Liz and Dave’s Wedding

My Boston pal and former roomie Liz got married this past weekend in upstate New York. I realize I refer to a lot of things as the “most [insert adjective] [insert noun]“, but it’s possible that Liz was the most beautiful bride. Though I forgot my camera in Boston (don’t GET me started), here are a random assortment of stolen-from-Facebook and iPhone pics.

This is when I started crying.

Can’t wait to see the wedding photographer version of this!!

My handsome date

Most.Delicious.Wedding cake.Ever.

(I even asked for the recipe.)

(But got de-NIED. Another story for another day.)

Accidentally dressed the same as my bestie Fina, despite the fact that we both told each other we were planning to wear something totally different.

Great wedding! Congrats, Liz and Dave!

Boilermaker 15K

GUYS, I did it!!! I ran a 15K in less than 2 hours, completing my goal with a smile on my face and without falling, quitting, or crying (who are we kidding, I cried 4 times). As a self-proclaimed loather of running, having only ever run as far as 7 miles, I truly didn’t think I’d ever be able to complete a 9.3 mile race.  It was reaaaallllyyyy really hard, but I’m super proud of myself for finishing and also super proud of the whole crew I was with!

Pre-race

The weather was perfect, the crowd was supportive, the hills were ROUGH, but we’ve decided to make it an annual tradition!

Post-race!

 

Memorial Day

I hope everyone had a fabulous long weekend. Mine was full of sunshine, college friends, pool time, BBQ, reminiscing, and sunburns. Perfect.

How was your Memorial Day?

Welcome, newest roomie!

True Life: I’m living with my first grade class.

It’s true! This should probably be a reality TV show. Kind of like that show “High School Reunion” (total fail), but better, because the last time most of us saw each other we had just learned how to read and add 2-digit numbers.

I’ve been living with Domenica – first grade BFFL – since September. Our other roommate, Fina, got a job in Denver and had to move out – SAD. But, a fellow Mrs. Archer’s class alum, Allison, needed a place to live in Boston – HAPPY! So, Allison moved in and now we can relive a first-grade reunion every day.

Here’s proof of our 17-year friendship:

My 7th birthday party: there’s Allison on the right, and that spot on my arm that looks like I have a tiny bit of gorilla hair growing on me is actually Domenica. This was prior to her gorgeous hair days.

Here we are again. This was the tea party portion of my party…what a life. Allison, I truly love your hat.

Domenica is on the right. Proof.

Unfortunately I don’t yet have a picture of the three of us nowadays, but I can assure you we all look slightly better than we did at age 7.

Welcome to the apartment, Allison!

Happy First Birthday, Blog!

My blog turns one year old today!!!! Time really does FLY.

What a year its been…

In December I got some much needed rest at home at Christmastime.

In January I made s’mores cupcakes and died a little at the goodness.

In February I felt the spirit of Valentine’s Day with a heartwarming little-kid love story.

In March I made rainbow pancakes.

In April my poor little computer was STOLEN, but I hit 100 posts and shared my top-secret cookie recipe with you!

In May I discovered the beauty of grilled s’mores.

In June my baby sister graduated high school!

In July I met this crab and many other sea creatures.

In August I ate the best cupcake of my life and established Wildlife Wednesday.

In September I moved to an adorable new apartment.

In October I created pumpkin cupcakes with salted caramel buttercream and everyone wanted to be my friend.

In November I made homemade oreos.

And here we are one year later, back to December, with a slightly larger waistline, a slightly larger camera, and so many {photo documented} awesome memories.

Thank you all for making this year so much FUN!

NYC

Hi ho, hi ho, it’s off to New York we go!

Bright eyed and bushy-tailed.

This is roughly photo #44 out of 85 attempts. The sun was NOT working in our favor.

Armed with a bag full of peanut butter cookies for our wonderful hostess

I can’t wait to see….

…my little sister!!

…some of my favorite 121ers,

and the Cornell cheerleaders in tonight’s parade down Fifth Avenue!

Unfortunately I think it’s too soon for this beauty…

Maybe next time.

Have a great weekend, everyone!

Happy Birthday Fina!!

Happy 23rd birthday to my roomie and favorite pint-sized red head, Fina!

This also marks our unofficial 5-year friendiversary.

Feen, I’m so happy you’re my roomie, living in Boston, FINAlly 23…

but mostly that you’re no longer gluten-free and can enjoy all of my baked goods.

HAVE A FAB DAY GIIIIRRRRLLL!

Beautiful Boston

Yesterday was a GORGEOUS day in Boston. Perfect temperature, not a cloud in the sky, a nice light breeze.

So we spent it eating.

Mike’s twin sister, Josie and her boyfriend, Mike (for the sake of this post, we’ll call him Mike#2) were visiting Boston for the day, so we showed them some of our favorite sights and eateries. This obviously means we started the day off at Gaslight in the South End. Favorite, favorite brunch spot.

Brunch on the patio. Perfection.

I was feeling fancy, so I started the morning off with a peach Bellini.

I couldn’t resist the caramelized banana crepes:

Mike (BF) went with his old standby, french onion soup:

While Mike#2 ordered the omelet with roasted vegetables and feta. It looked and smelled like such perfection that I 100% plan to order it next time.

And Josie got the vanilla cream-stuffed&smothered french toast.

Eep! Yum!

Here we are with happy and full bellies, about to commence on our next adventure…

The Public Garden! Here’s a little bit of trivia for you about the famous swan couple.

Pose.

Pose.

We headed over to the Boston Public Library for more posing.

The BPL’s inner courtyard is one of my favorite secret spots in Boston. It makes me feel like I’ve been transported to Italy!

Twinnies!

After all that posing and sightseeing, we were obvi famished. Josie was in search of a good New England clam chowder, so we did a quick Google search and found the Atlantic Fish Co. right around the corner!

They had us all at “clam chowder in a bread bowl”.

We also couldn’t resist the crab and artichoke dip.

Bread bowls are my true love. I need to make them and fill them with french onion soup, stat.

Happy belly

Happiness

A few reasons that I’m smiling on this lovely Sunday morning:

1. I still can’t get over this seriously amazing sandwich/work of art that one of the kids brought for lunch on Friday. As a former sandwich artist (whattup Subway!), I know just how much talent this must have required. Behold:

2a&b. I made two fantastic purchases in Harvard Square yesterday.

2a: This awesome print of monuments in Paris. It’s actually wrapping paper, but I plan to frame it!

2b: A Charley Harper coloring book!!!!!! Call me a child, call me a preschool teacher, but I am beyond excited to start coloring in my “own” Charley Harper (*favorite artist alert*) masterpieces. Next stop: CVS for a 64-pack of crayons with a sharpener in the back (do they still make those??).

3. T-minus 3 days until I move into my new adorable apartment with Domenica and Fina. There will be baking, and lots of it

Hope everyone is having a sunny and funny weekend!

Emma and Topher’s wedding!

HI!! I’m finally back! It has been a whirlwind past couple of weeks, and I appreciate you all bearing with me for my extended missingness. This past weekend I was back at Cornell for Emma and Topher’s wedding, and I am SO excited to share pictures with you! The wedding was absolutely beautiful, perfectly put together, and an all-around awesome time back in Ithaca with some awesome people! From the hockey game at Lynah rink the night before, to a photo shoot in front of the clock tower, to the gorgeous reception site, here are some pictures from the wedding extravaganza:

*Thanks to the various 121ers I stole most of these photos from