croatia and new top for the nyc philharmonic concert

my friend emma and i took a 2 week vacay to bari, italy and croatia right after school ended.  bari wasn't anything special, but then we took an overnight ferry (i swear we were gonna sink!) from bari to dubrovnik, croatia.  people looked at me funny all trip...  i was sporting a big hiking backpack and a serious-looking knee brace:

 

this was my first time in croatia, and holy moly was it beautiful.  mountains led right to the shore.  we had to drive for 3 hrs through bosnia to get to the croatian town of makarska, the prettiest of the places we went:  

the mountain range in the back had the 2nd highest peak in all of croatia, sveti jure.  hell yeah, we hiked it!  the sign at the beginning of the path said it would take 2 hrs 30 mins.  lonely planet claimed 4 hours.  we took 5.5 hrs.  often we hiked at the very edge of cliffs.  so thrilling.  slow and steady wins the race, right?

views at the top were STUNNING.  you apparently can see italy in the far far distance, but i'm not sure which little lump of land it was.

we drove on to an island called hvar and then ended our trip in split.  the drive was beautiful.  a typical view:

i'm proud to admit that i returned home with no new fabric whatsoever.  #winning!!  

yesterday the nyc philharmonic put on a free concert in prospect park.  they set off the most beautiful fireworks afterwards (better than the 4th of july ones!!).  coworkers and i picnicked.  i contributed 2 batches of homemade avocado hummus (aka bean guac, according to shirley).  deliciousness, i tell you!

bunks was bored out of his mind.  avocado and chickpeas do not interest him, apparently.  he napped at my feet:

and of course, i had to wear a me-made top.  my first of the summer!  i used butterick 5637, the tunic length on the right,

and this salmon pink cotton-lycra blend that shirley gave me.  so soft, yo!!  

the back had gathering in the center of the peplum layer.

and here's the front.  thanks to dearest madeline for taking this pic of my coworker brian and me enroute to the concert.  

happy summer!!!  on to my next project: mom's bday present!  (it's at the end of august... i need a serious head-start hehe)