newport, rhode island - you are so glam

 at one point someone mentioned that rhode island had great mansions which triggered my memory of being told about them in my interior design class which made me obsessed with going and seeing them. john was real kind to go along with my sudden urge to drive down to newport for this experience and it was just so nice! we walked all along the cliff walk and just enjoyed the beautiful coast, mansions, and graffiti'ed signs that at the time seemed so funny to us. 

so in the case that you don't think you will ever hit up newport, it looks a little like this:

how much do we love that tunnel?!

good rocks for self-timing

sometimes i felt like i was in hawaii which is ironic since i've never been there

(just creepin some wedding ceremony prep from the back)

crappy photo through the fence of the rosecliff mansion

 the sign haha

they, whomever they may be, just drew a different picture on every caution sign. it kept everyone (us) entertained. 

even the fences were the prettiest!

 this photo above would be the breakers mansion. i had never heard of it before but apparently it is a big deal? it was a sunday so we just walked around but next time i go i will definitely pay to go inside of those bad boys because i hear they are AWESOME. 

so many good pink flowers

hey atlantic ocean

 maybe i had to go to the bathroom so it was difficult to do the whole pose thing 

 why am i five? i just laughed and laughed at this.

(which i shouldn't because vandalism is bad)

forty steps that make you feel like you are walking to a fortress 

don't even know if these pictures do the place justice but i think you get the idea

..it is pretty.

 and then if the cliff walk wasn't dreamy enough the little neighborhood surrounding it was just the loveliest!

and so green. and well-kept.

gimme this backyard

and this forest mansion!

aaaand that is all the pictures i have to show to you.
so what i'm trying to say with all of this is just go to newport! and then tell me when you go so i can come with you. okay? okay. 

a slight break from catch up time

to tell you how funny this is to me. 

oh our poor generation! heaven help us. 

that chicago song they played at the end of the bachelorette got me so good.

i just need to start blogging things sooner than two months after they happen so this post is going to be a mess, it is going to be long, but we are going to just do it, get through it, and then be done with it. 

deep breath k go!

i bought some adult j.crew clothing and liked this quote from jeffrey r. 

maren has a projector so i showed her the beauty of parks and rec one rainy afternoon and another day we had a roommate breakfast for aubrey's day of birth.

these girls know how to DANCE. and the girl whose peace sign fits around my eye perfectly is the little sister of a girl i was in the mtc with! it is a small small mormon world. 

so many birthdays and huge dogs who think they are small enough to fit on one's lap.

it loved raining for days and days in june. one day that it wasn't i saw this classy lady riding down the street with flowers in hand and a baguette in her bike basket and i just need to be her when i grow up.

sometimes in order to have roommate bonding time i just bring my entire desktop computer out into our living room. thanks for being so transportable imac!

i went to my first red sox/major league baseball game. one day it was freezing in june.

these two things happened on the same day so we froze. i mostly enjoyed seeing the pretty skyline, that ice cream in a hat, and singing sweet caroline. 

my walk to harvard square every morning is just dreamy.

one time i bought striped tom's and when i got home there were red ones in the box. 

john the trickster definitely had already bought me red ones before i bought the striped ones so he snuck them home and thought it would be funny to switch the shoes so i would be confused - which i very much was. 

at times i remember that i live in a great area with lots of great grass to sit outside and shade from the million trees to not sweat to death. this day i just laid out, wrote in my journal, and read my scriptures. it was nice. 

whose photography is just being used on taiwanese institute posters? oh just mine. nbd.

just found this magical forest near my work one day. 

and this great diner less than a mile from my house! 

nicest saturday morning near the harbor :

big moments included giving this crazy obama lady a ride to work and momma jan joining instagram!

also, getting big girl running shorts and going to newport rhode island. i'll talk more about newport another day.

free passion pit concert tickets from work friend!

(please notice how it says "rain or shine" - they were being honest when they wrote that. it was definitely pouring rain and we sat there for two hours while we waited for the power outage to be over haha)

there were so many weed smoking braces babies around us, including these neon pink cuties. i had to take a picture of them so when i'm a parent i can remember them and make sure my girls are nothing like them or the boys they were with. kids are so crazy these days! other than getting all efy counselor on them in my brain, the concert was great and passion pit is just a real fun band to listen/dance to. 

nicest saturday morning near the harbor #2: 

street performer bf's

i always like this building when i pass it

i've had a dream ever since the weather got nice to eat at a restaurant in little italy whose windows open up to make it seem like it is outdoors. by some stroke of luck we got the table right by the window and just like that my dream came true!

free sailing on the charles

and then back to haymarket for more goods. 

for the record that cantaloupe was gross and it was sad.

that night we got completely rained on and then headed to an acoustic night which was lovely.

i just hung out with this mccall friend all day and can i just say i really like her!

we finished off the night by watching 'ten things i hate about you' (which has way more sexual innuendo than i ever remember it having) while eating blackberry ice cream with cinnamon sugar pita chips. i need that dessert combo back in my life asap.

one night i skyped with kim and scott for a good 3+ hours. it was awesome. 

another night we sat on our porch while it just poured and listened to the lightning and thunder. i need to do that more often, it was the best.

i get to see some pretty great sunsets over the charles every day 

just being a runner.

those roses and drink belonged together.

i like roommate time.

helped friend nat move out of her apt and got to steal her chair, nightstand, and lamp so my room isn't looking so sad these days!

i caught up with ashlie mills for hours after not really talking since i've been in boston. we just laughed and talked and laughed and talked some more. such a nice friend, that ashley girl. 

maren and i went to the beach one day finally
(just a cute little one that is near our hour with free parking even!)

i need this to happen one hundred more times before the summer ends. 

one day i told john that i would just die if bottlecaps (the candy) came out with a package of just rootbeer and cola flavored bottlecaps. within a week or two of saying this i received a package of four bottles full of rootbeer and cola bottlecaps. this guy is like a fricken genie. 

more maren time after the beach.

we rode our bikes downtown and i finally went through the esplanade 

(which is just a super dreamy park right off of the charles river)

we spent the next five hours keeping our friend amber company at the hospital. boo to kidney stones! she had a great view though. and after we got to see a million sailors for harbor week so that was fun.

maren just loving all the tourists

i really miss being on a bike all the time! i need it to happen more often. 

and a little scandelous treat left over from the beach to end this random post. 

hey 88 pictures later, get out of here june!