Bird + Seed

Bike Adventure

Such a nice weekend 'round these parts.  We did all sorts of nice home spiff-ifying things.  Like planting perennials and putting up a clothesline.  But what was really great?  Our Minuteman Bikeway adventure to Spy Pond for a picnic. 

We also stopped for beers along the way.  A very leisurely Sunday.  Damon has tomorrow off for Patriot's Day/Marathon Monday [in which it seems like the entire city has the day off- and for good reason- the marathon prevents vehicular traffic all day] but I have work.  yay science.

S'okay.  With such a relaxing weekend I'm [sorta] ready to go back.

This is what's going on

Paucity of posts is mostly due to lots of work + nothing cool going on 'round these parts.  Until now.  We're engaged folks!  And we're gettin' hitched in October.  I bet I'll be posting [and boring you all] with the subject more as I get crafty for the affair.  We're both super excited.  And of course our families are too.  

And here is engaged Connie coming back from TW Food, where we celebrated our engagement together.  Of course we biked there... cause everything is better on a bike.  And in the background is lovely construction work they're doing right out our front steps to fix a sewer line.  Damon was talking to one of the construction guys and he said that the last time some of those parts down there were replaced was 1873!  Annnnddddd.... there is a massive sewer line right under our street [no smells though!] and pretty much all of Cambridge's poop goes down our little street.  Fascinating!  Poop!  Engagement!  That is all!

Hello, 28

Hello, 28.  I guess you and me better get comfy as we're stuck together for a year.  27 was pretty darn good, so I have high expectations for you.  

We ushered in my birthday with a trip to Helmand, a most excellent Afghani restaurant in East Cambridge.  So so good.  

I had the Ashak, which is a leek stuffed ravioli dish with a dal-like preparation on top.  Damon had lamb with challow rice- funny how the food had much in common with Indian food, but still completely differently flavored.

We started with Bowlawni (not pictured) which pastry shells stuffed with seasoned veggies.  Like a Middle Eastern hot pocket!  And ended with Sheerberaing, pictured above, which is a rice pudding heavy on the cardamon.  

Then we enjoyed a relaxing weekend.  I'm still getting used to bringing my camera around with me to facilitate blogging again.  Though I suppose my phone has a better camera...but I use my smart phone primarily for un-smart things.  Like calling my parents once a week.  And that's about it.

All that aside, I have a list of things to do as 28-year old Connie:

- get my PhD [easy... it's next week!  22-27 year old connie did most of that]
- sew more of my own clothes [more on that later]
- re-vamp/re-vibe the blog [off to an ok start]
- save more money
- have friends over more often
- make more food from scratch [more on that later too!]
- work my way out of the week-day rut [ie, don't just come home, make dinner, watch tv, go to bed]
- craft more!
- move all my money out of big corporate banks for good and into my local bank and employee credit union
- line up a new job [eek!  I'll be a post-doc!]

So that's what's up folks.  I better get to it.  28 year old Connie is also a do-er.  Not a wait-er.

 

Backpacking in the White Mountains

Yes, we've moved.  But things are still in a state of disarray.  And rather than allowing ourselves be mired in the little things we've yet to do, we went backpacking in the White Mountains of New Hampshire.  Thankfully, this trip was much more easier going in terms of trail difficulty compared to this spring's journey that we actually got to enjoy the scenery in all of it's Fall glory.  

It was approaching 80 degrees as we started along the Lincoln Woods trail, which was actually an old logging railway- complete with old railroad ties along the way.  It was like a highway- straight and pretty flat.  Until about three miles in, and we lost the day hikers and the trial got difficult and barren.  Mostly just backpackers then.  We entered the National Wilderness area and tried desperately to find a place to set up our tent- but the whole area was bog & beaver pond.  Beautiful, but not really great for a tent.

Night was closing fast and we were starving.  So, after bushwhacking through a bog we set up our tent on the mossy ground- which was really an elaborate meshwork of fallen logs suspended a foot over a bog- which we discovered with each misstep that sent us postholing into the marsh.  In the fading light we went back to the river for dinner.  Dehydrated Pad Thai never taste so good.  But ominous grumbling sounds and fresh moose tracks sent us quickly back to our tent and the cover of dense undergrowth for the night.

Damon says that one of the best parts of backpacking is imagining what you're going to eat when it's over.  I think my favorite part is imaging a hot shower and a comfy couch.  We kind of sped out way out of the wilderness in the morning, motivated by food/shower [and the fact that our water filter broke, leaving us with under a liter of water and we were already dehydrated] and horrible thoughts about the Columbus Day traffic back into Boston.  I swear 50% of the city goes into New Hampshire on every long weekend.  The other 50% goes to Cape Cod.  As for Damon's food, we stopped in the cute tourist town of Lincoln for bagels and coffee and I got my shower about 2 and half hours later.

It was the first backpacking I've done in years, and am totally ready to do more.  But maybe with more people.  And the opportunity to bathe in a river.  I'm not keen on stinky feet.  And if you are traveling with me, you won't be keen on my stinky feet either.

That turned into a longer break than anticipated

I'm not going to try to play catch-up or explain myself.  I just needed to not feel like everything I did had to be recorded for blog-sake.  But I'm back at it now, but keeping my expectations modest.  Blogging shouldn't be a chore, but a joy.  I think we all go through this.  So, that said, how is everyone?

Necessary Steps

1 - Cut yourself a slice of your boyfriend's homemade-perfect-crumb-sourdough.

2 - Slather with raw honey from the farmer's market.

3 - Don't fight it when your eyes roll back in your head.  The nomming pleasure is just too great.

27 Has Come

I turned 27 on Saturday.  We had a party with lots of great food and drinks- and of course- silly props.  

I may be one year older- but that has never stopped me [or my friends] from acting like 5 year olds.  Thanks guys.

 

Un-Rut Yourself

There's something good to be said about routine.  But taken too far even the best of routines can morph into ruts.  And as I am a class-A routine builder that makes me hyper-prone to ruts.  My goal for this year is to keep that fine balance between rut and routine in check.  My goal is to spice things up.  So last night a few of our friends come over for a beer, then we all headed to Improv at the local comedy club.  I used to go every few months and always enjoyed it.  Damon was called up on stage to participate in one sketch.  When the Improvers tapped him on the shoulder he had to come up with some word that they would then incorporate into the dialog.  Damon is great with off-the wall situations like this.  A few of his offerings were 'Grecco-Roman wrestling' and 'preachers'.  Excellent.  We all had a great laugh.

So do you get into ruts?  Have any great and easy rut-breakers?  

The Last Goodbye

While this title may sound sad [or chick-lit-ish?  like a Nicholas Sparks novel] it really shouldn't.  Damon visited for just a few days and left yesterday.  But we exchanged our last long-time goodbye.  Because the next time I see him, he will be coming to Boston and moving in.  In just 2 and a half months 3 and a half years of long distance waiting will be over.  We are both excited and nervous to begin the next phase of our lives- but at least it will be together.  Else this whole post turn into a sap-fest I'll share some pictures of our visit to Georges Island, one of the many Boston Harbor Islands.  With plenty of grassy areas, rocky beaches and a pre-Civil War era fort, it gave us lots to discover.

Confederate prisoners won't get out when Connie is on patrol!  The fort was originally constructed following the war of 1812 which proved Boston Harbor to be a prime target.  It never saw action during the Civil War as naval battles didn't come this far north.  But it did house plenty of Confederate prisoners.  Apparently they were treated rather well.  Though spending years on this cold windy island is no vay-cay... even though Damon and I enjoyed it.

US Geological Survey marker.  We take pictures of these whenever we stumble across one.  It's like a never ending game of Pokemon.  We gotta catch 'em all.

Looking out into the harbor towards the sea.  There is a tiny lighthouse speck on the horizon.  It's the starting point for the 8 mile Boston Lighthouse Swim that Damon will do next year.  Holy Moly.  Makes my marathon running look like a 10k.

Barnacles and cold water and starfishes.  Too bad I took this picture right before I realized the little guy was dead.  But we found lots of sea glass to add to my collection.  I need a bigger jar now.

A long visit + big news

Us, on the Commuter Rail.  5.25$ to get to Providence?  Sure!
 
Sorry for the long hiatus.  The Boy was here for a week, and then in the days preceding I had to get other parts of my life in order before I could sit down to blog.  We had a nice long visit full of sunny days, excursions, relaxation and a bit of stress.  The first day, Friday, I had to drag him into lab.  Lucky lucky boy.  He sat in my office while I finished up an experiment I was running for another grad student- it was unavoidable- and required for the final figures of a paper.  He got to meet my co-workers and see what working in lab is really like.  Sorta.  We took an extended coffee break- that doesn't always happen.  And!  He finally got to meet my good friend EB.  The Boy and I have been dating for [nearly] three years and EB & I have been friends for that long, but they have never been able to meet.  So I'm glad they did- even though EB is moving to Quebec on Thursday!  :(

Miss MR, Mrs EL & Mrs SB all enjoy the Spring Fling

We threw a party on Friday night- a Spring Fling!  I'd say it was a success and we had a lot of fun cooking for most of the afternoon.  Homemade hummus & pita, crostini with St Andre cheese and strawberries, chevre-stuffed dates wrapped in prosciutto, panko crusted risotto balls with spinach dipping sauce and a yogurt and chevre lemon curd tarte with candied meyer lemons.  Stupidly, I didn't take any pictures.  But the tart- wow- so so good.  It's a modification of this one, but instead of the acai I used lemon curd and I topped the whole thing with slices of meyer lemon I candied by simmering for an hour in sugar water and then dredging through more sugar.  The tart is worth it- especially for the oat crust.  
 

So many cute houses in Providence- so many YELLOW houses!

We spent a day in Providence, wondering around Brown and the downtown area.  It's a **really** small city, so very easy to wonder.  I really should have investigated more options for places to check out because it's not conducive to just stumbling upon cute little gems.  We even had a hard time finding a bar [that wasn't a sketch sports bar]  But it was a beautiful city with nice old colonial architecture in the College Hill area and a modern Urban Revival look Downtown.  Brown has a nice campus and we poked our heads around where my friend, a Brown Alumna, told me to go.  Like Meeting Street Cafe, home of huge cookies.  And we both really liked Craftland- which is like Etsy the store!

Me at the Wild Colonial Bar in Providence, RI
 
Closer to home we took it easy- going to our favorite shops in Harvard Square, meeting up with friends, watching Family Guy, and cooking yummy dinners.  We even got to see one of The Boy's friends who recently relocated from Montana to Lowell, MA.  I regaled them with one of our Communist bars, followed by an Ethiopian/Eritrean dinner- all within a 2 minute walk of my apartment.  Welcome to Cambridge- town of many cultures.

Us, along one of Providence's canals.
 
And I said I had news.  And I said there was stress.  That's because we both wrote very large checks this past week.  We got an apartment.  And I'm moving in in a month.  Wow.  He's not coming until October :(.  But we're both excited for this place.  Across from a park! A walk in pantry!  Dining room!  French doors!  Sun!  Plus, it's not too far from where I am now, and in a much more neighborhoody area.  No longer will I emerge from my building on a Sunday morning and have to dodge piles of vomit.  In a month, when I get the keys I'll be taking a ton of pictures to show you all- also to show Him!  As in, honey... should the bookcase go here, or here?  It's going to be tough being there without him.  I've lived alone for three years, but this new place is supposed to be our place.  But I know I'm super lucky to have such a nice guy who's going to help me out on rent, even though he's not living there.  But really, this may have been the only way to do it- my landlord wasn't keen on the idea of extending me lease for 6 months.  And when he comes here eventually, where would he have lived?  Plus I'm ready to leave this place.  I'm tired of hearing my neighbors [loud boys with no concept of inside voice and a girl who constantly is on her phone and stomps around her apartment above me in shoes]  So yay!  Now for more of the tough stuff... packing, hiring movers, moving, dealing with the utilities to get them switched over... it's going to be quite a month, but at the end of it, I'll be in a shiny new place!