run through the machine. Though the cancel gives them a certain rock-'n-roll vibe, I guess. Or street cred?