First Burger

Over the weekend, Chris and Elizabeth came over to celebrate the lovely weather with a little barbecue.

I like to start grilling as soon as the temperature hits fifty degrees, but there is something about the first burger of the season that really reminds me that Summer is on its way. Especially if you eat it on your porch with friends who appreciate these things as much as you do.

Spring is pretty lovely this year, which makes me even more excited for Summer. I anticipate plenty of burgers on the porch with my buddies.

Things that are good after a week like last:

french fries at Mead Hall



Trees in bloom at MIT



a breakfast picnic on the back porch



photography lessons and time in nature

Slowly but surely, life is returning back to almost-normal, though as I mentioned on instagram, I walk by the memorial to Officer Collier most days and am reminded that that's definitely not the case for everyone. For those of us who are lucky enough to get to keep going, though, it's nice to have life quiet down a little.

So.

I keep meaning to blog, but then I get busy. Doing crazy shit. Like running up a mountain, down a mountain, and then five more miles.

Swearing in my blog, apparently.

Doing these crazy athletic events with my roommates. (Tonight, one roomie, one former roomie, one upstairs neighbor and I ran a 5k "fun run" with the Somerville Road Runners. I got a little competitive. I beat my normal fastest pace by about a minute per mile. It was pretty fun.)

Working.

Getting Fancy with the fam for Easter. (Notice the lack of Dad. He was there, but he left before the picture-taking occurred. Which was too bad, since he was pretty fancy too.)

I said I was getting in the groove of this "working during work hours," but apparently I lied. I'm still working on it, though- there are plenty of hours in the day, I just need to figure out how best to use them, and how to fit blogging in. I've been doing a lot of living, not so much blogging, but I miss the process of recording my life, of contributing to the blogging community in some small way. I'll figure it out soon, I think, I'll work out this balance thing I hear so much about, and then my blog won't be so empty.

Until then, Happy Spring, Friends!

Hello again

Why, hello there.

How are you? It's been a while, I know.



I got a new job, you see, and all of a sudden, I had to work during working hours.

That's a little strange. It took some getting used to. (In my old job, they didn't really have very much for me to do.)



I think I'm figuring it out, though. Which is good, because spring is upon us. Last weekend, in addition to celebrating roommates old and new with birthday cake, biscuits, and bourbon, I wore flip flops and drank a lot of iced coffee.



Today, it is going to be fifty-six degrees outside. This girl is going to take a lunch break and go for a walk and enjoy the sunshine.

I love spring.

Happy Friday, friends!

It feels like spring today, and it is glorious. Last night I went for a run in shorts!

It was pretty fantastic. Spring, hurry along, won't you?

On Roses

I am feeling rather stressed right now.

It's all about silly stuff- job, apartment, money- you know, the usual.

In the long run, this stuff doesn't really matter that much. In some way or another, it will work out. It always does. Stressing out about it more than necessary isn't going to help anything at all.

So I'm not going to think about my stress when I don't need to. Instead, I'm going to think about roses. Here in New England, late spring is a glorious time- all the flowers are finally in bloom, the farmers markets are getting started, and there are roses everywhere. They smell wonderful, and look even better.

Right now, rather than dwelling on the things that are freaking me out, I choose to dwell on the roses.

I'll let you know how it goes.

A Springtime Walk

Yesterday was so gorgeous, it seemed like it was a good time to take another lunchtime walk.

The South End is such a gorgeous neighborhood, with such a rich and fascinating history* (not to mention delicious cupcakes), I am always so inspired after these walks. I need to keep that in mind for grumpy days.

*True story: I wrote a paper about the history of the South End for my City of Boston class in ninth grade.

Spring has burst into Boston.

Today after lunch I sat in the park by my office for twenty minutes, drinking a latte and marveling at all the pretty that surrounded me.

I foresee a lot of outdoor lunch breaks in the coming weeks.

I have always wanted to be one of those people who can look at a pile of ingredients and invent a meal. The idea of doing that seems so creative, so delicious, but it's never really been something I could do- I'm more of a "make the same three things for dinner every night for months, get sick of those, and then find three new things to eat on repeat" kind of person. For the most part, this system works well for me- I am definitely a creature of habit, and buying the same things each week certainly makes grocery shopping a very efficient endeavor, but I miss the element of spontaneity that many cooks enjoy.

Tonight, though, I think the warm weather got to me. I was inspired. I knew I had a bunch of kale I needed to use up (perhaps the last of the season!) and upon further thought, I remembered a cup of lentils in the pantry and some sausage and homemade chicken stock in the freezer. Soup! I could make soup!

It all came together surprisingly quickly- forty-five minutes, tops. With a juice glass of two-buck chuck and a hunk of bread from the most adorable little foodie store right down the street, it was the perfect early spring meal.

Things that made me happy:

A new iPhone, and the CameraBag ap.

A (mis)adventure to Newport with the bestie.

First flip flops of the season.

Corned beef and flip cup. (Really, I am very mature.)

Hyacinths.

Working some things out.

Sunday night potluck.

Late night roomie conversations.

Oh yeah, and Health Care.

It was a good weekend.