Dream Home

Nate and I have been looking at houses (online) in the hopes that we will be able to buy a house in a year or two. I try to envision a home I could spend 10-15 years in and several important features come to mind. For one, I want a nice big dining room that can accommodate many guests (specifically my family). In our current apartment, it's impossible to have people over for dinner and I really, really miss it. It's not that you can't set up a table. It's that it's extremely tight and uncomfortable. So yes, the room has to be able to accommodate a big dining room table with several leaves.

The husband definitely wants a nice kitchen and bathroom. I figure we can make any kitchen and bathroom "nice" with a little work. Of course you want everything to be beautiful on the date you move in, but I actually think it would be kind of fun to start from scratch if all of the bones are there (and of course the necessary space). Sure it would take some money but we could eventually make it into whatever we wanted it to be.

I'm also a huge fan of fireplaces. Something about a burning fireplace makes me all warm and happy inside. Obviously, a fireplace wouldn't make or break a house but I would love one. Actually, let's be honest here. It could probably make a house for me. I don't see a white picket fence in my all American dream home, but I do see a dog and our cat curled up in front of the fireplace. Oh, and my husband and I are curled up there as well.

Finally, the yard. Now, it doesn't need to be a huge yard but again, I love my family and friends and want space for people to come over and hang out outside with good food and good beer. Oh, and a pig roast. For whatever reason, I want to do a pig roast in my back yard some day.

So in a nutshell, it'll probably be really hard to find our dream home, but that won't stop me from trying.

Alice

Our good friends Kelly and Andy had a baby named Alice about a month after my sister had Michael. We drove to NH today to see them. We found out today that when baby Alice gets excited, she does this adorable little head shake that I caught on camera today:



We went with them and their friend Dave for lunch at Portsmouth Brewery. I have to say the best part (aside from the company of course) was the most ridiculous nachos appetizer with barbecue pulled pork on top. SO GOOD. I'll have to make nachos at home one night. It counts as "dinner" if it has meat on top, right?

Anyway, Andy is only here for a few more weeks and then he's going back off to sea. Sad!

Baby Michael

Yesterday, we got together to celebrate my mom's birthday. Of course, this little guy came and he was all smiles per his usual self. I can't believe he's 9 months old now. It seems like every time we see him, he is able to do so much more and it's just really amazing to watch him grow. We are all completely in love with this little guy. None of us can get enough of him and his usual trips to visit our family involve being completely doted on by every family member while we ooh and ahh over how smart and perfect he is.



Does he have the best smile or what? I can't get enough of it.

Michael and his great grandmother:



And of course, I found some silly hat at my parents house and we had to put it on Michael so we could die of cuteness overload.

Vacation

Since I could really use a vacation right about now, I started going through photographs from our trips to Aruba and Barbados. I came across this one from Barbados when we visited the neatest animal sanctuary.

They look like a cross between a rabbit and a deer. I'd love to know what they are so if you know, please comment and tell me!

Happy birthday!

From the day that I met my little niece, I fell in love with her immediately. It's hard to believe she's 5 today. There's something magical about watching kids grow up before your eyes.

New TV

This is the story of a new tv. But first, we need to start with the story of the old tv. The old tv was purchased 4 years ago or so and it was a refurbished JVC flat screen. We were excited but then came the disappointment. Literally from the first day, the picture on the tv would shut off when it would overheat. Now, I think this is a fairly "easy" fix. Something about the capacitor etc etc. But, let's just say for the last 4 years we became used to our tv shutting off, typically at the climax of a movie or show or a final play. We started resting the tv as we watched it during commercials so that it wouldn't turn off in the middle of a show. In fact, we got so used to doing this that when we would go over friends houses, we caught ourselves trying to "rest the tv" a few times. At this point, it's freezing cold outside and our radiators are going wild. That means the tv is impossible to watch which is getting in the way of our Lost fix. Today, we had enough and went to Best Buy and purchased a 40" flat screen.

But this is where the best part is. We get home and go to put the tv together and realize we can't find the screwdriver anywhere (for the stand) while I'm holding an open bag of screws in my hand. While I start frantically looking through our drawers for the screwdriver that I know I only see when I don't need it, Nate decides he is going to go to work to get one. I go out to do my laundry and when I get back to the apartment, Nate is home. Nate says we have a problem and that the screwdriver he found isn't the right size, but the bigger problem, he explains, is that the bag of screws is missing.

Now, he knows I'm delicate and so he doesn't directly blame me. He simply says we lost them. I know I had them last so where oh where could they be? I looked absolutely everywhere and nothing. Until I realized I threw a bunch of stuff away out of the drawer with the ghost screwdriver. I start digging through our trashcan and find a small ripped open bag. I show it to Nate and ask if that was the bag with the screws. Please god don't say yes, I think. Well, he says yes. Shit. I start going through the trash and since I'm a germaphobe, I feel like I am going to die but that this is my fault and I have to recover the four missing screws. As luck would have it, I start finding them, right at the very bottom of the trash can. That's right -- not a single one was on top. But, on the bright side, I did find all four.

Nieces/nephew

As you probably know, I am the proud auntie of 4 amazing kids. My sister-in-law has two girls, Alexys and Isabelle. This photograph is outdated but it's one of my favorites and not because I took it but because Sara is an awesome mom and my nieces rule.

And my brother and sister both gave birth in 2010. My brother to a beautiful baby named Sonia in February.

My sister gave birth a couple of months later to Michael.

I'm the luckiest aunt ever.

But hold on, I actually have other nieces that are older than I am. But that's another story for another day/blog post.

Seafood soup

It's cold and snowy out, so I thought a seafood soup would be the perfect dinner. This soup is so quick and easy to make, but most importantly, it's incredibly delicious.

Ingredients

* Olive oil to cover the bottom of the pan
* 1 onion, chopped
* 2 cloves garlic, minced
* 1 (14.5 ounce) can chopped tomatoes
* 1 (14.5 ounce) can chicken broth
* 1 bay leaf
* 1/2 tablespoon dried basil
* 1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
* 1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
* 1/3 cup water
* 2/3 cup white wine
* 6 large shrimp - peeled and deveined
* 6 bay scallops
* 1 pound pollock fillet, cubed

Directions

1. Over medium-low heat olive oil in a large stockpot, add onions and garlic. Cook slowly, stirring occasionally until onions are soft.
2. Add tomatoes, chicken broth, bay leaves, basil, thyme, oregano, water and wine. Mix well. Cover and simmer 30 minutes.
3. Stir in the shrimp, scallops, and fish. Bring to boil. Lower heat, cover and simmer 5 to 7 minutes. Ladle soup into bowls and serve with warm, crusty bread!

(Modified recipe from allrecipes.com)

Our fur baby

When Nate and I first started dating and moved in together, we decided we wanted needed a cat. We scouted some shelters but unfortunately there were no kittens. So, when we saw an ad on Craigslist for free kittens, we jumped on the chance. When we arrived to the house to take a look, we were brought inside into the living room where there was a litter of kittens. All of them were orange and asleep, but there was one gray one that immediately went over to us and started climbing on us. We knew we had to have her. 7 years later, I sometimes ask myself if Smokey is my husband's true love.





Not long after we first adopted her on our roommate's cat:



Yin and yang, sort of:







These two have been inseparable since day one:









And how appropriate: my husband just looked at Smokey and said in a baby voice "bye Smokey, papa has to go to work to make money for your wet food."

Q-Bees Brown-ees

I've managed to lose 10 lbs and I'm trying to lose a little more weight. But, I went to Whole Foods last night and picked up a box of these delicious Q-Bees Brown-ees:

I wasn't expecting much (because really, who took that picture on the front of the box and thought it was appealing?), but I was pleasantly surprised. I don't think that you can ask for more much than a delicious brownie filled with ice cream. The problem is that they are fairly small and downright addictive. At more than 300 calories a piece, it's easy to get carried away. I just ate 2 and if I didn't feel like I should leave one for my husband to try, I'd eat the last one right now. Q-bees, if you are googling your product, please, please let me take a new cover photograph for what I think would be an otherwise really successful product.

What's your guilty food pleasure?

The Evil Snowman

Last year, someone made a gigantic, evil snowman on our street. This wasn't any sort of amateur creation, but artistic genius, I tell you. Definitely the work of 20 somethings who decided one night that making this guy was worth the loss of a parking spot in street parking hell. And, I'd agree. Check out the sheer size of the snowman compared to the car next to it:

I love living in a place where there are four seasons. Just as you stop enjoying the perks of one season, the next is already beginning. Even Winter has its upsides. It's picturesque when the snow has blanketed the environment, you get to walk in snow and freeze your toes, and there is nothing like a hot drink when you return home.

100 Year Old Wedding Cake

Back before freezing your wedding cake for a year was in vogue, my husband's ancestors apparently brought their wedding cake to an apothecary and had it chemically saved. Now, I never heard of this and frankly, I wouldn't believe it unless of course I had the box in my possession. That's right. We own chemically reduced and boxed cake from 1904 from my husband's great grandparents wedding.



I'm glad this tradition hasn't continued because we'd have a bunch of boxes in ziplocks sitting around. But, this little box is growing on me. How cute that these folks loved each other so much that they wanted to save a relic from their wedding for.. well.. ever.

I do have to say that I am dying to open this little box. And just as I am typing this, my husband is clamoring "you didn't open the box did you?" I ask him why and he responds "well, it hasn't been opened in a long, long time.." Yeah, I'm dying of curiosity to see what is in there after 100 years. And what if it's all a ruse and it's not wedding cake at all

Does your family pass anything weird down from generation to generation like this?

Long Weekend

Nate and I started watching Lost. Neither of us ever watched it before and we are seriously addicted. We spent most of our three day weekend watching way too many episodes and are well into season 2 now. Interestingly enough, we went to Woodman's of Essex yesterday for a seafood and antiquing fix and we overheard a couple behind us discussing Lost. We were scared for a minute that they would give away parts that we hadn't seen yet, but it looked like they were behind us.

Anyway, this weekend had some low points. Nothing too serious but it would've been better to not deal with it. First, I read that a Banksy piece sold for $120,000. See here: http://edition.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/europe/01/11/urban.art.sale/. curiousity killed the cat computer, and after googling "identity of Banksy" I got a Trojan virus. Clever, right? I ended up having to shell out $70 and wasting many hours on the phone trying to fix my computer.

Then today, we discovered that someone hit our car and didn't leave a note. We have a bunch of damage on our front bumper and grill. This is the second time this has happened this year. With a $500 deductible it didn't make sense for us to fix the car last time, but this time I think the damage is much more serious. To you Boston jerks who think you can just hit a car and not leave a note, I really hope Karma exists.

And finally, I happened upon this website which shows bizarre final meals of prisoners:

http://www.mediadump.com/hosted-id120-bizarre-final-dinner-requests-of-death-row-prisoners.html

While I'm on my tirade, people's salaries have been frozen, 401k matches have been cut, and just about every perk is out the window. But these prisoners still get to choose their last meal? Now, I'm against the death penalty, but I also don't understand why, prior to killing someone, some morbid minded person decided to grant these people a last meal. Is the point to make the execution less difficult on the person being executed or those executing him/her? Either way, twisted.

Let it snow

We got hit with a snow storm so I decided not to risk my life going into work today. Snow days make me feel like a kid again and there is nothing better than being home from work with my husband. Especially a husband that shovels out your car for you so that you can head to work tomorrow..

Check out this insanity:



Our street. Glad I didn't try to go to work this morning..



My husband's ridiculously amazing shoveling job. The worst part isn't shoveling your car out. It's leaving to work the next day to discover that someone has taken your spot. And the worst part is that in order to park, you now have to shovel out another spot or keep circling. That's city life for you.



Love the touch of dead brown leaves to accessories the snowman..