My day off!

Hello all! I hope you had a wonderful fourth of July and a good week. I have so many things to share and a lot of pictures to show. :)

So on the fourth, my family and my boyfriend headed up to my Aunt's lake house on Lake Bantem. We go every year, use the boat, and have a jolly good time. The day was full of tubing, waterskiing (which I am horrible at) and good food. Oh by the way, I have been eating HORRBILY lately.

Sunset before the fireworks!

My brother, Adam. Now a thing about Adam on this particular day which I think is worth mentioning. One of his good friends recently passed away, and he was very upset that day. We were pretty much doing all we can to cheer him up. His friend Ryan Eustace died in a one car accident and suffered head injuries. He was only 17 and it was a tragedy in our town. I can say that was pretty much a downer on the week, but my brother and his friends are doing much better now. The funeral was on Wednesday, and I think the town is settling down. I just feel so sorry for my brother because this is the second young friend he has lost in a couple of years...

ANYWAYS, moving on...!

My uncle's boat. I would say that my uncle is an amazing waterskiier and puts us all to shame. This boat makes me feel very nostalgic.

I love sailboats. I wish I owned one.

My Uncle Al and his dog, Hailey. So adorable!

Adam, my mom, and my cousin Stephanie! Stephanie and my Uncle Jack came up to visit from North Carolina, and I was SO happy to see them. I hadn't seen them in a few years, and we pretty much spent three straight days with them.

While we were driving up to the lake initially, we got terribly lost but my family and I stumbled upon a cannon shooting in the town of Litchfield. (One of the oldest towns in CT.) I thought it was interesting, so I snapped a shot. And it was LOUD.

I apologize, these pictures are kinda out of order so my stories will be all over the place!

Anyways, this picture is from July 3rd! I went down to Southport to go on Jon's family's boat (I guess we're just always near the water and boats, haha!) And we saw a GORGEOUS fireworks display from out in the ocean. Unfortunately, my camera died that night and I couldn't get any!

Anyways, enjoy a picture of Jon drinking some Arizona Iced Tea. ;)

And here is the BIGGEST NEWS! I had my notebook signing at my Walmart for my Fivestar notebook! It was super exciting and I was surprised how many strangers wanted a signed cover. The only setback was that my notebook wasn't even OUT yet! I just signed sample covers and gave them away, but my notebook should be in all Walmart stores nationwide, so get one for back to school!

So the Fivestar corespondent that flew in and arranged my signing actually framed and plaqued my artwork! It's hanging on the wall at home. How cool is that?!



Before it all started...I already had some old friends stop by and visit! This was before the news photographer showed up. I believe my story will be featured in The Waterbury Republican. (By the way, my photographer seemed really baked.)

Signing away! :)






Here's some more pictures from Lake Bantem...

Me, my cousin Paige, her friend Payton, and Stephanie. :)

Shucking corn!

Jon and I!

Tubing with Payton!






I wanted to add these last two pictures from my cousin Erik's cute little birthday party, just because I was ABSOULUTELY in love with the watermelon cake my Aunt made.

Don't worry, it was yellow cake, not watermelon flavor haha!

Well, I just finished an AMAZING yoga workout, and I drinking a Passion Iced Tea Lemonade. I'm gonna be heading out to see Jon again and we are going to a carnival! I will have more pictures and stories soon. Basically, this summer has been great. :)

Magazine journalism sucks!

And I will explain why it sucks soon enough! First, some picthas!

Andrea and I!

So first, I must say that my summer has been swimmingly. I've been making money (which I've been using for SHOPPING SHOPPING SHOPPING.) But anyways, this entry is featured for my lovely friend Andrea, because we have finally reunited our past best friendship. That's a whole other story, but basically she had moved away, and at the end of high school we were kinda being bitches to each other. I digress...! But I have been very happy that I finally have her back in my life. I don't have many girl friends, so it's nice to have girl time once in a while.

First, we spent our morning by the pool, then we had an unexpected downpour. (That's CT for you.) So I had an idea to head down to New Haven to meet up with my boyfriend Jon. We all hung out, and went to Pepe's for pizza. BEST place for pizza, ever. We then headed to Starbuck's, and back to my house. It was a chill day, but very spontaneous and enjoyable.

I do love this candid shot I got of Andrea. Well...it's mainly an SBUX cup. But she's lovely too, hah!

When we were in New Haven, we walked around Yale, which I must say I am so grateful to be able to do that. It's such an every-day thing for me it seems, but really, it's just so grand and beautiful...but this was when we were in the Yale Book Store, and Jon decided he wanted his picture taken with the "semen." Yes, that plush is supposed to be sperm.

Fooling around in the car! We were waiting in the parking garage for Jon to finish going to the bathroom...seriously girls, do your guys take this long to go number 2?!

Moving on...I saw "The Last Airbender" last night. Now let me just say that I am probably one of the hugest Avatar fans, and I have waited over a year for this movie. I want to punch a baby right now. Basically, it was horrible. M. Night butchered an amazing story that was practically handed to him on a silver platter, there was NO character development, and RADDA RADDA! I could write a book about all the mistakes. I am sad. :(

OH! So I finally received my August issue of Seventeen, and I have a story of mine featured in the "Dude Drama" article. Now, I say magazine journalism sucks because they tend to stretch the truth. If anyone reads it first of all, let me tell you that about 89% is exaggerated, and there is one line that is actually false! I was also upset about the title of my story: "He hid his dark side." That really wasn't the point of my story, but again, that's a story for another day. Although...it is kinda cool to be in your favorite magazine. ;)

And last but not least...my notebook signing is still on! The date was changed to July 8th and is going to be held from 1-3 at the Naugatuck, CT Walmart. My notebook will be sold in all Walmart stores, so you should go out and by one! Don't worry, I don't get a percentage of sales or anything. Seriously. :)

You can see my winning cover at

http://www.beafivestarartist.com/ !