Food Faith Fun

Tuesday, November 11, 2014

[Insert Clever Title Here]

Believe it or not, sometimes my brain runs outta juice and it's about all I can to to just post photos and include a smiley face as the caption. I've somehow become one of those people I never understood - someone who always has something to do and constantly moving from one thing to the next and sometimes even double-booking themselves. Granted I've always been one to be active and involved, but at this point it's kinda getting a little nuts (as you'll see by the photos of my planner I'll include later on). All that said, my apologies for posts being fewer and farther between these days, but I promise there'll be good stuff to show for it :)



First up - beginning where I left off last time, with Mom and Benjamin's visit! (me & my momma)


A belated birthday surprise - getting to go see Fleetwood Mac and Stevie Nicks at the Garden!


Baby brudder <3


Benjamin went to the children's museum on his first visit to Boston 3 years ago and hasn't stopped talking about it since, so we had to go back.


Powering up the lights


Benjamin now...


...Benjamin 3 years ago.   


He spent *hours* on this thing (a light-up game/dance floor) 


Such a tired pup - how did he get so big?!?!


Look look! My baby brother and Little Sister actually got to meet in person!!


And they had a blast at Skyzone


Gymnast in the making?


Sunday dinner to celebrate J-Ho and Abigail's respective birthdays - Nas and Sarah made homemade spaghetti and meatballs


Sarah, Nasry, Jessica, Abigail, and Joelle (4 housemates + Joelle)


Singing Happy Birthday to Jonathan and delivering his cake!


Benjamin *LOVED* getting to 'hang with the guys' - he got to keep this Polaroid and was so proud of it!


House Tradition - birthday people get the chalkboard decorated for them. Since Abster and J-Ho were sharing, had to include a scene that involved both of them (their horseplay ended up leading to a broken window a couple of months back...)


Last day of Mom and Benjamin's visit, we went out to Connors Farm for some New England fall fun


Picked out our pumpkins 


Cornhole with the bro


He was sooooooooooooo intense about the derby racing


(but still managed a wave for sis & her camera)


He lasted a full 7 seconds on the bull!


There's nothing quite like a fresh apple cider donut


And of course we had to do a photo opp in the giant rocking chair 


#fall


Before she left, I asked mom to make me some posole - I had missed it!


Toppings

~Thanks for visiting Mom and Benjamin!!! I love and miss you both!!~


Confused J-Ho face


My room is finally almost done...just need a couple more finishing touches  


A couple weekends ago I drove up with some friends from Aletheia to go on a hike up Cardigan Mountain in New Hampshire


The car - Gavin, Jennifer, Emily, Kristi, and me


Playing a game of musical car seats while we waited for the last car to arrive :)


I felt like I was in a movie...


I'm not even that much of a 'hiker'/nature person and I was enjoying this trip


...but then the going started getting really steep...


...and foggy...


...and cold... 


...until we finally made it to the top! But alas, the fog made it impossible to see the view we'd hiked up 2+ miles to see :(


Most of the crew - it may have been cold, windy, and foggy, but we still had fun together! 


The icing on the cake was being able to go to the Albano's home in NH and get warm and toasty by the woodstove.


Just chillin'


Hahaha we're such goobers


Just driving down an old country road....man I love New England!!!!


I made one of my signature dishes, coq au vin, for house dinner one Sunday


It's sooooooooooo good. Perfect for a cool fall evening.


Becoming even more of a 21st century girl - I got an iPad as part of a referral bonus at work! Pretty sweet, right? Gotta come work for Bullhorn...
(but seriously, email me if you're interested - evarney@bullhorn.com)


Working through this book with my housemates - definitely a cool way to get to know one another better and grow closer to God.


A couple Fridays ago, I took a day off to take care of these kiddos and we had a blast! Not gonna lie, though, taking care of 4 kids for a whole day is no joke. Even with all the babysitting I do, I have a new respect for parents who do this all. day. every. day.


Nora surprised us and made lunch for everyone!


And these guys are SO CREATIVE - they made paper *dragons* to play with


They must get it from their mom - she's super crafty too (as her mantle can attest)


Shoes (photo cred to Abigail Jean Photography)


Yup, it's official - she's a goob.


As a thank you for taking care of her 4 munchkins, Hope brought me back my very own bag of Bojangles biscuits from South Carolina!!!!! I couldn't have been happier :-D


More babysitting that same weekend - this time for Ms. Marin


New headshot before I changed my hair (yup, changed it again)


I *finally* got to catch up with my girl Sarah and we grabbed dinner at Teatro - I had mussels and fries (I've never ordered mussels and had them already shelled before - this was a treat!)


Parmesan truffle fries


I had heard ever since I started working that Halloween at Bullhorn is a big deal, but I had no idea it was *this* big a deal


Each department had its own theme.


My old stomping grounds, marketing, did Family Game Night


Jenga Jen :)


While Tech Support did Richard Simmons/80's aerobics instructors


(they have the pose down-pat)


And Professional Services did Game of Thrones


(complete with fire-spitting dragon)


Sales Ops did Mario Kart


So good!


And of course we had delicious food to top off the party 


That evening, Aletheia had our first Fall Festival - it was so great seeing all the kids in costume!


The next morning I woke up bright and early to get my hair chopped off. I recommend Devon at James Joseph Salon in Medford


Then I met up with Brianna at Vicki Lee's to catch up on life...such a cute little bakery/brunch spot! I got a bagel and lox (something I don't think I've ever ordered) and it was delicious.


Post-cut selfie


And then I went home and colored it on my own...it was supposed to be red but came out more burgundy/purple (and I think I like it that way!). Look at Wyatt and his derp-face :-P


#fashion


So about that planning/crazy schedule I mentioned at the beginning...yeah this is me planning out my weekend. Grocery list on the left, 2 day agenda on the right.


Gotta have color-coding in the planner too...(I really should make a business out of this - I would *love* to organize things for people and plan their vacations)


Boston at night


Boston in the morning...on my walk to work in the drizzle :)


Hanging out with Gloria - we got sweet treats at Flour and then headed to the library. She loves kittens!


Emily Dyess was back in town for the weekend (having moved out to San Fran) and so of course we all had to get together for brunch at our favorite - Commonwealth


Look who has a display in their shop! Craic & Blonde and her pikliz 


Oyvay...You know you should be suspicious when 'locally grown' is in quotation marks...I guess it means 'USA'? As opposed to...Mexico??


Another Sunday, another house dinner - this time poutine! Homemade fries, poutine gravy, scoured all of Boston for cheese curds, peppers, steak, avocados, and scallions to top it off. YUM.


And lastly...on my walk to work this morning. Mid-November and I still get to experience fall.

Life is full, life is good, life is happy, life is...happening.

[ Share on Pinterest ]

Thursday, October 9, 2014

Happy Birthday to.....ME!!!! :-D

I just had one of THE BEST birthdays I've ever had...this year (instead of having a party or dinner) I decided to do a 'pay-it-forward' party where people did nice things for strangers and then told me about it. There were people all over the world who let me know fun stuff they did and it was AWESOME!!!!!! As always....photo documentation:


You can click on this image to make it bigger and read the description of my birthday event :)


I woke up and came downstairs for my breakfast and saw this *awesome* birthday sign made for me by my roommates!


A close-up - they know me so well...


Even 'Juliette' said happy birthday!


At this point I want to tell you about all the great things people did for my "Un-Birthday Party." This picture was sent to me by Simon, a friend in London - he bought a meal for a stranger and explained why (LOVE that I got a picture of it!)

  • Christie - fed some expiring meters (shh! don't tell the meter maids) and gave a Whole Foods gift card to a homeless man
  • Shaniece - got soup for a sick Harvard student who sat next to her in the student lounge
  • Brianna - baked cookies for her coworkers (and they looked delicious!)
  • Jennifer - volunteered at Rosie's Place to help feed homeless women dinner
  • Lacey - made promotional materials for a charity she's helping start up in Yancey County 
  • Jenny - made soup and homemade bread and shared it with a father and son who no longer had a shelter to stay in
  • Obehi - prayed for a woman who needed it
  • Sheba - did fundraising for Leukemia 
  • Sung Yun - gave up her seat on a crowded train to an elderly woman
  • Ms. Christi - helped a student clean up (literal) spilled milk
  • Jessica - gave a piece of birthday cake to the worker at Amsterdam Falafel
  • Alex - got a job at Bullhorn!!!! (not really related, but it happened on my birthday and we've been waiting for this for weeks so I was super excited!!!!)
  • Others - I'm sure there are some I'm forgetting or that weren't relayed to me but I know they happened!



After work I headed out to Sam's at Louis for a quick drink with a coworker


Isn't the view gorgeous???


I <3 Boston


Tagged the wall with a bday wish to me! :) 


I have *THE BEST ROOMMATES* on the planet!!!!! Little did I know they had a surprise party planned for me when I got home, but I decided to stop and grab a bite to eat at Amsterdam Falafel and was taking too long to get home...so they brought they party to me!!! I was *thoroughly* surprised, joyful, and thankful!!!


My awesome roomies <3


They even had the apartment decorated for me! I still got to enjoy it when we all got home haha...


Birthday present from my sister Madeline - how awesome are these bookends???


And the birthday continues...my mom and brother flew into Boston the day after my birthday so I woke up and got even more goodies!!! Presents and homemade chocolate chip cookies from my Daddio :-D

~Seriously this is by far one of the most memorable and happiest birthdays I've ever had - I felt so incredibly loved and cared for!!! Thank you to everyone who made my day so so special, whether it was from a silly voicemail (looking at you Sheila), a gift certificate for yummy crepes from my fellow French-girl Chessa, calls from friends and family, emails, posts on Facebook, or text messages...I felt so so sooooooooo special!!!!~


Transitioning into non-birthday pictures...I got to babysit this sweet girl a couple of weeks ago!


Love her to pieces!!!


One Saturday Nasry and I went to a free cooking class put on by the Boston Natural Areas Network on making dips, dressings, and vinaigrettes at the Future Chef's office in downtown Boston  


Ready, set, MAKE!


Great teaching kitchen with tons of space and tools


Ready to try what we made!


Finished products


Oh my goodness it was all so good! My favorite was the honey-kissed cilantro vinaigrette 


Aletheia had our annual Kids Team picnic after church a couple Sundays ago...


...the 3-legged race was a success!


First *official* house dinner at the apartment - Nasry and Abigail made this amaaaaaaaaaaazing Latin fare


Homemade chips and everything!!


Fall is here!!! (It's my favorite season)


..and with it comes colds and/or the flu. Home remedy? A hot toddy (mmmmmm)


Walking to the train station after a work event last week - Boston = Beautiful.


I was craving Outback's Chocolate Thunder dessert so badly last week, but there are none within a 50 mile radius of me (that I'm aware of), so I decided to make my own. Betty Crocker's Fudge Brownie Mix was a given...but the gamechanger here was the Hood Golden Vanilla ice cream. SO. GOOD.


On Saturday morning I met up with my friend (and former colleague) Robyn, creator of A Modest Life blog, for some design tips and general life advice (she's good for that!) at Fuel America in Brighton. It was great to catch up and I learned a lot of useful info, so get ready to see some updates to the blog soon!


Afterwards I decided to explore the food scene a bit in Brighton (since I'm hardly ever down there) and came across this gem: The Proper Slice.


The search for the perfect slice of pizza is OVER - you *must* get the potato bacon slice. The crust has just the right amount of chew. The flavors are there. The sour cream drizzle and scallions are spot on. Pure Pizza Heaven - yours for the low price of $4.


And later that night, my friend Hope took me out to dinner at Jose's in Cambridge. I felt like I was home! There was a *legit* parking lot (only fellow Bostonians will understand the rarity that is a *free* parking lot) and the food was cheap AND delicious - just as Mexican should be.


Chimichanga FTW


This past Sunday Gloria decided she wanted to come see my new apartment and do arts & crafts (her favorite).


She got a kick out of my roommates (J-Ho made her laugh)


And she made beautiful Halloween pumpkins! 


It's official - baby brother is in town!!! (He's a goober!)


Also official: FALL. My *favorite* season. Just looking at this picture makes me incredibly happy.

And there you have it! A KILLER birthday and so much fun and good times with kids, friends, and family. I am *LOVING* 27, being in Boston, having Aletheia as my home church, working at Bullhorn, and having family in town - it really can't get much better than this!!! :-D


[ Share on Pinterest ]