A goodbye party for Mike

On Saturday night my friend Mike had a going away celebration at the Hotel Commonwealth's Eastern Standard Apparently, its a bit of an after work hang out for people working in the restaurants business. My friend Mike is leaving behind a lovely job at No. 9 Park, one of my favorite restaurants in Boston (Barbara, your a genius!). So I started of the night with a lovely glass of Cava which has become one of my favorite drinks as of late. I got a little curious when my glass just continued to be refilled without my knowing. I joked and said, I really hope he didn't think I ordered the entire bottle! As the night continued I learned that the sous chef was the boyfriend of the bartender at No. 9 Park and that we were most likely in for a night of treats. The kitchen sent us out what I'd like to think were little tapas (as they were little bites) of maple flavored bratwurst and chrizo in cider (btw, this is my favorite meat dish of all times so yes, I literally jumped up and down as the little pieces were passed out.) Then then came to our table with three huge plates of oysters on a half shell for our party. I was in shock! I have become obsessed with raw oysters lately and theirs happen to be amazing and super fresh. Along with our lovely little bites we got a number of lovely shots that were divine!! The night was one of the best nights out I have had in the longest time and I would like to thank the lovely staff of Eastern Standard for making Mike's going away party to the west coast an amazing one. I am going to miss Mike so much (my friend of 10 years!) but it will be one hell of a time when I go visit him in SF and drag him to Napa for tour of the vineyards and so much good food our bellies will burst.

kitchen remodel: before

In a weeks time, we will have a brand new kitchen in our house. I could'nt be more thrilled. Here is what we have now and the very exciting, new plans! I will post the finished kitchen next Monday or Tuesday. Yayaya for new kitchens! I ordered them so you can see the exsisting space and then an image of what it will look like. Oh and that big white missing space is our lazy susan! haha I never thought I would be so excited to have a lazy fucking susan. Woooo!

i love fall!

i went to cider hill and bought donuts, apples and cider today. im buying my kitchen cabinets on monday. i took a ton of pictures today that i need to add. did i mention i have lost a total of 15 lbs? i have not weighed less than 145lbs since 1999. my parents want to go somewhere warm right before christmas as a family gift. i have a goal. bikini by dec. its not that far off. about 10 lbs off. i havent worn a bikini since 8th grade. you should be excited. i am.

holla!

halloween for azim

I brought Azim to the groomer today for his first haircut (with me, that is). He was starting to look like a long haired chiauaua and nothing like a pom which was hammered home when a small child on the street asked if he was in fact a chi. NO, HES A GODDAMNIT FANTASTIC PERSIAN DREAM. Okay, I didn't get that mad. I knew he looked crappy. So here is a little halloween type of picture i took of my little prince. I have a whole set that I will add to flickr once I get on my mac. I just had to share this like, now.

blogging, fall and my days as a candy striper.

JW said something to me the other day about blogging. Something which I always thought was very true but always gave little thought to. I was never a fan of livejournal as I am not a journal keeper nor do I care to share my personal business with the entire world. I started this blog last November in order to share my photographs (mainly with friends) and if someone else saw them as well, that was fine with me. I was incredibly productive last winter. I printed half of a new portfolio, updated my website and kept myself pretty busy knitting and sewing and the like. The spring was a sad and frustrating time. I abandoned all my fun activities and moved to the suburbs. I no longer had cute photos to share or little pictures of scarves I had knit. I was (gasp!) depressed. So I started to blog about other things, mainly fashion since its vapid and takes little time or effort. And hey, lets face it, I cannot spell and writting is not my strong suit, so why try? This brings me to my point...

Blogs have become this soap box for those not intelligent enough to become actual journalists. I am not saying that blogs have not made a huge impact on society (i love you Arianna Huffington!!) but I do think it is a space for those who want their egos stroked and their thoughts to sound prolific go. This is the thought JW shared with me. It couldn't be more spot on. There are some particular blogs out there (i will not name names, ha!) that just make my head want to explode. You are not talented, interesting or for that matter RIGHT about anything. I like my blogs simple. I take photos, I have some cute dogs, and I like to share those things with my friends, especially those I rarely get to see and miss sorely. So with that being said.. I will continue to fill my blog with cute little pictures and hopefully bags and projects I have created. At least, thats the plan. Because let's face it, you don't need me to tell you why the president sucks, thats what the New York Times is for.

On another note, blogging in general has become a little bit too time consuming for me as of late. I have been busier than ever working this fall and with JW's pain back, my duties have doubled around the house. Seeing someone you care about suffer that much is draining and frustrating. So bare with me while I attempt to enjoy my fall, support my boy, and take some damn photos.

Oh yes, and these photos were taken on my camera phone while at the mall. the little one to the left is a mini american eskimo dog puppy that was in a store at the mall. I was obsessed with holding her. One day I hope one day she has a lovely little life instead of the hell that is the pet store where she now resides.

the first chilly night.

It's finally cold enough outside to truly feel like fall. It's also October and every night til halloween, there is an amazing movie on at 8pm on the Disney Channel. We just had our chimney's serviced and cleaned and have the OK to use the one upstairs as it has not been used in at least 6 years. I was told it was my job to make the fire (a test if you will) It started out okay and then I ruined it and J.W. had to step in and salvage the embers. The results were so pretty. I haven't had a working fireplace in my primary residence since my apartment in Swampscott which was almost 4 years ago now. My parents house has a fireplace in literally every room (except on here and there) and when its cold enough out, my dad takes it apon himself to have a raging fire going in the front "parlor" at all times. Last Thanksgiving myself, mateo and my family sat quietly in the parlor with chest warming red wine sitting on the floor just watching it glow. Mateo layed half asleep on the rug with his plaid coat on having his tummy gently rubbed my my dad. It was one night with my parents that wasn't so bad. So this year has come and with that a working fireplace, a house on the edge of the woods and plenty of kids to come to the house and trick or treat. I was so struck by the brillance of the fire and the smell that picked up my camera for once and took some pictures. I hope you like them as much as I do. The leaves are really starting to turn and as cheesy as it is to take autumnal photos, I want to do very little else lately.