Solstish

Bonjour mes amis.

Happy belated Summer Solstice (and father’s day! Hi Dad!).

In Miami, we started off the summer right with about 95 degrees at 85% humidity. I was not amused. But despite the humidity shower I take every time I step outside, I am happy that it is summer!

Here are just a few of the good things about this summer:

1) E and I are moving into a beautiful house owned by my colleague. It has a mango and avocado tree, a yard, and is within walking distance of bars and bookstores. We’re so excited!

2) I’m leading (and loving) this anxiety/depression prevention program we developed for kids at a summer camp. You can read more about my exhaustion related to this here.

3) I’m going on a biking trip in Canada avec mis padres next week! I’ve never been on a vacation with just my parents, but I anticipate it will be mostly conflict-free and food-filled. That’s all you can ask for!

4) Going to “family camp” (think Dirty Dancing, and you won’t be far off) with my parents AND sisters in August. We used to go every year growing up, and now it’s been 4 or 5 since we’ve been. I’m so ‘cited!

If you can believe it, in addition to all the wonderful things that I am anticipating this summer, I just got back from NYC with E and his family, and that was a blast as well!

Identical to 90% of pictures E & I take

E has 2 older brothers, one of whom lives in D.C., while the other lives in Israel. But in the summer, Israel dwelling brother, R, comes to the states (NYC specifically) to study, and he brings his lovely wife and scrumptious daughter with him. We went to NYC this weekend not to see the sights, but to see the ultimate attraction: Baby A!

playing the 'hat game'

cutest baby ever

I had so much fun with baby, I completely forgot that there were other attractions to see in NYC, but E and co. managed to drag me away from the baby long enough to go see a show (Irena’s Vow, amazingly good and not nearly as depressing as it sounds) and eat cupcakes.

Last week, Shannon, the fabulous author of thedailybalance.com (extra super fabulous because she has featured me as a guest blogger) went to NYC and taste tested 3 of New York’s finest cupcakeries. After reading her review I knew I had to get myself to Crumbs and try some if not all of their mouthwatering options.

E’s sister-in-law, D is a New Yorker and when she heard that Crumbs was ranked higher by Shannon than Magnolia, she just had to get in the action too.

And then, (since no one says no to cupcakes) the whole crew tagged along. In the end, our purchase looked something like this:

~70% of our purchase (E wouldn't wait for the pic to eat his, and D's was on the way)

And out experience looked something like this:

Before

After

In the end, the New Yorkers concluded that Magnolia was better, but Crumbs was in the same league. We didn’t have time to go to both, so I’ll have to decide for myself next time!

Alright, tonight was something of a picture-party. More substance next time!