Happy Independence Day!

Somehow July 4 isn't as momentous when it falls in the middle of the week. Still, I can't complain about a day off work/ excuse to eat delicious food and drink outside all day.  Not that I need an excuse for a cocktail. (Seriously, my instagram feed is 90% food, cocktails and my cat)

I'll be going to not one, but two parties today! First a birthday backyard barbecue for my friend Kelly in Somerville, then fireworks and drinks on the beach in East Boston. I've go a killer outfit planned, a new swimsuit,  and two bottles of moscato chilling in the fridge, so I'm ready!

This is not the outfit I have planned, but it's the most patriotic outfit on my computer that you haven't seen, so here ya go!

How will you be celebrating today? 

Reluctant Bostonian

I don't think I can consider myself a blogger any more. I haven't posted on a regular schedule since last summer! Sometimes I'm just not into it. I get busy doing other things- my volunteer and organizing work, spending time with my man, diy manicures, watching marathons of The L Word on netflix... 

..and then I realize that it's been two weeks since I posted even though I have several outfit photos ready to go. These were actually taken about three weeks ago.

Outfit: Shirt and Jeans- Old Navy; Shoes- H&M

I want to thank everyone that has showed support for this amazing city I live in. It has been one hell of a few weeks. I know there are more horrific things going on all around the world all the time. I'm incredibly thankful to live somewhere where explosions and wild police chases are not the norm.

I didn't love this city when I moved here in December 2009. I figured I'd stay for 6 months, maybe a year, and then I'd move back to Austin, TX. Then I met Mike and made some awesome friends. I discovered the beauty of New England summers and autumns, and I fell in love. I stopped thinking about where I wanted to move next, and started thinking about which neighborhood I'd want to settle down in some day.

I'm proud to live here, and I'm not going anywhere anytime soon.

Close to Home

As I'm sure most of you know, there was a bombing at the finish line of the Boston Marathon yesterday. Here's a little bit of writing I did last night before bed to try and wrap my head around the tragedy.

 I've been trying for the past few hours to distract my mind from what happened today. What started this afternoon as a surreal feeling of disbelief has become a feeling of great heaviness on my heart. This is my home. I live a little more than a mile from where this event occurred. For almost two years I passed through the Copley area on my way to work every day.

Copley Square is one of my favorite places. Copley Square is a melting pot of tourists, corporate professionals, street musicians, students, and panhandlers. Copley Square is tall gleaming sky scrapers next to the marble pillars of America's first public library and the old brick of the Trinity Church. Copley Square is a public green space that hosts a farmers' market two evenings a week during the growing season. Copley Square is food trucks, demonstrations, city buses festivals, holiday lights, and ice sculptures. Copley Square is the heart of this city.

Copley Square is not explosion, blood, limbs, tears.

I was folding laundry when Mike very seriously called me into the living room to see something on the tv. What I saw was confusing. Helicopter images of a scene that was simultaneously familiar and completely unfamiliar. Boylston street with debris and blood stained sidewalks. Seeing familiar storefronts in images that look straight out of a war zone is incredibly jarring.

For the next few hours I connected with friends in and around the city via social media and text. My twitter and facebook feeds were aflame with "I'm okay" and "I'm safe" notices. I celebrated each one. I answered texts and phone calls from friends and family far away assuring them that Mike and I were home safe with no intentions of leaving. I learned that a friend was watching the race between the two explosions, and that she made it home safely. I looked at photos and video I probably shouldn't have. It took me almost 8 hours for it to really sink in, and then I cried like a baby.

This is my home. I am okay.