Friendsgiving

Valuable relationships are the essence of my life.  I am incredibly thankful for loving family, a supportive spouse, and valuable friendships.   Conor and I were so blessed to have two of our dear friends, John-Mark Dyer and Jess Biondo, come for a holiday visit in Boston.  One of the biggest blessings of the weekend was the weather!  60's and sunny in late November?? Yes, Please!  It was so refreshing to be in the presence of good friends. We laughed, played games, shared stories, and ate a lot of food... especially John.

Enjoying downtown Boston

The 1st ever East Coast Wiffle Golf Classic.

This is a Golden Brown Beauty (GBB) if I've ever seen one!!

The day after T-Give, we ventured to Plymouth Rock and the Mayflower II for some history and memory-making. 

After Plymouth, we went to White Horse Beach for a left-overs picnic lunch.  I don't know if we'll be able to sustain this tradition in future years, but it was spectacular!

Next, we headed to the L Street Tavern, home to some Good Will Hunting scenes.  We sat in the booth where the movie took place.  Not highly original, but thoroughly enjoyable.

Later Friday evening, we went over to Matt & Laura's for homemade pizzas (compliments of Mr. Walsh) and Balderdash (one of our favorite games!)

Jess had an early Saturday morning flight back to Charlotte, but we squeezed in a little more sight-seeing before John flew out Saturday afternoon.  We went to MIT and Harvard, in hopes of absorbing some genius.  Thanks again dear friends for making this a wonderful Friendsgiving.  We are thankful for you!

Happy Holidays,

*** Side note: Jess Biondo and John-Mark Dyer are not in any type of romantic relationship.  Just wanted to clarify. Thank you.

Instant Love

Camden Kate Walsh

born November 6th at 3:20 am

6 pounds, 3 ounces, 18 inches

perfection.

look at that instant love!

I already can't get enough of her.

Everyone is healthy and doing great!

More pictures to come :)

Just Around the Corner

Can you believe it is November?!? I am in shock.  Conor and I have been in Boston for 10 weeks now and we have had some really fun experiences.  Something that is completely new to us is the close proximatey of adventures available!  2 hours and you're in New Hampshire, Vermont, or Maine!  So exciting!  Since we have moved we have enjoyed both Vermont and Maine weekends.

We visited Burlington Vermont with my sister Laura and our Brother-in-law Matt.  

We enjoyed beautiful weather, good food, and great scenery.  Burlington reminded both Conor and me of Boulder, CO.

Pearl Street anyone?

We visited the Ben & Jerrys headquarters...

and stopped at an apple orchard for apples, cider doughnuts, and fresh cider.  We also visited the Cabot Store where there were samples galore and we bought some DELISH vermont maple syrup.

A couple weeks later we went to Maine for the weekend.  What a delightful place! We stopped in Kennebunkport, home of the Bush's summer home!  It is a beautiful seaside town with fun shopping and a lot of small town character.

They host an event every year for the first 2 weeks of December called the "Christmas Prelude." They light up the whole town, and it looks very magical.  I am hoping to attend this year :)  

Then we continued on to Portland, Maine.  We visited a famous lighthouse and basked in the awesomeness of the ocean.

In Portland, we took part in some of the most mouth-watering delights either of us have ever had!

INCREDIBLE Lobster Roll!

Duckfat fries with truffle ketchup and aioli dipping sauces and duckfat gravy fries, or Poutine.  OH.MY.GOODNESS.  We just about died.  If you ever get a chance to taste this delicacy, I highly suggest you do.

We are excited to explore more of the New England area and continue to see what's just around the corner.

Love to you all!

New Beginnings

So much to say... so, we moved.  We moved to Boston. I left California, stopped in Colorado to pack up our home and pick up Conor, drove to Boston, and started a new job.  YOWZA!  There is no better way to describe our experience in the last month or so than as a whirlwind.  It has been difficult, chaotic, exciting, challenging, new, and full of life lessons!

So many friends have been sending us well wishes and asking about our transition.  You all have been the PERFECT motivation to get me back to blogging in hopes of staying in touch.

 We arrived in Boston on the evening of August 27th amidst Hurricane Irene.  The next day (the 28th) we moved into our temp housing in Waltham, MA (pronounced Wall-THam... I know) and on August 29th I started my job at TJX.  The job has been great!  I am learning so much and am challenged everyday to think more globally.  It is a great environment where I think I will thrive.  Currently, I am working as an allocation analyst for Marshalls in the ladies sportswear division for the career and casual wear department (it is a lot to keep straight!)  I am looking forward to becoming more independent in my work.  It is so hard to be new!  

Conor recently began a new job with TripAdvisor in Newton, MA.  We are really excited about the company and future opportunities available for him.

Our next big obstacle is finding permanent housing.  It is so difficult to find a place that is close to public transportation, easy for me to commute to, has access to downtown, enough space and storage for our liking, and at a reasonable price.  Add the fact that we both work during the day and you can imagine the house hunting becomes quite daunting.  I am spending a lot of time on craigslist these days, and am working hard to combat the growing obsession I am developing.

I felt very sad this weekend as I began to face the realization surrounding my lack of friends.  Thankfully, my dear friend Abby Veliquette reminded me that I have plenty of friends, they just aren't in Boston.

Thank you dear friends for all your love and support.  We look forward to the upcoming year of new adventures and new memories.

We miss you all!  Much love,

The Most Magical Place on Earth

For 4th of July weekend, Conor and I had a visit JAM-PACKED with adventures!  Our weekend got off to a rough start with a major flight delay.  Conor was supposed to arrive at 8:30pm Thursday night, but did not get in until 12:30 Friday afternoon!  We jumped straight on the PCH and started the drive up to Monterey, CA!

The drive was beautiful, with stops along the way to see harbor seals, elephant seals, and breath-taking vistas.  The highlight of the day happened just as the sun was beginning to set over the water.  Conor had learned about a spectacular view over "McWay Falls."  This moment was unbelievable and seemed to erase any tensions that had developed during the flight fiasco.  If you EVER have the chance to make this trek, it is well worth it.  I think we took about 30 pictures, but with great restraint I will only show you a few.  Now you have to go see it for yourself!

We stay in Monteray that evening, and the next day visited downtown Monterey, Cannery Row, Pebble Beach, Bixby Canyon Bridge, and Pfeiffer Beach.  

We returned back to the Los Angeles area late that evening and prepared for our next days adventure: DISNEYLAND! *cue "It's a small world"*

We did it ALL! Teacups, flying dumbo, splash mountain... You name it, we did it!  One of our favorite parts of the day was looking at the pictures that were taken during the rides.  Although we didn't buy any of them, we did take pictures of them :) Enjoy!

 

And we had a few celeb sitings...

One memorable moment of the day was when we rode "Star Tours."  On this 3D virtual flight, you are taken into the galaxy.  At one point Darth Vadar stopped our ship and displayed the photo of a "rebel spy."  Turns out it was a picture of me!!  I proceeded to yell "That's ME!!"

After the ride, a couple stopped us and told us that is the 1st time in their years of coming to Disney that someone has clearly identified themselves during the ride.  Seriously, though, what else was I supposed to do?!?

We ended the day with the Soundsational Parade, the Fantasmic Show, and 4th inspired Fireworks.  

SPECTACULAR SPECTACULAR!!!

Au Revoir Mon Amis!

I miss you...

Hello Blog Buddies,

So, I am fully aware that it has been too long since my last post.  A large part of my problem is the fact that Conor has our camera, but I have our camera cord.  He was going to upload pics and email them to me, but our plan was thwarted by lack of planning.  boo.  I am partly of the mindset "what good is a post with no pictures?"  

So, to make us both feel a little better, I am posting some pictures that were taken with my phone.
 My New Obsession...

 

  

Fresh baked cookies + hand dipped ice cream = $1.50 of Pure Delight

Disneyland! Truly Magical.  This picture is for my nieces Bella and Brynn :)

Ok, that's a little taste for now.  Hope I didn't make you too hungry!  Heading to Fort Collins this weekend, and am very much looking forward to it.  

Until Next time...

Comp Shopping

Hello my little Jewelry boxes,
Hope you are all well and thoroughly enjoying your days.  Today, a bug flew into my mouth just as I stepped outside and took a deep inhale.  It still feels lodged in there... not good!

Today at work I experienced what I hope to be the beginning of many wonderful days to come.  This week I am working with Maria, a peach in the homegoods department. She works with all things wall - sconces, shelves, decrotiveness, etc.  Today we did some "comp shopping" ie "Bonnie's Delight."  When I am feeling anything (stressed, bored, creative, etc) I like to take myself to my fave spots (Target, TJMaxx...) and wander around.  I like to pick things up, feel the fabrics, imagine myself wearing it, and then I move on to shoes.... and then I move on to home... and then I move on to beauty... and then I checkout, usually buying a pack of gum or something like that.  It's my therapy, it's what I do (I get it from my mom).   Well, welcome to comp shopping!  That's what we do. That's what I DID! I went to a variety of stores, chain and local, and checked out the "newness."  Looked at what was hip in the world of wall.  It gets me out of the office, into fresh air, and into the stores!! As Martha Stewart would say "it's a good thing."

Next week I will be heading to San Francisco with TJX to shadow a buy in the home department.  This is going to be a fab experience, and I am sure I will learn a lot.  Now, if only I knew what to wear...

Until next time,