apples and apples

Yesterday Kelsey and I went on an apple picking adventure, because we live in Maine and that's what you do in the fall, in Maine. We started at Thompson's Orchard in New Gloucester, which was a little bit of a mob, and not quite as quaint as we'd hoped. We pressed on, had a donut, picked 7 or 8 pounds of apples, then decided to try our luck a little further north at Ricker Hill in Turner. It was great! And quite quaint! We also sampled their donuts, for comparison sake. Obviously.

Guys. Fall is so great, right? It's my favorite.

waters and roaming

Last week we went to the marsh, with a plan to rent a canoe and float around the waterways for a little while, with a picnic somewhere in there. Our hopes and dreams were dashed when we arrived and the shop was closed for the season. Oops.

Not to be deterred, we instead went for a walk along the Eastern Trail, which cuts through part of the marsh. We concluded that it would be a nice one to bike (it's 65 miles, from South Portland to Kittery), but the two miles we encountered were not so interesting for walking. In search of a prettier picnic spot, we drove over to Pine Point Beach and had our sandwiches there, then popped over to Old Orchard (which has a kind of uncharacteristic Jersey Shore of Maine vibe, and an especially creepy abandoned carnival vibe in the off-season) for a fried dough dessert.

Go with the flow, you know? I mostly feel super lucky that my work allows me to work from home and leaves time for plenty of roaming.

strive for 5 5k

Hey! I did a 5k this past Saturday! This is not something I ever thought I would say, as I am the furthest thing from a runner. A few years ago I signed up for a 10k with my dad, but a few months before broke my leg and there was no way I was going to make it, so dropped out, and thus ended my very, very short-lived running career.

The Strive for 5 5k supports Strive U, which is a program that my youngest brother started this past June. Obviously my family wanted to support him, so we signed up for the race and then I totally forgot about it until my mom reminded me on Friday night.

We showed up, got our number things, and I decided to try to run, rather than stroll, so I did, mostly, and finished in 38:47, which is a 12:28 mile, which is about as fast as I ran in high school so overall, I'm pretty happy with that.

Plus it was super fun to run that last little bit there when everyone's cheering and you see the finish line and it's like you're not even running anymore, you're just floating to the end. Also, free peanut butter and bagels. Also, you get a medal!

Who knew. Fun stuff. It was a nice first race. Super low key. Like, lots of kids did it.

Here is one photo from their Facebook page where you can barely, barely see me but whatever, it's proof that I was there and so here it is:

the lobster shack

The Lobster Shack is a lovely little unpretentious spot in Cape Elizabeth with incredible views of the water. I'm not a huge lobster fan and tend to get boring things like chicken fingers when I go to places like this, which makes me a little bit of a bad Mainer. Heaps of food, BYOB, heaps of cliffs to explore. It's usually pretty crowded, but the line goes fast and you can lay claim to a picnic table and admire the view and breeze while you wait for your number to be called.

grown

This thing bloomed. It's quite exciting to see something grow. The cat likes it, too.

we were on a break

Here's a thing about working in the music industry that I never, ever, ever anticipated. It made me forget about music. Or not forget, exactly, but push it aside and compartmentalize it into my "work" box and not my "everyday life/passion" box.

I grew up singing, in choirs and in my bedroom and in musical theater and a cappella groups. We moved around a lot when I was a kid, but I always did that, always sang. Right out of college, when I lived in Manhattan for a blink, I was one of those obnoxious people with headphones permanently affixed to my ears. I loved finding a new song or a new band and getting lost walking around the city to it.

And then I left the city and came back to Maine and worked for this non-profit whose mission is to make touring a more environmentally-friendly venture. A tough battle, for sure. And I met some of those new bands or some of those old bands with their new songs, and they were nice and normal, mostly, and things were fun and I took in a lot of shows from VIP seats or from the stage and that's a pretty great way to see a show, but also a lot of mystery was gone.

I never knew much about the artists behind my favorite songs. I liked what I liked and there it was, and all of a sudden there was an actual person responsible for making what I liked and I knew them and sometimes we were friends, and I came to the realization, without really realizing it, that music wasn't something I could get lost with anymore.

And then I left that non-profit, and went to work as a tour manager for a band, and if the mystery wasn't gone before then it was definitely gone then. It was a wild ride, my couple of short years on the road, and in that time I stopped listening completely. Like, literally. I mean, aside from having an ear on the show every night, I literally did not listen to the radio or an iThing or a record.

Honestly, I don't know. Maybe it was just a phase that happened to coincide with my career in that world.

Whatever the case, I prefer having a veil there, and I think now, after a few months away, I can just listen again.

west end apartment

Well. I did it. See you in October, apartment!

Thanks for the street view, Google! The building is no longer blue and pink, but a nice greenish color and LOOK AT ALL THOSE COOL DETAILS! The apartment is on the third floor, with a new kitchen and a bright sunny living room and a big, airy bedroom.

Can't wait, can't wait.

next, again

Now that I've successfully nailed down the job thing, I have an intense desire to find a new spot to live.

My living situation, as it stands currently: while touring, I lived nowhere. Or rather, I lived everywhere, on a bus. When I stopped touring, I moved in with my parents in a town about 15 minutes south of Portland (here!). While they are great and have been incredibly supportive and accommodating and it's been really incredible to live in this nice, big, comfortable house, I feel like moving out (again) is an important piece of my version of adulthood. You know.

What am I looking for? I've lived alone, I've lived with roommates, I've lived on the East End and the West End and in between. I'm a pretty independent, solo person who enjoys alone time, but do I want the price tag that comes with a studio or one-bedroom place? Can I afford it? Yes, but barely. Just barely. Do I really want to be stressed out about money, for the luxury of living alone? Meh. Yes, but not YES!

I saw a really great one-bedroom tonight. West End, with parking (important, because of snow bans) and beautiful wooden floors. Top of my budget. But, but I am currently only working something that falls in between part-time and full-time. So, obviously, the answer is to find more work and take the place because jeeze, I doubt I'll find something so great again. It's in such a nice spot. Man.

Right? Or do I stay here, save some money, and work on being patient? Look again in a few months? I don't know. Patience is something I have very little of. I decide something, and then I do it/want it/make it happen immediately.

Well. There's that, anyway.