In the summer, summer, summertime of 2010 or, a Happy List Plus Five.

Summer's flying by so damn fast - how is it July already?
{But I'm not really complaining.}
So far, this has been one of the best summers I can remember - full of love, full of friends and full of transitions.

Here's just a few things that are making me smile in this "summer, summer, summertime."

- Quoting the only Will Smith song I like (see above line, and the title of this blog).
- Air conditioning.
- Boneyard on Sirius.
- Fantastic daytrips.
- Deck parties with friends.
- Walking after the sun goes down.
- Blasting my newly declared summer soundtrack, The New Pornographer's "Together" nonstop.
- Ice cream. Often.
- Hot dogs. Often.
- Concerts, concerts, concerts.
- Endless sunshine.
- Going over to the dark side as an iPod user.
- Happy days.
- Happy nights.
- And of course my favorite footwear:

Phlog from Jim Thorpe

One of my favorite nooks in Northeastern Pa. is Jim Thorpe.
I've written about "America's Little Switzerland" before , and every time I go back it seems as if there's something new to discover.

This trip, which I made last Friday as part of my Birthday Extravaganza, I seemed to discover a penchant for taking pictures of flowers and trying on vintage hats.

Without further ado ...








{Aside from the hat pics, I think this one's my favorite. I just love the colors and textures.}



{This was such a Dorothy Parker hat - I loved it!}

{A view of the gorgeous Packer Mansion from Molly Maguires.}

{View of the Packer Mansion and Jim Thorpe from Flagstaff.}


Learn more about Jim Thorpe for yourself by clicking here

Fin.

For cake's sake - my interview with Buddy Valastro, the Cake Boss

Cake is one of my favorite things in the world.
What's not to love about a perfect slice of cake smothered in a creamy butter cream?

It was with great pleasure I recently interviewed Buddy Valastro from TLC's hit show "Cake Boss" for this week's Weekender. I love the show so much, partly because Buddy and his family remind me so much of my Italian family, but also because I'm always fascinated how he can make such amazing cakes out of, well, cake. My favorite one by far is his Leaning Tower of Pisa cake he made for a wedding. It was absolutely stunning.

Read the interview here, and enjoy these three pictures of cake. Glorious, locally made cakes I recently had for my 33rd birthday.


{The fish-shaped cupcake cake from my coworkers.}


{The cake from my parents, it's a marble-cake purse with a red velvet hatbox, red velvet, of course, being my most favorite cake in the world. The "flowers" on the left are actually cupcakes, and there was a cake slicer in the shape of a shoe!}


{Side view, it's precious, yes?}

I am no longer this person ...

Nope - I FINALLY got high speed!!
I'm completely enthralled by it - and am going around saying "Do you know what you can do on the Internet?" in complete fascination.

Never mind that the reply is usually "Welcome to 2004, Nikki."
Oh well, better late than never, right?

Books of 2010: "When You Are Engulfed In Flames"

A few days back, I was perusing the fella's bookshelf and came across David Sedaris' "When You Are Engulfed In Flames."

I picked it up, briefly leafed through it and immediately fell in love.
There are so many things to love about Sedaris:
- His wit.
- How utterly ridiculously brilliant he is.
- How honest - and neurotic - he is.

I have never laughed out loud to any book like I did reading this one.
From his catheter-like Stadium Pal, to his fascination with a spider he named April to - unbeknownst to her - racing an overweight woman with Down syndrome in his community pool, Sedaris is all sorts of wrong, which really means he's all sorts of fabulous and all sorts of fun.

I was so disappointed when I read the last page, but luckily, a friend is letting me borrow "Barrel Fever," which I immediately started reading.

While not as funny yet as "When You Are Engulfed In Flames," it's still brilliant.
I can't believe it took me this long to discover this author!

Big weekend looms!

It's gorgeous here in Northeastern Pa.
Summer's looming.
Flowers are blooming.
And I've got a big big big weekend ahead of me.

The fella and I are driving out to Long Island to Meet His Parents.
We're going to eat seafood, play mini golf (or "putt-putt" as I like to say), hit the beach and a bunch of other things I am super excited about.

But the most exciting thing of all is meeting the people who shaped him into the guy I've been waiting my whole life to find.

{I just love love love this photo from findstuff22, don't you?}

Feeling French.

The fella and I had a very European evening last night.
We got a nice, fresh loaf of French bread, a chilled bottle of lovely, locally made white wine, a bowl of black olives, a tasty brick of pungent, Parmesan-like cheese, some soppressata and a little cheese tortellini with meat sauce.

It was a truly lovely meal, and another great date night.
Even though I wish we were both wearing berets.
{Though that didn't stop me from saying repeatedly my few known phrases from French 101 ... }