How my household has prepared for the hurricane

1. One five gallon jug of water
2. Flashlight
3. Homemade butterscotch pudding cooling in the fridge

Night swimming

Jared has hatched a plan for a night swim in Walden Pond. We haven't been all summer and I'm so excited. The water is so pretty in the dark.

Photo by Cara StHilaire

The last time we swam there it was a freezing cold autumn night. This will be better. Cross your fingers we don't get caught.

Dudes

So, I think I'm done with my post-wedding blog break. Now that it's been a million years. But those years went by super fast for me on account of how much I like my new husband. Check it. He's awesome.

photo by Summer Street Photography

There is now a lot to cover, though. Like the wedding and our wedding night fiasco. Yes, a fiasco with yelling, three dollar and fifty cent tolls, airplanes, and Dunkin' Donuts (just kidding, we avoided the DD).

Also, this summer, we have found ourselves a new little home for the fall. It's a small two bedroom apartment in Dorchester about 30 seconds from the JFK redline stop. I craigslisted like a maniac to find it. Many times Jared had to demand that I stop refreshing the page and put the computer away. But, my efforts resulted in totally awesome rent in pretty decent location and no broker's fee, despite the best efforts of the entire Boston/Cambridge real estate market. We are currently in the midst of moving in, but we have several weeks in which to do it. We're also doing a bunch of little projects to make it our very own/better.

More to come.

Pre-invitation invitation

Since neither the fiance or myself are originally from the Boston area, we've got a lot of out-of-town invites to send out. But, in the interest of providing an earlier heads up (so more of them will come?) and giving out some travel info AND collecting addresses, we made a movie. A film! (ha.)

We sent it off tonight. Wanna see?

Save the Date: Jared and Danielle's Wedding from Danielle on Vimeo.

It took a silly number of takes to get through even small sections (what with the laughter and/or withering looks). Hence a few (there were so so many to choose from) outtakes interspersed throughout. We spared everyone the five minute long discussion we had to have in the middle of memory card number one (there were two) about scripted versus improvised techniques. 

The editing was a joint effort ... but also mostly Jared. 

It's like a holiday for just you and me

I was in charge of the anniversary celebrations, which meant I could have all the fun that comes with surprises without any of the impatience of waiting to see what would happen.

Jared thinks my eagerness to discover what a surprise might be is a character flaw.

I think his calm is unnatural.

Thing #1

Tosca performed by the Boston Lyric Opera

Jared loves opera and likes Puccini second to Mozart - which I confirmed through some not-at-all-suspicious questions.

It was wonderful. The music was thrillingly beautiful.

Thing #2

A late night dinner of macaroni and cheese and butterscotch pudding.

Plus, extras for the rest of the week.

I think they both came out quite nicely, although, I think

I will tweak my pudding recipe a bit.

Thing #3

A mix cd for mushy moods.

Thing #4

This one's a secret.

Pictures from the BLO

Halloween

Minnesota Vikings vs New England Patriots

We (especially me) were delightfully heckled for our rivaling team loyalties. Several people offered comments of genuine concern about our relationship.

We had previously contemplated trading shirts for Halloween costumes, but I don't think mine would have fit J.

Patriot Place is clearly enormous.

See the board? Right after the Vikings scored the first touch down.

And Jared doesn't want to talk about it.

(But don't worry, love. Your team wins it in the end.)

The tickets were a surprise present from my mom. It was such a good day. We sat in great mix of Pats and Vikings fans, including three old men behind us who talked smack for the first 45 minutes.

Non-stop. In thick Massachusetts accents*.

And then disappeared.

It was awesome.

Point of interest: Jared and I met on Halloween last year.

*In case you are unaware, a Massachusetts accent invariably includes the copious and indiscriminate use of some the best swears you can come by. 

Memorial Day weekend is the greatest

The greatest ever. This weekend was so fantastic I almost have a new favorite holiday (not that I have an old favorite holiday; I am an equal opportunity holiday lover (also I can't pick favorites)).

Friday: bicycle shopping, birthday party (Maryn!), vaguely lewd word games, mixed drinks, midnight kick ball, goodnight kisses

Saturday: early morning kisses, patio brunch, tropical French toast, cream of wheat, errands, frisbee in the park, smores, backyard movie

Sunday: church, picnic on the esplanade, more frisbee, avocado sushi, cold fruit, serious talks, long hugs, late night tv, chocolate ice cream

Monday: late morning, perfect eggs, JFK museum, castle island, kite flying, fort climbing, soft-serve ice cream, extra freckles, long naps

I have not a single photo of any of this. I do have a slightly pink nose. And a new kite.
Have you seen this picture by Paulo Octavius? It's from his cool photography series called Same Hill, Different Day.

This is what Castle Island was kind of like. Except with fewer kites. Plus a fort. And an ocean. 

Today, I love summer.

p.s. Did you notice I checked some things off my list?

Jukebox the Ghost

Last night, Jared and I saw Jukebox the Ghost play at the Middle East. It was kind of awesome. I hadn't heard of them before last week, and it's a good thing that changed because they're rad.

I think you (as in, everyone) would like them, too. 

Listen here.

You'll feel a little happier without even trying.

P.S. If you end up with a crush on the piano player, you're probably not alone if last night's crowd was any indication

In this place I live

Odds are I won't live in Boston forever or, really, for much longer then the next year or so. If I think too hard about this, it's pretty depressing. I love this place. A lot. With that in mind, I compiled a list of things I want to do while I still live here - things I haven't done yet and can't really do anywhere else.

Also, I have a list of places where I would like to eat. Because, man, do I seriously love food. These are kind of ranked in order of desirability. Kind of.

(Since I first started listing things, some of them got done. Hurrah! That explains the crossing-out.)

To do:

1. Fog Museum
2. Harvard Museum of Natural History
3. Walk through the Arnold Arboretum
4. Boston Science Museum
5. Visit and camp on the Harbor Islands
6. Picnic on the Esplanade
7. Ride the Swan Boats
8. Swim in Walden Pond
9. Thoroughly explore the MFA
10. Go to a Red Sox game at Fenway
11. Concert at House of Blues
12. Check a book out from the Boston Public Library
13. Eat dinner in the North End
14. See a show at the American Repertory Theater
15. Attend a Boston Symphony Orchestra performance
16. Take a Duck tour
17. The St. Patrick's Day Parade in Southie
18. Visit the Granary Burying Ground
19. Franklin Park Zoo
20. Watch the Battle of Lexington and Concord reenactment
21. Watch the Boston Massacre reenactment
22. Fly a kite at Castle Island
23. Outdoor summer movies at the Hatch Shell
24. Visit the deCordova Sculpture Park and Museum
25. Mt. Auburn Cemetary

To eat:

1. No. 9 Park
2. O Ya
3. Sofra
4. B&G Oysters
5. Ten Tables
6. Oleana
7. Toscanini's
8. T.W. Food
9. Sel de la Terre
10. Hungry Mother
11. Figs
12. Union Square Oyster House

All Hallows' Eve

I went to a masquerade ball at the Harvard Club.

It was so pretty and glamorous.

Not very spooky.

The highlight of my night was on the way there. While walking past a restaurant, a woman inside distinctly mouthed "She looks so pretty."

About me.

I wanted to hug her.

It didn't even matter that I only got asked to dance once - by a guy who later fist-bumped me.

I loved that woman.

And my dress.

Ghosts of Halloween Future

I spent the weekend with five dear girls in a Boston hotel. We decided to stay downtown for the LDS Education Conference. The whole thing was fantastic, except for the part about it being apparently impossible to get six people to sleep at the same time. No. I mean seriously. I was this close to grabbing the comforter and climbing into the bathtub. Or onto the balcony. Or into the hallway. But achy eyelids and high anxiety levels aside, I would say it went off famously.

We had plenty of spiritual enlightenment, sushi, laughs, dress-up, dancing, and spooky/sketchy Halloween fun. Some people also had romance. Those people were not me.

I did, however, have my palm read. That was interesting. It was this place next to a Subway, up a flight of stairs, and into what at first seemed to be someone's living room. Lifetime was on TV playing a really confusing, vaguely disturbing movie that my friend Jesyka and I watched way too much of while we waited for our turn with the psychic. We were too scared to change the channel since the women seemed irritated to have us there in the first place. I thought psychics were supposed to be floaty and eccentric. Like an Enya song. She was stern and not unlike the Soviet national anthem. So we waited and did our very best not to come down with asthma attacks from the overwhelming smell of cigarette smoke. Because the psychic would not have been amused. And we really wanted her to like us.

Finally, it was Jesyka's turn. Then it was mine. She asked each of us to make a wish and then glanced at our palms. After that she sort of free-styled it. She told us things about ourselves, our lives, and how things might turn out. I think both of our auras caused her some concern. My reading was insightful, but not eerily accurate. Jes said hers really could not have been more dead-on and it freaked her out. Ultimately, it was a kind of expensive burst of spontaneity on our parts, but worth it for the story - which we had to remind each other of at various points.

"I'm not backing out. Are you backing out?"

"No. I'm not backing out. Are you saying you want to back out?

"No no, I'm definitely doing it."

And now we get to say this:

"So this one time, on Halloween, we were getting lunch at a Subway downtown when we decided to go next door to see a cash-only psychic. ..."

Let's paint the town blue

"Let's paint the town blue, since red is so passé."
- The Pierces

A night on the town - dressed to the nines - to celebrate two birthdays. We hit up a few Boston classics. Regina's Pizzeria in the north end. Top of the Hub for all of fifteen minutes (let down). And then Petit Robert Bistro for amazing desserts.

Jerr commented that he looked through all our pictures a dozen times - they made him so happy because we are all so beautiful.
It's hard to disagree.

Dear friends,
You are lovely. Inside and out. And I never laugh so hard with anyone else.