Amherst

My husband spent all last week taking a really great Master Class on painting at Amherst College. His last day was on Sunday, so I went up a day early to check out the town and campus.
I visited all the cute little shops on the main drag (got this awesome wooden bracelet - I'll have to get a picture of it), had a yummy breakfast at one of the cafes, treated myself to some very nice Riesling at a restaurant called La Tabella, and saw a movie at their tiny little theatre (I saw And Then She Found Me, which was not what I expected and totally depressing - you've been warned).

The campus is absolutely breathtaking. There are mountains in the distance, beautiful green fields, ridiculously gorgeous architecture, and even a perfect sledding hill! That weekend was also the Taste of Amherst festival. I had some pork and leek dumplings which were amazing. I also wanted to get on this cool trampoline meets bungee jumping contraption, but we got rained out! (You can see the ominous clouds in the above picture). I was so bummed!

It's definitely a place I want to go back to for a day trip. I'd love to go hiking while I'm there too. If you have any suggestions on things to do in Amherst, let me know!

Isn't this the coolest table?

Gardening

I was doing a bit of gardening and a friend decided to come along for the ride.Here are the latest flowers in our garden:

And best of all, we've picked fresh strawberries from our garden, which we sliced, sugared up, and ate with angel food cake. YUM!

Pink peonies

I went over to the community garden plot last night and picked about 6 huge peonies. They are beautiful! There's a plot that's been abandoned because its owner recently passed away. We've been told that we can take the peony bushes and plant them in our own plots and I may do just that. The blooms are spectacular. I made an arrangement for the dining room table:
And another for the upstairs bathroom:
The blooms are so fragrant too. It's wonderful to walk by them and smell their soft perfume.

Long time no post

It's been a long time since I've posted. These past couple of months have been pretty...dramatic to say the least. I'm in the process of trying to go freelance (my "real" job, you know) because I really want the flexibility. That's taken up a few of my weekends, working other jobs, networking at conferences, assisting orientations for various organizations, etc. Hopefully soon I'll be able to do my work from any place and at whatever time! I can hardly wait.

I've also been undergoing a bit of a strange and unexpected phase in my life. Turns out I am quite possibly perimenopausal. I've gotten all the usual symptoms (for any of you out there who get hot flashes, black cohosh is AMAZINGLY effective!) and it's quite possible that it's going to be significantly difficult for my husband and I to have children. Mind you, I'm 31. Yeah, and already going through menopause. Not fun, let me tell ya. It's been pretty much an emotional roller coaster.

Needless to say, I haven't had the time or ambition to do anything crafty, but I'm hoping to change that this week. Kurt (kurtankeny.com) is currently in Amherst, Mass, taking a painting course and will be gone all week. Amherst is a beautiful town so I'm going to go up there a day early to explore and see what I discover! Meanwhile, I plan to do some serious crafting. Get ready, get set, gooooooooooooooooooooo!