It's Summer

Oh hi there. Remember me? I'm back after a glorious two week vacation at the beach. I spent my time away from the city, away from work, and away from almost all thinking. I absolutely couldn't have had such a stress free vacation without the help of my Guest Bloggers. A HUGE thank you to the girls for filling in for me while I was away. It gave me the chance to push everything aside and enjoy my quiet time off. I know I've mentioned how hard as it is to keep a blog going, but whenever I think of all the wonderful people I've gotten to know it really makes it all worthwhile. Thank you so much girls!

It's summer. And the list of things I want to do in the summer is very short. 1, go to the beach. 2, be with friends. The end. If I can't pull myself away from these for long enough to sit at the computer and plug out a post, you'll have to excuse me for a bit. It feels like it's already going too fast! I have a few posts from June that I want to share as well as plenty of pictures that I took while I was away. I'm sorry if posts aren't going to be as regular as they used to be. I'm trying to be as present in my real life as I can right now. If there's ever a shortage of posts on here you can find me sharing away on twitter.

How has everyone been? I need to play major catch up with my emails and blog reading in the next few weeks, but I hope everyone's summer is going just as great as mine. Don't forget to check out the girls who were so kind to take time out of their busy schedules to help me be away from mine!

Andrea from Blonde Bedhead

Meg from Design Diary

Julie of Orchid Grey

Annie of The Friendly Fox

Jessie of The Concrete Catwalk

Veronika of Tick Tock Vintage

summer-summer-summertime.

hi, morgan and lua readers! veronika from tick tock vintage here. miss morgan asked us to write posts centered around summertime, and i thought i'd share some of my favorite things to do in my favorite city. i'm a proud philadelphian and i love sharing tidbits about this great town!

1: race street pier
the race street pier just opened a little over a month ago. situated on the river, there's a ton of benches and seating to watch boats go by. you get a great view of the city, especially when the sun starts to set. we've gone here for a picnic dinner before and it was such a blast. the breeze off of the water is an added bonus, too - especially when it's so hot out!

2: roof-dwelling
philadelphia is mostly comprised of rowhomes, which offer ridiculously easy access to their roofs. the picture above is of my friend jon's roof; climbing up is quite daunting and i do fear for my life each and every time i go up there, but the view of the city from above is worth it. bring a couple beers, something to snack on, and a radio and you're good to go.

3: kickball (and other assorted sports)

we have some amazing parks in philadelphia, and you can bet that we take advantage of them when the weather is nice. through my activity club, we play some sort of organized game every tuesday during the summer. we've played kickball (my favorite), capture the flag, yoga-ball soccer, and wiffleball. it's a blast!

#4: fireworks

fireworks aren't just for the fourth of july - we'll find any excuse to set them off. find someone with an out-of-state license and drive to a fireworks store and you'll have at least a solid hour of entertainment. in our neighborhood, our neighbors set off some really crazy fireworks (bordering on the edge of scary and "oh my god my roof is going to catch on fire").

#5: lounging on kelly drive
on the other side of the city, you'll find the schuylkill river. the banks of the river have trails for cycling, running, kayaking, rollerblading, picnicking, and hiking. while it's nice to enjoy the river during the day, i love to visit at night. the lights from the buildings and highways reflecting on the river are so beautiful.

a big thanks to morgan for asking me to guest post - hope you're having a great time on vacation, lady!

Guest Post: Jessie of The Concrete Catwalk

Hi there, I'm Sadie!

... and this is my mama, Jessie!

We're so happy to be here blog sitting today for Morgan & Lua!

My mama is a fashion blogger just like Morgan, and she says we're partners in crime. I spend most days working very hard keeping her company in the studio while she plugs away on her business, but she always makes sure to pay me in lots of hugs and kisses.

We've been having a great summer together including lots of trips to the museum lawn near our house, late nights on the balcony, and early morning jogs.  (Sometimes, when he's not at work, my Dad comes too!)

I love other pups, and I can't wait until my mom and dad get me a baby brother or sister, so I have someone to play with everyday. Until then, I can pretty much entertain myself by watching the family of birds that lives on our balcony, playing with my favorite toys & helping my mom pick out with shoes to wear for her daily outfit posts.

Sometimes my mom goes barefoot like me, and sometimes I pretend like I'm wearing little white shoes so I can be just like her. Do you like our fancy feet in the picture below?

I hope you enjoyed seeing some snapshots of us having a little summer fun, and be sure to check out our blog, The Concrete Catwalk. You can also follow along on more of our adventures through TCC's Twitter and Facebook page... but I'll be honest, my mom's the one doing most of the blogging & updating (with me pawing my approval first, of course).

Thanks again for having us, Morgan & Lua!  My mom and I love your blog, and can't wait to have you over on ours later this summer.  We hope you're having a great vacation, and look forward to hearing all about it when you get back!

Hugs & Puppy Kisses,

Jessie & Sadie

Guest post: Julie of Orchid Grey

(All photos property of Orchid Grey)

Hi there everyone! This is Julie of Orchid Grey, stepping in while miss Morgan is on a well deserved vacation. Summer is my absolute favorite season, as a New Englander I have learned to relish it, to truly appreciate these couple of months of sheer heat and humidity. July and August slip away so fast, these are the ten things I hope to do before summer's end:

1. Take the Casco Bay Ferry to Peaks Island, ME and have a picnic/ beach day with my sweetheart.

2. Rid my apartment of all extraneous stuff and finally reach organization nirvana (I must be dreaming).

3. Spend a full day at the beach like we used to when I was a kid.

4. Finally learn how to surf (I've wanted to since I was in 7th grade).

5. Learn how to change the tube on my bike and ride to work.

6. Go to a drive-in movie.

7. Make popsicles.

8. Swim in the river in my hometown.

9. Create more.

10. Get married! Of course this will happen, but I'm just really excited.

What are your summer resolutions?

Guest Post: Meg of Design Diary

Hi everyone!! It's Meg here from Design Diary, filling in for the lovely Morgan while she's on a much deserved vacay. I have to admit, I'm really thrilled that she asked me to talk about summer... because well, that's probably one of my favourite topics. As an Aussie, I adore summer. I live for summer. Actually to me all the other seasons are just filler until summer comes back to me.

Since Australia is sunny most of the year we're outdoors a lot - I think it's kind of built into our psyche. And now that we live in the U.S. I think we bring that same attitude with us. When the warm weather comes our way, me and my partners in crime head out as much as we can. Whether it's hiking, picnicking, strolling, swimming or going out for icecream - we try to enjoy as much of summer as we can! We don't want to waste a second of this beautiful time of year.

To me it's just the happiest season. I love using the heat as an excuse to give my kids icecream for dinner (yeah i admit it). I love being able to leave the front door open and feel the breeze. I love hearing birds tweet by my window when I wake up. I love sitting on my deck after the kids have gone to sleep and drinking a glass of wine with my husband while we watch the sun go down. I love that it doesn't take tonnes of gear before I can leave the house (i'm lookin at you winter), and that I can slip on a tank top and a cotton skirt (like this one I designed a few years ago) and run out the door. I love walking everywhere. I love laying on grass and barbecuing dinner. It's all good, it's all so perfect.

Thankfully the other seasons come and go... because summer will always have my heart. (And my wardrobe... I'm kind of ill prepared for the cold months )

Vacation

Hi all! I've been busy this past week getting ready, packing, making last minute plans with friends, running errands, the usual pre-vacation routine. I'm off work and out of the city for two weeks! In light of my most recent post, I decided I would use my time off to be truly off, from everything. I have so many back posts waiting to be posted and plenty of new ideas, but for now I'm going to step away to enjoy some R&R. 

I asked a few amazing blogging friends if they would fill in for me over the next couple of weeks. I'm sure you'll be very happy seeing these lovely ladies stop by. I know I will. I'm really looking forward to using my time off to reset, relax, and enjoy the summer. Thank you so much to my guest bloggers for helping out while I'm away!

Happy 4th of July to everyone! The sunset tonight (see above) was absolutely breath taking. I have to say it certainly out shined any of the fireworks that went off. You can stay in touch with me on Twitter while the girls take over posting here. Make sure to show them lots of love while I'm away! Best to everyone!

Travel Near and Far

Happy Saturday! I'm GUEST POSTING today for Veronika of Tick Tock Vintage while she is traveling in Hong Kong. Thank you so much to Veronika for letting guest post and talk about some of the places I love to travel to. Head over to see more pictures from my travels, and hear me gush about some of my favorite places. 

I've met Veronika a few times between our two cities but only have one picture of us together from when I was visiting in Philly for New Years!

I hope everyone is enjoying the weekend so far! This is what my morning looked like, Morning Scene.

When I Grow Up

I'm back! Denver was absolutely amazing. Sarah and her husband were the most amazing hosts and I'm so glad I was able to see them again so soon after their visit to NY. I will tell you all about my Denver trip very soon. In the meantime, check out Sarah's last few posts about the trip.
I am so grateful to the ladies who let me go out of town without feeling guilty about leaving an empty blog behind. After doing my post on wanting to be Scottish when I grew up I decided to ask the girls filling in to do the same. I knew they would put together amazing posts. Plus, I wanted to see what everyone thought they would be because I'm nosey. I'm in absolute awe of the things these ladies did while I was on vacation. I loved their different takes, their outfits, and their heartfelt stories. Thank you so much for coming to see what they had to share. And thank you to Maria, Zoë, Jentine, Amanda, Terra, and Sarah for contributing!

 

Maria from Lulu Letty  - The Aviator

Maria pulled off the most impeccable aviator. I always admire how perfectly her photographs capture the scene and feel of an outfit. I respect her for her own brave and adventurous spirit so this post could not have been more fitting. I was ecstatic when I opened these pictures on my layover to Denver and saw how incredible her take on The Aviator came together. Thank you Maria!

Zoë from Haiku Ambulance - It Ain't Me Babe

Zoë. What can I say, that isn't already screaming from these photographs. Moving, stunning, emotional. And then I met her and she was all those things in the flesh. I had "It Ain't Me Babe" in my head for days because of these words and these photographs. If it's possible, her post made me admire Bob Dylan more than I already do. I almost can't stand how cool she is. You can't ask for much more than that. Zoë, thank you. More coffee dates soon. 

 

Jentine from My Edit - About Happiness and More

Well Jentine, I think you have put more red and more happy on my blog then there has ever been. I knew I could count on you for a brilliant and sincere story. As it turns out, we have quite a bit in common. I have no idea what I want to be, but I know that right now being happy for the rest of my life would be pretty darn amazing. I think we need to have a sit down so I can practice my happy with you. Thank you Jentine, I'm going to try much harder to do the happy dance because of you.

 

Amanda from Off of Broadway - sharing every little thing that we are wearing

Amanda had such a great idea for a post. While we often overlook this, I don't know many people who didn't look up to their older siblings growing up (those that had them). It's something that almost everyone can relate to and of course the following realization that no matter how hard we want to be someone else, we have to embrace who we are and the path our lives take. Thanks Amanda! You captured this feeling so well. 

 

Terra from Stylish White Female - SWF seeks...someone who believes in me.

Terra did a wonderful job emulating the style of Molly Ringwald's character Andie from Pretty in Pink. There were so many great movie characters I wanted to be growing up, but I think Terra captured the sentiment so well when she said that all she really wanted was to be herself and for someone to love her just for that. It was that quality that I also admired in so many movie characters growing up. Thank you Terra! Movie watching marathon with you, Murphy and Lua soon!

Sarah from Reverie - The Adventures of Morgan and Sarah

And of course Sarah's post on how we met. I asked Sarah to write about how we knew each other. Sometimes it's hard to believe that we know bloggers before they were even blogging. Gasp! Sarah and I met while studying abroad in London and became great friends. We had and still have so many interests in common, which is why it's always so great to spend time with her. I will sing her praises more in the coming posts about visiting her and her husband in Denver!

I hope you all had a great few weeks while I was taking a little break. The NYC marathon is  this weekend so Lua and I are relaxing in the apartment trying to avoid the crowds. I did get to see the leading women and leading men groups run past this morning. Then some tea and breakfast on our new plates from an Anthropologie trip yesterday! Have a great Sunday and thank you again to my wonderful guest friends! May we all meet in the near future.