Gourdious

Tomorrow morning Peter is proctoring an ACT test, and I have GRAND plans for Lizzy and me to go to Wegmans, clean the house, do laundry, and paint the TV stand in the living room. Lizzy is actually *not* that great a helper for any of these activities, if you can believe it, so we'll see what we actually accomplish :)

We're also seeing a friend for dinner, visiting with Peter's family, and hopefully squeezing in a day trip or mini-hike. It should be glorious (gourdious?).

Happy Friday to all!

Gardens at Elm Bank

We discovered the Massachusetts Horticultural Society Gardens at Elm Bank a couple of weeks ago - absolutely stunning! It's a great place to a take a stroll. The grounds look massive in these pictures, but it's really just five or six different gardens in a fairly compact space.

On the way out, we stopped at Sunshine Farm for some produce and ice cream. Lizzy had a milk protein allergy that cleared up when she was about four months, so I'm doing my best to make up for a dairy-free summer with LOTS of awesome ice cream this fall. Hard work, but I'm rising to the challenge.

Looking, Playing, Wasting

Making: Excellent use of our new island - it makes our kitchen such a happy place to hang out in
Cooking: This perfectly autumnal mushroom lasagna
Drinking: A splash of wine nearly every night after Lizzy goes down for the night
Reading: This should say "slogging" since I've been working on this since August, but Longbourn
Wanting: Track pants, real bad
Looking: Oh so tired these days - I need an industrial strength eye cream or something :)
Playing: On my new iPad (I've become one teeny tiny percent more hip!) 
Wasting: Time searching for the perfect baby Halloween costume
Sewing: A new valance for my kitchen window (a total cheat answer because my Mom actually did the sewing for me!)
Wishing: I felt more clear headed
Enjoying: The evening routine we've worked out, which involves playing with Lizzy for a few hours when I get home, then her bath, stories, and bed, followed by dinner, a TV show, and dessert - always dessert - for Peter and me
Waiting: Until the October madness calms down in Salem before checking out this lovely looking exhibit
Liking: How settled our house is feeling these days, even as I make plans for a few more adjustments
Wondering: If we'll be able to pull off a big trip in 2015
Loving: My little clan more and more each day
Hoping: To make a batch of this in very near future
Marveling: At these awesome floating babies in Houston
Needing: To get some dates on the books with friends - we've been somewhat hermetic 
Smelling: Lizzy's head every night at 5:00 p.m.
Wearing: Ballet flats as much as possible before the endless season of boots begins
Following: The new-to-me blog Aspiring Kennedy
Noticing: How beautiful Boston looks this fall - the leaves have exploded in color in the last week
Knowing: Some Top 40 songs for the first time since college, thanks to a lingering Sirius XM subscription in our new-to-us second car (my current fave)
Thinking: That our new normal is starting to feel just that
Feeling: So excited to tag along with my sister to do some wedding dress shopping tomorrow
Bookmarking: Tons of recipes from Jamie Oliver's magazine - it's been a treasure trove of inspiration 
Opening: The windows just a smidge to get some of that delightfully crisp fall air in the house
Giggling: Over Lizzy's seemingly deep voice - it's seriously just like this when she laughs
Feeling: Lucky, lucky, lucky 

This post was inspired by Meet Me at Mikes!

Boston Date

On the last Friday of my maternity leave, Peter, Lizzy, and I went to Row 34 for lunch, and then walked around the seaport. I'm not sure I'd call it a "workingman's oyster bar" - we were next to a darling couple bemoaning the fact that Facebook was down during our first visit - but it is a delightful, delicious spot. And totally baby friendly, thanks to its large, open dining room (that's Lizzy's stroller in the foreground of the pic above). 

We went again last weekend for dinner when my parents were in town. Still delicious, still a-okay for Lizbert.

Feasting, Sleeping, Beaching

Happy Friday to you!!!

I seem to have fallen into the habit of posting sleeping baby pictures. Are we okay with that? Lizzy's just started rolling over, and when she does it in her sleep, she just sleeeeeeeeeeeeps and sleeps forever and it is glorious. Also, this gives you a decent view of her mullet-ish hairdo. I want to cut it off, but Peter thinks this is mean (!??!), so please weigh in if you agree with me. Just kidding, you can also weigh in if you think we should keep her party in the back hair going strong.

Peter's students came back this week and Lizzy had four days in a row at daycare, so even though it was a short week, two thirds of the household are very tired. I'm the most awake one! This hasn't been the case for four months and a few days (a.k.a. since Lizbert arrived), but it's nice to carry the torch of enthusiasm for the family once again.

Tonight we're doing a slightly lower key version of our annual back to school feast. There's a bottle of Sofia in the fridge, Peter's picking up a frozen yogurt pie from Cabots, and I'm going to make some kind of seafood pasta dish like this, but with more seafood :) Peter and I might get really crazy and watch one whole 22 minute episode of The Spoils of Babylon.

Tomorrow, we're hoping to squeeze in one more beach day, with a stop at the farm stand for cider donuts and corn on the cob. I haven't had my fill of corn yet at all, and this delicious looking polenta is calling my name. Then we'll probably do boring homeowner things on Sunday like mow the lawn and weed the "gardens" (quotes because you'd have to be very generous to look upon our plot o' land and think garden).

And maybe (!), we'll get to become an aunt and uncle this weekend! We're anxiously awaiting the arrival of our niece, who I absolutely can't wait to meet.

Hope you all have a lovely weekend! Perhaps you should have an end of summer feast yourself, regardless of any ties to the school calendar!

Mount Auburn Cemetery

One of the easiest things to do with a newborn around involves going out for walks and mini hikes. We've done many laps around our neighborhood, but we've also gone to the Arnold Arboretum, the Charles River Reservation, Crystal Lake, and the Cove in Auburndale.

Last week, we went to check out the lovely Mount Auburn Cemetery. There's ample free parking (it's a cemetery, after all, so people need to be able to come visit the sites of loved ones easily). The grounds are very large, and there are beautiful paths to take that lead through gardens, thick trees, and little lakes.

On the way home, I popped into Sofra for some of their fancy hummus. I'd heard so many wonderful things about it! I'm excited to go back for lunch sometime soon.

The skies cleared

After a week of rain and lots of crying (I blame the full moon/Friday the 13th/Mercury retrograde triumvirate), the skies cleared and we high-tailed it up to the beach. It was desolate because of the rain that morning - Peter's favorite kind of beach day :) 

When Peter first came on vacation with my family, he was a bit shocked by the sheer amount of stuff we bring with us. Same goes for Tanglewood visits. I'm slightly better about packing light for these trips than my Mom is, but I'm just not a simple towel on the ground kind of person. Know thyself, right?

This was a good trial run to see how we did packing for ourselves and Lizzy. We have a little baby tent for her, and brought some diapers and blankets - she actually didn't add too much at this point since there weren't any beach toys or mini towels to haul :)

On the way out, I popped into Russell for cider donuts, two giant heads of lettuce, and spicy hot pink radishes. Instead of our usual dinner at the Clam Box, we tried Salt in Ipswich - the lure of an amazing rum cocktail was too much for me to resist. Lizzy was a champ during dinner - not a peep. That salty sea air was good for everybody.

Old Manse

Saturday was a beautiful day, so we headed up to Concord to check out the Old Manse and the surrounding grounds. This had been on my to-visit list for a while, so it was a nice surprise that they were having an open house that afternoon!

The trails and gardens behind the house are stunning. Everything is in bloom right now! And, an important battle happened on that little bridge. (I think it looks way too small for an important battle, right? Peter assures me it occurred there.)

Afterwards we went into the town center to hit up the Cheese Shop and a few other favorite spots. Lizzy was snoozing in her Ergo, so we took our chances and ordered a drink and some snacks on the front porch of the Colonial Inn. As soon as our drinks arrived, she started crying a bit (how do they always KNOW?!), but Peter walked her around for a few minutes and she settled right down, and we were able to toast to successful little adventures!

Lilac Sunday

I heard about Lilac Sunday at the Arnold Arboretum last spring (after the fact, of course!), and thought it would be a pretty lovely way to spend my first mother's day.

We were driving back from Connecticut on Sunday after visiting family for the weekend. It was very warm in the car, traffic was crazy near the Arboretum, and Lizzy was hungry and had a dirty diaper. We really thought about turning around since it was starting to feel a bit more stressful than fun, but I'm so glad we stuck it out and were able to take a walk among the flowers.

It will take us a little while to figure out how to handle these little outings with grace and ease, but the only way to do that is to keep trying it out, right?

When I was saying good-bye to my Mom yesterday she said, "Mother's Day is a funny little holiday, isn't it? But it's an important one, too."

I hope everyone had a lovely day, whether you were celebrating your own mother or grandmothers, or were happily being celebrated. So many of my girlfriends have become mothers in the last year, and it was so fun to text each other throughout the day to check in with well wishes. I'm sending lots of love to each and every one of you!

Boston Walk-about

This weekend! It was just the loveliest. After painting my heart out on Saturday morning (actually, all three days of the weekend including painting - if feels never-ending, but we actually only have one room left!), Peter and I went into Boston to spend the afternoon at the Gardner Museum. It was the final weekend of their annual nasturtium display in the courtyard - so beautiful. They don't allow photos in the museum, so I took this quick picture in the lobby. Total aside, but I think all museums should prohibit photography - it's so distracting. I always want to be like...just buy the book in the museum shop!

From the museum, we walked through Kenmore and up along the final mile or so of the marathon route. It was packed with runners and visitors checking out the final stretch and the finish line, and I'm really happy we were able to see it.

And then we walked over to the Common. Things are just starting to bloom, and the sun was shining on our backs, and there was a wedding photo shoot happening on the foot bridge (Poor bride - everyone in the park was questioning her fashion choices. Those who live in glass houses shouldn't cast stones, fleece-covered Bostonians!).

We had a yummy dinner at JM Curley's, and our nice server brought me a bag for my left-overs when we were getting ready to leave around 8:30 p.m.. He was like, "The night is young! Who knows where it will take you." And I wanted to say, "No, sir, this night is actually very old, and my feet are about to fall off." But we just smiled and pretended that yes, we were about to do something cooler than head back to our suburban neighborhood and fall happily into bed after watching Louis C.K.'s opening monologue on SNL.

Upstairs Bathroom Re-do

Last fall, I hatched a brilliant plan - we could give our upstairs bathroom a quick make-over during Christmas vacation!

(Ha. Ha, ha, ha.)

Initially, this space wasn't anywhere near the top of our priority list because, unlike almost every other room in the house, it functioned. Hideous, yes, but functional. But because we convinced ourselves that making this room a whole lot better would just involve a series of small upgrades that we could do ourselves, it moved rapidly up the list. Plus, it made me kind of depressed to imagine giving the baby baths in that putrid yellow tub. The pictures above are from when we first moved in (that's not my curtain - they kindly included it in the sale...).

The first order of business was the tile. Now, if we were planning to stay in this house for many years to come, or if our tile was in great shape (but was just an unfortunate color), we would have either saved up to totally re-do the tile, or had it professional re-glazed. But we decided a quick and easy fix was more than fine for our purposes, especially since the tile has some cracks - I think it was a somewhat poorly done DIY when it was initially put in.

I heard about tile paint in This Old House, and thought it might be worth a shot, even though it seemed almost too good to be true. Painting over ugly tiles for a bright white finish?! But as you can see below, it's pretty darn good! I buffed and cleaned the tiles one night and filled in all the cracks with caulk, and then Peter painted the finish on the tub tiles and around the floorboard tiles (I actually left the house in honor of our unborn baby's brain cells - this stuff was incredibly toxic smelling). Then - and this is the tricky part about using this product - we left the house for a week (it was Christmas to New Years) because the tile can't get wet for a few days.

After this, the series of updates runs together in my mind, but we painted the walls a really pretty pale blue, replaced the horrible track doors on the linen closet that were never on their tracks (this task nearly broke Peter because the frame was so far from being square it was crazy!), replaced the light over the vanity, took down the huge, glued on mirrors and replaced the one over the sink with a Home Goods find, and installed a new towel bar and toilet paper holder.

We lived with it with these updates for quite some time while we shopped for, ordered, and waited on a new granite vanity top and sink to come in. Earlier this month, we finally picked it up! Right before that, I painted the awful faux marble laminate vanity base with Annie Sloan Chalk Paint. I was very skeptical about this product, but it was amazing. It's strange stuff - very thick and matte - but the coverage was incredible. I did have to give it four very thin coats to effectively wipe out the marbling, but it was worth it.

The small narrow shelves to the left of the vanity had shudders that were falling off (this house is FULL of shuddered doors!). I took the measurements to Home Depot and they cut me new pieces of wood, and I bought some basic trim pieces to finish them off. I added the same new hinges and knobs to these that I used on the vanity.

The final-ish task was taking off the old vanity top and sink and replacing it. My parents were in town last weekend, so Peter took off the top and disconnected the water in the hopes of finishing the job when they were around so they could help lift it onto the vanity. The pipes were so old that they weren't standard sizes, and our new sink didn't line up exactly with these old pipes. Nightmare! After hours, Peter basically gave up called our plumber on Monday morning. The plumber assured him he was super close to finishing and gave excellent instructions, and he was able to finish the job.

I can't believe how much I've written about this bathroom update, and I know most of it wasn't exactly riveting. But I am incredibly proud of this project. My mom calls it the "painted everything" bathroom, which is fairly accurate, but it's also a place where we - and particularly Peter - did some things that we both would have happily left to professionals just a few months ago. With the electrical work, carpentry, and plumbing tasks, I feel like we made huge strides in our confidence to dive in and figure things out in this crazy old house.

And now, of course, I'm not at all depressed about giving the baby a bath in this pretty little room :)