More randomness (on a Tuesday)...

under the bridge on the Charles
~so. last night. it was pretty fun! i didn't win (boo) but i did make some good connections and got encouraging feedback. plus it looks like (according to the host who books for other venues) it could potentially lead to a gig in the not so distant future. yay! it was a late, late night, but we stuck it out til' the end (even my mom!).
~speaking of my mom: she is on a plane heading back to D.C. right now after a fun-filled few days together (thanks, mom!).
~& back to singing. watching Glee makes me want to be on Broadway. bad. just singing my heart out. (i mean, did you see the "Home" episode??). sigh. so good.
~speaking of Broadway, i've been featured in a Broadway-themed Etsy Treasury. pretty rad. if it ends up on the Etsy homepage that means lotsa traffic for my store (which i need).
~& speaking of Etsy, i've been listing new stuff lately. like this whimsical bird collage ornament, a totally (non-city) new direction for me. (one day, when i was with bored with cutting up snippets of NYC pics, i caught a glimpse of my fun vintage-y bird stickies, and *voila*):


~& these new little star guys:


~that's all for now. time for bed. have a good night!

Randomness on a Monday.

Boston sky
Not much time for writing today (and my computer is not behaving, making everything I try to do on here ten times harder) but a quick post to say we all arrived safe & sound back in Boston on Saturday! Have been busy little bees ever since showing mom the sights & sounds of our new city, sorta half-diving back into artwork & Etsy-ing (me), and "shopping" for classes (which is sort of like previewing) in preparation for Harvard Kennedy's Fall semester (Dan)...among other things.

AND, some random exciting-ness, tonight I play my very first Boston show! Okay, well it's not really my show, per se, but rather an open mic, so I will be contributing only 10 minutes of music to the night. BUT it's also a competition (a very competitive one, apparently, because I had to sign up four weeks in advance), and if I win *then* I get my own show! Or share the stage with past winners. Or something like that. But it's a start! And this is what I did (open mics, competitions, etc.) when I moved to New York, and that turned out pretty well. So I am excited! If you are reading this and live in the Cambridge area (though I really don't think I have any Cambridge readers. Do I?) then come on out to Lizard Lounge this evening at 8pm!

Wish me luck :)

Goodbye, vacation...

Lady Liberty (as seen from the Staten Island Ferry)
Here we are, sharing our last moments at the condo in Stone Harbor before driving back up to Boston early tomorrow (with my mom in tow ~ she's anxious to see our new digs and spend a couple days exploring Beantown!). Not quite ready to say goodbye to vacation just yet (it's never easy), but feeling refreshed and ready to dive back into life up there -- it's been a rejuvenating time of reconnecting with all my people in my city and on the beach. Perfect.

My days are all wonky but I just realized it's Friday, sooo...hope you have a great weekend and see you back here on Monday!

A post about Central Park (of course) and being back in New York.

Central Park Mall
I had some time to wander around Central Park by myself last week during my time in New York and it was pretty dreamy. The weather was kind of cool and stormy, the perfect backdrop for pondering and reminiscing.

But as much as I reminisced and prodded around the depths of my thoughts, I somehow remained pretty pleasantly neutral. I guess I half expected to be hit with some kind of large emotional wave of nostalgia that consumed me with thoughts of my current non-New York life, leaving me in a mush of tears on a park bench. But it didn't. It just felt...normal. Nice.

Maybe not enough time had passed, I reasoned. Or maybe I was too taken with the beauty and greenness of the park, the cool shapes of the trees silhouetted against a steel sky. Or maybe it was because it was still my first few hours in the city, and therefore it hadn't quite sunk in yet that I don't live here anymore. (because, as I discovered later, I was definitely not invulnerable to New York nostalgia and emotion. the first swells hit randomly (or not so randomly, I guess) as I walked north on Columbus past our old UWS apartment, where I had to resist the urge to turn left into our building and climb endless flights of stairs).

But back to Central Park. Even without the emotional waves and deep moments of ponderance, even in it's normalcy, it was still magical and serene. Same as always. And I realized that it will always be that way, with or without me. I can be away for a month, or a year, or ten years, and that park will always be there, bursting with magic and possibility for anyone open to see and feel it. New York is not going anywhere, no matter if I do, and that simple thought makes it all feel very okay.

magical trees of Central Park

Beach love.

Stone Harbor sunset
Greetings from one of my favorite places on earth! Internet has been a little spotty (and I've been a little lazy), and so I've taken a break from blogging and such for the time being. We are wrapping up the last few days of family time down here at the shore (where we are celebrating the birthday of a certain amazing lady: happy birthday, mumsey!).

Despite the rain and chilliness of the last few days, it's been a full and lovely time, and I can't say that I've missed being online all too much :) I will be back on here in full swing on Monday, but until then (as long as the internet decides to behave) I'll intermittently post some pics of my time in New York/at the beach.

Until then...

On my way...

reflecting John Hancock tower
sorry i missed my post last night. so many things to do in preparation for my trip to new york/the beach that i just completely forgot! on my way to new york now (via bolt bus -- free wi-fi!). posts may be sporadic from here on out depending on internet connections and time, but i will try to get on here every few days to share pics and such. have a great week!

The Weekend (& the Gold Dome).

The Massachusetts State House
The weekend was full & lovely (the highlight still being Tootsie, of course). Apart from that we also did one of Boston's famed Duck Tours (are they famed? I keep hearing about them). And as much as I typically dislike guided tours, this one was pretty darn fun. I mean, the bus turned into a boat, people! And I do love boats. And things that transform (into boats). And cities. So I was pretty content :)

I will try and post some of the fun facts that we learned on this here blog over the next few weeks. Like, that gold dome up top? The real deal. 23k gold. (It once was made of wooden shingles). I also took enough pictures to last us for at least the next month, (a good thing b/c I was running pretty low (I don't get out much)).

And on a completely unrelated note: guess what? I AM GOING TO NEW YORK IN TWO DAYS. And am a little bit excited about it :) From there, it's vacation time down at the Jersey Shore (no, not that kind of Jersey Shore) w/ my fam! So. Excited.

Movie Night!

'Movies by Moonlight' at the Boston Harbor Hotel
I love outdoor movies. Love the magic of cinema mixed with twinkly city lights. Love the openness of it all. Love, love, love. So after hearing about 'Movies By Moonlight' at the Boston Harbor Hotel (which is très fancy pants), we decided to head down there tonight for dinner and a flick.

We were lucky enough to get Tootsie (which I swear I had seen many times growing up, but the only scene that looked even vaguely familiar was the one where Dorothy (Tootsie) dons various sparkly gowns for a photo shoot (which I guess is the only thing my five year old brain could make sense of at the time). Dan, on the other hand, had confused 'Tootsie' with 'Curly Sue' and so was visibly relieved when he saw Dustin Hoffman and Bill Murray up on the screen).

Anyway, it was awesome. And ridiculously hilarious. And with a backdrop of the waterfront and boats decked out in twinkle lights, it really couldn't be any more magical. A lovely way to spend a Friday night.

Tootsie

Mr. Bartley's

Harvard Square's famous burger Joint ~ Mr. Bartley's
We've passed by this place a bunch of times over the last month or so (have we really been here that long?), always marveling at the constant line out the door...and so yesterday (after a rather long and tiresome sort of day), we decided to finally check it out. (my (internet) sources tell me that it's been a Harvard Square institution since 1961. which is nothing to sneeze at).

So we went. And I am sad to report that I was a little bit underwhelmed. I wish that I was as impressed as so many others out there seem to be, but I just wasn't. Well, that's not totally true. I did love the sweet potato fries. And the menu (which contains 25+ inventively named burgers like The Jersey Shore and The Bill Clinton). But the burgers themselves? Eh. They were okay, but didn't blow my mind. I'd take Five Napkin Burger (NYC) over Mr. Bartley's any day (sorry, Boston). (have you ever tried the Italian Turkey Burger at 5 Napkin? oh. my. gosh.).

For my next time at Bartley's -- and yes, I plan to try it again, it's only fair -- I think I will do a turkey burger and/or a milkshake.

And that's all I have to say about that.

Goodnight.

downtown Boston
Tonight I am struggling with words. I had a whole post planned, but now feel a bit blah and uninspired. And so I will just leave us with this image of beautiful downtown Boston (as captured by my camera perched precariously atop the roof of our car), and say goodnight.

...goodnight...

Cocooning.

on our walk through Cambridge yesterday evening
So after all that talk yesterday about getting out more, connecting to my city, etc., etc., I have to admit that, although I haven't ventured far from home in the last couple of days, I've had two perfectly lovely and content sort of days. I mean, not to contradict myself, but sometimes it's nice to not be out and about all the time. Sometimes it's nice just to be home, cocooning a bit, you know?

Anyhoo, yesterday and today were two very good days in which I worked hard and long hours on my art (and did some writing as well), then took a walk with Dan around our charming New England neighborhood before dinner, came home, made dinner, then Etsy-posted my recent work and blogged with mindless tv on in the background. Both days. The same thing. And I have to say, it was very nice :)

I guess I'm trying to find the balance between connecting to this place while also enjoying this time of creativity and cocooning (cocoonment?).

And in other news, Dan's brain is melting from Econ Overload.

Goodnight, world.

Where everybody knows your name...

The Bull & French Pub, aka the Cheers bar
We got to be tourists in our city this weekend since we had our first out of town guest visiting! We hit all the hot spots: the Charles River, Beacon Hill, Boston Common (the Central Park of Boston) and of course, the Cheers bar. Well, we didn't go in, but we stood outside among the other the camera-toting tourists and took pictures (well, I took pictures) and whistled the tune and all that jazz.

We also did a bit of a driving tour and I realized that there is still so much of Boston that I need to explore. So many nooks and crannies of city magical-ness. I still miss New York like crazy (had a dream about it last night, in fact: I was walking around Columbus Circle and felt so happy, so connected), but Boston certainly has a lot of city charm to offer. I just need to get *out there* and *in it*.

That's what is missing, I think. I feel a little removed from everything because we are living in Cambridge (which is across the river from Boston) and I am just not out & about as much. There is something about running around, feet hitting the pavement, that somehow connects the heart to the city, you know? I need that. A heart connection to my new city (beyond my Harvard Square bubble)...to feel like I'm in a place where I'm connected and confident, like I was in New York...a place where everybody knows my name and they're always glad I came (sorry, had to bring it back around somehow). You know?

That's all. Cheers & goodnight.

Boston City Lights.

downtown Boston
Happy weekend-ing!

Magical Steakhouse Castle (read on).

...a magical castle in the middle of Boston...
This was taken during our walk around Boston last Saturday evening. Around a corner and then...a castle! Happy surprise. Also surprised to see that it is in fact a Smith & Wollensky Steakhouse.

After doing a little digging on the web, I found this delightful & informative post (from a beautiful Boston food blog that I've just gotten sucked into for the last half-hour) all about this Steakhouse Castle (including a little history lesson). Too bad I didn't know about her blog and the $50 giveaway sooner!

Aren't her pictures beautiful? That upstairs dining room would be perfect for an elegant wedding reception, don't you think? And even though I just ate dinner (our third 10:00 p.m. dinner this week = bad!), I find my mouth watering just looking at these amazing food shots!!

We might need to come up with an excuse (anniversary! birthdays!) to take ourselves out for a nice steak dinner at the Steakhouse Castle (as I am now calling it) STAT.

In other fun news, tomorrow is Friday! And Cynthia is coming to visit! (yippeeeeee). A familiar face! A piece of New York! Can't wait.

Red Sox!

Fenway Park
It was an exciting and perfect summer kind of night over here in Beantown, tonight. Dan and I experienced our first Red Sox game! (it's okay, we're from D.C. so were never huge Yankees fans to begin with). We were mostly there for the socializing, and I was still under the weather and feeling a bit sniffly, but it was a fun time nonetheless. Nothing beats a good baseball game on a warm summer night. And add to that the history of the Red Sox & Fenway Park = magic. Did you know that Fenway is the oldest baseball stadium in the country? 1912, people! More fun facts here.

post-game walk home

Back Bay & New Art.

Back Bay brownstones (and more ivy)
After a trek into the city (twice in one week!) for some work-related appointments in Back Bay (an incredibly charming neighborhood full of beautiful, old brownstones), I am feeling a bit under the weather this evening. Darn summer cold. They're the worst. And so I am trying to take things easy and rest tonight. Which is not easy to do when 1) the only thing on television is America's Got Talent and 2) I can't shake this nagging feeling that there must be *something* I should be doing.

That is one of the tricky things about "being my own boss" that I've discovered so far -- sometimes it's hard to *stop* working. Whether it be sitting at my desk and actually making something, or sitting behind my computer editing photos, listing things on Etsy, blogging, etc., etc., I always feel like there is something I could/should be doing.

And so I am going to keep this short & sweet tonight. But not without first plugging the new stuff on Etsy I just listed! (teehee).

*Finally, the bracelets are back! (and more will be listed this week)*

*And my latest project (drumroll): ornaments!*

I know the furthest thing from our minds in this sweltering summer heat is Christmas and/or holiday paraphernalia, but look how pretty! Plus I think anytime of year is the right time of year for some New York magic, don't you? More of these to come...........!

A few things...

a little pocket of Boston
1) happy Monday! (Mondays are much happier these days for me now that I am working for myself :)
2) we finally left our Cambridge bubble this weekend and went exploring around Boston. it felt so good to be in a 'city' city again. as much as I love Cambridge (and am truly glad we decided to live here, closer to Harvard and Dan's new community) I do miss that gritty city vibe sometimes. so it was nice to be back in the middle of it all, amidst the skyscrapers, snapping city pictures for the blog again (I know my pics have been lacking lately :)
3) we found two amazing places in South End on Saturday night: Masa for dinner & Beehive for drinks and jazz.
4) watching The Bachelorette finale now and whoa. the drama never disappoints! how do I always end up hooked on this show? every. time. I have to say though, it looks like a happy ending this time.
5) new listing up on Etsy! check it out :)