Oh the weekend, the weekend

When you spend more weekends in hotels and airports than not, it is amazing to feel a weekend, a real weekend in your own town with your own plans. This past weekend was the best weekend of the year so far I believe (although a few here and there are quite close). I took Thursday off and we had Friday off which also made for a nice little treat. Some dear girl friends of mine had been planning on a trip up to Burlington for the weekend which I was counting down their arrival for weeks. I spent Thursday doing some errands and laundry and such and spend the majority of the day planning a menu and cooking for my fireworks cocktail/dinner soiree with the girls. They arrived in the evening and showed up to champagne filled with strawberries and blueberries (my attempt at patriotic colors). This was followed by Brierley's delicious Peach Mojitos. I started the feast with some Caprese salad (tomatoes, basil, mozzarella, balsamic and olive oil) followed by some cheese and crackers. Next up we had ginger-lime shrimp and zucchini and red onion flatbread. We attempted to eat this outdoors but after many many bug bites we took it inside.

Dessert was a new concoction with my awesome ice cream machine - Olive Oil Gelato w/balsamic strawberries. I know, sounds weird, olive oil gelato but it's divine! We attempted to watch the fireworks from Emi and Kev's porch (I was "house sitting") but the trees obstructed the view so we took to the streets..literally straddling the yellow lines of College St. A little downtown action followed with some interesting sights.

Friday was a lovely day laying out on Shelburne Bay and watching Louis the chocolate lab attack rocks in the water...quite entertaining. Friday night we had another awesome cookout hosted at Brierley's place and ended up seeing multiple awesome fireworks shows right from her living room.

Saturday was one of those days that you just love good weather and beautiful sights. The girls all woke up early and met at Starbucks and then we took to the road and headed to Lake George, NY to hang out with Eve at her family's house.

The drive was beautiful and quite fun with an interesting trip to Walmart...no hummus to be found anywhere. We had an interesting trip out onto the lake on someone's boat only to get stranded. He neglected to tell us upon climbing aboard that he was planning to stay on the lake until late in the evening. So we hitched a ride w/another boat, who then took us in their minivan sans back seats to Eve's dad's house where her friend picked us up and dropped us off back at the original beach we were at. We had nothing with us except a few pairs of sunglasses and hats...no shoes, no cover ups, no food or water. It was pretty hilarious. A beautiful drive back and then I headed to Emma's birthday dinner at the Trat which was amazing. Soe and I had some delicious digestivs that I'm still thinking about. Green Room was fun and many laughs, secrets in the bathroom and Penelope dancing up Main St.

Sunday was spent enjoying brunch at PennyCluse followed by some accidental shopping (oops!). The afternoon was spent cooking Honey-Oat Bread and Chocolate/Chocolate Chip cupcakes with vanilla cream cheese frosting topped with raspberries. Then we were off to one of the most amazing summer nights...an outdoor concert at Shelburne Museum. Feist played and she was amazing. There was a gorgeous sunset, cool breeze and we packed an amazing picnic. Zoe was being the cutest thing ever (minus a bit of excess drool on my arm). It felt like heaven. I don't think I could have been in a more amazing setting.