pictures!

as promised, here are some pics from the last few weeks.

Here is the lantern festival before my battery ran out.

Harvard Square for the Potter Mania! I lightened the picture a bit so you can see what is going on. That crowd of people is the line into the Curious George Store. They had set up an Olivanders (where you could decorate your own wand), a Honeydukes (free bags of sweets) and a fortune teller. I was in line waiting for my wrist band (so I could get in line later), so I missed the fun, but my friends picked up a wand and candy for me. They waited 40 minutes just to get in. This was around 8:30 and the line for the book already started for this store.

The Fat Lady!



A Golden Snitch! Her costume kicked butt - I was impressed.



When the first movie came out back in 2001, we all got sorted online. Much to my dismay, I was placed in Slytherin. So I went back and gave the computer the obvious Gryffindor answers and was sorted as such. My friend Mike said only a Slytherin would do that.


This was taken from the vestibule of the Coop. We were 115, 116 and 117th in line. After us, the line snaked out the door, past the CVS, past the Body Shop, around the corner, past the Theater, past Border Cafe, then I don't know where. I was in the front, you see:)






As soon as the clock stuck midnight, the line moved quickly and there was a palpable electricty in the air. Of course, I just started taking pictures. The first one is the first box of books they pulled out. (The crowd went nuts.) As the line moved forward, we walked past crates and crates of HP7 bok (not shown). Then I documented the actual purchase of my books (one for Bess). My sister told her cashier that she loved her.


SUCCESS! This was at 12:08. I was home and reading in my PJs by 12:30. Take away the extreme exhaustion and you have my own personal heaven.


Being old, I only made it until 2:30. At 7, when I left for the beach, this is how I found Divya. She passed out at 5:30, lights and glasses on.



Jarrod at Shakespeare in the Park. I love this kid - I just want to feed him heavy pasta and cake. Is that so wrong?


Good looking crowd. Glad we got there early:)



Here are the scallops I made. Did a balsamic glaze and was quite happy with it.





Out for Allie and Jay's visit.




Out for a walk in the South End with Sarita. I have such neighborhood lust whenever I am here. Sigh.

Check out Flickr for the rest!

this preview has been approved for all audiences

so, our keyboard isnt working. which means i cannot upload pictures. which means i cannot post them. so in the meantime, here are things i WILL post about as soon as i can get back on the computer...

HARRY POTTER! divya, i and a new friend went to the hoopla in harvard square and had a fantastic time. we were IN THE STORE when then clock struck midnight. i was home and reading in my pjs by 12:30. it was awesome.

my worldwind weekend of bess and adam. fun - lots, sleep - little.

shakespeare in the park and the zucchini bread i made. both were enjoyable. i will post pics.

the scallops i made last night. i had never made them before (josh had). not bad for the first time. i am using boston organics and am trying to branch out, food wise... again, pictures to come

'arry pottah!

oh. my. god. the movie was SO good. i was completely blown away. sure they left out a lot of stuff, and ron for the short end of the stick subplot-wise, but the acting, directing, staging, comedy, storyline, all superb. this is def the best one yet - and that is saying a lot, since it was my least favorite book. the grown-ups don't pull any acting punches and there is an indian with a great line! (yay indians in the media!)

see this movie. see it in the theater. see it twice.

and less than a week until the big day! divya and i are going to go to harvard square for the festivities - harry and the potters* (and draco and the malfroys) are playing. the are supposedly so bad, they are good.

*two tufts alum who quit there jobs in INVESTMENT BANKING bc they were making more money selling cds of bad songs about harry potter. i love it.

lanterns

i went to the lantern lighting ceremony with my friend kristen tonight. hundreds of people showed up with messages to ones they had lost. i wrote to my grandmother and jon.

it was amazing to see all these people and know that they had felt what we were feeling. that they experienced that loss. and that they have gotten past it. the feeling around the lake with one of bittersweet memories. i don't think their wounds were as fresh as ours, but we both saw that they moved on. it is hard to know that one day you won't think about it as much. she even said that she can't imagine a time when she will be ok with it. but all those people went through it and survived. they lit their candles and said thier goodbyes, and had thier memories.

of course my camera ran out of battereries. i wish i could show you all how beautiful it was. i am posting the picture from the website, just to give you an idea. now picture hundreds of these floating on a lake as the wind blows them from one end to another.

wedding and beach! pictures pictures pictures!

so jess got married! yay! here are some pics from the wedding. that blue dress does not fit was well as it used to - the girls were trying to escape all night. its where i gain it first and loose it last... oh well.

the blushing bride and her dad. the ceremony was scant 15 minutes. score!

jess and i after a few drinks and dances. see what i mean about the dress!

and then as soon as we left the wedding we went straight to josh's mom's cottage on the cape to spend the night and then they next day on the beach! they rented it for two weeks and i couldnt be more jealous... here are some of the better pics. the rest are on flickr.

ahhh - it was a perfect beach day.
no caption needed really.
just as i was thinking "what can they possobly catch standing on the shore, she reels in this dogfish. crazy crazy.

my work wife is getting married!

jess is getting married tomorrow! so yesterday the bridesmaids and some Boston friends (including myself) did lunch, spa fun, dinner and drinks to celebrate. and did we ever.

lunch at the elephant walk was great. then we went to the spa for mani/pedis while jess was pampered with massages and facials and sushi (and a mani/pedi of her own). then dinner and then drinking and more drinking. well.. technically, we started drinking AT dinner..

her bridesmaids are a great gorup of girls and i was so happy that they let me tag along. but those of you who have seen me recently know that i have pretty much stopped drinking. maybe a glass of wine here or there, but nothing that will actually have an affect on me. unless i am with stangers. then i get wasted...

three glasses of wine, one espresso martini, one shot of soco, one kamakazi, and one vodka tonic later and i am pouring myelf home at 1am. thank GOD i had the day off. holy hangover, batman.

but it was so much fun, and i cannot wait to party with these ladies tomorrow at the wedding. here are a few pictures from dinner and the bar. the position a day book left us with some priceless expressions...






our bride to be getting ready for the bar portion of the evening

biz and nicky (sister in law of the bride) wondering how much yoga you need to do to train for some of the positions in the book.

sarah (another friend from new york) and nicky hamming it up for the camera.

check out the rest at flickr:)

you turn your back for 10 measly years

so josh and i went strawberry picking at wards on saturday. wow has that place changed... many of you probably remember the farm stand with all the produce and baked goods and MAYbe a bucket or two of poland spings water or nantucket nectars. some flowers, herbs, jams. all very simple and down to earth. i loved that and so did the people.

you may also remember that they tore down the stand when we were in college and built a big building. i was pretty impressed; they could house a lot more produce and baked goods and there was just more space. the caliber was still pretty high.

now all that produce has been replaced with smoothie stations, deli sections, freezers full of lasagna, pot pie and ice cream. the plethera of baked goods have been reduced to make space for near east cous cous boxes, rao's sauce and other things you can get down the street at shaws for 75% of the price. there was about one crate of corn out (as opposed to the four bag display catherine i worked on for an hour every saturday morning), a few boxes of strawberries and blue berries and nary a potato or onion in sight. and the beautiful tomatoes? there were space for like 4 on the display. where are the green bananas? the oranges? the lettuce? the herbs? outside the flower area was replaced by an inflatable castle, the greenhouse was replaced by a petting zoo with sheep, cows, pigs, and ponies. the pens were SO small - it made my heart hurt. i miss the old wards so much. and although i do understand that bob and team had to go where the business was, i don't have to like it! at least my picture is still up there!

so here are some pics from picking and then the tart i made for erin's bbq. so i made this great wafer crust, but didnt have a torte pan, so had to make it in a cake pan. after a little butter and heat experimentation, i thought i had it down. a wonderful crust that would house the low fat custard i made to be topped with hand picked berries. everything was perfect until i had to get the crust out of the cake pan. turn it over on a plate, then flip it over, i said to myself. the first part worked... for about 5 seconds. as soon as i flipped it over, it looked at me on the plate and promptly collapsed.

so i put the pieces back in a glass pie pan, mushed it up with my first and called it day. it was going to be mushed up in our mouths anyway! don't judge me!

the custard, i was VERY proud of, since it was my first time. i got the crust and custard recipes from the joy of cooking. this will def be a repeat once i get a proper tart pan.












and how cute is this!