knitting, etc. - summer knitting

The temperature has been steadily rising in Boston, which is finally making it fell like summer -- just in time for the official first day of summer, which happens to be today!

Do you knit in the summer? Check out these adorable seashell stitch makers from the shop Lavender Hill Knits on Etsy:

I can find it hard to knit in the summer, but with cotton yarns and perles it shouldn't be! I still have some wool projects I am working on (check out my fair isle cowl here), but I'm hoping to finish them up soon. Happy Friday!  

anna cooks - clams al forno w pasta

I went to Block Island this weekend with some friends. The weather was beautiful, and it was even warm enough to go swimming in the ocean.

On Saturday night, we made Clams Al Forno with pasta. The recipe comes from the restaurant Al Forno in Providence, RI. They serve it as an appetizer, but we decided to make it into an entree by pairing the clams with spaghetti - a twist on Spaghetti alle Vongole dish.

All we did was clean 35 littlenecks (this is enough for 4 ppl), place them in a baking dish with cut up onion, jalapeno peper (seeded), cut up tomatoes in puree, minced garlic, white wine, water, and a stick of butter, and bake for 20 minutes at 500F. Meanwhile we made a lb of spaghetti.

Garnish with thinly sliced scallions and lemon wedges.

Photo credit: Susan M.

We put some marinara sauce on our pasta along with the clams, but the butter/wine/tomato/lemon sauce from the clams would have been tasty alone on the spaghetti. 

For an end-of-summer dinner, seafood dinner, this was very simple and very delicious!

fashion, etc. - birchbox

I got a six months Birchbox subscription for my birthday. The company sends you sample sizes of new beauty items each month, which you can then buy full sizes of at discounted prices on their website.

One of the items in my first box was an aqua nail polish from Color Club. I had wanted to try a color like this since last summer, so when this polish came in the mail I was very excited.

I put it on my toes for a trip to Scituate I took this past weekend, and I think the color really worked well beachside.

I love the way the aqua looks with these neutral colored sandals I got from J. Crew. 

swim, etc. - albertine

I am on Block Island this weekend, which has gotten me thinking about swim suits. I am currently obsessed with this photograph bikini from the french label Albertine.

I originally heard about Albertine on the blog Greedy Girl, which I follow on bloglovin.

This suit in particular reminds me of the work of photographer Richard Misrach. A few years ago he had a show at the National Gallery called On the Beach, which consisted of large scale photographs of beach goers in Hawaii, taken from above via a high rise hotel room. You can see a slideshow of On the Beach here.

Richard Misrach 

Untitled 19-03, 2003

chromogenic print

Collection of the Artist. 

Courtesy Fraenkel Gallery, San Francisco; Pace/MacGill Gallery, New York 

and Marc Selwyn Fine Arts, Los Angeles.

Richard Misrach 

Untitled 1132-04 [Flippers], 2004

chromogenic print

Collection of the Artist. 

Courtesy Fraenkel Gallery, San Francisco; Pace/MacGill Gallery, New York 

and Marc Selwyn Fine Arts, Los Angeles.

beach, etc. - block island 07.12

I spent the weekend on Block Island. I swam in the ocean, read on the beach, and ate a lot of good food - what more could you ask for? Can you spot the BI ferry in the picture below?

When I wasn't in a bathing suit, I got to wear one of my favorite summer looks - beach chic. Here's one of my outfits:

- maxi dress: urban outfitters (last summer)
- hoop earrings: j. crew outlet
- fun scarf: The Glass Onion, Block Island (see it here too!)
- beachy cuff: The Glass Onion, Block Island

I like to keep the accessories simple and summery.

I am especially excited about this fish cuff I bought while on the island. It is from the Block Island store The Glass Onion.

I paired this outfit with my favorite Reef sandals - still a little dusty from the beach!

biking, etc.

I spent the weekend on Block Island, which meant a lot of biking. Ok, so I didn't  actually do any biking myself, but I witnessed a lot of biking. Recently, I have seen a lot of bike inspired knitwear. It may even get me to start to do some biking myself. Here are some of my favorite examples:

I snapped a photo of this amazing yarn bombed bike parked across from the White House at the Renwick Gallery last summer.

I am obsessed with this crochet skirt guard by Just-Do, which was featured on an Etsy Finds email sent out today.

I originally saw this knit-cked out bike on the blog one sheepish girl. I love the colors - it makes sense that the blog it is from is called Greedy for Colour!

This bike bow from the Etsy store Mischief Managed Knits is super cute!

~ Bike / knit on! ~

beach, etc. - scituate, ma

I am at my Aunt's beach house for a few days, and I wanted to share some pictures. Here are my 5 beach house essentials via my Aunt Joanne's Scituate, MA house.

1. American flag.

2. Painted doorstops.

3. Flowing curtains.

Classic ball fringe curtains from Country Curtains. 

4. Starfish motif. 

Scarf from The Glass Onion on Block Island, RI. Earrings from Details in Providence, RI. 

5. Pastels.

~ Thanks to my Aunt Joanne for letting me take pictures all over her house! ~