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Every day is an adventure

12.11.14

Everyday Adventure // Blueberry Picking

MI Blueberries 2014_Mintz_Title MI Blueberries 2014_Mintz-resize MI Blueberries 2014_Mintz-collage2

I know, I know. It’s December. But, the weather has been toying with my heart lately + I can’t help it. We’ve had the most lovely sun-drenched days (it’s almost 60 today!), yet I can hardly enjoy it because while my heart is wandering back to sunshine + summertime, my ever-logical mind is reminding me that snowy times are headed our way.

But today, I’m going to let my heart win for a while, at least for as long as these daydreams of picking blueberries with my cousins in Michigan will let me. Doesn’t get much fresher than eating – er, I mean picking – blueberries right off the bush. Summer at its finest.

Every year about this time, I start lamenting how expensive berries are at the store and how sad all the tomatoes look. It’s wintertime + one can only eat so much kale (I know some would argue this; however, I stand by it). Then, I remember that I have a bag of these blue beauties in my freezer just waiting to be made into a pie + everything is better again. I’m easily pleased, especially when there’s pie involved.

Do you associate tastes or foods with certain memories?

When I was a little girl, we would drive up to my grandparents’ house in the summertime, and after throwing ourselves into the lake + digging for clams with our toes in the sand, or trying to out-jump each other on the trampoline, my cousins + I would run back up to the house + there would be pie. Blueberry pie, because it was Michigan, after all. And we would get bowls of ice cream and ladle that sticky sweet blueberry sauce from the filling of the pie right on top.

That’s what summers in Michigan taste like.

11.07.14

A Postcard from Bordeaux

The rain followed me everywhere in Europe it seems, from Munich to Paris + now to Bordeaux. So I spent most of my days here huddled under an umbrella staring at the cobblestone streets + listening to the rain fall in our hotel courtyard while I caught up on some work. After leaving Bordeaux, I’ll admit I felt a twinge of regret that my visit was so low key (I didn’t see any major sights or do any of the day trips I was hoping to). But Travel Annabelle typically has much more grace with herself than Home Annabelle.

Do you notice that certain parts of yourself show themselves more while you’re traveling? I like my travel self. I kind of wish I could be my travel self every day. Travel Annabelle is much more spontaneous + open to trying new things.

Sure, I’ll add Bordeaux to my itinerary at the last minute (admittedly, my hand was kind of forced here but I didn’t complain about it). Sure, I’ll try that scallop risotto with truffled lobster sauce even though Home Annabelle would have skipped it. Sure, getting lost for the afternoon + just wandering seems like a perfectly legitimate use of my time. I won’t even get mad about it. Because I’m in Bordeaux!

Travel Annabelle gets butterflies in her stomach over that stuff. And they’re the good kind of butterflies.

My travel self is much more present + observant of her environment. She makes time for museums + parks + that pastry shop on the corner. She people watches + reads books + finds inspiration in the tiniest of things around her. She appreciates simplicity, like a good glass of wine + some crusty bread. While I sometimes bring Travel Annabelle home with me for a while, she never stays long enough.

But I keep hoping that someday, she’ll stay for good.

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RochelleNovember 7, 2014 - 11:44 am

Brilliantly said!!! I love how much more I see and notice the world around me when I travel. And how much more willing I am to get lost and wander.ReplyCancel
- Annabelle MintzNovember 12, 2014 - 9:15 pm
  
  Thanks Rochelle! Glad you can relate. Sometimes it’s nice to remind yourself that you don’t have to go through every day on your default settings 🙂ReplyCancel

10.01.14

Everyday Adventure // Maxwell Falls Upper Trailhead

I love the late summer/early fall in Colorado. Perfect weather is a perfect excuse to get out into the mountains + soak up every last second of this time of year that always seems so fleeting. So, a few weekends ago, my friends + I headed up to Evergreen to hike the Maxwell Falls Upper Trailhead. Because, mountains. Also: waterfalls!

There is a lower trailhead as well, which we’re hoping to hit up as well at some point, + it appeared to be the more popular choice based on the number of cars parked plus the relative sizes of each lot. Definitely get out early if you want to be sure to find a spot.

There is something so restorative about being out in the wilderness, listening to the wind through the trees + water falling over the rocks. Add in the company of a few truly wonderful people + you have yourself a practically perfect day.

09.04.14

A Postcard from Versailles

{ Old Navy trench, similar / scarf bought from a stand in the Madrid Metro, similar }

Since it’s Throwback Thursday, I thought I’d catch up with some photos that have been sitting around since March from our visit to Versailles.

Everything surrounding our visit to the chateau was a bit crazy: the website wouldn’t let us buy advance tickets, the workers were on strike so there was a delayed open, we got lost driving into town, and there were (of course) huge crowds. Then of course, it was cold + cloudy + too early in the season for any of the gardens to be in bloom or fountains to be functional. But you endure all kinds of crazy for that Hall of Mirrors. And you feel all French + classy in your trench coat while you do it.

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LilaSeptember 5, 2014 - 3:44 pm

The pictures takes through the gates are looking really nice 🙂 I have never been to Versailles, but I always wanted to go.ReplyCancel
- Annabelle MintzSeptember 6, 2014 - 9:34 am
  
  Thanks so much, Lila! It’s definitely a beautiful place 🙂ReplyCancel

09.02.14

Dear Colorado

{ Madewell shirt, similar / jeans / riding boots }

I got an advance screening of fall two weeks ago, up at 11000ft, and let me tell you – it’s gonna be a good one.

It was six years ago that I picked up + moved to Colorado, so long now that I can hardly believe it. We had a rocky start (no pun intended), Colorado and I. Certainly, the thought of staying long term was far from my mind. But time has a way of changing most things + now, well, to say I am smitten with this new home of mine would perhaps be understating things. Dear Colorado, I adore thee.

Autumn is my favorite season everywhere if I’m honest, but especially here in Colorado. Yet somehow I find part of myself resisting the change, clinging to the last languishing afternoons of summer but still relishing the crisp mornings of this new season. Life is predictable in its unpredictability, is it not?

While it may not feel like fall quite yet (and my own self is in disagreement about whether I’m in a hurry for it to arrive), I’m learning that things happen at their own pace. Tomorrow comes, quite reliably, and today is gone, just as quickly. Seasons change whether you’re ready for them or not. I blinked over Memorial Day weekend + suddenly it was Labor Day. But those blink-of-an-eye moments over this summer have been so full for me: of fear + grief + uncertainty, but also of thankfulness + steadfastness + overwhelming love. I have felt profound loss + also the most powerful friendship. More than I felt capable of feeling. And Colorado has just wrapped all of this up in the most beautiful packaging.

So, dear Colorado, thank you for being wild. Thank you for showing me my own wildness. Thank you for your mountains + rivers + wide open spaces. Thank you for your winding roads + endless trails. For the amazing people you’ve brought here + held on to for me.

Thank you for six wonderful years, Colorado. Happy Anniversary + Happy Autumn.

Party favors: here are a few of my favorite Colorado posts so far. Fall Aspen Drives / Wilkerson Pass / Denver City Guide Video / New Belgium Brewery / Eleven Mile Camping Trip / Mt. Elbert (Colorado’s highest point)

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