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.
