i can see it in your crystal dancing in like a storm

my cousin serena's 10 day visit came to an end this morning and i think we really packed in a lot of stuff for 10 days. the following will be some picture highlights with small descriptions. you dig?



we took at tour of the albany capitol building, one of only 9 capitol buildings in teh us that does not have a dome. the picture above is of the famed 'million dollar staircase' which cost....a million dollars. at the time (1850 something) that was really a lot of money.



the faces are of governors and also local people and are all carved by hand. it was such an impressive tour full of so many facts and it was free! can't beat that. i never even knew of this incredibly impressive building in my backyard!



remember the truck i wanted? well its gone. someone bought it. now i want this. its even more money! $9,000 dollars! basically someone needs to buy this for me. i know one of you wants to. i went to see that movie julie & julia last night and now i magically think i have hundreds of secret readers of my blog. go with it.



my blue crew and i went to the altamont fair last thursday. despite being really way more expensive than you would think something whos main demographic is people who can smoke without using their hands would be, it was so so fun and we even shelled out the 6 dollars for 5 tickets to ride one ride and loved it. i happily spent my $5 dollars on funnel cake and watched a video of a calf being born: the miracle of birth!

















obviously the best part is when the entire midway sparkles in the night. we were all filled with some kind of child's glee as soon as the sun set and the rides started shooting fiery sparkle dust into the black sky. we rode the orbiter and it was the best $6 thirty seconds of my life. we cherried our sundae night with stewarts ice cream. cotton candy and fireworks. i almost got chocolate espresso trifecta. next time!

friday i made my first drive into new york. triumph! i saw some apartments that i cant afford and teased my poor heart. now i listlessly search craigslist sublets knowing my poor sweet furniture won't follow me. knowing i'll have to walk in some hallway. knowing it will never feel like mine. such is life. it all works out in the end, no? i belive this. i do believe this. i must believe this but really, i do believe this.



saturday we woke up bright and early (crack of dawn, seriously folkz) team up with kiki and hawk our wears to the greater fort greene region. we made $1,000 dollars! really, i would love to do that more often. it was fun! i loved seeing the direct faces of the people who will wear things that i hand picked at thrift stores that dot the whole of the nation. someone finally bought the purple plaid pantsuit onesie! it looked so adorable on her!




saturday night we decided to bolt from the city while we had the light on our side and head to hillsdale to rob's purple themed birthday bash. we also had the plan to find some waterfalls the next day and do some swimming. the party was better than we could have ever expected. all of the food and drinks were purple or purple inspired. there was even homemade fresh beet pasta! it was really incredible!

since we arrived in the dark we couldn't see anything about the property and had to have a tour of the food tables by flashlight. when i asked rob about nearby waterfalls to swim in the next day, he sort of looked at me funny and pointed to the right and said "there's a waterfall right there"



we did a night time swim, so i knew it was refreshing, but i could have never fully imagined how incredibly beautiful this place was. we slept in a tent in the yard and woke up at 8am baking in the purple sunshine and decided right away that it was time for a swim.



little by little the stragglers woke up and jumped in one by one. did i mention there was ledges for jumping in and a rope swing?



did i mention the water was crystal clear and awoke you from your innermost core?




paradise!


we drove the 40 minutes back up here and had a lovely sunday dinner at staats.
last night we went to see julie and julia and then had a small feast afterwards at new world bistro bar, the only "nice" restaurant in albany that i actually like. it was delicious! we had strawberry basil bruschetta with chevre and a balsamic reduction. yum!

now i am going to go back to craigslist and nursing these allergies/potential actual sickness. i hope this entry will tide you all (my plentiful and overflowing readers) until i find the time/do anything fun enough to do this again.

much love from this hot humid heart of august!