Simon pic of the day

He loves gardening.

More ice cream please

For Christmas, Kavan got me the ice cream maker attachment for the kitchenaid mixer. We christened it last night with cherry bourbon ice cream, which we also ate for breakfast :)

Prettiest box in the post office

Go Bengals!

First sewing project with Belle

Curtains! Unfortunately Nana's old Singer bit the dust, but now that I know I will actually use a sewing machine, I decided to replace the singer with a new one.  I got a pink brother 25 stitch machine (her name is Belle) and you better expect great things when the Boston cold sets in hehe These curtains were a piece of cake, an easy straight stitch around.  Next I am going to try some actual clothes, cross your fingers!

160 Mile Bike Ride to Cape Cod? Piece of Cake (no not really)

No joke, Kavan and I really did bike 160 miles from Cambridge all the way to Provincetown at the tip of Cape Cod.  With this pilgrimage, Kavan and I can finally call ourselves New Englanders... if we wanted to :P 

Kavan has been wanting to bike down to P-town all Summer, and a couple of weeks ago we decided to make the trip.  When Kavan brought this trip idea up at the beginning of the summer I was sure there was NO WAY I was biking all the way to Provincetown.  The longest bike ride I had been on at that point was 50 miles over two days.  For this trip, I would have to bike over 60 miles the first day, then another 50 the next, and finally top it off with a "measly" 30 mile ride into P-town.  The first words that came to my mind when I thought about this were: pain, sweat, and tears.  While the trip did include a little pain and a lot of sweat, I am happy to report tears were not shed during the making of this bike ride.

The whole trip was awesome, and making it to P-town was the best feeling ever!!  Some highlights from the trip include:

Light house viewing

Whale watching.... We saw so many whales!!



Sunset

 

National Seashore Park... The sand dunes were HUGE

 Basically, P-town is the bomb...  What a great way to finish out the summer :)

Simon's Own Chair

Simon's ready for football

Falafel shop!

My fav falafel shop from DC is in Cambridge!

Blanched peaches

It's cobbler time!

Vermonting

Vermonting is just a play on words of what us city folks like to call -- weekending.  Weekending entails leaving the cofines of the city, suburbs, and exburbs, and going somewhere where local wildlife consists of animals other than pigeons and squirrels.  Of course you could modify weekending to any state you want, but I think Vermonting sounds the best out of the New England states.  

Last weekend, Kav and I visited our friends Mike and Nicole in VT, and being there felt like I had been transported back down to my little home in ky. Mike and Nicole live on an old orchard (=free homemade applesauce to take home), have two goofy dogs who look like small clidesdales, and can see the silohuette of the Green Mountains from their backyard.  Friday evening, we visited the closest city, Burlington, VT, and caught some breathtaking views of Lake Champlain before the sunset.

I enjoyed two country mornings while we were there.  Country mornings are so much better than city mornings.  Everything is still, then Nature gradually wakes up.  The whole day is ahead of you, and for those moments you can't help but reflect on the beauty of life.  It's like a non-animated Disney movie ;)  The more I go back and visit the country the more I miss it.  Maybe whenever it comes time to settle down I can find a sweet plot of country, right outside the city....

Darkwing ducks

In the Charles river

Best Coast

Gotta love a band whose mascot is a bear playing the state of California like a guitar :)

New computer

Kav got a new computer and Simon is reaping the benefits :)

First Friday with Josiah McElheny

Last weekend was the first First Friday at the Institute of Contemporary Art here in Boston.  I got a groupon earlier this year for a 1 year membership there, and was excited to get my first perk of being a member -- free admission and cocktail!  My friend Aleks who is moving to San Fran soon *tear* came with me, and we had a blast! The featured exhibit was Josiah McElheny who is a huge space guru.  He created the most dazzling room of sculptures I have ever seen.  Inspired by chandelhers in the Metropolitan Opera House, each star burst sculpture alludes to all of the infinite number of possibilities of structures present in space.  The room was filled with these breathtaking star bursts and was positioned in a way that made me feel as if I was walking through a galaxy. I was surprised there weren't any ropes or other types of barriers. You could get so close that you could almost touch the lights (as you can see by the man in the photo below)..... amazing.  I'm going back with Kavan soon!  

Maine Cabining

My old boss Nancy has a cabin up on an island in Maine, and at least once a year Enernocers, such as myself, travel four hours north to get some much needed R&R. Highlights of the weekend include: TWO successful 1 match fires; lobster bake; volleyball; cornhole; hammocks; kayaks; wild strawberries and blueberries; and JUMBO smores (that I still need to get out of my yoga pants). It was so nice totally removing myself from the usual hustle and bustle.

Maine also reminded me of how much I LOVE volleyball. I bumped the ball around with some friends and couldn't stop!! I think the speckles on my arms have gone away, but my thirst for some good bump, set, spiking has not. My friend Veronica agreed to accompany me to a volleyball scrimmage in Boston. I've been leery of going because the postings have been pretty intimidating about knowing plays etc, but hopefully with her there I can piggy back off of the clout she has with the players. I hope the meetup is soon!




I heart hammocks.

Beach bummin

Post wedding pic

This is for Nana :)

Wedding In The Park

Two weekends ago one of Kavan's classmates Alex and his now wife alexsandra, the Alex's as they are affectionately called, got hitched. Alexsandra is a design major with impeccable taste and I was excited to see what she did with the wedding. It. Was. Awe-inspiring.

They had perfect weather with a shining fountain, swaying weeping willows, all set around a grand rotunda. The site of the reception was even more granduous. It was at the German museum at Harvard were we dined in the great hall next to granite statues and enjoyed the rose garden outside.

Trying Out New App

I think with this new app I can layout my posts better. Like adding multiple photos?

yay! :)

Bike to the beach

It's always nice to surprise yourself, and I sure was surprised this past weekend when Kavan and I biked over 50 miles to the beach and back!! We first biked to a nearby state park and went camping, then the next day we headed up to hull ma to grab some fish tacos on the beach. It was gorgeous! The water was so warm and there wasn't a cloud in the sky (which might also explain my lobster arms). All in all we were biking for almost five hours over the course of two days. We had a blast and afterwards I felt so accomplished. Where to next?

Hail to the Queen

This weekend Queen Elizabeth II celebrated her Diamond Jubilee.  Sixty years as reigning monarch of the United Kingdom is quite the legacy.  The historical society of Boston hosted a celebration for the Queen at the Old State House (where Britain ruled the colonies in the 1700s), and Kav and I thought we would stop by.  They had actors reciting Shakespeare, red coats with muskets and powdered white wigs, and ...... a cardboard cut out of the Queen??? Wasn't expecting that one!! The rain prompted an early end to the Jubilee, but Kavan and I enjoyed walking around the Harbor, sampling ice cream, and tourist watching. 

Hopefully next weekend I will be posting camping pictures so stay tuned :)

Dinner completely from scratch

Homemade linguine pasta, pesto made from basil grown in my herb garden, and meatballs from our community supported agriculture meat share!! Wow it feels so good to know where all of your food is coming from.  I would say the hardest part was the pasta... it's probably 4 times as thick as it should be. I totally underestimated the force needed to roll out pasta dough. No wonder people buy pasta presses!! Anyway dinner was sooo good and I hope we can make these types of dinners more often :)

Chickeeeeen

My first roasted chicken!  Kavan and I decided to sign up for a meat csa this summer, and once a month we pick up 10 pounds of beef/chicken from one of the local farms. This month we got a whole roaster chicken, which kind of scared me since i'd never made one.  Looking back on last thanksgiving, however, reminded me that brining a turkey before roasting made it very juicy.  If I could roast a turkey, I could surely roast a chicken!  I found a recipe for a citrus rosemary brine and soaked it overnight.  Not only did it turn out picture perfect (if I must say) it was also deeelish.  I'm excited to try out a different recipe next month.

Simon's New Harness

I'm going to try the impossible and teach Simon how to walk on a leash. Of course, if he's going to be strutting his stuff for the neighborhood, he has to do it in style.  I found a nice lady on etsy who sews harnesses and she made me one from this baseball pattern with a matching leash! We'll see if it was worth it in a few weeks hehe

Boston 2012