Visit #3 back home

  

Baby Shower @ Pam's

We made our 3rd trip back to California in September for a little baby shower with some church friends and my niece's baptism (surprisingly there was no wedding to attend!). Since we saw most of our family and friends in April and June, Brian and I were able to spend a little more time actually "vacationing" a little - we did some shopping and spent some time at the beach. It was nice to have some time to relax and not be rushing from one place to another. We had lunch on Saturday with Brian's family and then dinner with friends at Dee Dee's house.

Valentina's baptism was on Sunday in South Orange County. Brian & I are her Godparents - such an honor! She looked so beautiful in her dress and was such a good baby - so mellow and content with everyone and everything. What a blessing! It was a gorgeous warm California day spent with family and friends. 

We had a lovely, but brief, visit home - it's sometimes hard to believe that the next time we go back we will have a little person to tag along with us! :)

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!!! :)

Enjoying Summer

As usual, on nice days (when I'm off of work) we like to get out and try to go somewhere new. One afternoon we went to Castle Island/Pleasure Bay in South Boston for an afternoon walk. It was quite windy with a little rain, but otherwise a beautiful day.

Hurricane Irene ruined my Cape Cod birthday plans last year, so we decided to use our hotel credit this summer. We drove down to the Cape and wandered around Chatham for the afternoon. One of our favorite things to do is walk around little unique town shops. After exploring Chatham, we drove to our hotel in West Dennis, MA. It was so nice to just relax and enjoy being near the beach. We saw our first East Coast sunset! Then we watched some of the Olympics (which we were pretty into this summer) and then went to dinner at The Ocean House. The food was amazing - Brian, naturally, got lobster and I got a steak. We slept in and then read a little out on our little cottage porch, then checked out and headed to the other side of the Cape to explore and shop. We headed home in the late afternoon and had a nice phone chat with Angie to catch up while driving home.

Our Cape Cod Cottage at the Lighthouse Inn

 Dinner at the Ocean House

The young crowd at work requested a night off work so that we could all go out for dinner. We sat on a rooftop in downtown Boston on a lovely summer evening. My co-workers in this picture are (from Left to Right) Merideth, Jill, Kristen, (me), Lauren and Rosalind. We had a great time, even though we still talked a lot about work  haha.
 
Dinner at a friends house for his birthday. The Kelly's on the left and the Jones' in the middle. These two ladies will be throwing me a little baby shower here in Boston in a couple weeks. :)

Brian and I went to a farm one afternoon to pick our own vegetables. We picked green beans, corn, tomatoes, and apples. We used all the veggies for our next two dinners - they were all yummy!! It's super fun to go farming and we plan to do lots more of it!

After coming home from the farm, we stopped by the little summer festival that our apartment complex was having. They had a BBQ, games and activities for the kids, tons of bounce-houses, and a little petting zoo. We didn't stay long - just enough to check it out...and get some free water haha.

That's a little of what we have been up to on my days off! :)

Our 1st Trip to New York City!

In February, we joined Angel & Dan and Amanda & Josh in a trip to NYC! Friday morning we met at South Station and took an early bus from Boston to NYC, about a 4 hour trip. Once we arrived, I realized that I forgot my camera charger and the battery light was already flashing low. I was so bummed! We, first, headed to our hotel to drop off our bags and freshen up. Then we started wandering around town to Rockefeller Center, St. Patrick's Cathedral, the impressive Lego Store, NBC studio store...and stopping along the way to buy a camera charger. There was just no way I wasn't going to take pictures all weekend! Friday evening I let my camera charge while we went to dinner at Landmarc in the Time Warner Center. After dinner we went to see the play War Horse, which involved several horse puppets that were incredibly impressive. It was a spectacular play!

Saturday morning, we went to the Museum of Modern Art (MOMA) with Amanda & Josh, while Angel & Dan went and met up with a friend. I got a little sick that afternoon, but thankfully felt better by evening. We went to Times Square and waited in the TKTS line for discounted tickets for a play that night. We then decided that we wanted to try a Ramen noodle restaurant, but the one we had been eying had a really long line. Joyce, Angel's friend, knows the city pretty well and she knew of a Ramen place that would be opening around 5 (it was about 4), so we hailed our first cab and headed across town to the other place. There was already a line forming outside (a good sign I suppose), but once they opened we still had to wait over an hour because we had a party of 7 people. We all thought it was worth the wait because it was some good food! We didn't have much time after dinner, so we quickly headed to where our show was. We saw Avenue Q, which was a funny musical, also with puppets. It was another good show - the actors were all very talented. Afterward we wandered around looking for a good dessert place - we found a place with amazing, giant slices of New York cheesecake! Yum!

Sunday morning we woke up early and headed across town to a well-known breakfast place, Clinton St. Baking Company. They definitely had the best pancakes we've ever had. They were amazing! We felt the need to burn some calories after breakfast and did a lot of walking that afternoon, browsing through stores and stopping for snacks. We had lunch at Katz's Deli, which is a completely unorganized, busy sandwich place, but well-worth it. Brian says it was the best Pastrami sandwich he has ever had. This is also where the famous scene from When Harry Met Sally took place. We rested a little that afternoon and then went to dinner for some New York Pizza. Then we walked around Times Square more, going in the Hershey's and M&M stores. Times Square at night is quite extraordinary!

Monday we went to the Chelsea Market and the High Line, which is a raised park made from old railways. We grabbed a quick bite to eat in the market, headed back to the hotel to grab our suitcases and got on the bus back to Boston. It was a fun trip! We didn't do too many touristy things because our friends have already been to NYC many times and we figured we can do the touristy stuff on our next visit. We are so happy that we got to go on this trip together, especially since Dan & Angel moved back to California just after returning to Boston.

Now for the pictures!! Click on this link: New York Photo Album

Visiting Boston - Day 4

We woke up and packed our bags. Then we walked to the "B line" and headed over to Ady's office. We met with him at 11 and signed all the paperwork for our apartment. Immediately after, we got on the train and headed to St. Ignatius Church at Boston College for Palm Sunday Mass. We went to the bilingual service at noon.This is from the website - I didn't take any pictures because there were so many people around. Some day I will though...since I am sure this will be our parish soon. The church was packed!! Tons of people of all ages, but a lot of younger people. At the beginning of mass, the priest and deacon, as well as others, walked down the aisle waving their palms and trying to get everyone excited. It was cool. Then there was a little dancing and since today is the longest reading of the year, they did a little skit to go along with it. All this was definitely different for us, but I really liked it! It kept my attention for sure!

We then went and had lunch at Pino's Pizza - we got a pizza of course. It was delicious. :) Then we went back to our hotel and grabbed our bags and hopped on the "C line" to go to the airport. In the terminal Brian ran into one of his students from last year, so they sat and talked a while. That was pretty neat for him to see someone he knew. :) The flight home was long...but I was able to finally watch "The Blind Side", so that helped make the time go a little faster.

Sorry I didn't take any pictures today either, but we had a wonderful trip to Boston and can hardly believe that we have a place there and are moving in less than 4 months!

Visiting Boston - Day 3

Today we met with a realtor at noon - we walked 1 mile to meet him. Ady, our Romanian realtor, picked us up and took us apartment hunting. The first couple he showed us seemed like a not-so-nice area, but apparently he is not allowed to tell us how "safe" the area is otherwise he will lose his license. So, we looked anyway and they didn't seem so bad inside, but they were small. Then we went to another area that was nicer and we liked the first one we saw in the building, didn't care too much for the 2nd one, and fell in love with the 3rd one. The 3rd one was in the basement, but was pretty much brand new - only 2 years old, so new paint, huge kitchen (which is unheard of around here) and nice bathroom with granite countertops. One thing though was the lighting wasn't the best since half the windows were covered because we were below the ground. We really like natural light. Anyway, from there we went to quite a few others, some great and some okay.

Around 2:30 we were pretty set on the basement one and went back to see it one more time and the resident was there. We talked to her for a while about the place. She has lived there since August and is also from the West Coast. Safety is a huge deal to her and she said the bums rummage through the dumpster which is right outside her bedroom window and they stand outside and can look inside at her. We never thought about these things! She lived alone, so she felt really uncomfortable because they pretty much could tell when she was and was not home. She also said that in the summer it gets really hot and humid in the basement and because of the bums, she never opened the windows and then mold developed - she had to buy a new mattress because of this! She did have some great things to say about the place too, but we wanted to take into consideration what she said. So, we went and had lunch across the street and talked it over.

Tough and important decisions! We went back to Ady around 4 and asked him about another one we liked. He showed us again where it was located and we decided to go with it. The only thing about this one is that the move in date is June 1 and we wanted August 1, so we were going to have to pay for those 2 months - Ady was working on it for us though. In the meantime he remembered one other place we might like so he took us over to see that one. It was a lot like the apartments back home - big building, super nice entry way with concierge, pool on roof, fitness and business centers, etc. A lot newer, but it wasn't near the subway - we would have to take a bus to get there. Oh, and it was a little more than we wanted to spend. So, we are sticking with the other one we liked. We fill out our applications, but are going back tomorrow at 11 to meet with Ady and finalize everything. It looks like he could postpone the move in a little, but only till July 15 (but we will still be in Europe, so really it will be right when we get back!). Anyway, we are excited. This apartment is walking distance to a few hospitals so we are going to pray (hard!) that I can get a job there!! That would be AMAZING!

From there, we hopped on the subway and headed into downtown Boston!!! First we went towards the mall, but one girl on the subway told us to go to Newbury street, so we made our way over there...

A walk through the park


Downtown buildings

The Public Garden


Us freezing in the Garden


Me in front of a statue of Washington

We just walked down Newbury street and then ate at Tapes restaurant (we had to wait like an hour - we tried walking around, but we decided it was nicer to just stand in the small entry way and stay warm). :P After dinner, we headed back to the hotel, riding on the very crowded "C line". It was fun.

Visiting Boston - Day 2

Today was pretty uneventful for me. Brian left around 7:30 am to head to Boston College. He said he was frozen by the time he got there. It was raining and began snowing and he was walking about 2 miles to get there (we are still trying to figure the transportation system out...but he did take the shuttle back). I stayed in the hotel room ALL day working on a paper and watching TV. It was very lonely! Then, Brian got back around 5:30 and we chatted for a bit and then went out to get dinner. We ate at Dragon Star restaurant - it was Chinese food and had good reviews, but Brian and I weren't that impressed. Tonight we walked the opposite direction on Beacon street than yesterday thinking there would be more to eat than the other way...but I guess there just really aren't too many places to eat - or places to shop. We were having a hard time finding something - we wanted Italian. Oh, and it's freezing outside! I think I would actually be at a bearable temperature if I wore ALL the clothes that I brought, because 2 sweaters and a jacket is just not enough! So, we pretty much just went out to get dinner and then headed back to the hotel. So, no pics today! Sorry!! Stay tuned though...I know we will take some tomorrow! Night!

Visiting Boston - Day 1

We have arrived in Boston!! You should have seen our faces when the pilot announced that the weather in Boston was windy with a temp of 18 degrees! OMG - we were in complete shock. Once we actually walked outside, we realized that we must have heard it wrong or he said it wrong because it was pretty nice outside. The picture above is us on our first subway ride!! :D Here are some pics of us waiting to get on the Green Line train:

Once we exited our stop, we were walking to our hotel and I had my first dog encounter and it was to a GREYHOUND! I was SO happy! His name was Irish and he was a blind rescue greyhound. Here's me with Irish! :D
It was pretty much dinner time when we got here, but we hadn't even had lunch yet! So, once we made it to our hotel and got settled in, we went out to find food. We ate at Boloco's - which was like a healthy Chipotle (sorry for all of you who think Chipotle is healthy :P j/k). Then we walked over to Boston College and checked out where Brian needs to be tomorrow morning for his "Accepted Students Day".
Then we walked back to our hotel and took this lovely picture of the reservoir right here - it has to be like 3-4 miles around! It's gorgeous, especially at night. :)
That's all for tonight! I am sure I will have more pics for you tomorrow evening.

Visit to Boston

Well, on Saturday Brian was 90% sure we were going to end up in Boston, but then last night we heard that Fordham has a nicer offer than Boston College. And we are also still waiting to hear from other schools (mainly University of Chicago), so for now everything is still up in the air.

However, we did book our flight and hotel for our first visit to Boston!! We are SO excited!! We are going to be there from March 25-28 because Boston College is having their accepted students day and we want to explore a little and perhaps look at housing. I can't wait to post pictures from our trip!

LA Zoo

On Saturday, I went to the LA Zoo with Brian, my sister & brother-in-law and his mom who is visiting from Mexico (her 1st time to the US!). We had a great time!! Here are some of my favorite pics from the day:

Tiger

Giraffe sticking his tongue out at me

Simba & Nala :)

Gordie Brown

I received the pictures from Kimi's camera, which had most of the pictures from our Vegas trip, so I thought I would post this one from when we went to the Gordie Brown show.
He is really talented (comedian, musician, artist) and we had a blast, especially since Kimi was the highlight of his show! We were able to go backstage and meet him, which was so cool, but we did feel a little weird about it too. Anyway, this was the picture we took with him.

Where did July go!?

Wow, I can't believe today is July 22! I noticed that I haven't posted much in a while, so I thought I would write a short update.

• School is school and it is crazy busy as usual. I cannot even wait for this semester to end, but after registering for the fall semester, I am not looking forward to starting that. I am looking forward to my externship in the fall though, which will be at St. Jude's. :)
  
• I went to Vegas over the weekend with a few girlfriends which was loads of fun. (Kimi turned 21 earlier this month). It was soooo nice to get away for the weekend and relax and have a good time. I'm not a big gambler, but I played some slots and won a whopping $7! :) Hey, it's better than losing, right?
  
• I'm currently housesitting 2 puppies in Anaheim Hills (till tomorrow). The family has only had them for about 2 weeks, so I have found myself spending much of my time training and cleaning up after them. It is not fun to come home to some nice "puppy presents" everytime I leave and I sware the 2 of them team up on me on purpose. Anyway, they are really cute dogs and I have enjoyed having my own place for the week. :) I will try to attach a picture soon.
  
• My dad was in the hospital for a few days for a bowel obstruction, but he went home this afternoon. I visited him a couple times and realized how much I would probably hate to have him as a patient! He actually told the student nurse that she could not take out his NG tube and that he had seen a little too much of her! Poor girl! I probably would have cried. :P Glad he is home though.
  
• Lastly, my grandfather was diagnosed with stage 1 prostate cancer. He is turning 81 on Sunday and as of right now, he will not be getting any surgery or treatments because of his age. Please keep him and my grandmother in your prayers.

I think that is really all that's new. Also, please keep my friend Tiffany in your prayers - she lost her husband today.