PompTour Boston 2014

As soon as I found out the Pomplamoose Season 2 #PompTour included Boston, we purchased tickets for the September 23 show at the Sinclair in Harvard Square. I may have slightly modified the lyrics to "September" as I counted down the days.

Much like our first Pomplamoose show, we began our evening with burgers and ice cream, this time at Shake Shack, before heading to the venue. We weren't too far back in the line, and scored a fantastic spot in the mezzanine right above the sound board. John Schroeder kicked off the show with a solo acoustic set. His Spanish guitar skills are off the chain, and his soulful songs are equally impressive.



One set change later, and the Pomplamoose band was on stage. Based on their 2011 show, I knew it would be crazy, entertaining, and full of amazing music. But they completely blew my expectations out of the water. Not only did they kill it with their set, Jack started a "mosh fractal" that culminated in a dance party, Nataly crowd surfed for the first time, and they capped off the evening with "La Vie en Rose" for an encore, with just Nataly singing and Jack playing accordion.



After the show, we landed at the end of the meet and greet line. It was late for a weeknight, but while we waited we had a great time chatting with Carlos, the drummer, as he shared more about Jack, Nataly, and the history of Pomplamoose.



When it was finally our turn to say hi, I didn't clam up like last time. And they remembered us! Also, they were still impressed with my Pomplamoose shirt, and Jack told me I look like Catherine Zeta Jones. They were so kind and patient, and they were incredibly accommodating for a Fingerwarmer fan photo.



Jack's full financial disclosure of the tour has drawn a flurry of criticism, but as a longtime fan who has attended both of their tours, I feel qualified to say they made a smart investment. The PompTour show was electric. Almost everyone we talked to in line before the show discovered them more recently, and that kind of performance can only solidify and grow their fan base. We have friends trying to make a living with music, and one thing they emphasize is they are small businesses, and if they don't treat their careers that way it isn't sustainable. The idea of artists creating art for the sake of art is romantic, but artists also have to pay the bills. I appreciate Pomplamoose's transparency, and hope they continue "making it" for a long time to come. We're already looking forward to the next Pomplamoose tour. Please come back to Boston!

See the rest of our PompTour photos on Flickr.

our 2014 Christmas letter

Their 3-foot fake Christmas tree is lit up like a… well, you know. Which means it’s time for Ian and Anna’s annual awkward, third-person Christmas letter!

celebrating #Foxlanta

At the beginning of September, we had the high honor of celebrating the wedding of two dear friends. We've known Anthony since college, where he and Ian spent five years of late nights in studio, and countless football and basketball games in face paint. They spent a summer interning and surfing in LA together, and when they graduated in a terrible economy, Anthony connected Ian to Sasaki. They have been friends and colleagues for almost a decade, and neither of us would be who we are today without him. We met Sara (with no h because h's are ew!) through Anthony after we moved to Boston. They weren't dating at the time, but we like to believe we already knew they would end up together. Sara is a fun, wonderful, and thoughtful friend, and she's kind of a big deal at Google doing lots of important things that go way over my head.

Thanks to their wedding, we headed to Georgia for our first real trip to the deep South, where our first meal was Chick-fil-a at the airport in honor of Sara. We met the rest of the wedding party at the rehearsal; after, we headed to a local restaurant for dinner, signature cocktails (The Foxy Lady and the Fantastic Mr. Fox), and wedding-themed mad libs. We had so much fun hearing Fox and Sara's childhood stories, catching up with old friends, and meeting new ones.

The wedding took place the next afternoon at Sara's family's estate, and the old horse farm was an incredible backdrop for a classy yet casual affair full of Southern charm and hospitality, down to the tiniest details (like bug repellent, and lawn games during the cocktail hour). Dinner was a delicious Southern barbecue, and the live band was fantastic. We had such a wonderful time, and are so glad we get to share life with both of them!



See more #Foxlanta photos on Flickr!

And a shout-out to our good friend Janet, who met us for brunch on the way to the airport, where I had perhaps the best chicken fried steak biscuit and cheesy grits of my life. So thank you Janet, for taking time to see us, and also for the delicious brunch recommendation. We miss you!

Megan and Phil walk all over Boston

Winter is fast approaching. We've pulled out our down coats and shearling-lined Bean boots to guard against the wet chill mixed with snow flurries that signal the eternal long New England winter is imminent. Which makes looking back on Megan and Phil's Labor Day weekend visit that much more wonderful, photos full of t-shirts, sandals, green grass, and that brilliant summer sun.

Megan has graced Boston with her presence twice before (both memorable: the first coincided with Hurricane Earl, and the second involved stealing a homeless man's vodka).  This time, she brought Phil, a good friend from our K-State days. We spent four days walking all over Boston (55,965 steps according to Breeze), packing in as much as we possibly could before their Monday afternoon return to Kansas.



We started at the office. Phil, as a planner involved with public transportation, was excited to navigate the MBTA to Watertown and also tour Sasaki. Megan was excited to eat at Roxy's on the way home (one of the many reasons why we're friends).

The next day we were up bright and early. We took the T to the Innovation District, and meandered over to the harbor to get in line for the Harpoon Brewery tour. Our last attempt at this particular tour (which also happened to be with Megan) was cut short as they sold the last tour tickets to the people in front of us in line. We were determined this wouldn't happen again. We shouldn't have worried. Harpoon had recently opened a new beer hall, which also exponentially increased their tour capacity. We purchased our tickets, learned all about Harpoon's brewing process, then hung around the beer hall for pretzels. (Forget the alcohol; I could eat those pretzels all day.) Post-pretzels, we headed straight to Yankee Lobster for our next meal, then walked it off by exploring more of the Innovation District and playing bocce at Sasaki-designed Lawn on D. And we kept on walking. We strolled the Greenway so Phil could experience the Big Dig, and we ended up in the North End for cannoli and lots of history (and inadvertently the Saint Anthony's Feast celebration).

Sunday, after a great morning at REUNION, we headed to Fenway for a ballpark tour followed by Sweet Cheeks biscuits. We enjoyed learning more about the history of Fenway and the Sox, and exploring the places most fans don't get to experience on a typical game day: the visitor's locker room, the Green Monster seats, the press box, and more.






On Monday, we had some time to kill before Megan and Phil's flight home, so we rented a ZipCar and headed to a place Ian has wanted to visit since we moved to Boston five years ago: World's End. In the late 1800s, Frederick Law Olmsted, the father of landscape architecture, designed it to be a residential subdivision. The carriage paths were created and trees were planted, but the houses were never built. The peninsula was eventually shortlisted to be the UN headquarters, and later considered for a nuclear power plant site, but the community worked hard to raise funds to protect the land. Now, it's a beautiful park with tree-lined walking paths and stunning views of Boston and the harbor. We walked around the entire peninsula, and even managed to dip our toes in the Atlantic.




Megan and Phil, thanks for spending your vacations with us! We had so much fun wandering around the city, eating good food, and nerding out about city planning and landscapes. Come back soon! (And Phil, congratulations on your engagement! Next time, bring Ashley too!)

Visit Flickr for more photos of our weekend!

Ian + Anna in the DR: 2014 in summary

It feels impossible to come up with words to describe our DR trip. It is exhilarating. It is exhausting. It is heartbreaking. It is joyful. Each year is both familiar and new, and each year we learn a bit more about how we can support the Vargas family. This year, that looked like painting houses in La Mosca, tangibly showing the community that Luis's church wants to meet their needs. It looked like us running the annual medical clinic out of Luis's church, watching the health of the community continue it's slow and steady improvement. It looked like us hosting a field day, playing games under the hot Dominican sun in a muddy field littered with trash, attempting to control the chaos and loving on the happy and endlessly energetic kids.







The passion we first felt on our first trip has deepened over the past four years into a strong commitment to the Vargas family and the community of La Mosca. We are so thankful for the way they support and encourage us, and that we have the opportunity to serve alongside some of the most joyful and selfless people we have ever met. And we're already counting down the days until we get to see them again!

thankful list | November 2014

01. a much needed relaxing weekend on the Cape.
02. a cozy guest bedroom in a house filled with family (and cats).
03. growing up with Car Talk, a.k.a. Cah Tahk. Thanks for everything, Tom.

04. my first opportunity to see a Sasaki project (Dudley) in process in person.
05. another dentist appointment with compliments on my "bionic teeth."

06. a fun quick project at work playing with new-to-me software (nerd alert!).

07. yoga.

08. being part of the annual awards committee to recognize awesome coworkers.

09. a Green Line operator with an amazing radio voice and kind words.
10. our veterans.

11. a caterer tasting (free food to try and earn our business!).

12. a fun craft project.

13. Grandma Judy moving in on the Cape.

14. seeing Aunt Patti.

15. copyediting at work.

16. Friendsgiving (thanks for hosting, Todd and Danielle!).

17. lunch with our community group coach.

18. a happy retirement Mylar balloon at the office going strong after 2 months (seriously?!).
19. a great annual review.

20. the company Thanksgiving potluck, raising money for a local food bank.
21. the Pioneer Woman's soul sweet taters.

22. Micki and Grandma Judy in town again.

23. another cater tasting (so much free food!).

24. a shopping trip at three of my favorites: The Container Store, David's Tea, and Shake Shack.

25. experiencing the new Wegmans at Chestnut Hill — the rave reviews do not oversell it.

26. extra help for REUNION Sunday morning setup at the Hilton.
27. the start of Advent Conspiracy.

28. a short work week.

29. a short wait for the bus to the Cape.

30. Thanksgiving with family, for the first time in five years.

31. helping to decorate a house for Christmas (a full-sized Christmas tree again!)

32. fun shops full of things like starfish and whale ornaments.

33. kitty snuggles.

34. a freshly laundered winter coat that didn't cost a stack giant stack of quarters.

35. a K-State football win on a big TV.

36. in-laws that I love to hang out with, even when Ian's not around.