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.

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! :)

MV

What, you don't know what MV means? Neither did I until a few weeks ago!   Martha's Vineyard is almost a place of lore now a days, with occupants such as the Kennedy's and vacationists such as the Obama's.  It seems to be the trendiest, non-touristy place that attracts tourists at the moment. Although, I am happy to say I was an invited guest in addition to tourist :)  Kavan's classmate, Ben's, grandparents have had a house there since the 60's, and graciously opened their home to a group of us in order to fully celebrate the end of 1st year qualifying exams for the PhD program.  I wasn't for sure what to expect from the little island -- would I see celebrities? would I be snubbed by people wearing polos and boat shoes? would I fall asleep on the beach and come back to boston looking like a boiled Maine lobster?  I can reassure you, I still had all of my self respect, and skin cells, when I returned to Boston. 

Our weekend at Martha's Vineyard was awesome! Kav and I have been working so much lately, and a weekend away was well deserved.  Most of our time was spent eating and playing games, (if you haven't played For Sale you don't know what you're missing).  We checked out the island chocolatier shoppe, the artisan market, Menemsha (the fishing port where Billy Joel used to live), the fudge shop, the gingerbread houses, and the beach! What a wonderful weekend away :)


I thought these metal chains had a lot of character

Lighthouse on the way to MV

Menemsha!!! The water's sooooo bluuuuueee

I made a fuzzy friend one night.... everyone else was scared of him

The view from Ben's Grandparent's house. According to his grandpa, those trees used to be a lot shorter in the 60s....

 Alas, I didn't get any cool picture of the gingerbread houses, but I did get a picture of a porch on one. Cute x 10

  

Fishing!

We got a tuna and swordfish steak cut off of the fish minutes before we took them home. The swordfish was probably one of the yummiest fish I've ever eaten, and it was only seasoned with salt and pepper!

A goto move of many a guy on their way back to the mainland after a weekend away with their girl,  take the 8pm ferry.  Who wouldn't be swept of their feet, right?

Easter Feaster

The Easter bunny decided to join Kav and I at breakfast on Sunday.  He was delish :-9

 

The weather was the nicest it has been all year peaking at about 80 degrees!  I am claiming that this marks the start of bike season (for me at least).  So after breakfast, Kavan headed off to study and I headed on my bike down to the Common to enjoy the scenery.  Almost everything was in bloom, the swan boats were paddling around the pond, there was a drum line near the visitor center...  Little girls in white fluffy dresses and little boys in miniature suits pranced around discovering all of the sights and sounds at the Common.   Everyone was in their Easter Best.

I decided to take a different route back home, and oh boy what a ride!  The bike trail curved alongside the Charles River, which today was filled with drifting sail boats and lined with thousands of delicate blossoms.  I stopped several times to take pictures.

Finally, it was time for the Easter Feaster.  I didn't go all out, but it was nice to make a well rounded dinner.  Of course, it wouldn't have been complete without Easter Bunny carrot cake! One of my own, new traditions :)

<3 Liz

First Beach in 2011

It's been over two months since I've posted, which I know is a big no-no for bloggers.  My apologies. Instead of taking on the task of creating the most epic of all blog posts to catch you up, I thought I would just share some photos that I took during the trip to the beach that Kavan and I went on today.

The temperature managed to get up to a whopping 66 degrees today in Boston, perfect weather as far as I'm concerned.  Everyone was out and about -- kids were on the playgrounds, hipsters were on their fixies, men in leather were on their hogs (I especially like that one).  The energy was exhilarating!

Kavan went on a few joy rides along the coast last Fall before I moved to Boston, so when he suggested we go on one today it was a no-brainer.  I was thrilled to leave the city. He had visited a town along the bay called Hull, where he happened upon a place with mouth watering fish tacos over looking the beach.  Hull isn't that far from Boston so it was a great day trip.

The drive to Hull was complicated, but I am happy to report that, for once, we didn't miss a turn! When we arrived at the bay my first reaction was that it looked like the ocean, scattered islands were barely visible on the horizon.  The beach at Hull was busy.  There were dozens of dogs, kids, grandparents, couples, and teenie boppers trying to get the most out of the change in weather.

 

There were a few kites whipping in the wind when we arrived.  My favorite was one of a scuba diver complete with fish.  We ate lunch overlooking the bay, and then romped around the beach a little before heading back to Boston.

(see what I mean about the leather)

Interesting enough, you can even see Boston from the shore.

Last but not least we have the stereotypical picture of a New England lighthouse.  Of course I was super excited! I really don't think I will get used to those ;)

Love it! =)

Leeeeaves

So I'm pretty bummed that I didn't make it out of the city to see the peak of the New England leaves this year, but I did manage to find some awesome landscapes on my walk to the Museum of Fine Arts last weekend (more to come on that later). I felt like I was taking a stroll through Sleepy Hollow.... too bad Johnny Depp couldn't join me.

I love the way the leaves scatter on the path.

 

The yellow is so bright!

I usually don't like squirrels, but this one was pretty cute hehe

 The cutest park.....

This was my view when I was walking to work one morning, it's my background on my work computer.

Now I can look forward to the winter wonderland :)

Make Way for Ducklings

Boston, being such a historic city, has countless landmarks, food, and attractions, and by the time I arrived I had made a mental list of some of the things I wanted to see/do first.  After a week of settling into my little area in Brookline and finally picking up a Charlie card for the T, I decided that Saturday was the day for me to go downtown.  Where was my first stop?  No, not to Paul Revere's House.  No, not to feast on Italian food at the North End.  No, not to disprove any so-called resemblance the current tea party claims they have to the original, at the Boston Tea Party Ship & Museum.  I wanted to see ducks.  I'm not sure if that preference stems from my Granny's oil painting of ducklings which hung in my room as a child or my affinity for daffy duck's humor over bugs bunny's, but that's neither here nor there. 


Of course, the fact that this statue of ducks is in the Boston Public Garden and across the street from the Boston Common did bolster my decision to make it the destination of my first Boston site-seeing experience.  The famous bronze statue was installed in 1987 to commemorate Make Way for Ducklings, a world renown children's book by Robert McCloskey that is set in Boston.  I managed to snag some great pics of it, along with some fellow fans :)

I even got some pictures of the real things, which the park was over run with, and the famous swan boats.

And some great landscapes of the Public Garden and Boston Common....

Wow I still can't believe I live here! :)