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.

Yesterday

Well. Yesterday didn't exactly go as planned.

The plan was to have people over for waffles and mimosas, then go to Copley Square to cheer for our our friends who were running the marathon.

The conditions were perfect, so my friend Nat actually finished minutes before we got there. He ran the marathon in 2 hours and 40 minutes. He is a beast. We saw Emma turn onto Hereford, and she looked amazing.

Once Emma passed, we left our spot for a walkabout. My brunch friends all went back to Somerville while I walked around the Back Bay and went to my friend Christine's house to say hi. I was four blocks away from the finish line on my way to meet up with froworkers when I heard two booms. They weren't crazy loud, and my first thought was that they must have been a truck going over a bump or something. Then I saw a sea of people running towards me, and smoke rising in the air.

I spent the afternoon holed up at Christine's house on Beacon Street, watching the news and checking in with friends and family to make sure everyone was okay. All my people were fine. As I said on twitter, I'm so thankful for that, while also so sad that the same is not true of everyone's people.

I'm going to go for a nice long run along the Charles River today. It seems like the appropriate thing to do. Favorite running path in my favorite city? I think so.

South Face Farm

About this time last week, I found out that I would have the whole weekend off of work. It became clear that it would be a good idea to plan an adventure. This post reminded me that despite growing up in New England and going to college in the woods in New Hampshire, I'd never been to a sugar shack, so Emma and I decided to rectify that with a trip to South Face Farm.

We couldn't decide what to get, so we ordered one of everything and split it down the middle. It was all delicious, especially covered in fresh maple syrup. I liked the waffle the best- it was thin and crispy and really flavorful, but everything was pretty amazing. Afterwards, we watched them boil sap into syrup for far longer than I would have expected it to be interesting.

It was the perfect weekend adventure.

I got home from work extra early tonight, so my roommate Mary and I went on a little adventure to the Tufts library roof to look at Boston and see the sun go down.

It was chilly and the sunset wasn't particularly amazing, but it's still amazing to me that you can get a perfect view of Boston from pretty far away. That, and the roof garden itself is pretty magical. 

Five

So, I don't normally do these things, but then Rachael tagged me, and I have a crush on her blog and I never post anymore, so here goes.

Five things about me.

1. I am loud. Like, if you asked someone to describe me, they'd probably start with how much my voice carries. It used to bother me, but now I just try to keep it down around new people, and I feel grateful that people always know how to find my house when the windows are open. (No, really.)
2. I am a lefty, and I'm secretly really proud of it. I always notice when other people are lefties, too.
3. I went to college to study mechanical engineering. I wanted to design racecars. Two years in, though, I realized that I hated it, so I took a year off from school. I nannied an amazing little girl, and when I got back to Dartmouth, I switched my major to psych. I've been working with kids since then.
4. I've had this blog since forever. It's kind of weird to go back through old posts (when I was 21, I spent a lot of time talking about homework), but it's a neat and sometimes hilarious way to remember what life was like back then.
5. When I was in high school, I worked on a farm. It changed everything, not just about how  I think about food and agriculture, but also how I viewed myself as part of a community. It was amazing.

No pressure, but Mel and Anna, I'm curious about your answers!

PS That picture of me up there was taken by Tricia Saxler, who I get to work with at her other job. It belongs to her. Don't steal it!
PPS I don't know why you'd steal it, but you know, trying to give credit where credit is due. . .
PPPS I think that reading things I wrote when I was 21 makes me write like I'm 21 again.

Snow Brunch

 

The snowstorm we're getting up and down the east coast is making me a little nostalgic for Nemo. Nobody had to work, and you weren't allowed to drive anywhere, so the logical thing to do (after making chicken and waffles, of course) was to have people over for Saturday brunch.

Liz and Chris hiked up to my house. Betsy snowshoed over. Mary and I walked from our respective bedrooms to the kitchen. 

There were sourdough waffles (I. am. obsessed.), and hot chocolate with as many mix-ins as I could find. I may or may not have licked whipped cream from the whisk.

And then we went sledding.

That Baby

Two weeks ago, I took a little vacation to the midwest. I planned my trip around a visit to St. Louis to visit my friends Lisa and Charlie and their new baby, Teddy. (I prefer to call him That Baby, but I'm not so sure Charlie understands the affectionate tone I use, so I'm trying to work on using his actual name.)

 

It was so fun to get to spend the weekend with my friends, to eat barbecue, and to go to Teddy's christening (I'm his godmother!)

But the best part, by far, was witnessing just how much love there is for this little boy, both from his parents (who are already doing an amazing job), and from his extended family and friends.

It was such a treat to get to spend the weekend with them, even if they wouldn't let me take Teddy back to Boston. I guess that means I'll just have to go back to visit ASAP.