New music, yes!

In preperation for Newport Folk Festival and summer in general, I bought some new music. Here are 2 bands whose cd's I bought... that I plan on listening to on repeat on my ipod this week:

The Cave Singers

David Wax Museum

Check them out... they rock! :)

weekend recap... and last weekend living in Boston!

So this weekend started with my graduation (see post below) - and of course I waited til the morning of to buy a dress for graduation. I have a closet full of dresses (like so full that there are 2 dresses per hanger - I know!- but it's the only way they fit, I have an obsession). However, I felt that Graduation Day deserved it's own dress, or I did...whichever.  I ended up buying a long patterned dress, but I also picked up this cute yellow dress. Yellow is slowly creeping up there with blue as my favorite color. It is so cheery, and makes me feel summery to wear it. Can one "feel summery"? Well I do!

 We took a stroll through Brighton Saturday morning to do our laundry, run some errands, and breakfast at Cafenation of course. We both got savory crepes: Mike got the nutella & banana and I got chicken, cheddar, and broccoli. Mmmm!

 When we got home we decided that we would try to sell some of our stuff that we were going to end up throwing away or donating. I laid out some blankets on the corner, had some music, ice tea, and had Tina Fey's Bossypants in hand.  I didn't mind it at all, I got to be outside, read, and people watch - a few of my favorite things! I even got some sun (by this I mean my freckles quadrupled) And we made $50!

 So we spent it on tapas and sangria at Tasca's with friends! Yay!

 And my friends Charlotte & Rob surprised me with tiramisu birthday/congrats cake!
So sweet!

This morning I went to watch Mike play street hockey. He plays in a league that plays Sunday mornings. Usually I am still snoring in bed when he creeps out to his games, but this morning I wanted to go not only because it is our last Sunday in Cambridge, but because I wanted to support him! I watched the game....as well as people-watched in the park and froze my ars off! I have no idea how I went from a tank top and shorts catching sun yesterday to being in a jacket and shivering this morning... oh New England! 

We spent the rest of today packing, and we are almost ready for our move. I got rid of a lot of junk and clothes! Well, I am going to give them to my sisters and whatever they don't want I am going to donate! 

So that's my weekend in a nutshell... hope you had a good one too! :)

Graduation Day! 5.20.11

This weekend I graduated from Simmons College with my Masters in Special Education! I am sooo excited! 3 years ago when I started, the end was no where in sight. There were many times I wanted to give up, oh to just not be in school or to not be doing homework on a sunny Sunday afternoon. But I can say, walking across that stage Friday, there is nothing that can quite compare. There really is no greater feeling of accomplishment.

I did it friends, I did it!

The sun came out (which is awesome, since it rained all week) and there was a perfectly cool breeze.  We sat through a long ceremony, but it was totally worth it. To celebrate, we went to dinner at Limoncello's in the North End.  I enjoyed some lobster ravioli and pino grigio. After dinner, we headed to Mike's Pastry for some cannolis and cappacinos - the BEST cannolis around! I was showered with flowers and gifts, including an iPad from my brother! I have yet to use it to blog, but it is sure to be my next adventure! Here are just a few pics from graduation day - it was really great!

And please note the picture of McKenna staring at the box of cannolis... :)

bowlhaven birthday fun! (image heavy)

Yesterday was my BIRTHDAY! and I had the BEST TIME! 

I woke up in the morning to Mike playing "Swept Away" by the Avett Brothers beside my bed. What a great start to my day! Love him.

At work, I had a lot of friends wishing me a happy birthday throughout the day. My sweet friend Alana even got me a pink orchid that was sitting on my desk when I got in! 

We had a graduate luncheon for all of us who are graduating from Simmons College tomorrow, which was really nice! The food was excellent, there were some guest speakers...and overall it was just a really nice little gathering. I graduate with my Masters tomorrow.... ahhhh!

I came home from work to a perfectly wrapped little giftbag sitting on the coffee table. My card read "You rock my world" and the words on the inside melted my heart. Mike got me a cute necklace from an artist, Natsuko, off of Etsy. It is much like the necklace he got me back in 2009 during our first trip to NYC at Christmastime. However, I lost that necklace biking over the Golden Gate Bridge last Fall, and I have been looking for one to replace it ever since. The circles represent each of us, and they are linked together, as we are. He also got us tickets to the Newport Folk Festival (previously mentioned on my blog) for both Saturday and Sunday! We want to stay in a little bed & breakfast Saturday night down there, so I am open to suggestions! Lastly, Mike gave me the Avett Brothers Live Volume 3 DVD... I love watching them perform. They have so much energy, its contagious!

So here's the BEST part: We planned on going to Sacco's Bowlhaven/Flatbread Co. for pizza, beers, and some bowling with friends! It is half Flatbread Company -organic pizzas, so delish! and half candlepin bowling.  As far as I knew, 4 of my friends were meeting up with us for some good ole fashion fun.  Well, whadda ya know? Mike totally surprised me! We walked in and there were my best friends, Aly & Ang sitting at a table for 20! I was so SURPRISED!!! and excited, trying to take it all in... because I am rarely surprised (yet Mike has been able to pull this off 2 years in a row on my birthday). I couldn't imagine who was coming and filling up the other 16 seats, but they slowly trickled in. Friends from college, friends from Boston and then... my FAMILY! Mom, Dad, Garrett, Colleen & McKenna came for pizza! We ate so much pizza, had yummy drinks, it was just the best. 

A few friends stuck around after pizza for bowling, and I am surprised we didn't get kicked out. We were being absolutely crazy silly, loud, and just having the best time.

I am still smiling ear to ear. What a great birthday.

help!

So, some of my posts are putting themselves out of order (i.e. this eggplant post was from last week!) and the comments people have made on numerous posts are gone! Does anyone know why this might be happening or has it happened to you? Help please!

Scrumptious comfort food

Mmmm... so I was in the mood for some pasta but didn't know what I wanted. I just wanted to come home and  eat a hearty, full-belly, roll onto the couch kind of meal. So, Mike and I made some breaded eggplant with sundried tomato sauce. Pretty similar to eggplant parm, just no cheese (on mine, Mike wanted some for his). Eggplant is such a funny vegetable... I like its texture, yum! And we used chicken eggs from the coop! (Mike's parents coop in upstate NY - it's awesome) I was surprised to see how small they were, and how yellow the yoke was. Mmmm!