how could i forget!

i ALSO wanted to post about this glorious glorious weekend!

saturday i met with with friends both local and far away and we had a wonderful brunch and laid about in the park. all of boston streamed outdoors into the sun and the warm breeze and it was just nice to see the city alive again. we spent too long scurrying around dodging rain drops and puddles. thursday i ran into a friend from london (random!) so saturday night we all had dinner and it was so good to just be outside in a tank top (AND we went to bertucci's and only good things happen there).

sunday was even nicer and i got some color on our walk (countdown to the beach has begun!) we also did a major spring cleaning and reorganized the kitchen to make more counter space. five hours of coupling* later and i passed out at 10:30. all that sun and relaxing really wears a girl out!

monday morning called for a half mile walk to harvard (due to a bus mishap) and the whole city was just buzzing. i don't know if it was the weather or the yankees spanking or just spring, but after rain and more rain, i hope this high lasts. again - pics to follow.

*the BCC comedy series - get your minds out of the gutter!

back

hey all! sorry about the time lapse. work has been busy and i have been getting home on the later side and haven't had the energy to boot up the computer and write. but now i have a breather between meetings and wanted up do a quick update. pictures will follow.

on so lets see - house update. as some of you know, we bid on a house over the marathon weekend. i was lukewarm about it, but it was a nice place, lots of room, all new, good location, and we really could have made it our own. i knew that it would have grown on me over time. i also knew that this was not the four bedroom in the sticks and we were not going to be here forever, so i didn't have to have those "dream house" feelings for it. so the bidding all went down monday night and we waited. we also looked around a bit and saw that there was nothing that really caught our eye and the time on the lease was quickly running out. so both josh and i were looking at it like it was our last chance. tuesday morning we get a call - it was between us and another couple and apparently they wrote this bleeding heart letter about how much they love the place and how they are going to make lots of babies and the babies will love the place and they will all skip around the plaace they all love so very much. barf. so they got it. i was disappointed but josh was more so. we were both a little burnt out and this was just s discouraging. so we looked for another weekend and didn't see anything that caught our eye and called the landlord to renew for another year. we have also been bandying around the idea of buying our place for a few days and may bring it up with the landlord when our lease is up next year. the place is old but solid. with an updated bathroom and kitchen, a new deck in the back and redone walls, we could really pimp it out. sunday, josh and i went for a 2 hour walk around watertown and found a new appreciation for the place and don't really want to leave. so immediate plans include fixing up the porch as a living space for the summer and getting my parents' baby grand up from sharon and restart piano lessons. no school for four years and i can feel by brain atrophying (yes, its a word!).

last thursday i worked late and was so tired by the time i got home that i was all set to order. but lo and behold! josh had dinner almost ready! burgers stuffed with cheese (just how i like it!) and sweet potato fries with this garlic and lemon mayo. so so so good. we stuffed ourselves on the fries (baked, not fried, mom, don't worry) and have found a new go to recipe when we want some comfort food. i also had a gushing post planned about how great he is for doing all that, but the elation wore off:)

work is going well and getting busy again. speaking of, i should get back. i will post a pic of those glorious fries tonight.

someone's in the kitchen with donna

so when we didn't get that house we wanted a few weeks ago, i went to borders for a little retail therapy and came away with the new phillipa gregory book (on hardcover no less) and the lastest issue of donna hay magazine. i had stopped myself from buying the DHM in the past beacuse they are $10 a pop (it's based in austrailia). but this time, i was too mopey to stop myself.

so last week, i decided that the DHM will be my guide for the week. here are the results:

Monday: chickpea and olive salsa with pan seared fish. the salsa was great (lemon, dill, olives, chickpeas all worked well together) but the fish needed more seasoning. next time i will "sex it up" as josh puts it.

Tuesday: parm crusted chicken with spinach, tomato and caper salad. this is a def repeat. the salty cheese made a great crust and the capers were a wonderful addition to the salad. the flour part of the batter needed a little more spice for next time.

Wednesday: i was really looking forward to trying this one out. Instead of using canned tomoatoes, I roasted some plum tomatoes and garlic, skinned then and used a potato masher to make them into a simple sauce. some basil, sugar, salt and ground turkey and we had a refreshingly light pasta dish. this was far superior that using anything canned and i would reccomend it if you have an extra 30 minutes.

Thursday: this one was a bit of a disaster. they were supposed to be chickpea, coriander and feta patties, but i guess i didn't drain them well enough. the taste was there, but the patties just didnt retain their shape when i pan fried them. it was fine with a little pita bread and some greens. i loved it, but the feta was a little strong for josh. this would make a good appetizer for a party if made a little smaller, deep fried and served with a light yogurt sauce.

children get older

so my sister is graduating. my little baby sister. and i couldn't be prouder. her last Jills concert was on saturday night and she finally got to sing a solo. my unbiased opnion is that this should have happened ages ago, as she is clearly the best singer in the group. but her alto voice is better used in the harmonies (or something like that) so her first solo was also her last. she sang "landslide" and it was wonderful. (she also does the rap bit in "pump it" which (again) is the best part of the song.)

the best part of the night was the senior roast. and all they made fun of was how picky she is when it comes to guys. my family and i all laughed at her expense, but also at our relief. at least it wasn't the opposite:)

here are some pics from sat night.

three magic words

"i love you"
"you've lost weight!"
"i'm getting married!"

three words that everyone loves to hear. but do they love to hear them as much as THESE three words: "fried nutella ravioli". hmm.. maybe it's a tie.

i finally got my hands on some nutella and fried without my mom present for the first time ever. it is not something i will do often, since the whole house smelled like the carnival and i am a little queasy from the fried dough and sugar. but still - a def keeper for company:)






on the house front, josh and i are getting a little burned out. after 8 house tours on saturday (5 hours of driving around and peaking into other people's closets) we are ready to be done. there was a fantastic place in the middle of an extremeely steep hill, a small cute place an mile from any public transporation, a newly done place in waltham with no parking... we saw a great place that i liked in porter square after towk today but josh needed more green (granted, the place was wonderful, but also on the first floor so it didnt get much sun...). we have two more places we are going to see tomrorow. josh likes the interior of one, but it was built in 1967 and looks like an old lady house in new jersey. but the inside IS nice, so i may just have to get over myself. the other place we are seeing is right near our place now, big but not huge, and looks very cute. think good thoughts around 6 tomorrow.... i don't know how much more i can take before giving up til next year.

disappointment

so that first house we bid on we liked but it wasn't a good fit. it was a good thing we didn't end up going for it. i was sad, but there were no real regrets.

a house came on the market on friday and i immediately had a feeling. so josh and i drove over there friday night and we both fell in love with the outside. then we went to check it out with my parents and josh's mom and grandmother (we all had just gone to tea) and EVERYone loved it. it was huge, new floors, new kichen, new bathroom, our own yard, a beautiful sunny study, a den off of the kitchen. we had our own driveway. the walls has been newly painted. i loved it. josh loved it. we put an offer in on sunday and were supposed to hear back sunday night. the seller wanted to do a conference call between all the parties interested and then finish it.

by 11, our broker hadn't heard anything. we talked this morning. still nothing. a few minutes later she called. there had been 9 offers, one much higher than all the others. the seller decided to deal with them alone. the house is off the market. josh and i are both devestated. i know there will be other houses and this is just the start of the housing season, but this is the first house that we loved. when we drove up, i got that feeling that i didn't really have at all the other places. it was never ours, bc we both feel as though we lost something.

this blows.