Gadget wishlist - cameras

For every fun event and experience that I take part in, twice the amount of time is spent preparing. So if it's a two hour party, I spend four hours or more preparing or obsessing over it. Half of that prep time is spent searching for my reliable handheld items - cell phone, wallet, keys, iPod. But the one device I can never find is my camera.

Maybe we should back up here... because I don't actually own a camera. It's more like, I'm spending time looking for someone else's camera to take - ahem, 'scuse me, borrow - so I can have those memorable shots the next day. But I've had enough of using someone else's camera! It is time that I, Stephanie, got my very own camera.

At the top of my wishlist is the Sony NEX-3. Thank you, Nylon magazine, for showing this glorious piece if equipment to me: it has "the lens of a high-end camera and the body of a pocket-friendly digital point-and-shoot." Perfectttttt...

Other desirable picture-takers include:
Sony Cybershot series
Canon PowerShot series
Kodak Slice

Can you say birthday present!!!?
How about "CHEESE!"
xxo, S

I'm shipping out to Fire Island

My family has a beach house for the week on Fire Island and so I'll be there for a while.
Fire Island is a skinny little barrier island off the southern coast of Long Island. One shore boarders the bay between Long Island and Fire Island, while the other shore faces the Atlantic Ocean. Being out on FI is totally relaxing; no cars are allowed on the island between Memorial Day and Labour Day and the only way to get to there is via ferry. Even though it's close to home, it feels so much farther away...

Fire Island lighthouse

the beach

See you in a week!

xxo, S

Twenty-four hours at Mohonk

Mohonk Mountain House is a 140-year-old hotel in the Catskill Mountains of New York. If you don't know it (and I had never heard of it before), it is one of those places that is a true mountain resort. Like the mountain version of the hotel in Dirty Dancing, there are all sorts of activities and facilities: hiking trails, swimming pool, yoga classes, golf course, row boats; movies every night and porches on every floor. And all around, in a crazy panorama, there are views of the rolling mountains and peaceful Lake Mohonk.

Lake Mohonk

Feeding the fish in the lake

Playing old-fashioned games

Putting around

140 years of "blank ♥ s blank" carvings

The hotel itself was started in 1869 by the Smiley brothers and has remained in the family ever since. This probably accounts for the why Mohonk has been virtually unchanged since the turn of the last century. The rooms, porches, restaurant and library all feel much as they probably did in 1880... and 1980. The last addition was in 2005 when they added a spa and indoor pool (the last addition before that was in 1905).

Uber-new, uber-beautiful pool

By the entrance

View from the room

Secret garden bench by the maze (yes they have a garden maze!)

Everywhere, there are these gazebo huts made completely out of branches. Many of them have beautiful flowering vines growing on them, too. Outside of the house, everything is green and alive. Acres of gardens and miles of hiking paths provide a easy way to explore Mohonk's grounds, too. Rough foot paths above the cliffs bordering the lake also have sights from heights. Precariously placed gazebos and benches are a nice place to rest and read up high. You can stay in confort but still visit nature unchanged.

Garden path

Gazebo bridge

Gazebos in the garden

Trellis 

French countryside lavender -esque

Alice in Wonderland garden

Secret look out/resting spot

Jetting off from a cliff

Overall, I give my hats off to Mohonk for totally wowing me in only twenty-four hours. While I felt like I took advantage of as many of their facilities as possible, I also felt like I barely scratch the surface of what they have to offer. Needless to say, I hope to go back again soon.
xxo, S

What happens when you're home for the summer

(A.K.A. hot graduates sightings)

All those upperclassmen boys that high school girls had giant crushes on (even if they were the older siblings of one of their classmates) have to come back home during the summer at some point. Whether they are working at their dad's office, or hanging for a week before their pièce de la résistance trip to Europe, if you're home too, you're bound to run into them.

And oggle because college has only made them better looking.

Stop oggling! They don't remember you! Who do you think you are? They have a girlfriend waiting for them back at Yale/Dartmouth/UVA/Davidson/UCLA. And you're the same age as their younger brother/sister!!

Ok, now breathe... in... and out... There you go. Now they turned, you won't run into them... uh oh. Did they just walk into Starbucks/Haagen Daz/Louie's Pizza? Because you were going there too. And now you have to wait in line behind them... and stare at the equally handsome back of their head.

Oh no, they turned around! Shit, shit, look somewhere else, anywhere else! ...What - what was that? A smile? They - they really did recognize you. Well, of course, you have the most perfect ponytail in chorus/band/trig class. Go on: smile back! Do it, do it! Ugh, they're already looking away again. And that was the! lamest smile you've ever given anyone. What are they gonna think of it? That you haven't changed at all since you were fourteen?! Great...

Wait, here's your chance again, they're looking your way while waiting for their coffee/ice cream/pepperoni slice. Are they gonna say something to you: "Hi?", "What's up?" Smile again and... and... moment passed. They didn't even notice. Now they're leaving. Damn it, you totally just made a fool of yourself. As usual.

Who are you looking at? This has definitely never happened to me.
xxo, S

Roomies!

On Friday, I found out who my roommate for next year is going to be!!!
I am so excited because it's like all the pieces of going to college are really coming true, each piece more tangible than the last. Now, I gotta figure out an alias for her here on the blog...

Also, I can officially start going dorm shopping! Picking out all the shelves, sheets, lamps, decorations, etc., that I'm going to need to make my room feel like home next year. Next year... wait... that's only six weeks away!

My residence hall

For anyone who wants to send me a lovely birthday care package, it can't arrive before that Wednesday (bday's on a Saturday). But I will treasure it whenever it gets there!

Forty-eight days until I move in!!!
xxo, S

Vespa colony - UPDATE!

Ok, so I swear I didn't plan this at ALL, but today another Vespa showed up in the parking lot.

It's a cute cream-coloured one. I like it, for sure. But really, another one?! It only adds to the mystery and bewilderment. 

The Vespas are coming...
xxo, S

Vespa colony

You don't know what a Vespa is??? They are the brand of Italian-manufactured scooters that you see in scenic movies set in Europe. Cute, colourful, convenient little motor scooters that everyone secretly wants. And there is a growing colony of them in my town.

The first strange part of the Vespa colony is that Vespas are not usually found in American cities and towns; they just happen to be more of a European thing, like meat for breakfast and hairy legs. So the sighting of a Vespa is an event of its own. To add to the strangeness, there are a growing number of them that park in the parking lot near my town's train station. And more and more and more of them...

In the beginning, there was one.

Then two started parking next to each other.

June 10

A third popped up on the side.

June 10

July 11

A fourth, a pretty blue one, was parked in the front.

June 6

June 17

Numbers five and six showed up in the other parking lot.

July 6

July 6

All Purple and I can wonder is, "WHAT IS GOING ON?!" And where do these Vespas keep coming from?


When I was in Paris, I of course saw countless Vespas and other brands of motor scooters, mopeds, and motorbikes. But in my own (very American!) hometown, it's difficult to comprehend the sudden explosion of the Vespa population.


And it only makes me want my own little scooter even more ;)
xxo, S

Jet lag

Sorry I haven't written in a while! I was in Paris for a week - and just in time for Bastille Day. The fireworks in the City of Light definitely surpassed anything I've ever seen stateside.

I got home last night, so now I'm justjet lagged... even though it is 4am in France right now I am really awake! But I get hungry on France time... ah jet lag, you have confused me thoroughly once more.

The trip inspired me to make a new blog (I'm keeping this one, too, don't worry!) about traveling. It's under construction right now but check it out soon: traveltipsforteens.blogspot.com

xxo, S

Bella's birthday box

Even though most stores were closed today, I got what I needed to make the world's most fabulous care package ever - BELLA'S BIRTHDAY BOX! With help from Purple, I put together pretty much a party in a box complete with confetti, candles, candy, and cards (wow, that's a lot of Cs). My cousin Bella's birthday is next week, so I am sending her this fabulous package for her birthday.

What's inside you ask? First, I lined the box with pretty tissue paper, then began sprinkling little bits of homemade confetti. This, however, is not your grandmother's confetti. It's comprised of glitter foam craft shapes, sequins, and "bath" confetti (it's scented! I couldn't pass it up!). On top of this, I wrapped four tubes of Starburst candies and a cool shaped candle. I also included a pre-addressed thank you note ;) and of course a birthday card (a postcard from New York). Lastly, I got a metallic helium balloon from the supermarket (I figure it will last longer) and closed the box over it. Theoretically, when Bella opens the box, the balloon will fly up and she will have a delightful surprise!

Who knows? This could become my own little business venture...
I hope she likes it!
xxo, S

Independence Day... ex-pat style

Of course I love the U.S., but fireworks, barbecues, Uncle Sam, and unflattering horizontal striped shirts get boring after a while. And it is just boiling outside right now (6p and 97 degrees!), so I spent time with my dad watching the first stage of the Tour de France.

The Tour, which will last until the end of the month, kicked off from Rotterdam and ended... kinda absurdly. There were a bunch of crashes today, more than I've ever seen in one stage of the race. So at the end, we were kind of like, "What just happened?" but it's only the first stage and there will be much more drama to come, sans doute.

Really, it's my dad who's into the Tour, but I tag along (like those delicious Girl Scout cookies!) for fun. Having followed it (as much as I follow any other sporting event :P) for the past four years, I've gotten to know the structure of the race, like how points and winners are determined, and seen the beautiful geography of France.

Lovely French countryside

They go by that fast

It would be sweet if there was a Tour d'Etats Unis. In France (and all over Europe, for that matter, but the Tour de France is the most prestigious), people line up along the route days ahead of time, waiting for the riders to whiz by at thirty miles per hour. Can't you just imagine driving out to some pretty Carolinan suburb and sitting along the highway, waiting for your favourite rider to go by? It would be an awesome way to see the country - like a new take on road trips!

Um, but could you also imagine riding 3,000 miles across the U.S.? Yikes, that would be rough.

Well, I gotta go grab my yellow jersey and root for... uh, who's that guy on the bike again?

xxo, S