My 29th Birthday

 

After working 6 days in a row (which I had never done), we headed back to California for my niece's baptism and a little shower with some friends. We left Boston early on my birthday and arrived in Cali late afternoon - I got a couple birthday wishes at the airport and we got to board with the families on Southwest, which allowed us to sit together thankfully! So, I like to think that was my treat for flying on my birthday. :) Once we got settled in, we went to dinner with my mom's side of the family at the amazing Woodranch. Unfortunately my mom wasn't feeling too good, but it was just nice to be able to spend my birthday with family! We saw all the parents that first night in California!!! :)

December 2011

A stuffed animal Christmas Tree at the Four Seasons Hotel

December happenings for Brian & Theresa:

• Theresa started off the month with a lovely eye infection - I could barely open my eye for two days! It was bright red and pouring out tears, not to mention painful to open. I spent my two days off with my left eye closed, doing pretty much nothing. I finally went to the eye doctor as an emergency case (the day my insurance card came in the mail!) and I was started on antibiotic eye drops. The doc told me to use 1 drop every hour while awake and every 2 hrs while asleep - I thought he was kidding, but he wasn't. I had to set an alarm to wake up every couple hrs, but that was only for a couple days. I guess eye infections are followed very closely, so I had to go back the following day, Friday, and then again on Monday, Thursday, and then weekly for follow-up appointments. In addition to the antibiotic drops, I started a steroid drop for a couple weeks. So, throughout most of December I got to wear my broken glasses (that Brian accidentally stepped on last Xmas), but just before Christmas, the Dr. told me I can start wearing contacts again and my eye was pretty much back to normal! Yay! I really liked the doctor (Dr. Hu) and have arranged for my next appt on Brian's bday next year. :) Sorry I forgot to photo document this event. ;)
  

• We spent an evening at the Four Season's Hotel Lounge with Ben and Tara. They had a gift certificate there and treated us to a spectacular evening with some outstanding food! Not to mention that our server was pretty awesome. Below is a pic of the 4 of us with a giant chocolate cake we had for dessert - it was amazing!! :) We had a wonderful time.
  

• We dogsat Callie in Cambridge. We watched her (and her sister Cassie who has since passed away) last January in a gorgeous new apartment, but last time there was a ton of snow and we didn't have a car. [However, Brian was on winter break from school and I didn't have a job last year, so we didn't have a lot of need for the car at that time, but it is essential now.] I got to park in the underground parking garage, which was so awesome - I would leave work when it was freezing cold and only have to walk outside for a few minutes while walking to the car, and then be indoors upon my arrival home. It was great. Brian really wants our next place to have covered parking, but that's not easy to find around here. Since this apartment was right behind a giant Whole Foods, we spent lots of time in there, browsing around the non-food sections and this was one of my favorite findings, Nose Frida
  

• We went Candlepin Bowling for the first time! This type of bowling started in 1880 in Massachusetts, about 15 years before the standard bowling. It involves smaller pins (much skinnier) and a small, light ball. It was a lot of fun, but much harder! We went with our friends Dan & Angel and Josh & Amanda.

• I hosted a girls afternoon tea Christmas craft party for some wives of classmates of Brian's. There were 6 of us and we made Christmas Trees out of buttons - they all turned out so nice!This is a picture of my tree that I made (left) and a sample tree (right - I used colors that might not have been used)

Deviled Eggs, Cucumber Mint Sandwiches, Scones, Cookies, & Tea

Pictured here from left to right: Deb, Tara, Cate, Kate, and Susanna

• Christmas - I had to work Christmas Eve evening and Christmas Day day, so that meant about 5 hrs of sleep in between. But I got Thanksgiving and New Years off, and I told my manager I was really flexible, so it wasn't a problem. We had a potluck lunch on Christmas day - we had a ham, mashed potatoes, vegetables, salad and lots of sweets. I came home Christmas day to a wonderful dinner made by Brian. On my way home from work, I saw this in the middle of the road:
  

• Then there was Brian's Golden Birthday on the 27th. Some friends of ours (John & Susanna) were housesitting in Wellesley for a professor, so we went over there for dinner and dessert. Ben & Tara joined us too! The house was gorgeous - I think there were 5 bedrooms and 5 bathrooms, 3 stories including a movie theater in the basement. The owners actually asked them to have people over because there was so much food left over from the holidays, so we were happy to be able to partake. I ordered a blueberry cheesecake from Finale for dessert and it was delicious!! Afterward we watched a movie in the theater - fun!
• I went to The Clayroom in Brookline for some crafting time with some co-workers. The Clayroom has all sorts of clay items to paint...but because it was right after Christmas, there were a lot of items out of stock. I decided to paint what I thought was a vase, but can also serve as a wine chiller. It's a pretty cool place and I will pick up the finished product next week. In the picture on the left is Roni, who painted a square bowl - she lives about a block away from us and we occasionally help with her dogs. Rosalind is the blonde in the other picture, she is painting a quiche dish.

What a fun and eventful month!!!

My 28th Birthday

For my 28th birthday, Brian and I drove to Ipswich about an hour away, North of Boston. We have heard that Crane beach (in Ipswich) is very beautiful and have been wanting to check it out, so we headed there for the day. The picture above is of us sitting on a log where we stopped to do some people watching. The sand was very soft! And the depth of the sand

Then we walked along the beach, finding several of these (on left). Some research tells me that these are dead jellyfish ~ interesting!! Brian enjoyed squishing them with his feet haha.

We walked along some of the trails off of the beach and came across some beautiful cliffs and also Castle Hill & Crane Estate from the early 1900's. We just walked around the property, enjoyed the views and continued on the trails. Some wildlife we saw were a beaver, turkeys, and a snake.

After the beach we drove to the Ipswich River Wildlife Sanctuary for some hiking. We walked the Drumlin Trail, which was about a mile around. It was about 5 pm, cooling off, and getting dark, ~ we were the only people in sight. It was so peaceful and beautiful! We saw several frogs, which would jump right out from under our feet, and a few white-tailed deer. We will have to go back there one day when we have more time to hike.

Then it was time for dinner. Brian made reservations at the 1640 Hart House, which was founded in 1633 and is one of the oldest houses in the country. The dining areas are in different rooms of the house, including the upstairs. We sat in what appeared to be a living room. It's a neat place and the food was great!

To end my beautiful birthday, we went to Finale for dessert. It's this amazing desserterie not too far from home. It was a spectacular finale for a wonderful day!!

For some more pictures of my lovely day, check out my online album:

My 28th Birthday

Boston Birthday

My first Boston Birthday was lovely! Brian made me pancakes along with a delicious glass of fresh sqeezed orange juice! Then we headed to Revere Beach.
We walked around the beach for a while

then we ate at Kelly's (Roast Beef). Brian got a "Reuben" sandwich (corned beef with sauerkraut)
and I tried the roast beef sandwich, which was very yummy.

Afterwards, we headed to the Museum of Science and stayed there until closing.

Life size black bear

Comparing hand prints with T-Rex

Brian next to the humerus bone of a Brachiosaurus!

Then we went home for dinner and dessert. Brian made me heart shaped brownies and I opened my cards!

Ending the night with a lovely serenade! :D

What a great birthday!!! Thanks Brian! :)

A Day Downtown

Today we decided to have lunch at the Quincy Market.
It's pretty pricey, but so many options!!! Afterwards, we went over to the Aquarium.

Right now they have 80 penguins as their big attraction.

They had a couple sharks and we enjoyed watching them swim by with their evil look.

They had lots of cool fish, some really big ones too, but the pictures didn't really come out. We had fun though. After the aquarium we headed into the North End for an early birthday dinner.
Ate dinner at Al Dente and tried their famous Spinach Crepe appetizer, which was so amazing!!!!
After dinner we walked around the "Feast of St. Anthony Celebration" that is celebrated in the North End every year, the last weekend of August. Lots of food stands and things to buy.

Happy 25th Birthday, Brian

Today is Brian's 25th Birthday!! We went for a little hike in the hills of Orange/Anaheim
and then after church there was a surprise party for him. A couple of his friends wanted to throw one for him, so I helped make an evite and get him there. It was rather hard getting him there because he is so clever, but he was surprised, so that's good. The theme was "boy bands", so I made a shirt for my costume
and the whole night there were NSync, Backstreet boys, LFO and other boy band songs playing. We had a good time that night - thank you to all those who were able to celebrate with us! :)