A Tennessee Trek

Posted on June 21, 2010
Filed Under Family, Food, Friendship, Health, Hiking, Lake, Love, New Hampshire, Society, Summer, Travel, Weather | 2 Comments

It’s been a long time (way too long) since I’ve written here and I really have no good excuse for my lack of posting, except that I’ve been too busy living life to write about it lately. But in light of recent big life-changing events, I feel a post is in order. I’ll try not to make this an epic, but I make no promises. Here I go …

After a very fun Memorial Day weekend at home with the family in which we ate lots of good food (as always), spent many lovely hours outside in the sun by the lake, had some delicious drinks at Lago, yummy lobster rolls at Town Docks and just a generally good time, Mike and I headed off to Tennessee for a week and a half away. We had a really fun drive down, despite a blinding rain storm in Virginia that forced us to stop about 100 miles from where we wanted to the first day. Things worked out well anyway, as we saw some beautiful deer near our motel that night and some gorgeous views of Shenandoah National Park at dusk.

After surviving another blinding rainstorm at our campsite, we had a wonderful time in the Smoky Mountains. The true highlight of the trip: Getting engaged while hiking the Rich Mountain Trail in Cades Cove. I was completely surprised and so happy, especially because we basically got to bask in the good news for the next week while we were away. Besides the engagement, we took an 11-mile bike ride around the cove (yes, I rode a bike 11 miles near cars and up hills) and went tubing down a river (so, so, so fun and relaxing)! We met lots of nice people at our campsite and thoroughly enjoyed being outdoors in gorgeous weather away from home.

After the mountains, we headed to Nashville, where we hit all the hot spots and dined on some delicious barbeque. We showered, slept in a real, comfy bed and got set for the next leg of our trip: Bonnaroo, a four-day music festival. Little did we know what we were in for …

I write this section with the following caveat: During some points of our time at Bonnaroo we wanted to run away, go to a hotel and come home. It wasn’t that anything actually bad happened to us, but the blinding heat (100 degrees), never-ending noise and total lack of privacy (think 75,000 people and porta-potties) were too much at times. Those negative memories are already fading (yay!), but I will warn anyone that decides to go there: Be prepared for some of the best and worst times all in just a few days.

If we hadn’t had to wait so long (picture driving 12 miles in eight hours) to get in, things probably wouldn’t have seemed so bad. Luckily, the music was amazing. We saw John Prine, one of our favorite singers, from the front row and when he played “Angel from Montgomery” and “Paradise,” well, I got chills. Seeing Norah Jones, Kris Kristofferson, Dave Matthews, Stevie Wonder, Kings of Leon, etc. were all incredible, once in a lifetime music experiences. Luckily those are the memories that have stayed, while the heat and lack of sleep are starting to fade. I think I would’ve enjoyed the whole thing a lot more about five or six years ago when I was more willing to stay up all night and be dirty for days on end.

In addition to all this hullabaloo, we are preparing to move in a few weeks and looking forward to lots of fun summer weekends coming up. I can’t believe Fourth of July is so soon! Another amazing life thing that happened since I last posted: My family finally decided to get a new dog! He’s arriving at our house on July 1, so Fourth of July will be extra special this year. Sorry this was so long, thanks to those who stayed until the end!

Up with the birds

Posted on May 18, 2010
Filed Under Boston, Family, Friendship, Health, Love, Spring | 1 Comment

When I was a child, muzzy read in a magazine about a family who said what they were grateful for each night at dinner. Since we were already having family dinners on the regular, my mom thought it would be nice to incorporate this into them. We did and it stuck. Nearly 20 years later, we still say what we’re grateful for before we eat.

The most common responses are for the food we’re going to consume, the day we had, a recent accomplishment, a guest who has joined us, but sometimes things get more interesting. On Good Friday dinner many moons ago, a young girl of about five said, in all seriousness, that she was grateful for plumbing. It’s a story we still tell today and she’s a high school senior.

Now that I only dine with my family a few times per month (if I’m lucky), I always say I’m grateful to be with them, something that probably only rarely slipped from my lips when I saw them every day. It’s amazing the things that you take for granted.

I got up with the birds this morning and went for a glorious run around my neighborhood. Even Somerville seems peaceful at 5:45 a.m. Lately, with the apartment search and my grandparents’ deaths, I’ve been distracted. I haven’t taken as much time lately to stop, with no phone, computer or television, and just be. I did that this morning and it made me so grateful just to be alive.

A family affair

Posted on May 14, 2010
Filed Under Birthday, Boston, Family, Fashion, Food, Friendship, Knitting, Lake, Love, New Hampshire, Society | Leave a Comment

Things have been very busy around here, which is why I’ve sort of dropped my blogging frequency. Mike and I are in the thick of a hunt for a new apartment, which is consuming an unbelievable amount of time. We like the place we live now, but we really need more space. Plus, its incredibly loud–both street noise and our neighbors. However, if we’d known how diffcult it was going to be to find a new place, we might have just stuck it out another year. Unfortunately, our place is already rented to some non-stupid tenant, so we’re searching high and low for a new place to call home.

We’ve been seriously looking for about three weeks and have seen nearly 15 apartments. We liked one of the first ones we saw (liked, not loved), but it was too soon to tell if it was “the one.” It’s still on the market, so we make take another peek this weekend. After seeing what feels like nearly every crappy apartment in Somerville (and Cambridge and Arlington … ), we decided to look at some pricier units. We saw what seemed like an amazing place last night, but when I Googled the building this morning, it had some scathing reviews on Yelp. Everyone (except one person who probably works there) who reviewed it said it was a horrible place to live, full of cockroaches, mice and possibly rats! And a slew of other terrible things. It looked clean and well-maintained when we saw it, but appearances can be deceiving. I’m just glad we found that out before signing a year lease we can’t get out of!

Our search has led me to several conclusions though: Arlington is much father away from the action than I thought (we are no longer looking there), we took our current apartment for granted, we took our current, very nice and attentive landlord for granted, we lucked out last year by renting from a very nice, normal real estate guy (he is the odd man out in that business), cockroaches are scarier than centipedes, and I can’t wait to own my own house and never move again!

In addition to the apartment search, I turned 26. Boo hoo! Just kidding, it turned out to be far less traumatic than I anticipated. And the day itself turned out pretty well too, despite it being about 50 degrees and pouring rain. On Friday night, the day before my birthday, Mike took me to the Barking Crab, which was a very delicious, if pricey meal. We got a great table right by the window, so we had a nice view of Boston lit up. On Saturday, my actual birthday, we had breakfast and Mike gave me my presents: a lovely ring made by a local jeweler, a bracelet made by a MassArt alum, a headlamp for camping and a massage gift certificate!

We then headed up to New Hampshire to go shopping with my parents at the Tilton Outlets. I picked up a few nice items (thanks mom and dad!) and we headed to the homestead to relax. The was delicious Caribbean dip waiting for us when we arrived and another surprise as well: Borther bear came home for the night! It was so wonderful to have the whole family and Mike around for my birthday. We had a great dinner (roast beef) and then Mike, Michael and I headed out to the local bar for a few drinks since brother bear is now 21!

Sunday was Mother’s Day, so we went out for a nice breakfast and then to the Currier Museum to take a tour of the Zimmerman house built by Frank Lloyd Wright. It was a fantatic tour and the house was just exquisite. I highly recommend this to anyone in New England looking for a fun, and educational, weekend activity.

And on top of all that, of course, we are all still reeling from Grammy’s death. My parents are going to clean out the condo in Florida next week, which I’m sure will be very sad. I’m going to be able to have Grammy’s wonderful collection of knitting stuff, which made me really happy. I loved learning how to knit from Grammy and it was something we always shared together. Now I just have to get as good as she was!

Losing another loved one

Posted on April 30, 2010
Filed Under Family, Fashion, Food, Friendship, Health, Knitting, Love, New Hampshire, Travel | 2 Comments

I’ve sort of been ignoring this thing for a while, but today, I feel the urge to write. It’s been an interesting and sad week that began with a phone call on Sunday morning from my dad telling me that grammy was in the hospital and not doing well. She continued to decline and on Wednesday night, I became grandparent-less. In less than three months, both of my grandparents have died. I’ve heard that people who have been married for a long time (60 years in their case), often die close to each other, so perhaps there is an element of that at work here.

I was fortunate enough to be able to go up to New Hampshire on Sunday to say good-bye, but I still feel like there wasn’t enough time. Yes, she had had two strokes and was currently battling a very bad respiratory illness, but I somehow always believed my grandmother would live forever. She was the feistiest person I’ve ever met, despite her small stature. And she held on as long as she could.

When I think of my grammy, one of the first things that comes to mind is the day I was visiting her in Florida and a massive 18-wheeler from Publix (the best grocery store ever), pulled up in front of her condo. A man got out and handed her a lovely piece of beef, cut specifically to her specifications. She apparently thought the meat department at her local store wasn’t quite cutting it and as an apology from the company, they personally delivered her order. Like I said, she was feisty.

She passed many things on to me, her love of roast beef, knitting, gold footwear and of course, my small size and the gift of gab. She taught me to never back down, no matter what, whether you’re a woman, or small, or wrong. Her travels around the world inspired the travel bug in me and I hope to visit as many wonderful places as she did. People have called me “Little Ann” (although I was actually taller than grammy) and while I pretended to dislike it, it always made me proud. She might have only worn a size five-and-a-half, but I’ve got some very big shoes to fill.

Hey Delta, can you hear me?

Posted on April 15, 2010
Filed Under Travel | Leave a Comment

About a month ago, I went to visit a dear friend in New York City. I flew, something I don’t usualy do when visiting her, because I got a cheap flight and it’s much quicker than any other mode of transportation. Unfortuntately, while I was in New York, the Northeastern U.S. experienced a massive rainstorm, shuttering many airports, canceling flights and leaving people stranded. I was one of those people.

Luckily, I’m a pro-active person because if I wasn’t, I might still be stuck in New York. After discovering that my flight was almost definitely going to be canceled (it later was), I booked one of the last train tickets out of the city. I tried to call Delta for hours (which became days) to no avail. Luckily, I had purchased travel insurance (something I never usually do, but will from now on), so I knew I’d get reimbursed for the canceled flight. Eventually, I was able to contact some from Delta via email and raised such a stink that they agreed to refund the flight. Problem solved, it seemed.

I held off on filing for the insurance since Delta said the refund should be coming soon. Well, it’s been one month and not only have I not received any refund or confirmation of a refund, every time I try to call Delta’s refund number, I get disconnected! That’s right, after getting through several prompts, an recorded message comes on saying that they are experiencing higher than normal call volume and to try back later. They must have some very consistent high call volume because I’ve tried at many different times of the day on many different days of the week and have still not been able to get through. With my refund hanging in the balance, I’m filing my insurance claim tomorrow. The company I spoke to about that was extremely friendly, prompt and apologetic about my ordeal, despite having nothing to do with it.

Bottom line: I am never flying Delta again. They have the worst customer service of any company I have ever dealt with. (And I have Comcast, so this is saying a lot.) I don’t give a rat’s patootie if their planes have Wi-Fi and delicious cookies. What I want is good customer service when I need it. In an age of instant communications, this should never happen. Shame on you Delta, shame!

Happy Birthday Brother Bear!

Posted on April 13, 2010
Filed Under Birthday, Family, Friendship, Holidays, Love, Movies, New Hampshire, Society | Leave a Comment

Today is my baby brother’s 21st birthday. I can hardly believe he’s this old. Partly because time is flying and partly because if he’s 21, that makes me almost 26. Gulp. Michael and I may not talk on the phone every day, but he’s one of my best friends in the whole wide world. As kids we moved a lot, so we had to rely on each other for friendship in each new town. This, along with our Austin Powers obsession, strengthened our bond immensely. I’ve always said that if I ever got married, he’s the only person I would want to stand up next to me, my Man of Honor.

I barely remember the world without brother bear in it, but I do remember when he was born quite vividly. For starters, when my parents told me his name was going to Michael, I insisted that his name be Mike (four-year-olds have a difficut time grasping the concept of a nickname). The funniest part is that I rarely ever call him Mike, it’s usually Michael or brother bear or …

Having a sibling is pretty awesome (except when he and his best friend ::ahem Mark ahem:: steal your Barbies!). You and your siblings are the only ones who know exactly what it’s like to be children in your specific family. The only ones who know all the same secrets and who likes broccoli or mashed potatoes (for the record, Michael loves broccoli, but does not like mashed potatoes–it’s tragic, I know!). You’ve seen each other at your lowest lows (first heartbreak, bad grades, family crises) and at your highest highs (vacations, graduations, first jobs), and loved each other through it all–cheering each other up or cheering each other on.

I remember before Michael was born I thought when I had a sibling if I got in trouble, they’d come sit in my room with me. I also really wanted a sister. Neither of these things came true and I’m glad because got a pretty awesome person to share my childhood with. A couple of years ago, I was at home and Michael turned to me and said “I’m really glad I have a sister.” Well, I’m really glad I have a brother. Happy birthday kid.

Time for a re-invention

Posted on April 9, 2010
Filed Under Boston, Family, Food, Friendship, Health, Knitting, Lake, Love, Movies, Music, New Hampshire, Quotes, Society | 1 Comment

“Not till we are lost, in other words, not till we have lost the world, do we begin to find ourselves.”-Henry David Thoreau

I haven’t written here in more than a week and while there’s not one specific reason why, several factors have contributed to my lack of postings. The first is that I’ve just been so busy and frazzled lately. I’ve been spending more time at the gym, which is great, but also cuts down on the time I have to spend on other things. But ultimately, busy or not, I feel like the blog may have lost some of its direction.

When I first started it, I’d just moved to Boston and my dad was really, really, really sick. It was a great way for me to write more, keep in touch with people and vent some of my frustrations with life. Over time, my dad got better (yay!) and life sort of settled down. I found lots of stuff to write about–books, knitting, food, life in general–but lately, I just feel like this place has become one big meandering mess. But, I remind myself, “Not all who wander are lost.”

For a while I thought of taking down the blog completely, but I think a re-invention is more of what’s in order. So starting very soon, you’ll notice some changes here. I’m working with Mike to make the blog more photo-friendly, so I can show you some of my lake and vacation pictures. I also have some ideas about templates for reviews of books, movies, music, etc. I might also weigh in on the news more. At our college newspaper, The Daily Orange, we had a really cool editorial every Friday called Cheers and Jeers, where we came down on one side or the other of the week’s happenings. These, among other things, will hopefully be implemented over the coming weeks.

Lastly, I want to thank my lovely readers. Many of you reached out when I hadn’t posted for a while and that’s a major reason why I want to keep going. Thanks for reading (and commenting). I hope you enjoy what I have in store.

You’re so vain

Posted on April 1, 2010
Filed Under Health, Love, Movies, Music, Society | 1 Comment

I’ve been dreading today since October. And no, it’s not because I think April Fool’s Day is more than slightly silly. It’s because today I had to go to the dermatologist. My doctor is a lovely woman–kind, soft spoken, knowledgeable–but her habit of cutting things off of my body leaves me less than desirous of a visit to her office. When I last saw the good doctor, she mentioned a little bumpy spot on my forehead that looked suspiciously like a basal cell. I was pretty freaked out when she found a basal cell near my neck/chest area (although it healed so well only I can find the spot), so hearing that something might have to be removed from my face was more than a little disturbing. (She told me not to lose sleep over it: Too late!)

So I went to her office this morning with Mike in tow in case I had a total tantrum. Luckily, he was spared. She did take a biopsy of the spot, but said it looked better than in the fall. I’ll know in a week if it’s a basal cell, just sun damaged skin or something else. My doctor also talked me through a few very reasonable treatment options. So my biggest problem right now is that I have a Band-aid on my forehead. I was trying to figure out whether it was acceptable not to leave the house under such circumstances when I realized I was being ridiculous. The spot is SO tiny that once the swelling from the numbing medicine does down (which it almost has), it will be nearly unnoticeable.

Freaking out so much about a small spot on my face made me feel really vain. Obviously, no one wants to have any sort of physical disfigurement. (The guy in the elevator that wouldn’t stop staring at my Band-aid sure proved that.) But having a tiny basal cell (or whatever) on your forehead is certainly a lot easier to digest than having actual cancer growing in your body. Of course, I don’t want to have a scar from any treatment that may result from this (my doctor assured me I would not), but this is really not the end of the world. Sometimes it’s good to be reminded of that.

If anything, I’m so happy that I found a dermatologist that I trust to help me take better care of myself. Last night, Mike and I watched “La Vie en Rose,” the story of French singer Edith Piaf who died at age 47 of liver cancer after her meteoric rise from the streets of Paris to international fame. Piaf was born poor, a street urchin, with no medical care, and despite her popularity, she never took very good care of herself. Based on the movie, her love of alcohol and later morphine (as well as other drugs) clearly jeopardized her already fragile health. Marion Cotillard gave an Oscar-winning performance as the tortured singer, morphing from a young, vibrant girl to a sickly, old-looking woman. The music was lovely, as were the costumes and cinematography. If you haven’t seen this movie yet, I highly recommend it.

Stories, Food, Life

Posted on March 29, 2010
Filed Under Boston, Cooking, Food, Friendship, Health, Love, Movies, Society, Sports, Spring, Weather | Leave a Comment

I finally took the plunge and got my hair cut after nearly two years of letting it grow. It was a great way to start the weekend because it was relaxing and I was well-groomed to meet Mike for dinner after. The actual cut isn’t anything fancy, just a little trim with some shaping. It does look a lot better though–lighter and less mop-like. I highly recommend Romina at Enzo & Co. on Newbury Street, as she does a great job with no fuss–my kind of hair cut!

After my hair cut, Mike met me downtown so that we could nosh on some yummy dinner at Legal Seafood. We both ordered from the restaurant week menu: clam chowder, crab cakes for Mike, crab legs for me, and key lime pie and Boston cream pie for dessert. It was seriously delicious and indulgent–a wonderful start to the weekend! We watched “Gentlemen Prefer Blondes” starring Marilyn Monroe as doe-eyed, diamond-obsessed Lorelei. The movie was wonderful and reminded me of how much I enjoy old films.

Despite the cold weather, Mike and I trekked to the outlet mall on Saturday to get some new clothes for spring. I finally replaced my four-year-old Converse sneakers and Mike even purchased his first pair. I also got some cute new spring tops in soft cotton, which is wonderful because I am so tired of wool! We made the mistake of eating at Friendly’s for lunch, which was good going down but settled a bit heavy on the way home. I’ll blame it on shopping-induced starvation. After taking an afternoon nap (can’t remember the last time that happened), we met up with some friends at Christopher’s in Porter Square. It’s been a while since we all went out together on the weekend, so it was a really nice night.

Yesterday Mike and I hit up the gym to try to work off some of the Friendly’s lunch and then did a ton of errands. After running around for most of the day, we went home to relax. I watched “My Sister’s Keeper,” which is an adaptation of the Jodi Piccoult novel by the same name (the book is amazing, my favorite of hers). For a movie that was taken from a book, I think it was actually pretty good. The whole ending was completely changed and large chunks were missing from the middle, but overall, it was very cohesive and enjoyable–something most books-turned-movies are not.

After the movie, I made a really delicious dinner of sole fillets wrapped around shrimp in an herb cream sauce. The recipe was from “Stories, Food, Life,” a cookbook published by North Country Public Radio in New York that Mike and I purchased at his family friend’s pottery studio. It’s full of many wholesome, delicious recipes often accompanied by lovely stories and photos from the area. It’s like having a collection of recipes from family and friends bound nicely on good paper with color pictures.

Dreaming of summer

Posted on March 25, 2010
Filed Under Books, Fashion, Food, Lake, Love, Movies, New Hampshire, Summer, Weather | Leave a Comment

The other day, I watched “The Time Traveler’s Wife,” starring one of my favorite actresses, Rachel McAdams. The movie tells the story of a man who has a genetic disorder that causes him to travel through time and of the girl/woman he meets in his travels. I thought I had read this book, but I think I was actually remembering “The Memory Keepers Daughter,” which was an excellent read that kept me up all night finishing it. After watching this movie, I realized I had definitely not read the book, but wished I had, as it took me a while to understand what was going on.

While it turned out to be pretty decent in the end, I was quite lost for the first half of the film. I think McAdams was adorable, as always, but the story just seemed too pared down and crammed into too little time. I imagine the book, which has received much praise, is infinitely better, and I plan to read it soon.

The one thing this movie did though was to remind me of how fleeting life is. Despite my initial confusion, the end of the movie did bring tears to my eyes, mostly because the love McAdams felt for her time traveler was palpable. Sometimes life isn’t fair, in fact, it mostly isn’t, and this movie reminded me of that. While I wouldn’t really call this a great movie, it did inspire me to live each day more fully, appreciating each person and moment in my life. So in the end, it was, for me, worth watching.

In other, less serious, news: The ice is out on Lake Winnipesaukee! This is the earliest it’s ever gone out since records have been kept, beating the previous record by four whole days. Between that and word that Sam Adams Summer Ale has been spotted, I’m dreaming of summer. After last summer was so incredibly diappointing, I’m so excited for flip flips, sundresses, bathing suits, lobster rolls, Summer Ale and long, lazy days at the lake. Unfortunately, it might snow here a bit tomorrow morning, a stark reminder that it is in fact still spring in New England. But that’s not going to stop me from seeking out my favorite seasonal beverage and possibly some lobster this weekend!

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