Green roof boot camp

This has been such an amazing experience... I know I am in the right place and I am already doing exactly what I was intended to do. I just finished my green roof boot camp which was three intensive days of condensed course material for becoming a green roof professional. I love vegetated roofs even more now and I am excited to make a difference in this newly rooted industry.  I think I have just the right amount of creativity and environmental consciousness to be an amazing green roof professional. I got to see a few amazing friends while I was here and Connor came to visit as well. I stayed with family, or even better... Friends that I consider to be family. What an amazing adventure! I am exhausted and inspired beyond content and I've never felt more content with my career and the direction in which it is heading. It feels like the right thing and I love it because it is something I feel very proud of and have worked very long and hard for. That feeling of fulfillment and excitement all wrapped up together. 

Vermont

Skiing in the trees 😍

Vermont Sugarbush

We took a trip up to Vermont this weekend! It was a fun ride up with Connor in the S4... It got fixed just in time. On the way up we got detoured on 22A because of an overturned 18

wheeler... We asked how long it's been there and they said three days! What!? Then they informed us they had to unload 36,000 pounds of cookie dough and there was a parallel road we could use as a detour. Too bad our Phones had no service in the boondocks and we had to use old school navigation! It was exciting and fun! 

We finally arrived to the house we were staying at... What an amazing design... An architect owned and designed this wooden longhouse tree cabin in the woods. The best part was definitely the tempurpedic mattresses. 

Sticky snow! 

Skiing tomorrow! Laura and Diane arm wrestle Connor n zubke ... Chess w con n john pizzas! 

Snowed all night 3" or so and super cold and windy 

Doctor Connor 

Sundays skiing was even better than expected a few fresh inches of powder and some solid snow! But boy was it cold. For the first time ever I got to experience skiing in the trees... Not a ton but just the right amount to make you feel like you are skiing in nature! Such a wonderful skiing experience with Connor. I will forever be in love with sleeper in sugarbush <3 

On the way home we stopped at a place for some grub a little off the highway. It was sooo much better than a rest stops food selection. 

Hartshorn Hike with a Wonderful Friend

Today I got to see Andreea and we went for a hike in the woods. It was so nice to embrace the beauties of winter and chat along the way. I love spending time with people who understands enjoying the simple pleasures in life. That is truly all we have to embrace in this world. Despite the frigid zero temperatures it was quite enjoyable and heartwarming. We even took a moment to stand there and reflect on the environment we were in and embrace all of its natural beauties. We both had rosy cheeks and accomplished or 2.7 mile hike! We talked about applying to jobs anywhere and everywhere even Beijing and Australia... oh one can dream! We talked about the beauty and the art of launching oneself. This way the universe can take me in whichever direction it wants to. I have so much more potential as a designer because I care immensely about this world. I want to have the greatest impact I could possibly have given the life I have chosen. Onward and upward. Your potential is infinite... reach for the stars! 

I really can't wait for the future it's so exciting and inspiring <3 

Reach for the stars! Great family day

I'm so glad I got to spend the day with mom <3  and we got to see baby AJ and Jenn and the kiddos and uncle Mikey! 

Mom and I went into town for brunch at the beanery and we had yummy tea and a healthy lunch. We talked about designing a vegetable garden for them in their backyard. I got Gabby hooked on Pinterest with lots of great ideas. I'm glad I got to spend such precious moments with family. I miss them all so very much 

*Reach for the stars ^*

I picked up a great pair of earrings... The tinyest gold stars with such great symbolism behind them! 

And what a wonderful card my mom handed me while we were in the store <3 p.s. 

I'm sending this to his parents ASAP! 

City Cinderella

Today was so much fun! What a nice March day and a wonderful trip into the city :) I went into the city with Dana and her sisters for Erica's birthday to see Rodgers + Hammersteins Cinderella... We last minutiae decided to take  the Staten Island ferry into the city!

 I wasn't expecting too much from it and it was truly the most enjoyable time! The play was so great... 

Carley Rae Jepson  and Fran Dresher were in it! And it was pretty witty lol The play reminded me of the first time I went into the city with my Nana when I was about three. It was where I fell in love with NYC and it was so nice to have a memory of that feeling and living it all over again. 

I'm so glad I took the opportunity to explore and experience new and different things! It was such a wonderful time. 

We ironically walked passed radio city  where I graduated from Pratt and the place where I had my graduation party! 

Bucket List

This weekend was so exilitating and amazing! I accomplished two huge feats... Skiing A black diamond and driving a stick shift! 

Saturday Ski trip to Pennsylvania Connor and I went to Blue Mountain for a Saturday ski trip to break in the new ski boots! Alast I was able to give skiing on the east coast another try. We skied some green trails and then headed for the blue. I was starting to get tired pretty quickly and my shins were both starting to cramp up but I was already here and just needed to ski down the mountain. At the top of the blue trail I saw signs for a green trail to the left but I kept that in the back of my mind for later. As we were skiing we kept hitting ice patches and they were gradually getting larger and larger as we traversed the mountain. I thought it would be better on the adjacent trail so we cut across the trees to another trail. I asked Connor if this was a green trail and he said yea... secretly thinking it was probably a blue.  I rested for a bit to alleviate the cramping in my legs and I assessed the trail. Mogules to my left but a pretty wide open space and still some sheets of ice. My mind was so focused on getting down the hill that I wasn't paying much attention to anything else except stay away from the mogules and use caution with the ice. It was a race to the bottom because my shins were spent... The sensation was like trying to walk with pins and needles in your feet. I hit some ice patches pretty hard and spun right back up the hill a couple of times but I kept laughing and apologizing to the other skiers. By some miracle we made it to the bottom of the trail and I got some water and regained my strength to get back to the lodge for lunch. As Connor and I are relaxing by the fire he realizes that the trail we  just went down couldn't have been a Green trail. It was a black diamond! My first one ever 😁 and I was so fearless flying down it! 

Stick lessons on a rainy Sunday at Sandy Hook.  

Connor always asks me if I want a stick lesson and lately I've had a lot more "nah maybe another time" responses. It was an overcast afternoon w some rain and we were just getting back from a surprise trip to hoffmans. It was 39 degrees lol just warm enough to justify a frosty treat. We normally go to RBR's parking lot but we decided to give sandy hook a try. They have much larger parking lots which means more space for shifting into higher gears. We found a really good empty parking lot and in the adjacent lot there was also a student driver getting parallel parking lessons. We went around a dozen times testing out break clutch and starting and stopping and doing it all over again. Then we realize I probably needed to work on quickly breaking in the event of needing to stop very fast. For the time being we referred to this as "squirrel"! sometimes I let the squirrel live... other times I wasn't quick enough and I don't think he got away. It made it a lot of fun. The most fun stick lesson so far! We were working on second and third year and trying to get down transitioing smoothly. This is not a category where I excel very much... If ya catch my drift. 

Connor said if I do this successfully that we would drive around on the streets of Sandyhook! What an incentive. Off we went driving around up to stop signs and yield signs and other cars were involved. I stalled the car, rolled backwards on the hill, and had to use the park break... but overall I got a lot of really good real-time experience. Then Connor asked if I was okay and wanted to drive home!?! I thought about the route... It seemed pretty simple and we gave it a go. Starting out there's a car behind me... this very much intimidated me. I decided to try to speed up as quickly as I could so that I was driving at a normal speed... then Connor informed me not to go too fast, there was a cop behind me. 

I was already thinking of my alibi and how on earth I would stop the car if the cop actually pulled me over. Luckily none of that happened and we just drove home and I parked the car right in the driveway... it was pretty awesome!