The sun is out, insects are gettin’ jiggy with it left and right, and my mom’s is bragging about sleeping in on her first day of vacation. [Why didn’t I do what everyone suggested I should do with my English major and become a teacher?!] Clearly, it’s summer, my favorite season. I used think I was an autumn girl, but I was just trying to sound mature – screw that! I love summer. Give me 87 degrees, a nice blanket of humidity, and blue skies, and I’ll be blissfully happy.

Admittedly, the transition from spring to summer this year was a bit anticlimactic. We’d already had some very hot, sunny weather, so the clouds that rolled in on June 21st were a little disappointing. Now, however, during this first official summer weekend, the mercury is rising and the sun is a-shinin’.

However, I didn’t get to enjoy the lovely weather yesterday. Things are a-changin’ around here – my roommate’s moving to Boston for grad school (sadface!), so this weekend was a crazy, hectic blur of packing and hauling furniture around. She needed to clear out her bedroom so I could move my stuff in there and my new roommate could move into my old bedroom. Thrilling! My bedroom was a little disorganized on Friday night:

Movin' out!

Ugh! Moving is so annoying. Not that I have a right to complain; I was just doing intra-apartment moving. My roomie is doing half-way-across-the-country moving. Needless to say, we’re all very sad that she’s leaving, but we sent her off in style – last week, another friend and I co-hosted a classy wine & hors d’oeuvres party. Most of the hors d’oeuvres were different varieties of cheese, but I also made hummus and brought along some veggies and crackers. The other friend made a gorgeous (and very non-vegan) chocolate cake, and I contributed this pretty little number:

Fruity!

I used this recipe, and on the whole it was really tasty. In particular, the shortbread crust was deliciously decadent. The pastry cream was a bit odd-colored – almost greyish – because I used oat milk, which is not as pure white as other alt-milks. If I make this again, I’ll probably use almond milk and I’ll definitely top the tart with blueberries for better color contrast.

Sadly, we did not have tart nor cake to tide us over during our moving adventure. Today, however, we rewarded ourselves for our hard work by spending some time walking around the UW arboretum, spotting wildlife (turkeys! bunnies! a three-footed turtle!) and getting some vitamin D. I also enjoyed the effects of yet another ch-ch-change – a haircut! No longer do my curls insulate my neck, trapping heat and making even this summer-lovin’ girl uncomfortable. Instead, I am rockin’ a new short ‘do! Here’s the old me:

Pondering.

…and here’s the new me! (Pardon the crappy Photo Booth picture.)

So much lighter.

Believe it or not (and you should, because it’s true), this haircut was the first time I’ve gotten my hair cut and styled in an actual salon. A family friend cut my hair ’til I went to college, and then I just didn’t cut it, except one time my BFF chopped it all off one night when we were bored. Anyway, I love my new style – it’s definitely a good change!

And I have one more change of note. I recently switched teams at work and had to get certified in another of our software programs, meaning I got a bonus (woo!). I decided to treat myself to this sexy little number. Oh yes. Get ready for some bangin’ food porn. :)

What changes have you experienced recently?