National S'mores Day

Wednesday, August 10th is National S'mores Day, so grab your supplies and celebrate this traditional summer dessert.
Even if you aren't at sleep-away camp, you can still indulge in this treat with these recipes for s'mores....outside or indoors. It is all gooey deliciousness.

Image courtesy of ggnpc.convio.net

compromise?

image courtesy of catbird

So if a camper and a non-camper wind up together, I wonder if burning this campfire candle from catbird would be considered a compromise? (this question is posed by a non-camper of course.)

camping can be nice

 via cherry blossom girl

Sorry I've been away from blogging for a few days, but I've gotten caught up in a surprising amount of end of the semester activity. Aside from the usual rush of grading and meeting with students, my dear friend Bootsie was in town which was quickly followed by a visit from my mother. Their visits were wonderful especially because I got to celebrate a little bit of news with them - I got engaged.

Now hold your horses with comments full of glee and joy. It's not that I'm not absolutely overjoyed and filled with glee myself over the promise that the kindest and sweetest man I've ever met wants to marry little ol' me, but I'm just bashful in what follows in the sharing of such news. Let me explain.

The man took me on my very first camping trip a few weeks ago. One of my best friends, Ruby, and one of his as well as their equally as loved significant others joined us on this city girl's first experience sleeping in the great outdoors. And it was wonderful. The fire. The burnt popcorn. Watching a boy scout troop who set up camp near by. Relishing in how dark and quiet it got to be at night. Taking a nap with Ruby, but really listening to a light rain tap against the tent. Being in my bf's element and loving how happy it made him. All that would have made for an amazing weekend, but it was also on this trip in which he decided to ask me to marry him.

After hiking up a mountain (I'm pretty sure this was a test and it seems as if I passed even though halfway up I had to hand him my pack to carry) and snacking on the sweetest of tangelos and the most refreshing gulps of water from an actual canteen, my bf asked if anyone wanted to climb the little fire tower/observatory to look at the view from an even higher point. Since all were in the know, no one seemed interested other than me.

And so that's where he asked. Actually, that's where I answered (and started to cry) before he got the words out. It was so beautiful and special and when we looked down at our friends and he yelled down my answer - they blew party horns that were carried in a backpack all the way up the mountain, hidden under granola bars, hidden from me.

So this leads me to why I am bashful in all of this. I love my story. I love this man. But all that is to follow makes me uncomfortable. I'm at ease with him and in marrying him, but this thing, this wedding thing with all its details and planning feels like a monster. How do I plan a wedding that is within our very modest budget that feels like its about us? How do I also do this thing without making it all about ME, the monster bride, and not also about all the people that we love and love us? Despite how it may otherwise appear on a blog in which I tend to ramble about myself more than my fellow Hiving Outers, I am not a girl who handles the generosity of the spotlight well. I prefer the humbling space of the background, the one who gives attention and not gets it.

So this is the state I'm in - engaged and overwhelmed with the love and attention that comes with it. I know I'm not the only shy girl out there who's gotten married so if you've got any advice on how to embrace center stage - I'd love to hear that. And thanks for reading my extra-long, long overdue announcement too! (And I feel so lucky that I kept my complaining about that killer hike to a minimum...)

Thursday, a living room tent, and Etsy

"Shady Lake" is a mixed media painting on a map by rachelaustin

It's getting too cold for outdoor camping, but the weather is perfect for setting up a tent in the living room. So gather your blankets and sheets and use this and this to inspire your construction, but leave it to Etsy for all the indoor camping extras the whole family is going to need...

Yes, even indoor campers need fire and food (but know that not all of it needs to be real):

"basic campfire package" by mysticwill

"portable smores" by katystinykitchen

"The Campout" handpainted glass plates by nunostudio

And don't forget that every camper needs his or her own personal light to keep the night time creatures and shadows away...

"foreveReady flash" (a child's all wood flashlight) by ForeverandAfters

"The Mason Firefly" (a mason jar light) by themasonry

...unless, of course, the campers are the ones making the scary shadows and cuddling with the night time creatures....

orangemoontoys has an array of shadow puppets and even kits to make your own.

"Little grey-eyed owl" by squishyfish

"Brown Owl with Rainbow Feet" also by squishyfish (her owls have such great faces and feet!)

And let's not forget the importance of classic camping games...

"1951 Go Fish Card Game" via tippleandsnack2

vintage and wee pocket game for chess or checkers via violin1

"Animal Track ID Memory Game Set" by thewhimsytree

And with the dying embers of the fire, there is always so much to record and so much to write "home" about...

"camping cards" by laurabrownart

"Teeny Tiny Camping Trip Stamps Set" by Tresijas

"Bird Watcher Letterpress Journal" by OldSchoolStationers

And once the little ones are sound asleep and dreaming under a night sky of their own making - the following items are just the things grown-up indoor campers need...

"Toasted Smores Soy Candle" by Buzzabee

"Vintage Thermos" via JennyHopscotch (filled with hot chocolate... or a hot toddy)

3 vintage ghost stories (2 for the kids, but Poe for the adults) via coriandervintage

"Bright Plaid Wool Blanket" by AllieRuth

"Log, Soft Sculpture" by sallyenglanddesign

With indoor plumbing and only imaginary mosquitoes - this is, without a doubt, my kind of roughing it...

sleeping under the stars (and with the moon)

I knew falling for a good ol' southern boy was going to get me in trouble.

I'm not only a true blue northeasterner, but I'm also very much a city girl - preferring to walk around city streets than paths through the woods. I've only landed here in NC for graduate school and while I do, surprisingly, enjoy a great deal of the laid back attitude and slower pace - I haven't gone country. Well, it looks like I may have to. The bf has taken me on hikes, but he has his heart set on camping - something I have never done. So sometime this month, before it really gets cold, this fan of cozy big beds is going to be sleeping on the cold hard ground. The truth is - I am looking forward to it (a little bit) because I do love a good night sky. And, perhaps, it would be lovely to fall asleep beneath one as long as the sleeping bag is warm and the insects stay distant...

"private" moon and stars by Russian artists, Leonid Tishkov and Boris Bendikov

via toxel.com