Weekend
November 8, 2009 at 7:02 pm | In Starbucks, little bug, the 'burbs, weekend | Leave a CommentTags: condo for sale Milton
Saturday
First stop: haircut.
The before shot:
The after shot:
Haircut was followed by breakfast at our “old” Starbucks on Newbury St.:
Afterwards, we strolled a few blocks to visit our “old” playground:
Being at CSP made me a bit nostalgic. I logged a lot of hours at this playground. As we walked down Commonwealth Ave. towards Clarendon, Little Bug got so excited when she realized where we were going.
Sunday
Four families, six children for brunch. Kara, Lindsey, and I were close friends/roommates in college. Tennessee and Emily are married. Kara’s brother and Tennessee were roommates in college. I went to Columbia J-school with Tennessee. Lindsey and Emily met when they were 7-years-old and went to middle school together in Cambridge. Emily used to be a lawyer at my firm. Lots of connections.
This is exactly why we bought a house with a swingset in the suburbs.
Riding the wave of my kitchen ambition, I made two casseroles to freeze, one for Thursday or Friday night and one for another week. Ingredients: sauteed onion, spinach, browned turkey, penne, Classico sauce, gruyere, parmesan and mozzarella cheeses. I just made this recipe up. Nothing fancy (and I feel almost embarrassed divulging it knowing sarabclever will be reading it…), but on a Friday night it is absolutely delicious. (For brunch, by the way, I made this strada and banana bread from a Martha Stewart recipe.)
Buggy’s little 9-year-old “friends” came over. There are a half dozen fourth- or fifth-grade girls in the neighborhood, and they absolutely adore her. I think they think of her like a pet. They knock on the door and give her big hugs and play with her for a bit but then clearly grow a bit bored of a barely literate 2-year-old and eventually send her on her way. Buggy, however, worships them. “There are my friends!” she cries happily whenever she sees them out on the sidewalk rollerblading or drawing with chalk.
Finally, we went to our condo to take some pictures for our upcoming all-out marketing blitz. Someday, if I’m completely devoid of inspiration, I’ll tell the long tale of the condo that we thought we sold and so therefore contracted to buy our new house, but the buyer backed out and now we have two mortgages (hello, mortgage interest deduction!) If you, or anyone you know, wants a new construction two-bedroom, two-bath next to the red line in Milton, MA, with a water view, let me know… I couldn’t be more serious.
See how nice the view is?
Happy Halloween: Weekend in the ‘burbs
November 2, 2009 at 9:14 am | In little bug, the 'burbs, weekend | 1 Comment
I loved Halloween in Back Bay — the big party at Clarendon Street Playground (complete with hayrides), the spooky front yards, and the kids running up and down the brownstone steps. Halloween in the suburbs proved to be very similar to the Halloweens of my childhood — jack’o'lanterns, dads herding kids up and down the street while moms stay home to pass out candy, and the two waves of trick-or-treaters — the little kids shortly after dark, the older kids showing up after you thought you were done for the night (with questionable effort put into their costumes — a t-shirt and mask just doesn’t cut it, kids…)
Little Bug — little ladybug! — wasn’t so sure of the whole routine at first. “I want to go to my home,” she said at one point. But then we ran into our neighbors Kate and May (two other two-year-old girls) and their parents and hit a couple of houses with them, and she started to get into it. As we were walking home, finally, her pumpkin bucket full of candy that she’d never eat, she said, happily, “I’m in Halloween!”
Fortunately, what she remembered about Halloween night was the costumes (she woke up this morning saying, “I want to be a witch! I want to be a scarecrow!”), and, so far, not the candy.
This weekend also was spent raking and jumping in leaves. Tim raked the whole yard on Saturday, only to have to re-rake Sunday after Saturday’s wind and late-night rain. Buggy is a big help.
Littlge Buggy Update: Fall
October 26, 2009 at 9:53 am | In little bug, the 'burbs, weekend, yoga | Leave a CommentAs I’ve written about before, one of my biggest flaws as a parent — bigger, perhaps, then still giving my 2.3 year old a bottle of milk in her crib every night — is that I am terrible at documenting Little Buggy’s childhood. I don’t have a baby book or photo albums, nor do I update photos in frames. Probably because I take so very few photos.
Case in point: we had half a dozen or so of Little Buggy’s “friends” over on Sunday for a Pumpkin Carving party. It was chaos. And a hoot. (Damage done: one bruised forehead, two bloody lips [including my own!], one broken toy piano key. Not too bad!) And I didn’t take one photo. Hopefully, others will send me theirs, but I was too busy carving pumpkins, refreshing sippy cups, and pouring white wine.
Ah, if I only had an iPhone, I keep telling myself. My rationale is that the iPhone would be semi-permanently attached to my personage, making picture taking unavoidable. The few shots I have to Little Bug this fall are from Tim’s iPhone (see?), but capture pretty well this stage in our lives.
Raking leaves yesterday, a picture perfect Indian summer day in the suburbs. (Note the swing set in the background!)
Taken Thursday night and emailed to me while I worked late. Little Buggy had donned one of my yoga tank tops and was “doing yoga” in our bedroom. I’m assuming her arms are making their way into “mountain pose”?
Reunions 2009
June 2, 2009 at 8:49 pm | In little bug, weekend | Leave a CommentWe headed down to Princeton this past Saturday for Reunions and the P-rade. It was my first Reunions with a child in tow, and, as such, I found myself chasing after a toddler more than I was chasing down beer. Nevertheless, while I looked on with some nostalgia at the drunken crowds on the Ivy dance floor post P-rade, it was a gorgeous day and worth every second of the drive to see dear friends with whom I feel like I can pick up immediately (maybe because we are all wearing orange shirts). I could quite easily digress into some serious sap, so instead I’ll pilfer directly (and with permission) from an email Lacy (a professional writer, obviously) sent out early Sunday morning (some names have been changed to protect the innocent…):
Highlights
At around the Class of 2001 mark during the P-rade, Teddy produces an ice-cold bottle of white wine and cups (!) from her shoulder cooler.
Char’s discourse on the pluses and minuses of dudes in the Class of 2005.
Sage McCoy is a REDHEAD!
Little Bug with Sage, the REDHEAD (though you can’t tell here). (Also, Ed Note: Lacy, the writer of this email is herself a redhead, thus the ALLCAPS!)
The Smyth boys enraptured over the bands, tiger balloons, and mardi gras beads.
Mischievous Smyth boys, whose parents, it should be noted met at Reunions (her first, his fifth).
[Little Bug] Murphy liberating, conceivably from the grass somewhere, her own cold can of Miller Lite, and throwing the unopened can back like a pro.
Yikes.
[Mags], hungover, looking nevertheless effortlessly cool and chic in white capri pants, and the random boy after the P-rade who told her, “I remember you studying for Orgo.” Yeah, we know you do, Pal.
In between chasing down a cup for Char, Dux issues a lovely monologue on a long walk through and aesthetic considerations of Manhattan.
Will Reinblock torn between a convo with Senator Frist in Ivy and the live band across the street at TI. Very true to his genetic heritage. On both sides.
The late afternoon sun on the Ivy front lawn, the lull before the Class of 2009 made it from Poe Field across the road, the free cookies and burgers and quiet contemplation of the fact that the building formerly called DEC is still all boarded up and weird.
Lowlights
The ‘Great Hall’?? [Ed note: this refers to the huge HUGE addition on Ivy. It's like a cathedral. I suppose people could get married there...]
Absence of Sotomayer with class of ‘76.
That calliope thing.
Calling people you really liked circa 1995 by the wrong names. Twice.
The dwindling fields as absurd new dorms spring up.
Waiting to fall into the P-rade toward the upper end of Little. Like, near Dod. Like, golf carts are not actually that far off.
Like this picture has never been taken before — same orange, different year…
Happy Memorial Day
May 25, 2009 at 3:31 pm | In weekend | 2 Comments
A gorgeous day in Back Bay. And my mind does turn to everyone serving — or who has has served — in unfathomably different circumstances. There is a memorial on the Commonwealth Avenue mall, at Dartmouth Street, to 17 some firefighters (I think that is the number) who died in a Back Bay fire years ago. All day today, fire trucks have come to park nearby and groups of fireman have wiped down the memorial, or have just stood and looked. It is very moving. Just as the police officer who ran the entire half marathon carrying an American flag yesterday — drawing applause the whole way — was moving. I think a day as beautiful as today makes us even more grateful for others who choose more perilous and, most important, selfless, walks of life.
13.1!
May 24, 2009 at 7:36 pm | In running, weekend | 2 CommentsBelieve it or not, the half marathon went much better than expected. When we were lined up at the start, the announcer said it was 87% humidity — yikes. There were 8,000 other runners (supposedly), which is always motivating, and Ellen and I were in much better shape by mile 10 at this race than the last half marathon we ran (last April) — we even managed to finish five minutes faster! I knew I was more mentally prepared for this race (if much less physically prepared), but it made for what was actually a fun race!
Mile 7
Mile 13
Hooray!
The gang gets back together
May 23, 2009 at 9:34 am | In little bug, weekend | Leave a CommentTags: Isis Maternity Great Beginnings
To kick off our Memorial Day weekend, Little Bug and I went to meet our old “baby group” friends at a park for a late afternoon playdate. These women were in my Isis Great Beginnings class, about which I have written before, and they shared those first few sleepless, confusing weeks with me, as we watched our babies scream and spit up (especially mine), while we sat in a circle and learned about how to take care of them, I guess — although mostly I remember it as a place to voice insecurities and frustrations with nursing, husbands, and flabby stomachs. It sounds totally yuppie (obviously) and even slightly touch-feely (OK, very), but it was a wonderful experience, and I’m lucky to have had such a support group.
Some of us have gone back to work to varying degrees, some of us have since had new babies, but we have kept in touch, via email and Facebook. I know that some of the moms and babies see each other pretty regularly, and I miss that camaraderie. But as we marveled over the size of our kids yesterday (especially my daughter’s size 8 shoes at 22.5 months!), I realized that these friendships started off with such a shared intensity of experience that it’s quite easy to pick up where you left off.
Halloween 2007
May 2009
13.1
May 21, 2009 at 10:45 am | In running, weekend, yoga | 3 CommentsTags: run to remember half marathon, running
I’ve run one marathon (when 13 years younger and 13 pounds lighter), and two other half marathons. When I’m “training” for one of these longer races, I have to remember that I feel like crap until I have run for about 45 minutes. Then I feel good for about 30 minutes, and then I feel like crap again. Usually, it’s blisters, or just plain aerobic fatigue. Why do I sign up for these races? (1) I feel like I need to get in shape, and the looming challenge of a race is all that will motivate me and (2) that’s about it.
Here’s what does feel good: after you come home from an eight, nine, or 10-mile training run and are showered and have eaten whatever you feel like because you’ve just burned 2,000 calories and then and walk around ever so slightly sore in the hips for the rest of the day. Here’s what also feels good: sitting in a diner immediately after the race, salty sweat dried on your face, proudly wearing a race-issued long-sleeved t-shirt, drinking a chocolate milkshake or coffee and eating diner pancakes. And, also, knowing that a six-mile run is no longer a daunting, long-ish run, but, rather, just an everyday run.
Sunday will be tough. The longest run I’ve done while training this time around is 10 miles (for previous half-marathons I’ve gotten in 12 miles), but I will excuse this with balance this out against my full-time job. I ran 6.5 on Tuesday (felt good), 4.5 this morning (felt awful, but will chalk it up to not drinking enough water last night? I hope?) and will run three tomorrow and will try to go to yoga on Saturday morning. And will then cross my fingers!
Weekend update
April 19, 2009 at 7:20 pm | In little bug, weekend | Leave a CommentTags: Boston Marathon
A beautiful weekend in Boston. Lots of action in our neighborhood — Newbury Street is thronged with marathoners in their florescent jackets and t-shirts. This morning brought the women’s professional mile championship — four very very fast laps from Arlington, down Newbury, to Exeter, then down Boylston to the marathon finish line. Tomorrow is the marathon. I’ll be at work instead of watching the runners take the turn down Hereford towards Boylston and then watching the finishers walk, run, and stagger in all afternoon from our bedroom window, but part of me will wish I were out there staggering in with them (has it been 12 years?).
A few shots from the weekend:
Dancing and singing with an a capella group from BU. (A future Tigression, I think!)
Enthralled by a dog statute.
The closest she’ll ever come to kissing a dog (I hope).
Sunny afternoon at the playground. Vroom vroom!
Good Friday
April 10, 2009 at 12:08 pm | In Massholes, little bug, running, the firm, weekend | 3 CommentsTags: Catholicism, Easter weekend, Good Friday, Master's weekend
It’s Good Friday, and I am at work. I realized this morning that I have never worked on Good Friday before. The good lord knows that I am hardly an observant Catholic anymore; however, I feel strangely guilty for being here (even though it’s not like I would be in church or something otherwise).
Good Friday used to mean those three hours Masses where you weren’t allowed to sit down. Catholicism is still a central tenant of my identity, more cultural than religious, but to this day if I go to a church service that is not Catholic, it doesn’t quite feel like church (even an Episcopal service — the Lord’s Prayer is just ever so slightly different at the end…)
We’re not going to church this weekend.* And I hadn’t really thought about making an Easter basket for Little Buggy (to my mother’s horror — but don’t worry: we have been invited to some Easter egg hunts with friends and their children, so at least she can observe that pagan ritual). I do sometimes wonder if I’m doing the right thing by not introducing religion to my child. Tim would argue that we are absolutely doing the right thing, but I think his more traditional (think: lots of kids, Catholic school) religious upbringing has scarred him more than it has me. Still, a nice, liberal, welcoming church with lots of music and stories of love and goodness (such as the church in which we baptized Buggy — see my prior post on that lovely day, here) would be something I could get into — if it didn’t conflict with naptime.
I’m surprised that today is not a holiday at the Firm — it’s a market holiday, and we are in one of the most Catholic cities in the country. The halls seem somewhat quiet today, and I haven’t received many emails, so even though this is no longer a religious holiday for me, I think I shall mark it in my own way by sneaking out a bit early, taking a long run on the river in the spring sunshine, and taking my baby to the playground.
*In addition to this being Easter weekend, it is also Master’s Weekend, a holiday in its own right that borders on the religious in our house. You think I’m kidding.
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