Out with the old, in with the new....year that is

With the New Year upon us, I felt it was appropriate to reflect on 2010. It truly was a great year. It brought so many changes and so much love. It brought celebrations of nuptials and news from family and friends of engagements, births, and babies to come. I received my CGA designation and started a new job with a renewable energy company that I believe so strongly in. I also discovered my newest love and creative outlet, photography. And of course I started this blog.

But 2010 brought the biggest change in my life so far, marriage. I am so grateful for my amazing husband and all he does for me. He is there for me on my good days and even more on my bad days. After four years in a long distance relationship, it almost feels surreal that I get to see him everyday! Some days I feel like I'm only visiting and that the gut-wrenching fate of leaving will soon arrive. But then I realize that I live here!! I'm not leaving him behind! I am so happy that the nights of long phone calls are behind us; instead I am by his side every night.

With marriage brought my move to Boston. I am so in love with this city! I feel like I can't adequately express how happy I am everyday to live in such a wonderful place. I love the proximity to the ocean and the mountains. I love the rich history and the abundance of academics. I love the diverse population and culture it brings. I love all the parks and nature that can be found in such a seemingly dense area. I am thankful for new friends and look forward to new relationships. I am so grateful for this opportunity to live in this beautiful city.

I am very excited for 2011 and for the years to come as husband and wife.

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!!

First Christmas as Husband and Wife :)

Our first Christmas together as a married couple was much more quiet than previous years, yet so special because we were together.  This year we weren't busy traveling or visiting family; it was much more laid back.  But it was still a good Christmas nonetheless! We had good chats with our family over the phone and skype and we watched a bunch of good ol' classic Christmas movies.

We went on a few shopping trips during the weeks leading up to Christmas and ended up buying more things for ourselves than expected. So Pat and I decided that we didn't need to spend more money on large Christmas gifts for each other. Instead we bought small gifts so we still had something to open on Christmas morning.

Ornament sent by my parents just in time for Christmas

New scarf and wine aerator from parents :)

We had our friends, Ersin and Yildiz over for Christmas dinner. They were staying in Boston for the holidays as well. This was my first attempt at Christmas dinner, and most importantly, roasting a whole chicken.

I was a little nervous cooking for guests and potentially making them sick...in more ways than one. So to lessen the chances of food poisoning, I decided that I would not stuff the chicken and instead made the stuffing on the side. I must say I had a lot of fun. I used our new digital meat thermometer that we got as a wedding gift, which beeps when it's reach the perfect temperature. So awesome! I even enjoyed preparing the bird, although I washed my hands so many times that they are now dry. I coated the chicken with butter, thyme, and rosemary. I even put butter under the breast skin to make it extra moist. Then I stuffed the inside with half an orange, garlic, and more herbs.

On the menu:

• Apricot baked brie
• Whole roasted chicken on a bed of carrots, celery, onions, and leeks
• Mashed potatoes
• Puréed butternut squash
• Stuffing
• Gravy
• Banana roll (so delicious and very pretty) made by Yildiz
• Wine!!!
• Rum and eggnog :)

And the verdict is....a success! The chicken was very moist and the gravy I made from scratch was the best Pat ever had...or at least that's what he told me. We served our dinner on Pat's Grandma's china and used my Grandma's silverware. So it was extra special!!

We got a little over-excited to eat and forgot to take some pictures of our food. This picture of the already carved chicken is the only one we have....so use your imagination :)

Snow Day!!

Well the Boston area finally got the big dump of snow we were waiting for....just that it all came in one day, that's all. The "blizzard" officially started yesterday, December 26th. It's hard to say how much snow we actually got because of the wind causing snow drifts. Reports land it around 16-20 inches. Our packing lot is covered with snow and our car is trapped. We won't be going anywhere today. So we're working from home.

Late yesterday afternoon we put our snow suits on and went to play in the snow before it got really bad and windy! We were the only people at the park....we must be Canadian. We had a great time and were happy to play in the snow.

Just to try it out (and because we can!), we created a time-lapse video over a length of about 8 hours (from 2-10pm) by taking pictures on average once every 20 seconds or so.  Because of the wind, the snow didn't pile up like we envisioned, but the results are still pretty cool:

It's a Festivus Miracle!

WE GOT SNOW!!! On Monday it snowed for the first time this season....although my drive home was horrible, I was happy to see the white stuff! It also snowed again on Wednesday...I'll take what I can get! It truly was a Festivus miracle.

Thursday was the start of my Christmas holidays. I am so happy to have some time off!! To celebrate, I made peppermint cream cheese brownies. Yum yum!

I also made a very delicious london fog with our brand new areoccino machine! This thing is magic! It froths and heats milk in seconds and it's so quiet too! It makes the best foam I've ever seen. Earl grey tea + frothy milk = heaven

We bought this nifty little gadget as a Christmas present to ourselves last weekend from Williams-Sonoma....my new favourite store. This store also sells some delicious goodies....

 Like this peppermint hot chocolate:

And this eggnog pancake mix:

Tonight we went for Christmas Eve dinner at Legal Seafood near the Boston harbor. We had clam chowder, lobster, and a little champagne to celebrate. I love living in a city with such fresh seafood. For dessert we had sautéed bananas in a hot caramel sauce over vanilla ice cream and Pat had a whiskey sampler of three different varieties. 

But amongst all the celebration, I can't help but feel sad that we're not going home for Christmas this year. I am however very grateful that I get to spend the holidays with the company of friends and of course my husband. Pat and I are so happy to finally be together. I'm also so grateful for skype! I love seeing my family over the holidays, even when we're so far apart. 

So to spread a little Christmas cheer....I will not sing loud for all to hear, as recommended by Buddy the Elf. Instead, I will give you festive little snapshots from around our place.

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!

All Kinds of Festiveness

I realize I haven't posted in over two weeks!! I've been incredibly busy with work and such. But I'm never too busy to be festive!

Let me take this time to give you the coles notes version of the last two weeks to catch you up:

TREE:

Our tree is up and decorated! We went with the pre assembled, pre lit, reuse every year variety. Easy Peasy! As much as I love the smell of a real tree, it is just too much maintenance for us right now....it would probably dry up in a couple of days and there would be pine needles everywhere. We bought our tree from Home Depot a few weeks ago and they were already sold out of almost every fake tree in stock! Crazyness! So we bought one of the display trees. We had already decided against a tree from Walmart because it wasn't full enough. I also decided that we HAD to buy a tree that day and that we didn't have time to make anymore stops. So by default, we had to buy a display tree at HD.

It took awhile because we had to wait for someone to come get it down. And then as luck would have it, when we plugged it in, the bottom half of the tree didn't light up. So then we had to decide if this problem could be fixed. I was getting anxious to get back home because I had work to do, so we decided to buy the half broken tree anyway. It was a risk, but luckily I married an electrical engineer and he fixed it! And we got 20% off. Woohoo!

And here is our tree. Tah dah!

 FESTIVE TREATS:

Later that same day, I made some white and dark chocolate peppermint bark. Yum yum! It was pretty simple and really tasty.

A LITTLE FREE TIME:

Last Tuesday (Dec 7) we went to the Bruins game. They played buffalo and won 3-2 in OT. Great fun, great game!

WEATHER:

Last Sunday we went Christmas shopping and it was pouring rain! It was cold all last week and I was sure it was going to snow. Every morning I wake up and look out our window hoping for snow, just like a kid. But nothing!! So then it warms up last weekend and rains like crazy. Had it been cold, we would have had a huge dump of snow. Meanwhile the rest of the country is getting massive amounts of snow. They even have snow in Tennessee!! What gives??? I really only want snow for Christmas and then it can go away. Is that too much to ask? Apparently we're going to get some in the next couple of days. But I'm not holding my breath...

CANADIAN ACTIVITIES:

This past Thursday the Canadian Club at MIT organized a poutine party! Hells ya! mmmm....it was sooo good. By far the best dinner I've had all week and also the worst for my arteries. (Sorry no pictures. Too busy eating).

FESTIVE ACTIVITIES:

Last Saturday we went to the Boston Ballet's Nutcracker! The dancing was fantastic and we had amazing seats. I love being close enough to see the dancers faces, even though I mostly watch their feet. We were in a hurry to get to the show, but we were also hungry and needed to eat. We ended up having a very romantic 10 min dinner at Wendy's because it was the only restaurant around that was close enough and fast enough, besides McDonalds. After the ballet, we went to Starbucks for some festive drinks, a white peppermint mocha and a gingerbread latte. Delish!

My new shoes! (Scotch and Shoes weekend)

 On Monday night our building put on a gift wrapping party. They also hired a local cupcake company. They came in their cute little cupcake food truck and had amazing cupcakes. My favorite was chocolate peppermint. At the party they also had a draw for a Christmas movie 3-pack with Elf, A Christmas Story, and Christmas Vacation, so Pat put our name in. And we found out today that we won!! We were so excited because we never win anything! Plus Elf is my most favorite Christmas movie!!! "Buddy the Elf, what's your favorite color?"

Last night we went ice skating with some friends at the Boston Common Frog Pond downtown. Pat showed me his awesome moves and I tried not to wipe out due to my dull rented skates. The park was decorated with lots of lights, which really put me in the Christmas spirit.

Only a week till Christmas!!

Thanksgiving Round Two!

Last Thursday was American Thanksgiving. We went up to Vermont to celebrate the holiday with some friends. We stayed in two large cabins in a fairly secluded area. It was nice to get away from the city and see some country side. Vermont is beautiful...mountains, farms, quaint sleepy little towns...loved it!

We arrived mid-afternoon on Thursday and got to cooking pretty quickly. I was in charge of all things potato. I made mashed potatoes and a sweet potato casserole. I also made mini blueberry cheese cakes, which are sooooo delicious and easy to make. There were about 20 people, so there was a lot of food! Yum yum! Two thanksgivings a year is fine by me.

The Gang

Friday morning we were up bright and early. Apparently we can't sleep in anymore. After breakfast we went to Billings Farm, located in a little town called Woodstock. It was about a 45min drive from where we were staying. This farm had a bunch of horses, cows, sheep, and chickens, so it was great for the little ones. The smell was "fresh", but it was worth it because the little baby calves were so cute!

The farm also had a house that was built in 1890. The farm staff were dressed in traditional period clothing and were making a thanksgiving dinner on a wood burning stove. But, the food was for DISPLAY ONLY! What??? No food for us?? It smelled so good and we couldn't eat any of it....just look at it in all it's mouthwatering glory. TEASE! They did have sugar cookies and ginger snaps to eat and hot apple cider to drink, so I guess that partially made up for it.

We were so hungry after the farm so we went for a late lunch back in town. We ate at a restaurant called Bentley's. They had the most amazing Christmas display I've ever seen. They hung Christmas baubles of all different sizes and colours from the ceiling. After lunch we walked around town. A toy store had life size playmobil! I was like a kid again. LOVED Playmobil.

Life size Playmobil!!

Saturday morning we went to Killington for a day of boarding. The ski resort was very close to the cabin. Killington makes most of it's snow, so they opened in early November. Only 21 runs were open, but it was still pretty great considering almost all the snow was made by machines. On the way up the chairlift there was nothing but dead grass and dirt below us, but once we got up to the top there was a bunch of snow. It also starting snowing in the afternoon and I've never been so happy to see it!

That night Pat and I played with the camera outside and came up with some interesting ghost-like shots. We used a flash light and a long exposure setting to get the effects.

On Sunday it was time to leave....back to reality. After breakfast and packing we made our way back to Boston, but not without a few stops first. We stopped at the Long Trail brewery, which coincidentally just happens to be Pat's current favourite beer. We sampled six different kinds of beer. This brewery runs on Cow Power renewable energy, which I thought was pretty interesting.

After the brewery we stopped at Sugarbush Farm. They make cheese, jams, and maple syrup. Yum yum! After sampling everything in sight we purchased some raspberry rhubarb jam, extra sharp cheese, jalapeno cheese, sausage, and crackers and had a little picnic in the car.

So adorable

Clearly very impressed

These were only 4 ounces each....this angle makes them look a lot bigger