Flurry Blurry Winter

Is it just me, or is this winter flying by quicker then usual? It could be that the holidays came at the same time as my new job, so I went from extensive amounts of free time to nearly none. It could also be that the snow if finally here, therefore everything is taking significantly longer. Likely, this rush is my own fault for not planning and executing all of my gifts/cards/etc while I was stuck on the couch all those months. heehee.

Despite the insanity, I am thrilled for the winter. The snow is still magical, another feast will be here soon, and friends will be here even sooner! Sigh. I love Christmas, even a tree-less, decoration-less one! :) This year snow, next year we will have it all!! :)

Life was fine in 2009

And now... my annual list of stuff that I am thankful for during this past year (in no particular order):

James, New England, Dr. megan anderson, Glee, Igor, Boston, my kids at the Y, Allie & Kate, cupcakes, Sam Adams, Cirque de Soleil, Santa Barbara, Pilot, Spray paint, French, Spectre, Nikon, guitar hero world tour, road trips, Harry Potter, being a beast, Real Simple recipes, squid ink dyed pasta, yankee candles, muppets singing Bohemian Rhapsody, Club Moorea, southwest airlines, Books books books, Pushing Daisies, wine, dishwashers, NPR, public transportation, JJ Abrams, free haircuts, homemade fish & chips, Harvard Square, yoga, therabands, not having cancer (woohoo), Red Sox disability seats, peppermint mochas, sleep (when I get it), the beautiful Bayer wedding, The Standard hotel, photo shoots, the Portland ME promenade, crutch dances, drugged up post surgery videos, the modesto nuts (namely their mascot), the train, HIMYM, Duck Tour, stealing lost guinea pig signs...

to be continued

friends, silly stories, pie, photography blogs, Totally Rad Actions, Photoshop, Amazon, gnomes, Rain, Coolidge Corner, adium,
fleece pullovers, cover songs, paid time off, MassHealth, 1 visitor per month, cover songs, student movie tickets, Moody st, being free from ridiculousness of the Y leadership, James dancing at his computer, amazing deals, forgiveness

Meatblob soup!

Ok... so it was supposed to be a meatball soup, but I have not quite perfected the perfectly shaped ball o' meat. Thankfully, the shape does not change the flavor! :) Tonight I made an Escarole & Meatball soup that I found when browsing through Martha Stewart Recipes. James and I each give it 2 thumbs up, and Igor gives it a tail wag and a hopeful whine (maybe next time buddy).

I followed the recipes pretty closely, just adding crushed red pepper to the broth. I enjoyed that it was such a light meal, seeing as most dishes with meatballs have piles of pasta, heavy sauces, or mounds of cheese. Not to knock any of that... mmmm... but it was a nice change. :) Another plus... the little bit of leftovers will taste amazing in burritos tomorrow!

when your own thoughts are typed out more eloquently through someone else's fingers...

This is what you get: (stolen from the blog of the awesome James Pierce ). I have been sorting through similar thoughts and feelings, but I never sat down to meditate upon them or put them into words, so they inevitably kept getting pushed down. I soaked in the frustrations from the events surrounding my last months in Orange County, as well as the physical pain of my early days here, and could not see anything else clearly. It is refreshing to read this and to come up for air.

I feel like this is just the beginning. The precursor to what is going to turn out to be the grandest of all adventures. And I'm okay with that, I always have been. It's just that I'm beginning, after being in a whole new place for the past two weeks, to realize that this is it. It's not the warm-up, it's not the stretches, it's game time. I can't be living as if this were just one more step before life truly begins. In a way that's how it's been. Ever since graduating college really.

In college it was simpler though. I had classes I needed to pass, and so that made the wondering how each day was supposed to pan out much easier. In those classes were people who lived in the dorm I was living in, ate in the caf I was eating in, and played the same intramural sports I was playing. Life and relationships just happened. There was always someone you could find who shared a common like or dislike, and as a result you became friends.

Video games kept us awake through ungodly hours of the night, late term papers had the same effect, and at times conversations in the prayer room lasted way too long. Did anyone ever actually pray in there? Maybe that's why they took it away. In any case, strong friendships were forged through these times, as well as broken I'm sure, but not as often.

Four years have passed since then though. Each of us having lived over a thousand days, over thirty-five thousand hours. At first we stayed close to the city we graduated in. Our friendships were more important than our living arrangements. But as time passed, and the realization that we needed to get our lives in order, we spread out. Cheaper housing was available anywhere over five hundred miles away. Jobs and families had stronger bonds than our desires to stay nearby to one another.

Maybe we finally started realizing that we needed to live our own lives. We couldn't live vicariously through each other, no matter how hard we tried. And maybe the only way we thought this possible was to move away from the friends we loved, the relationships we built over the past eight years. The closest "friend" I have from college lives 215 miles away, and we haven't even truly spoken since we graduated. The next closest is 900 miles away, and I don't even want to know what mileage category the others fall into.

I suppose what I'm saying is that we're now all out on our own. True life has hit us and we've decided to grab it by the horns and hope the ride ends somewhere enjoyable. We're ready to be held responsible for our actions, we're ready to build more relationships that will last longer than forever. We're ready to dig in our toes and our heels and plant ourselves in the soil that has been eagerly awaiting our arrival since birth.

Where will our roots go though? Will they only linger among the topsoil and weeds that have no nourishment and only sporadic water? Or will they penetrate deeply into the firmament that longs to be tilled its entire life? It's entirely up to us, but as I said in the beginning I feel like this is the time to do it. It's not up to us to worry about where we will find ourselves tomorrow or next year. It's not up to us to try and change the seasons in our lives or force change that might not be ready to happen.

Life, as complicated as it may be, is meant to be lived.
But not haphazardly, or lazily.
No.
Wholeheartedly.
Passionately.
Vigorously.
Excitedly.

Take today, for all it's worth, and live the best way you know how. Just try it. I dare you.

-James P.

The Apartment: the update

Sooooooo... our room is almost finished, and I thought I would share some photo with you all!

Here is the bedroom. There are a more knick knacks and small items (funky chandelier, etc) left to buy, and I need to rearrange the red frames above the desk, but overall, the room feels like home!












Here is the living room/kitchen. I was going to clean it before taking picture, but then figured I might as well show you the view I usually get when I venture out of my room. I clean this place every day, but just like everytime I cleaned our front porch as a child and came out later to find the damn chicken pooped all over it again... it is my destiny to find the counters crumbed/dished and living room cluttered! It is a normal curse right? I have sort of become a neat freak because of it. ha! The only other "clean" person is the other wifey of the house, and she works all day, so she understandably doesn't need to deal with it. I fear for the apartment when I am back at work and this place is left to the fellas. :) But despite that, it is cute, a mash up of all of our styles, and it has the most gorgeous gigantic windows that take up most of the space between the floor and our 10 foot celings. Love love love.


The kitchen (viewed from our room):



The kitchen/living room from the front door:




Kitchen/living room from the kitchen:



Living room from opposite side of room (by our fabulous windows):



and because a post of the home would never be complete without a picture of Igor... here he is in his cone!



(I took the cone off immediately after this. My room is a No Cone Zone. heehee)

It's a Soup-er tuesday!

That's right... it's time for another soup. Tonight I made a Mushroom Barley Soup. D-licious. Yum yum yum.






I'm starting to think Real Simple can do no wrong! For all my friends back in California... try this in about two more months when it drops below the 70's and you actually have soup weather ;) ha!

Dusting off the apron...

I have had much more time on my hands now that I am mobile but still without a job, so I am attempting to cook more frequently. I am currently becoming the master of soups. I LOVE soup, and have decided that with the cold weather sweeping in (and not leaving for about 6 months), I have a goal to make a soup every week. Many weeks, I would like them to be brand new, never attempted by my pink little hands. So far, I believe it has been a wild success! My chicken noodle makes me feel nostalgic and comfortable, and I don't think I can ever go back to canned again. My Zuppa Toscana makes Igor whimper jealously as I make happy yummy noises. Today I tried Chicken Posole, paired with chese quesadillas & mango salsa. I have decided with every soup I will post a recipe, should others feel inspired to follow me in my brothy adventures. yum. yum. yum.






I will be attempting other new and unique dishes as well, and will try to post the recipe if I find something noteworthy.

No Air

I currently have the chorus of Glee's version of No Air running on repeat in my head.
I am singing it to the current job market.
Having a mini panic attack.
Oi.

Wedding Photos- The Bayers

I think I took a total of 10 photos the week of the wedding (I am still a but shocked), and most of those were not even of people. Thankfully, Aaron Shintaku did a fabulous job shooting the wedding, so I can share those with you now instead. :)

Ps- they say the camera adds 10 pounds. So do crutches. Sigh.

West Coast Tour

I'm almost done with my trip back to California. I have realized that I am continually having my patience tested. I feel that I am learning to handle it more gracefully, but at the same time I am just tired of it. This week has been small things, and I have been able to laugh, but it wears on me. Wait a little longer for the leg to heal. Wait in the airport 6.5 hours after you land. Wait at the train station 4 hours. Wait an extra 7 hours to be picked up in Coarsegold (oh coarsegold). etc. etc. etc. Please GOD do not let me miss my one stand by flight available on Tuesday and wait a full night.

However, despite all the waiting, this has been a great trip. I got to briefly visit with GMar, and stayed with Matt last night. I spent man days relaxing with Stephanie and helping her to the best of my gimpy abilities! The wedding... it was beautiful, almost flawless. I wish I had pictures to post, but I was busy experiencing the day that once it got rolling, I did not even think of my camera. I know... when does that happen? Stephanie was beautiful and adorably anxious for her day to begin. When Stephanie was walking down the aisle, Stephen looked like an 5 year old boy on christmas who got a big wheel that could both fly and produce chocolate on command. They were happy. Everything was on time. Only 4 people ended up in the pool, and that was intentional on their part. :) Oh, and did I mention there were cupcakes? Huge, decadent cupcakes? That makes for a happy Bri.

I will be stalking Aarons Shintaku's blog for the next couple week until the photos are posted! I am so happy for Stephanie! I love seeing my oldest friend so full of joy. I am so thankful to have been able to share this day with her in that capacity, standing by her, instead of viewing her from behind my camera lens. I am also thankful she was so gracious and found my boot and crutch entertaining and not fret over the big eye sore that we all know it is! :) I can't believe the day has come gone. SO beautiful.

Currently I am sitting in Coarsegold (waiting, of course), and at SOME point tonight when Beth shows up, we will start the drive down to Orange County. My time with Kelly will now be cut short (tear), but I am excited for tomorrow when I get to see my kids, have dinner with Chelsea, and relax at alta with whoever happens to show up!

It has been lovely overall, but I'm ready to head east to my new home, a fluffy Igor, and my James! yay. :)

A perfect case of the Mondays

James had the day off yesterday, so we decided to venture into Cambridge and ended up having a truly lovely afternoon. So wonderful was this day, that I feel like it is time to bring out the coveted (I like to think) seal of approval...




Today, this award goes to our new favorite coffeeshop, Crema Cafe, in Harvard Square. James and I stumbled upon this place last summer when we were on vacation, and I have thought of it many times since. James rediscovered Crema when looking for a good place to study and consume large amounts of caffeine, and since I was feeling up to the trek this time around, I joined him. Awesomeness ensued.










On it's own, Crema would get a seal of awesomeness already. The location can't get any better, it can be spotted immediately after exiting Harvard T station. Everything they sell is delicious! Or at least the smells and reviews would lead me to believe that! ha. The few things I have tried have been (wait for it)... awesome! :) What I love the most about this cafe is the atmosphere. Inside, it is quiet, full of character, and the employees seem pretty down to earth. Outside... is simply... awesome. In every sense of the word. :) After we settled in at our table, we were surrounded by many interesting characters. To our north, next to the man playing guitar, was King of the hipsters who would get angry being called hipsters. He had a posse. To my left, a mother with her smiling baby, taking a break from their walk. To my right, a group of German students in a heated debate, mostly in German. James tries to place the familiar voices at the table just in front of us, and is ecstatic when he realizes they are the men from NPR's Car Talk, having coffee and cigars with friends. We settle back. James reads his textbook while enjoying his iced coffe. I sip my tea and nearly finish a crossword puzzle... which then gets covered in the last of James drink, and I dry off my book, put a napkin on the page, turn to a puzzle that is dry, and start all over. The mother next to me has lulled the baby to sleep, and her soothing voice is now replaced by the sounds of a didgeridoo and the giggles from the children watching the man who is playing it.

All this and it was only a regular Monday afternoon. :)

It will never be my alta, but I believe I can eventually love it equally for very different reasons. I have a feeling it will become a staple in our "visitors must see" list. Right after Sam Adams Brewery of course. :)

The dreaded job hunt...

It has begun.
Blah.
an blah.

Kinda wish I could get my foot back then take a vacation from sitting around and see my city! Note to self, stalk a leprechuan. ooooo and maybe after I steal his gold I can keep him as a pet! (and now my mind wanders)...

New England Whirlwind

Hello! I have been a bit MIA due to doctor visits, friend visits, and life in general!

The ankle update:
I have finally been cleared to put some weight on my ankle. I am cleared for 25% weight (putting the other % on my crutches still), and will progress to 100% over the next few weeks. I start physical therapy tomorrow. I will be allowed to go back to work on November 2. Until then... I am keeping myself occupied. Photos, movies, shadow puppets... you know the drill.

In other fun news, I finally had a visitor! Alison came out to visit. We went EVERYWHERE and I am absolutely exhausted, but had so much fun! Our trip started with picking Alison up at the airport and heading to the North End for dinner at Daily Catch and dessert from Mike's pastry. We both ordered the squid ink pasta and it was AMAZING. The dish was served to us in their pans, and I ate every single garlicy, fishy, chewy bite. MMMMMmmmmmmm. (wipes drool from mouth).




From the North end, we headed to Fenway Park for a very exciting game! Alison routed for her angels, and the red sox fans were very respectful. :) I ended up getting a hot chocolate instead of a beer after witnessing a hilarious/disgusting vomit incident from a drunken fan. I was thinking towards the end of the game, while I enjoy baseball, I can't imagine the stress FANS must feel during a close game... I nearly had a panic attack towards the end. Oh my word. The weather was cool and crisp, the stadium was full of excitement, and I was not stuck on the couch. Perfect evening. :)




The following morning, we hopped out of bed early to catch the commuter rail out to Cambridge. We took a slow/short "tour" of Harvard. I wish she could have seen more, but the crutches were pretty limiting! As always, the campus was beautiful and a bit overwhelming. I was entertained to hear how much an undergrad thought his having to take art history "totally sucked", and it made me smile to think that many of the students are just normal people... but then also was sorry his parents spend however much they do and he is not into his courses. Come on man... you're at Harvard! Suck it up! :)





We DID find out a funny piece of information when passing a tour guide. Apparently, nobody knows what John Harvard looked like, so when they made his statue, they simply made up what he looked like. Kinda like us westerners and Jesus? Right? :)
After leaving Harvard, we wandered around Cambridge for a bit. Peeked into some shops, had lunch at Wagamama (yum), then visited the Old Harvard Bookstore. Love that place, but I find it painful to be there when I can't spend money.




We left Cambridge and headed out to Sommerville to try Kick Ass Cupcakes. Alison and I love getting cupcakes back home, so it only seemed fitting to try my first Boston cupcake with her! I will say, this place had interesting flavors, but they were small, and not that good overall. I will have to continue in my hunt for the best cupcake in New England. However, I will say, ours was creative. The Green Monster: Chocolate cupcake with a chocolate beer ganache center and Sam Adams Cream Stout frosting.




At this point, it was only 3pm, and we were heading back to Waltham to meet James and go to the Sam Adams brewery. We had an innnteresting moment on the train back. The train came to a sudden stop, all of the lights went out, and the entire train went silent. While attempting to get the engine running again, the train car would occassionally shake, bringing visions of clear water cups and disappearing goats (hoping you all get the reference). Luckily, it only took 5 minutes to get back on our route again. We picked up James, drove to the brewery... and discovered it closed early on week days! So Alison threw out the idea of trying to catch the last duck tour. We swiftly rerouted our drive (thank you tomtom), "ran"/clacked to the ticket area, and I left Alison & James to buy our tickets as I took off early to meet the tour (1.5 blocks away). I reached the duck just before they did (man Im slow), and we boarded & took off! The tour is a brief overview, but definitely worth it. Our guide had loads of random facts, and our ride in the charles river was beautiful! The sun was starting to set, and it the light was perfect.





After the tour, we decided the day had been long enough, and headed home to eat falafel's and watch The Office!

Friday morning, Alison headed off for a tour of Fenway Park. I sadly could not go, it was too much crutching after the day we had. They were filming a new film at the park when she was there, and she saw Ben Affleck! Lucky duck. :) We all met up at the Sam Adams Brewery and finally had our tour! Our guide was a bit silly, and everyone was pretty jealous of his job. We tasted 3 beers in the tasting room. Boston Lager, Octoberfest, and Coastal Wheat (which wont be released to the public until Thanksgiving at the earliest). It was lemony and refreshing. Yum! We were quite silly afterwards. There might have been some singing on the ride home. Could have been video taped.

Maybe. :)




After the tour, we dropped off James and headed NW to Brattleboro, VT. A weird little town, that we later found out is the only town in the country where public nudity is legal. We did not witness that in person. Half relieve, half bummed. ha! We had a delicious dinner and then took in a movie. Normally I would not watch a movie while traveling, but we were staying at the Latchis Hotel & Theater, and the ticket was included in the room price! We decided to watch In the Loop, and it was located in a...um... smaller theater, 2 flights of stairs up. The screen was not much bigger then a projector screen that most churches/schools have, and the place GHETTO. Just plain weird... there were chunks missing from some seats, the movie was slightly crooked, etc. When leading me out the "easy" way (because of my crutches), I was taken up these weird stairs in the projector room, as the employee kicked trash and buckets out of the way, and we were led into a hallway on the 2nd floor of the hotel. All we could do was laugh. The next morning we enjoyed a tasty breakfast down by the river (bordering VT & NH), complete with Vermont Maple Syrup, and headed out of the state, breathing a sigh of relief! ha




Our drive through New Hampshire to Maine was GORGEOUS. The leaves are just beginning to turn and there was so much to see, so the 3.5 hour drive flew by. We pulled into Portland in the afternoon, promptly picked up Zoe, and headed to Beals. Their ice cream is the best! Zoe then showed us one of her favorite shops, Abacus. I am in love with this store, I wish I could decorate an entire home in their whimsical and unique art! We stopped at the Promenade so that Alison could put her feet in the Atlantic, then headed home for a homecooked (yummmmmy) meal and movies. With that, we relaxed on our last night of a 4 state tour!





I had so much fun. and loved being out in the fresh air for once! Thank you Alison for visiting! I hope more of you make the trip soon. Just not too soon... I'm spent. ha.

And now presenting... Igor!

Here is the lovable Igor that I talk about so often. He is a pretty lazy pooch, and probably plays a total of 2 minutes and then gets bored. Today, he discovered my stuffed serta sheep, and fell in love with it, and apparently it was enough to pull him out of his sluggish existence. Sadly, I was not able to record their first adventure, as he tored through the room and beyond. However, I did catch his post play nap with his new friend, which was quite adorable. Now Im just hoping he doesnt decide to chew my sheep to pieces... I like that sheep! :)

Progress!

Tada!!






There is still nothing on the walls, and we have a bit more organizing to do, but it is finally feeling homey. :)

Dogs, Jedi, and other important matters

1. Greetings from Igor!!!



Are words needed for his awesomeness? I think not. (which brings me to...)



2. The most glorious yet depressing piece of news I have received, the AWESOMENESS that will be Star Wars in Concert


No, not this:





But THIS!!!!:



I am rather angry that it will only be on the west coast!
I realized it is playing right around the wedding, and could technically come in slightly earlier, or stay another day later, but I know James would flip his lid. And realistically... can't spend the money. But SERIOUSLY!!! sigh.

3. My birthday is coming up in a matter of weeks, and I simply can't get excited for it since I won't be able to go anywhere/do anything for it. However, I may have been able to convince James to let me do a Duck Tour with Alison when she visits, as my present. Yes, it is uber touristy, and yes, I really want to do it anyways! Especially since my abilities to walk, while present again, will be very limited. (which brings me to...)

4. We get "mobility" seats, instead of standing room only, for my first Red Sox game!






Thank you Alison! I can't wait for you to visit, and am planning a fun filled trip! (which brings me to...)

5. While researching for Alison's visit, I have began a separate list of everything I want to do in this next year, and I am so excited to be living here! There are so many areas to explore. Please book your plane tickets soon and come share the adventure with me! Perhaps you may get an award! (which brings me to...)


6. Today, I award my first one of these bad boys:



I have spoken of much awesomness in this post, but I can't give them out over just anything!!! No no!


As I was wrapping up this entry, I hear my awesome husband chanting "Go Jesus, Go Jesus!", so I of course looked up. I found him sitting on our exercise ball, bobbing back and forth, and look further to see that he has tapped our bobble Jesus, and they bobbed together while he chanted. Pure awesomeness to kick off my Sunday morning.


Cheers, Briana

The Road between my toes... a series

Welcome to the first (and God willing the last) art series by Crutch & Click photography. :)


Our trip East held promise of fun, fabulous, and fierce images. Alas, at the exact moment my ankle bone was cracked, so were my dreams of an adventurous trip with hundreds of photos to go with it. With my foot in the air, staring wistfully at the wonders of the road wizzing by, I came up with the following idea. What you see before you is a series of photos displaying places I normally would stop to shoot or have fun, but can't because of my lame foot. The rest is history...













































"












And a few of the artist (taken by James)







I am happy to say that craptastic splint is in the trash, and I have a fabulous new boot. Huzzah!