Thanks for joining me for one of the best parts of my month!

What I’ve Been Up To:

This past week especially, I’ve been on top of the world. We’re entering my absolute favorite time of the year. In my opinion, August-October in New England is top tier and cannot be beat.

Warm days, lower humidity than June and July, and the air starts to feel just a little bit crisp when the sun goes down. And when we’re in late September and it’s fall proper, we have the magic of the changing leaves.

If you’ve been following along for any length of time, you already know that I lovingly refer to this as pumpkin spice season. The late summer early fall combo makes up for everything else New England puts us through. 3 months of perfection is the reward for surviving this past winter’s icy clutches.

Dramatic? Maybe. But I said what I said. 😂

Even though pumpkin spice season is my absolute favorite, July was so good to me.

In business, I’ve been working hard behind the scenes to revamp a few things, and I’m already seeing some fruits of my labor. This is exciting and extra encouraging. Often, business is a marathon. You work and work and work and yes, you do see rewards. But they require patience. So any quick wins I savor!

I had the honor of capturing my very first fireworks proposal. Truth be told, this one had me sweating. I knew I could do it (and spoiler alert–I did! And it was awesome!) but there were so many things that could’ve gone wrong, so I couldn’t relax until it was over.

My old English degree and research skills really came in handy as I dug through newspaper archives to try and pull together answers for every question I had for parking, road closures, what was allowed and wasn’t allowed (police security is a lot for the Boston fireworks), timing, lighting, where to find a “not crowded” spot for an event that has 300,000-400,000 attendees each year. Thankfully, everything came together nicely, and every “what if” fear I had never materialized.

I’ve also been dipping my toes in the sand on the best beaches throughout the Cape, Martha’s Vineyard, and Plum Island. I captured two gorgeous summer weddings.

On the personal side, we’ve been enjoying the warmth. My kids regularly come into the house absolutely filthy, which means they’re doing something right. They love their water table and digging in my “garden,” which is a rather nice way of referring to the wild battle between the perennials the previous home owners planted and the weeds that I’m far too lazy to pull out happening in my yard.

We’ve enjoyed swimming in different pools, visiting with friends, eating too much ice cream, and even a slip and slide (the kids, not me. Be so for real!)

It’s been the perfect mix of leisure and community, and we’re so blessed we get to spend our days this way.

What I’ve Been Reading

I’m still poking my way through Elizabeth Gaskell’s North and South. Last month, I had just started. I’m three quarters of the way done, so I should be wrapping it up soon!

My reading time definitely goes down in the summer, so I’m a bit slower during this season. I’ve also been reading some different nonfiction options, so that takes time, too.

As far as North and South goes, I do like it. So far, I prefer Wives and Daughters, also by Gaskell, but that could change once I finally read the ending. I will say that the Duke ebook I’m using through my library has a lot of typos, so the actual reading process is pretty frustrating. Why Duke can’t get it right is beyond me! I don’t factor in these typos to my opinions of the book, but I do wish they would be fixed.

What I’ve Been Watching

Big Brother!!! It’s here!

This season I’ve learned that I absolutely cannot be trusted. All the players I thought I would love are driving me crazy, and players with the worst first impressions are hamming it up. Minus a few. I thought Kelley would make me insane, and I was right!

This season seems to address a lot of the complaints from previous years, and I’m hoping production will keep that momentum going for the whole season. The competitions have been equitable. They reworked the house design and truly went above and beyond with the theming and decor. I’ve never thought a house looked fun before, but the Hotel Mystère theme gives me FOMO. It looks like an Agatha Christie novel, and I want to experience it, too!

I also watched season 2 of DCC America’s Sweethearts on Netflix. I don’t think I could love Jada anymore, and I’m so glad we got so much of her story this season. And thank goodness those cheerleaders finally got a raise!

What I’m Excited About:

Here’s what’s on my list:

-A Boston Harbor Hotel wedding. I’m so excited for this one!

-A murder mystery dinner party with my college friends! I’ve never actually done one of these, so I know it’s going to be extra fun!

-A Lighthouse Inn wedding. Dennis has the best sunsets, so I know it will be pretty. Plus, this is easily my most relaxed couple of the whole season, so I can’t wait to celebrate with them!

-A New Hampshire bridal shower. I haven’t done a bridal shower in years, so I’m excited to do one again

-Homeschool pre-k curriculum prep. I decided that we need to actually get into some routines before kindergarten. This will be a big but exciting change for us. My order should deliver in the next few weeks, so I’m excited to start looking through the details and actually implement lesson plans. This will be the first time since 2021 that I’m going to use Planbook, so it’s all new and yet a blast from the past!

-This school year I’m teaching writing lectures at my church’s home school co-op. Another blast from the past! They’re once a month on Zoom. But I actually need to start outlining and planning again! I still have everything I’ve ever created from when I taught ninth grade English, so I’ll be digging through my old lesson plans to see what can be repurposed.

Until next time,

Christine