6.26.2008

Getting Out of Control

Here is the pile of books sitting next to my bed waiting to be read:
And technically this isn't even everything on my list. I am waiting for Daughter of the Forest (I've literally been on the waiting list at my local library since March 28th) and Rosie Dunne to come in at my local library. I really love the whole library thing but sometimes it does take a long while for the books that I want to read to come in. Because I know about the pain of waiting for a book to come in I tend to try very, very hard not to keep books out for very long and not to keep several books out at the same time--I hate standing in line at the library and watching the woman in front of me check out 6+books for herself because I know that she can't possibly read all of them at the same time and in a timely manner and that means that someone else (possibly me) is sitting around waiting for the chance to read a book that is just sitting around her home. So, like I said above, I try not to commit this same sin (yes sin!). But lately I have been requesting a number of books and they all seemed to come in at the same time. At first I adopted the policy of reading what I have very quickly--to the point of doing nothing else--in an attempt to get the books back on the shelves at the library can have their shot at reading the book. Still, as much I relish the feeling of finishing a book, reading a 500 page book in 2 1/2 days really does take a little of the fun out of it. So until further notice I am not allowed to reserve a book at a library, go into a bookstore, or take reading recommendations.

6.23.2008

Boston Wrap Up

(I tried doing this a couple of days ago but my pictures wouldn't load and it didn't make much sense to try to do a wrap up of a vacation without pictures so now here goes:)

So I think that I have been putting off telling you about Boston because I didn't want to have to admit that my vacation is over--I've been a bit homesick for it--but now that I can't even say "a week ago I was..." I figure it is time. (The good thing for you is that I put it off so long that I really need to just do a quick wrap up rather than a long, drawn out, detailed run down of what I did in Boston. So here it is:

You've already seen where we stayed so I will skip that (although that is one of the things I am homesick about). We spent the first couple of days hanging around that area hitting the beach and attending a BBQ with some extended family that was so much fun. During this time we ventured out only as far as Plymouth for some lobster. Here is a niece waiting for our meals.


Day 3 we headed South to Newport, Rhode Island to visit the summer mansions of the likes of the Vanderbilts and the Astors. Lots of fun seeing how the 1% of the 1% used to live--my posture was so improved while walking the grand halls so I think there is something to be said for having a marble bathroom.

The girls like the big lawns the best:


By the third house the little girls stopped going in with us. Here is one of them waiting for us to come out:



Day 4 was spent in Boston doing the freedom trail (a "trail" of historic buildings such as the Old North Church and Paul Revere's home that I never get tired of doing/seeing), visiting some Boston neighborhoods, and the Museum of Fine Arts (they have some Van Gogh's so I had to go--although visiting art museums is really another thing I never tire of).

Annoying tourists on the subway:

Take note cause I don't often put pictures of myself up here (unless you are a scary stalker then please don't take note):


I love how cute the North End is:

Ordering our treats at Mikes:


One of my favorite parks(that's Paul Revere on the house):


Another great Boston neighborhood (this is Boston's Back Bay):

Boston Skyline (my old camera couldn't do this) such perfect weather!


Day 5 we hit the Cape Cod Rail Trail on some cushy bikes we rented. This was the first time we had tried this and it was so much fun and so beautiful that I think we will be doing this one everytime we visit Boston from here on out. We also had dinner with extended family at the posh new home of one of my aunts (almost as good as Newport--they had an espresso machine in the bathroom and I now think that I absolutely must have a Tiffany-blue walk-in closet).

One of the many amazing views from the trail:




Yes, we did break out into a version of Do-Re-Mi:


Day 6 we headed back into Boston to ride the Swan boats sit on the "Make Way for Ducklings" statues and eat dinner in the North End (Boston's Little Italy).




Now that I've written it out it really doesn't seem like much but it was a lot of fun and I'm ready to go back.

6.20.2008

I'm not dead...

just a bit distracted.

I'm going to load some of my pictures over the weekend and give a wrap-up account of the trip and then get back to normal blogging. In the meantime I just leave you with one more report of my trip: I gained 4 pounds. I blame it on Mike's Pastries (the most excellent pastry shop in Boston where I purchased (and then later ate) 4 cannoli, 1 slice of chocolate cheese cake, 4 lemon flips, and 4 raspberry bowties). Too bad weight doesn't come off as quick as it goes on.

6.16.2008

Home Sweet Home

I'm back. I really did have really good intentions to do some more posts while on my little vacay but the view was too nice and we were occasionally too busy to bother with trying to get online. So that means that you get to hear all about my trip to Boston now--sorry but it will probably be for the rest of the week.

First of all can I just say that I had been looking forward to this trip for so long that it hardly seems possible that I am now back. And Second, coming back from a trip to a distant local is a weird thing. I woke up one morning with gorgeous humid weather (I love humidity it is the oppressive dry heat of Utah that I can't stand) with a gorgeous view, great architecture, history, culture, fabulous food, and lots to do and then went to bed in a dry hot place with just a bit less to do. It is very odd. But I am back now and I am trying to be determined at enjoying all the stuff Utah has to offer me--trying very hard.

Let me just kick start the vacation recap with a look back at my reading list which you can take a look at a few posts down. I don't know how I managed it but all three books touch on mental illness. Nevertheless, they all made very good beach reads (I'm still finishing up Confessions of a Jane Austen Addict--it doesn't appear that this one is going to end up using mental illness as a theme like the other two did). The one possible drawback is that with two Jane Austen type books read in such close proximity I have found strange words slipping into my vocabulary such odious (that's my favorite) or it doesn't displease me. It possibly didn't help that I also watched a good bit of Pride & Prejudice while in Boston (the Kiera Knightly one--it is obviously not as good as the Colin Firth one but I quite enjoy it for what it is and besides I first saw it while I was in the UK which means that I never got to see the kiss at the end because the British apparently are not hopeless romantics that need movies to end in a kiss and so they made a British version and an American version. Why is it that Americans need the happily-ever-after kiss?). Sadly for my vocabulary I am about to re-read Pride & Prejudice because next month my book club is reading a book called D'Arcy's Daughters (or something) and I thought it would be a good intro to re-read P&P. Sorry if that slips too much into my posts.

Anyway, like I said above the books all made excellent beach reads--plus I occasionally was a brilliant, cultured woman with my New York Times which was also very good.

6.09.2008

Have Arrived

Actually, I arrived on Saturday. Did I tell you I was flying first class? It is not because I usually fly first class or anything it is just that by some weird airline thing it was cheaper to use my frequent flyer miles to get a first class ticket than a coach ticket. I made it through the whole flying a a class above myself with only a few mishaps. Mishaps such as when I couldn't find my seat belt or when I tried to grab the mug that the hot towels were in rather than just grabbing a hot towel--grabbing is probably the wrong word to use when discussing first class hot towels--also I couldn't actually see into the mug to see what the attendant was trying to hand to me. One of the really nice things about flying first class is the food cause when the airlines say they are no longer serving food to their passengers what they mean is they are no longer serving food to you suckers who fly coach. I, on the other hand, was given a huge sandwich (turkey with real mozzarella, basil leaves, and an herb butter,on ciabatta bread with a side of grilled squash, zucchini, and red peppers, and quite possibly the best brownie I have ever eaten).

After arriving (and waiting forever for my bag to arrive--really unacceptable treatment of one who flies first class--I got into the awaiting car--dad playing the role of my chauffeur--and was promptly handed my first Dunkin' Donuts donut of the trip. All is well.

And to top things off, here is the view from the cottage I am staying in:

At Breakfast:

p.s. as my Internet connection for some unknown reason will not allow me to leave comments I would like to wish MBC a very late birthday--maybe we can get together for a late birthday dinner when I get back.

6.06.2008

My Bags Are Packed...

Here is my booklist for the trip (It is going to be a week of beach reading):The Double Bind by Chris Bohjalian

Confessions of a Jane Austen Addict by Laurie Viera Rigler

Cousin Kate by Georgette Heyer

And for when I want to pretend I am a brilliant, cultured woman: The New Yorker

6.04.2008

Blog Slacking

So I've been a total slacker when it comes to blogging (I haven't even been on the Internet this week--which is totally liberating) but I have been doing some other good things such as:

I am nearly packed for my Boston vacation (which doesn't even start until Saturday). I usually wait until about 11 pm the night before I fly to do my packing which is just stressful and horrible so I decided to be good this time around--I think now I have gone a bit overboard on being prepared.

I am nearly finished reading Gilead which is a really, really well written book but has been a bit difficult to get into. I've found the last 200 pages of the book to be much more interesting and easy on my eyes. I also read Prisoner of Birth by Jeffery Archer and highly recommend that as a good beach read.

My afghan is coming along but is a bit more difficult to finish off than I thought it would be, but it was confirmed to me by our crochet group leader that it is a bit difficult to finish to I don't feel so bad.

I am nearly done organizing the Boston trip (I still need to input all of our Dunkin' Donuts preferences--very, very important).

And, my room is clean!!! The bed isn't made but the room is clean.