bundle boondoggle

in the past i've given horseface a hard time for 'bundling' my birthday and anniversary gifts.  he apparently does not care because he continues to do it.  this year, the birthday-anni-bundled-gift-trip was off to a rocky start when we watched the grey lady disembark from the hy-line terminal . . . without us.  but it was the beginning of our trip not going according to plan, yet going even better than we probably could have planned.  

starting with hopping on the "slow" boat, hy-line style, aka the great point.  has anyone ever been on this?  i'm hesitant to let this secret out, as it's quite a glorious way to get to nantucket.  horseface bought us "first class" tickets {for same cost as the high speed} and even tho the boat ride was twice as long, it was full of couches and table seating, and best of all, like 5 other pax.  it was basically a booze cruise all to ourselves.  no racing for a seat or waiting in line for anything.  recommend.

a few days before we left, CBC had let where we were staying slip {ahem, told me after i asked 750 times}.  the new 76 main.  place looked legit and i was pumped.
















adorbs, right?  
one teeny problemo.  it's not open yet.  BUT gracious hoteliers kate & scott called CBC on friday to let them know they had made arrangements on our behalf over at the white elephant residences {at the 76 main rates}.  and they were terribly sorry for the inconvenience.  and by inconvenience they meant THIS:







we thoroughly enjoying basking in the lap of luxury at the white elephant and furthermore can not wait to show our patronage at 76 main when they are ready for us!  huge respect and gratitude for what they did.  thank you!

other highlights of the trip . . . cru . . . for 3 meals {yikes}











can you blame us? 

AND we also had the pleasure of dining at the new restaurant, the proprietors, from the same peeps who brought us American seasons, a fave.

It was only their second night open for business and everything was so yummy.  love-love the atmosphere and cannot wait to go back, and i'm anticipating it will get even better. {horseface and hands were a teeny bit jammed up about the slow service since there was a certain game on but they were great sports . . . no pun intended}

ahhh. . . what else?  we squeezed a lot in and this is getting boring.
a few rando shots below but my piece of shiz phone kept dying.


ventuno back bar, boarding house, space,  rando champers deliveries from new friends, ducklings, straight wharf, sunshine, stubby's, milly & grace, fireflys, juice guys {doug's special smoothie recipe}, brewery, "lunch" from dupree & co., supermoon, island creek oyster fest {doh! may or may not have blacked out had a great time at this event}, qt with brothers meagher . . . all of these activities may explain why i feel like i'm 108 today.  womp.  oh well, always worth it. . . .

and of course the highlight of the trip was time spent with the ash, there's even a teeny bit more of her to love these days.


i haven't loved a bump this much since '08.

oh and big thanks to the bundler for everything.  
xo

frenchie friday : shelby!

3 things i love about this dog:

1. she's an adorbs frenchie.  obvs.
2. her name is shelby! {if you don't know already, read about my bizarro shelby significance here}
3. she came to my attention via a rando new ack friend, and there's few things i love more than rando ack connections.  
{PS headed there today where said friend is buying me a birthday smash.  holla!}








luff.  her.

thank you to danielle klebanow{shelby's auntie} of danielle weddings for the images!

i heart TV.

which is one of the reasons, i'm terribly sad about the passing of James Gandolfini, or as most of us will always remember him, Tony Soprano.


Tony was one of the most complex characters ever created and James Gandolfini was a brilliant actor that nailed it every epi. {right down to the magnetic twinkle in Tony's eye}

the new york times did a great tribute just hours ago . . . read it here.

I don't like watching violence, but I do appreciate excellent writing and unfortch, some of the most well-written programs are dark, and can be downright haunting.  and most feature a protagonist we love to hate and hate to love.

here are my top 5 tortured souls.

1. tony soprano {rest in peace}


2. don draper


3. nicholas brody


4. walter white


5. nate fisher


yikes, that was heavy. . . 

and since this is a happy blog - here are my top 5 that make me smile.

1. jim halpert. OBVS. {and every other office character}


2. phil dunphy


3. doug heffernan


4. alex p. keaton


5. kevin arnold - yes, he was sort of annoying at times, but the nostalgia factor is huge here. 

------sigh-------

and of course i love many other shows, and it's not just dudes that are great actors in great roles . . .

obvs worship my sex in the city gals.  fave scene ever?

you know the one i'm talking about.  when big is "late" to meet the girls.  and then shows up.  it takes my breath away.  every. time. . .  still.  such a sucker.

and i think you might know what my favorite show of all time is. . . yup,  i know you've heard it before. . . friday night lights.  but i seriously WORSHIP.  and it boggles my mind that people haven't seen it.  buy the box set here!  it's pretty much the best gift you can every give yourself.  and if you haven't seen it yet-  stop reading this post.

SPOILER ALERT!!!

best show ever.  best scene ever.  best line ever.  period.

but one last shout out to james gandolfini and thoughts & prayers to all of those feeling the depths of his loss . . .


we'll never "forget about it!"

birthday belatedness

seems that i took a week off unannounced.  whoopsy!

it's been a pretty big week, too.

some highlights--

1. B3 was born 3 weeks early. {sugar on top's third bebe} and he's perfect
congratulations, B fam!
2. got to escape into the big city to celebrate fellow gemini, the bob, with some hilare peeps.  drank. ate. drank. and laughed. a lot.
3. commodore's ball 2013.  not the best ball ever but the primping i.e. pretending i'm famous was fun.  and the pretty cake from pickwick was delish.  obvs.

{obligatory annual photo of myself on the blog! so awk.}
and bonus, that flame didn't burn the club down.
4. dad's day BBQ at my father in law's.  
5. I turned 107  37 and was graced with multiple birthday cakes and sing-a-longs to commemorate {more awkiness but true}.
6. so many glorious and generous gifties from my fave people, including the golden piggy!
7. major progress on the new venture with the help of chocolate creative design.
8. most redonk rainbow evah.

lowlights--

1. last day of school, which = limited childcare = limited blogging.
2. lots of rain.
3. commodore's ball 2013. {ha totes kidding, by totes i mean sort of}
4. oh, and the bruins are ruining my life.

check out some of my loot!


how lucky am i?!

dress via my gals at milly & grace

and back to my golden piggy. he's sold out!  that's how fabulous he is.  i'm so grateful for my friends that picked up on my "hints" {in the form of multiple blog posts} and i'm using him along with the jewelry dish and a lovely monogrammed tree stand {another uber thoughtful gift from anthro that i can't locate an image of} to actually get organized.  i know you don't believe me but it's happening.  stay tuned . . .

hmmm. . . i'm noticing a lot of booze?  that's not at all a coincidence. the grey goose was accompanied by a jar of local pickles from maitland mountain farm so we can make the blue ox's hot n dirty pickles in the comfort of our own home! 


{apparently, this particular friend wants me to live until my next birthday so she substituted vodka for the gin}

my mom spoiled me so rotten i can't even post it all.  she also drove all the way up here on a sunday night just so she could see me on my special day, which meant i was able to start the day off right with a dunks date for an iced with george and loo {no, you freaks, they don't drink coffee, they do enjoy munchkins however}. 
thanks, mom.  
she's also giving us the best gift of all by taking care of c & p this weekend so horseface and I can go get in a huge fight about the bruins enjoy a trip to my happy place for our anni.

so gifts are grand as well as FB wall posts, phone calls/ birthday texts and cards - all much appreciated- big thanks to all who made me feel so blessed yesterday- but it was the sight of a full double rainbow that made this one to remember.  

this is how it went down - we ventured out for an unremarkable but pleasant enough meal in foul weather, cranky girls in tow, and then were headed home to watch the Bs . . .  {it wasn't exactly my "best. birthday. evah."}

and then it happened.

a real life reminder that the best things in life cannot be bought or planned, they just happen.  and that after thirty-seven years i can still be completely astounded on an ordinary monday by the sheer beauty of life and the unexpected.



we pretty much ripped the girls out of the car to get a closer look at it.  it wasn't until later when i was looking back at the pics that i noticed what C had in her hand. {totes cheesy but sort of amaze}

                                           
even horseface knew this was ridiculously awesome.  we risked the prompt start of the big game to drive over for a different view.  one that happened to feature elihu smack dab in the middle! {more cheesy amazingness}


happy birthday to moi!

frenchie friday: a tale of two Lus

brought the gang to my happy place yesterday.
needed to hug my dear friend Lucinda of chocolate creative design.  she just lost her bestie, Mr. Hobbes, last week and my heart hurts for her and her family.
seeing as i cried when george turned ONE because he then actually had an age, i obviously cannot even fathom the extent of her sadness.


she thought holding this pork chop was very therapeutic. 

and miss looloo didn't seem to mind a bit!

it was such an amazing treat to spend time on the island.  the girls went to bed with the dirtiest feet . . . the best kind of dirt. . . island dirt.  we all five ran until we were out of breath {doesn't take much for me}
it's just magic.  pure elihu magic.
thank you, lu.