Happy weekend-ing.

I've been really bad about posting on Fridays lately....we usually end up going out, getting home late, then I forget all about it! 

Here are a few pics from the store yesterday (of my display). It was a good experience, overall, though I saw first-hand how the cold weather is affecting foot traffic. So, yes, a bit discouraging at times, but the silver lining was getting to work in a new environment and interacting with the few customers that did make it in. 

Local Collection, Boston

Enjoy the weekend!

Happy Weekend.

Boston Public Library

Have a lovely Super Bowl weekend! I am gearing up for a loooong day of rehearsal today and some Super Bowl fun (complete with chili!) tomorrow. Have a good one. 

Weekend Recap.

candy-colored houses in Cambridge 

It was a lovely, low-key sort of weekend. There was:

~an artists' meet-n-greet at the store in Faneuil Hall.

~indian food & jazz with my beau (remember when I used to call him that? :) in the south end.

~a walk through Cambridge in the (sorta)snow.

~rehearsal. 

~a movie night at home + pizza.

~random errands and apartment organizing.

Nothing too exciting, but oh so lovely!

Happy Weekend-ing!

snowy Faneuil Hall

Disappointed to only get a slight dusting after predictions for a much bigger storm. Between all of our travels, we've managed to miss every single big snowstorm on the East Coast thus far! Ready for something substantial. Enjoy the weekend & stay warm! 

list on a monday...

merchants row, boston

i've been writing/editing all evening, and so my tired brain can't handle any more prose. how about a good old fashioned list?

~it was a good, good weekend. we totally burb'ed it out on saturday night at a mall and a chain restaurant (something we don't often do, but every once & again is bliss :). we even managed to have a romantic & lovely dinner sitting at the bar of p.f. changs. 

~i love monday night tv. dancing with the stars + castle. yes, please. 

~all i want to do when the weather turns cold is eat carbs. 

~dan is up to his eyeballs in projects/papers & feeling the pressure. pray for him if you think of it. thanks, gang. 

~thursday we leave for nyc! a long weekend back "home." sigh. 

~if you happen to be in nyc on sunday 11/14, stop by rockwood music hall at 7:30 where i'll be singing harmonies for my pal, aimee.

~there is something on etsy called a treasury in which a member (such as myself) can curate a grouping of listings into a masterful mosaic of loveliness using a certain theme or idea (such as "magic" or "red squirrels"). these treasuries are then perused by etsy staff for front-page worthiness, and if you so happen to be included in that front-page treasury, your product is then seen by *thousands.* i, myself, have never achieved front-page status, dangit, but i have been included in many beautiful & impressive treasuries. like this one today. and here is my one & only attempt at making one. 

~this list is pretty prose-y after all. oh well. goodnight.

Happy Friday!

Old State House

Feeling better today. Ready for the weekend. 

Have a good one :)

A Fall Dream...

Saturday was a Fall dream. A perfect New England Fall dream. Perfect weather (sunny, 68 degrees), perfect company (Dan...just Dan), perfect day (laid out below -- with pictures!).
First up, Russell Orchards, where we spent a few lazy hours wandering through the orchards, picking apples, eating apples, drinking cider, and relishing in some good old fashioned Fall fun.



Then we moved onto Gloucester, MA, which is an adorable little fishing town (as seen in The Perfect Storm and Mermaids) where we poked around a few stores & artists' studios, then grabbed lunch.


And then onto Rockport, MA, a town I immediately fell in love with for all of it's seaside charm and twinkle lights. Beautiful.



And then back home by 8:00 for a cozy night in and some take-out (I love how close together everything is in New England -- daytrips!)

Happy (Fall) Weekend-ing!

a crisp & beautiful evening in Harvard Square
This week flew by, but I'm sooo glad the weekend is here again. The weather is supposed to be beautiful and Dan & I plan to do some lovely Fall things like apple picking and maybe a winery. And I can't let it pass without mentioning that this weekend (October 9) also marks what would have been John Lennon's 70th birthday. Wish New York was a little closer so we could join in with all the voices that always gather in Strawberry Fields every year.

Wherever you are, whatever your plans, have a good one....and remember: all you need is love.

a Wicked good weekend.

Boston Opera House
It was a lovely weekend filled with lots of wonderfully mundane activities (such as: sleeping in, reading fluffy books, going to Banana) and some not so mundane activities (like: dinner at the castle! And Wicked at the Opera House!). Both were gifts for our one year anniversary, the dinner a gift card to us from my dad (thanks, dad!) and Wicked a gift to me from Dan (thanks, Dan!). The food at the former was delish and the talent of the latter, AMAZING.

AND *bonus* it was absolutely beautiful and Fall-like here on Saturday. Crisp and sunny. The perfect weather for strolling down city streets. (if you didn't know, I love both)(cities & Fall, that is :)

Happy Monday!

Space.

new studio space!
Look! Dan put together the extra desk we had in storage and set it up in my "studio." Now I have room to spread out and a place to put works in progress (besides the floor -- my former storage area -- which Dan didn't like so much (thus the motivation to pull this sucker out of storage) :). It's a little large for the space, but I so need an extra work surface, we're willing to live with it for the next 8 months. I spent most of the day arranging and organizing my new space and now am feeling ready and inspired to get to work. (picture of old space here)

We have a dreamy night of NOTHING planned for tonight. Ahh, nothing, how I have missed you. Take-out and a movie are pretty much the only things on the agenda. So looking forward to a down weekend at home; it's been awhile.

Have a good one! :)

Happy Friday.

downtown Boston
Have a great weekend!
and, ps, this print now available in my shop--->

Travels, Business & Earl.

Leonard P. Zakim Bunker Hill Memorial Bridge
It's a dark and stormy night here in Cambridge tonight (residual affects of Hurricane Earl). I don't mind much as long as it blows outta here by tomorrow morning. We are catching an early flight to Chicago to visit my brother & sister-in-law (and to meet my new nephew for the first time!) and so I will be very sad if our plans get squashed b/c of bad weather. (those of you who know us, know that our travel track record pretty much STINKS. so it didn't surprise me much to hear that a hurricane was headed our way the same weekend as our trip. yup, sounds about right. just see this post for an example).

Aside from all the rain, today was definitely better than yesterday. Although I spent most of it *not* making art and instead glued to my computer reading dizzying amounts of material on SEO (search engine optimization), which is all quite complex. I've really been trying to work on my shop lately and figure out ways to get more traffic through there, and apparently this is one of the big ways to do that.

I am starting to realize that there is much, MUCH more that goes into a creative business than just making art. I mean, I *knew* that going into this, but I wasn't really prepared. And manALIVE it's a lot of work!! I feel like I could literally spend DAYS reading forums and articles and e-books on building up my creative business, getting 'seen', marketing, etc. Which sometimes leaves not enough time for actually *creating* things....sigh. So I am trying to find the balance between the two.

There is more I could say but my brain is slowly shutting down and I still need to go pack for Chicago. Hope you enjoy a lovely (rain-free!) weekend.

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

Boston City Lights.

downtown Boston
Happy weekend-ing!

I love a good Broadway show...

Lincoln Center Theater
It's been awhile since I've been bitten by the Broadway bug, but it's also been awhile since I've seen a reeeeeally, reeeeeally good Broadway show. But since seeing South Pacific on Saturday night with my fam (mom & george were in town - yay!) I can't stop twirling around the kitchen singing "I'm in Love With a Wonderful Guy" (which is true, btw) and looking up Boston auditions online. You know, just in case :)

Definitely go see South Pacific. And also go eat at New Leaf up by The Cloisters (another highlight of the weekend). So. Good.

The Cloisters

The Cloisters
I am happy to report that I got another NYC to-do crossed off my list last weekend. Dan & I have been talking about going up to the Cloisters for months now, and finally, on a whim after church on Sunday, decided to make it happen.


Well, we didn't actually go into the museum, but we did walk the grounds, and I have to say, it's true what everyone says...it really is BEAUTIFUL up there.


I felt like I was suddenly transported to England (especially when the clouds moved in, creating the perfect stormy, moody English setting). That is, until I looked west and saw the Hudson River and GW Bridge.


We spent some time walking around Fort Tryon Park, as well, where there were all sorts of activities going on, including (what seemed to be) an impromptu concert on a hill.


Overall, a really, really lovely way to spend a Sunday afternoon.

It's Friday!

Lincoln Center all lit up & beautiful
Happy Friday! It's been an incredibly full, but good day (I ordered new glasses!). We've just gotten back from a late dinner at Nanoosh (and a post-dinner chat on the rooftop) and are now settled in for a night of DVD-ing (tonight we're watching the Beatles Anthology, which Dan has never seen before. It first aired on television in 1995 and that's when I totally fell in love. Hoping he will fall a little more in love with them too :)

Have a good weekend!

Back...

biking around Stone Harbor on my
super-orange retro beach cruiser
Happy Memorial Day! We are fresh off the road from our beach weekend getaway, which was so relaxing and wonderful. The ride home, on the other hand? Not so much. That's okay, even 4.5 hours on the Garden State Parkway can't erase the memories of such a good weekend away. I will share more photos & tidbits tomorrow. For now, some random thoughts:

*(even though most of our trip back sucked) there is nothing like riding in a car with the windows down on a warm, summer night (especially if a) there is classic rock blasting and b) the smell of the ocean is wafting in...).
*I felt inspired artistically this weekend and am excited to squeeze in some time with the bowls & bracelets this week.
*there is something about the ocean. always puts things in perspective.
*I am so into this book right now. such good storytelling. makes me want to write good stories.

That's all for now. 'Night.

Night Skies & the Weekend...

snapped this while dining with a friend the other night ~
couldn't get over the rich blueness of the sky!
Any fun plans for the long weekend? We are beaching it up in Stone Harbor, NJ. Yay! Have a lovely weekend.