As those of you who follow me on social media may already know, last month I completed the Main Street Vegan Academy program to become certified as a Vegan Lifestylfe Coach and Educator. I have a whole post queued up about the wonderful things that we did and learned, but I wanted to take a minute to acknowledge my more than 3-month absence here—not in that “Ugh, sorry guys, I know I haven’t blogged in forever!” kind of way, but just to catch up on what’s been going on during this time and some of the fun things coming up.

The summer was full of so many good things: visits and outings with family, Roman’s first trip to the beach (and second and third…), swimming lessons and crepes every Sunday (we’re officially Little Choc regulars), PJ party/date nights, mommy and toddler yoga, doing more things to take care of me, and helping to plan and then attending my beautiful sister-in-law Amy’s bridal shower.

Amid all of that, I spent my free time working through the reading list for Main Street. Much of the required reading was already on my own personal list, so it was a great excuse to purchase some of those books and a good motivator to get through them. I may try to do a couple of quick write-ups on a few of them at some point—they were really incredible reads.

Just within the last couple weeks, we took a trip to Minnesota to see my beautiful, smart, big-hearted cousin get married and had a great time celebrating and hanging out with family. We bought a car (What??? I know.). And last Sunday, Amy and I completed the Wanderlust 108 Mindful Triathlon here in Brooklyn, consisting of a 5k run, an hour of yoga, and half an hour of guided meditation. I can’t get over what an uplifting, inspiring, and connective experience it was—and a hell of a lot of fun to boot!

Coming up, we have bachelor and bachelorette parties (like, this weekend), more swimming lessons and crepes, a visit to Woodstock Farm Sanctuary’s reportedly fabulous new location, and Amy and Jeff’s highly-anticipated wedding in October! Oh and I signed up for a 5k race about a week after that (It seems I run now. I’m equally surprised.), and I will likely be sporting some new ink shortly thereafter as well.

We had a rocky spring, but it turned out to be a really good summer. Lots of personal growth and lots of fun times with lots of great people. Our calendar has been full, but I haven’t felt the need to complain about how “busy” we are (I’m personally really over the word “busy”). It’s definitely been a lot, but it’s been positive. I feel so grateful.

I hope you’ve all had a wonderful summer as well and are enjoying what’s left of it as we wind down into fall. I’m trying to soak it in, but am also looking forward to a season of sweaters, cinnamon, and big pots of warm, comforting food.

In case this post didn’t make it obvious, Instagram is a good place to stay in touch with me during periods when I’m not writing here more regularly–so follow if you like! And stay tuned here for a recap of my Main Street Vegan Academy experience coming soon.