June 30, 2011 : Victory Garden

Tigerlilies

Tomatoes

Zucchini Blossoms 

Massive Zucchini Leaves

Nasturtiums

Tomatoes & Peppers

Lemon Basil (delicious-smelling!!)

June 29, 2011 : South Campus Watch

June 29, 2011 : South Campus Watch 

June 29, 2011 : South Campus Watch

They took down the old fencing-- which was weakened by the snows this past winter, and put up a new one.

June 29, 2011 : Windowfarm

June 29, 2011 Spanish Lavendar

I transplanted the herbs from the starter tray to larger pots.  I'm having difficulty with the windowfarm set up, and I'm going out of town off and on for a while, so I'm waiting till fall.   I had to give up on the tomatoes.

June 29, 2011 Baby Basil

June 29, 2011 : Citrus and Herbs

June 28, 2011 :

June 28, 2011 

June 28, 2011 : South Campus Watch

June 28, 2011 : South Campus Watch

Empty field where there used to be three ugly dorm buildings; now you can see the Franciscans on Michigan Ave.

June 28, 2011 : South Campus Watch

Utility work and official-looking trucks in the South Campus Development site.

June 28, 2011 : South Campus Watch 

From the SW intersection, of 7th and Monroe Streets, NE - there's a triangle park, part of the planned development.  Lots of utility activity for the past few weeks here.

Ithaca & The Finger Lakes Vacation-o-Rama

The Mister at Sheldrake Point

The Mister's was accepted to a 6-week summer program at Cornell University, in upstate New York.  I call it theory camp for smarty pants.  He sublet an apartment up there for 2 months, so we decided to take advantage of already have a place to stay by making a vacation out of bringing him up to move in for the summer.  Also, to have lots of fun before we're apart for a week and a half.

We had a super-fabulous time.  We did the wine trail, the ale trail, the cheese trail (and now I need lots of the yoga trail).  There are waterfalls everywhere--like, just on the side of the road as you're driving, or walking through a town.  We drove up and down Seneca and Cayuga Lakes, hiked around waterfalls, ate tons of delicious foods. Drank at grown-up vacation level. It's beautiful rural farm country, with tiny agricultural towns along the lakes.  A day trip to Niagara Falls was also called for, and that was literally awesome (and damp).

Wagner Brewery, Lodi, NY

I've been recovering all week, plus work has been keeping me busy.  And by work, I mean, getting beers with potential clients, getting beers with current clients, going on a bachelorette/bridal weekend at Virginia vineyards, showing properties, going to 6 hours of real estate continuing ed in the burbs, celebrating a friend's 30th birthday and going to lots of yoga.

Phew! I grouped the photos first by subject (like Ale Trail, or Seneca Falls), and then by date.  Check out the albums by click on the FLX (Finger Lakes) tag.

June 12 - 19, 2011 The Road to (and from) Ithaca

June 12, 2011 Road to Ithaca (Socks) (220 in NY)

When I don't drive, I like to take photos out of the windows.  We picked a only-slightly-less-direct and more scenic route from D.C. to Ithaca, and there were some colorful roadside situations.

June 13 - 19, 2011 Around Ithaca

June 19, 2011 Ithaca Commons

Ithaca was cute, and photogenic.

June 12 - 19, 2011 The Ale Trail of the Finger Lakes

June 15, 2011 Wagner Winery & Brewery, Lodi, NY

We spent went to five breweries and brewpubs over our 6 full days in Ithaca together.  IPAs are big up there, and everyone had a seasonal summer wheat option.  All offer tastings or flights, and for beer-lovers like us, it was a great vacation activity.

June 13-19, 2011 Public Art in Ithaca

June 19, 2011 Collegetown, Ithaca MC Deathbear

Ithaca, having a large college student population with Cornell and Ithaca College, had a small share of street art--sticker-art and stencils, mostly.  It's not just pointless tagging, but cute things, like MC DeathBear, above.

June 18, 2011 Ithaca is Gay

June 18, 2011 The Chapter House

The Chapter House (we went twice) had some great graffiti in the ladies room (and great beer on tap, too).

June 17, 2011 Niagara Falls

Niagara Falls, NY is technically a state park, and while admittance to view the millions of gallons falling over a huge crest is free, it's run like an amusement park, with closer (and wetter) access to better views are a premium.  Neither the Mister or I have working passports right now, so we only went to the US side, but it was breathtaking nonetheless.

June 17, 211 Niagara Falls 

June 16, 2011 Watkins Glen, NY

On Beer-and-Cheese Day, we had lunch (of goat cheese pizza and beer) at the Rooseterfisher Brewery and Wildflower Cafe in Watkins Glen, at the bottom of Seneca Lake.  They we had to walk off the beer-silliness before we could drive anywhere.

June 16, 2011 Watkins Glen, NY

June 16, 2011 Buttermilk Falls, NY

June 16, 2011 Buttermilk Falls, Ithaca, NY

Buttermilk falls is a very long set of water falls within a state park in the city of Ithaca itself.  For a half-mile, a creek winds its way down the side of a mountain, cutting a gorge with a series of fall and small pools.  Really, really incredible.  Just a small stream, and it will continue slowly wearing down that mountain until the water on this planet dries up.

June 15, 2011 Montour Falls

June 15, 2011 Montour Falls, NY

Random Roadside Waterfall near Ithaca. We pulled off the highway for a tiny sign with an illustration of a camera and a waterfall, and we're driving into this tiny town, and boom! There's a water fall and two benches, tucked in between two houses.  So basically this waterfall is several someone's backyards.

June 15, 2011 Day of Goats (and Beer)

June 15, 2011 Side Hill Goat Dairy

We visited three beer establishments and two goat dairies on Beer-and-Goat day.  We got to meet goats, who are curious and intelligent and hungry.  They tried to eat the Mister's pockets, and were pretty damn cute.

June 14-15, 2011 Taughannock, Falls, NY

June 14, 2011 Taughannock Self-Portrait

Taughannock Falls is the tallest waterfall in North America, at 215 feet, and pours a stream straight down the side of a small canyon.  We saw it both from the overlook, and did a hike along the bottom to see the waterfall at its feet.

June 14, 2011 Seneca Falls, NY

June 14, 2011

In 1848, a hundred forward-thinking feminists and abolitionits, both men and women, black and white, gathered in the Presbyterian Church in Seneca Falls, in upstate New York, and declared that all Men and Women are created equal.  Sadly, this is still a radical notion.

June 13, 2011 View from the Apartment

June 13, 2011

The view from his 4th floor (walk-up) apartment was basically worth it because of the 13' ceilings, the 9' tall windows and this amazing view.

June 25, 2011 - Public Art in Mid-City

June 25, 2011 My First Bachelorette Weekend

June 25, 2011: Cara, Steph & Friend 

June 25, 2011 Erin & Cara

June 25, 2011The Curly-Haired Ladies

June 25, 2011 Alissa, Curren, Cara & Steph

June 25, 2011 Reviewing

June 23, 2011 : Lawrence Street House Watch

June 23, 2011 : Lawrence Street House Watch

Yoga to Quit Smoking

Quiet Mind Yoga, Columbia Heights

How to quit smoking cigarettes with yoga (part one):

First, you must want to quit smoking cigarettes.  You can still like the act and the art of the puff; you just must intellectually acknowledge that you no longer want cigarettes in your life.  And then, stop buying cigarettes.

Second, you must like yoga, or at least, the idea of yoga. And then, go to yoga classes.  Lots of them, all the time.

Replace the unhealthy breathing of inhaling tobacco smoke laced with chemicals and nicotine with the healthy heart-opening lung-repairing breathing of yoga.

Exchange the important mediations of the cigarette break with the meditations of a yoga class.  Dedicate your practice to yourself, and your willpower, and your future.

Also, chew nicotine gum.

June 22, 2011 Citruscity & the Seedlings

June 22, 2011 The Key Lime has new leaf growth!

June 22, 2011 Lemon Balm, Thyme, Lavender

June 22, 2911 Cilantro,  Kitchen Celery

June 22, 2011 Basil & Sad Tomatoes

My condo's management company has been, annoyling, very slow to prune the hedges outside of my kitchen window, so the light is more filtered that I would prefer.  My seedlings are not growing very fast, and I think I'm going to have to get bigger containers and thin them out, while I continue working on the Window Farm set-up.  

But, I swapped out some other plants under the growlight, and put the citrus in my kitchen window while I was on vacation, and they have sprouted little leaves, which is great.

June 27, 2011 : Public Art

June 27, 2011 : Public Art

D.C. flag with cupcakes for stars! Yum!

June 9, 2011 Citrus City

June 9, 2011 Citrus City

I have my citrus (Key Lime, Meyer Lemon, Calamondin Orange) set up on the top of a medium bookshelf, with a plant light covered in a neat paper lantern that compliments the wall perfectly.  This photo does not illustrate that at all.  I've been keeping the lights low with all of the obscene* heat we've been getting. Better pictures to come, don't worry.

*I actually kind of like this heat.  Like, I'm glad I have an a/c, so I can cool down my bedroom before I go to sleep, but I turned it off before I went to bed.

June 9, 2011 WindowFarm & Seedling Watch

June 9, 2011 French Thyme, Spanish Lavener (x2), Lemon Balm
(Clockwise from top Right)

These guys are all growing.  Slowly, but growing.  There's a big bush in front of the window that I've been asking my management company to ask our landscaper to deal with, and I think I finally made headway on that today.  These babies need more light!  I also finally got fertilizer, which will probably help, too.

June 9, 2011 Celery & Parsley

June 9, 2011 Tomatoes (foreground) & Basil 

June 9, 2011 Lemon Thyme

June 9, 2011 Lemon Basil

June 9, 2011 Mints (and Jade, obstructed)

I've killed THREE sets of mint transplants from my parents' garden to my house.  How do you kill mint? It's a weed! It grows like crazy!  We've been digging it up in the root, putting it pots, and watering it.  Obviously, its not working, so we've moved onto cutting.  One fresh, top sprig of each, peppermint and chocolate mint.   Also, on the right hand side is my baby Jade, which is also not dead yet, but has shown no outside signs of growth (I'm going to assume it's working on its root structure!, I probably need to repot it with better soil soon.