One-year anniversary trip to Vermont

So that year went by pretty fast, huh? It has been an awesome year, full or so many adventures and a ton of love. Luke and I decided to celebrate our 365 days of wedded bliss by making the short drive (3 hours) to his old stomping grounds in Vermont. Last week we packed the car and headed north to see the leaves change colors. I have seen an autumn before, but never to this magnitude. The mountains and hills were covered in trees, all with distinct colors of red, yellow, orange, brown and green. It is really something you have to see in person to truly appreciate.

To spare multiple posts, I will give you the highlights and link you to our Shutterfly account so you can see all of the pictures.

Day 1: We left early in the morning to beat the Friday rush hour traffic. In a little less than an hour we were already in New Hampshire. We stopped off in Hanover to see Dartmouth College, or what we could make out with all of the rain. A major storm hit the New England area that day dumping 6-8 inches of rain. After driving by the college, we made our way up to Bradford, Newbury and East Corinth. I got to see Luke's old schools, his adorable old house on top of a hill, went shopping and ate at the Perfect Pear Cafe. The drive was interesting as we drove by the river near Bradford and East Corinth. The river was almost at eye level in some areas, whole trees were floating down the river and we even drove across some water. We had to stop about 500 yards before Luke's old house because a whole chunk of road had been washed away. Despite my concern, Luke was adamant on seeing his old place (I would be too) and hit the gas as we drove over what was left of the road and a muddy ditch.

The big hole in the road about 500 yards from Luke's old house

The foliage, just past Luke's old house.

After visiting Luke's old town, we headed to Montpelier. A mall popped up on my GPS, so we headed there to kill an hour or so before check-in time at our bed and breakfast. This mall was pitiful. It had a fabric store, Bath and Body Works, Maurices and even a Wal-Mart. I love Vermont, but if we ever move there we will be coming back to Boston to go shopping :)

When the clock struck 3 p.m. we made our way to Waitsfield, Vermont to check in at the Wilder Inn Bed and Breakfast. It is a cute farmhouse built in the 1800s and nestled between the bottom of a hillside and the Mad River. The innkeepers, Linda and Luke, were great and so was the breakfast! We loved meeting the other guests and even plan on staying in touch with a couple of them. Luke is also a professional potter and has his own studio called The Naked Potter. We picked up a couple beautiful mugs during our stay.

The Wilder Inn

For dinner, we headed over by the Sugarbush Ski Resort to Terra Rossa. We had a 10% off coupon toward the restaurant and Linda and Luke recommended it to us. Luke and I had a couple of local brews and personal stone made in an authentic pizza oven in the middle of the restaurant.

Day 2: We woke up to homemade wheat pancakes with our choice of pumpkin, blueberry or chocolate chip. Luke went with the pumpkin and I had to go with blueberry. I could have eaten the ginormous portion, but when I saw that I was beating Luke, I decided that I might need to slow it down a little :)

After breakfast, we headed to Ben and Jerry's to see the factory and go on their short tour. The factory is so tiny that the tour only took about 10 minutes, five of which were spent watching a movie and 2 were spent getting a free sample of ice cream.

We then headed west to Boyer Orchard in Monkton, Vermont. We picked apples from rows and rows of apples (11 different varieties), got some homemade jam and baby pumpkins. Since coming home, we've had two of the apples and can say they are the best apples we've ever had. We plan on going up to Vermont next year, even if it is just to get some of these apples. In the afternoon, we headed back over to Montpelier to check out the cute shops and state capitol. The town reminded us of Flagstaff with the original buildings and old-time feel.

Doing some apple picking at Boyer Orchard with my new hat from a cute store in Bradford.

To celebrate the one-year anniversary, we ate at the Millbrook Inn and Restaurant for dinner. The actual dining area of the restaurant is an old living and dining room. The food was amazing and full of local ingredients. For dessert we had blueberry and raspberry pie—so good that the dessert chef wouldn't divulge her recipe.

A covered bridge just outside of Waitsfield

Day 3: The next morning, we had eggs, warm cereal, homemade toast and potatoes for breakfast. We hit the road and I didn't need lunch. Those breakfasts were so filling. :) We decided to stop off in New Hampshire to pick up some tax-free wine. The guy at Hanafords gave our IDs a long look. Probably not every day you get two people in New Hampshire that are from Arizona.

To see more pictures of our trip, go to our Shutterfly page.

Our first Red Sox game

On September 18, Luke and I went over to the Fens to see the Red Sox take on the Toronto Blue Jays. In true 2010 form, the Red Sox lost, but we had a great time and made some new friends.

We met up with fellow Boston Globe designer, Robert and his wife, Jennifer at the Other Side Cafe for dinner. We had a great time getting to know each other over food and beers. After dinner, we headed over to the stadium. This was Robert, Jennifer and I's first ever Red Sox game and Luke's second. Walking through the stadium in worth the ticket price itself. I felt like we had stepped back in time with the pillars, wood frames and old time signage. Even the announcer sounded like he was about to announce Babe Ruth up to bat.

Luke and Fenway Park

Luke and some cool signage in Fenway Park

Luke got our tickets from another Boston Globe designer that was a season ticket holder. We were in box seats along the third base line and right at the end of the row.

The view from our seats

Ortiz up to bat.

Despite the loss, we had a wonderful time with great friends, great seats and great weather. To see more pictures of the game, go to our Shutterfly account.

Jennifer's Trip Home: Part 1

I decided to take a quick trip back to Illinois last month, since, ya know, I had nothing else better to do :) It was a good excuse to head back, and after I eventually get a job, I probably won't be able to take any days off for 3 months.

I got in on a Saturday morning and went to Alexis' in-town softball tournament and immediately got an amazing sunburn. I'm still peeling. Mom took Lexi and I to my favorite pizza restaurant, Monical's and then we went shopping. Mom bought me some cute booties for wintertime and Lexi got me some Sillybandz for my birthday!

Lexi and I's Sillybandz!

Lexi and her pet guinea pig, Sheeba

On Sunday, Lexi, mom and I went to Mom's church and then Dad, Lexi and I went to the softball field to teach Lexi some softball situations. Dad cooked some hamburgers and Lexi and I walked Amanda's new puppy, Piper.

On Monday, Dad, Lexi and I went to Decatur to see Grandma and Grandpa French, Grandma Crose and Aunt Becky. We met Grandma and Grandpa French and Hometown Buffet and then went over to their house to pick some tomatoes. Grandpa gave me a shoebox full of tomatoes to take back to Boston...boy was that fun hauling around two airports, a subway and bus! :) But they were delicious and worth the trouble. After we visited Grandma and Grandpa, we headed over to Grandma Crose's apartment to meet up with her and Aunt Becky. We went over to one of the Crose Family's favorite restaurants, Ted's Garage, for dinner.

Lexi and Grandpa pick some huge tomatoes in his garden

Grandma, Aunt Becky at I at Ted's Garage

Tuesday was full of shopping! Lexi, Amanda and I went to grab Dad's present, visited Mom at work, went to Noodles for lunch and then back to the mall. Amanda got me some snow boots...Bloomington had some good deals on footwear, I guess!

Lexi tries on shoes in Sears and gives her best "Beyonce pose"

More on the trip in the next post...

Jennifer's Trip Home: Part 2

After shopping, Lexi had to make a quick stop at the orthodontist to get her rubber bands replaced. I think she chose hot pink and purple for her new colors.

Lexi gets her rubber bands replaced at the orthodontist

For dinner, we went over to Mom's place, where she cooked my favorite meal: salmon patties, cheesey rice and blueberry muffins. Mom also made a mint cake for my birthday. My family can't get enough of mint cake :)

The mint cake, with only 1/3 of the years represented

The party-goers...

We're the three best friends that anyone can have!

Amanda and the newest addition to the family, Bristol. She gives hugs!

By Wednesday, I was exhausted. We took it easy until the afternoon, when it was time to head to Peoria for a Chiefs game. We ate at Joe's Crab Shack and then got stuck in the restaurant after a huge storm hit the town. The game started about an hour late, but it was a lot of fun. Nothing says "Illinois" more than a "Farmer Night" and dancing corn stalks. We left the game a little early--everyone was so tired and we had to get up early (2 a.m.!!) to get me back up to Chicago for an early morning flight.

It's kinda hard to tell, but there are two corn mascots dancing after one of the Peoria Cheifs hit a home run.

It was nice to see the family...but now I'm trying to convince them to get out to Boston before the summer and fall ends! :)

A quote

"What happens while we wait to have our prayers answered may be more important than what we're asking God for."
-Jill Savage* (www.jillsavage.org)

This quote definitely resonates with me right now. Brought some peace to the obscurity.

*Jill savage is the mom of a high school friend of mine. She is the CEO of Hearts at Home, an organization serving thousands of women through conferences, speeches, books and daily wisdom.

Painting!

We love our new apartment out here, but we had to make one major change before we could start unpacking. The previous renter decided a bright turquoise was an appropriate color for one of the rooms. Every time we walked into the room we immediately wanted out, so we grabbed a couple buckets of paint and brushes and erased all that nastiness.

BEFORE

Luke and the amazing turquoise-neon room

AFTER

Ahhhh, so much better!

This was the first time Luke and I had to paint a room. We learned a lot and are very glad that our first try wasn't at a house we owned (there's a couple 'oopsies' here and there (; )

The New England Aquarium

About a month ago, Luke and I made our way to the New England Aquarium over by Boston Harbor and the North End. Our friends, Carrie and Martin just got year-round passes to the aquarium and highly recommended it...especially for penguin lovers, like myself.

The aquarium's centerpiece is a massive cylinder going up about three stories. The tank is full of fish of all sizes, stingrays, starfish, two huge turtles and various sharks.

The huge cylinder tank

The penguins were by far the show-stoppers of the aquarium! They had Rockhoppers, African and Little Blue penguins in a pond that took up most of the first floor.

Penguins!

While we were there, we got to see them eat lunch and it was very cool how they were fed. The penguins would actually line up! Many of the penguins have grown up since babies at the aquarium, so they were taught at an early age how to get in the box and wait. But some were still working on their patience, and budged in line. It was so cute to watch and see how each penguin had their own personality.

Some African Penguins line up to eat

A Rockhopper and African Penguin hang out after lunch

We also got to see Northern Fur and Atlantic Harbor Seals. These guys put on a little show for spectators and showed off their new tricks like bouncing balls off their noses and bringing back toys.

The seals!

The aquarium was so much fun and we will definitely be visiting those penguins again real soon!

4th of July...kinda late, I know

Sooo....yeah. Sorry I haven't blogged lately. Most of my writing-power has gone toward the ole resume and cover letters. I don't even want to start counting how many places I've applied to.

Enough of that, though. Here is what Luke and I did on the 4th of July!

We decided to spend the day walking around downtown Boston. It was kinda crazy, but we figured we would do this to say that we had done it, in case we didn't want to do it again. To make the day more fun, we met up with our new friends, Carrie and Martin. Martin just started his job as a features editor at the Globe and Carrie is looking for a graphic design job, like me. Needless to say, we have become great friends and love hanging out together!

Kids playing in the Frog Pond at Boston Common

We met up over by the Charles Bridge and went to a cute (teenytiny) Thai place for dinner and then headed over to the bridge to secure a spot to watch the fireworks. The crowds had already gathered by the time we arrived (about 2 hours before the fireworks) but we found a good spot and hung out until the show started.

Here are some pics of the night:

The sky put on its own fireworks show

Red line approaches Charles MGH Station

Fireworks!

Some bombs bursting in air

After the fireworks, the time we had dreaded had arrived: trying to get the heck out of the city. Many of the roads were closed and the cabs were full of people. So after meandering around Cambridge trying to figure out what to do, we said "goodbye" to Carrie and Martin and waited in the awful long line for the subway. Thankfully, this ride was free.

A day at the beach...

We were there for maybe 30 minutes, tops.

Last Monday we wanted to check out Wollaston Beach, just a few minutes from our apartment. I will let the photos do most of the talking. Our first visit may not have been at a bad time because it was low tide...stinky and LOTS of rocks. However, this is not a beach you can go to swim. Those rocks hurt my feet even when I wore my flip flops!

Luke with the ocean and Boston skyline behind him

That water was seriously disgusting!

The beautiful beach

Luke skips some rocks

We took note and will be going to Cape Cod whenever we get an itch to go to the beach. :)

Massachusetts politics

People are more active politically here in Massachusetts. However, judging by what we witnessed a couple weeks ago, they are relatively polite to the competition.

A mix of Tim Cahill , Independent (dark blue signs) and incumbent, Deval Patrick , Democrat (royal blue signs)
Currently, Cahill is in the lead of a 4-candidate race.

We are in the midst of a governor race and supporters from both sides came to an intersection near our apartment.

This jeep drove through the intersection about 5 times in the minute we were there.

Both sides were very respectful and even had polite discussions of differences. It was refreshing after seeing all of the antics in Arizona.

Hambone in the city

Hamilton has been settling down since the big move. He took the first week exploring every inch of this 1 bedroom, 800 sq ft high rise apartment. What he found were a couple new hiding spots and a lot of noise coming from the hallway.

Luke and Hamilton wait for the firemen to figure out there is no fire.

Last Friday we had a fire emergency in the apartment. There is strobe light in the bedroom and Hamilton flipped his lid when he saw the light flicker on and off. We grabbed him and took him down many flights of stairs as the loud alarm screeched through our ears. When we got to the front of the building, we were greeted by two loud fire trucks and a swarm of dogs. Hamilton was in hell. Luckily, it was a false alarm and Hamilton was relieved to get back into the apartment.

We found you!

One of his favorite places to hide is between the lining of the box spring of our bed. The lining is falling off, so Hamilton climbs in and just hangs out for hours every day. He will be so disappointed when we move to our permanent apartment...we will need to make sure he doesn't tear a hole in our bed's lining...eek!

So photogenic!

The day in the life of the unemployed

I laughed when I looked in the mirror today...

****

Not having anywhere to go and the lack of two cars has equated to me at home most of the day. This isn't necessarily a bad thing. Hamilton and I have become closer than ever, we're saving lots of money and I've memorized most of the names on the Ghana World Cup soccer team (Go Kwadwo Asamoah!!!).

The days have been a little slower, both in time and activity, but I'm trying to enjoy the time off as much as I can. It's tough...I don't think I will retire quietly 40 years from now. Besides maintaining a steady bank account, I just want to feel like I'm contributing to society and that I have a place in Boston. Don't get me wrong, I love it here! This city is vibrant and amazingly friendly. But that makes me want to be a part of it even more.

Enough of my pity party. My patience will grow (hopefully). The job will come. For now, I'm going to celebrate this nation's history right where it started: Boston. :)

**** Disclaimer to future employers: This is not my normal work appearance. I will not be wearing a beat up shirt nor will my hair be in tangles...not even on a Friday before a holiday weekend. Promise!

Boston: The North End

One of the things we are really enjoying here in Boston are the different neighborhoods. Each area has its own feel, personality and architecture. The first neighborhood we went to was the North End. We hadn't visited this part on our first trip, so it was top priority.

First stop was Mike's Pastry. I've seen this place on the Travel Channel and Food Network, so we had to see what the hype was all about. We were greeting with a long line of people who had long lists of the pastries, notably cannolis, to order. We chose the traditional cannoli and a strawberry smoothie. It was all amazing. We will be frequenting that place again after a good workout in the gym.


Another great thing about Boston is the history. Pretty much anywhere you walk in this town there is so sort of history associated with it. In the North End the Freedom Trail is the main attraction. You can check out the Old North Church, Paul Revere's House, the USS Constitution and Copps Hill Cemetary.

The buildings we loved:
Whaddya Need pretty much does anything. Love the name and saying it in a Bostonian accent.
All Saints Way is a sight to behold. Definitely brings some peace to the bustling city life.
The buildings are so close to each other that they even squeeze them in alleyways.

The buildings alone are a great reason to visit this neighborhood. They all have that cute revolutionary character to them and are tastefully updated. Each building has it's on uniqueness to it and we had a great time wandering around the brick roads looking at them all.

After the walk, it was time to do some shopping! We ventured back over to Quincy Market and checked out the stores. It was a good way to end the day and get some much-needed AC. The humidity will take some getting used to. :)

Baseball and Obama=Boston

Just your typical Revolutionary soldier walking the streets of Boston.

The big move to Boston

Luke and the moving truck. Our stuff didn't take up the whole semi, just 1/2 of it.

For it being a big move across the country, there wasn't much hard work for us. We are so grateful to The Boston Globe/New York Times Company/The union for the amazing moving package that came with some great packers and the best semi driver (Bob) on the road today.

The packers and Bob came to the house two days before we were flying to Boston. They were able to pack at least 90% of our stuff the first day. The only things left out of boxes were the beds, an empty dresser drawer, a TV and a few clothes. They worked pretty much non-stop from 7:30 a.m.-4:00 p.m. It was so weird watching them do all the work.

All of our stuff in boxes, including 3 boxes of Luke's CDs.

The next morning they arrived and began loading all of the boxes and packing up the beds. Then it was time to load Luke's car. The movers made a teeenytiny "garage" for the car and Bob drove it into the semi using two skinny ramps. That was the most nerve-wracking thing I'd ever watched. My car is en route on one of those semis with multiple cars on it. Hopefully we will get it sometime this weekend.

The inside of the semi. Luke's car went in the empty space.

The movers took off around 3 p.m. with all of our stuff and we were left to our empty house, a computer and a half of a bottle of wine to polish off. We spent the rest of the afternoon and evening watching Glee and SNL clips on Hulu. Hamilton spent his time on the item of comfort he had left: his while towel.

Hamilton enjoyed spending time on top of the mattress and box spring.
The last day, Hamilton slept on his towel.

My cousin, Sarah came to take us to a hotel near the airport. To return the favor, we had plenty of perishable food and household cleaning items to give her. We stuffed the 7 pieces of luggage and Hamilton into the truck and said our goodbyes to Sarah. :( The hotel was disgusting and we were thankful to only be there for 8 hours.

We got to the airport the next morning and immediately found the sky cap for Southwest. There was no way we were going to be able to lug 7 pieces of luggage and an animal through a winding maze of people. After generously tipping the Southwest worker and asking them to be very (VERY) gentle with the Mac computer, we made our way to security. Hamilton had to get out of his carrying case so the airport security could run it through the x-ray machine. Poor cat was so scared, but he was calm and didn't make a noise. The flights to Chicago and Boston were smooth and on time, and Hamilton did amazing. No bathroom mishaps and no screeching kitty noises. He's a trooper.

Hamilton at Phoenix International Airport wondering what the heck we are doing.

Then came the fun part: Getting all of our luggage off of the carousels and then to the rental car bus. We found a cart and made it just in time for the bus. Luke grabbed a car and we were off to find the apartment. Traffic was nice and our corporate housing assistant was at the entrance with the keys. He showed us around a little and then we collapsed. We were so thankful to be in Boston and to have so many people help us on our journey.