12 Dates of Christmas :: MFA (No.4)

We went to the Museum of Fine Arts yesterday to catch the John Singer Sargent traveling exhibit. Which was packed. There was a line to get into a line to get into the gallery. Within the gallery there were people on top of people. It made me think that we're all becoming a little intolerant of lines because when do people really wait in lines anymore?

The exhibit was rather nice. My favorite was one where he paints a clear pond, with ripples and pebbles underneath the water. Unfortunately, my photo is a little bit blurry (probably because there were 5 people next to me at either elbow!) and I can't remember exactly what it is called, but it was pretty neat.

Arg, doesn't really do it justice, but trust me, it was magnificent

Chris' favorite of the set: Mountain Fire

We had a late lunch/early diner in the cafe afterwards and wandered through the "new" American Wing (only the first floor of it, though). I remember the old American wing and it was always a little damp and dark and cloistering. The new one is so much improved: a bit more modern and spacious. Being in New England, I thought some of the paintings and furniture were so apt. I mean, don't we all know this George Washington one from history books?! It was pretty neat to see it in person and to see how large it was in real life.

Pretty famous as well, I suppose

Personally, I enjoyed the American portrait paintings- the bright colored clothing paired against the darker backgrounds overlaid in a shiny paint texture. And it looks like I liked to take all the photos from an angle yesterday!

We were pretty much too tired to see anything else yesterday, but once again, just like earlier in the year, made a vow to come back more frequently!

Twelve Dates of Christmas :: ICA (No.3)

We had never been to the Institute for Contemporary Art in Boston before (after all these years living here!) and decided to take advantage of free admissions on Thursday evenings. It's a pretty magnificent building that sits along the Boston Harbor. Very angular, glassy, and modern. I'm sure it is beautiful in the daytime or during warmer weather as well, when you can sit outside on the decks and look out towards the water.

I can't say that I'm a huge contemporary art fan, though I find it interesting. I did like one artist's work on the female form my favorite of the evening. I do enjoy mostly, the choice in layout of the art and how it's decided what goes where and how they should appear. Like this photo, where there is a huge white wall with only two smaller paintings.

A bit grainy iphone photos, but Chris' and my reflections with the Boston Harbor in the background

To our surprise, the ICA is teeny. We walked through the exhibits in may be 30 minutes tops! We browsed the gift shop and found a cute pine cone ornament for our Xmas tree next year!

*First photo: Courtesy of Chris. The staircase in the ICA.

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas! We had a great one. You can read about Christmas Day here. We had a nice Christmas Eve dinner when E and A came over. It was busy busy in the kitchen all day. Chris made a nice prime rib and E & A made a delicious Krantz cake for dessert from their new cookbook, The Jerusalem Cookbook. 

We drank mulled cider, and played Bananagrams (I never win! Arg! Mostly because Chris uses ridiculous words. I mean, "Gi"?!  Really?) and cards (of course!). We also played "Who am I" for the first time together (you know, the game they play in the bar in "Inglorious Bastards") and had a jolly time. Chris said he hasn't laughed that hard in he can't remember when. I adore Christmas Eve. I just love it.

A little blurry, but Christmas Eve afternoon with the dogs

Setting up for Christmas Eve dinner. Could that cat be any cuter?

Family dinnertime!

Twelve Dates of Christmas :: Brunch at Hamersley's (No.2)

We had an event packed weekend. Mostly, it was events revolving around food and decadent eating. Every single meal we had today was out- which doesn't make for  a good feeling at the end of the day, but was much enjoyed at the time. 

Technically, our original X-mss Date #2 was brunch at Hamersley's with E & A (a family brunch!).  It was nice to catch up. Both E and I wanted one of the waffle dishes (savory? sweet?- couldn't quite decide) but alas, the waffle machine happened to be broken today- we were informed literally minutes after we set foot into the restaurant. Seriously, of all days! We subsequently both settled for the arctic char special, but still, I think our hearts were set on the lobster waffles. Nevertheless, brunch was so delicious that I forgot to capture any of the moments in photos. Good thing Chris snapped at least the menu. (In addition to brunch, we had a breakfast of dim sum and a dinner of straight up carb-loaded pasta- gnocchi for me and pasta fra diavolo for Chris. Just classic.)

We walked around a bit today between breakfast and brunch looking for some necessary cookware for  preparing Christmas dinner. We now finally have a true roasting pan!

We saw this cute little "lawn" decor in the South End whilst strolling around:

And we ran into a group of Christmas caroling bicyclists!! I wish I had time to have captured them on video.

Twelve Dates of Christmas :: The Nutcracker (No. 1)

We kicked off our Twelve Dates of Christmas with our yearly trip to The Nutcracker! This is our 4th year in a row going to the show, and it's still just as exciting every year. Chris and I are in agreement that this year's performance was, no doubt, the best show (though C did note a couple of mis-steps. Chris! I likely did not notice these little mistakes since I joked that the two tallest people in the entire row in front of us, if not in the entire theater, just happened to sit in front of the two of us…). I can't quite put my finger on why we thought this year's show was stand-out, but I think that the costumes and dance numbers were just spectacular this year- pared down to the most beautiful bits.

We have been pretty lucky each year in terms of weather. At least in my memory, it's been nice enough that we've been able to just walk to the Opera House, and yesterday was no different.  It was uncannily "warm" yesterday for late December, and all the snow that had accumulated last week was slowly  but actively melting. We walked through Boston Commons on our way there and got a couple of good shots of the Christmas lights.

the Commons and the city scape behind it on a beautiful winter night

beautifully strung blue lights near the skating rink- which was packed. Just packed with people having fun. The most packed we've ever seen in. "crazy, nuts, packed" per Chris.

The Opera House is just so elaborate inside- a real underrated treasure in Boston, I feel. We've got to plan to get there at least an hour prior to the show one of these years so that we can get a good picture of the two of us in there. It's usually mob-like when we get there and there are just too many people in front of, behind, and everywhere, to get a really good picture.

but I did get this one, though. Beautifully, ornate ceiling at the Boston Opera House. 

After the show, we stopped by our favorite fast food haunt, Uburger. We always find an excuse when we're anywhere near the Commons to stop by that place. Well, even when we're no where near the Commons too, I suppose. 

at Uburger, enjoying the view of the Commons. You can see our reflections in the
window! Guess what Chris ordered…a frappe. A frappe! In this weather! No wonder
someone got cold on the walk home...

close up of the X-mas tree, on our way home.

Happy Birthday and Xmas decor

Happy birthday to Chris! This year, since his birthday fell on a Monday (boo), we celebrated the weekend before. We went to The Cottage, in Chestnut Hill. It was a fun day to go to the 'burbs, as it was the first real snow fall of the year. The streets were relatively empty and we almost had the entire restaurant to ourselves. We had eaten at The Cottage in Wellesley with friends several weeks prior and Chris adored the prime rib special. Now, it is rare for him to love a meal/dish at just any old place, but it happened and we decided to give it a whirl again for his birthday. I was glad that the second time around was still a success! (He always pretends he's not pleased with his photo being taken, but again, don't let that stifled smile fool you.)

On the actual birthday day, we celebrated with good ol' college Chris' favorite meal of wings from our old college haunt (or rather, delivery-haunt), Wing It.  

We both have next week until the New Year off and though we are spending Christmas in Boston, we are looking forward to pursuing some quiet holiday time off, exploring what the city has to offer. I've been very inspired by "Twelve Dates of Christmas" from a blog I read and have planned out some good activities in the next coming weeks. I would love to hear live Christmas music but haven't yet found a performance that fits into our schedule. It'll be a busy but fun couple of weeks- we have two weddings to attend before the New Year!

A few weeks ago, we found our Christmas tree. The past two years, we've brought home a tall one- I'm talking, it needs to be strapped to the roof of our car- tall. This year, we decided to go small. It even fit into the back seat- no trunk needed! I've documented how much our pets (especially Gregory) love the Christmas tree ornaments here, and this year is no different. So far, no broken ornaments despite his attempts. The nutcracker soldier still lives. 

Householding

We haven't had too much time these days- mostly due to Chris' intense schedule which requires him to be in bed by before 9:30 pm. I am an early riser at 6 am and every morning for the past 2 months, Chris is gone and out of the home before then. 

This leaves me to do all of what I call the "maid work." One day on my day off, I truly felt like I spent the entire day planning out very strategically, how best to maximize house work. The dishes were cleaned, the kitchen was scrubbed, all surfaces were vacuumed. All the while, load after load of laundry was being washed. The weekly meal plan was established and off to the store I went to purchase and lug home a weeks' worth of ingredients in our reusable grocery bags. I believe 3 separate store employees asked whether I "needed help" with all the grocery bags.

I joked to Chris that when he came home that day, that it must have felt to him, that the "maid" had come while he was gone, as the home was in complete order, clean clothes filled the dressers, and a warm meal was prepared. 

I spent a lot of the morning cooking today, also a day off. Some of the preparation was for our meal this evening: lentil meatballs with basil pesto, and other preparations were made for meals several days away. 

With all the tough work planning, cooking, and cleaning can be, it is delightful to enjoy a gourmet lunch that did take some time to prepare, but with flavors that are well worth the effort. Above, a delicious baby kale and roasted sweet potato salad.