The most wonderful time...

Had a morning meeting at the Taj today to look at some event space, and while waiting in the lobby, was wowed by this gingerbread scene of Boston. 

Pasta!

For Chanukah, my parents got me an awesome pasta maker attachment for my Kitchenaid, and I'm a little obsessed with it. Above is my first attempt with it, and it turned out so well...I may never buy pasta again.

Thanksgivingukkah

Yesterday my family did a belated Thanksgiving and Chanukah celebration. My mom put together this cornucopia filled with fruit, dreidels, and gelt, and then we had to add our menurkey to the centerpiece. Very festive. 

Yup

Happy Thanksgiving!

Well it's currently 6 degrees this evening, but it was a balmy 17 earlier today.  The sun peaked out, so I got to go on a walk and see the amazing mountains from my street!  I also found some sweet trails near my place I will check to snow shoe on.

BBQ

I'm no expert at BBQ, but this has definitely been my favorite to far.

Running in the Clouds

My last long run in Asheville (for a while).  On the Blue Ridge Parkway around mile marker 402.  I'll miss this view.

Getting my dance on.

 Capital Cities - broke it down. Because I didn't dance enough over the weekend.

Fitz & the Tantrums - rocked it.

Selfie time!

Sometimes friends get together and take a selfie on the dance floor.

Black Balsam

Happy Fall!  The colors are crazy here right now.

NYCC

We just got back from a super fun (yet exhaustive) stint at New York Comic Con, where we gorged ourselves on all sorts of nerdy goodness for 4ish days. It was amazing.

Folly Beach, SC

Last weekend, drove down to Charleston, SC for beach and dancing in 80 degree weather in October.  Folly Beach is right next to Charleston and full of surfers and paddleboarders.

Town Mountain

The beard to plaid ratio at this bluegrass show was 2:1.  This was taken before the dancing started.

Skinny Dip Falls

Beautiful fall day, time to hike!

Curry

Post run lunch with a friend and her daughter.  I really needed a nap afterwards.

Getting in the spirit

The bookclub I am in hosted a pumpkin carving party, complete with apple cider, pumpkin cookies, cheese & crackers.  It was fun to spread out newspaper on the floor and dump pumpkin brains around.  I recommend this.  Hopefully, my pumpkin will keep until the end of the month.

ScreenDoor

I've been furniture shopping over the past few days and I am worn out.  These chairs looked mighty comfortable yesterday afternoon.  I've been hitting up a lot of local vintage/antique places.  Hopefully I'll have a dinning room table & chairs by the end of the week.

Backyard Camping

Since the Federal Shutdown closed the local campsites, we had an impromptu birthday camping adventure in our friends back yard.  Complete with cornhole, fire, roasted marshmallows, and chili. 

Passion Pit, Part Deux.

This time I got a bit closer.  After this weekend, dancing was really hard but a blast.  They put on a great show.

Lake Tahoe Marathon

Questioning my sanity, one mile at a time.

My first rip

I've really gotten into rock climbing here.  Last weekend, we had a beautiful day of rock climbing near Winston-Salem.  This evening, we hit the gym for some training and this is what happened to my hand.  I taped it up (top photo) to keep climbing.  Nursing it with some anti-bacterial ointment and a bandage. Hoping it heals for next weeks climb.

Weekend Adventures

We had planned to go to Nahant this weekend in search of the Swallow Cave, but you aren't allowed to park anywhere if you're not a resident of the town. So we had a scenic drive around the North Shore and ended up in Salem. The weather was gorgeous: sunny and breezy (and they have ample parking). So we walked around the historic district and the waterfront for awhile.This photo is from the old cemetery next to the Salem Witch Trial Memorial.

The Volunteer State

Made a hiking/climbing friend, which involved a trip to Tennessee recently.

Lunch

My office has recently moved into temp space while our new office is built out (we outgrew our old space). This presented me with the problem of finding somewhere to eat my lunch (besides the kitchen here), which is being solved by a daily picnic in a nearby park with something great to read.

Getting back in the groove of blogs

To answer your snail mailed question, yes, I went to Maine over the 4th. I am now missing it so terribly.

Le Grand Muzzy

Look what I found in the Salt Lake City library! A walk down memory lane to my middle school French class.

Guerilla Crochet

 

A stop sign at work got some decoration.

Passion Pit

A few weeks ago, I entered a radio contest (on a whim) for Passion Pit tickets.  I magically won! On Thursday, after a long day of work & a tornado warning, I headed to Charlotte with a friend to just make the show! It was amazing! So much fun.  Love the music scene.

LA Opera

While in LA last week, we went to see Tosca at the LA Opera.  This fountain is outside the music hall.  Expect some graduation photos coming up.

Sugar & Snow

Meet A, a friend who I met through running (obvi).  Today was her first day selling gelato from the company she started.  Today's amazing flavors were: chocolate, pistachio, coffee & strawberry sorbet.  It was the perfect weather for gelato! Hurray!

Memorials

The weather was gorgeous today, and we headed to the Back Bay, which was full of people and several memorials. This one is on Boylston at the end of the police barricade. 

Headlines

Still in shock. Still sad. Still scared. 

Maple Sugaring

Yesterday we headed up to Topsfield for a maple sugaring tour to take advantage of the last day of the season. It was a beautiful (but a bit cold) day to be walking in the woods. My favorite part of the tour was going into the sugar house where the sap gets boiled down into syrup, it was so steamy inside and smelled of wood fire and maple and was just fabulous. To end the tour my group did a toast with a little shot of syrup, and then Greg and I headed into the barn to sit by the fire and eat hot dogs cooked in maple sap. 

Greenville

This weekend, I traveled south to our southern neighbor, South Carolina.  It was quite the culture shock from where I live.  Far fewer hippies and way more young 20 somethings.  It was nice to leave the bubble for the day and explore.  I stumbled across this funky old building, that is now home to a restaurant.  I look forward to more exploration of neighboring states. 

Brunch

Biscuits & Gravy + Mimosas = awesome.  Louise's Kitchen in Black Mountain

Biltmore Estate

Last weekend, my parents came to visit and we went to the historic Biltmore Estate.  The architecture is incredible.  I can't wait to go back when the gardens are in bloom and not freezing.

Custom House

The Custom House was looking extra lovely on my walk home tonight, also the shade of the sky is proof that's its staying lighter a little later. 

Snail Mail

A postmark that greatly improved my Monday.

Spring is in the air

The daffodils are poking up.  Spring is on the way in NC.

Chilly

Cozy cashmere and hot coffee makes the frigid air a little less harsh. 

Half a heart

Found this little 1/2 8-bit style heart pendant lost in the snow today while walking around Cambridge. I hope it finds its mate soon. 

Valentines

His and hers Valentine flowers; Greg got me a tea rose plant, which I love since it will last longer than the typical bouquet. I made him a bouquet of candy bars, which he was really excited about.

Pisgah National Forest

Post-board freedom = hiking in the 55 degree weather.  This beautiful waterfall created this amazing rainbow.  Looking forward to enjoying the sunshine.

Where's the Corolla?

So...this is our car.

Brrrrrrrr!

I made this lovely snowflake here

Boston (and most of the North East) is getting a blizzard starting tomorrow and going through Saturday. My office is already closed tomorrow (yay!). Snowfall estimates are all over the place, ranging from a foot to 30 inches. Either way, it's a ton of snow. I need to go to the store tonight for more flour so I can do some baking while holed up inside.

Is this the right time to say "wicked pissah"? I just never know.