Tag Archives: Outer Banks

Sunset over the sound


Please excuse my beach-fried brain — I’m just home from the Outer Banks and not yet recovered. Coming straight off vacation and back to work doesn’t allow much room to catch up, and I’m currently catching up on email while scratching at a dozen mosquito bites on my arms. I swear, I must have the sweetest blood in the South.

In the meantime, please enjoy this shot of the sunset over Albemarle Sound on Saturday, our last night in town. And I’ll be back lickety-split. (And please send Cortisone.)


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Wordless Wednesday: Outer Banks moments

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Toes in the water


Break out the sand and Cheerwine — I’m headed to the beach! I’m joining my family for our annual excursion to the Outer Banks of North Carolina. My plan is to procure lots of postcards, read as much as possible and try not to get sunburned before Erin’s wedding in a few weeks. (Blood-red tan lines? Not cute with my halter-style dress.)

An absurd amount of effort will probably be placed on not blowing my diet, exercising as much as I can ( . . . I’m chuckling just typing that, but I really am going to try) and missing my boyfriend. Avoiding confections from Dairy Queen and delicious fried seafood is going to be a challenge, but I’m determined to slim down before Sept. 10.

So what’s in my beach bag? I haven’t quite decided, but I have a feeling I’m going to bring along J. Courtney Sullivan’s Maine and Jenny Han’s It’s Not Summer Without You. I’ve been saving the latter for just such an occasion — and my own time at the family beach house seems like the perfect time to continue this series. I usually don’t pick my books until just as I’m leaving; it’s a big commitment, choosing my beach books. They’re the ones around which I’ll form my trip memories. They’re the stories I’ll look back on and think, “Oh yes — I read that in my favorite chair.”

Hope you’re all enjoying the waning days of summer and have made the most of your time in the sun. I’ll see you next week!

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Vacation snapshots

beachBack from another grand adventure — this time to North Carolina! I stay at a beach house with my extended family each summer, and we always have fun riding the waves, reading, eating out, chatting and generally lounging about in the sunshine. It wasn’t quite as warm this year as it has been in years past — it was a record 100 degrees in N.C. this time last year! — but that didn’t bother me so much. That just meant I was sweating less which, let’s face it, is a good thing!

One outstanding moment of this year’s trip? I went boogie-boarding for the first time with my sister and cousin! My idea of “spending time on the shore” usually includes me with a book in hand, dipping my toes in the water and dodging an errant wave that dares to actually get my bathing suit wet. But this year, at my uncle’s urging, I actually submerged myself in the water (after getting my book to safety first, of course!) and had a lot of fun “swimming” around (read: kicking my feet on the sandy bottom and using the board as leverage). I don’t have any photographic evidence of this activity, but my mom — an outstanding photographer — got snapshots of that and other adventures, including one to prove just how far my nose was in Megan McCafferty’s Fourth Comings!

I managed to only finish one book while I was away: Hyatt Bass’s The Embers. Ironically, this was the only book I didn’t mention on my beach reads post! It was a review copy I was struggling to finish, and I tossed it in my bag at the last minute. I figured I give it my undivided attention while at the beach, a requirement for me to able to polish that one off. I was right — I found the book difficult to get through. My review will be posted tomorrow, which coincides with its publication date! I also worked my way through McCafferty’s novel and started Sarah Dessen’s Along For The Ride, which I’m enjoying so far! I didn’t get to the others, I’m sorry to say.

And now — the good stuff! Random vacation snapshots. All of my favorite photos can be found on my Flickr page.

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spotlight_girls

lifeguards

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shells

sunset_sound

me_dock

pink_sunset

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Wordless Weds.: Sunset at the beach house, Outer Banks, N.C.

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