Vacation Recap.

Well, here we are...back in New York, back to reality. As I type this, there is a symphony of car horns (like TEN car horns) being blasted all at once outside our window -- it's like a wall of sound bouncing off the buildings and coming straight up into the apartment where my sleeping baby lies. Lovely. Welcome home! Anyway, let's pretend I'm still at the beach, shall we? :) 

(much better...)

As I said before, we had a great time. Part of me was nervous that Miles wouldn't adapt well or would have sleeping issues (we had to share a room with him) but it all worked out so well. He did great and we had such a wonderful time with Dan's family. 

There was plenty of time spent on the beach, time spent on the boardwalk (seriously the classiest boardwalk I've ever been to), a day at the waterpark, card games at night, lots of down time for reading books, naps(!).....ah vacation. 

Miles sneaking up on people at the condo :)

One lovely warm evening, Dan's mom offered to stay and watch Miles while we rode bikes to the boardwalk for a night of good old fashioned fun including the arcade (skee ball! ms. pac-man!) ice cream and rides. Such fun! 

ferris wheel!

Another night we drove 10 miles up the highway for a date night in Atlantic City. What a crazy place. We enjoyed an amazingly tasty meal at one of the restaurants in AC's newest hotel and casino, Revel, won 30 bucks at the slot machines (woohoo!), and walked the Steel Pier which has been around since 1898 and has a seriously charming old-timey feel to it...it was all such fun. 

 

(those are birds flying around up there...so. many. birds. creepy)

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Aaaand, I seem to be out of photos! Guess I didn't take as many as I thought. So to sum up: beach vacation ---> relaxing ---> fun ---> huge success ---> yay! 

At the beach...

Forgive the long stretch of silence but we've been away at the beach! It's been such fun reading books, watching Miles play in the sand, walking the boardwalk and relaxing with family. We've discovered that it's *much* easier to take a vacation with Miles plus family rather than just the three of us (which we attempted to do over Memorial Day Weekend). Lots of extra helping hands! More to come later -- plus a whole lotta other summertime fun and life to catch this blog up on -- but until then, a few pictures...

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Blue Waters.

I just downloaded more photos off of my camera tonight from our trip to Florida and my goodness, look at that water. So blue! Couldn't resist sharing a few more on here :) 

Vacation Snapshots.

A few fun snapshots from our vacation last week (yep, I've discovered instagram :). It was a pretty dreamy five days. We worried it might be too hot down in Florida this time of year, but the ocean breezes were so strong and cool that it really wasn't bad at all. 

We spent two nights in Miami and three nights in the Keys. Both places were special in their own ways. And the water...oh that clear, turquoise water! Made me feel like we were somewhere way more exotic than Florida (which is pretty much what we were after). 

Most of the time we sat by the pool or the ocean sipping smoothies made with fresh fruit while reading our books, but there were other fun things, too...like a boat ride! And snorkeling! I just love being on/near the water. It soothes my soul. 

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Reality.

a little taste of heaven ~ Florida Keys

We are back from a lovely few days in the Florida Keys celebrating our baby and graduation and all that good stuff.

Unfortunately, we walked back into a whole big pile of Bad Luck, which is quickly erasing all that good fun and relaxation we just experienced. Ugh, Reality. It's a list too long to relay (you know how they say bad things happen in threes? not so much over here....more like sevens) but includes fun things like: an ant infestation in our apartment, and our car being towed over the weekend -- that is, after it was flooded and damaged by a water main break on the street where it was parked, and -- well...much more. Sigh...I keep crying uncle but the bad stuff keeps coming! Thankfully all the really important stuff is okay: baby is healthy, we are healthy, we're all safe. Trying to keep that perspective in the midst of all these major annoyances. 

More lovely (happy!) Florida pictures coming soon...!

Santa Fe Recap.

 

A little sampling from our time out west. These pictures don't do it justice, but it was b-e-a-u-t-i-f-u-l. Every single day. Warm temps, sunshine, blue skies. Every day! There was hiking around an ancestral pueblo site, snow shoeing up in the mountains, shopping, yummy dinners out on Canyon Road, movie-watching, etc. Oh & the sun (have I mentioned the SUN!?) I didn't realize how much I needed warmth and sunshine until I was able to soak it in for a week straight... 

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...aaand now we're back to lovely New England "spring" weather (30's + snow. yes snow. ughhhh). But I don't want to talk about that. Look at this!

Santa Fe sunset

Florida Recap.

This morning, my iphone told me that it was 2 degrees outside. TWO! Now it's a balmy 11. Welcome home! How about a little Florida recapping to keep that chill at bay?

Bright blue skies, see? Just what I needed. We started the week out in Orlando with my 93 year old papa, who is the best. Still cracking jokes, still telling stories. I love spending time with him.

After a few days, we left Orlando in our little red rental car and headed south towards Marco Island, a place very near and dear to my heart that I hadn't yet been able to share with Dan. 

My dad has had a place down there for the last 15 years or so, and even though he wasn't able to join us, he let us crash there for a few days. Our own little tropical getaway.

Dan loved it as much as I thought he would (it's a magical place). The only bump along the way was a nasty virus that grabbed ahold of Dan for a couple of days, keeping him out for the count and on the couch (I hate to see him sick). But he rallied and we were able to enjoy the last bit of our trip together. 

 There was a lot of quiet, down-time spent sitting on the balcony and staring at the water/boats...some reading, some napping, lots of laps in the pool, plenty of lying out in the sunshine (with sunblock, of course!), walks on the beach, a trip into Naples, and a magical dinner out on a terrace under the stars....

And all the while, snow and wind were blowing all over the Boston area, with record breaking low temps. Have to say, didn't care about that one bit while we were there! (I am caring about it now, though, sheesh. SO not ready for this week of winter). 

That's all folks. Goodnight! 

Farewell, cold weather!

 

Harvard building, post blizzard

I  think I am starting to fully see & understand the infamous "Boston winter" that everyone speaks of....it. is. COOOOLD here! No doubt about it. Lucky for me, I'm about to trade in my furry boots for flip-flops. My winter coat for tanks & skirts. That's right! Heading to sunny Florida for a little family visit and some much needed sun-soakage! Ahhh, CAN'T WAIT. Might be on here next week, might not. Always depends on internet connections (and whether I feel like it or not :) If not, have a lovely week and I will be back soon with some fresh freckles and sunny, blue-skyed photos! 

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!

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!

Vacation Revealed!

at the top of Sulpher Mountain in Banff National Park
Okay, so here we go.....! The answers revealed from Tuesday's post:

1. Calgary
2. Banff
3. Vancouver
4. Seattle
5. Santa Fe, NM

Congrats to Terry's Girl & Carly! Impressive job :) I know that last one was a tricky one. We started in Calgary, rented a car and drove west stopping at Banff National Park, Lake Louise, then made our way over to Vancouver (which is one of the most beautiful cities I've ever seen). After that we headed down to Seattle for some family time w/ Dan's extended family, then ditched our rental car & flew to Santa Fe, NM to see my dad. It was an incredible trip. I LOVED the Canadian Rockies -- Banff & Lake Louise were stunning, the scenery unreal. We took way too many pictures so I won't bore you all with endless mountain shots, but here are a few highlights:

Lake Louise (this picture doesn't do it justice)
bears! and elk! (luckily we were still in the car for these shots)
Vancouver city lights
snowball fight in July at Mount Rainier

Name that City!

So I was planning on just telling you about our trip & the various places we saw, but then Dan came up with an idea that's much more fun...name that city! I will post some photos of the places we visited on our trip out west (that's your first clue), and let's see if you can guess the city/town by the looks of it! I have absolutely no idea how identifiable these are by picture, so we'll see what happens :) I will post the answers sometime in the next couple days.

No. 1:
No. 2:
No. 3
No. 4
No. 5
good luck!