I went to New York over the weekend to catch the tailend of CMJ. I jumped on the bus after work and made it there by 1am, just in time for the SubPop/Suicide Squeeze/Merge party at Hi Fi. There was tons of familiar faces, even if it took a double take or two for people to realize it was me. It'd been a couple years since I'd seen a lot these people, so there was a lot of catching up to do.. Especially with my one and only Omar


I also finally got to meet his fiance!


I stayed with Brooke and some of her Euro friends (from far away places like Norway!) Henning was with us the most, showing us youtube videos and getting really into Sparks.



------- whoa mom just called while I was writing, and now time has passed and I don't care anymore.

ANYWAY we ate perogies, I saw some bands, I was shocked that Dungen wasnt a metal band, didn't sleep enough, saw Maria and heard about Paris, made fun of things with Doug and Canada and admired Caleb's sweater.

Pics





The leaves are almost done changing here.. I remembered my camera on my way to work a couple weeks ago..





The pictures don't really do it justice, but I promise it's pretty.

This week has been a little weird.. my company did some layoffs yesterday, so I was a bit on edge. Luckily I'm safe, but I feel guilty in a way. I don't have anyone else depending on me, and I don't own a house or car, so it was tough that some of the people let go had bigger responsibilities than just payin their rent. Everyone seemed to take it in stride and I'm guessing most will bounce back pretty quick. Hate hate hate that stuff though. Gahh.

I bought my tix for home tonight.. WA from Dec 20-28 and then NC from 12/28-1/6. Hunter will be in NC, so I'm flying down so we can be together for new years. We're planning on getting some friends together and going to the beach house... Then we'll be driving the van back up to Boston (hooray 13 hour drive.)

My friends Greg and Darin in gif form.

Sorry if this gives you seizures.

Official Worst Person Ever

Hunter took me out for dinner for my real-life birthday (as opposed to my weekend birthday) last night. He picked out Ten Tables in Jamaica Plain, which is a restaurant with . . . TEN TABLES. I had read about it before and had always wanted to try it out, so it was an excellent choice... Especially because they have a vegetarian tasting menu (rare) which happened to be delicious.

I started out with the waiter's recommended drink: PASSIONFRUIT AND GINGER TOPPED WITH CHAMPAGNE. He and Hunter decided that I should have champagne because it was my birthday. The chef also sent us an amuse bouche, which was something like cold beet soup with a frothy topping.

1st course:
LOCAL BUTTERNUT SQUASH SOUP WITH CRÉME FRAICHE AND NUTMEG

2nd course:
ARUGULA AND FRISÉE WITH LOCAL MCINTOSH APPLES, GREAT HILL BLUE CHEESE,
SPICED PECANS AND CIDER VINAIGRETTE

3rd course:
This wasn't on the menu, but it was a square of au gratin potatoes and some farro grain.

4th course:
SEMIFREDDO WITH BLUEBERRY COMPOTE AND PINE NUT BRITTLE

I am not typically a dessert person, but the semifreddo made me want to diiiiiiie it was so good. We paired it with some dessert wines and it was a great end to the night. The waiter even stuck a candle in it! wahhh!

Overall it was a nice low key night with my mannnn. On top of the dinz, Hunter also got me a gift certificate for a 45 minute massage at Oasis in Inman. Also, he and I get to go sit in a hot tub at the spa at some point. It's called a "private soak for 2" which sounds sorta creepo, but I know will be very amazing when it's 10 degrees with a foot of snow on the ground.

This blog was obnoxiously written. I apologize. It's been a crappy day.

I'm leaving for NYC in a couple days for CMJ, which I am very much looking forward to. Over the next couple weeks I may or may not be in Toronto, Kansas City, Kennebunkport ME and Baltimore. It's all up in the air (except ME).. Time off for home has been requested - Dec. 20-28th... and if all goes well, I may be in NC after that. Gonna be krrraaazzyy.

love.

I decided some time early in the week that I wanted to throw myself a birthday party and have my friends over for some foods and drinks.. so that is what I did last night.

White bean puree
Olive and Roasted Red Pepper Tapenade
Cucumber Sandwiches
Spinach, feta and goat cheese stuffed wontons
Guacamole
Cheese fondue

People started showing up around 8 and we hung out until the wee hours of the morning. A few people I see anymore came by, and I admit I got a bit giddy having my friends around having a good time together.

Also, my dears were so thoughtful. Nell brought me some basil infused olive oil and balsamic vinegar that she says is as thick as syrup. Aimee brought over some red wine from the northwest. Alysia and Leigh gave me a gift card, Laura found an amazing vegetable cookbook, and an adorable pink and grey striped skirt.. and Cat gave me soaps from Lush (that I can smell from across the room,) a pearly clam mirror and a magnifying glass necklace. Everyone was so thoughtful and I loved it all (so thank you!)

Cat even made me cupcakes! I was finding neon frosting on everything this morning.





Hunter got in my closet twice last night. I'm sure not why




I busted out the automatic inflatable boobs that Mel had sent me a couple years ago.








People started trickling home at some point and we watched some It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia before bed.

It was a good evening and this morning I scraped dried fondue off the floor and washed like 20 glasses and put out piles and piles of bottles out for recycling.

Tomorrow (the actual bday,) Hunter is taking me to Ten Tables in JP. They have a vegetarian tasting menu that I'm looking forward to trying out.

Woohoo I am almost old!

So my Mom came to visit. We were only in Boston for a night, where we had dinner at Rustic Kitchen with Hunter. I had some crazy asparagus marscapone tortellini. Kick ass!

Anyway, the next morning we piled in the hideous rental and drove down 93 toward the Cape. Along the way we decided that yes, we would stop at Plymouth Plantation. I don't know what it is, but I have a deep love for recreated colonial villages. Plymouth is especially good because all of the people in the "museum" pretend like they have no knowledge of the modern world. They all have elaborate stories about coming over from England and workin the field. Amazzzing.

The village:


Romantic hay bed.



Goats:


Mom hanging out in a pilgrim house.. which is about the size of my room.. and would have housed an entire family:


A bull in a field


Then we went to the "Native" side of the museum, where the people weren't in character but knew tons of history and cool things like how Pilgrims women only showered 4 times a year.

The rest of the week was spent teaching me how to sew, walking on beaches, eating foods and whatnot. SOOO many tourist boutiques.

Here's some pics









Sunday we stopped in Sandwich on our way home. They used to make a lot of glass in Sandwich so we went to the Sandwich Glass Museum. Dorks!






My ma got me a sewing machine for my (early) birthday and together we made this skirt. It's not finished yet cause I have to handstich some stuff, but it's on the way (and wrinkled.) I have ideas of other things to make but since I dont really know what I'm doing, it'll be slow going.



So now it's back home and back to work.. Hunter's cousin Jordan is coming for the long weekend, so we'll be showing her around. There's lots coming up in the next few weeks, and I'm especially excited to go to NYC for the tail end of CMJ so that I can track down some old faces and hug them to bits. Yesss.