Category Archives: life

How to Beat the Heat: A Photo Essay

It was hawwwwwt in Boston this weekend. 95 degrees-sweating by 8AM-get me near a fan rightnoworI’mgoingtolose it HOT. Mike and I spent the weekend beating the heat, and – despite the constant state of sweating – it ended up being one of our favorite weekends in Boston!

So you wanna #beattheheat? Here’s what you can do…

Step one: ICE CREEAAAAM, duh. Rainbow sprinkles FTW.

Step two: Get near the water, ASAP. We took the ferry out to Spectacle Island and it was perfect! It was pretty deserted and we found a little spot of beach to have a picnic and dip our toes in the water.

Step three: Recruit someone else to make dinner for you. Why sweat in the kitchen when you can have your own personal chef making you grilled pizzas??! Thanks, Mike and Katy! Step four: Find some more water. Get in it. Try not to get eaten by a snapping turtle.

Step five: Find some shade. Get in touch with your natural side.

Step six: YOGURTLAND. One just opened in Coolidge Corner and OMG. OH.mg. The flavors are out of this worrrrld and? Unlimited free samples. Get on it.

Step seven: Decide that the day your apartment reaches the highest temperature is the day you’re going to clean it out. Assist your roommate (ahem, MIKE) in cleaning out their closet (ahem, FIFTY T-SHIRTS [and one pair of soccer cleats FROM HIGH SCHOOL] LATER) and collect a dumpster-sized mass of garbage and donations. Feel suuper zen after ridding your apartment of all ~~Mike’s~~ the clutter.*

Step eight: Fall into bed after a full and glorious weekend and try to figure out how to sleep in a way that the bed/sheets/blankets/your clothes don’t touch your ridiculous left-shoulder, right-kneecap sunburn. Make a mental note to get better at applying sunscreen.

*This has nothing to do with beating the heat. I just needed the world to know that Mike has been hoarding t-shirts (and millions of various other items, see: this insane glove collection) and my intervention saved him.

Memorial Day in Maine

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Hi friends! How was your Memorial Day weekend??

Mike and I took the train to Maine on Saturday to meet our friends Liz and Dave in Portland. We hit up Shipyard and Duckfat (obv), then headed to camp for some good old fashioned relaxation. We sat around the fire, made peanut butter cup s’mores, visited Freeport to hit up the JCrew outlet 50% sale (!!), stumbled upon a field of frolicking baby cows (truly!), accidentally-on-purpose wore red, white and blue pants to showcase our Memorial Day spirit, and had a cookout on Monday just as the sun finally peeked out. Another awesome Maine weekend!

Rockport & Gloucester

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I’m baaaack! I’m going to try my hand at a more casual approach to blogging – more life updates/photos, fewer recipes, same amount of crazy stories of my adventures. I hope you’ll stick around!

Mike’s parents came to visit this past weekend, and we took a day trip up to Rockport and Gloucester. We hit up Halibut Point State Park, ate lobster rolls by the ocean, and just be-bopped around. It was a beautiful day!

Taking a Moment (or two or three…)

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Hi, friends!

I’m here to apologize for my major absence this past month. I wish I had a really awesome explanation, like I just adopted a lion cub and am so busy taking care of it that I have no time for blogging – but the truth is, I’ve been feeling a bit uninspired.

I realized that baking, and taking pictures of things I bake, and writing about things I bake, was starting to feel like a chore. This whole thing started as a creative outlet and way for me to share my kitchen concoctions, silly stories, and love of sprinkles, and I never want it to feel like I’m doing it because I have to. So for now I’m taking a bit of a hiatus. It’s not goodbye forevs… I hope!

Who knows? Maybe I’ll be back tomorrow, or next week, or next month. But for now I want to say THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU! This blog has been the most fun and it’s been a blast to read all of your comments, be a part of the blogging community, and share my sweet life 😉

Catch ya on the flipside!

A Photo Every Hour: Snow Day!

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Here’s what I did on my (wonderful, but hopefully last) snow day…7AM: Coffee.8AM: Multigrain waffles (recipe coming soon!)9AM: Before//after. Rearranged our bookshelf.10AM: Before//after. In the organization MODE. Closet: tackled.11AM: Stop to smell the flowers.12PM: Mediterranean chickpea salad(ish) for lunch.1PM: Curl up with a good read.2PM: Stop to admire my bunting handiwork. Ponder the fluffiness of our bed. Naptime!3PM: Pretend to write a paper for class.4PM: Yoga.5PM: Flourless peanut butter cookies (also coming soon!)6PM: Raiiiiin (ice?) go awaaay.7-8PM: Roasted acorn squash and kale chips for dinner//Mike comes home!9PM: Brew some sleepytime tea. Set alarm for sooo earlyyyy. Cozy up in bed. Goodnight!

Five Things You Might Not Know About Me

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On Sunday, Anna posted this list of five things about herself. I always love to read five (or more!) random things about people’s lives; I feel like it gives me a little peek behind-the-scenes. So, saddle up, grab a cookie, and enjoy five things you might not know about me:

1. I take a nap almost every day. Call me an infant, but for as long as I can remember (okay, since around the time one is supposed to outgrow daily naps), I’ve continued to nap most afternoons. My teaching schedule means I usually get home before 4PM, which leaves plenty of time for a nap+workout+blogging/paper writing+dinner. I’m one of those ~~babies~~ people that needs 9+ hours of sleep to wake up feeling totally rested, which rarely happens at nighttime (hello pre-6AM alarm!), so I nap like a child. E’ry dang day.

2. I’m scared of the dark. My BIGGEST fear is public speaking, but even writing about that makes me want to vom with anxiety, so I’ll stick to writing about the dark. I think it’s because I don’t like what I can’t see, or maybe it stems from some deep-seated fear of the unknown which I should probably discuss with a professional. I’ve mentioned the girl from the Sixth Sense who lives under my bed, but I also can’t look in any mirrors if I get up to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night because THERE COULD BE A GHOST LOOKING BACK AT ME (Bloody Mary? Is that the one?) And if I happen to wake up in the night from a nightmare? Forget it. Lights on, all of ’em.

3. This time last year, Mike and I were in Paris. First of all, I can’t believe an entire year has gone by since we took that magical, wonderous, deliciously glorious trip, but also I can’t believe we even went in the first place. It was one of those perfect once-in-a-lifetime “we are young and wild and free (and gallivanting all over Paris without a care in the world!)” moments. Ahhh, oui. Zee life.

4. One of my favorite [totally random] things to think about is how my life has changed since _______ date. I like to think about it when I’m scheduling my next yearly appointment (what will have changed the next time I walk into this office?), but I also like to think about it in terms of on _______, I had no idea that _______ was going to happen in the coming days/months/years. For example…when I was 17, I had no idea that I was going to be living in Boston as a grown-up, or when I was starting my sophomore year of college, I had no idea I was about to meet the cutest (and most terrific) ginger in all the land! It’s a good reminder to myself that all the daily small things eventually add up to big things (deciding to move to a new apartment, researching a new job, etc.)

5. My parents called me Melly when I was little, and it continues to be one of my most favorite nicknames. Very few people have figured it out, which is why I think it feels so special!

Hey Clair, Emily, Mackenzie & Amanda, I’m tagging you!

NYC!

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This past weekend Mike and I headed to NYC to hang with some of our favorite college peeps, and as always, it was a whirlwind weekend of food, friends, and FUN! We spent all day Saturday boppin’ around the city looking for the most delicious eats with my bestie Alix – we went to Doughnut Plant (finally!), Balthazar Bakery (felt JUST like Paris), Rice to Riches (graham cracker rice pudding FTW), and Momofuku Milk Bar (All. Everything.) Fooooood comaaaaa.

On Saturday night we went to a friend’s engagement party then to a Cornell young alumni event at the Bowery Hotel, which meant getting all fancy and catching up with so many people we hadn’t seen since college! On Sunday, we hit up Artichoke for the YUMMIEST pizza – they make a pizza with spinach and artichoke dip baked on top. It is ev-a-ree-thang and more. We took a nice long walk back (and obvi stopped for bagels) to Alix’s apartment before heading to our bus back to Boston. I love wandering around the city and just taking it all in; it’s my favorite way to explore!

More NYC visits, friends! MORE!

Sibs in Boston!

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My brother (Peter) and sister (Emily) came to visit me and Mike in Boston this weekend, and on Saturday we braved the cold & wind for a little adventure. We headed to Harpoon’s new beer hall (which was our back-up plan after discovering that all the brewery tours sold out only an hour after opening!!) where we tasted some beers and scarfed down soft pretzels with IPA cheddar, garlic parmesan, and maple cream cheese dips. To DIE.

Then we took Emily to try her very first lobster roll and poked around the Seaport and Fort Point Channel (obvi stopping by Flour for homemade oreos). These visits always feel too short but I was so happy to have them here! Come back soon, sibs!

Blizzard Bonanza

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NEMO!!! Love ya to pieces.

Disclaimer: I don’t have a car or house to shovel out and wasn’t affected by power outages or transportation delays (perks of being on a school snow day schedule) so to me blizzard = play time. Major playtime.

Mike and I headed out Friday night in the height of the blizzard to hang with my old roomies (perks of having besties two blocks away) and almost became insta-snowpeople. Observe:

On Saturday we (I) made Nemo pancakes because HOW COULDN’T I, then we bundled up and hopped into our cross-country skis to ski around the ‘hood. Cross-country skiing is HARD, yo. I was sweating like a wildebeest and almost-crying but eventually channeled my inner snow bunny and got the hang of it. We dropped our skis off at home and hippity-hopped around town, took 1,000 photos, and came home to eat Kraft mac and cheese and drink hot cocoa. It was wonderful 🙂