SOME THINGS TO DO IN CENTRAL PARK

here's some things we like to do in central park on a sunday afternoon.

. . . admire the views . . .

. . . have stroller races . . .

. . . go off-roading . . . 

. . . enjoy the boats at the boat basin . . .

. . . commune with some trees . . .

and now you know!

happy labor day weekend!

some things i enjoyed this week:

i'm not a morning person, but this is the most romantic thing! makes me want to use my mornings with purpose from now on.

liz stanley makes the raddest totes. 

i've been practicing this mini crown braid--i'm determined to get it down!  

i spent the afternoon at murray's cheese shop today and came home with one of these slates, plus a jar of honey made from a rooftop hive here in manhattan, of all places! it's really good, too.

perfect floppy felt hat for fall: found.

and some things i wrote elsewhere this week:

the scariest rides at disneyland? 

what you should be buying at forever 21 right now!

how to rock a center part (i've been trying!) (maybe not successfully?)

would you wear a poncho? 

aaaaaand, huck's blog!

HELL'S CANDY STORE, PLUS VIDEO, QUESTION MARK?

this is a post about the hell's kitchen candy scene. you know, it's pretty hopping.

brandon came home from work the other night all excited about this new candy place in hell's kitchen that he sometimes passes as he walks home from work. 

"it's a video candy store? i don't know what that means. but let's check it out!"

once we got there brandon told me we were going to split up and pick out our favorite old school candies, then meet at the register for some kind of something or other. i don't know, he's really cute though. "i already know what i'm going to get!" he said as he and huck zoomed off to the corner of the store. he was really excited. i sort of had the feeling like it was a test. how cool is your favorite vintage candy? not to be weird about it, but brandon has five whole years on me. five whole years of COOLNESS. any time anything comes up about old songs or old tv shows or old candies he always lords it over me like i couldn't POSSIBLY remember it because YOU'RE TOO YOUNG to be COOL.

i mean, work that as long as you can, brandon you old fogie. 

a video candy store is a really strange concept, but that's okay. you keep on, hell's kitchen.

p.s. i chose the cigarette candy -- because it's the greatest.

and sour strawberry belts, too, aka THE BEST CANDY EVER.

AND THEN SOMETIMES YOU GOTTA GO TO THE RENAISSANCE FAIRE

the holbrooks LOVE a good fair. county fair, state fair, hemp fair, don't matter. we love them all, the cheesier the better. 

our little town in idaho held a renaissance fair every year that we attended rain or shine. (and it was always raining. we called it the rain fair, you know, cause we're funny.) moscow was a perfect storm of shakespeare and nerdiness, so the ren fair was especially good. there was a thriving community of duelers in town who'd show up to east city part twice a week in a truck rigged out to look like a castle--complete with drawbridge!--which would then unload a large group of chain mail warriors and busty fairy wenches onto the lawn for giant battles. wooden swords covered in foam, iambic pentameter, potions and spells, the whole nutter thing. it was sort of the best thing in my life. 

so when brandon suggested we drive into the country to attend the new york renaissance faire this weekend, i was like . . .  but no, we don't dress up. we are only there to appreciate the culture.

honestly, i am not joking. there is no more delightful group of people than the ren faire people. we just love them. from the depths of our very souls.

p.s. huck feels this way about car rides.

SOME SNAPS FROM ALT SUMMIT

last week i spoke at alt summit, at martha stewart's headquarters in chelsea.

i saw justin hackworth there. he likes to tell me not to smile when he takes my photo. i'm really bad at it.

martha's enormous prop shop on the ninth floor!

a little from-the-crowd shot of our panel...

...and then martha the panel crasher crashed our panel.

she asked me, "what is this panel on?" and i said, "growing your community."

then she said, "well, i could give you a few hints..." ;)

and then of course she didn't.

there was a rooftop party at the end, catered by martha's personal chef. 

and i just wanted to tell you: THE FOOD. OH MY GOSH.

the end.

LINCOLN CENTER BY NIGHT AND OTHER SILLY THINGS

this week seems to have completely escaped me. between last-minute preparations for my panel at alt nyc, trying to meet deadlines, and holding down the fort sans-daddy (busy season, i'm officially over you), i feel like all i've done this week is sweep the floors, make and clean up after meals, ask huck what a lion says a million times (lions are our favorite topic right now), and feel bad about how behind i'm getting on things. by the time 7:30 rolls around each day i feel like my head weighs a ton and that spot in my lower back that's never been the same since i got pregnant with huck is screaming obscenities at me.

i seem to be doing my fall cocooning early this year. i always get all introspective when the temperatures change. usually i make long to-do lists, try to plan a few fun projects, and obsessively edit my pinterest boards like a crazy person. i just want to crawl inside myself and sort things out until i can come out at the end a beautiful butterfly! i'd even settle for an organized butterfly. :)

i've been sitting on these photos all week because i couldn't figure out what words to put with them, but that's silly. so here are some photos without words instead.