A Rainy Day in Boston Town

You can ask anyone in my family - I always have big dreams for crafting projects that somehow find their way to the back of my closet within a few years.

- Christmas stockings

- Scrapbooks

- Shadowboxes

- Pillows made out of cool scarves (I actually completed these!)

- Refinishing two French bistro chairs I bought at a garage sale for $5 TOTAL

So, the last one on the list had been staring me in the face for the past year and a half.  In New York City, the chairs sat out on our balcony all year, and I never refinished them.

Since it's been pouring in Boston for about three days, I decided today would be a great day to check out this fabulous fabric store in Beantown that I've heard alot about - Winmil Fabrics.

Bingo! An hour later, I left with all the supplies I needed to recover my two chairs and another chair I found in our apartment basement on moving day!  And the staff was SO helpful (considering that the only things I know about reupholstering come from watching hours of TLC's Trading Spaces and Googling "how to reupholster!").

Here are the before and after pics:

And I'm going to reupholster this chair in the reverse fabric (red background, white knots) and probably stain the wood a dark espresso. 

I know it looks nasty now (ewwww!) - but I think it has some serious trash-and-treasure potential.  Stay tuned....

Sigur Ros Redux

2 1/2 years ago - May 2006 - Brian and I made our first trip to Boston.  We had just started dating a few weeks earlier, and Brian invited me to take a road trip with him to hear a crazy little band called Sigur Ros.

We took the Chinatown bus, stayed in a hostel near South Street Station, and hoofed it around Boston in what (then Governor) Mitt Romney had declared a "state of emergency." It POURED all weekend. But I didn't noticed. I was too busy getting to know the cute guy I was huddled under an umbrella with!

Me at Boston Common

Brian stole a kiss from me under the gazebo in the rain - *sigh*

Me and Brian at the Sigur Ros concert - Boston, MA, May 2006

Last weekend, we went to our second Sigur Ros concert together. Same place. Same band. Very cool.  

Me and Brian at the Sigur Ros concert - Boston, MA, September 2008

In fact, we liked Sigur Ros so much, I walked down the aisle at our wedding to one of their songs, "Hoppipolla." We just cut out the vocals and looped the beautiful instrumental melody.

Who knew what 2 1/2 years would bring!

Let's Put It To A Vote

Ok. In the scheme of things, this is NOT the most important thing you have to do today.

But, if you are like me, and you tend to start dozing off, clicking through Facebook, the Pottery Barn sale page, CNN.com - and your friend's blogs - then this might be a fun little activity to break up the monotony!

Our bathroom has very little storage space, and we need to get some kind of etagere (read: cabinet on stilts) to go above the toilet.

(This is not our actual bathroom, but you get the picture. Just imagine black little tiles around the top of the white tile.)        

We have a white tiled bathroom with black accent tiles, and the walls are painted in a creamy color.

Which color is the best for our bathroom etagere?

A. White

B. Black

C. Cream

Don't delay - our white cardboard box labeled "bathroom" is quickly turning into a doorstop!

The First Day of School!

Brian was SO lucky! 

Every. Single. Friend. who I talked to asked me if I was going to pack his lunch, put a note in it with some stickers, buy him a "first day of school outfit," and take a picture by the door before he leaves.

He rolled his eyes after I repeated those conversations to him.

At least I got 1 out of 4 on that first day!

Here's to documenting the next 9 years of schooling through pictures (2 years post-bacc program, 4 years medical school, 3 years residency):

Brian Matthew Blank

September 15, 2008

First Day of School, Harvard U.

Go get 'em, B!

New Things "To Do" in Boston

We have the best superintendent in the world - friendly, helpful, classic Baaaahston accent.  

And every time we see him - he tells us about three new places we need to check out in our new city! I'm going to create a "Things to Do in Boston" list soon, but here's what we have from Richard (The World's Best Superintendent) so far:

1. Pizzeria Regina

2. Mamma Maria's

3. Revere Flea Market

4. The Porches Inn (in the Berkshires)

5. Mass MoCA (in the Berkshires)

6. Gardner, MA furniture outlets

And in other news, most of the house is unpacked.  Just down to fixing up my offica and finding spaces for those odds and ends that usually end up stuffed under the bed.  I really want to make an "I-just-moved-resolution" to only keep what I NEED - and get rid of the rest.

So, here's to decluttering in Cambridge!

Boston!

We've arrived!

Packing.
Unpacking.
Loading.
Unloading.
Aching backs.
Sore legs.
Tired us.

But we're here! And we love it.