I've lived in my current neighborhood for five years now, but it's only recently that I've been inspired to do some hardcore exploring, to find the secret places that separate the locals from the people who are just passing through. Five years is a long time to be just passing through, of course, and it figures that this place would start to really feel like home just as I've nearly made up my mind to move on in the next year or so. The thing to do, clearly, is become fabulously wealthy and live a bicoastal life. I'll get right on that.

This park is one of the places I've discovered, and I am torn between absolute joy that it is a place I can visit every day if I want to (and I usually do), and regret at all the time I wasted not knowing it existed. It is a truly magical place, and believe me when I tell you that it was really hard getting the number of pictures to post down to just fifteen. And here it is, my vision of heaven on earth:

The first season of The Vampire Diaries gave me everything I love in a television show - fast-paced, engrossing storylines; well-developed characters (even the tertiary characters have decent complexity and depth); and pretty, pretty people. Bonus: a few episodes even pass the Bechdel test! The second season premieres tomorrow, and I'm pretty psyched for it. It's been a long, long wait since May.

In the meantime, though, the CW promotional department has been offering up some consolation prizes:







Well, I'm consoled.

Yesterday I finally made it up to the weekly Renninger's flea/antique/farmer's market in Kutztown, PA. I'd had a long and exhausting week, and this outing turned out to be just what I needed to pick myself up out of the mental black hole I'd fallen into. Success!

It was an absolutely gorgeous day. I love this time of year, when the humidity falls but the mercury doesn't, and the air is fresher and the blue skies even bluer. And it was really, really great to get out of the suburbs and drive down traffic-less back roads, coasting past rolling hills and farms and acres upon acres of cornfields.

The market itself was amazing, and I scored tons of stuff that was on my vague mental list of "things I want if I can find them cheaply enough." And the prices, oh man. Even by flea market/thrift store standards, they were cheap. It was pretty awesome.

After I'd spent as much cash as I'd allotted myself, I wandered through the farmer's market, scarfed down a delicious, homemade veggie burger, and gazed longingly at the many, many stalls of amazing-smelling baked goods and wished very hard that they were vegan. Of course they weren't, so I headed home, letting myself get lost a little on the way so I could spend a little more time enjoying the scenery and the beautiful day.

And now onto the haul!

My inner goth - the one who sprang into being in the nineties, but never had a chance to come out, thanks to the sartorial timidity of my teenaged self - has recently been coming into her own.

More pretty things!

The accessories: three scarves and a metric ton of costume jewelry.

The jewelry up close.

And what I wore for the outing:

cardigan: American apparel

skirt: vintage

shoes: Target

The skirt is a favorite of mine and has seen a lot of wear since I picked it up six months ago, but that's cool, I still love it, and the gingham+appliqued hearts felt appropriate for the occasion. It was a little chilly when I left in the morning but warmed up pretty quickly, so the cardigan was discarded by the time I made it to Kutztown. But this is totally how I looked in the car on the way! And again in my air-conditioned apartment when I took these pictures!

necklace: vintage keychain-turned-pendant

So that was my Saturday. I can't wait to go again! Renninger's also has a similar set-up in Adamstown on Sundays that I'm eager to check out as well. The next month is going to be pretty busy for me, so it's something to look forward to when things calm down again.

My favorite local hiking spot is part of the Valley Forge National Historical Park, which is conveniently located just a few minutes from where I work.  I've been trying to take advantage of this more often - I'm a big walker, especially in the seasonable months, and while I mostly just take long walks around my neighborhood, it's nice to mix things up.  I stopped by after work yesterday, and brought my camera along.  It was another typical August day of steamy humid misery, but in the woods it was shady and cooler, and generally a much more pleasant outdoor experience than I'm used to lately.

One of the things I like best about hiking here is that you can choose your level of difficulty depending on what kind of hiking experience you want.  There's the Valley Creek Trail, which - shockingly! - winds alongside Valley Creek, which is itself parallel to Valley Creek Road. Oh, the brainpower that went into coming up with those names.  The Valley Creek Trail is flat and pretty and not at all taxing; from one end and back again is just two and a half miles.

The other option is to veer off onto the path that takes you up the aptly-named Mount Misery.  It's definitely a challenge, but a fairly modest one if you're in decent physical shape, and the whole thing only takes about an hour to hike.  That's usually the route I go for, but this time I stuck to the Valley Creek Trail, since I'm still recovering from a minor injury and figured I'd play it safe.  (Even the easy route proved to be a little too much too soon, woe.  And ow.)

Knox Covered Bridge, Valley Forge, PA

You have to cross this bridge to get to the parking area.  It's one lane and a 150 years old; crossing it is like playing a really boring game of chicken.  (Restoration work was done on it in the 1960s, or so the internet tells me, so as long as you can avoid crashing into an oncoming car, it's probably safe enough.)

Since I kept stopping to take pictures, and watch butterflies chase each other in a loopy dance, and examine weird mushrooms and intricate spiderwebs, and otherwise enjoy a summer afternoon in the woods, it wasn't the most vigorous walk I've ever taken.  But it was a lovely (if ultimately painful) mid-week diversion, and I got a few decent shots out of it, so I'm counting it as a win.