If I had to pick a favorite month, I think it would be September. It is the month Rich and I met, were engaged, then married. I cannot believe it has been two years since our wedding! I loved our wedding and would do it all over again.
Photo by Li Ward | Fat Orange Cat Studio
It has been pretty quiet here the past few months, but even a blog needs a little summer vacation, right? Not to say we have not been busy in the studio, designing and printing invitations for weddings and parties, re-printing greeting cards, & gearing up for the holidays.
We took our annual end-of-summer vacation a couple weeks ago and it was a good one! Rich rented a little cabin on a lake in Maine for the week where we watched the sunset everynight, drank morning coffee on our dock, took the paddle boat for a spin each day, fished, swam, ate s'mores with homemade marshmallows. Oh, and I may have turned 30 and had an amazing surprise party on the lake in between. Yes, it was a GOOD vacation!
My sister posted some photos of my party on her blog. It was so beautiful and so much fun. I had friends and family from all over New England join in the celebration - a perfect way to start my 30s!
So, the blog will go back to school next week, and I will get back to sharing invitations I printed this past Spring and Summer, and preview what is to come for the rest of 2012!
The biggest hike of our trip to Acadia was climbing Mount Cadillac, the highest point on the eastern seaboard. After reading our hiking guides, which suggested each trail up the mountain was "strenuous" we chose what we thought would be the "easiest" one. Geesh! Were we wrong. But we still had a good time climbing over all those boulders on the Gorge Trail.
p.s. I swear I brought other clothes to wear. I just happen to put the stripes on each time I was chilly!
We decided to take it easy on our actual anniversary & visited the Wild Gardens of Acadia at the Sieur de Monts Spring & walked the Jessup Trail.
We also visited Sand Beach, Otter Cliffs, and Pretty Marsh.
Before our anniversary dinner at The Burning Tree, we opened up a bottle of wine we brought back from our honeymoon in Santorini. We decided to start a tradition of getting a bottle of wine wherever we happen to be on a particular anniversary & saving it for the next. We found a local vineyard to buy our bottle to enjoy on our second anniversary!
Our last two nights in MDI were spent at the adorable Primrose Inn in Bar Harbor. I loved the rooms full of antiques & huge floral wallpaper. They served a delicious breakfast & had afternoon tea & sweets!
Five glorious days spent in one of the most beautiful locations went by in a flash. It was the perfect way to celebrate our first year as husband & wife & to start the second. We are already planning a trip in the Spring because we simply cannot wait to go back!
If you would like to see all of our Acadia photos you may see them HERE.
Rich & I celebrated our one year anniversary on September 18 in Acadia National Park on Mount Desert Island, Maine. We have always wanted to go & Rich planned the entire trip! As most know, I grew up in Maine, but I had not been to the island in nearly 20 years!
Sunset at Bass Harbor Light in Tremont.
For the first three nights we camped at Seawall in Southwest Harbor. It was the perfect time of year to go camping as there were only about 5 other sites with campers & we had no one around us. It got a little chilly a night & we broke out the long johns & hats!
Our first adventure was a bike ride on the Witch Hole Pond Loop, which is a part of a 57-mile network of Carriage Roads. The roads, open only to bikers, horses, & hikers/runners/walkers, weave their way throughout Acadia & were financed by John D. Rockefeller, Jr. between 1913 - 1940.
We spent nearly three hours one morning exploring Wonderland. It is only a mile & half to get to the ocean, but there are so many little paths, rocks, & tidal pools to explore.
A highlight of our trip was being able to visit with my friend/collaborator/wicked super talented artist Jennifer Judd-McGee of Swallowfield. Jen & I have been "internet" friends for years having collaborated on many invitation designs. We did have the opportunity to meet for about 2.5 seconds at a craft show we were both doing a couple years ago, but this particular afternoon we had nearly 2 whole hours to talk life, art, & her favorite spots on the island. We also got the grand tour of her gorgeous new home {Seriously. Rich & I wanted to move in, Jen!} & we got to meet her adorable kids.
After our visit, we biked one of the Carriage Roads to Jordan Pond, The Bubbles, & the famous Jordan Pond House for tea & popovers. Rich has delcared we need to start making popovers from now on!
So delicious!
I will be back with part two of trip a little later today!
Rich & I love Short Sands Beach in York Beach, Maine. We both grew up visiting this beach each summer - his family staying at The Union Bluff & my home only a short drive away in Portland. I like to imagine our paths crossing one afternoon many years ago with our noses against the glass at The Goldenrod watching the taffy being pulled. Now we love to visit late in the afternoon, just as the beach is about to empty. We play skee ball & pinball, give our tickets to the cutest kid we can find, pet Midas the golden retriever in front of the bowling alley, then get an ice cream & a box full of taffy, & watch the surf roll in.
