picture book

good morning! how was the long weekend? sam and i left to head back to the city super early yesterday morning, but caught bad traffic and a lot of bad luck and i ended up racing, late, to work, and not having a chance to blog. so today's a little catch-up - aka, a major photo dump. but if you make it to the end, you'll find out who won my contest! yes, blackmail! employed, for the first time, here in blog form.

saturday morning, bright and much too early, i hopped on an amtrak to new london, connecticut, ate corned beef hash in a diner, lugged my bags to a salvation army for a bit of shopping, and then caught the ferry to block island. it was a really gorgeous ride.









there i met up with sam and our friends haley and julie and hit the beach for awhile (hit the beach, aka pass out on a beach blanket for a couple of hours) before heading back to julie's parents' place to drop off our stuff then pick up food for dinner. fish market to grocery store, we feasted on oysters, clams casino (a delectable concoction of clams, red peppers, bacon and white wine,) and a leek and goat cheese galette. . . and lots of wine.




the next morning we picked up sam and haley from fishing and hit a yard sale, then changed into our suits and went down to the bluffs. it was sooo beautiful - hot but breezy, sunny but not unbearably so; i think so many tourists had decided to skip the island after the hurricane, assuming the worst, that it wasn't too crowded anywhere and we pretty much got our pick of beach. sam and i fished up and down the coast, soaked in some sun, then headed back home to pack up and take the ferry back to newport.








we grabbed lobster rolls and clam strips, smuggled a couple of pbr and snuggled up on the ferry for the ride back; there we climbed in sam's car and drove up to newport to see our buddy johannes, who was just finishing up a shift as a chef in a restaurant downtown when we arrived. we joined him for a beer, then two, a shot of whiskey, a couple more beers, another whiskey. . . and so on, before stumbling back to his apartment, where i quickly zonked out on the couch but sam, johannes, and his sister sarah chatted for a couple more hours. needless to say we slept in, late, and required a very greasy breakfast in the morning.




our bunkmate for much of the night, rex.

after some bacon and eggs, we packed up the car once again and headed to a beautiful pond not too far from the apartment. sam and johannes both snagged a couple fish apiece, but i wasn't having any luck so i took photos of the scenery instead. take that, nature.






after fishing, we grabbed some groceries and invited over old friends mike and katie for a big family dinner; johannes crafted a delicious fish soup with some of sam's catch, and i made some marinated zucchini and heirloom tomato crostini with ricotta and pear & almond cream puff pastry for dessert.

it was really a pretty perfect weekend. i'm not sure anywhere is as beautiful as new england this time of year, and getting to see so many friends (and eat so many good meals) in a few short days is pretty much my idea of heaven. a relaxing vacation it wasn't, but it was a perfect end to the summer.



and, the winner of the loehmann's giveaway is. . .



heather of 29 skirts! i internet-love heather so i'm so happy for her! heather, email me your address and info and i'll have this shipped right out to you. and thanks so much to everyone for entering - i loved seeing what you're eyeballing for fall, and now i can steal all of your ideas and be the most stylish girl in brooklyn. bwahahaha! just kidding. OR AM I?!

tell me what you did for your long weekend! staycation? go out of town? anything epic? i am very much looking forward to a quiet weekend or two at home. . . in a couple of weeks, after fashion week comes and goes.

xo audrey