Happy New Year!

Wishing all of you and yours the absolute best in 2015.

May it be healthy, happy, and prosperous. 

As for everyone, it’s been a busy year. A good year. Preservation in Pink told its story through photographs (my undying infatuation with Instagram), with travels throughout Vermont and to Rhode Island, Pennsylvania, Georgia, New York, Washington D.C., and Montreal, QC. Of course, many of those included coffee and flamingos. 2014 was a photogenic year, as opposed to essays and tutorials. Check out the latest Instagram post for the most liked Instagram posts of 2015.

What sort of content will 2015 bring for Preservation in Pink? Time will tell as adventures and lessons materialize, but you can be sure that it will be filled with images. That’s the affliction of a preservationist: addicted to documentation and fascinated by images. If you like photographs of buildings and landscapes and details, then you’ve come to the right place. And if you like historic preservation lessons, ramblings, and otherwise, you’re still in the right place. Rather than highlight the most popular posts and recycle posts, I’d encourage you to browse through the Series page for educational preservation posts, as well as Abandoned Vermont.

Anything you’d like to see in 2015? Let me know. The social media world constantly evolves and it is my hope that Preservation in Pink continues to reach its audience and connect, whether through words, images or something new. As will always be the case, I’m grateful for the friends, the colleagues, and the opportunities that I’ve found through Preservation in Pink and the social media world. Maybe it’s due to an abandoned building or a historic playground or someone looking for grad school information or someone who loves flamingos – thank you for stopping in and sharing a bit of your world with me and allowing me to share some of mine.

I’m looking forward to 2015, and I hope you are, too. Cheers!

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Thankfulness

Though we all have much to be thankful for throughout the year, there is something special and comforting about paying extra attention and dutifully remembering to count our blessings each year about this time. Wouldn’t you agree? For what are you thankful, big or small, person, place, or thing, memory or faith or hope?

Fresh air and pretty views.

I am thankful for optimistic people and communities, for those that believe in themselves each other, for the vibrant main streets that get involved in the holidays and all seasons. Success stories of preservationists and non-preservationists, all working to improve quality of life and sense of place, can all have a positive influence. I am thankful to live in a country and an age when almost anything is possible.

Montpelier, VT: a good place to be.

I am thankful for my family and friends and our collective strength and love, and to be able to see them for the holidays, a rare time of year when we are all together under one roof. I am thankful for our home, good memories, and for our Point Lookout house that survived the storm and will recover. I am thankful for good communities, personal and professional to know and to work with as we all make our way in the world. I am thankful for my health. I am thankful for little things like a good cup of a coffee, a cuddly cat, sunny days, snowy days, sitting by the fireplace, baking for the holidays, my grandmother’s necklace, and frivolous things like pink nail polish (of course).

Cookies for the holidays.

And of course, I am thankful for readers of Preservation in Pink and the growing community around this blog. Thank you everyone. I wish you all the best holiday, safe travels and time to reflect on what is good in your life.

Izzy, my cuddly cat.

Happy Thanksgiving!

My Mom

Happy Mother’s Day (yesterday) Mommy! And Happy Mother’s Day to all of the mothers out there. I hope your day was sunny and relaxing and spent how you chose.

Tulips and a flowering apple tree at Chimney Point State Historic Site.

My mom has been my preservation influence from the beginning, long before she or I had heard the term “historic preservation.” On family outings, Mom could tell us the stories of buildings, farms, and roads across Long Island. She always has memories to associate with places that we’d see, because she grew up where my sisters and I were growing up. My mom always liked to talk to people and visit historic sites, stop and look at farms, get out and about and go exploring. Mom, your continuing enthusiasm for everything – including what I do – is always an inspiration to me. There are so many days that I wish I could bring you to work with me because I know you’d enjoy my day, too. Thank you for everything. You’re the best and I’m so happy that you’re my mom.

Mom, in case you have forgotten, I wrote this post about you a few years back.

Freshly Pressed!

If you are a reader and/or user of wordpress.com blogs, you might know that the main page features a collection of blogs each day in a section known as “Freshly Pressed.” I’ll admit that I wondered from time to time if PiP would ever be on that page. To my surprise, Preservation in Pink was chosen as one of the freshly pressed blogs for April 25, 2012, with the post “Measuring Sense of Place” highlighted.

I’m flattered and honored for Preservation in Pink to be chosen;  this is an important milestone for PiP. Thank you new visitors and readers who took some time to browse through the archives or to comment on the Measuring Sense of Place post. The comments on the post are from around the world and it is exciting to read what people believe and how they define or questions sense of place. If you’re curious, now would be the time to jump into the conversation.

One of the best things about blogging is learning from others and discovering new blogs. It’s interesting and an education to converse about a subject with people from different professions and areas of study, and still understand what each other means. In other words, it’s a good reminder as to how small the world is and how much we are all intertwined.

I hope that you’ll find reason to return to Preservation in Pink, whether because you love preservation, community discussions, flamingos, roadside America, coffee, history, historic architecture, transportation, or anything that connects to/from preservation.

Check back later today for new posts.

Wednesday Thankfulness

It’s the week of Thanksgiving, and here at Preservation in Pink, each day of the week will be dedicated to a different subject of preservation thankfulness.

Monday Thankfulness. Tuesday Thankfulness.

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Today I am thankful for memories. Memories forge connections with places and those places become important to us. Good memories, nostalgic memories, make our hearts swell and give us a sense of peace. They give us a fond story to tell over and over and images to recall when passing through. Memories keep us grounded, remind us who we are and where we came from; they provide hope and comfort and guidance. Without our individual and collective memories, we would not know what was important to our ancestors or what might be important to our descendants.

Long Island, NY beaches hold some of my favorite memories.

The long leaf pines of the Sandhills Region in North Carolina.

Memories should always include a cute kitten. Here's a baby Izzy.

Take time to wax poetic on your memories and be grateful for them. They’ve made you who you are.

Eternally Grateful

Dear Veterans of the United States Military,

It always seems as though a thank you is not enough to express my gratitude and my respect for your commitment to the United States of America; but, I am going to say it over and over. Thank you for your service. Thank you for your selflessness. Thank you for your sacrifices. Thank you for everything – things that we civilians cannot fathom and horrors that we cannot face. You are the reason we live in such a wonderful country and have the freedom that we do. You are the reason we can continue to study and practice our passionate pursuits such as historic preservation. You make us proud and your story is an important, collective, intertwined chapter in our American history. I cannot imagine another life than the one I have. Thank you for fighting for and securing my freedom, my free will, my life and the life of every citizen. Thank you for fighting battles that we all cannot fight.

I am always proud to be an American citizen.

Thank you.

Love, Kaitlin

Proud to be An American

Thank you to all of the servicemen and women who have fought for our rights to be Americans, for our liberty, our freedom, and for justice. The sacrifices you have made and continue to make cannot be understood by all of us civilians, but we are eternally grateful and offer the utmost respect to you, today and everyday. Happy Veterans Day.

God Bless the USA by Lee Greenwood

If tomorrow all the things were gone

I’d worked for all my life,

And I had to start again

with just my children and my wife,

I’d thank my lucky stars

to be living here today,

‘Cause the flag still stands for freedom

and they can’t take that away.

And I’m proud to be an American

where at least I know I’m free,

And I won’t forget the men who died

who gave that right to me,

And I gladly stand up next to you

and defend her still today,

‘Cause there ain’t no doubt I love this land

God Bless the U.S.A.

From the lakes of Minnesota

to the hills of Tennessee,

Across the plains of Texas

from sea to shining sea.

From Detroit down to Houston

and New York to L.A.,

well There’s pride in every American heart

and it’s time we stand and say:

that I’m proud to be an American

where at least I know I’m free,

And I won’t forget the men who died

who gave that right to me,

And I gladly stand up next to you

and defend her still today,

‘Cause there ain’t no doubt I love this land

God Bless the U.S.A.