Champions' Breakfast

We always look forward to big Sunday morning breakfasts at home and this past Sunday was no disappointment. We've had a pretty hectic week already, so no major updates until things have settled a bit. 

Between taking care of a puppy and house-perusing (I don't want to call it house-hunting because it sounds so much more major when "hunting" is used), I feel up to the eyeballs in business/stress. Hopefully more to share soon...

Freshly Baked

We forced ourselves outdoors yesterday, even though it rained and rained- just like last Saturday! We couldn't quite think of any place we'd like to go on foot, but decided that we hadn't been to Iggy's in Cambridge, in a long while. We are always in search of freshly baked, high quality, delicious bread. Though we do have a specialty grocer around the corner, a true bakery is something our neighborhood could really use! Our other favorite bakery is Clear Flour. We adore the challah bread there, which is only baked on certain days, so a bit difficult to come by! Our quest for the perfect bakery started quite a few years ago with the desire to find the perfect French croissant. That, we're still searching for…

I read a blog post about the French and their willingness to drive the extra mile to the next town for a better boulangerie. This sentiment is quite apt to how we feel about good bread. We managed to use everything we brought home from the bakery this weekend. We had some croissant bites with eggs for breakfast today, in addition to french bread pizza for lunch. We supplemented our split-pea soup dinner this evening with garlic bread.

We felt badly that Harry would be cooped up all weekend again, due to the rain, so he joined us on the little drive to Cambridge. He stayed in his bag the entire trip- his feet didn't even get dirty!

On the way home from the bakery

Town & Country

Last weekend was a weekend where we had a taste of suburban life. Saturday was gray and drizzled rain all day long. It feels wonderful on those days when we have nothing pressing to do, nowhere to be, and no one to see, where we just curl up on the couch in the morning with our furry ones and quietly peruse the internet, or "study" (Chris may be the only one to study on the iPhone. Is he studying the entire time? I don't know.) Though it's just down-time, it never feels like wasted time. We did venture out in the middle of the day for lunch in the neighborhood (our favorite burrito place, Viva Burrito). We got caught up in the worst of the storm on our way home and had to jog the rest of the way- we didn't bring our umbrellas! In the evening we headed out to Newton to meet some friends for dinner. It's always a fun time, but driving in the pitch dark rain, felt a tad too…solitary to me. 

The weather was much better on Sunday (though the picture above wouldn't suggest it!) and we spent the morning looking at a home in a town in the suburbs. Yes, this somewhat out of character, but as you may know, I have had, for many years, the pull of finding a "country house." It's well documented. 

Truly, we are city people. I like the bustle, the noise, the lights, the almost impersonality of it all. I LIKE to walk or ride my bike and zip around when I need to. It's also amazing to have other transportation options at your fingertips. I enjoy the many dining out options and all the small businesses and shops. But living in a city has its tolls as well: the lack of space, the parking, the neighbors for goodness sakes. As of late, I find myself asking if we're too old to be living in the city. Are we just becoming more intolerant of these tolls? I always imagined us to be city people with a country house, for times when we need an escape. Maybe someday, I suppose. But lately, I read old posts like the one above and think: could that be us... everyday? Grilling, smiling, playing with dog (who is just. so. happy. in a huge yard), and having friends over for card games? Ok, maybe that won't happen every day, but you can see…there are benefits that seem so attractive. It's easy to romanticize about a suburban life. Especially when it comes in a package like: a home across the street from a fruit and vegetable farm, horse stalls/barns down the road, all together with a quaint little town center near-by…

We took Harry and Chelsea with us on our country jaunt. They mostly slept in the back seat while we drove around. We got out on the campus of Wellesley College so they could stretch their legs and romp around. It was just too cold, though! We walked a bit, but the fields were too muddied from the rain from the previous day. I think they enjoyed the outing, but they quickly looked at us, shivering, anticipating getting back into the car. Perhaps an indoor dog park is what the city needs. I'd count that as a reason to stay. 

Above photo: winter walk at Wellesley College. 

New Year Thoughts

The start of the New Year came with a huge snow storm, which we're just coming out of. Perhaps not the worst storm we've ever seen (public transportation was still up and running, after all), but a pretty big one. It's funny to look back through some of the older posts and see how much the weather- mostly snow- is a topic of our posts. It affects us big time, though!

On the day I took these photos on my way to work early in the morning, I actually thought, "you know, this isn't nearly that bad." As long as I'm dressed appropriately, I feel great. Whenever the snow is piled up to knee level, or really whenever it snows, I say an ode to my Muck boots, which were supposed to be thrown out after trudging through swamps of cow manure for months, while out on farms in the dead of winter. However, I've found that no other winter boots can hold up to true work boots and have decided to keep them for every day wear. I am so happy I did! I am single-handedly starting the Muck boot trend. 

It was early enough in the morning and severe enough in terms of amount of snow-fall that most people most likely had the day off. Traffic was almost nonexistent and the vehicles that were on the road were traveling so slowly that the only noise you could hear was fresh snow crushing under the tires. 

I always say I never make resolutions for the New Year, but I suppose I secretly do. I read an interesting article that pretty much sums up how I feel about resolutions. We tend to make big sweeping resolutions but just like fads, they are quick to die out. However, it's the little stuff we do and stick to every day that really creates a change in lifestyle. And isn't this what we all want? I suppose that's why I don't make resolutions- I don't like big, sweeping changes, just little ones that almost don't seem like changes. 

So, some things I've been thinking about for 2014: less social media/ more real face-to-face time/ making time to see and spend time with great friends and family/ more bike rides with dog/ more new exciting activities with dog/ less clutter/ sweating the small stuff less/ more experiences (i.e going out to do things- similar to our 12 Dates of Christmas!)/ more reading for pleasure/ as always, more veggies and vitamins/ trying more recipes. 

Here we go, 2014. Seems do-able!

A typically busy street. Walking to work during the first blizzard of 2014. 

First photos: On the way to work. A street in the neighborhood. Still can't tell where the sidewalk ends and the street starts AFTER the plow came through!

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year! We spend NYE in Sturbridge this year, at a wedding of a friend. We stayed up LATE- partying! 2:30am! Still got it in us, I tell you. Trust me, nothing sounds more fun than going to bed a 12:05am on New Years Eve, after watching a countdown on television whilst wearing pjs, but we did have a great time with friends this year- none of which involved pajama wearing.

We stayed overnight in Sturbridge at a cute inn adjacent to the venue. Harry and Chelsea tagged along too, since it was pet friendly. It was nice to know that they were just snoozing in our room while we were out. Of course, Harry loves nothing more than  good "vacation" and hammed it up in the hotel room, acting all "jaunty" (my new favorite adjective, curtsey of our friend, that describes him to perfection). Oh, and our room had two queen-sized beds. It was great, having my own bed. 

No resolutions this year, but I will need to start eating a little bit more healthily (i.e. more fruits, vegetables) these next few weeks to make up for holiday decadence. (Thanks for the tacos from TC, Eddie!)

Happy New Year to all!

First photo: just minutes before midnight. last photo of 2013.