My Monotonous Life

Number 4: (the start) Take One Photo A Day

2012-02-01T22:56:00.001-04:00

I've seen two different sets of prompts for a February Photo A Day - here and here. A nice coincidence when taking one photo every day for a month is on my winter to do list! I put both prompts on my calendar for each day this month so that I'm not 100% responsible for coming up with a photo idea by myself each day. This should be fun.

Today I went with prompt number two - you. Soooo....this is me. At work. On a call* (can you spot my headset?). Do you ever see a picture of yourself and think "Oh! That's what I look like?!" That's what happened when I looked at this one. I'm not sure what it is, but even after spending a few minutes editing the photo and uploading it and then putting it here, I still feel a little surprised every time I look at it.

A few other quick tidbits:
- Another woman that sits on my floor was wearing this same sweater today. We ran into each other twice, even though we usually only run into each other twice a week...probably because our sweaters recognized each other as kinfolk and wanted to say hello.
- I'm growing my hair out a bit and because I'm in between cuts it looks much better wavy or curly than it does straight, which is how I've been wearing it most of the time lately. Today I used a product that's meant to "enhance" curls, and apparently it works because I got at least half a dozen compliments on my curls. I guess people prefer curly hair!
- I have spent the last 4 years working on very virtual teams. Until six months ago, my manager and I were the only two people on our team that are located in Boston. I spend a lot of time on calls and I rarely ever meet the people I work closely with face to face. I was super excited today to find out that a woman who I worked very closely with for a year and a half is in Boston for the next week and a half, and we went out for dinner tonight. I can't tell you how awesome it is to finally get to put a face with a name and a voice and a personality! It's always weird to explain to people that I have never met 90% of the people I've worked with for the last six years.
- I'm kind of excited for this photo a day...I hope that feeling lasts!

* I swear I was paying attention, you can totally prop your camera up on a stack of books and take self-timer shots and still be hearing everything discussed on the call.

Woot!

2012-01-20T17:31:00.000-04:00

IT FINALLY SNOWED!!! And supposedly two to four more inches tomorrow. Yay winter!!!

Kitchen Calendar

2012-01-13T19:01:00.023-04:00

I have pretty much ignored our kitchen since we moved in a year and a half ago. This past fall, I started spending more time in the kitchen and realizing how it was cold and hard and blah and started to look for ideas to make it warmer and more comfortable and maybe even a little pretty. It started with a looking for a few little things to make it more functional - a shelf to go in the freezer and prevent the avalanche from coming every time we opened the door, a place to hang our dish towel, that kind of thing.

Then I found this calendar and realized that it would look awesome in the kitchen....but the colors didn't look quite right. Luckily, I had the time to make a knock-off with colors that work better in our kitchen....and here's the result. Even before I got the calendar printed (at FedEx/Kinkos, nothing fancy) and had just moved Pete's painting and hung the empty frame on the wall, the kitchen looked worlds better. I made the mistake of creating the calendar in Powerpoint instead of Photoshop and it didn't print as well as it hoped, but as long as you stand at least a foot away it looks great! I marked birthdays and holidays with a black dry-erase marker on the plexi from the frame, and it looks pretty awesome (if I may say so myself)....even thought it's near impossible to get a good photo of it.

Operation: homey kitchen is officially on!

Chai

2012-01-11T18:58:00.000-04:00

I've been working from home a few days a week for the last month or so. At first I missed my daily Starbucks Chai, but it wasn't long before I got over that and wasn't missing them at all. For Christmas we got a Keurig machine from Pete's parents, complete with some Chai Latte k-cups. They've replaced my morning tea on days when I work from home, but now I'm starting to miss my Merry Mint Green Tea!

Christmas: Take Two

2011-12-31T22:00:00.006-04:00

I was at Target this morning to pick up a few things and lucked out with super cute stockings and a mini tree skirt for our Charlie Brown Christmas Tree that match our living room decor....for 70% off! This lead to me redoing all of the Christmas decor in the living room (admittedly, there wasn't that much to begin with), despite how it's nearly time to put the Christmas stuff away again. You can see a bit more of our Christmas decor here (start at the bottom).

Home

2011-12-30T21:55:00.005-04:00

I had amazing views from my flight today - taking off and landing!

Love me some US Airways Shuttle flights.

Little Women

2011-12-29T21:54:00.000-04:00

I went for a walk today to, you know, not spend yet another day sitting on my butt. I stopped at Capitol Hill Books because I've been working on finding all of the L.M. Montgomery Anne of Green Gables series and I hoped they would have some. The owner pointed me in the direction of the children's books and I was lucky enough to find three of the four Anne books that I was missing. I turned around to head back to the counter and pay for them, saw this stack - two feet, all copies of Little Women or Little Women related books - and thought immediately of Katie.

Claire

2011-12-28T21:45:00.001-04:00

This is one of my favorite pictures from this vacation.

Adele

2011-12-26T21:42:00.003-04:00

Playground fun time!

I love Adele's jacket. I kind of wish it came in my size.

Kodak Moment

2011-12-25T22:44:00.003-04:00

Santa brought the kiddos cameras this year. As you can imagine, Christmas morning is incredibly well documented.

I don't know what I love more about this picture - that Claire is already on board with the arms-length self portrait, or Ben's little tongue sticking out while he concentrates!

**Please bear with me while I backpost and catch up on December!

Oops!

2011-12-25T09:45:00.000-04:00

When I first planned my Christmas travel, I planned on bringing my laptop with me so I could wrap up my Fall To Do List and post my winter one. As I was packing, I realized that I really didn't want to carry a computer, too, and I left it at home. What?! 10 days without a computer? I know! But I did it, so look for lots of updates on Christmas with the fam and a Winter To Do List next weekend!

Hope you were on the nice list and found you stocking full of treats this morning!

Christmas Eve

2011-12-24T20:41:00.002-04:00

Jackie is 100% ready for Santa...and she's been a perfect angel this year!

Forty!

2011-12-23T22:35:00.004-04:00

That face is the one Dad makes when he's trying not to cry.

Almost all of the family was together tonight to kick off holiday festivities with a dinner to celebrate Mom and Dad's 40th Wedding Anniversary! Because their anniversary is two days before Christmas it tends to get swept under the rug and forgotten about, but you can't let that happen for 40. You may remember the photos we had shot when we were all together in August - they were Mom and Dad's anniversary gift this year (pulled together in an album for them, and of course all the images to print/use as they see fit).

Dinner was amazing - we went to Praline Bakery & Bistro and I can't recommend it enough. The service was some of the best I've ever seen. The food was delicious. They even offer a perfect kids menu. Dessert...well, "Bakery" comes first in their name, so I'm sure you can imagine that if the food is delicious, the dessert was even better!

A List: Things To Do This Winter

2011-12-21T22:24:00.055-04:00

I didn't do very well on my Fall 2011 list - I was expecting a slower, quieter fall and that didn't quite happen. Surprisingly, I'm not feeling even the teeniest bit of guilt or sadness about that, because it was still a pretty great few months! You can click through the link above to see how it all played out, or you can just move on to the current season. :)

I thought I was being lazy with a shorter list this time around, but then I saw that my fall list was only eight items as well and felt a whole lot better about it. ;) Hopefully I'll have a better record at the end of this season!

Eat at Cafe Polonia
Go to yoga at least once a week...but hopefully twice a week
Take the BPL Art & Architecture Tour
Shoot one photo every day for a month, with my DSLR In progress!
Ice skate at the Frog Pond
Stop drinking soda, for good
Finish at least two crochet UFOs
Learn to take the top off a soft boiled egg

As usual, let me know if you want to join me for any of these. Here's to an amazing winter!

Check out my past Seasonal To Do lists:
Fall 2011
Summer 2011
Spring 2011
Winter 2011
Fall 2010
Summer 2010

Winter is here?

2011-12-18T18:37:00.009-04:00

The past few months have been unusually warm. There have been a normal fall or winter feeling day here or there, but for the most part it's just been too warm to really feel like fall or winter - it was 60+ degrees out on December 1st, and it was the second week of the month before we actually kept our windows closed and the heat on for a week straight!

Pete and I had a car for the weekend, so we decided to venture out somewhere that we don't normally go for lunch. What started out seeming like a wasted trip to Plymouth turned into discovering a great little breakfast place, wandering through a number of consignment stores, and picking up a few treasures....and the first kind-of-sort-of accumulating snow of the winter (Halloween doesn't count as winter)! It was the first time all month that it actually felt like Christmas - freezing our noses off because we hadn't really intended to be outside so much and so were under dressed, flurries flying around outside, and Christmas music and decor in every store we stepped in. It turned into a pretty perfect afternoon despite the not-so-perfect start.

First

2011-12-17T18:15:00.003-04:00

We spent the afternoon with friends - catching up, eating lots of tasty food, and celebrating Leo's first birthday. It was an awesome way to spend an afternoon!

Boots

2011-12-11T16:22:00.001-04:00

It is near impossible for me to find boots that fit over my calves (yes, I know all about "wide calf width" boots - they don't fit my calves either), but in the past few years I've found a couple of pairs at Target that do. Why is it so difficult? I know a million other women with this same problem, yet there doesn't seem to be an easy/inexpensive solution.

Santa can you hear me?

2011-12-09T20:18:00.005-04:00

I have been so good this year!

I dragged a coworker up to Downtown Crossing at lunch so he could take a picture of me with Santa. I meant to print this and frame it to give to Pete for Christmas but never got around to that, so maybe I'll have to do it again next year. ;)

Harvest

2011-12-04T20:10:00.017-04:00

Girls day today meant brunch at the amazing Harvest (warning: brunch is a price fixe menu...a delicious, very well done price fixe menu) followed by some shopping in Harvard Square. You should definitely get yourself to Harvest, it's worth venturing down the random side alley for! Especially if you have a gift certificate from an awesome boss burning a hole in your pocket. ;)

Thanks for helping me use up the gift card, ladies, I had a blast!

10 on Tuesday

2011-11-29T22:25:00.008-04:00

1. It was a pretty beautiful spring day today! Only...uh, it's nearly winter? I took a 3 mile walk at lunch to return a book to the library, and it was awesome. I'm so glad I decided to walk instead of taking the T! Even if it is borderline ridiculous to have this warm weather pretty consistently in November.

2. The book I was returning to the library was On The Road, one of the Penguin Best Books...Journeys. And you know what? I'm aborting that item on my Winter To Do List. I've been trying to read through the Penguin Best Books list because I feel like I need to read more classics. I read the Best Minxes over the spring/summer and enjoyed them, but I hated reading On The Road and I just kept wondering how many more books I was going to have to read that I would hate. I'm still trying to decide how to achieve this "read more classics" goal of mine, but I don't think the Penguin list is the way to do it.

3. When I got home from work, I threw a bunch of roasted potatoes and onions that were leftover from Thanksgiving into a pot with some stock (well...with some Better Than Bullion) and a bunch of carrots in an attempt to turn it into a tasty soup. It was such a great idea! SO TASTY.

4. Also when I got home from work, Barley followed me around until I sat down and he could climb into my lap. Apparently he doesn't care about the warmer weather, he's still solidly in snuggle mode.

5. Champ has been getting much more social lately and has been jumping up onto the couch with Pete and I regularly! It's totally out of character for her, but we're hoping it's a sign that she's slowly getting closer to someday, maybe being a snuggly cat. Possibly.

6. I keep having to remind myself that today is only Tuesday - it feels like Wednesday, at least.

7. I am one person away from being done with my Christmas shopping, woohoo! Well...if you don't count Pete. Rumor has it that he was on the naught list this year, though, so not sure if he even deserves a Christmas gift! ;)

8. Pete and I started watching Burn Notice on Netflix and are hooked. I also started watching White Collar. No matter what show I'm watching, in the middle of each episode I'm always thinking that "if only..." the main character from the other show were there! It would solve all their problems!

9. I don't usually have a sweet tooth, but I have for the last few days - mug brownies every night! Pretzel M&Ms with my afternoon tea at work every day! Guess I need to drag myself back onto the treadmill.

10. I've been staying up later than usual lately, but getting up at the usual time and not missing the sleep. I thought maybe that it was actually a better sleep schedule for me and I didn't need the extra 45-60 minutes of sleep I usually get. Imagine what I could do with all the extra time! I could take over the world!!! Only this morning it caught up with me - I snoozed my alarm at least twice without even waking up/knowing it, and now I'm exhausted. I guess I just had a good run for a few days, and now it's back to my regularly scheduled sleep!

59th Annual

2011-11-27T18:42:00.000-04:00

I went down to watch about an hour of the Quincy Christmas Parade this afternoon. It was fun! Next year I need to get my friends with kids to bring them over for it. There are a handful more pictures here on Flickr.

Play Time

2011-11-25T22:22:00.003-04:00

We got together with friends for a potluck of Thanksgiving leftovers, and the kids had a blast playing with all the toys....and each other.

Happy Thanksgiving!

2011-11-24T16:38:00.001-04:00

My boss said "may your turkey be filled with cheese!" to me the other day - but I'll be perfectly happy with super cheesey mashed potatoes (that may or may not also have a pound and a half of butter in them).

2011-11-23T20:17:00.002-04:00

Champ isn't big on physical contact - doesn't snuggle, doesn't really care about getting pets, and is very skittish so it's hard to even stand next to her. But the other day Pete grabbed a can of almonds for a snack, and suddenly Champ showed up at his feet. Then jumped onto the arm of the couch. Then Pete held up an almond for her to inspect, and she spent a loooooong time licking it and sniffing it and trying to figure out how to actually eat it. After a minute, Barley wanted to know what it was all about, but he had zero interest and left it for Champ.

Apparently the way to Champs heart is through her stomach.

It's Christmastime in the city!

2011-11-21T19:56:00.003-04:00

Christmas decorations are going up everywhere, Salvos are out ringing bells, holiday music is playing in the stores...

If it weren't for all the 60+ degree days we've been having recently, it would be starting to feel like Christmas around here!

Rare Day

2011-11-20T21:58:00.000-04:00

Today was the day of rare things.

I woke up before Pete: extremely rare. Unrelated: I took advantage of the situation to continue my Musical Movie Marathon and I put Oliver! on Netflix Instant. I think of all the musicals I watched this weekend, Gigi was my favorite and Oliver! was my second favorite - even if it did make me think of Newsies and I ended up with King of New York stuck in my head all afternoon. Imma wait here while you click through and watch that video......all done? Awesome, right!?! I love it.

Back to the matter at hand! I was up before Pete, which started the day on a rare note. Then after a few hours of lounging around, Pete came to me with an idea to get out of the house and he had a suggestion for something we both wanted to do! This is huge. HUGE. Doubly rare. It's usually me that's itching to get out of the house on the weekend (especially during football season. For the record, I had already set the Tivo to record the Green Bay game), and Pete rarely has any suggestions/opinions on what we should do on excursions.

So off we went, where it was a REE-diculously gorgeous 60 degree day out. Yet another rarity for late November! We got lunch, split up to check out a few stores (Guitar Center for him, West Elm for me) and then got some warm beverages (Dunkies for him, Starbucks for me) and went for a leisurely, scenic walk through Back Bay before hopping on the T and heading home.

We got home just before four and Pete settled in to watch the Green Bay game. I was trying to decide what to do with the rest of my afternoon and ended up making a last minute decision to go to a yoga class with one of my favorite instructors. When I say last minute, what I mean is that 15 minutes before the class was starting, I was jumping off the couch to change and get to the studio. Lucky for me, it's two short blocks away and I made it with plenty of time.

Side note...hilarious things from the mouth of said yoga instructor, that when taken out of context are totally inappropriate (I know. I'm like a 13 year old boy. But come on!):

Did everyone grab their balls?
Okay, I'm right behind you. Ready? This is something you can only do with good friends, right?!
Oh my goodness, you're so tight! This is the tightest I've ever felt you!

I should reiterate that this is one of my favorite instructors, and that she's absolutely not inappropriate in context. She's awesome and you should go to her classes (her name is Jill and she teaches here, here, and here) - I just couldn't get my mind out of the gutter, apparently.

Back to the point (again - I'm easily distracted today), my doing yoga these days is also rare and it's especially rare that I do it when I haven't planned it out in advance. I'm enjoying the climb back onto that wagon.

Nothing extraordinary today, but a lot of rare. And a lot of awesome, too.

Number 5: Musical Movie Marathon

2011-11-19T13:09:00.000-04:00

I've been (slowly) working on watching all of the Oscar Best Pictures winners, and decided that as the weather gets colder it would be the perfect time to curl up on the couch and have a movie marathon. I thought it would be fun to try and get in as many of the musicals that have won (only ten!) as possible, so a few weeks ago I got busy adding a few to my Netflix instant queue and then hit up the library website to track down more of them. After a quick bike ride down to Quincy Center this morning to pick up the last DVD I had on hold, I'm all snuggled up on the couch ready to go!

Cold Weather Camping

2011-11-13T20:19:00.027-04:00

We spent Saturday night camping at Ponkapoag Pond with friends. I was a little nervous about camping when it was pretty chilly out (lows in the 30s overnight), but we had a great time and I can't wait to do it again. I can't recomend these cabins enough - close to home that you avoid spending half your weekend in the car, but it feels like it's a milion miles away. The cabins are great, and with the wood stove you stay so warm that you barely need a sleeping bag.

I still can't get over having grown up only a few miles away (I played soccer a zillion Saturday mornings on a field that is barely half a mile down the road from the gate to the access road), but never knowing what is there! I didn't even know the cabins existed until a friend told me last year, and I'd never actually been on the trails around the pond until earlier this summer. Our running club runs the trails around the pond (4 miles, minimal elevation but a enough small inclines to make you work for it) every few weeks and joinging them a few months ago was the first time I'd ever been in that part of the Blue Hills Reservation - I wish I had known about it before.

(Summer) Number 1: Buy a bike and ride it

2011-11-12T15:04:00.014-04:00

I'm finally checking this one off my Summer To Do List! You already knew I bought a bike, but I ran into some trouble putting it together. I eventually gave up and brought it to an awesome local bike shop (seriously, I can't recomend those guys enough) to finish up the job. They called while I was out running errands yesterday to let me know it was ready and I picked it up and bought a helmet from them on my way home. This morning I rode down to Quincy center to pick up a few things I had on hold at the library, and then rode down to the beach and then home. I am TERRIFIED of making left-hand turns across traffic and being doored - especially in Quincy where there aren't a lot of bikers so drivers aren't used to sharing the road. Despite that, I actually made three easy and safe left turns using a left turn lane (and once just hopped off my bike and used the crosswalk to get through the intersection).

It was beautiful out, pretty perfect biking weather - cool enough to keep you from getting sweaty but not so cold that you can't keep warm. I mapped out my trip and it turns out it was 6.3 miles...no wonder my butt was so sore!! Guess I need to ease into riding while my butt gets used to a bike seat. :)

Seventy Degrees!

2011-11-09T18:24:00.001-04:00

Of all the days I should be carrying a camera, today is definitely one of them. It was seventy degrees out this afternoon, so when I checked the temperature at lunch and saw that I practically ran out of the building for a loooong walk. I have two go-to places when I need to get my fill of nature at work - Post Office Square and the Rose Kennedy Greenway. Today I headed off to the Greenway, and it was so awesome to feel the warm sun and see the fall colors (and to not have to fight swarms of tourists on the way there, too!).

Let's all cross our fingers that this warm-ish weather sticks around for the weekend so that we don't get hypothermia while we're camping this weekend, okay? Thanks!

Mom

2011-10-29T21:00:00.005-04:00

Mom was working on a quilt while she was here, and at different points of the afternoon she had "help" from both Barley and Champ.

Dad

2011-10-24T20:51:00.000-04:00

I'm slowly becoming more and more like my father....the frying pan has been on the stove and used daily since Saturday, without cleaning it in between. Frog in a hole (that's what it's called, right? An egg fried in a hole in the piece of bread?), fried egg & cheese, and grilled cheese sandwiches...nomnomnom!

Chilly Weather

2011-10-18T20:44:00.006-04:00

Barley loves to snuggle all the time, but now that it's getting chilly he's a zillion times more persistent than usual.

Number Two: Run a 10k

2011-10-16T22:32:00.087-04:00

Is this picture like Where's Waldo? That's me in the I heart Sweat t-shirt, in case you couldn't tell. Pictures of people running aren't very flattering - I look even goofier in the official "finish line" photo than I do in this one that Pete took.

So back in August I registered for the Boston Firefighters 10k, which is organized by the Local 718 IAFF, whose union hall is located just off the bike path that we used to run along back when we lived in Dorchester (and which I miss, A LOT). I wasn't expecting to set any records and I've never raced this distance before, but I figured it was something to work towards. Something that would keep me running consistently and would push me beyond the mileage I was used to. Well, it worked! :) I ended up keeping my usual week-day running schedule and adding in a longer run than I was used to on the weekends. I even managed to stick with my training schedule for the most part, which surprised even me! I felt better on my longer runs than I anticipated, and I even convinced Pete to join me on my first six mile run - a distance record for him, too. Unfortunately, that's where he capped out. When it came time for my seven miler, he ran the first three-ish miles with me and then turned back home while I kept going. Slacker!

As for the actual race, Pete played the part of sherpa for the day and carried a bag so I didn't have to worry about what to do with my warmer layers from before we started or about carrying anything with me while I ran. Thanks, Pete! The weather was pretty perfect - low 60's and sunny, although the wind could have been a bit less...windy and it would have been okay. The course was pretty scenic - following Gallivan/203 to Morrissey Boulevard, looping around UMass Boston, and then returning along Morrissey Boulevard and Gallivan/203. Nothing fancy, but nice views of Dorchester Bay for most of it (and there were a lot of flashbacks to my 3 Day training walks, as well!). I think there were around 1,200 runners total which meant the course wasn't very crowded except for the first few minutes after the gun went off and that was really nice. The start was a free-for-all - no corrals or signs to line folks up by pace - and it turns out that I'm not even remotely good at guessing people's pace by sight, haha! I figured I would try to line myself up to start near some folks that looked about my pace...and I failed miserably. :) In the end, I passed plenty of people and plenty of people passed me, and I finished close to my goal pace. Which is far more than I can ask for when I spent most of the previous day nursing a migraine and alternating between sleeping and nauseous instead of hydrating and relaxing.

I guess the long and short of it is that it was a fun day, I did what I wanted to do running-wise, and I'm looking forward to running this race again next year!

Sweet Sixteen

2011-10-14T23:28:00.011-04:00

I had my Sweet Sixteen (x2) party tonight, complete with lots of pink and a ridiculous, sparkly tiara, haha! I got a bunch of scratch tickets as a gift and it was a lot of fun scratching them all...and I won $17 total, woohoo! Mama's gonna buy herself some shoes....or maybe just a nice bottle of wine. ;)

Choco Chip Pumpkin

2011-10-10T18:33:00.000-04:00

That? It turned into these. And they are CUH-RAZY delicious.

Apparently I'm all kinds of domestic this weekend - crock pot yesterday and baking today!

Numbers Six & Seven

2011-10-09T21:11:00.000-04:00

Thanks to some motivation, football avoidance, and coming across a tasty looking recipe earlier this week, I managed to make some progress on two of my Fall To Do List items. The Crockpot BBQ Chicken smelled so good while it was cooking that Pete and I were both dying to dig in. College football on TV yesterday meant that I got comfy on the couch in the office, catching up on my TV shows and crocheting the evening away. I finally finished a hat that I started in March of 2009 after I made a hat of the same pattern (in purple, of course) for Emily for her birthday...and then I left it, 80% done, until last weekend when I finally picked it up, frogged it, and started over again!

Not that I ever will the winter to come sooner, but I almost wish it weren't so unseasonably warm and I could wear this soon...instead, I'll happily don shorts and flip flops and wait a few months until the weather warrants a super soft, super warm baby alpaca hat!

Brattle

2011-10-08T20:31:00.001-04:00

I have walked by the Brattle a zillion times, and even browsed the outdoor racks a few times, but I've never set food inside the actual store before today. I was looking on the off-chance that I'd find one of the books on my Fall To Do list, but instead I found a few of the Anne of Green Gables books - unfortunately not the next one that I want to read. That spurred a walk to Raven Used Books on Newbury Street to see if I could find any of the books there...where of course I didn't.

Maybe tomorrow's football avoidance adventure will include a trip to Cambridge to check some of the used bookstores there.

DTX

2011-10-03T14:29:00.006-04:00

I took today off from work to go to the dentist (who says hi, Dad, he hopes you guys are enjoying your trip!), and walked through Downtown Crossing on the way home. The weather was pretty beautiful, and the picture doesn't capture it, but the thing hanging over the street between the flags is all mirrored pieces that reflect the sunlight. It's really beautiful - I need to find a way to capture it on camera.

Ready For Some Football?

2011-10-02T22:26:00.003-04:00

I was looking for something for Pete and came across a bag of old cat toys. Most of their toys end up under the stove, but I pulled out two that I'm pretty sure won't fit - including Barley's football. He used to carry it around the house in his mouth.

If only he would fetch, it might be Pete's dream come true.

BPL

2011-10-01T09:37:00.003-04:00

We went to the Boston Public Library today to check out the Civil War Exhibits and so I could pick up a book to finish off my summer to do list. I think I've only ever been in the courtyard during the winter - I knew it was beautiful, but I don't think I ever realized it was this beautiful!

JFK

2011-09-30T21:30:00.005-04:00

Pete's mom and aunt are visiting - today we went to the JFK Library & Museum. The weather was perfect, it reminded me of all the peanut butter and banana sandwich lunches I had on the grass outside of the museum when I was training for the Breast Cancer 3-Day.

Thomas Crane

2011-09-24T18:53:00.001-04:00

I really am trying to finish up the Best Minxes list, but the library isn't helping me very much - no dice on finding Baby Doll at the Quincy Library, but it looks like I can get it at the Boston Public Library, so I need to get myself to Copley soon.

A List: Things To Do This Fall

2011-09-23T22:17:00.006-04:00

Happy first day of fall!

I'm still chipping away at two last items on my Summer To Do List - I have a bike, but I need to get it put together and start riding it. I also have to take a trip to the library tomorrow and pick up the last bit of reading to finish off the Best Minxes list. But now that summer is officially over (boooo!), it's time to move on...

I have been working on this fall list in my mind for months! I had an awesome summer filled with a lot of adventures, time spent with great friends, and taking 417 pictures. Unfortunately, it also involved what Alannah referred to in one email as "bleeding money". I'm hoping that the changing seasons will give me some quiet time and be gentler on the wallet. As a consequence, this to do list is a bit shorter, and probably looks less exciting than my Summer one, but I'm pretty sure I'm going to enjoy it just as much. If not more - so here it is:

Visit Martha's Vineyard If I want to take a trip, I need to plan it myself.
~~Run a 10k (specifically, this one)~~ DONE!
~~Read~~ ~~The Penguin Best Books Ever Written: Best Journeys~~ ABORTED!
Learn to take the top off a soft boiled egg (instructors needed! Can you teach me?) Yeah...I didn't get to this. I'm gonna work on this over the winter.
~~Have a movie marathon, consisting solely of musicals that won Best Picture (An American in Paris, West Side Story, My Fair Lady, Oliver!)~~ DONE!
Finish at least two of my crochet UFOs I got halfway there! I'll finish over the winter.
~~Cook in the crock pot at least twice a month~~ DONE! I just don't have pictures to prove it.
See the Urban Nutcracker (December 3-18) I should have bought tickets the second I put it on the list. Maybe - hopefully - next year?

As usual, let me know if you want to join me for any of these! Are you planning a calmer fall to recover from a busy summer, too?

Check out my past Seasonal To Do lists:
Summer 2011
Spring 2011
Winter 2011
Fall 2010
Summer 2010

Number 1: Buy a bike and ride it

2011-09-20T22:31:00.001-04:00

I'm halfway there! I bought a bike. Now I just have to figure out how to put it together, buy a helmet, and then I can ride it.

Barley's Busy Day

2011-09-18T14:25:00.001-04:00

My Sunday to do list:
- Clean bathroom
- Clean bedroom
- Clear piles off the coffee table
- Catch up on photos/blog
- Run 4-6 miles
- Laundry?
- Grocery store?

Barley's Sunday to do list:
- Nap on bed with Champ
- Clean Champ's face while she is trying to sleep
- Nap in Sarah's lap (x2)
- Nap in Pete's lap (x2 or more)
- Nap on top of orange blanket

While my list is manageable, Barley's is very ambitious. I'm not sure he'll be able to get to it all today.

Kofte

2011-09-17T21:24:00.001-04:00

I've been craving kofte ever since our Turkish friend made it for us while we were on vacation in June. I finally got some, and it was crazy delicious!

Number 8: Celebrate a feast in the North End

2011-09-11T20:11:00.000-04:00

10 on Tuesday

2011-09-06T22:27:00.000-04:00

You guys! 10 on Tuesday! Because it's actually Tuesday when I remember to do it, I actually have a picture to post, and I think I have 10 things to say.
I have a backlog of photos to edit and post. Those will hopefully be coming soon to a computer screen near you!
The long weekend was great...but not long enough! It ended up being a bit busier than I expected. While everything we did was a lot of fun, I kind of wish I had spent more time in pajamas being lazy.
It was especially hard getting out of bed this morning when I woke up to drizzle and grey skies. Is it possible to have a bed that is too comfortable? I may have made our bed too comfortable - it's so hard to drag myself out of it on mornings like today!
I spent a ~~some~~ a lot time over the last week or so watching Drop Dead Diva. I'm kind of in love with it, and I'm almost caught up to current (just in time for the season to end on the 18th, of course). Am I the only person on earth that watches (and loves) that show? I might be. They don't break out into song and dance as much as they used to, and I miss that. Bring back Judge Paula Abdul!
I went running today after work. I hurt a lot. I was soaked by the time I got home (the picture barely does it justice). BUT I DID IT, and that's what matters. Does dragging my butt out to run four miles in the cold rain when there's a warm cat snuggling on my lap and I'm already broken from yesterday's dodgeball game mean that I'm really a runner?
You know what would make running hurt a lot less these days? If I were better about doing yoga! I need another 2-3 hours in each day. If someone could get on that, I would totally appreciate it. Sacrificing sleep is not an option - no one wants to see what would happen if I started sleeping less! I may need to compromise and hop on the foam roller bandwagon.
Bossman was on vacation in France last week, and he brought me back tasty chocolates. That I don't need, because after the last few weeks what I need is probably detox. Between trips and visitors and weddings, I have consumed far more (tasty) food and (delicious) adult beverages than I should have. It was a lot of fun, but when I'm starting to crave salads daily you know my body needs a break from the indulging.
Who am I? First the running in the rain when I really don't want to and now the needing a break from indulging!?! Could someone find the real me and bring me back to....me?
I know a lot of people are talking about the end of the summer, but I'm not letting go just yet! It's not officially over for another two and a half weeks, and despite the forecast for the next few days, I think we still have some warm, sunny days ahead of us. Hold onto it, folks, we will all be bitching about the snow and the cold soon enough, let's not rush summer out the door so soon!

10 Year Reunion

2011-09-04T22:26:00.000-04:00

Jamie planned a dinner and some camping to celebrate Ryan's birthday, and it happened to coincide with a visit from our friend (and Pete and Jamie's former roommate) Mike who is living in Portland (Oregon) now...and the 10 year anniversary of Mike, Jamie, and Pete all moving in together for the first time!

We met up with them to catch up and relax, which included getting to enjoy a personally delivered selection of beers that Mike brewed. I'm not a beer drinker so I can't personally attest, but rumor has it that Mike brews some seriously awesome beer. I'm pretty sure Pete is trying to work out how he can get Mike to brew him private batches of beer and ship them from Seattle.

Irene

2011-08-28T20:20:00.000-04:00

This is how Champ prepares for impending hurricanes.

Swishy SB

2011-08-26T23:19:00.000-04:00

I guess I talk about Shabu a lot, because when SB came out to visit and I asked her what she wanted to do while she was in Boston Shabu was one of the few things on her list. Obvs we had to make it happen.

Photos Not By Me

2011-08-25T14:32:00.000-04:00

I would like to redirect your attention over to Wizelight Photography's blog, where you can see some of the gorgeous photos we had taken as a 40th anniversary gift to my parents. My nieces and nephew are pretty cute!

Does this knock "have professional portraits shot" off my life list? I think it does...but I might keep it on there because maybe it should be a reoccurring event.

Uncle Meat

2011-08-21T23:15:00.000-04:00

On Saturday Emily and I thought it would be really funny for her to just walk up to Pete and put Jackie in his lap, but our little surprise delivery never made it to fruition. Saturday night Pete did end up the last adult in the room with Jackie when the rest of us raced out to catch the ice cream truck before it left the neighborhood, but she was happily hanging out in her bouncy seat so he really just had to, you know, make sure the house didn't burn down with her in it.

Sunday, as we were saying goodbye, Emily was determined to get Pete to hold his newest niece...she was nicer than I would have been and she actually asked him if he was ready before handing her over. I would have just put Jackie in his arms and walked away without saying anything, haha!

First Birthday

2011-08-20T23:10:00.000-04:00

I took a lot of photos today, but this is probably the most important....happy 1st birthday to my formerly-newest niece, Adele! She didn't seem quite as excited about her cupcake as she did about the Indian food we had for lunch.

Molly, Burgers, and Baseball

2011-08-19T23:46:00.085-04:00

How cute is Molly? She was pretty excited about this awesome "retro" "vintage" "other trendy word that means old" phone toy. Molly has never laid eyes on a phone shaped like this - either the base or the handset - but she immediately knew it was a phone and how to hold it to her ear. How do kids know stuff like that?! This boggled our minds.

Pete and I flew to DC to celebrate visit Becky, Pat, and Molly (and celebrate Pete and Pat's birthday a few days early!) as well as to celebrate Adele's first birthday with her, meet our newest niece Jackie, visit the rest of the fam, and have photos shot as a 40th anniversary gift for my parents. Definitely not too much to cram into one weekend!

But let's start at the beginning, which is visiting Becky, Pat, and Molly. I have this super awesome special talent that not many people know about it. I can book a trip to DC, call Pat or Becky to tell them I'm coming and see if they are around, and without fail one or more of their relatives will also be visiting DC that weekend. Apparently I have a strong connection with their families and need to see them constantly, so the universe sends us to visit DC at the same time. Now I don't even wait for them to tell me that some family member will be in town, I just ask who it is that I also get to catch up with. Unfortunately this time, our timing wasn't quite as perfect as usual and I missed catching up with one of Pat's sisters and her adorable family by hours.

I digress. We spent our Friday hanging out in PJs, chatting and playing with Molly, and then walking over to Barracks Row to get lunch at Ted's Bulletin. I spied a family opening a pastry box on the sidewalk out front and then pulling out giant, homemade pop tarts...not appealing to me, but pretty sure it's a sign that the place is going to be fun! Next clue: awesomely attired bartender. Followed by some really good looking art deco hanging lamps and decor. I'm pretty sure that the further I walked into the restaurant, the more I fell in love. L O V E.

The menu didn't hurt, either. I've been hankering for a good cheeseburger with an egg on top ever since I passed up the opportunity a few weeks back at a friend's birthday party, and guess what Ted's had on the menu? Yeah, a burger with an egg on top. Yes, please! I don't think I've made a menu-related decision that easily in months. The egg didn't have as runny a yolk as I would have liked, but it was still a very tasty burger that I'm sure I'll eat again. What can I say? When I find something I like, I stick with it. My next visit is going to include one of the adult milkshakes that I didn't try this time, too.

After lunch it was nap time for Molly and me, and then we were off to see the Nationals/Phillies game...where they played two outs of baseball and then ended up in a two hour rain delay before we even made it to our seats. Seriously, why play those two outs? Couldn't they have announced a delayed start before we got to the stadium so that we could have stayed home and not paid $8/beverage for two hours?? Oh well...we managed to stay almost entirely dry...and maybe we had a little fun, too.

Margs

2011-08-14T20:46:00.016-04:00

This bottle of wine was at least $5 more than I usually spend on wine, but when I saw Margaret River on the label I grabbed it without thinking twice. It's been at least three years since I've found wine from Margaret River (Mad Fish is usually the easiest to find, but I haven't found it in Quincy), and over ten years since I've had any from my favorite winery in Margs (who, unfortunately, doesn't have a US distributor).

Just seeing the name on that label at the store brought back a rush of awesome memories - seeing wild kangaroos hop through our camp site with no one there but me and No Neck Larry to witness it, listening to Phil rattle on at 2am about how he wanted to see a wild wombat, hearing all the Aussies complain that there is never good surf when they bring Americans to the Masters (I think it's called the Drug Aware Pro now?), and being on the beach at sunrise watching all my friends surf (on teeny tiny waves).

Can someone invent teleporting already?

Number 7: Picnic for Shakespeare on the Common

2011-08-12T23:22:00.005-04:00

Gorgeous Friday night, good friends, tasty eats, good wine, great entertainment. The Commonwealth Shakespeare Company did an amazing job with Shakespeare on the Common. As usual. I'm always so impressed with the set and lighting design, and this year was no different. I almost wish I hadn't waited until closing weekend to go so I could force you all to go, too. So great!

Number 3: Kayak on the Charles

2011-07-30T22:07:00.005-04:00

It may have taken me a year to actually use the voucher I bought from Living Social, but I did it! And it was awesome.

We were on the Charles just west of the city, in Needham (and Newton and West Roxbury, I think?), and it was beautiful. I know that the river runs parallel to 95 for most of this stretch, but unless you stop and listen carefully to hear the sound of traffic you wouldn't know. It's kind of nice listening to just the sound of your paddles and the wind blowing through the trees.

I also managed to not get a sunburn, woohoo!

CCBL, Part III

2011-07-29T23:38:00.014-04:00

Continuing with our baseball-laden few weeks, we spent the night at Fenway watching the CCBL All-Star Game...or most of it, at least. The tickets were $10 and it was general admission, so we worked our way down pretty close to the West dugout, about 6-7 rows back, and settled in, despite a little bit of rain just before the Home Run Derby. Unfortunately, we were surrounded on one side by all the Bourne regulars - including host families and actual families of the players - and on the other side by the most obnoxious family on earth, who happen to be the family of a player that grew up just north of Boston. Note to self: in the future, try to sit with fans, not the player's families. Some of them didn't watch a single play of the game - they were turned sideways or with their back to the field chatting with friends. Some of them only paid any attention when their family member was on the field. Some of them cared more about getting on the jumbotron in between innings than cheering on their sibling. Awesome! If we were smart, we would have moved. I would have LOVED to sit directly behind home with the scouts, because I bet you learn a lot and hear some interesting tid bits over there, but it was the only place in the park that was reserved.

I would also have loved to sit directly behind home so I could have heard the chatter from my fav CCBL player, Catcher Pat Cantwell, who was catching for the West team. This kid is a leader and a smart player, which is probably why he was drafted last month by the Baltimore Orioles. I loved watching him at the Bourne game last weekend, and listening to his constant chatter to teammates:

Even if he isn’t the starting catcher that day, Cantwell can be counted on as the most vocal member of the Braves. Although the ambitious biology major is admittedly [quiet] off the field, he sees it as both his duty and part of his “keep it fun” mantra to keep chatter constant.
...
“He uplifts the team,” Braves pitcher Josh Conway says. “You can hear him from anywhere, he’s always positive, always yelling, always cheering. He brings a great energy to the ballpark.”

I was bummed that we couldn't hear his chatter at Fenway, and I assume it was because we were too far away from the plate to hear him over the crowd noise and not because he wasn't out there leading his teammates through the game. I like watching this kind of player - someone who you know is having fun and playing for the team and not just themselves. I'm sure there are plenty of pro players out there that are the same way, but it's so much harder to see that and know that when you're only exposure to them is in an environment where you can't hear the chatter and see the leadership first hand.

I think, in the end, it's exactly that experience that makes me love the CCBL - you get to know these players, even if you only watch them play once, because you are that close to them.

Number 9: 2011 Harborthon 5k

2011-07-28T23:59:00.009-04:00

I have been running consistently lately, and it is in large part due to the folks in the photo below. I found a local running club on Meetup last fall, but it was mostly inactive. I emailed the organizer about allowing me to post some runs because, well, I was going to be running anyway, I might as well see if anyone wanted to go with me. There were about five of us who got together semi-regularly in the fall to run (or have drinks...kinda the same thing, right?), and a few who stuck it out during the cold and very, very snowy winter. Spring time came, and suddenly I was getting half a dozen emails each week from new folks asking to join our running club, The Quincy Running Dawgs.

Our numbers are growing slowly, and we now have about a dozen folks that run with us on a regular basis, a few of whom have quickly moved from running buddy to friend. I keep telling people that my favorite thing about my running peeps are that they meet me at my grossest - struggling through runs and sweating up a storm - and they like me anyway. They also seem to think I'm funny, which doesn't hurt! ;)

I have two friends (both runners, but not from the running club) who run the Harborthon 5k on Long Island together each summer (I say that like this year wasn't only the 3rd annual race...it's a new tradition, but it's a tradition all the same), and they convinced me to sign up this year. Then, of course, I posted it on the calendar for the Running Dawgs and convinced some of my running peeps to do it, too! Come on - great race location followed by free b.good burgers, free Sam Adams, and an 80's tribute band? If that's not the perfect recipe for a super fun race night, I don't know what is! Bonus: this also checks off number 9 on my Summer To Do List - visit a new-to-me Boston Harbor Island (even if I didn't realize that until three and a half days after the fact). Double bonus: it's an island that isn't regularly open to the public!

The Harborthon was Matt (in yellow) and Carla's (in white) first race ever, and they both kicked butt, despite a nagging injury of Matt's. Post race, we had an awesome time watching the sunset, eating tasty food, and listening to awesome music. If only we didn't have to wait another year to do it all again!

CCBL, Part II

2011-07-24T22:33:00.062-04:00

When we planned this weekend on the Cape, the only three things set in stone were when I had to pick up and return the rental car, where we were sleeping, and that we needed to be at the Y-D/Chatham game at 5pm on Saturday. I looked up a few places to eat, asked friends for suggestions, and found a kayak rental place so we at least had ideas of how to fill the rest of our weekend...but by the time we had visited the (not-worth-five-dollars) CCBL Hall of Fame, watched the Y-D/Chatham game, and worked the enthusiasm out of Pete's system at the batting cages, we had looked up schedules and ball field locations and figured out how we could catch another game on Sunday on the way home.

And that brings us to Bourne, where the Braves were playing the Falmouth Commodores at 5pm. The weather turned out perfect despite a very overcast morning, and we got to the field early enough to snag a perfect spot to sit while we watched some of the players do their grounds crew duties. All of the players in the CCBL are required to work part time while they're playing, and they usually have a few choices. One of them is to work as grounds crew (another is to work at CVS). It's funny to watch them in their uniform, riding the tractor around the infield or lugging a hose around the pitchers mound.

The people watching, of course, was also awesome. One much older gentleman sitting along the brick wall behind home plate yelled out coaching tips for just about every other play - "Call it!" for almost every infield pop-up. Behind us was a man who was, apparently, a UNC alum and so hollered at Colin Moran every time he was on deck - "Hey Colin! If God isn't a Tar Heels fan, why is the sky Carolina blue?!" As you can imagine, that one got old after the second or third time. Colin seemed about as amused as I was.

Sitting on one side of me was the woman who writes all the player bios and maintains the website for the Bourne Braves, so I heard a lot about the folks involved in the organization. Sitting beside Pete were two host moms, cheering on the players that are staying with them this summer. And as expected, there was a gaggle of scouts behind home plate, some with their kids tagging along, and all of the chatting with each other in between pulling out their radar guns and scribbling notes.

Maybe my favorite part of the CCBL is the accessibility of the players. It may be the oldest and most prestigious amateur baseball league in the country, but the players are getting their own burgers and hot dogs at the concession stand before games, walking around with a bucket selling 50/50 raffle tickets in between innings, and happily signing balls for the kiddos hanging out behind the dugout before the game. And hey, if those kids get the right autograph it could be worth money when that player goes on to catch a World Series winning game in three years time - see Buster Posey, then (2008), and now (2010). Well not quite now, because his leg was busted in a nasty collision earlier this year...but you get my point.

Number 10: Ride Carousels, Part I

2011-07-23T23:23:00.007-04:00

You know what isn't flattering? Photos taken of me riding a carousel.

Also, I need to give Pete a crash course on the point and shoot.

But who cares! I love carousels! Let the riding begin.

CCBL, Part I

2011-07-23T23:07:00.061-04:00

Sometime in the spring, I was out running errands and stopped at Borders to browse. I brought home The Last Best League for Pete. The book follows a season with the Chatham A's (that "A" is for Anglers, not Athletics), a team who I had watched play on the Cape in middle school when I would visit a friend who spent her summers in Chatham. It's possible that at the time I was much more interested in making friends with cute boys my own age than watching some of the country's most talented college players play baseball, but I still have fond memories of the Chatham A's.

Speaking of the Chatham A's, who doesn't love the movie Summer Catch, starring the adorable Freddie Prinze, Jr.? Oh...well, most of the folks involved with the Cape Cod Baseball League don't love it, because they think it's not a flattering portrayal of the actual players in the league. But I love it!

Pete loved the book (like the CCBL folks, he also didn't love Summer Catch). When he first started reading it and telling me about how awesome it was, I started planning to surprise him with a weekend on the Cape to see a game for his birthday gift...right up until we were eating dinner one night and he said "I kind of want to go to the Cape to watch a game!" while he was telling me about the book. I have no poker face, so his birthday surprise ended up being a birthday non-surprise, and we started looking at dates and searching for a place to sleep while we were there.

We ended up staying in Hyannis, and driving the 20ish minutes to Dennis to see the Chatham A's play the Yarmouth-Dennis Red Sox at the local high school field. And I ended up becoming fascinated with the CCBL and how it functions.

I may or may not have spent half of the game day dreaming about buying a place on the Cape where I could live for the summer, host a player or intern, and get myself involved in the CCBL in any way possible.The other half of the game was spent listening to all the locals chat about their beloved team, watching the gangs of kids race each other to shag foul balls and home runs, and observing the scouts with their radar guns, stop watches, and notebooks crammed with scribbles.

You hear the phrase "pure baseball" a lot in reference to the CCBL, and it's true - a game that's being played by kids that love it (and are crazy talented - one in six of the players we saw will play in the Majors - I'm sure even more will be drafted) and watched, organized, and made possible by a community that lives and breathes CCBL. It's a pretty awesome thing to see.

Number Six: Go to a Paw Sox Game

2011-07-18T23:31:00.047-04:00

To be fair, this item on the Summer To Do List actually came from Pete. I was pretty sure it would be fun for me, too, so I stole it. I say that like Pete actually makes a list of things he wants to do each season, and I took this off his list and put it on mine instead. ;)

At some point in the spring, probably when the baseball season was still young and Pete was in the midst of his annual baseball fever, he told me he thought it might be fun to go to a Paw Sox game. Sometime in May, I received the quarterly email at work that details any free museum admissions or discounted tickets we can get by showing our work ID or calling the listed contact, and surprisingly there were two Paw Sox games on the list of discounted events. In the end we only saved $2/ticket, but that's $4 we could use towards my $10 ballpark dinner, right?! I don't think I looked to see if they were "good" seats - McCoy Stadium isn't big enough that you need to be concerned about where your seats are. But for $9 each (plus a $2 ticketing fee), it's cheap night out.

Bonus: the tickets we bought were for a game against the Lehigh Valley IronPigs (awesomest team name is baseball, if you ask me!). The Lehigh Valley IronPigs are coached by Ryne Sandberg. Ryne Sandberg was Pete's favorite player back when Pete was a wee boy. Probably right around when this photo was taken (thanks for sending the photos, Judy! We had a blast looking through them all!).

Barely related: when Pete was playing Little League, he was so much taller than the other players that his mom had to carry a birth certificate with her to his games to prove that he was the right age for the team and not some older ringer that they brought in to pitch for them! And then somehow he stopped growing...

He was cute then, huh? If you're lucky, when (if?) football season rolls around, I'll share the crazy adorable football-themed baby photos. But let's not start the football torture early.

We had a really fun time at the game. For one thing, there was plenty of good people watching for me. The awesome commentary from the two older couples behind us ("COME ON! They need to pick it up! They didn't use to take this long to play!", "oh - the guy at bat is so-and-so's ex-husband") who then left after the 6th inning and we later saw eating dinner in their motor home kept me chuckling for half the game. There was a young couple in front of us where the husband was keeping score on his scorecard until about the third inning. I'm pretty sure they are at the park frequently, because he was cheering for all the players and may have been the fan most interested in the game in our section. There was a family with three young kids who came prepared: They each had a sharpie, a ball, and a small bucket with a rope attached so that they could hang it over the railing to dangle in front of the Paw Sox dugout below us. And then there was the guy next to Pete, who leaned over somewhere around the fifth inning and asked Pete how long they played for. Pete was confused and asked him to repeat the question before telling him the game is nine innings long.

The Paw Sox won, which was nice, and we fun providing our own interpretation for Sandberg's signs when he was doing his duty as third base coach. "I'm hungry. I will get on my motorcycle and go to the grocery store!" I mean, I'm not a baseball expert, but I'm 90% sure that's the point he was trying to get across. It was a smaller crowd, but there was a little league team who was doing a good job of cheering for a few innings (and it was a good thing, the organ player/sound guy was horrible and needs some lessons on how to get the crowd going). Pete was not into any of the cheering/chanting/clapping, even when his (not) relative Matt Sheely was at the plate! I mean, dude has your name and is on your home team, but you don't want to cheer for him?! What kind of fan are you?

I'm pretty sure there will be some more Paw Sox games in our future, and I think all of you that have little kiddos who are into baseball should check them out! $11 for seats directly above the dugout on the third base line? You definitely can't get that at Fenway.

Number 5: Attend the Forest Hills Lantern Festival

2011-07-14T22:25:00.137-04:00

We haven't lived in Jamaica Plain for four years now, but that doesn't stop it from feeling like home every time I am there. It helps that we still have a lot of friends in JP and the neighboring Roslindale, so there are always familiar faces as well as familiar places! JP is a neighborhood with a very distinct community and feeling, and the (13th Annual) Lantern Festival was 100% JP: yuppie same-sex couples with their adorable babies who were adopted from third world nations, hipsters who arrived by bike and were drinking two buck chuck with their picnics, hippies who were trying to make connections to grow their non-profit organization, and artists galore. Oh! And one older woman walking around in her bathing suit. Don't you wear only a bathing suit on a cool summer evening to an event in a cemetery?

I digress. My point is that wandering around the Lantern Festival is an awesome opportunity to see every demographic that lives in JP in one fell swoop. Also an awesome opportunity to enjoy a picnic (lesson learned: the Lantern Festival is made for indulging in an elaborate picnic) and good company.

Aside from being JP at it's awesomest, the Lantern Festival was born out of the Japanese Bon Festival - it is a celebration to honor the spirits of one's ancestors, when a door opens to send messages to the deceased.

The top right picture above is my lantern just after I launched it. Almost a year ago now, a classmate and friend from college, Neil, was killed long before his time should have been up. His smile lit up the world around him, and his hugs are missed by more people than you count. The first day I met Neil was the 4th of July in 1997, and after the fireworks we waited in the sweltering DC humidity to get into Union Station and onto the Metro. Eventually, Neil, a few other new friends, and I ended up wading in the Columbus Fountain to cool off while we fought the crowd. Neil and I "swam" in more than a few other fountains together in DC over the next four years, and it was only fitting that I honor him by launching a lantern with his name on it to "swim" a pond.

The other side of my lantern had the name of another friend lost recently - again, far too soon. I met Stephanie because she is the most talented massage therapist I have ever come across and I spent an hour with her every month for years, chatting about friends, relationships, and our love of dogs. She and I exchanged emails on and off over the last few years, since my migraines subsided and I no longer needed monthly massages to help keep them at bay. I introduced at least half a dozen friends to Stephanie's magic, healing hands, and her sincere, caring, and gentle personality. Needless to say, we were shocked and devastated when we learned recently that she had passed away. It sounds ridiculous to explain how the loss of my massage therapist has affected me so strongly, but it is a testament to what an amazing person and friend she was.

The fourth side of my lantern had the names of more family and friends, and the calligraphy I chose means love (supposedly. I don't know Japanese - it could mean "pork fried rice" for all I know) - the one message I'd send every person whose name was on my lantern. You are loved!

When I put this item on my life list (and consequently this summer's to do list), I hadn't imagined the emotional impact it would have. I had heard about the event for years and seen photos but had never actually read about the origins of the event or it's meaning. I didn't expect to spend the evening missing so many people and reliving so many happy memories while I "decorated" my lantern and then later watched it float in the pond. Truth be told, there is no way I would rather honor and celebrate my friends and family who have passed away, and I can only hope that the Japanese Buddhist beliefs are right and that all of those remembered on my lantern received my message loud and clear.

Just in case they didn't, I just might make the Lantern Festival and annual tradition.

PS - you can see more photos from the festival, including one of my launching my lantern while I try not to drop my own camera into the pond, on the Boston Arts Festival page on facebook)

Coworker

2011-07-10T17:51:00.014-04:00

Champ was keeping me company while I worked today (by which I mean that she was in the same room with me, but would not let me touch her. I may have saved her life and forced Pete to "let" me adopt her, but that doesn't make her love me. Can we say UNGRATEFUL?).

She didn't seem particularly interested in helping out on the go/no-go decision making.

WFH? TC?

2011-07-09T16:33:00.001-04:00

What's it called when you are working, but instead of going into the office you're logged on to the company network externally and at home (or a coffee shop, or a hotel, or wherever)? In my neck of the woods, we always refer to it as "working from home", aka WFH. In my friend Norm's neck of the woods, they refer to it as TCing - Telecommuting. I think that's ridiculous, he thinks WFH is ridiculous....

Anyway, that's not my point . My point is that we're launching a new reporting system at work, which needs to be re-tested to ensure that the correct data is pulling as it's supposed to go live on Monday, and I've been WFH this weekend. Luckily not all weekend, just a few hours each day. These are on the wall above the desk in our office. You know, in case we need some motivation to get our work done.

I shamelessly ripped off these awesome prints, because I ran out of office decor budge before I got to artwork. Clearly I need to make up for it by sending you all to buy pretty things from her store, and then by buying the actual prints themselves as soon as my next bonus/promotion rolls around (which will hopefully also lead to me WFH more often).

The game isn't over til the board says 15

2011-07-03T23:15:00.011-04:00

I'm not sure this photo truly captures the excitement of badminton - I'll work on my badminton photographing skills for next time! :)

We spent the evening at Jamie & Ryan's (unfortunately without Ryan, who was visiting family in the UK) - the boys playing badminton while I provided color commentary, grilling dinner, and chatting with friends around the fire pit. It was a pretty perfect summer evening.

Pretty Ladies!

2011-06-26T23:09:00.014-04:00

I have fallen very behind in blogging, and am going to try not to spam you feed readers while I back post - hopefully I can stick with my plan and get a post or two up each day this week to catch me up. And then I can fall behind again and re-spam you when I have another handful of posts piled up! ;)

Nilay's bridal shower was two days after we all returned from vacation together, so we all had a few days to unpack, scrub off the layers sunblock and bug spray and put on our Sunday best!

A List: Things To Do This Summer

2011-06-26T18:36:00.012-04:00

When I posted my Spring To Do List, I mentioned that I had been thinking about combining my Spring and Summer lists. I also knew, but wasn't quite ready to admit, that I wouldn't get to all of those things before Summer rolled around - and I actually did better than I expected to! Here's the Summer list, complete with a few spring items carried over.

~~Buy a bike~~ ~~and ride it~~ (carried over from Spring...and last summer) Half DONE! DONE done!
~~Finish reading the~~ ~~Penguin Best Books Ever Written: Best Minxes~~ (carried over from Spring. Started, and making progress)
~~Kayak~~ ~~on the Charles (before August 6th)~~ DONE!
Check out the Alexander McQueen exhibit at The Met with Leyre (July ?)
~~Attend the~~ ~~Forest Hills Lantern Festival~~ ~~(July 14th)~~ DONE!
~~Go to a Paw Sox Game (July 18th)~~ DONE!
~~Have a picnic for~~ ~~Shakespeare on the Common~~ ~~(July 27-August 14)~~ DONE!
~~Celebrate a feast in the North End~~ DONE!
~~Visit a new-to-me~~ ~~Boston Harbor Island~~ DONE!
~~Ride Carousels (One, Two, Three nearby options)~~ DONE!

What's on your Summer To Do list? Are you going to join me for anything on mine?

Check out my past To Do Lists:

A List: Spring 2011

A List: Winter 2011

A List: Fall 2010

A List: Summer 2010

Moose Antlers For Maine

2011-06-24T22:27:00.014-04:00

We've been taking group photos on our vacations for a while now (2009, 2007) but this year the kiddos weren't really feeling it. This was my favorite of the bunch!

Of course we couldn't leave without taking a photo in front of the Caboose that Pete and I slept in all week, even if it was raining.

Maine Lobstah

2011-06-23T22:27:00.002-04:00

Number Five: Death Marching on Caribou Mountain

2011-06-22T22:50:00.007-04:00

I love to hike, but don't get to do it very often. When we pick a house to rent for vacation, we can usually find a good hike or two nearby. This time, we found a few family-friendly trails and a few bigger hikes that were Mark Simmons Death March worthy. On past vacations, the girls have taken a day to leave the kids with the boys and go shopping and then the boys have taken a day to leave the kids with the girls and go hiking...or as we've come to call it: go on a Death March. Mark has a tendency to not thoroughly research hikes, leading to early morning hikes that are supposed to be "4 mile leisurely strolls" and turn out to be 4 mile very steep hikes on mountains that are 2,000 feet taller than Mark told us. In other words, a Death March.

This time around, I bought a hiking guide book to prevent any of these mishaps. Unfortunately, there weren't a lot of other folks up for the Death March, so it was just Mark and I that got up at 5:30 and headed out for a 2,800+ foot climb.

Mark was dying to see a moose and while we saw lots of moose poop, we never did see an actual moose. By the end of the hike, we had decided to blame all the poop on one moose, and we named him Howard. We actually didn't get to see a lot of wildlife on the hike (it's probably better that way) at all, but two frogs did manage to scare the daylights out of me by jumping out of my way just in front of me on the trail.

We did get to see, swat, and hear about a million mosquitoes. In fact, when we first got up to the top we stopped for a minute and all we could hear was the buzz of bugs. I sprayed myself at least four times with bug spray, and I still came home with at least half a dozen bug bites. Learn from my experience: Picardin does not stop bugs. Use bug spray with DEET.

But also learn from my experience: It is always worth it to get up at 5:30am and climb a mountain. Coming to the top, seeing the view, and feeling like you can conquer anything is amazing.

Number 3: I Heart Kayaking

2011-06-21T23:42:00.003-04:00

I've been interested in learning to kayak for a while now, and bought a deal on Living Social for a rental on the Charles River last summer (soon to be put to good use). I was pretty excited when the house we were staying in on vacation had a kayak, and it only took me a day to gather the courage to try it out. I'm not a huge fan of swimming in lake/pond water, so I was pretty not-excited about getting into the kayak from the dock and falling in. It turns out it was not an issue at all, woohoo! And it turns out I totally love kayaking! And so does Pete. And Leyre.

Leyre and I are planning to take the Intro to Kayaking class at Charles River Canoe and Kayak. Then we will proceed to kayak our little arms off! I do hope there's a lot of kayaking in my future, and I'm super glad to have finally checked "learn to kayak" off my life list.

Happiest Pup In The World

2011-06-19T23:37:00.012-04:00

We took a short, family hike this morning in Step Falls Preserve. Willow was pretty much the happiest dog in the world - running off leash along the trails, romping through the water trickling down the "cascading falls", and then rolling around in the dirt. What's not to love about that?!

Vacation!!!

2011-06-18T23:26:00.027-04:00

Time to back post (sorry for spamming your feed readers!) and catch you all up on vacation - I couldn't bring myself to upload photos and post daily, I was having too much fun relaxing!

In case you're wondering about how well I did on my vacation to do list...well, I did okay. There were five things that never happened: running, yoga, reading, lunch at Smokin' Good BBQ, and crochet. I'm a little sad about the yoga, but I'm okay with the rest of it. There was nowhere to run near the house - we would have had to drive the 15 minutes to Bethel to run on a path along the river there. Unfortunately, there was never a great time for yoga - we were always heading down to play on the water or recovering from an adventure, or just having too much fun hanging out with everyone. And Smokin' Good BBQ - well, we made it to another roadside BBQ trailer, so I'm okay with that one. I also haven't created a new blog header yet, but technically vacation isn't over until I wake up tomorrow, right?!

10 on Tuesday

2011-06-14T22:16:00.000-04:00

1. You guys, two years ago today I watched my best friend give birth to a little girl, who has grown into a super adorable toddler. I think I will always feel extra connected to O for having watched her come into this world. Also, when she is older and talks back to me I can totally pull out the "I watched you come into this world and I can watch you go out of it, too!" threat. ;) Not that she'll ever talk back, I'm sure she'll be an angel. Leyre, it has been awesome watching you and Mike as parents! It's going to be super fun watching everything that is yet to come for that little family.

2. Also to note, today is almost exactly the same weather as the day O was born. That's not actually a good thing, because it means cool and overcast. Spring/Summer? Are you there? We miss you in Boston! Come back any time.

3. I canNOT use the word actually without pronouncing it (at least in my head, but often out loud) the way my niece Claire used to when she was in her actually phase - often correcting anything you said, even if she was really just adding on to what you said and not correcting you. I wish I had a video clip so you could hear it.

4. Despite my comments above, this weather is good for one thing...running! Pete and I went out last night for our usual three miles and it was awesome. I haven't run in almost a week because I was letting those shin splints heal and was worried it would be a rough run. Not the case. By the time we hit the two little hills towards the end of our route and Pete was next to me saying "Screw you, hill!" out loud, I was actually thinking just about the same thing. I owned those two little hills, and I felt good while I was doing it. Then, in the last block before home where I often feel like I want to puke and/or collapse, I was all about finishing strong and racing (AND BEATING) Pete to the corner. Turns out that low 60's is my ideal running weather.

5. My awesome run last night almost had me convinced I needed to rethink my goal for the 5k I'm running at the end of July. We ran 9:45 miles last night and my goal for July is 10:00 miles....seems obvious, right? I'm going to stick with the 10:00 miles goal (I ran 10:19 miles in the Corporate Challenge, which was a slightly longer race and crazy crowded) for now and see how I feel when (if?) it really starts to get warm around here, because running in late-July heat and humidity is not my bag, baby.

6. I swear, last running one for today... I've been trying to find one race each month this summer to keep me motivated and running when it's hot out, and I think I just found my August race: The Memphis Soul 5k BBQ Run. I may not be fast enough to win my age group, but maybe I'm fast enough to beat any other females dressed as Elvis? Do we need to start looking into an Elvis running costume? Perhaps!

7. A week from right now, I'll be on vacation. Hopefully it will be warm and sunny and I will be relaxing on a patio/dock, in a hot tub, or fire-pit-side...but I would settle for just not raining. I am really trying to keep myself in check with my To Do on Vacation list, but I keep thinking about it and I think writing it down (typing it out?) might actually help stop it from growing to non-relaxing proportions, so here it is...it's not crazy, right? I swear there will still be plenty of time for relaxing and fun!

Run (with Pete, 3-4x)
Do yoga (4-5x)
Hot Tub (as many x as possible)
Finish reading Vanity Fair (#9 on Spring To Do List), start reading How Yoga Works
Celebrate the birthdays of five awesome little people
Complete a Mark Simmons "Death March" (#5 on Spring To Do List)
Eat S'mores (7-50x)
Learn to kayak (#3 on Spring To Do List)
Crochet
Create a new blog header (#6 on Spring To Do List)
Finalize and post Summer To Do List
Celebrate the bachelorette-hood of one awesome big person with Girls' Day shopping, lunch, and massages
Take a new group photo to add to the collection (2009, 2007, pretty sure Lana has one from 2004-5ish)
Have lunch at Smokin' Good BBQ

8. Speaking of vacation, I also have a word document going with lists of everything I/we need to pack. Lists, yes - divided out by food, beverage, games, sports, electronics, clothing, other. It sounds ridiculous when it's explained like that, but it's actually super simple and has put my mind at ease since I'll be packing the car on my own and then picking Pete up at work on the way out of town. God forbid we forget the Rock Band instruments or the ketchup, right? ;)

9. Champ is racing around like a psycho tonight! Usually she only does that when she and Barley are chasing, but tonight most of her kitty crazies happened while Barley was happily Perched on Pete's lap. She never ceases to make us laugh - sometimes with her, mostly at her. There may be times I curse having found her in that car engine

10. Eating dinner at 9:15 is a bit nuts. I went from work to yoga, which was awesome because I was the only one in class. Free 1 on 1 yoga session? Yes please! From yoga I went home, dropped off my bag, picked up Pete, and headed out to meet my running club. Three miles later, we chatted a bit and walked home. Shower, hydrate, etc... It was 9:15 by the time I was clean, in PJs, and sitting down with my dinner. I'm not sure I want to make this a regular routine, but I'm feeling pretty awesome after yoga and running back to back. Also? I'm feeling pretty ready for bed. Would anyone want to place bets on how many pages of my book I get through before falling asleep?? Leave your guess in the comments, I'll send the lucky winner a souvenir from vacation! :)

10 on Tuesday

2011-06-07T22:09:00.000-04:00

1. Mama got a new pair of shoes! Not really that exciting, but I've got shin splints after switching from treadmill to sidewalk and going from 0 to 3 miles/run after 4 weeks off to nurse my aching knee at the same time. I know I've got at least 150 running miles on my shoes from the last few months, plus some walking miles from the tail end of training and walking in the last 3 Day I did, so I must have been somewhere in the 300-500 range. It was time for new shoes! Props to Marathon Sports for keeping my shoe on file, too, so that I don't have to remember what I'm wearing and I don't have to wait to be fitted during their weekend rush. :)

2. Mama has also been making some progress on her Spring To Do List, despite work and life getting a little hectic over the last few weeks. I have photos to prove some of it (pics or it didn't happen!), so look for me to be doing some back posting over the next few days. Hopefully I'll have the time and energy to get that done...

3. Last weekend I got to meet a friend and coworker for the first time, and it was so fun! I always find myself struggling to explain some of my work-related relationships. There are so many people I "work with", but not really - we work in the same building, but we don't interact at all to actually work. Then there are all the people that I actually work with, but I have never laid eyes on because we work in different cities. I was pretty excited when I heard that my coworker Heather had planned a long weekend in Boston with her fiancee and friends, so I gave her a list of places to eat while they were here and then made plans to get together with them for drinks on Saturday night. Which then turned into making plans to get together with them for lunch at Sowa on Sunday (food trucks!). It was so great to put an actual person with the name and the voice - as much as we try to share pictures once in a while, it's not the same as actually getting to spend time face to face with people.

4. Last fall I found a running club in Quincy and ran with them occasionally. It was definitely a group trying to get off the ground, but I really loved everyone I met through them. This spring our little group has been growing, and tonight I had eight people at my run! I was so excited! It's such a great group - no one get left behind or runs alone. There's always someone along side you cheering you on when you start to drag or to chat with to take your mind off the running itself. I'm so glad I found these guys, and I'm so excited that our little group is growing from the four regulars we were over the fall/winter!

5. Also? Running with these folks is making my pokey butt move faster!

6. We put the window fan in our living room window recently, and it must blow bugs into the room pretty often. Champ has been doing a lot of bug hunting (and eating). I'm pretty sure that some of the time she's really hunting the air, but I just watcher her swat a bug right out of midair. She has now chased it under the couch, and hopefully she'll eat it soon because I really would rather not have random bugs living under the couch.

7. Pete and I are getting into the grilling habit again! It's pretty awesome, and I'm determined to get us a picnic table for the backyard this weekend. So far it's been brats or burgers, but please share your favorite things to grill so we can expand our grilling repertoire!

8. Speaking of Pete, he bought himself a Kindle the weekend before last and he has been a reading fiend ever since!!! I, on the other hand, have reverted back to reading printed books. Partly due to getting a book from the library I couldn't find on the Kindle, and partly because my eyes were starting to get angry at me for spending so much of the day staring at a monitor/screen/TV. They have been appreciating the rest, but my back and shoulders have not been appreciating the heavier book that I just started yesterday!

9. We're heading to Maine on vacation in a week and a half, and it totally snuck up on me! It's going to be a well timed and much needed vacation based on what's happening at work over the next few weeks, and I'm pretty much counting down the minutes until our Girls' Day massages. In fact, it's taking all kinds of restraint I never knew I had to not book something ASAP and wait for that! So excited for vacation for so many reasons!

10. #1 reason to be excited for vacation? Pete and I get to sleep in a caboose. I KNOW. It's okay to be completely jealous.

Number 9: Workin' On The List

2011-06-04T17:25:00.051-04:00

I'm still chipping away at number nine on the list - reading the Best Minxes Ever Written on Penguin's list of Best Books Ever Written. I read Lolita for my Kubrick class back in college and am counting it as read. A while back, I hit up Borders for a few books (you saw Emma here, Vanity Fair is currently getting beat up being carried in my purse daily).

Today, I hit up the Thomas Crane Library for Breakfast at Tiffanys. It's almost embarrassing to admit this, but I haven't been an active library user in so long that I had a bit of trouble getting the book. It took me longer than it should have to figure out how to put the book on hold online, in part because I had to call them (for the second time) to reset the PIN attached to my library card so I could log in. Once it was on hold, I knew where to go look for it and just had to wait for the email to tell me it was ready. The email came, time went by, and I didn't get myself to the library until my hold had almost expired. The first time I tried to pick it up, the library was closed because I had forgotten to check their hours and just assumed they would be open. The second time I was all excited, but then couldn't find my book. It turns out that when your hold has almost expired, they hold the book behind the counter for you. At least now I know how to use the library (kind of).

After I got home and had lunch, I proceeded to go to one of the eleven nail salons within half a mile of our house to have my toes made pretty while I started reading. Of course I chose orange for my toes - how could I not?! And I also found out that the highest rated nail salon on Yelp is definitely not the best of the eleven nail salons within half a mile of our house. Lesson learned: try a different nail salon next time I want some reading/pedicure time.

Number 7: But did it really happen?

2011-06-02T19:12:00.004-04:00

I don't have pictures to prove it, but I ran the Corporate Challenge tonight. I didn't make my goal time, maybe because it was cuh-razy crowded and I was fighting traffic the entire race, or maybe because I'm just not that fast. And even though I don't have pictures to prove it, I do have official results to prove it!

ETA: No pictures to prove I ran, but pictures to prove that I had dinner after I ran! :)

Badgered

2011-05-30T21:07:00.000-04:00

Pete bought a Kindle this morning. One of the first things he noticed when he went to open it was this "frustration free packaging" seal. Have you ever seen Pete try to open a package? He's very bad at opening packages, and it often leads to disasters - we've had to use duct tape to hold together waffle mix boxes that he opened, and things like bags of chips? Good chance they'll be torn in half. Sometimes when you open our kitchen cabinets, it looks like a badger was let loose...and so Pete was nick named Badger Boy, and "to badger" has been turned into a very, essentially meaning to destroy.

When he saw this seal, he showed it to me and we both laughed and thought "we'll see about that!"...but it really was frustration free! And that box is even still intact! It's a packaging miracle - badger-proof packaging!

Caged

2011-05-29T21:48:00.001-04:00

It was beautiful out today, so Pete and I went on a bit of an adventure....Cracker Barrel, go-karts, batting cages, skee ball and ice cream! It was fun, we need to find a place to do this closer to home so we can do it more often.

Number 9: Emma

2011-05-25T21:33:00.002-04:00

I've been working on my Spring To Do list - specifically the reading portion. I even bought a few actual books recently, because my eyes have been bothering me from the tedious work I've been doing at work and then reading on my phone! Luckily it was a small enough size that it wasn't too difficult to hold with one hand and read during my commute, although it took a bit of a beating being shoved in my bag daily for a few weeks.

Next up as either Vanity Fair (another actual book I bought) or Breakfast at Tiffany's, depending on how soon the library lets me know that they have Breakfast at Tiffany's on hold for me.

Snuggle Bugs

2011-05-15T19:43:00.000-04:00

Apparently I missed the memo that it was family nap time.

Bilibo

2011-05-14T21:39:00.001-04:00

Jen, Jon, and Adele came to visit this weekend. The cats were very unsure of Adele, but Champ at least spent some time in the doorway watching Adele suspiciously. Barley spent all of the time hiding under our bed/under the sheets on our bed.

Doodles

2011-05-12T21:28:00.000-04:00

I was doodling on a work call yesterday. There was a lot of talk about punchlines, and it inspired my doodles.

10 on Tuesday

2011-05-03T22:30:00.000-04:00

1. I totally made that little bookmark! It was inspired by this blog post, although I didn't actually read that post or follow the instructions when I made mine, I just chopped the corner off an envelope and made the rest of it up. It was quick and dirty, but it totally works and it makes me smile when I open up my book (yeah, I'm reading an actual book right now and not on my phone).

2. Last week I went to a book discussion at the library with a new friend, Katie. It's a series called Not For Children Only, and it's (in case you didn't figure this out) an adult discussion group about children's books. The April discussion (last week) was on The Secret Garden, which I read last December and looooooooved. This month's book is The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe, which I picked up at Borders yesterday. While I was there, I figured I should really start at the beginning, so I also picked up The Magician's Nephew. I started reading it on the way to work this morning and I'm already halfway through. Partly because it's a children's book (I'm no speed reader), and partly because it's so fun that I have been avoiding some chores in order to sit on the couch and read. :)

3. Speaking of chores, I had a very productive weekend cleaning and purging and organizing. Having guests come to stay is great motivation to finally turn the guest room back into a guest room - over the winter it somehow became more of a dumping ground/storage room than an office/guest room! I'm happy to report that it's almost ready for guests (I still need to make the bed).

4. The cleaning and purging and organizing over the weekend also led to my finally completing a few projects around the house that certainly aren't necessary before we have guests, but I figured it was as good a time as any. Some of these projects involved spray painting, and have you ever spray painted before? It takes patience. I don't have patience. My spray painting turned out okay despite my lack of patience.

5. One of the long overdue projects around the house that I finally got to was getting a print of this photo of my grandpa and putting it in a frame. I have a bunch of my grandpa's cameras on a shelf in my living room, including the one that is in the photo. Now that photo is framed and resting on the shelf behind the camera. :)

6. That photo is one of many that my father had scanned and cleaned up through ScanDigital. I found a whole lot of others that I love as I was going through the DVD I have of them, and ended up putting some of my faves up here (Dad can look at those and fact check me!).

7. In addition to framing pictures, I also found frames this weekend for a few original art pieces we bought from friends over the winter. One of the frames looks great, the other is going to be temporary until I take it to be framed professionally I think. In the meantime, it looks just fine in the cheapo frame it's in....and will look even better when I get it hung on the wall above the couch!

8. Today I did some serious toy/game shopping. I had a list of six kiddos that need birthday gifts in the next two months, which led to a not small Amazon order. Now I only have one kiddo left to buy something for, but it looks like it will be a brick and mortar purchase for that one. At least I know what I'm looking for now!

9. Is it totally wrong that as I was buying these gifts, I was thinking how fun it was going to be to play with some of them myself (you know, if the kids let me)? I figure that's totally right! You know it's a good gift if it's so fun you still want to play with it as an adult, right?

10. Yikes! I just heard the downstairs neighbor come in, which means it's past my bedtime. Guess it's time to hit publish. :)

Blossoms blooming, heads all empty and I don't care

2011-04-24T20:09:00.000-04:00

How's about something pretty from my walk home after getting a tasty frappe this afternoon?

Number 4: We Are New England

2011-04-23T23:31:00.005-04:00

It turns out that almost all of our nights out lately have been unofficially sponsored by Groupon. What can I say? I'm a sucker for a good deal. I also love trying new things and going on "adventures", so getting to do that on the cheap is even awesomer.

Neither Pete or I follow MLS, nor had either of us been to a Revolution game. Or to Gillette Stadium. And now we've remedied that despite the chilly, raw weather. Groupon posted a deal for a ticket to a Revolution game and a free t-shirt for $18. That's a pretty sweet deal! You had no control over what seats you got, but they don't exactly sell out, so if our seats hadn't been perfectly acceptable, we could easily have moved into seats that would have been great. We're lazy, so we stayed in our perfectly acceptable seats. Also, we didn't think to bring towels to dry off seats with, and our free t-shirts weren't super absorbent. Switching seats would have lead to cold, wet butts!

The Revolution won, and we had a good time despite the mildly obnoxious teenagers that were sitting next to us. It was fun to listen to the chanting and singing from the folks seated in "The Fort", and to ponder all kinds of very important soccer related things, like "what's the deal with soccer and scarves?"and "do you think they have to take acting classes as part of their training?" Now that we've got answers to those questions, I think we'll be much better prepared for any future professional soccer matches!

For kicks...

2011-04-22T21:25:00.006-04:00

I left work early. I was sitting on the couch trying to decide if it was too early to break open the bottle of bubbly in the fridge, when I decided it was finally time to move the furniture in the living room to the arrangement I had been thinking about for a while now. Pete was still at work, and despite Barley's interest he was not helpful in muscling around the furniture...but I finally got it all moved (perhaps or next media stand will be on casters).

Excuse the smart phone photo - I was really just taking pictures to send a friend and get feedback, I wasn't really planning on blogging about this...but then I was catching up on the last month and figured why not? There is still some fine tuning to do, but we're really liking it!

Glucosamine

2011-04-21T21:21:00.004-04:00

My knees have been bothering me lately, reminding me that I should be taking glucosamine and chondroitin regularly. I bought the twice-a-day doses instead of the thrice-a-day doses, and the pills are ginormous.

Shanti

2011-04-16T23:55:00.008-04:00

Norm and I have been talking about trying Indian food for a while now, so when Shanti popped up on Groupon of course I bought it. Then I emailed my Indian coworker and asked her what I should get. Because she is awesome, Namrata sat down with me and we went through the Shanti menu online and she told me what to try...you can see the corner of my sticky note cheat sheet in the bottom right side of the photo up there. :)

The food was delicious, although I'm pretty sure the Taj Mahal beer wasn't anything special. There will definitely be more Indian food in my future!

Sunshine Snuggles

2011-04-09T17:14:00.001-04:00

These two are ridiculously adorable when they sleep together.

Newcomb

2011-04-03T16:44:00.003-04:00

Sometimes on the weekend, Pete convinces me to get off of the couch and out of pajamas early enough to enjoy breakfast out. We have three different cheap and tasty breakfast places within a short walk of our place, but lately Newcomb Farms has been Pete's favorite.

Also, note the look of annoyance on his face because I have my camera pointed towards him.

Swish Swish

2011-04-02T23:15:00.014-04:00

When Groupon posted a deal for Shabu Restaurant, of course we bought it. And I made sure Anna and Alex saw it, too, because they love Shabu-shabu as much as we do (I think at least half of the emails Anna and I send each other have the subject "swish swish" because we're making plans to get together for shabu). Obviously we invited them to go with us to use ours.

As usual, Pete and Alex picked the craziest sounding Sake they could find on the menu. I don't think they have managed to find a more entertaining one than the Poochi-Poochi Nigori Sake from our first visit, but I guess you can't expect ridiculously translated labels on every sake bottle.

Music and Memories: Unwritten Law

2011-03-30T19:09:00.001-04:00

I was reading an interesting (and long) article on Slate about how iPods have changed the way we listen to music, and this bit really struck a chord with me:

So, too, [...] has music become a common way for people to get through the workday. Your local cafe's barista may literally depend on Bon Iver's reedy lugubriousness to palliate a dreary job as you depend on coffee.

This is so true for me! I count on music to get me through a lot - the insane boredom of running on a treadmill, quality checking 125+ year end reviews at work, those last few breathes of a yoga pose when I'm pretty sure I'm about to collapse.

Not discussed in the article, but something that I've noticed and thought about a lot lately...I attach music to memories - memories that are vividly triggered upon hearing certain songs or albums, to the point where my mood will change in an instant while I'm listening to them. Sometimes it's a memory of how I felt when I first heard a song live, sometimes a memory of multiple events that happened while listening to a certain album...but I can always picture it perfectly in my head, and remember exactly how I was feeling and what I was doing at the time.

I can't remember now what made me pull up Unwritten Law on my iPod last night when I left the gym, but I can't listen to their self titled album without being brought right back to the desk in my dorm room senior year, writing my thesis and motivating myself with M&Ms. I could draw you a diagram of how the furniture in the room was arranged. I can picture the freshman girls down the hall that were blasting Britney Spears, forcing me to turn up the volume on my own stereo. I remember being scared out of my skin when the volume was so high that I didn't hear my roommate come in from her class and I suddenly caught movement out of the corner of my eye.

Sometimes I wonder if these memories will fade over time, or if I'll ever listen to these songs or albums without the memories rushing back. Ask anyone who knows me well and they'll tell you that I inherited my Dad's memory. Or lack thereof. I walked out of work today knowing I had to stop and pick up a print at the photo shop next door on my way home. It took me the elevator ride down ten floors and the walk out the door of the building to forget. What's that? Maybe five minutes? (Luckily the photo shop has a sandwich board on the sidewalk and it reminded me.) But these music memories...they have stuck with me so far. Maybe they are here to stay - after all, I can still feel my old bedroom rug under me and Dad's old transistor radio (Hee! It looked just like this one!) in my hands every time I hear The Beach Boys' Do You Wanna Dance?.

A List: Things To Do This Spring

2011-03-28T22:57:00.006-04:00

This list has been really difficult for me to write. To be honest, I've probably spent more time thinking about whether I should combine my Spring and Summer list than I have considering what would go on each of them. In the end I've decided to go with two lists, but I know that some of these thing will likely carry over into the Summer. Especially since I'm planning to do some of these while on vacation with friends in June...and vacation week happens to be the week of the Summer Solstice!

Without further ado, here's my list for this Spring:

1. Buy a bike and ride it
2. ~~Try~~ ~~Phở~~ ~~(carried over from the winter)~~ DONE! (But with no photo/post)
3. ~~Learn to kayak~~ DONE!
4. ~~Go to a~~ ~~New England Revolution~~ ~~game~~ DONE!
5. ~~Complete a Mark Simmons Death March~~ DONE!
6. Create a new blog header
7. ~~Run the Corporate Challenge~~ in under 35 minutes DONE(ish)!
8. Have (another) Hitchcock Movie Marathon on a rainy day
9. Read the Penguin Best Books Ever Written: Best Minxes Started, working on it

What's on your Spring To Do list??

Check out my past To Do Lists:

A List: Winter 2011
A List: Fall 2010
A List: Summer 2010

Two point five miles of history

2011-03-27T20:15:00.001-04:00

Maybe I've lived the majority of my life in Boston. And maybe I've walked across or along the Freedom Trail on at least a weekly basis for the last five years. But maybe I've never walked the actual Freedom Trail, from beginning to end. Worry no more! The situation has finally been rectified. And I have pictures to prove it.

In anticipation of this adventure, I downloaded a podcast audio tour. It was free and I thought I would like it better than finding a book and having to read as I went along. In case you're ever walking the Freedom Trail and want an audio tour, don't download that one. It's probably worth paying for one of the not free ones that you can find on iTunes. It was entertaining to listen to the ridiculous computer voice call the Old North Church "the Old Number Rth Church", but it got annoying once it mispronounced Copps Hill as "Copes Hill" for the tenth time. I'm sure there are better audio tours out there, I just didn't spend any time researching. Learn from my mistake.

Pete joined me for the first half of this walk, and because he's a history major (sometimes referred to as the "Human Wikipedia"...by himself) he was annoyed that I kept stopping to listen to my podcast so I would know the significance of everything we were walking past, and amused that I kept stating facts that were completely obvious to him but completely new and interesting to me. I should have just made him play tour guide and left my iPod at home.

Right before we parted ways (he went home to spend some quality time with the couch, I continued on to the stretch of the trail that I have never walked along before), we saw a big line of folks waiting to enter Faneuil Hall for who knows what. There were two Boston Police Officers standing at the doorway who I guess were in charge of letting them in when the time came. And until the time came, they were in charge of trying to hit the lotto with scratch tickets. Pete thought it was hilarious and made me take a picture. I didn't even bother trying to be subtle because they were so absorbed in their scratching that they never even saw me.

Once I got into the North End, I realized exactly what I would do differently if I were ever to walk the Freedom Trail again - and/or what I would recommend to someone doing it the first time. Go backwards. Start at Bunker Hill. Timing wise, I would definitely start after a good lunch. By the time you've climbed the Bunker Hill Monument and made your way across the bridge, down Copps Hill, and through the North End you'll be 100% ready for a cappuccino and a delicious pastry as you're passing Modern Pastry.

After your treat you'll be refueled and ready to fight through the most crowded portions of the trail.After you finish the trail, head down the hill on Beacon Street to Charles Street and have a dinner at whichever restaurant you come across. You won't go wrong with any of them, but I'm partial to King & I for Thai food or 75 Chestnut (turn right onto Chestnut St to find it). Bonus: you get to browse some very cute local shops and antique stores.

Anyway, back to my own Freedom Trail adventure and not someone else's hypothetical one. I was cheap and wanting to get on with my day and get home, so I didn't go into Paul Revere's House or The Old North Church. I did find this brick with my sister Jen's initials outside of Paul Revere's House though. I'm pretty sure that at least a dozen tourists who were standing along the trail there and taking pictures of the Freedom Trail plaque in the sidewalk or Paul Revere's actual house wondered what the hell I was doing taking a picture of a random patch of sidewalk two doors down.

Out of everything along the Freedom Trail, I was probably the most interested in seeing the USS Constitution. I knew it was free admission and while I've walked along the waterfront in Charlestown, I had never checked out the Constitution itself. I was even more excited after coming across the first adorable sailor in his wide leg pants and cute white hat. I was a little less excited after sitting out on the windy waterfront waiting for the tour to start - it was chilly! Not that you would know that if you saw the goofball wearing flip flops who was also on my tour. Anyway, it turned out that the tour of the USS Constitution was definitely the highlight of my adventure. The guy that led my tour was pretty good looking (and that sailor uniform certainly doesn't hurt!), but it was real fun to climb around on the ship and hear stories about what life was like for the folks that served on it. Definitely worth every penny! ;)

And finally...I headed over to Bunker Hill. Because I'm ridiculous, I decided to climb all 291 stairs to the top of it. That probably wouldn't have been a bad idea if I hadn't gone for a 3ish mile trail run in Blue Hills with my running club in the morning. Then walked about a mile to meet Pete for lunch and get to the start of the Freedom Trail. Then walked 2.5 miles along the Freedom Trail to get to the monument. If climbing 291 stairs after all of that doesn't sound like a good idea, I don't know what does! Off I went...I took a few breaks on my way up because I don't think I could have made it otherwise. This is what you see when you're about 1/3 of the way to the top and you look up...

...stairs that look like they may never end. I would love to show you what you see when you get to the top, but you're going to have to survive that climb yourself! Just kidding. Well, not really - you really will have to climb it yourself to see, but not because I'm a jerk. The batteries in my camera died. Oops! Anyway, it's worth it once you're up there. Not just because they have a few benches up there, but because the views are pretty nice. Also, thank God for the breeze at the top, because I was definitely sweating by the time I got there. My calves were also killing me, but the breeze didn't help at all with that.

I did treat myself to a frappe at Friendly's on the way back to the T - I figured I earned it with all those stairs. And now I can finally say that I've walked the Freedom Trail!

Americas

2011-03-26T23:21:00.002-04:00

Back in November Leyre, Amy, and I headed to the MFA to see the Avedon exhibit. It happened to be the opening weekend of the new Americas wing, but we passed on checking it out because it looked super crowded. I am a very lucky person because I can show my work ID and get into the museum for free, so I knew I could plan a day to come back and dedicate to exploring just the new wing...and it only took me four months to do it!

So the new wing...I started at the bottom and worked my way up. I also should have grabbed myself a map, because the new wing has a lot of nooks and crannies that make it easy to get turned around and skip over large chunks of the gallery without realizing you're doing it. I'm much more interested in modern and contemporary art, so of course I rushed through the lower floors and then absolutely loved every second of the top floor. I'm pretty sure I'll start at the top next time I'm there.

The new wing is, itself, a work of art. I love the contrast of the modern wing attached to the original building. They did an amazing job integrating the two buildings. I think some of my favorite parts of the new wing are the hallways along the exterior where you get peeks of the downtown skyline (and there are a few benches and couches where you can get comfy and enjoy those peeks) and peeks of the atrium-like spaces where the original building and the new wing meet.

The courtyard between the two spaces is also pretty awesome, and there was some pretty fun live music that the kiddos were loving. There is also a restaurant in the courtyard, and I would imagine that it's a nice place to eat and soak up the energy in the heart of the museum. There was also a huge Chihuly piece installed in the courtyard (see above) - one of the first pieces of an upcoming exhibit to be installed. It happened to be in my second favorite color, so of course I enjoyed it!

After I made my way through the entire Americas wing, I had to visit my Buddhas. I get cranky when I head up there and find other people...but they usually leave before I've had my fill and I can get some peace and quiet in there. And when I had my fill of peace and quiet, I headed back home and snuggled with this guy: