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When I was young summer meant two things, week at the Jersey shore and two weeks in Beaver Meadow. As an adult I have had to make vacation decisions and my recent trips have taken me to far off places like China and New Zealand, leaving little time for the shore and upstate NY. This year I am kicking it old school. M&I are at the Jersey shore for a week with some family. Morning runs, days relaxing on the beach, evenings biking to get ice cream. While I love getting the chance to explore far off wonders, there is something to be said for being somewhere familiar. I have a chance to unwind, take a break and not feel like I might miss something if we aren’t constantly on the go. Breathe in. Breathe out. I could get used to this.

From first through eighth grade I wore a uniform. Green plaid every day of the week. It made getting dressed in the morning easy, but it sure did get boring. I can remember how excited I was in seventh grade when I could wear a skirt instead of a jumper. That is how bad it was. Sheena Matheiken has taken wearing a uniform in a whole new direction. Starting with seven identical dresses, one for each day of the week, Sheena will be creating an outfit with “accessories and all kinds of accouterments, the majority of which will be vintage, hand-made, or hand-me-down goodies” as a year long fundraiser for The Akanksha Foundation. You can see each of her outfits on her daily blog. If you are a fashion designer you may be able to collaborate with Sheena to create an outfit or donate your accessories. I only with I could have personalized my uniform like this!

Today I got a call from someone at Chipotle. I knew before I picked up the phone thanks to caller ID and figured it was a sales call. Ugh. Well boy was I wrong! They were calling to let me know that my business card had been picked and I won a free lunch for 3 people! Yeah! I placed the order online (which was so easy and that is totally how I plan to do it from now on) grabbed my coworker and met M. When we got there the manager had all the people working there cheer for me. It was very cute. I heart free lunch.

I don’t want to sound too much like an infomercial here, but I have to say I am pretty jazzed about a new app from my iPhone called Cardstar. I am constantly losing and forgetting my rewards cards because I flat out refuse to have them on my keychain. It is a designer thing. I do carry a few that I use all the time in the change compartment of my wallet but there are still plenty to fall in the seat cushions, clutter my desk, and collect dust behind the dresser. I loaded up the cards from my wallet (I will have to search out and dust off the others) and I am ready to test it out. The reviews suggest that an anti-glare screen protector (check!) will help and that I may have to adjust my brightness. Hopefully brightness control within the app will be on the way soon. Now when I am fishing around for change I won’t have to dump out my cards as well. via

The subway is one of the most stressful parts of NY, in my opinion. People pushing and shoving and taking up more than one seat and flapping their paper in your face. Especially after work things are just too much to handle. In order to delay this torture a bit I have started walking. At first I walked to a subway stop just under 2 miles away, then a stop just over 2 miles away, then to a stop just over 2 1/2 miles away. The next jump was a big one. The stop 2 1/2 miles away is the last in Manhattan so now I am walking across the Brooklyn Bridge! That makes my trip 4.6 miles and although I still have to take the subway for a few stops, it is later in the evening and it isn’t nearly as crowded. Now that the days are longer I would like to get to the point where I walk all the way home, which is almost 8 miles. I will just keep walking one stop further until I get to that point.

My most favorite herb is rosemary. I have been known to use it in just about everything from pork to potatoes to green beans to popovers to roast chicken…. if it is savory, I have thrown in rosemary. I have to say, I have never used it in a cocktail. This vodka rosemary lemonade fizz sounds like a most delicious, refreshing summer beverage. I drink a lot of seltzer and I am always looking for something to make it a little more exciting. For me this is probably too much sugar so I will have to play with the proportions a bit and maybe even make a simple syrup separate from the lemon rosemary syrup without sugar so that I can adjust as necessary. Vodka will be optional.

This is the year I am going to get a bike to replace my Specialized Hardrock that was stolen a few years back. I have been way too sad to even think about it not to mention when I have been Upstate I have been working, not biking. Now that we have our little cabin in the woods I don’t have to work quite as hard and I can plan for some fun things like biking the rail trail or into town. I am pretty excited about the idea of having a bike again. Shopping for a bike is way different now that it was in 2001. There is this whole class of bikes called comfort bikes. Perfect! What is a comfort bike? As far as I can tell it is a bike that has a seat that is lower than the handlebars (no more leaning!) and the woman’s versions are step through which is good for me because I have short legs. At the moment this Specialized is the front runner mostly because I love the look. It is nice to see that not all women’s bike’s have to come in pastel colors with flowers. I will definitely be test driving before I buy. I am a designer, but I am not crazy!

When you watch this clip, I dare you not to get chills, I dare you not to tear up. I don’t want to spoil it for you, so just go ahead and watch. I have never ever seen American Idol and before this I would have told you have I have no interest whatsoever in Britain’s Got Talent. Susan, if you are reading this, you rock!

For those of you that don’t already know, I am going to be an aunt this August and I can’t wait to totally spoil the little squirt! I have been seeing adorable knitting patterns all over the internet and I can wait to dust off my needles and get to clacking. Yes, I admit my knitting needles have been neglected for a while. This hat is just too cute not to post and best of all the pattern is free! Back to your regularly scheduled non-baby posts. via

When I was a little girl I loved Wonder Woman. Who wouldn’t? The magic lasso, the bullet deflecting bracelets, the fantastic costume, and she was an amazon princess. I was one of the very luckly to have a set of Wonder Woman underoos which meant I could run around pretending to use my magic lasso on my little sister. Someone else must miss those days as much as I do because now you can buy Wonder Woman underwear in adult sizes! These are actually much nicer since they are 100% cotton and I am pretty sure underoos were a 100% flammable material you would never wear today. If you buy today you can get 20% off with code SPRINGAHEAD thanks to the ladies at Rare Bird Finds.