On the drive back home I brought up how sad it was to have to watch the sun set from the car, but no sooner had I said that did a sign appear for Jockey’s Ridge State Park which was the next left. We decided to just go for it, and this impromptu decision led to my favorite experience of the entire trip.

This is Jockey’s Ridge–the tallest natural sand dune system on the east coast (those black dots along the top are people!)

Sadly, pictures do not even begin to illustrate the wonder of seeing this natural landscape in person.

When we finally entered the park, I completely freaked out by how incredible. it was, and I even had a “double rainbow” moment, where I kept screaming “whoaaaa! whoa whoa whoaaaa!”, and then without warning I started sprinting to the top because I was afraid the sun would set before I got to see everything.

Unbeknownst to me, Michal managed to snap a few photos of my craziness.

Still running.

Double rainbow jump!

At the top of the sand dune there were hundreds of people flying kites. Everyone just seemed so happy and at peace.

I was quite moved.

Basically I decided that when I die, I want to find myself on a beautiful sand dune, and waiting for me at the top is everyone I’ve ever loved, and we all fly kites (tear).

After getting a little faklempt, I was cheered up again by watching all the kids boogie board down the side of the sand dune.

wild children + sand = high entertainment value

After a while the sky started to get darker so we just relaxed and watched the sun set.

One lone kite just didn’t want to leave…

And because I hate ending on a serious note, below is a pic of my favorite kite (as spotted at Jockey’s Ridge)…

I call it Rat-Bird.

As you’ll observe in the above map, the seashore is a narrow barrier of islands off the coast of NC–often referred to as a “ribbon of sand” (an apt title once you’ve driven down its roads).

The drive was an additional two hours south of where we were staying, but in my opinion, completely worth it if you ever find yourself in the Outer Banks. Just be warned, if you visit the park in the next 18 months you might experience one minor setback….

The parks famous lighthouse is currently under construction (which none of us were aware of) so we were all pretty bummed when we arrived at the above scene. My friend Kristin has a great photo of us all making sad faces in front of the lighthouse, so I’ll have to try and get it from her so I can post it here.

After the lighthouse debacle we decided it was time to ease our pain with the beach (and beer).

Like our Corona advertisement?

The water was extremely warm, so we spent most of the time swimming. It’s sort of hard to tell, but Meredith is actually holding her Corona up in the above photo (she’s the one in the middle about to be swallowed by the monstrous wave), and I’m stupidly drinking another Corona while walking into the water. I’m not trying to glamorous (or condone) drinking while swimming in any way, but I try to document whats fun, and this was definitely fun.

After a few hours we decided to venture further south to explore some of the more isolated areas of the seashore, and in the process we got to cross over a fun bridge which takes you to Pea Island…

Below is a view from the bridge once we were standing on the other side.

The minute you cross over the bridge it sort of feels like you’re in a completely different state. It’s hard to convey in words, and it’s probably harder for you to notice in the pictures, but the area was just…different…almost like a desert.

We were all in awe of the landscape, so we spent quite a while just exploring the area and taking pictures.

It’s pretty rare when you get to enjoy a coastal landscape without anyone else around, and for me, that’s what makes the National Seashore so special. Having been born and raised in the Northeast, beaches have always just meant no parking and screaming children, so although the next statement might seem dramatic…I definitely have a new found respect for America’s coastlines.

And as an extension to this new found respect, I’m going to be writing out a check to the National Seashore this week, along with Jockey’s Ridge State Park (you’ll read about this in my next blog entry). Both of these state parks are completely free to the public, so I want to thank them by way of a friendly donation. I also would encourage you all to do the same–not for these parks, but for a state or national park that you’ve appreciated in the past.

If you can spare 10 dollars, you’re helping to ensure that the parks remain free for those who can’t.

Ok ok, I stole the above photo off the Cape Hatteras website, but it’s my attempt to tug on your heart strings, and get you to be proactive about donating to your favorite public park. How can you deny the above cuteness?

I know that for a lot of people it might seem crazy to want to run on vacation, but I wish I could truly convey in words how peaceful it can be to have those moments to yourself, where you’re just moving with the rhythm of your own breath, and how even with that constant movement, there is a quiet stillness to everything–even your mind.

And for me, when my mind is still, I’m better able to appreciate the present.

I started off my run on the main road thinking I would just run down the road for 25 minutes and then run back, but after noticing the below dirt road at around the 10 minute mark I knew it was time to take the path less traveled.

And the path less traveled led to this….

After sitting on the beach for about 10 minutes and admiring the type of scenery that makes a girl want to sing, “America The Beautiful,” I went back to the main road and continued on my run until I came upon the below sign.

An outdoor trail that promises nature?

Oh snap. When they said “nature” they meant NATURE MOTHA FUC*&!s.

I could barely get my hand to stop shaking when I took the above photo.

Luckily the trail offered some non-scary nature also….

After a while some storm clouds started rolling in, so I figured it was time to head back.

I’ll end this entry with one last photo…

Finally, nature gives BP the finger.

The key to having fun at the beach is to make friends with the people who have cool beach toys…

Michal was extremely excited about getting to surf in North Carolina.

And as you’ll clearly observe in the below photo, he was VERY excited about getting to paddle board in the ocean.

Eli and I watched our boyfriends almost drown from a far, and bonded over being pale and having to wear a hat and sunglasses at the beach.

Below is our “pale is sexy” pose.

And who knew that the outer banks had an obscene amount of cacti everywhere.

After a long day in the sun we decided to do a potluck style dinner with our roommates.

We grilled all of the food.

Grilled lobster tails and scallops.

Grilled corn.

Grilled beef kabobs.

non-grilled Watermelon Feta Mint Salad (thank you Steph for introducing me to this incredible combo of ingredients)

Cucumber Dill Salad (thank you Karen–this was INCREDIBLE, and I need the recipe so I can post it up here)

Polenta

Red Snapper

Beer.

You know you’re hungry right now.

Meet Jean and Peter

The Whalhead Club

The Location

The wedding was really incredible, especially since they took a lot of the stuffy tradition out of the ceremony process, and instead turned it into a celebration of their relationship. You would think that logically all weddings would be a celebration of the couple, but I find that most are too focused on the traditions to take the time to add in personal touches, such as having the couples pet turtles at the reception….

They also each took an article of clothing from the other person which they loathed the most and agreed to burn it at the end of the ceremony (it was both funny and touching that the groom was willing to give up his favorite ratty t-shirt for the woman he loves).

Peter and Jean also did so many cool things which were not only creative and beautiful, but budget-friendly. Here were a few of my favorite things:

Fortune Cookie Programs (you had to open up the various flaps to read about the wedding)

Homemade tissue paper decorations

Pies! (rather than traditional wedding cake…and yes, they fed each other pie).

The party favors were re-usable bags with turtles on them (they also had a note inside the bag which read: “Turtles often mistake plastic bags for jellyfish, which can lead to their deaths. By choosing to use this eco-friendly turtle tote instead of plastic bags, you’ll help save a turtle! We have also made a donation to the Network For Endangered Sea Turtles, a non profit organization dedicated to the preservation and protection of sea turtles.”)

The name tags were also turtle themed (on scratch-away rainbow paper)

Later on during the reception Michal and I turned our name tags into ninja turtles

They also used mason jars to serve lemonade and iced tea in

And you can’t have a North Carolina wedding without having peaches!

Since they just bought a house, they had their mail box at the reception, and people were able to write notes and put it inside.

Overall, the reception was a blast…

And of course having some friends there made the experience that much better.

Steph, Eli, and Kristin

Meredith (and some wind)

And having Michal there is always a plus, because he makes me laugh every 10 minutes.

Happy.

I know I’ve been a little remiss with updating my blog this past month, but I’ve embarked on a new adventure, and I’m ready to once again make your web browser slow with my picture-heavy entries.

At around 3am this morning Michal and I packed up the car and made the 12+ hour trek to the Outer Banks in North Carolina.

I like how the above picture makes Michal and I look like the worst car packers ever, but I assure you there was some method to this madness (i.e. cooler full of food goes closest to me).

After some fun gridlock traffic in NYC, we moved on to the land of Snookie, and also the land of where rest stops have the most amazing international chain ever created….Cinnabon.

The above photo came out blurry, but the Cinnabon motto reads, “Life needs frosting.”

I don’t think life needs this much frosting though…

Michal polished off the whole row as I watched in horror, and he had a smile on his face the entire time.

My breakfast consisted of an overnight oats recipe I’ve been perfecting over the past few weeks…

behold Chocolate Peanut Butter Oatmeal with Blueberries (it looks gross, but it tastes awesome).

Chocolate Peanut Butter Oatmeal (overnight oats style)

• 1/2 cup old fashion oats
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1 tbs. peanut butter
• 1/2 tbs. raw chocolate powder (I use Navitas brand)
• 1 tsp. chia seeds
• One handful of blueberries
• Sweetener to taste

The reason these are called overnight oats, is because there is no need to cook the oatmeal. You just combine all the ingredients in a glass or bowl the night before, mix them, and then let it sit overnight. In the morning you will have something that may not look so pretty, but it will taste like dessert.

After further stuffing ourselves with some Luna bars (which Michal just realized are made for woman), we crossed over the Chesapeake Bay Bridge.

The bridge was built over the ocean, and runs for over 4 miles, so it’s a bit eerie when you drive over it. There are also a few tunnels along the bridge which run underwater, so this furthers the creepy factor.

Once we reached dry land we saw a lot of  this…..

And this….

and LOTS of this stuff…

If the car wasn’t moving so fast I could have captured all the billboards which make it seem as though all they sell down here are fireworks, cigarettes, and liquor.

One billboard promising the biggest selection of fresh grown fruit and vegetables spiked our curiosity, so we stopped, and they were NOT lying…

Holding my goods with pride even though I can barely carry it.

And as promised Powell’s had fireworks….

Who cares if the boxes of fireworks all read “Y2K Celebration,” I’m sure they work just fine…

After leaving Powell’s we did a straight shot to the Outer Banks, and another 2 hours later we arrived at home sweet home (or at least we get to pretend it’s our home for the next seven days). In total the trip took us about 12 hours, and we traveled over 550 miles!

If you ever want to go on a budget-friendly vacation, the Outer Banks is it! As long as you have a group of friends to go in on a house with, a dollar will take you very far down here. Nine of us went in on this house, and it’s awesome, especially since it’s close to the beach, and it still comes with it’s own pool.

The kitchen is really spacious, and our group of friends is going to be taking turns cooking dinner, so this will save everyone a lot of money throughout the week.

Is it weird that the room I was most excited about was the bathroom in our bedroom?

This bathroom was the size of my bedroom at home (picture does not do it justice).

In total we each paid $400 to have the house for the entire week (and we didn’t even fill up all the bedrooms, so you could reduce your costs by much more if you go in with more people). I’d say look for a smaller house, but if you’ve ever been to the Outer Banks, you know that houses with less than 6 bedrooms don’t exist here.

There is so much more I want to type, but I’m running on two hours of sleep, and we have a friends wedding tomorrow morning, so I’m off to bed.

I think with over 20 pictures in this entry, it’s safe to say the blog has officially been revived, so stay tuned.

I also don’t have internet yet, so Michal and I have been at the mercy of neighborhood cafes with free WiFi.

Thank you Cafe Romeo.

I’m pretty excited about my new place, especially since after having lived in both Boston and New York City, it’s an odd feeling to suddenly have so much space (and so much money left over after paying rent!). It will also be nice to officially have my name on a lease with Michal, because living out of a duffel bag was beginning to get old.

Our friends Jesse and Paul will also be living with us, so I’m thrilled that the place will most likely always have people in it. Places always feel more like home when there are voices in the background.

Michal and I are tackling the apartment room by room, so on the agenda for our first weekend in the new place was the bedroom…and this meant the REAL agenda was PAINTING.

White walls sort of horrify me. I’m not sure why, but I’m beginning to think it’s genetic, because in my parents home there is not a single white wall to be found.

Luckily Michal was all for painting the bedroom whatever color I wanted, and since I already had the color picked out (Gentle Tide by Glidden), it was just a matter of dropping by Home Depot to pick it up.

If you’ve painted before, I don’t need to tell you it’s hard work. It took us three days to finish painting and touching up two rooms (we painted Michal’s office too). Because of the fumes we set up the bed in the living room, and lived there for the first few nights.

There was lots of take-out and beer consumed this weekend.

Once we finally finished painting we began moving in furniture.

If Michal looks tired in the above photo, it’s because we were both up at 6am, and in my sleepy state I was a bit indecisive, so I made him help me arrange the furniture in our room about 5 different ways until I finally decided on the set-up I liked.

Once we set the bedroom up the way we wanted, we ran to IKEA to buy some shelving. The shelving was SO cheap and made the room look much more finished.

The bedroom isn’t quite complete, but here are some before and after photos (before photos were taken when we first looked at the apartment).

BEFORE PICTURES:

AFTER PICTURES:

Don’t colored walls make rooms look so much more inviting?

Because the windows in the front of the room are so beautiful, I didn’t want to distract from that with a clunky headboard. I toyed around with a few ideas, but finally decided on installing a simple IKEA shelf directly behind the bed. For the brackets we used the plastic white ones that only cost one dollar at IKEA. From far away you can’t tell they aren’t wood. In total, our “headboard” cost us 7 dollars. It was definitely the cheapest solution to keeping the area between the windows simple/clean, while still giving us a place to store a book, water, or cell phone at night.

We also bought two large shelves from IKEA (7 dollars each). Since this wall is more of a focal point, we splurged and bought the nicer brackets (5 dollars each). So in total, we transformed this wall for 34 dollars.

We were lucky that no major furniture or bedding had to be bought. My only real splurge were the bamboo shades (Bed Beth & Beyond) which were $40 each, and totally worth every penny, because when the sun hits them they glow this beautiful honey color.

There are still a few spaces in the room that need to be worked on such as:

so bare

This house plant needs a buddy (preferably in the form of a mirror)

Not a great view from the bed.

I already have some creative and cheap ideas though, so maybe I’ll update you with photos once I complete the projects.

Someday in the future (way in the future) I’d like to purchase something like this, this, or this, but for now I’m just going to dream about that day, and until then I will focus on decorating my new IKEA shelves with fun knickknacks from my local Marshalls, Homegoods, and TJ Max….which did I mention are all less than 10 minutes away from my new place?

I guess some dreams do come true.

Ingredients: locally grown strawberries and blueberries, peanut butter, greek yogurt, and oatmeal.

After I let this digest a bit, Michal and I decided to rent bikes for the remainder of our vacation so we could have the freedom to get around without having to deal with the 4th of July traffic.

First stop with our bikes was Footbridge Beach in Maine which is my favorite beach in the area.

Enjoying fresh cut watermelon on the beach is one of life’s cheap luxuries.

After a few hours of relaxing on the beach, we got back on our bikes and headed down to Perkin’s cove for lunch.

Michal was very excited when while we were on the Perkin’s Cove draw bridge, a sailor shouted up to him to press the button to raise it.

Michal brought his Canon camera on vacation, so while we were in Perkin’s cover he took  some really beautiful photos that I plan on framing.

We also discovered a really amazing cafe I had never been to. They make homemade lemonade from scratch, and they have the most amazing back porch where you can sit.

Around this time we started to burn out, so we got back on our bikes and headed back, and after a nap and an epic outdoor dinner with the neighbors, we got back on our bikes to make one last trip…

It just wouldn’t be the 4th of July without fireworks.

]]> http://www.thetinyadventurer.com/2010/07/11/footbridge-beach-and-perkins-cove/feed/ 0 http://www.thetinyadventurer.com/2010/07/08/marginal-way-barnacle-billys-in-ogunquit-maine/ http://www.thetinyadventurer.com/2010/07/08/marginal-way-barnacle-billys-in-ogunquit-maine/#comments Fri, 09 Jul 2010 03:22:57 +0000 Caitlyn Hessell http://www.thetinyadventurer.com/?p=525 Saturday night Michal and I decided to go out to dinner for seafood, because when you’re in Maine, it’s just wrong to eat anything else, so we put on some non-scrubby clothes, and hit the town.

I know from this blog it seems as though I never wear make-up and am always in running shorts, but I assure you I am quite girly (note the pink top).

We decided that we would park in town and then walk along Marginal Way which takes you down into Perkins Cove.

Once we began the walk on marginal way, the views were incredible…

When we arrived in Perkins Cove, we ate at one of favorite restaurants, Barnacle Billy’s.

I’ve been eating here since I was a kid, and the food is always straight off the boat and delicious.

Before being seated, Michal enjoyed a cold beer in the lounge, and I sneaked a photo which captured his content state.

Is there anything better than enjoying your first cold beer on vacation?

When we finally sat down for dinner, I already knew what I wanted–Billy’s homemade Gazpacho Soup with JUMBO shrimp….

You can’t find shrimp any larger than this. They were so big that just 4 left me feeling full (and usually when I eat shrimp my stomach is a bottomless pit).

Michal had their stuffed shrimp dish which looked just as incredible.

But you want to know what the best part about dinner was?

The view.

]]> http://www.thetinyadventurer.com/2010/07/08/marginal-way-barnacle-billys-in-ogunquit-maine/feed/ 0 http://www.thetinyadventurer.com/2010/07/03/5k-race-in-maine/ http://www.thetinyadventurer.com/2010/07/03/5k-race-in-maine/#comments Sun, 04 Jul 2010 02:27:27 +0000 Caitlyn Hessell http://www.thetinyadventurer.com/?p=519 This is my third time running this race, and ever since coming in second for the women’s division last year (it’s a small race), it’s become an on-going joke for me to talk a whole lotta game before the big day.

Coincidentally, Michal came in 2nd in the men’s division last year also, so the smack talk has just been non-stop between the two of us.

But somewhere in all those little quips…I was serious.

And so I trained the past two weeks, and I had this whole master plan laid out in my head, how two days before the race I would do one final 4 mile run on an up-hill course (my reasoning being that the 5k race would seem easy 48 hours after so much up-hill work). So Friday came, and after work I did just that. I ran an intense 4 mile up-hill course in blistering heat. Then I got home and rested a bit, because I was going to be driving to Maine later that night.

Then my mom, who was already up in Maine, called.

“Hey, did you know your little race is tomorrow morning? I just saw something about it on the TV.”

Yup, that’s right. I got the date wrong. So basically I would arrive in Maine at around 1am, and then have to wake up at around 8am to run a race, and on top of that I would only have around 12 hours of time to recover.

Want to see a picture of me before the race?

It’s probably hard to tell because this picture is pretty small, but I was literally falling asleep, and I didn’t even have the energy to warm up or stretch. I just sat on a rock and watched all the other people do cool pre-race stuff which totally psyched me out.

Luckily I had Michal there to lend his support (and talk a big game), so I at least I stayed a bit motivated.

A mile into the race  though I was pretty behind, so I started regretting my decision to run the race, but then I sort of told myself, “you are on vacation, so get over yourself, and get over the fact that you will have a slow time.” And just like that I got over it, and suddenly the race seemed fun again because I accepted the fact that I wouldn’t do well, and that I would be proud of myself just for finishing it.

And then mile two came, and I was so happy to have set myself free from the pressure of getting a good time, that I started to pass a lot of people who were burning out on the hills.

And then mile three came, and I started to pass even more people.

And then I finished…

and after the results were tallied up, I came in first in the women’s division

Pretty cool, right?

Although in all honesty, I was not the first female to cross the finish line. The first WOMAN, yes, but not the first female. A few girls under the age of 19 destroyed my time, so I was fortunate that there was a separate category for “under 19.”

I wish I could show you an actual picture of me accepting the prize, or a picture of my finish, but the camera died half way through the race (my mom didn’t realize that you need to turn the camera off when you’re not using it). By that point though, I didn’t even care about the camera. I was just thrilled to have had something that seemed horrible turn out to be something really fun.

As for Michal….

Let’s just say he got 2nd place again, but this year the men’s 2nd place time was slower than the women’s 1st place time….

I guess there can only be one winner in every relationship (ohhhhhhhh snap!)

I was sure to take at least one photo of the calm before the storm…

Shortly after this photo was taken, the temperature dipped over 90 degrees, and more than 15 people were packed into an apartment with no ventilation and bright lights.

Despite the heat, it was still a total blast, especially since everyone maintained such an upbeat attitude for the entire weekend.

And now for some behind the scenes photos:

Kat is a make-up artist volunteering her time on set. She’s actually studying to be a special effects make-up artist, so she really knows her stuff. Let’s just say her fake wounds look so real that they’re too gross to post up on this blog.

Filming ran well past 9pm every night, but Michal and Noah got a lot accomplished this past weekend, including one scene where Noah had to direct and play a ninja zombie at the same time….

I’m really not quite sure how Michal’s body handles the abuse of being a DP. You have to constantly arrange your body in different ways to capture certain shots.

Mike and Derek are setting up cardboard so that fake blood doesn’t stain the walls, but yet there was still one tragic casualty….

Michal’s Adidas sneakers.

When the heat got to be a bit much, they would rehearse action sequences outside.

When shooting wrapped on Saturday, I surprised Michal with an ice cream cake from his favorite place–Ashley’s in New Haven.

By this time it was after 9pm, and no one had eaten dinner, so the cast and crew devoured the cake.

And in case you were wondering, the base of the cake is crumbled oreo cookies, topped with a layer of chocolate ice cream, which is then topped with a layer of Ashely’s infamous Oreo Ice Cream, which is then topped with frosting and M&Ms.

Yes, it tasted as amazing as it sounds.

The only other really exciting thing from this past weekend besides Ninja Zombies, Michal’s birthday, and lots and lots of ice cream, was the fact that I ran 8 miles and have zero knee pain to report.

Running is officially back on the table.

….but that didn’t really happen, because I only made it 10 laps, and the last two laps didn’t really count, because my well formed breaststroke was more of an awkward doggy paddle.

I guess swimming will be a work in progress this summer, but until then it’s back to running….

This town was designed for runners, because the entire area is completely flat and there is always a cool breeze coming off the water. They also sell lobster rolls about every 100 feet, so whenever you decide to stop running, there is already amazing seafood waiting for you.

After my pathetic swim, I re-charged with a power nap, and then grabbed my camera and decided to go on a run along the beach.

I’ve done this route quite a few times over the years, but I’ve never taken pictures, so it was fun getting to document the scenic views.

You see, if I had stayed in the pool I would have missed out on all this.

]]> http://www.thetinyadventurer.com/2010/06/19/beach-run-in-wells-me/feed/ 0 http://www.thetinyadventurer.com/2010/06/19/solo-road-trip-to-maine/ http://www.thetinyadventurer.com/2010/06/19/solo-road-trip-to-maine/#comments Sat, 19 Jun 2010 14:58:18 +0000 Caitlyn Hessell http://www.thetinyadventurer.com/?p=474 I took the day off from work yesterday, so I could drive up to Maine to visit this pretty lady….

Alyx was my best girlfriend from college, and although she now lives in California, her boyfriends sister just so happened to be getting married in the same town my parents have a cottage in (fate will always bring us together).

The ride up to Maine was the only painful part, because I get really bored on long drives by myself, and when you pair that with little to no sleep (was up the night before helping with Ninja Zombie stuff), I have no attention span.

After hearing Lady Antebellum’s “Need You Now” four times on the radio, I ended up behind a Maine lobster truck which I found to be really funny, so I decided to take a picture.

Immediately after snapping this photo, the highway split, and I veered off the wrong way, giving me the pleasure of listening to my GPS scream “RECALCULATING” at me for the next 5 minutes. I guess that’s my punishment for taking a photo while driving.

An hour later I was really bored again, so I pulled up behind this car which offered me free reading material for the next three exits…

Is it illegal to take pictures while driving? It should be, because I definitely wasn’t paying attention to the lines on the road.

Once I finally arrived in Maine, I picked up Alyx, and we hung out at my parent’s place for the day. We mostly laid by the pool, ate some amazing food courtesy of the Pine Tree, and then gossiped about vampires…and on occasion we mentioned real people we care about.

Sadly, she had to get to the rehearsal dinner for the wedding, so we couldn’t hang out the entire day, but Michal and I are going to plan a vacation out to California to visit her sometime soon, so we won’t be parted for long!

I’ll be in Maine for the rest of the weekend, so expect lots of exciting pictures of trees. Joking aside, I’m pretty obsessed with this state. My parents have been taking me here every year since I was a kid, and now this place is like a second home to me, so sometimes when I talk about how happy this place makes me I can get downright emotional. Maine is THAT beautiful!  I’ll leave you with some pictures that I snapped last summer:

I can’t wait for this summer.

Everyone worked so hard, and I know it’s rare to find yourself thinking Hallmark thoughts like, “my friends are an inspiration,” and, “you all make me want to be a better person,” but I was genuinely left in awe at the level of dedication I witnessed on and off the set this weekend.

Here are some fun photos from on the set (photos courtesy of Eli):

Above is some of the crew being out-shined by the awesome iPad that Meredith is holding, and below Noah directs some of the actors.

Michal is shooting the entire film on a Canon 7D, which is a Digital SLR camera. The quality of footage is beautiful, and I’m going to post a sneak peak that Michal made at the end of this entry.

The quality of the costumes were also quite impressive….

After a day of hard work it’s fun to be able to watch the footage…

And if you’re curious as to what the dailies look like, below is a video Michal posted on D-Prov Productions this morning. which gives you a sneak peak at some of the raw footage from this past weekend….

One last thing….if you live in the New Haven or Connecticut area and would like to somehow get involved or volunteer your time on set, email contact@d-prov.com.

Also, they are in desperate need of food donations to feed the cast and crew on weekends. Donating just one box of pasta would be welcomed with open arms!

The film currently has a budget of only $2,000, and not one person involved in the making of the film is getting paid, so any money you could donate to continue the production of this film would be greatly appreciated! Donations can be made here.

I think I’ve mentioned this before, but my boyfriend (and pretty much all of my New Haven friends) are shooting a zombie flick this summer, and I’m extremely excited to see it all unfold.

This film has been an incredible labor of love so far, especially since absolutely no one is getting paid.

From the actors, to costume designers, to camera men, to crew….everyone has willingly given up their weekends this summer so they can wear ninja face masks in 80 degree heat (now that’s dedication!).

And what’s my job in all of this? Well I don’t really have an official job, but since the cast and crew are so busy, I’ve taken it upon myself to document the “behind the scenes” mayhem and blog about it. What this really means is that I’m just the “your in the way” girl, or the “don’t touch that prop” girl.  Is anyone else drawn to touching breakable and expensive things?

Just look at this expensive Canon 7D camera that I can play with when no one is looking!

And what do we have here? A whole table of breakable goodies for me to get my hands on!

Everyone is working pretty tirelessly tonight to get things ready for the first day of filming tomorrow…

Eli and Meredith are heading up the art department, and they are in the process of putting the final touches on some of the ninja costumes.

Below Mike is preparing a few Korean dishes to serve the cast and crew tomorrow. He’s also an actor in the film AND the producer, so basically Mike won’t be getting any sleep tonight.

There is literally a person in every corner of the apartment doing something….

What’s great about an indie film is that you’re forced to get creative. Above Mike holds a device meant to be a foam water gun for kids in a pool, but with the help of a sharpie marker, it’s now a professional blood distribution unit for applying that extra bit of gore on the zombie actors.

You know a film is going to be good when the director rocks a Ninja Turtles t-shirt while holding a sai!

The above photo is actually the last Michal sighting I had. I think he’s somewhere at Home Depot right now constructing stabilizer rigs for his camera out of bike racks and other miscellaneous parts, but the last I heard he was at Toys R’ Us trying to construct a moving dolly? If you see him, please remind him that he should construct his inventions after he pays for the raw materials, and that we miss him, and he should come home.

]]> http://www.thetinyadventurer.com/2010/06/11/ninja-zombies-the-night-before-filming-starts/feed/ 0 http://www.thetinyadventurer.com/2010/05/31/rocky-neck-state-park-and-beach-in-east-lyme-ct/ http://www.thetinyadventurer.com/2010/05/31/rocky-neck-state-park-and-beach-in-east-lyme-ct/#comments Tue, 01 Jun 2010 03:17:28 +0000 Caitlyn Hessell http://www.thetinyadventurer.com/?p=435 It wouldn’t be Memorial Day weekend without either a torrential downpour or sweltering 85 degree heat, and luckily this year we had the latter.

After displaying my patriotism by way of food, I slapped on some zinc oxide, and it was off to Rocky Neck beach.

I always get excited when visiting a new beach, because they all have their own unique characteristics and waterfront landscapes, and Rocky Neck did not disappoint.

The only real downside were the crowds. We waited in a line of cars for about 35 minutes to get into the park, so if you are visiting Rocky Neck on a sunny weekend, try to get there by 10:30 AM.

The frustration of traffic though was quickly forgotten once we made it to the beach.

How eerie is it to see such clear blue water in Long Island Sound?!

Growing up in Fairfield, I’m used to murky shorelines filled with questionable oceanic deposits, so it was an unexpected treat to find such clear water along the Southern coast of Connecticut.

There is also a really incredible boardwalk that stretches the entire length of the beach.

The nice thing about this boardwalk, is rather than being entirely in the sun, it takes you through wooded areas, which offer a nice shady escape not easily found on most beaches.

As you can tell by my skin tone, I don’t have much patience when it comes to lying in the sun, so I took quite a few boardwalk breaks throughout the day.

The boardwalk also takes you out along a charming little estuary.

Below Michal watches a family of crabs along the bottom of the river.

A few other pros and cons:

PRO – the sand is really soft (not rocky–despite the name).

PRO – there are ice cream trucks located at BOTH entrances to the beach

CON – with so many people, one of them is bound to piss you off (a guy threw his bottle of coke into the estuary right in front of me, and I snapped).

PRO – the bathroom and changing facilities are clean

CON – certain areas of the beach are extremely narrow, so on a crowded day expect to overhear lots of other peoples conversations, and vice versa.

PRO – besides the beach, Rocky Neck offers hiking, camping, picnicking, and bike trails!

Camping trip anyone?

Being that we were a bit cut for time this morning, we decided to prepare a quick breakfast using frozen waffles.

To be honest, I never really buy frozen waffles–let alone organic wheat ones, but Michal is always pointing them out when we’re in the natural food section of Stop&Shop, so out of curiosity I finally decided to try a box.

This breakfast literally took just 5 minutes to prepare, and it turned out delicious….

And yes, we intentionally used a red, white, and blue color pallet in honor of Memorial Day.

To create this patriotic dish, just top your waffles with peanut butter, strawberries, and blueberries, and then garnish with fresh coconut.

Michal always has to one-up me, so he used some Chobani greek yogurt to make his waffle creation a bit more extravagant than mine.

I really love it when I find a healthy breakfast recipe that tastes not-healthy.

I promise I will reward you all with video footage if you make it through to the end of this entry.

I learned a lot about myself while attending my first Renaissance Fair, such as….

-Spelling the word “fair” as “faire” bothers me
-I do not excel in medieval warfare
-I do not like the smell of leather combined with the smell of hay combined with the smell of small animals
-I only like historical reenactments when I can hide behind the safety of my TV screen

Actually, I’d like to revise my last statement: I only like historical reenactments when I can hide behind the safety of my own TV screen, OR when my friends are being publicly humiliated…

The trip to the fair also doubled as a scouting trip for Michal and Noah, who were on the hunt for some movie props for the film they’re working on this summer–NINJA ZOMBIES.

Below is Meredith checking out some possible daggers for the film (she’s heading up the art department).

We also had the chance to practice our skills at throwing sharp objects.

I love the gusto in which everyone is throwing their axe in the next photo.

Below is what happens when you leave your boyfriend alone for two seconds….

Twould be wise to stay on friendly terms with this brave warrior,

and these fearsome two also….

As promised, I leave you with some video footage….

Being a Connecticut native, I’ve driven through this iconic tunnel hundreds of times, but only just discovered the parks existence this past weekend while researching state parks online.

When I first looked at the map and saw a big yellow blob titled, “West Rock State Park,” right over the Merritt, I thought it was a mistake.

Despite my skepticism, I decided to venture up there on Sunday, and was relieved to find it existed.

To be honest, I half expected the park to be a boring open space with some amateur man-made trails. Even after seeing the entrance, I remember thinking, “this is going to be lame.”

And then I entered the park, and I was a bit taken a back by how wrong I was.

Once you enter there is this gigantic lake that appears out of nowhere, and it’s absolutely gorgeous.

From the lake, there are a variety of different trail options, but I mapped out a 3.5 mile course which takes you up along the side of the mountain, and then circles you back down around the base of the lake.

The forest was so lush with vegetation, that it almost seemed foreign.

If someone were to show me the photos I took, my first guess would not be Connecticut.

The path I mapped out was a fairly strenuous 2 hour hike to the top, and there were lots of rocky sections…

So if you’re looking for something a bit more moderate, I recommend sticking to the trails that circle around the base of the lake. I actually merged onto these trails during the last 25 minutes of my hike, and it was a nice cool down

When I finally exited the woods, the sun was blinding, but once my eyes adjusted I got to experience one last view before I left.

I live for pretty landscapes.

Ingredients (serves one):

• 3 slices of light whole wheat bread
• 1 egg (I use real egg, but you can use egg substitute)
• 1/3 cup Soy Milk (I’ve also used almond milk and skim milk)
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 1 tsp. cinnamon
• 1 tsp. ground flaxseed (optional)
• Frozen strawberries
• Peanut Butter!

Start by preparing dipping mixture in a bowl. Beat together egg, soy milk, vanilla, cinnamon, and ground flaxseed.

Heat a large pan on medium heat (or if you’re lucky enough to have a skillet, use that). While the pan is getting warm, prepare strawberry topping by placing a large handful of frozen strawberries in a bowl, and then heating in the microwave for about a minute. Once they’re soft, mash them up in the bowl, and then heat again for another 30 seconds. Mash again until you get desired consistency.

You will save a lot of money by purchasing your organic fruit in the freezer aisle.

Once your strawberry topping is done, it’s time to cook the french toast.

Coat your pan with olive oil, and then coat your three pieces of bread with the egg mixture (if any is left over just pour it on top of the bread once it’s in the pan). Place the coated pieces of bread in the pan, and then cook for about three minutes on each side.

Once your french toast is done, spread a thick layer of peanut butter on each piece,  and then cover with strawberry topping. I usually sprinkle more cinnamon on top, and sometimes drizzle a little agave syrup over the finished product.

Feel free to stack your french toast like a sandwich, and then cover with more strawberries.

The possibilities are endless. You can even create your peanut butter sandwich first, and then dip it in the egg mixture, so the peanut butter gets warm and gooey as it cooks in the pan.

Be warned that french toast addiction might follow…

But since there is absolutely nothing unhealthy about this meal, eating it every day for the next year is OK.

I gave her complete freedom in choosing what the adventure would be, and she actually came up with a really nice idea…

…a trip to Beadworks to design some jewelry.

Since so much of what I do on this blog is done outside, it was really nice to mix it up, and do something relaxing indoors…although the massive selection of beads was a bit stressful, especially if you have no idea what you’re doing.

I finally fell in love with a strand of pale green stones, which I decided to pair with some soft yellow Swarovski crystals. I plan on turning the below layout into a necklace and earring set.

This was definitely the perfect indoor adventure for this blog, because creating a necklace from scratch costs a fraction of what it would retail for, and it’s a lot more fun getting to say you designed it. I didn’t have time to complete the above creation yet, but when it’s finished I’ll post pictures.

My mom bought a whole bunch of stuff, so it will probably be a while before she completes all of her creations also.

After the bead store, we decided to eat somewhere semi-adventurous so we chose Chocopologie down the street, which is a very European-style cafe run by a famous chocolatier from Denmark.

The menu is a fusion between really decadent specialty drinks and desserts, and lighter fair such as healthy sandwiches and salads.

My mom and I had already had a massive mother’s day breakfast with my family, so for our first course we split their signature drink, the Chocopologie, which is rich espresso and dark hot chocolate topped with lavender foam.

This tasted absolutely incredible.

For our second course I had my heart set on their grilled sandwich with mozzarella, avocado, tomato, red pepper spread, and grilled portabello, but they were out, so I ended up ordering the Mediterranean Salad, which consisted of goat cheese, kidney beans, pine nuts, lemon croute, string beans, roasted beets, and a citrus vinaigrette.

There was a lot more to this salad than pictured above, but once again, I didn’t remember to take pictures until I was almost done with it. The good news is that this salad tasted incredible, and I’m now so in love with the above combination of ingredients, that I think I’ll try to re-create it this weekend….maybe I’ll feature it as another Meatless May recipe.

After lunch my mom and I had one more adventure at Mashalls Mega Shoe Shop, and then we called it quits.

I guess pretty jewelry, hot chocolate, and a nice pair of shoes is all it takes to subdue even the neediest of mothers (she didn’t call my phone once for the next 24 hours).

Having said that so many times before, I now feel a bit remiss in my failure to recognize that not everyone has that luxury…

On Saturday my mom and I participated in a charity walk to raise money for the Make-A-Wish Foundation. It was a bittersweet experience, because on the one hand it’s completely devastating to see those with the biggest sense of adventure (children), have to sacrifice their childhood due to illness, but on the other hand it’s remarkable and inspiring to see the impact that granting a single wish can have on a child’s entire life.

One of the founders of Make-A-Wish Foundation, Frank Shankwitz, spoke at the event (he’s kind of hard to see in the above picture, but he’s wearing a cowboy hat near the blue tent). He started the foundation over 30 years ago, and the story behind his inspiration is so moving….you can read it here, but be sure to have a tissue ready.

If you continued to read this blog entry without reading the story I just linked to, please go back and read it now, because it’s more important than anything I have to say here.

And if after reading the story you would like to make a donation to this incredible organization, please click here: I want to help kids with big dreams have BIG ADVENTURES!

Your donation will go towards helping to give kids the strength and inspiration they need to deal with a life-threatening illness, such as my cousin Dianna below, who after her recovery, will be getting a wish granted from this incredible foundation. Let’s just say her top choice involves a certain movie, based on a certain book, based on a certain vampire (SO EXCITED FOR HER!).

No matter how cool you think you are, this orange haired girl is cooler.

Just please ignore the fact that she’s in middle school, and we’re the same height.

Thanks.

Thanks to this challenge, I decided to re-visit my hatred for tofu, and combine it with something I love–GRILLING!

First things first though…pit stop at Trader Joe’s…..

Ingredients (serves two):

• 1 package of Trader Joe’s Organic Extra Firm Tofu
• 1 bottle of Trader Joe’s Island Soyaki marinade
• 3 Bell Peppers (assorted colors)
• 1 large Zucchini
• olive oil
• kale and brown rice (the side dishes I served with this meal, but feel free to serve whatever side dishes you want)

Tip: No matter what brand of Tofu you decide on, always make sure it’s “Extra Firm” if you want to grill it. Also be sure to get as much water out of the tofu as possible before you marinade it. I use paper towels, and press them into the tofu to get out extra moisture.

Directions: Slice tofu into 4 or 5 even pieces, and then coat them with Soyaki marinade inside a ziplock bag. Let sit in the fridge for a minimum of 30 minutes (I just did 30 minutes, but some people marinade their tofu overnight).

While waiting for tofu to marinade, cut bell peppers into thirds, and cut zucchini into long slices for grilling. I like to brush olive oil and balsamic vinegar on my vegetables before grilling.

When grill is ready (keep heat on low), brush a generous amount of olive oil on the area where you will be grilling the tofu. If you don’t, the tofu will stick.

Place tofu and vegetables on the grill, and cook for about 6 minutes on each side.

Look at how pretty the grilled tofu looks. The grilled vegetables came out nice also….

And now for the final product….

…..A beyond simple vegetarian meal that took only about 5 minutes of prep, and 12 minutes of cooking time. Did I mention it tasted INCREDIBLE also? The only thing not pictured is the kale and brown rice I paired with this meal (always pair some sort of grain with such a low-carb meal, especially if you’re active!).

I was honestly shocked by how much I loved this meal, and I already have plans to throw together a tofu burrito to bring to lunch tomorrow.

I think I’m going to enjoy the Meatless May Challenge a lot more than I thought.

• I was a vegetarian for 10 years.
• I was a member of PETA for 7 out of those 10 years.
• In middle school I used to sit outside Shaws and sell pencil eraser caps to raise donations for an animal rescue organization.
• I once boycotted our high school science department for using animal dissection as a teaching tool (plastic replicas would be more cost-effective and humane!!!) And oh how the feelings of unjustice come flooding back…

Now to update you on the present:

• I am no longer a vegetarian, and this makes me sad.

I suppose the beginning of the end for my vegetarian ways was in high school when I first developed anemia due to an iron deficiency from not eating any meat. The reason this iron deficiency happened was because I was still too young to understand healthy nutrition, and since I did not come from a vegetarian family, this usually meant that instead of eating my mothers meal of chicken, mashed potatoes, and green beans, I would just eat lots and lots of mashed potatoes. I had no concept of what it meant to be a healthy vegetarian, and my parents often joked that I was “breadetarian,” because instead of meat, I would just eat a second serving of bread.

By the time I hit my sophomore year of college, I started eating meat again. It started in drips and drabs, but pretty soon I was eating turkey sandwiches almost everyday, and to be honest, my body felt great. I was no longer fighting exhaustion, I started running and weight training, and I even started losing weight, and I attributed it all to having let meat back into my life.

Of course I now realize that it was not the meat…well technically it was the meat…but the bigger point I’m trying to make is that it was the iron and protein within the meat that helped my body to properly function again, and I could have gotten that same sort of nutrition from vegetarian sources such as soy, legumes, nuts, seeds, eggs, and dairy products if I had just had the knowledge that I do now.

Shortly after graduating college I went back to being a vegetarian, but again fell off the band wagon about a year ago, and looking back, I’m not surprised, because although my vegetarian diet was better than what it used to be, my overall diet was still not healthy. I hardly ever cooked healthy vegetarian meals, and I had convinced myself that carbs and fats were bad.

I finally gave my diet a make-over about a year ago, and I suppose if I had to categorize how I now eat, I would describe it as “Mediterranean,” because my diet mostly consists of vegetables, nuts and seeds, olive oil on everything, A LOT of whole grains, lean cuts of chicken and turkey, and fish. Basically the biggest change I made was integrating a lot of healthy fats and carbs back into my diet (I used to be afraid that peanut butter would make me gain weight, and now I go through a jar a week!).

Now that I feel like I finally have a grip on balanced nutrition, I want to tackle being a vegetarian again, and I thought May would be the perfect time to see if I could go meatless once again. My main goal for this challenge is to learn how to cook extremely basic vegetarian recipes so that I can continue to get the protein and nutrients my body needs, without needing meat.

Even if by the end of the month I don’t go completely vegetarian again, I will at least have a new arsenal of vegetarian recipes that will hopefully replace many more meat meals in the future.

Before I end this entry, I just want to make a brief plea, that if you haven’t yet seen the documentary Food Inc, please please please watch it (if you have a Netflix account you can stream it for free on your computer). At the very least watch the trailer here!

It teaches people that eating less meat isn’t just about being more humane to animals, it’s about making our food safer and healthier, and saving our planet in the process.

I don’t know if it was my allergies, or the fact that I was just a bit behind on sleep, but even after sleeping in, I still felt extremely groggy and a bit in a funk. Even though I was in no mood to get out of bed, I forced myself to at least take a nice long walk outside (which often is the best cure for a stale mood).

First stop along the walk was Cafe Romeo for lunch, because my stomach was already grumbling like crazy. I guess my banana bread oatmeal for breakfast wasn’t decadent enough?

Cafe Romeo is a fairly new eatery in East Rock, and although the competition for Italian food is fierce in this area, they’ve sort of carved out their own little niche by pairing good sandwiches with good aesthetic design.

With their open-air store front and large outdoor seating area, the ambiance is definitely a step above the competition, but their service still hasn’t quite reached the level of professionalism that I guess comes with time. I don’t think this has deterred anyone from going though, because the place was packed!

I ended up ordering something I’ve enjoyed at Cafe Romeo before—their tuna salad sandwich.

This is how tuna fish is meant to be made–no mayo–just fresh yellow fin tuna, olives, capers, huge chunks of grape tomatoes, anchovies, lettuce, and a house vinaigrette drizzled on top.

I had my tuna salad on their whole wheat bread, but in the past I’ve had it on their pumpernickel rye bread, and that’s definitely my favorite.

I also got to sample their foccacia bread, which Michal had an Eggplant Panini on.

Grilled balsamic marinated eggplant, roasted red peppers, and baby spinach, with a kalamata olive tapenade.

This sandwich melts in your mouth

I also ordered some freshly brewed ice tea, which tasted amazing, and really helped perk me up for the remainder of my Sunday walk.

After Cafe Romeo, I came across a store near the New Haven green that I’ve never noticed before (which is odd since I’ve walked past it at least a dozen times now).

Ten Thousand Villages is fair trade non-profit organization whose mission is to, “provide vital, fair income to Third World people by marketing their handicrafts and telling their stories in North America. Ten Thousand Villages works with artisans who would otherwise be unemployed or underemployed. This income helps pay for food, education, health care and housing.” (Source: Ten Thousand Villages website).

Walking through the store felt like someone had stocked the shelves based on my personal taste in jewelry and home decor.

…And because it was for such a good cause, I had to buy a few things, right?

I immediately grabbed a bar of extra dark chocolate, because it’s really hard for me to find authentic chocolate at the local grocery store, and once you acquire a taste for real chocolate, everything else just tastes processed and fake.

My next purchase was the most beautiful card ever, but I can’t show it here, because it’s for mother’s day, and my mother sort of stalks me through this blog, so I don’t want to ruin it for her (sorry mom–you’ll have to wait until Sunday).

My last (and favorite) purchase was a necklace and pair of earrings made from recycled brass.

I’m a bit obsessed with the craftsmanship and beauty of this necklace (this photo doesn’t do it justice), and the coolest part is that they can provide you with a print-out with background information on any item in the store…

My particular necklace came from the non-profit, Jacaranada Workshop, in Kenya, which provides employment, training, and other assistance to artisans with mental or physical abilities.

The sad thing is that I never really realized the impact one can have by simply choosing to buy their jewelry or home decor from developing countries.

I’m definitely going to make more of an effort from here on out to buy jewelry and other decorative items from non-profits such as Ten Thousand Villages, rather than Anthropologie other stores.

On my walk home I passed this advertisement:

I thought the tag-line would be a great motto for this blog, even though my motto for today was sort of “get out more, spend a little!”

Although there was nothing particularly adventurous about this Sunday, by the end of my long walk I felt so much more energized (and happier) than when I had begun, so I stand strong in my belief that it’s always better to just force yourself to get outside if you’re in a funk.

I know it’s hard sometimes, but a long walk in the sunshine can cure even the most stubborn of mental states.

]]> http://www.thetinyadventurer.com/2010/05/04/cafe-romeo-and-ten-thousand-villages-in-new-haven-ct/feed/ 1 http://www.thetinyadventurer.com/2010/05/03/banana-bread-oatmeal/ http://www.thetinyadventurer.com/2010/05/03/banana-bread-oatmeal/#comments Tue, 04 May 2010 03:27:47 +0000 Caitlyn Hessell http://www.thetinyadventurer.com/?p=324 I threw this oatmeal together Sunday morning, and it ended up tasting like banana bread, so I had to share.

Ingredients (serves 2)

1 cup water
1 cup almond milk (or any type of milk product)
1 cup oatmeal
2 tbs. ground flaxseed meal (I use Bob’s Red Mill)
1/2 large banana cut into small pieces
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. vanilla
Sweetener of your choice added to taste (honey, agave syrup, brown sugar, etc…)

Directions: Bring milk and water to a boil. Add oatmeal and ground flaxseed meal, and then reduce heat to low. Add in banana, cinnamon, vanilla,  and sweetener. Stir occasionally. Oatmeal will be done in 5-10 minutes.

I of course added a dollop of peanut butter on top, but there are a variety of things you can do, such as….

…drenching it in strawberry syrup like Michal did.

To achieve this, let a bag of frozen strawberries thaw out over night, and then you will have a bag full of lots and lots of natural syrup. If you’re cut for time, just throw some frozen strawberries in a mug and then heat in the microwave for about a minute.

I used the other half of the banana to make a side dish of “mini peanut butter banana pies,” which we enjoyed along side the oatmeal for breakfast.

As you’ve noticed, my culinary “skills” never really extend beyond 10am, but I hope to change this with my Meatless May challenge, where I’ll be eating vegetarian for the remainder of the month, so expect some extremely basic vegetarian recipes to be posted up here soon.

On Saturday, Michal and I packed a cooler full of lunch items, and headed out to Hammonassett State Park to spend the day at the beach.

The entry fee into the park is $9, but if you’re like me, it will end up costing you more, because the minute you park you’ll realize you forgot to bring any sort of beach towels or blankets. Luckily your entry receipt is good for the rest of the day, so you can go buy towels at Job Lot leave for a bit and then re-enter the park without having to pay again.

I liked that there were a variety of different landscapes at the park.

Scenic fields, picnic areas, bike paths, boardwalks, and of course the beach….

We did a few epic walks to explore the coast line…

Other than the awful sunburn I now have on my right shoulder, the first beach day of the season was a success.

]]> http://www.thetinyadventurer.com/2010/05/03/hammonasset-beach-state-park-in-madison-ct/feed/ 0 http://www.thetinyadventurer.com/2010/04/28/kent-falls-state-park-in-kent-ct/ http://www.thetinyadventurer.com/2010/04/28/kent-falls-state-park-in-kent-ct/#comments Thu, 29 Apr 2010 01:33:34 +0000 Caitlyn Hessell http://www.thetinyadventurer.com/?p=289 What is it about cascading water on steep rocks that makes us so happy?

On Saturday, my friends and I took a break from the film festival to visit Kent Falls State Park, which was only a 5 minute drive up the road.

From the parking lot, you cross over a scenic little bridge to enter the park.

Now I knew there was going to be a waterfall here, but I didn’t quite expect it to be right out in the open once you entered the park. It was a pretty incredible view to be immediately hit with.

There is a beautiful sitting area built around the waterfall too. Below is a picture I snapped at the base of the waterfall looking out onto the park.

For those looking to get a nice hike in, there is a steep trail along the stream that takes you to various lookout points. We didn’t have that much time before we had to get back to the festival, so I only climbed about half-way up.

As fun as this short hike was, I enjoyed my time at the base of the waterfall the most.

I felt so relaxed and happy sitting at the base of the waterfall, and I think it was pretty clear that it had the same therapeutic effect on everyone else…

There is nothing cooler than getting to relax in the sunshine with a rushing waterfall as your soundtrack.

And just in case you missed the waterfall, there was this kid to point it out for you…

cute baby + scenic waterfall = sensory overload

After visiting Kent Falls, I became curious if “waterfall therapy” existed, so I  googled it, but only came across a spa that offers a”waterfall therapy package,” where you drench yourself in a cold waterfall and then receive a deep tissue massage. I would much rather just save my money and enjoy the therapeutic view from a far.

I’m happy to report that I can now add “waterfalls” to my list of adventures that cost zero dollars.

Watching this film also helped me to remember two other animated pieces that moved me in the past–”Doll Face” and “Kiwi.” Please take a few minutes to watch them below. They’re worth it!

To me these three shorts are more than just animated films. They are silent commentaries on humanity. From compassion to desire to self-sacrifice, there is a lesson to be learned from each, and what you take away from these films really depends on who you see when you look in the mirror. And I suppose that’s what makes them great films–that no matter who you are, you realize something about yourself when you watch them.

At around 9:30 am my friend Mandy and I set off on our mini-road trip to Kent, CT to attend the Kent Film Festival.

I was extremely excited to attend the festival for a few reasons.

The first was because I love the idea behind independent film making, and how if you’re passionate enough, you can make a powerful film on any budget. And the second (and main reason) was because Michal had a film in the festival!

Mike (Actor), Noah (Director AND Writer), Michal (Cinematographer)

I was extremely proud of Michal, along with everyone else involved in the project, and I’m always amazed to see how much a person can light up when they’re in an area with hundreds of others who are equally as passionate about their dreams as they are.

My parents also drove up for the event, and absolutely loved it. Below is my mom showing off her cool new film festival tote which she purchased to “support the event,” but I just think she wanted to look more “indie.”

The film screenings took place in various buildings all over town, but Michal’s film played in the Kent Community House, which was a really beautiful venue.

After the screening, everyone was starving, so we all split up to grab some lunch at various places. Michal, Mandy, Jesse and I chose to get sandwiches at J.P. Gifford.

The town was packed, but we were able to score a nice table outside.

And the sandwiches were very tasty…

I had turkey with sun-dried tomatoes, topped with lots and lots of pesto. I was very happy that they were generous with the pesto, because that was the best part.

After lunch the four of us explored the town a bit, but be warned, you are about to experience cuteness overload….

These pictures don’t even really do the place justice. You just have to go there and experience Kent for yourself.

After lunch we met back up with the rest of our friends, and decided to all drive up to Kent Falls (about 5 minutes up the street). This adventure deserves it’s own entry, so I’m going to write about it later this week, but here is a preview….

After Kent Falls, Michal had to attend some more film screenings, so Mandy and I decided to go back into town and explore some of the art galleries.

If you enjoy art, Kent would make for a great day trip, especially since there is no charge to explore the galleries, and there are gorgeous sculptures displayed all over town. Below was one of my favorites.

Later on that night, they had an awards ceremony, which was held in the same art gallery that Mandy and I had explored earlier.

It seemed as though everyone (including myself) had some sort of camera in their hand, but around this same time my exhaustion started to take over, so the above photo was my last.

I guess I’ll end this entry then with one of the first pictures I took, so it will be as if this awesome day is just beginning….