The List (MA Edition) January 10, 2012

The new year = new resolutions, yada yada yada. Like everyone, we have some very unoriginal new year’s resolutions (eat healthy, get in better shape, read more, keep the house cleaner, and so on). Very unoriginal.

But, we also have another set of resolutions – sort of like this one from a few years ago. This time around, it’s because we’re (likely) leaving MA (exact destination TBD, but C is hard at work figuring this out…) I am trying to make this ambitious yet do-able. We’ll see!

BEFORE LEAVING:

Around Boston
- Take a Duck Tour or a boat tour of the Charles River

- Go to a hockey game (Harvard, or the Bruins) 1/28

So fun! With some friends from our CG, we watched the Crimson (Harvard) take down Brown 3-1.  There were no huge brawls, but there was definitely a lot of checking and slamming each other against the walls.  A fun surprise was that we were in the very front row – so got a close up view of all the action.

- Dine at Oleana, the classier older sister of our neighborhood favorite, Sofra

- Attend morning prayers at Harvard Memorial Church

- See the cheese cave at Formmagio Kitchen (perhaps by signing up for one of their classes)

- Visit the Isabella Stewart Gardner museum and MFA (both recently opened – or re-opened – new wings)

- Bike the Minuteman Trail

- Buy a chicken from Mayflower Poultry Butcher Shop (motto: “Live Poultry Fresh Killed”)

- Jazz Brunch at TW Food  (1/15)

Brunch at our favorite local restaurant didn’t disappoint – we really enjoyed the bakery plate as well as the foie gras omelet and the shrimp and grits.  I’m guessing we may return for another brunch before all is said and done. We were definitely glad we went on the early side – but were also glad that the band started up before we left.

- Go to the Mapparium at the Mary Baker Eddy Library

- Explore Boston restaurants (a sort of general catch-all for some eating that we’d like to do)

Not crossing this one off, but will list new places as we try them.  1/13 – Figs (a Todd English pizza place in Charlestown. Still searching for the perfect pizza west of Marin);

Repeats
- Cheer for the Sox at Fenway

- Lobsta Sandwiches at Alive and Kicking

- Head up to the North Shore and take a short hike at Halibut Point

- Micro-sundaes at Tosanini’s

- Run along the Charles on Memorial Drive when it’s closed on a Sunday

- “Grab” a burger at Craigie on Main

Farther afield
- Visit the Emily Dickinson House (and explore Western Mass)

- Take a trip up to Acadia National Park in Maine

- At least one more visit to New York City (this time seeing a show)

- Go shopping at Wegman’s grocery store (in Northborough)

- Some dreamy weekend excursions (locations TBD)

Not sure if it counts as dreamy, since the temperature was below 10 degrees, but I tagged along with Clayton for an impromptu overnight in New Haven (1/15-16). Really enjoyed the Yale University Art Gallery.

Google Translate is Great! January 5, 2012

Email conversation, earlier today:

Subject: Bonjour

K to C:

On pense à vous aujourd’hui, mon amour. Vous voyez, je peux apprendre le français si je dois!

C to K:

Google translate?

Xoxo

K to C:

of course not! How could you think such a thing?

K to C:

I mean: Bien sûr que non! Comment pouvez-vous penser une telle chose?

C to K:

Exactement

Merry Christmas Eve December 25, 2011

Looking back, last December was full of lots of posts.  I had lots of time on my hands (because I was still looking for work).  This year, we are busy busy busy, although not really with the typical things that people are occupied with in December, and rather work (that I get paid for), not to mention the work of helping C send applications out (which is now pretty much over with); work; getting ready for interviews (for C), which has involved not just normal preparations, mock interviews, etc. but also buying another suit (because probably if he wore the same suit 4 days in a row, it would get stinky), plus accessories (belts, shoes, briefcase, etc.), lots of phone calls (and buying new phones), and so on.  We didn’t even put up a Christmas tree, and we’ve only heard the Statler Brothers’ Christmas Album a handful of times.  

But in the middle of December, for a weekend, we got a little infusion of festive holiday celebrations.  We went to a little holiday food-tasting (yummy), and to the faculty holiday party where C works (fancy shmancy).  And to a Service of Lessons & Carols on Sunday evening.  The highlight of our weekend, however, was the service we went to at Harvard Memorial Church on Sunday morning.  We had never been there before on a Sunday, and weren’t really sure what to expect. But it was a lovely, fairly simple advent service, rooted in the expectation of the coming of our savior that we celebrate in Advent.  The guest preacher that week was Miroslav Volf, a Yale theologian, who spoke about the hope that we can take in Christ’s proclamation in Revelation 21: “Behold, I make all things new!”  Volf’s meditation was a good reminder – particularly in the midst of this busy season  – of the hope that we have in Christ, who will make all thing (who is making all things) new.  A promise of restoration in this broken world – the reason we celebrate this season.

So the happiest of Christmas wishes from Seattle, where we’re about to sit down to a goose dinner, and then later tonight go to the midnight candlelight service. 

Word doodles December 19, 2011

Yesterday, during the sermon at church, C started writing something down in the bulletin.  I thought, perhaps he’s taking notes.  Then he handed it to me.  It turns out, he was not taking notes, but had decided it was high time for us to have a celebrity name:

Brangelina

Claytina

Kriston

Somehow, I doubt either of the options is going to catch.  

Thanks: Thirty November 30, 2011

It’s not Friday, but November is coming to a close (30 days, has November). So a few more things to be thankful for as we close out the month:

26. Lift, the mexican apple soda

27. 2 new phones

28. the bachelorette life

29. advent candles

30. C finally returns tomorrow!

The Bachelorette Life November 28, 2011

I miss C lots when he’s away (like this week, and the week before Thanksgiving). But there are a few things that I really enjoy about being a temporary bachelorette. Among them:

* I can eat whatever I want for dinner – if I just feel like just a salad, or just chips and hummus,or just pad thai out of a box and mochi ice cream, I can have that and everyone is happy (C prefers more rounded, less snacky meals – which is probably better for us)

* Total “remote” control. We don’t really have a remote, but there is no compromising about movies/TV shows – I can watch the cheeziest chick flick out there, and no one complains

* No one to make fun of me when I start getting ready for bed at 8:30 pm!

* The house stays cleaner when there is just one person (who is not cooking much) around

Overall, I definitely still prefer having C around…hopefully after the next few months, the travel will decrease and we can return to well-rounded, home-cooked dinners, remembering how to compromise about what movie to watch, and teasing each other about bedtimes, etc. Though it would be great if we could learn to keep the house cleaner even when we’re both around!

Thanks: Twenty-five November 26, 2011

Another week, come and gone – and lots to be thankful for:

19. Big Game victory!
20. 168 completed job applications!
21. antique malls
22. a break from the cold, cold New England weather
23. no lines at security the day before Thanksgiving
24. Thanksgiving feasts with family and friends (4 over the last week)
25. Reality TV: Storage Wars and Lady Hoggers

Happy Thanksgiving!

Thanks: Eighteen November 18, 2011

Wow, November is flying by! Can’t believe it’s more than half over. This week, we’re thankful for:

12. slippers

13. Microsoft Excel (sometimes I hate it, but the job market would be a lot tougher without it)

14. soup season (this week: Beet and Fennel Soup and Butternut Squash Soup)

15. sweetgum balls, and trees in general in the fall…so pretty!

16. Shad – the gym at C’s office (where we get to work out with cadets at “the West Point of Capitalism”)

17. umbrellas

18. Dinner reservations tonight

Thanks: Eleven November 11, 2011

For the month of November, every Friday (starting today) I’ll post a list of things we’re thankful for (one per day through the end of the month). For the first week and a half:

1. Patagonia fleeces
2. Beautiful love stories
3. Phone calls with good friends
4. Lots of jobs for C to apply for
5. Hulu
6. Several days of sunshine this week
7. Finding an old Groupon for takeout last night when we hadn’t properly planned for a meal
8. Scrabble
9. Our landlord raking the leaves in front of the house
10. Work holidays
11. The book of Genesis

Ten on Tuesday – October Snowstorm Edition November 1, 2011

1. We had a big storm over the weekend. A SNOW storm. It wasn’t big compared to what we will likely get in January, but considering it wasn’t even November…

2. Now it is November – happy Dia de los Muertos! In California, I used to pick up Pan de Muertos on Nov. 1, and let students know they could stop by for a treat during the day. That, I suppose, is one of the perks of commuting by car – harder to pick stuff up on your way to work on the subway.

3. A perk of commuting by the T (subway) is you get a lot of people-watching time. Yesterday was a good people-watching day. On my ride home, I played a game “guess whether or not that person is dressed in costume for Halloween.” Sometimes it is hard to tell.

4. We were bad neighbors and forgot to buy Halloween candy, so we turned out the front lights and didn’t answer our door last night. Luckily our house was not egged this morning. Thank goodness. Frozen rotten egg would be no fun.

5. Instead of handing out candy, we prepared and sent off the first 13 or so of C’s job applications.

6. That season is here when I basically start keeping Odwalla in business. I’m nervous about getting sick (more exposure to germs on the T), and so guzzle Strawberry C Monster. It’s the best. Sort of like those “gummy vitamins” that they have for kids these days – a treat and a vitamin all in one.

7. We are big “Northeast Corridor” travelers this week – C is heading to Providence on Wednesday to teach a class, and I’m heading to the Big Apple on Thursday afternoon for a long weekend (and to watch the NYC Marathon!)

8. Between now and November 15 is just jam-packed with deadlines for C, but after that we have a few other agenda items (still job market-related, but more exciting): new phones (for both of us, actually), and a new suit for C. Our current (flip) phones barely last for 20 minutes of talking, and also just aren’t very…smart.

9. Stanford Football is the best – Go Card!

10. I have my first quilt commission (well, sort of – I donated a yet-to-be-made quilt to a silent auction for our church). The only guidelines I was given is that it’s for a baby girl. Oh the pressure!

And a bonus…
11. 11.1.11