Whyyyyy!?!?! Why is summer over, why am I a week behind in writing this post, why am I so tired already after just one day back at work!

1)  That photo above was taken on my way to dinner at a friend’s house in Detroit. The sky was amazing and even though the neighborhood I was driving through was questionable, I had to stop. So I only got halfway out of the car, but still. There were so many other great shots I could have taken, each block seemed to get better and better.

Note: It is 9:50pm at night and I am hearing noises above me, which means that probably my littlest is having trouble sleeping (which makes her soooo upset), but I am choosing to ignore said noises. For now.

2)  August was a perfect summer month with lots of hot weather, swimming and flowers. Dahlias are in full force at Detroit Abloom, and though I do not get to work with them nearly as much as in past years, I at least get to see the flowers every week in my CSA bouquet.

3) My favorite variety is Cafe au Lait, which is so creamy and fluffy. Sometimes you get more buttery-colored blooms and other times they bloom with a hint of pink, you just never know. The tubers I planted this year are giving me both and it is so lovely. The top pic is one that was over-the-top exquisitely wonderful.

4) The Garden Detroit’s garden is very small this year, as we had to relocate from our large space. However, we still had lots of tomatoes, enough to sell several times at the Farmer’s Market. I roasted several trays, made gazpacho and ate them raw.

5) We also had some broccoli. I think this photo was actually taken in July (I try to only post photos that were taken in the month I’m writing about. OH WELL).

6)  I got to cross another noodle place off my list finally. Urban Ramen in downtown Detroit. I went with a couple new mom friends and one work friend, a shared interest being our love of Asian food. The place is small and it was already crowded, but we were seated quickly (at the high table) and our food came pretty quickly as well.

I was way too excited to eat the noodles, so I failed to get a photo of them, but they were delicious. This photo is of the tuna on a rice cake I believe and it looks somewhat unappetizing, but it was REALLY good. I am dying to go back. I think my kids would like it, too.

7)  We packed up the car and piled the whole family into my trusty CRV for another trip to upstate New York, where we stayed with my Dad and his wife in their cabin in the woods. Except for the mouse situation (OMG you guys) which we got under control the day we left (which translates to I had restless sleep the whole time), all went well.

It was a shorter than usual trip, as we had an event we had to get back home for, but we did get to spend some time with cousins and aunts, which fulfills me so much.

8)  One such family member was Aunt Betty, who is 94. She is amazing and I was lucky to snap this photo of her just before she got up from the couch. No matter how short my visit, I will always make time to see her. She spent many a summer housing me and my sister, cooking and cleaning for us and keeping us company.

9)  My friend Erin said the photo made her think of Gregory Crewdson (who I’d never heard of and had to look up) and that I should watch his documentary, which I borrowed from the library and loved.

The cover photo for the film isn’t my favorite and to me, doesn’t portray the body (hehe) of his work accurately. It seems morbid whereas I think his work definitely feels deeply melancholy, but not morbid. So I give you the cover photo of the film AND another shot that I like better.

10)  But back to New York. While we were there my Dad called up his half-brother (who he had never spoken to or met before!) and invited him and his wife to come over and they did. That same day. So that.

I’ll save the details for another post, but I WILL present to you my real grandfather (not one of my grandmother’s three husbands, all of whom she outlived by the way), Mark Sears, with a Guernsey cow. The plot thickens!

11)  I read two books this month. Bad Blood, a true story of the rise and fall of Theranos, a Silicon Valley startup, and its creator. Fascinating. And also The Assistants, which is kind of an empty read, but it was entertaining and cute enough for summer evenings when I wasn’t up for using too much brainpower.

12)  Two nights after we got back from New York, we attended Fash Bash 2018, a fundraiser fashion show held by the DIA (museum) and Neiman Marcus. My girlfriend oversees the fashion show part and another girlfriend was co-chairing this year and my husband’s nephew was walking the show, so we so we made sure to purchase tickets this year.

As a teenager, I used to wake up early on Saturdays (or was it Sundays? Also I lived in Hawaii at the time, so I’m thinking the show was actually on much later on the mainland) to catch Elsa Kensch’s Style show on CNN. She would showcase fashion shows and designers and I found it all so fascinating. Perhaps I should have followed my passion and gone into some sort of design field, but honestly, I don’t think I quite had the eye for it. (Although, fashion is subjective, no?)

But I digress. Watching a live fashion show was inspiring. I mean, watching beautiful people wearing beautiful clothes in a stunning environment…what’s not to love? (well, my husband could tell you, but let’s not ask him). And the people-watching was also as entertaining as the show.

That’s a wrap. Happy September! See you at the end of the month with another List.