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mccarren park pool

Photo from here.
The McCarren park pool opens today (a mere 10 minute walk from my house) after a $50 million renovation. The idea of a public pool originally sounded a little weird to me, but now I'm really looking forward to checking it out.

vintage dad

My friend Hannah wrote a post about all the vintage photos she and her friends posted on Father's Day. She asked me to contribute, so I sent her the above photo of my dad's high school basketball team (check out those shorts!). My dad is number 16 and we went to the same high school (although the team looked a little different when I was there).
See all the photos she collected here.

mermaid parade

The true impetus for our visit to Coney Island was to see the Mermaid Parade; this year marked the parade's 30th anniversary. As expected, there were a lot of mermaids (both male and female), mermen, fish and other undersea creatures. There were also a lot of questionably aquatic themed costumers (Aztec mermaids?), and plenty of just plain weird costumes that I'm still not sure how they related. Either way, people put a lot of work into their costumes (like my favorite, below) and they were much appreciated.

© all photos by me

coney island

It's been a long time dream of mine to visit Coney Island. Friends visiting from San Francisco humored my request and braved the heat to spend a day at the beach (thanks J & J!). Our ultimate destination was the Mermaid Parade (post to come), but we had plenty of fun walking on the boardwalk, riding the Cyclone* and eating corn dogs.

*okay, so I didn't actually ride the Cyclone because I'm far too wimpy, but I did do a champ job of holding our stuff while my friends rode it.
© all photos by me.

instagram, lately

If you don't follow me on Instagram (I'm @shoshauna), here's what you've been missing.

© all photos by me

portugal

Image via here.
Jeff and I just booked tickets to Portugal for the fall and I couldn't be more excited! We haven't taken a trip just the two of us since our honeymoon, so it is high time we rectify that (not that family trips aren't great!).

cutest orange ever

Yup.

first position

I have no personal connection to ballet or dancing, but this movie really impacted me emotionally. Go see it!

picnic club

Some friends and I are starting a picnic club. This weekend was Taim takeout at Sheep's Meadow. I made blondies. How was your weekend?

© photos by me

recent pins

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reading, watching, listening

Reading: Bossypants by Tina Fey

Watching: Mildred Pierce

Listening: Best Coast, The Only Place

lazy sunday (on a wednesday)

Last Sunday, Jeff and I dusted off our bikes...

 ...kicked off our shoes...

...and spent a rather relaxing day on Governors Island.

© all photos by me

duke farms, part 2

Although there were many lovely parts of Duke Farms, my favorite spot had to be the Hay Barn. Originally housing a hay press, a fire destroyed everything but the shell in 1915. The structure was later turned into a sculpture garden (above and below).

The Duke family shared a fondness for orchids. The Orchid Range contains rare and beautiful species (below).

©all photos by me

More photos here.

duke farms, part 1

Duke Farms, located in Hillsborough, New Jersey, is the largest privately owned parcel of land in the state. The Duke family purchased the 2200 acre farmland at the turn of the century and spent about $10 million developing the landscape, creating lakes, hills and other topography.

Plans were made and begun for a large mansion on the property. A two level basement was built, but the house was never completed. You can still see evidence of the original foundation.

The farm can be visited for free and includes 18 miles of walking and biking paths. More information can be found here.

©all photos by me

More photos here.

we be grammin'

I've joined the bandwagon that is Instagram. If you want to follow me, I'm @shoshauna.

©all photos by me