Summer Snapshots; or, The Things I Eat

cucumber soup! 

farmers market salad: my favorite!

I went to a Christmas-in-July party because I'm ~fun~ like that

Jack presented his summer research at UNC! 

my favorite kind of dinner: vegetarian boat bites at Lake Gaston

I contributed this roasted cauli, which I bought at the local Piggly Wiggly for only $1!!! I only had to cut a few dark spots out. What a win! 

Lake Gaston sunset: the best kind of sunset.

Did you know a clafoutis without cherries is actually a flaugnarde? I made this one with peaches from the Carrboro Farmers Market.

seared and roasted fairytale eggplant with quick-pickled hot peppers and tangy cashew spread

steamed sweet potato with tahini butter and toasted sesame; and homemade buttermilk flatbread with herbed chickpeas, tangy feta sauce, and falafel-spiced tomatoes

My breakfast most mornings (except I also dump pecans and honey on top of the pretty fruit).

ENCIP 2019

Outside of my day job, I direct a summer internship program in Tarboro called The Eastern NC Internship Program. This summer was our best yet, and I want to share a few photos from throughout the 8-week period when all the interns lived together in Tarboro.

Our 2019 cohort at their start-of-summer orientation!

A few of the interns at my family's house at Lake Gaston

We piloted our program through a partnership with the Robertson Scholars Leadership Program, which has sent us five interns for the past three summers. The following screenshots depict parts of the scholars' Instagram takeover for the Robertson Program's Instagram account.

And here is a shot from our end-of-summer celebration, where community members gathered to hear reflections from each intern on what their summer has meant to them. Below, Sophia Ramirez ’22, a Roberton Scholar, speaks about her internship with the Edgecombe County Health Department:

perks of overnight weeknight visits to Tarboro: pastry breakfasts from Alimentaire!

Another perk of visiting Tarboro: boiled peanuts on the front porch.

Of course, I have lots more thoughts about this program, but I'll save those reflections for another time! 

Conference Week in Boston

Before I even left Morehead-Cain, my boss at CCPS signed me up for a weeklong conference in Boston that took place the week bridging July and August. At first, I was very excited, but when the time came, I actually regretting having to leave behind my work for an entire week. An optimist would read that and think, how great that she loves her work so much! And I'd have to agree. 

Packing: lil Riff-Raf wanted to come

First thing I did upon arriving in Boston was meet up with my friend Grace, whom I'd originally met in Nashville, and her bf Beckett. We ate lunch at a local food hall/market place, where I found a macaron shop that sold Harry Potter-themed macarons. After all, Harry's birthday was that very week. This red velvet macaron was Hedwig-flavored.

On Sunday, we visited Singing Beach at Manchester-by-the-Sea!

On Monday morning, before my conference began, I got to watch a taping of On Point, the show Grace helps produce for WBUR!

Meghna Chakrabarti in the flesh!

The first night of the conference, we had dinner on the top floor of a Boston University building that overlooked the city's beautiful river and downtown skyline. 

During the conference, I ate every lunch with a book at a shaded outside table.

#bookintheair

On Wednesday night, I found dinner at a semi-legendary noodle shop

The highlight of the conference was the dinner cruise Thursday night.

On a boat!

Sunset over Boston Harbor! 

I felt a little bit trapped. 

everyone needs their own sunset photo

literally everyone

a stranger took this ~artsy~ pic of me and airdropped it to me lol

~city lights~

Old people dancing:

I went running every morning of the conference, and loved each one!

This was on a trail called Emerald Necklace that joined a chain of small lakes. Not quite Central Park, but still so pretty!

4th of July in Charleston

A weekend in photos: