Week in photos

Ever notice how the week before a big event or vacation starts off so slow then disappears before you know what happened? That was me this week. G and I are taking off for Memorial Day weekend in Boston, followed by a week in Austin.

We are in a huge time crunch at work right now, as the H-1B visa cap is about to hit (eek!), so even though I came in early and stayed late I feel like I'm no where close to finishing all of my cases. On top of that today (Friday) was my last day in the office for over a week!

Here is my week in photos:

Monday

name sake

Tuesday

Lilly & Pearls

Eat dessert first

It's lobstaaaaah season

Wednesday

Ghost bike. I saw the accident on Saturday :(

Gifts from coworkers

Thursday

Fluffy cotton ball plant

Grecourt Gates from College Hall

New snapping turtle BFF

Friday

Morning walk to work

New haircut!

Commencement

This past weekend was a whirlwind of old friends, sunny weather, and heartfelt traditions. It was Smith's 134th Commencement. 

This weekend I got to see one of my former housemates, walk in the Ivy Day parade, witness my 4th Illuminations Night, and see all my Tyler House babies cross the stage to get their well-deserved diplomas and throw their caps in the air.

This year's graduation speaker was the one and only Jane Lynch, and while I have feelings that she could have been more inclusive (I'll get to that), it was an inspiring speech and perfect for the occasion.

My biggest qualm with Ms. Lynch's speech was that she pointed out her own insecurities and how uncomfortable she was in her own body, and then proceeded to only refer to the graduates as "ladies".

If you wikipedia Smith College, you will see it is the largest women's college in the country and one of the Seven Sisters. If you read a little further you might also see that it graduates women and men from their Master's program, at the same Commencement. If you google Smith College you will see that there were many articles about recent Transphobic comments and issues on campus and off that students were faced with. No one summed up my feelings better than my friend on his FB page (not sure if the link will work).

A simple tweaking of the speech is all it needed to make it appropriate for all graduates of the college. In fact Ms. Lynch could have just said "graduates" in place of "ladies" or even added "and non-ladies" afterwards. Smith College is a special place, and it's original mission was to provide a safe place for women to better their education, when it wasn't readily available in the country. I'd like to think that Smith's mission over the year has adapted to include other people typically shunned from other institutions of higher education or who did not feel safe, or able to learn in mainstream (i.e. co-ed) spaces. Smith has a long way to go before it is truly a safe place for all students, whether straight, gay, transgender, gender queer, and anything and everything in between.

At the end of the day, it was a beautiful ceremony and Ms. Lynch taught us all a good lesson on what to do when faced with a challenge in the improv comedy tradition. And also if "Life hands you lemons- your grab that bull by the horns and drive"

Marching in Ivy Day

Ivy Day signs

Prepped for Illuminations

Tyler House flag

I'm going to end this with some of my favorite pieces of Jane Lynch's speech:

You are obviously good planners, or you wouldn’t be here. Stop it! Stop it now! Don’t deprive yourself of the exciting journey your life can be when you relinquish the need to have goals and a blueprint. 

Accept the world for what it is, and at the same time, make it your own. I especially want you to make it your own. You are a particular variety of person, Ms. Smithie. You have spent the last four years in an environment that has encouraged you to be not just yourself, but your best self, your strongest self. 

Her speech can be found in its entirety here.

Have: A Perfect Day

Today was almost perfect... almost because I'm still missing G (he gets back tomorrow).. but I got to see good friends and I was very productive!

I slept in until 11 this morning, and then managed to finish the dishes, do the laundry, and vacuum all before 1pm! I finished the glitter banner I'm making for my bestie's bridal shower at the end of May, too!

Today was my town's 31st annual Pride Parade. I'm not going to get into politics on this blog, but I'll leave it at I love all my friends, and I'll support them no matter what. So I ventured down to the fair grounds (which are nice and close to my apartment) to get some sun and soak up the sights. 

I got a thank you card/gift card from my bosses (I am just that awesome) so I decided to go into town and buy some new candles. Growing up my mom never let me burn candles ("you'll burn the house down!") and I never could in college either. My home in college was built in 1898, and one of the house cheers mentions walls stuffed with hay... and the estimated burn time was under a minute. Needless to say, burning candles were not allowed. Since moving into my own apartment, and then my current place with G, we love to burn candles. We usually have one set up on our stove top/oven (nothing can catch on fire there) to light during dinner, or just to cleanse the air.

Since it was Pride, and a lot of tourists come into town for it, all the shops were super busy! We waited (patiently) in line for frozen yogurt (mango + strawberries + kiwi), and then went our separate ways.

I found some cute little items at Cedar Chest, including fancy soaps and little owls. They also have the same bowls I spotted at Nordstrom... so I might just need to go back and pick some of those up.

Fancy soaps! How cute are the eggs?!

More fancy soaps...

Owl friend!

 Then I got to go home and watch the Iron Lady with a nice cup of tea. I really enjoyed the movie, but I also love, love, love Meryl Streep.

Love: The Little Things

Last Saturday I dropped G off at the airport (lucky thing is in Hawaii with his family) and then did a little retail therapy. I drove down to Westfarms Mall in CT since they are the closest mall with a Nordstrom. I purchased a few awesome items, and then headed back into the real world just in time to catch the Kentucky Derby. Here are a few snapshots of my week:

Cute earrings from The Webster (!) for Target

New bowl from Anthropologie helps clean up my dresser

Stamping thank you tags fro my bff's bridal shower

Bowl inspiration at Nordstrom

A little fern family living in the rock wall

Little strawberries

The Fire Dept. was called to escort this duck family across the main intersection

Milly (!) for Sperry (!) found at Nordstrom

Delicious Vietnamese food with coworkers

G sent me this shot of a cute Hawaiian birdie

Needless to say I've spent a lot of this G-less week shopping. Can't wait to pick him up Sunday night!

Love: Derby Fashions

I may not be from the South, but there a whole bunch of Southern traditions and events I love. One of my favorite's is The Kentucky Derby aka the Run For The Roses.

I'm writing this as I watch the TWO hour lead up to the TWO minute race, and I was just thinking about if I ever get to go to the Derby (*cough*G*cough) what would I wear?

Well here are a few of my Derby Inspired choices:

Lilly Pulitzer, Serafina dress, $198

LP Franco dress, $228

LP Kelley dress, $198

LP Isabel dress, $238

Marley Lilly, $30

Marley Lilly, $36

Christine A. Moore Candida, $550 via

Giovannio Bridgette, $129 via

Plaza Suite Bristol, $160, via

If you're looking for a good MINT JULEP recipe the official Kentucky Derby one can be found on their website. I also found this one which people (aka the internet) seem to like: allrecipes.

I'm putting my money on I'll Have Another, because that is my kind of horse.

ED: AHHHHHH my pick won!! I'm so excited! Too bad I never bet money because I'm a scaredy cat.