The Jazz Age Lawn party is great fun.If you are ever coming to New York, plan your visit around a weekend when this occurs. You will not regret it.

It starts with a pretty ferry ride and takes you back in time to the prohibition era. The Great Lawn is filled with colorful dresses and the trees are green, green, green (even on a gray day!) and ladies' lips are red, red, red.

The St. Germain cocktails are divine, but drink them before you start lindy-hopping because that floor is only for dancing.

Make sure to go with amazing friends with heart-shaped lips and even bigger laughs.

Not pictured: Chasing Bill Cunningham on the dance floor to tell him just how awesome I thought he was; only for him to tell me (without looking away from his lens once) to "just get good pictures! just get good pictures!" And like that he flitted away. It wasn't until afterwards that my friends pointed out that in his documentary, he mentioned that he did not like to be bothered at such events! Faux pas fail!

♥

full set

p.s. it is TOTALLY worth it to get the VIP packages. The "bees knees" one was a great deal.

♯spotify

“In the end, only three things matter: how much you loved, how gently you lived, and how gracefully you let go of things not meant for you.”

--Buddhist Saying

Do all the other things, the ambitious things – travel, get rich, get famous, innovate, lead, fall in love, make and lose fortunes, swim naked in wild jungle rivers (after first having it tested for monkey poop) – but as you do, to the extent that you can, err in the direction of kindness.  Do those things that incline you toward the big questions, and avoid the things that would reduce you and make you trivial.  That luminous part of you that exists beyond personality – your soul, if you will – is as bright and shining as any that has ever been.  Bright as Shakespeare’s, bright as Gandhi’s, bright as Mother Theresa’s.  Clear away everything that keeps you separate from this secret luminous place.  Believe it exists, come to know it better, nurture it, share its fruits tirelessly. And someday, in 80 years, when you’re 100, and I’m 134, and we’re both so kind and loving we’re nearly unbearable, drop me a line, let me know how your life has been.  I hope you will say: It has been so wonderful.

**I absolutely love this.

Waking up at 5:00 am (I immediately fell back asleep after taking this). Messages of love. Pretty sunsets on above-ground trains. Pretty sunsets from the edges of Brooklyn. A kitty so happy she's drooling. My favorite golden evening light. Things in full bloom and greenery everywhere. Finding quaint places with dreamy backdrops like this one. // yes, this is summer.

A couple of weeks ago, I took another midnight train to Montauk with a couple of gals who also decided to brave the weather. Admittedly, part of me wondered if we were crazy considering the forecast had storm clouds and lightening bolts for the entire day, but we were ready for an adventure come hell or high water; in our case I guess we meant this literally. But my little request to mother nature must have been heard (thank you!) because it did not rain from 4:00-7:00 am. It's during this time that the world begins to stir, but not enough to find a place of shelter.

When you take a midnight train (actually, 12:38-ish am) you arrive at "the end" (seriously, it's a stump) around 4:00 am. From there it's a nice, long walk to the beach. We ignored about 5-6 cabs honking and asking, "are you sure you don't need a ride - you don't even have to pay." We politely declined and explained that we were there to watch the sunrise. Normally, they'd just drive away, but considering the dense. gray. fog almost all of the cabbies surveyed the sky, our backpacks, shook their heads and drove away. It was a little crazy to arrive at the cold, dark beach at 4:45-ish am. The fog was so dense we could hardly see a thing, but the swelling sounds of crashing waves informed us how close the water was.

We did not see a sunrise, per-say, but we did see the light tilt and shift it's way from the darkest black, to purplish-orange, to a gray-blue, and eventually land on middle gray. By the time we left the beach, we realized we were soaked because the fog made it as if we were in a cloud. There was about an hour of wandering while waiting for the first diner to open, but the rest of the day was spent with dark and stormy's (oh-so-apropo), riding in the free trolly blasted with free coconut water signage (the new coffee coconut water = yum {I guess the ads worked}), a sun shower (okay, an actual rain-shower, but it didn't last that long), and discussing buddha cats and the purpose of life.

You know those days that you just. live. This was one of them and it was glorious, despite the rain.

Not pictured: Nicole getting feisty with the guy that started skateboarding on the train at 3:00 am when most people were sleeping. Everyone cheered after she yelled | Me swimming after having a couple of said, dark and stormy's | Oh, and the woman eating blueberries with chopsticks at the diner at 7:00 am. **

It's strange to think that it's been almost 3 weeks since the wedding! I really do not understand where time goes. Anyhoozle, here are some snaps from the trip to the Midwest, which involved my yearly visit to Oklahoma to see my lovely gals and then a little (actually, very long!) road trip up to Chicago. Not pictured: upon realizing we were not going to make it to see the fireworks with Beth, my 7-year old desire to see them suggested we stop in a random town on the way, wait for an hour, and then watch, but Mary's desire (and motherly instinct understood that 10-hours in a car is a long time for a 4-year old) to justgetthere won | the point of the road trip where everything just becomes silly | swimming in the hotel after our 12-hour drive, which consisted of multiple switches from the "hot pool" to the "cold pool" (per Georgia, naturally) | and everyone's obsession with candy crush. **I was thrilled when I could see the fireworks from the hotel! yes, I was obsessed with the Bean! O'hare's knock-off of the tunnel in Detroit, personally I like Detroit's better!

As of late, my heart has been like a firework, overjoyed with love sparkles. It's been doing flippity flops and dancing around saying "yay love!" My not-so-silent cheers started in Oklahoma (more on that soon) and burst with joy when seeing one of my favorite people, Bethy, getting married. To start, I love that she married a Deutch-man! Since I am always trying to practice my German, the wedding was a perfect opportunity for me to try! Although, in fairness, they didn't have much of a choice, since my first greeting to them was saying "Oma lächeln!!" (Grandma, smile!) -- mind you, I hadn't spoken one word to them prior and was s l i g h t l y late (I'm still so sorry!) to the dress rehearsal because Waze failed me, I digress.Seriously though, her wedding was magical. Actually, I think all weddings are magical. Anything celebrating LOVE is my absolute favorite. But Bethy's wedding was truly perfect. There was something about it that made it my favorite wedding to date. My dear other lovelies, I assure you that your wedding was also perfect - inthatmoment and I'm also sure that there will be other weddings/events that move me just as much....I am a such a sap!There was a point when tears just fell down my face. It happened when Bethy and Christopher had their first dance. I looked around the room and saw all of my friends, paired with their significant others, holding hands, smiling and looking out to the happy pair sharing in quiet whispers to the ear - secrets that we could not hear - secrets we needn't here. There was just so. much. love. My heart swelled in such a way that there was no room except to allow big giant teardrops to fall. It was beautiful. Georgia, in her four-year old concern, asked what was wrong, "Auntie Kim, why are your tears falling?""Nothing, love. I am just so happy."**Here are a few photos from the wedding. The rest can be found here. Not pictured: The flaming croissants I burnt every morning while trying to run them through the toaster. I love the way the butter warms and the bread crisps, but I really did start them on fire almost every time. My impromptu wedding speech -- which I did not rehearse...my opening line..."Dear Bethy, the one who used to call me 'Cashew Chicken' in our college radio show..apparently, not everyone finds this as a term of endearment! oh well! Hopefully, I made it up in the middle of my speech when I asked the entire audience to close their eyes and make a wish for the new couple. It ended with my gratitude for them because seeing their love reminded me of the importance of love sparkles. I am still thankful. My coronation to becoming the "President" of our college girl group. Yes..this happened and I was tickled pink. I justlovethosegirls! | I can't wait to practice German for the next year because Bethy and Christopher are moving to NYC for one year! Yay me! Hopefully they are just as excited.** This is part of a German tradition called, Polterabend. The night before the wedding, guests break China as symbol of good luck! ❤

My friend, Hayden, is very dear to me.  I still remember the night I wrote in my journal about having found him as a friend and was lucky to have him. He was the first to help me realize that most of the things I encountered in my childhood made up a collage of wonderful stories. Perhaps we will someday write the book. Until then, here's a little video of adventures and delights. Most of the clips are from random trips we've had over the years and from his friends and family (thanks to everyone who helped!) ♡

**Anyway, enjoy!♯ spotify

My lovely friend, Jeni, invited me to STooPS Bed-Stuy. Here's a bit about the event from their website: STooPS is a community-building event that will use the arts to bring people outside and promote social interaction among artists, homeowners, residents, and businesses of Bed-Stuy. Various Bed-Stuy homeowners will collaborate with local artists to host mini performances and art showcases on their stoops, yards, or sidewalks. At the same time, various local vendors, businesses, and organizations will bring folks together at the events main space, the Freebrook mansion at 375 Stuyvesant. The event will culminate with performances by several Brooklyn based companies and arts organizations. STooPS will unite a community! Not pictured: A quick summer rain, but it did not stop the dancing by the red stairs!

// little known fact about the street from the last photo....besides holding my lovely fence flowers, it's also the street that clementine and joely drive on in eternal sunshine for the spotless mind (one of my favorite movies ever). it's in the scene where they are driving away from her house after she picks up her toothbrush. the houses are on the passenger side, but you can see the hess gas station that had these lines after sandy. 

p.s. the "heads up" game is the best...it definitely made the train ride go faster (even though i'm sure we were terribly annoying). oh well, new yorkers are always complaining about not being friendly and this brought about lots of laughs.

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// milk carton kids at the bowery ballroom // exploring the neighborhood // a warehouse dance party in bushwick {this was super fun} // my favorite fence flowers // a probably much-needed break for the cookie monster. as my (super funny and smart) friend julian put it, "people are still selling their bodies in times square...just now in costume..."

♫ "I Still Want a Little More" by The Milk Carton Kids 

// i absolutely love springtime and this golden, evening light. the little white and purple flowers made me think of magical forests, so much so that i laid on the ground to take photos and imagined climbing to the veeeeery-tippy-top of the trees. ⚘   

Dear lovelies, thanks for coming! I hope you had fun!

this is one of the craziest things i've ever seen. i was half expecting an independence-day-type-of-thing to happen while taking this video! since i was talking to myself (continuously exclaiming just HOW weird i thought this was), i decided to edit that out and play some grimes instead. ;)