Dyed Eggs

We dyed 24 eggs on Saturday, and we tried marbleizing.We had sort of a rocky start, but we figured it out by the end. And now our eggs are so much more exciting!

I think that we should dye eggs more than once a year. You know the saying: A colorful fridge is a happy fridge. Okay, I just made that up, but it's totally true!

Decked Out

Last night, my dad and my brother and I went for a walk so I could take pictures of the most festive house in the neighborhood. These folks decorate every year, and each year there's a little more.

I'm glad some people get so into decorating for the holidays. It's fun for everybody. 

Z, Christmas Day 2010

Look who's excited for Christmas!

Mr. Z's tail has been wagging all day; I've been giving him extra attention. I love spending time with the dog. Merry Christmas to me! And you, and you, and you! 

Happy holidays! ★

Rachel On Thanksgiving

My family has a bit of an untraditional Thanksgiving celebration, and it's an event we look forward to all year long. I think there are usually about 30 people at dinner, and many seated around the table are ridiculously talented. 

After dinner, we move tables and chairs out of the way and the performances begin. The pictures are of my cousin Rachel belting out a a tune for all of us. 

Down By The Water

Oh gosh! This is the longest I've ever gone without posting. A lot's been happening around here, lately! I started a new job the week of Thanksgiving, and I no longer work from home. I now commute over an hour each way and I work 9-5. I'm loving my new job, and I'm busy every minute I'm there. When I come home, I eat dinner and then work on Everything Little Miss projects (I'm posting over on that blog more regularly, so you may want to take a peek and see what I've been up to!). I'm getting used to my new routine, and things have slowed down a little now. I'm hoping to get back into posting here at least once or twice a week, because I miss it!

I took this picture the Saturday following Thanksgiving. That's my cousin you see there, and we were in Cold Spring, NY. It was a beautiful day, so we took a little walk down to the water. It was pretty windy and cold, so we stayed just long enough to snap a photo or two.

Halloween 2010: Woodland Creatures

Happy Halloween! Eric and I went to a costume party last night. Eric resurrected his David the Gnome costume, and re-purposed a dress from high school and dressed as a fairy princess.

The party was at a restaurant, and dinner was served. It's pretty interesting eating with wings on. And Eric had to take his beard off. Ha! It was great fun. :)

Eight Years

Eight years ago, Eric kissed me and I said, I guess that means you're my boyfriend now. I don't think those were my exact words and I didn't say them for a few hours, but that's pretty much how it all began.

Since he's currently in Philly and I'm in Boston, he called me bright and early this morning just to say happy anniversary. It is happy, too, because we're celebrating eight years of growing, laughing, and being awesome. That's pretty great!

P.S. Know what? He comes back on Saturday! As in the day after tomorrow!

[Related: Seven Years]

Independence Day Fireworks 2010

As promised, here are some more photos (in the form of a little video) of the fireworks.

All of the pictures are from the finale, which was awesome.

Summer Internship

This morning, Eric got in his car and left for a 10 week adventure/internship in Philadelphia, PA. Right now I'm sad and lonely, but I'm also really excited for him. I'm staying in Boston and I'll be having one or two little adventures of my own.

This weekend I was in Newport for a bachelorette party and Eric was with his parents, so it was a good thing yesterday was a holiday and that we could spend it together. We got up early and walked to Minot Rose Garden (which has exploded with flowers) and then headed to Zaftigs for a late breakfast. When we walked out of the restaurant we thought there was a fire or something. We were sort of right. What we were seeing was smoke from forest fires in Quebec!

We decided to head to Arnold Arboretum in the afternoon to have a look around. We walked all around the park and headed to the top of Peters Hill to get a view of the smoke.

It was my first time at the Arboretum, and it was a pleasure. We had a great day and took our time looking at all of the amazing trees. And we took pictures of each other.

All day I just kept thinking about what we were doing at that moment, so that I wouldn't think about Eric's departure. But the time came anyway, so I'm extra happy that we had such a great day yesterday. I'll just keep thinking about that.

St Patrick's Day Celebration In Newport, RI

Saturday, Eric and I made our way (in a downpour) to Newport, RI. Our friends invited us to watch a St Patrick's Day parade and hang out for the day. The rain was coming down harder the closer we got, so we weren't sure if they'd even have the parade. But it was a rain or shine event and the 9 of us walked downtown (1 - 1.5 miles) to check it out. (I didn't bring the camera because the weather was so bad.) One of our friends' umbrellas fell victim to the storm after only 5 minutes outside, and we were all completely soaked by the time we got to the parade route. We watched the parade for about 5 minutes before deciding it was idiotic to stand around getting wetter, and we headed to a bar.

It was my first time at a St Patrick's Day celebration of any sort, and as soon as we walked in I whispered to Eric that I was out of my element. I did have a good time, and it was funny to watch everybody. There was green everywhere I looked and the type of dancing that usually happens only under the cover of darkness (it was about noon). We stayed at the bar for about 3 hours and then risked the elements again for the trek back to our friends' apartment and tons of delicious food.

Eric and I actually ended up staying the night, which was great. Sunday morning the rain stopped momentarily and I took these pictures as we headed back to Boston. It was sooooo windy I could barely hold the camera steady (the weird focus in the picture below is evidence). It started up again almost as soon as we hopped back in the car, and it got worse the longer we drove! This rain is just unbelievable (yes, it's still going).

Last night we discovered water leaking into our apartment around the window frames in our bedroom. There's a water stain on the ceiling above the windows and the towel we put on the windowsill is completely saturated. This morning I realized the same thing's happening in our kitchen, and we've got some bowls catching the drips in there. The landlord said 1) he's been living in Boston for 44 years and he's never seen rain like this and 2) they're replacing the entire back wall of our building soon so this problem will be taken care of. I'm not sure how that's going to work!

How was your weekend? Soaking wet, like ours?

Valentine's Day Package

My parents sent me a great Valentine's Day package this year! My favorite part was that they each wrote a a sweet valentine on cutout hearts. My mom included some treats and homemade cookies, which have already been devoured. These cute (and super soft!) teddy bears were also in the box.

Thanks Mom + Dad! You're the best. ♥

Golden Necklace

Eric bought me a beautiful necklace for Hanukkah/Christmas. There are 100 little golden beads spaced out along the chain, and each one represents a wish. That's good, because I love making wishes.

My first wish? I'm so not telling! (If you tell, they never come true. Don't you know that?)

Happy Friday + happy weekend. What are your plans?

*Valentines are now available in my Etsy shop!

Orange + Gold + Purple

While I was home for the holidays I got to visit my friend and mentor, Viola. Not only did she cook a delicious dinner for my mom and me, she also gave me me a beautiful gift.

Would you just look at this notebook? It's handmade, and I believe the paper (for the pages and the cover) is salvaged from scraps that were going to be thrown away. The binding is particularly nice; when the book is open it lays flat, no matter which page your on. Cool, huh?

And it's orange. She knows me so well. ★

One-upmanship

At Christmastime Eric's whole family got to spend some time together (and me, too). Since all the boys were home, their mom wanted to get a picture. Eric got a new blazer from his parents, and he rushed to put it on (you know, so he'd look sharper than his brothers). Since his mom said it would be a waist up photo, he didn't bother to change out of his PJs.

He didn't count on me getting a photo. :)

(He makes me laugh.)

*The first Lost in Thoughts of 2010 is up today.

Looking In Windows

While we were downtown on New Year's Eve, even the darkened stores and clubs looked festive.

Sparkle and shine.

Hello 2010

Hello! I've been absent for a few days, but I'm back in business now! I was pretty busy last week and over the long weekend I upgraded to Windows 7 and did a clean install, which means I had to reinstall all of my programs. I also had to move all of my files to an external hard drive and then move them back. Something about that is completely nerve wracking, but I don't seem to be missing anything. So I've been tied up with that and getting used to my new and improved operating system.

Eric and I had a wonderful New Year's Eve celebration. We started the night early by heading downtown to catch the parade at 5:30.

The streets were packed with people.

At 7 were watched the fireworks on the Common. I learned that they have fireworks at 7 (they also have them at midnight, of course) because 7 PM our time is midnight Greenwich Mean Time! Awesome!

Afterwards we headed back to our apartment to ring in the new year with our friends. We chatted, ate too many snacks, sipped champagne (or sparkling cider), played Taboo, and watched the ball drop.

It was a lot of fun. Tell me about yours!

Click here to check out some of my goals for 2010.

Lights On The Tree

Eric's family has a beautiful Christmas tree in their family room.

It was also super exciting to find a bunch of gifts for me under the tree!

I hope you all had a lovely holiday. I'm looking forward to New Year's Eve! Where will you be celebrating?

2009 Holiday Forest

I like my pictures of our holiday forest this year. (See last year here.) I used a tripod and everything! I also got the daytime look and the nighttime look.

We don't really have any Christmas Eve day traditions, do you? I'm just happy to spend time with my family. It's the best.

Merry Christmas or Happy Holidays or Wonderful Winter (whatever your heart desires)!

*I'm posting a few more photos on flickr. Plus it's Thursday, so there's a Lost in Thoughts posted on the Everything Little Miss blog!

Teeny Tiny Gingerbread Houses

Yesterday I made the most adorable little gingerbread houses. But these are not your ordinary houses, these little guys sit on the edge of your mug of hot chocolate, just to make it super special. My mom found the tutorial over at Not Martha, and she wanted to give them as gifts. Since my mom had to work until 6 last night, I was in charge.

It was my first time making gingerbread houses without my mom. Luckily, she'd already made the dough, so she was able to help me bake & build the first one before leaving for work. But then I was on my own. I made 9 total.

My favorite part was decorating, of course!

It was a lot of fun and not too hard, so check out the tutorial if you're interested!

P.S. We had dinner at a friend's last night and brought these for the hosts. They were very well received!

7th Night Of Hanukkah

I've always liked lighting the menorah for Hanukkah. There's this picture of me as a little kid just looking at the candles in awe. I still feel that way. There's something magical about them.

When I was little I would sometimes get upset about getting smaller gifts than my friends or I'd be jealous of my sister's prizes. As a kid, it's hard to see past the presents during the holidays. But as I get older I understand why people are always talking about the spirit of the season. This year I haven't opened a gift each night of Hanukkah, but it's still been fabulous. Suddenly trinkets don't seem as important as they once did. Now I'm grateful for the life I'm living, the things I have, and the people who love me. I don't really want anything else for Hanukkah.

Christmas is a different story. I'm expecting mountains of gifts bright and early on the 25th! (Totally kidding, family. No I'm not. Yes, I really am.)

*Today's Lost in Thoughts is awesome, if I do say so myself. Plus, there's a special offer! Check it out right here.