Rainy Day Tunes

Yesterday was the warmest day (50s) we’ve had in a long time, but it was also dreary, foggy, gray, and rainy. Maybe it sounds crazy, but I really enjoy days like that. Perfect for cuddling, watching movies, reading books, and drinking tea. I don’t always get to do those things all day, but I can still listen to the perfect stormy soundtrack, filled with mellow and dramatic music.

Grizzly Bear – Shields
Florence + the Machine – Ceremonials
Lana Del Rey – Paradise
Local Natives – Hummingbird
Bon Iver – For Emma, Forever Ago
Warpaint – The Fool

Just some of my recommendations. Some of it is new, some of it is a bit older. Still does the trick.

Fenway Park Photos

While in Boston last weekend, Brad’s brother and sister-in-law took us to walk around Fenway Park, home of the Boston Red Sox. I’m not a sports fan by any means, but I still enjoy being around city culture, and it’d be crazy not to say that the Red Sox are a gigantic part of Boston culture. The tour was a bit pricey, so we settled for wandering around the perimeter and enjoying some beers at the Bleacher Bar, where we got great seats at a table right around home plate, which was visible through the window.

A spinning sign.
Entrance.
The Curse of the Bambino.
A statue I didn’t get any details on…
Home of the Red Sox.
Get your souvenirs here!
The Bleacher Bar entrance.
A view from the window.

I may not be a baseball/sports fan, but I can still appreciate the vibe at Fenway Park. I absolutely love the old-school signage surrounding the stadium. It was one of my favorite parts of the trip, seeing this huge piece of history and excitement. I enjoyed a Sam Adams in Fenway Park.
Touristy, but true.

I love seeing new things.

Recent Reads: The New York Regional Mormon Singles Halloween Dance (Book #5 of 2013)

I really enjoyed this book. At 280 pages, The New York Regional Mormon Singles Halloween Dance by Elna Baker is the perfect, easy-breezy, fun read that won’t take you very long to finish. You won’t want to finish, though, because it’s so enjoyable to read.

Okay, perhaps I shouldn’t call it easy-breezy. The memoir, comprised of many stories of Elna’s  life as a Mormon in NYC, had me laughing out loud (awkward when reading in public, but so worth it) and cringing like any good memoir about a 20-something virgin living in the Big Apple should. But it was also very thoughtful. Mormonism is a religion I’ve heard plenty about, but I can honestly say I didn’t know much about at all. I don’t want to be judgmental (not that you should be anyway) without knowing the score. I actually found myself on the LDS website looking into Mormonism beliefs and values while reading this book. 
So I educated myself on a religion and I laughed along the way with the book. Two birds, one stone.

I loved Elna’s writing. She’s not just talking about being a Mormon, or pushing and pressing her faith on anyone. She’s talking about being a single 20-something trying to survive dating and working and living in New York City, with the addition of her faith, something she is constantly struggling to believe in…or not. Any 20 year old can relate to trying to find their place in the world…especially when it has been planned for you most of your life and you start to believe it might not really be all it’s cracked up to be.

I highly recommend this book. I hadn’t heard of it until I read this post on a friend’s blog. I’m glad she recommended it. I’m doing the same.

Life and the Weekend

I find that this time of year is an especially hard time to stay motivated and inspired. I can blame the wintery weather, the cold, snowy, icy, gray days. I can blame the colds and flus that are sweeping the nation and bringing everyone down in sight. I can blame the fact that the holidays are over. And part of me even wants to blame the fact that we put so much pressure onto the arrival of a New Year and a new beginning that never really comes…well, unless you MAKE it come.

Today, I read this amazing post on one of my favorite blogs, A Beautiful Mess. It was exactly what I needed to hear.
I really enjoyed it, and I hope you do too!

Anyway, the weekend. Last weekend was spent in Boston and that went by all too quickly. Then, this weekend, I worked Saturday and Sunday, Brad and I headed to my house to go to the Philadelphia Auto Show with my dad, sister, and her boyfriend. We do this pretty much every year. But this time, we took a change of pace and started at Troegs Brewing Company in Hershey. My family, my boyfriend, and myself all love beer. It’s fun to go to the place where it all begins, see how the magic happens, and, of course, try some tasty beers.

Here are some photos from Troegs!

Hope you had a great weekend!

Portraits of a Wednesday

Wednesdays have become one of my favorite days. There’s something I like about everyday, I suppose, which is good to think about when I feel like complaining or willing the weekend to come and wishing my days away. The reason I like Wednesday is because, unlike the other days, there isn’t any obligation in the evening. In fact, the only thing that seems to stick is movie night with my sister/mom/dad/all of them/some of them/one of them. I get nice and cozy in some sweats, treat myself to some wine or beer, snack, and watch a movie.
How can there be anything wrong with an evening like that?
And, of course, it’s almost the weekend. But whatever.

My favorite snack of apples and cheese! This is a Pink Lady apple and some Cabot Extra Sharp Cheddar.
My Hello Kitty slipper socks in addition to super warm knee socks and my sweats.
A couple of bottles left over from my MYO 6 Pack Endeavors and our movie for the evening.
Chocolate Peanut Butter brownies. From the box. Whatever, still delicious.

Yesterday was frigid. We were below zero. Fun fact, the heat in my Buick isn’t working…so that was super fun!
I was thawing out for a while. It was so nice to hide under a blanket and enjoy a nice snack and some quality time with my mom.

I am desperate to move out of the house, but I adore my family.
It’s going to be sad to miss out on nights like these one day, so I will cherish them for as long as I can.

Recent Reads: Matched (Book #4 of 2013)

Recent Reads is back, after what feels like a long time (the other books I read didn’t seem to take this long)!

Book #4 of 2013 is Matched by Ally Condie.

This book. I got it from my sister for Christmas. I had asked for it (and consequently freaked out when I got it, I wasn’t expecting her to remember and any book present makes me jump with glee) and I can’t remember the who/what/where/why I decided I wanted to read this. It is the first book of a trilogy.

I started it on Jan. 14, so it took me nearly 10 days to finish. I honestly blame a lot of it on the flu bug thingee I had last week. Two perfectly good days where I laid in bed sick to read, but I couldn’t even focus on words, so I spent a lot of time watching mind-numbing TV.
Another reason why, if I’m being honest, is that I never fully committed to the book. I think I had high hopes, and they were sort of dashed.

Matched is the story of Cassia Reyes, a 17 year old girl who lives in a society in which every single thing you can possibly think of in your life is decided for you. You are sorted into jobs, you are told who you will marry and when and by which time you can no longer have children and, of course, when you will die. History has pretty much been demolished, aside for the saving of only 100 songs/poems/painting…etc.
While this way of life has helped rid the world of illness and crime, you can see where there are issues here.
No one has a choice.

For Cassia, everything changes when she attends her Match Banquet (where she will find out her mate for life). She is presented with Xander, who is one of her best friends, so she is pleased with this. But when she goes to insert the microcard containing information about him and their courtship rules, the screen goes blank and she is faced with a boy named Ky. That one moment of him appearing shakes her world.
On top of that, her grandfather has reached the optimal age of death, 80, and so she is forced to say goodbye to dear family at his Banquet.
A lot happens from then on…her feelings with Ky, her beginning to notice how strangely the Society behaves…

I love the idea of this story. But when I was reading it, the writing was…well, it’s a YA novel so it felt a bit childish. And everything was happening so fast, as if we have to fill in the gaps. This happens…there are three books…
OF COURSE THERE WILL BE SOME SORT OF CHANGE.
I knew (and I don’t think I’m ruining anything here) that there would be rebellion, but I felt like it was to be expected and it was hard to see where the motivation was coming from. This could also be because I skipped reading more than a chapter for days.
It was hard. But towards the end, it really had me intrigued. I wasn’t sure if I would read the other two books, but I have decided I am going to check them out and see how this story unfolds. Sometimes, the first book is the hardest one. We will see how it goes.

I’ll keep you posted on the rest…

A Long Weekend in Boston

Hello! We are back from Boston and back to the grind. It was a three-day weekend, a mini vacation, where the days seemed never-ending but also went by way too fast. As I sit here typing this, I can’t believe we are back already, that the weekend and the trip are both over.

I really enjoy Boston! This time, I saw some different sights. Harvard campus, Fenway Park, and a lot of Somerville (which is where Brad’s brother and sister-in-law live). Carrying my big camera seemed like such a burden with all the walking we did, so a lot of my pictures are from my iPhone. I didn’t really have time to edit them, as I forgot my phone charger and we were all fighting over them (thank God we all have iPhones!) and our phones kept dying. But their great anyway. I did get some photos (mostly of Fenway) with the Rebel. I’ll post them soon.
For now, here are some of my favorites from the iPhone.

One of my favorite parts of traveling is trying great restaurants. We went to The Friendly Toast, which is this super cute and kitschy breakfast/lunch/brunch place. They specialize in…hello..TOAST. I had a massive turkey club that hit the spot. We also went to
Highland Kitchen, another cute place with good food and good drinks. Finally, our last meal was at Neighborhood Restaurant. The menu may not look like the menu of a special place, it’s teensy, and it’s nothing fancy, but there’s actually a wait to get in. Because it’s that delicious.

Hope everyone had a great weekend!