Author: Lara

First off, let me say how much I adore Summer Academy. I sincerely do. But working 10+ hour days for four weeks now with occasional 12.5 hours days also thrown in there for casting sessions, parent workshops, dry tech, etc. (you know, like normal theatre professionals do every single day) has taken its toll (read: see my lack of cooking, 9:30 bedtime, and bags under my eyes) . Since it is, in fact, summer, I’ve been trying to make my weekends strictly for relaxing whenever possible.

Friday after work Ted and I headed over to the Public Market for the their free concert series – Bands on the Bricks. We sat in the cool breeze, on the bricks and beneath the shade, and listened to a few folksy bands with a great collection of instruments before heading off to split “the world’s greatest cheeseburgers” and curly fries at Bill Gray’s – a New York burger legend that I needed to introduce Ted to, and then I spent a few hours at my friend Shawnda’s house enjoying some wine and good company. A perfect, relaxing Friday night. Saturday Ted and I made breakfast tacos, hit up the public market again for some farm-fresh produce, scoped out a bunch of garage sales and a dance studio sale (to no avail but it was fun and low-key) before attending a Saturday evening church service and the Red Wings baseball game at Frontier Field (in the pouring rain…all in good fun!) with a friend/co-worker and his girlfriend. The Red Wings won (yay!) and we split fried pickles, a pulled pork sandwich, dippin’ dots ice cream, and a blueberry ale along with some baseball, the cowboy monkey rodeo (yes, it’s exactly what it sounds like – monkeys riding dogs chasing sheep into a pen…and it’s fabulous), good company, lots of rain, and a fireworks show to finish it off. Also awesome. Sunday we slept in, hit up the market yet again (for the third day in a row – apparently, we’re regulars) for their Sunday garage sale where we scooped up three insanely cheap DVDs for movie night, then met another friend/co-worker at one of our favorite waterfront pubs right on the bay for lunch, some Ace’s pear hard cider, and talk of Packer game tickets. The rest of the day we took it easy – finishing up a few tasks around the house, a walk around the neighborhood, and a movie and game night at home.

Are you ready for the weekend? I sure am!

Have a great one!

After spending the morning berry picking (if you missed it, check out yesterday’s post!), we all headed to the beach for a sunny, sandy picnic. We’d also planned on swimming, but due to heavy rains, they closed the beaches to swimmers and cautioned folks to not spend too much time in the water with all the bacteria stirred up overnight. Unfortunately, that meant we didn’t swim as intended, but instead we waded and splashed knee-deep for a bit (which was still wonderful and cooling), but, fortunately, it also meant that we pretty much had the entire beach and a nice shady picnic spot all to ourselves, which was glorious

We feasted on juicy slices of watermelon, strawberry-infused ice tea, roasted chicken legs, hummus and pitas, tomato basil chips, and several delicious chilled salads. Summer picnicing at its finest!

So, after 11 months of living in Rochester, passing by this place in beautiful Pittsford right along the Erie Canal a million times, and lots of enthusiastic referals and “you haven’t been to Pittsford Dairy yet!?” from friends, we finally found occassion (summer heat, visiting relatives, and a lazy Sunday afternoon is an occassion, right?) to get ourselves over to Pittsford Farms Dairy to try their oft raved about chocolate milk and ice cream. The chocolate milk, while still totally delish, was pretty standard in my book, but I would hardly call myself a chocolate milk connoisseur either. But I DO consider myself pretty adept at judging ice cream, and theirs I will definitely be back for.

I gotta say, I was instantly smitten with the offerings – tables of fresh berries, amazing homemade pies and droolworthy sweet breads, stunning rustic decor (must. have. milk bottle chandelier. yesterday.), a freezer full of ice cream cakes (I know what I want for my birthday…), fresh pastries, long community picnic tables set up inside for the enjoyment of goodies, lots of sweet and shady outdoor seating next to a corn field for pretty summer eves, milk and chocolate milk sold in refillable glass bottles and jugs (swoon!), and homemade cheeses, seasonal custard, and so many flavors of hard hand dipped ice cream, shakes, malts, banana splits, and sundaes! Heaven.

This seasonal fresh blueberry custard? AMAZING. Easily the creamiest custard I have ever had. My mouth tingles just thinking about it. And that lilac hue is gorgeous! I wish they’d keep this winner around all summer long!

Obviously, I sense a future of many a date night here…

If you haven’t been here yet, treat yo’ self and try it :) I’ll even go with if you need a buddy! This place would be a rockin’ dessert compliment to lunch at the Village Bakery across the street.

Also, can I just brag on the unbelieveable weather we’ve been having this week!? The last week in July is historically toasty pretty much anywhere in the U.S., but we’ve been basking in precious, sunny, breezy 65 degree weather for the past two days. I cannot even fathom what turn of excellent fortune allowed us to deserve such an amazing treat. It’s like a mirage…I’m not even sure it’s real. It was flat out chilly and fall-like Wednesday morning, and I got to spend the whole morning outside doing an acting expansions exercise with our conservatory students in that glorious weather. Seriously!! Summer is the greatest.

Have a wonderful weekend!

Two Sundays ago we checked out the New York Museum of Transportation, a tiny yet fun and really interesting little museum only open on Sundays way out in the country amid corn fields and railroad tracks that was once an abandoned dairy farm. We enjoyed an actual trolley and push car rides on the railroad, learned alot about old railroad stations and their tools, instruments, and legends, Morse code, telegraphs, and the Rochester Subway System, and toured many rail cars stocked with really great artifacts and wonderful stories of Rochester’s not too far gone past and how people on the rails communicated back then. If you’re looking for a really neat day trip for any history buffs or train enthusiasts, I’d highly suggest it…especially on a beautiful summer day or colorful autumn eve!

I couldn’t help but note that the Cincinnati subway ceased construction in 1928 after it was mostly built but before tracks were laid and it was ever actually put to use (as my favorite Ted shirt says – “The Cincinnati Subway – taking you nowhere since 1928”) and the Rochester subway started its operations in 1928. They were probably under construction during the exact same years…it’s just that one was canned due to cost and the other was completed. Also fascinating is that both Cincinnati and Rochester drained, reinforced and converted the already dug Erie Canal into their underground subway systems. And up until they filled in the Rochester subway recently (last year?), you could tour both abandoned subways. So thankful we were in the handful of the lucky few who got to tour Cincinnati’s subway! Abandoned canal-subways fascinate me.

Doesn’t this totally look like it used to be an amazing piece of scenery on a traveling circus car? I adore it!

As I’m sure you’ve gleamed by now, our public market cannot be beat and neither can our rad summer festivals. Also, 71 degrees in late July (our upcoming forecast for Wednesday)? Summertime in upstate New York is truly grand!

Mellow Morning Marketing

(These pastries from Flour City Bread were incredible}

{Yes, this gorgeous chameleon is real and quite pettable}

BBQ Ribs & Blues Fest

{Good old fashioned live blues tunes and a cozy patch of soft green lawn, this is the life!}

{Texas girls gotta support}

{Dill pickle and jalapeno chips}

{Ribs!}

{Rib man hard at work/play – he’s a happy camper}

More weekend fun to come!

Some busy, busy weeks (busy yet wonderful, I mean I do have an incredible job in the theatre!), Friday can’t come soon enough!

Have a great week!