What a day!

One GORGEOUS Saturday, back in June, Sandra, Yelz and I took the NJ transit to visit Brooke and her Dad, Capt'n Gregg. I'm not sure if the girls could tell, but I was excited. Real excited. And being as I'm not one for hiding my emotions, they could tell.
You'll notice that there is just one thing missing from all of the following pictures of this day and that is Diddy. Sadly, she had to work, but hopefully we'll get a redo next summer and she'll be there in full force and all the world will be right again.

Just an hour on the train (which was a double decker... a double decker TRAIN?!) from Penn...

And we were there... Middletown, NJ.

When Brooke called her dad 'Captain Gregg' and told us he would be the one to take us out on the boat, I was already sold on him, but then I took notice of some things...
Gregg: 

Dresses like my dad.

Walks like my dad.

Has thick salt & pepper hair like my dad.

Loves the sun like my dad.

Loves the water like my dad.

Likes hanging with the girls like my dad.

Has catch phrases like my dad.
And drinks Diet Pepsi... Like my dad.

We stopped to get hoagies, then we hurried on down to the dock as Mr. Kiefer was growing more antsy by the minute... and news flash: so was I!
I WAS SO EXCITED!

Yelz tried to compete with Mr. Kiefer for the title of El Capitan.

She lost.

Capt'n Gregg's catch phrases rotate between any of the following 3...
1.) "This is livin'." Said with assurance. Like stating a well known fact. Not an exciting discovery.
2.) "What are the poor people doing?" Which is usually followed by a consensus of, "Well Mr. Kiefer, we're sitting on your boat."
and the mostly commonly used phrase (and name of his boat),
3.) "What a day!" In our case, immediately repeated with, "What a day, girls!"

Now, if you know my dad or knew my GrandDad, you'd know that catchphrases are what Gholson men do best.
My Pa-Pa's was, "Glad you got to see me today! The pleasure was all yours."
My dad's rotate between,
1.) "But you're pretty."
2.) "Guess we oughta go on back to the poor side of town."
and recently,
3.) "We're smoking now boys!"

Here's Mr. Kiefer giving, "We're smoking now boys," a try.

Pretty successful as he decided to yell it just as we picked up speed out of the marina!

We were certainly smokin' down the Shrewsbury River.

Here's she who claims Capt'n G as dad, Brooke.

She's a riot!

As I said before, I was a little excited. Also it happened to be a GORGEOUS day so I must've had a happy case of 'shutter finger'. Shutter finger is the same thing as trigger finger, but with a camera right? It is now. I had a serious case of shutter finger and eventually everyone else caught it as well. Maybe because it was contagious or maybe because I forced them to, no one can be sure.

A distant view of our beautiful home, New York City. 

Capt'n took us by Bon Jovi's house...

It's bigger than it appears.

This is when Sandra got 'shutter-finger'. Or is it 'shutter happy'? Now I can't remember.

Then Gregg got shutter happy.

The sacrifices one makes to play photographer.

What a good sport!

Then he finally got some peace and quiet...

('Merica)

Temporarily...
Until this...

Just to be clear, that cannon ball perfection is not me, but Sandra.
Kerny somehow thought, even with her lower back tattoo showing, that I was the one in the photo athletic enough to produce such hops.
And really, mom? A cannon ball? I'm a lady. I dive.
Aka, I'm not daring or creative enough for anything more.

We swam alongside the diarrhea (aka algae) and laughed and laughed until my cheeks hurt and I was practically drowning from my inability to tread water against the giggle fits.

I have some gorgeous besties, I know that!

And luckily, they're willing to "assume the position" even on a boat.

While watching Brooke help her dad de-dock, anchor, and then re-dock the boat, I paid close attention to their interactions and learned lots of technical boating/nautical terms. 

Terms like:

smidgen

tidge

bunch

that

thingy

scooch

yank

and nudge.

I'm a pro now.

The sun started to set and we headed back for some ice cream before jumping back on the train towards Manhattan.

I feel like this day trip to New Jersey not only changed my view of The Dirty Jerse, but also was the start to the realization that this was shaping up to be one of the best summers of my time spent in New York thus far. I love being in the suburbs and spending time with family. Even if it isn't my own.

These girls are part of the most beautiful family I've developed here in NYC and frankly, I couldn't exist here without them.

And Capitain Gregg is a new addition to my list of faves!

I'm so grateful that Brooke invited us to her home and I hope we have many more visits out to Middletown... rain or shine, winter or summer! And this time, Diddy included.

When you get out of the city, you have a little more space. And the more space you have, the more love you can fill the room with! 

So... sleepover soon Kiefers?

I'll bring the Diet Pepsi!

Love,
~Legs*

Eva Louise Father's Day

I can't believe that both Mother's Day AND Father's Day went by without any of my acknowledgment at all.

Not a post, a shout out, or a photo flashback.

That being said, I'll take this opportunity of writing about my surprise weekend home back in June - that's right, I'm still catching up from way back when - to also gush about my appreciation for them and cover both of those bases.

June 16th, mom had her first real jewelry show. Ever. And she was a nervous wreck. I decided very last minute (11PM the night before) to take the 3AM train home to surprise her.

It also happened to be Father's Day weekend.

Luckily for me, Seon offered to pick me up from the train station on her way to the show and the surprise was a success... I think. Kern says she had a feeling I was coming, but she still lit... so I call it a win.

She sold well and used her handy-dandy, high-tech iPhone (and square) to charge customers and make sales.

I was proud.

She was even mic'd and interviewed on camera afterwards and she ROCKED IT!

Eva Louise Jewelry sign and luggage with the artist herself and her roadie.

I got to drive (a rarity)...

The back roads to Me-Maw's.

I spent time with this bestie.

And got in some pool time at Nanny's.

(Kern's version of the hair string-kini)

Then I turned around and came right back to the city the very next day, Father's Day.

Sometimes I have thoughts of never having children.

Maybe I'll never get married. Or maybe if I do, I'll be too old or the world will be too cruel.

Or maybe I'll be too selfish with my free time or my career to make that kind of sacrifice.

Then I think about how much love and admiration I have for those two kids I call mom and dad and how my appreciation for their example and selflessness overwhelms me sometimes. I think about how rewarding it would be to know that, even if unspoken at times, there was someone out there in the universe who appreciated and loved me with every ounce of their being and I think, how can I miss out on that?! To know that I could devotedly, even when imperfectly, raise someone up, and that in return that person could still love me with even a smidgen of how much I love them fills my not-yet-existent love cup to the brim. The one I have is already overflowing so why not catch the spillover with another cup?

Sometime in the future. The distant future.

Doesn't seem like such a bad idea after all.

Happy Mother's Day and Father's Day to every mother and father, every day.

Love,

 ~Kare*

Dude, where's my pool?

In most suburbs, when there is no beach access, people sunbathe poolside. 

In New York City, we sunbathe in Central Park.

Reagan and I had planned a park date and since she had access to her car, she felt like taking me on a little field trip.

After driving around the park for an hour, making a pit stop at pick-a-bagel, and discussing the finer things in life - like SNL, Judy Garland, and Lady Gaga, Reagan and I finally found the sweetest parking spot a park-goer could ask for. This is an accomplishment on an average day, but on THIS particular day, the day of the Puertorican Day Parade, a spot on Central Park West is like winning the lottery!

(Tradesies)

A lot of cookies and some girl talk later, Yelz finally made her way through the crowd on 5th Ave and met up with us.

I believe I've said it before - numerous times even - but Reags is THE Hairdresser on Fire. A blogger with a rather large following.

On this day of tanning in the park, she created maybe one of her now most notorious (in my opinion only) hair accessories. She calls it, the Hair String-Kini and it gives your bathing suit strap some much needed use once you've removed it for proper tanning sans tan-lines.

Before this innovation, what purpose did your strap serve once removed?

Well, my point exactly.

Problem solved.

Once Reagan whipped out her hefty-duty camera, Yelz offered to be our photographer. Maybe she was feeling camera shy, but look at these great shots she snapped!

They even made it on Reagan's blog, HERE!

And from here on out, the pictures can't compare.

As we walked home, we stumbled upon the central park mall (don't look at me, I didn't name it, but that's what it's called) completely empty. That never happens.

Really this is the area between the Mall and the Bethesda Fountain. The bandshell? Whatever.

Just a bride and groom... hanging out.

We couldn't help but stop by Pets on Lex on our walk home and look who found love...

Puppy love!

Gonna prove to you what a great summer this has been, but we've still got a long way to go! Spoiler alert: I find an actual pool.
Love,
~Kare*