selfie september (aka birthday month celebration) - day 27

day 151

day 19

vacation - aruba

and who doesn't?
this girl
that is, until i actually went there
the first part of our trip was to aruba
which i didn't really want to go to
cuz everyone goes there
but it turned out to be a great time
i most enjoyed just driving around in the areas with no streets in the jeep
i least enjoyed the lack of sunshine we had
once we switched rooms so it no longer overlooked the office of the company we work for...
we had this view...

not sure how that little bird's nest stayed on that palm prawn
did you know aruba has a lighthouse at both ends of the island?
there's the one they bus all the tourists to

and then there's the one you don't want to go to
because it's in a sketchy area
and isn't much of a looker

but has beautiful views like this

did you know aruba also have lizards?

everywhere...

we may or may not have had a few of these

aren't those koozies awesome???
my favorite part was taking this road...yes, that's a road

to this beautiful, natural pool

i don't have much to say about these next photos, except, enjoy!

here is some proof that we were actually there

this is what crazy humid weather does to my hair - makes it crazy! 

aren't those the tallest cacti you've ever seen???
i made him stand there so you could get an idea of how big they really were
we may or may not have taken a road we shouldn't have...oops!

and this last picture...
hmmmmm
on someone's hotel door

dominican - random

on our trip we just hung out at the resort
so i didn't take too many pictures
other than at the wedding
these are my favorite pics from the "real" camera not of the wedding
those to come next

last but certainly not least...
MAAMAAJUAAAAAAAAAAAAAANAAA!!!!!

b&w class - textures

we've now moved from light to textures on the black and white class
smooth things over

rough and tumble

the texture of textiles

flying north for the summah

As I sit here in a coat, listening to the neighbor play the bagpipes and dodging hummingbirds I definitely know I'm back in Maine - and it feels good!  Well, except the needing to bundle back up in a coat part - and the leaving all my Texas friends behind.  Then I have flashes of all the visitors we're going to have this summer and all the preparations needing to happen.  How can it be time to be up in Maine already?  It seems like we just got to Texas - or maybe it's that Sean had just gotten to Texas since he spent so much time in the UK over the past winter.

But it is what it is and it's definitely Spring and was time to make the switch - it was getting too hot in Texas, according to Sean.  Me?  I was just getting comfortable.  The trek to Maine was no 10 day boondoggle in the Jeep but was a lot of fun nonetheless.  We flew into Boston - Duke in tow, of course and met up with Sean's friend and brother.

Of course we had to hit our favorite spot in the North End, Antico Forno for dinner.  Since it has now also become everyone else's favorite spot, we couldn't get in until 9 pm.  My solution was to hit up my new favorite, Max Brenner, for a little dessert before dinner.  See what I mean (totally recommend the White Russian!)...

Rich chocolate and heavy Italian food put us right to sleep, which was good as we had a big day planned for Sunday - a 40th birthday party for Sean's friend.

Sean's friend that we stayed with in Boston (who happened to also marry us) got up and cooked us a great breakfast.  This proved to be a good call as it was Mother's Day and you just never know what the restaurants are going to be like.  Then we met up with a bunch of Sean's friends near Fenway for some pre-game beverages.  You guessed it - we were headed for the Red Sox game!!!

After the game we bid Sean's brother and friend farewell and hopped the bus up to Maine with the birthday boy and all the birthday party goers that were from Maine.  We got to Camp at around 10 pm and were so tired we dropped everything in the middle of the floor and headed to bed.

We've already completed our "project" for the season (pics coming soon), cleaned up the flower beds a little, evaluated all the plants that have been eaten by the deer, gazed at amazement that our Magnolia survived the winter, fed the critters and tried to get as much stuff out of the Camp as possible so we would no longer feel claustrophobic.  Once I hear the loons all will be complete and I will officially be "home".