In October, Ian's parents moved to the Cape. From Kansas. We'd joked about it for so long that when they actually moved, it felt surreal. Dane got a job, they found a great deal on a charming Cape Cod style house not too far from a beach, and Grandma Judy moved in. They have been working hard the past few months to make it feel like home. After being halfway across the country from our families for the past five years, being less than two hours away by bus or car is a revelation. And with a busy and sometimes overwhelming fall, it was huge to have a quiet retreat from the fast-paced city.
Their move did, however, mean we needed to get a bit creative for Christmas. Since they stuck around New England over the holidays, we decided to celebrate a small family Christmas in late January.
Ren and Emily flew up late on a Thursday night. We spend Friday morning exploring Boston — we picked up treats at Mike's Pastry (we were early enough to beat any crowds), contemplated the New England Holocaust Memorial, strolled part of the Freedom Trail, warmed up at David's Tea and Thinking Cup, and enjoyed a classic New England lunch at Yankee Lobster before heading east.
It felt both strange and perfect, celebrating the holidays in a new place, in a new home, cuddled up on a gigantic sofa with our two favorite cats in front of a crackling fire. (After getting the car stuck on the beach near the Kennedy compound and waiting for a tow truck... )
The next morning, we woke up early, bundled up, and headed across the street to meet up with a new neighbor and fast friend, who had promised to take us oystering. We loaded up the gear and headed to the beach. Oysters were everywhere! We gathered a big pile on a large rock, then sorted out the ones that were too small to harvest, not stopping until we had a full basket (the maximum per week per license). Those with waders took the rakes and headed into the water to dig for clams, until we had a basket of those as well.
Happy, freezing, soaked, exhausted, and proud, we piled back into the cars and headed home to warm up and dry out by the fire. We're so thankful for Karla waking up early to spend her morning on the beach with us: an unforgettable experience that we hope to repeat (perhaps in warmer weather).
We spent the rest of the day alternately napping and sightseeing around the Cape, before a big Christmas dinner that involved lots of lobster. The long weekend came to an end faster than we would like, but we're already looking forward to spending more holidays there as a family.
01. Super Cluckin' Sunday with our dear friend A. Wolf.
02. a Frozen snowman built to greet everyone walking out the doors of a downtown building.
03. a bon voyage party for Nate and Danielle as they set out on a yearlong world adventure.
04. a baptism celebration at REUNION (and the baptism of a new friend!).
05. Sweet Cheeks with friends (biscuits + a deep discussion about life and faith = win).
06. a final farewell to our adventuring friends.
07. Orinoco with friends as we vision for community group.
08. adorable squishy baby cheeks and tiny toothy smiles.
09. a birthday party for a dear friend.
10. lunch with three lovely ladies.
11. a mani/pedi by Grey.
12. an entertaining PowerPoint karaoke happy hour at the office.
13. a second birthday party (because why not), involving mac and cheese and hard cider.
14. tagging along Ian's tour of Christian Science for the K-State student group.
15. turkeys wandering the streets of Brookline.
16. seeing the same turkeys two days in a row.
17. discovering said turkeys stick around because a neighbor feeds them cabbage.
18. knocking out our taxes (even though we had to pay, at least they're done).
19. a clean bill of health at my annual skin screening.
20. a delicious catering tasting at the office.
21. babysitting for an adorable toddler.
22. a couple hours of HGTV.
23. an interesting office presentation/conversation about food sustainability.
24. making zuppa toscana while chatting with Micki and Grandma Judy.
25. visiting the REUNION Somerville location.
26. lunch with friends we don't see as often as we'd like.
27. KO meat pies.
28. celebrating lots of big answered prayers at community group.
29. the magic of FaceTime, so Nate and Danielle could video chat us from Chile.
30. catching up with Catherine, in town for a conference.
31. Micki and Grandma Judy coming up to the city to hang out with Catherine too.
32. Taza chocolate.
33. Roxy's Grilled Cheese.
34. a quiet Sunday.
35. chicken piccata to celebrate a friend landing a TFA position in her hometown.
36. community group dinner at Dorado.
We have our routine down for Christmas in Kansas. Find the most affordable airfare to give us roughly two weeks. Schedule those two weeks to maximize our time with both families and minimize our time in the car. Squeeze in our anniversary celebration and as many friends as possible. It's never everyone we'd love to see, but I remind myself there is next time. You can only do so much in two weeks at the end of December. And 2014, especially the fall, was overwhelming at times. A perfect storm of teaching and transitions at work and at church. We needed some of that two weeks for us, too.
We flew into Kansas City and made it a date. We wandered around Union Station, examining the details in all of the model train worlds and allowing the twinkling lights to amaze us. We had lunch at Anton's because we miss good beef (local! so cheap!). We wandered Crossroads to find things for dinner. We took a tour of Boulevard Brewery and Ian was in heaven. We made dinner for Karen and Jeremy, and chatted late into the night just like we used to (although the lateness of that night is inversely proportional to our age).
We drove to Manhattan the next morning. We ran errands and finally ate at Taco Lucha, at least a year after hearing glowing reviews from our K-State friends in Boston. And the rest of the day was all about Caleb, celebrating his graduation at Bourbon and Baker, since we weren't able to make it back for the ceremony the week prior. And then we were off to the farm.
I love the farm. It's quiet, remote, and beautiful. And Grandma is amazing. The cousins played board games. Ian and Grandma had lutfisk together. I learned how to make spritz from the master (Grandma). And we all learned about our Swedish heritage by flipping through Grandma's scrapbook of childhood and family photos.
Our next destination was Dodge City to see Grandma Marilyn and Aunt Susan. We passed the drive time with our newly discovered obsession: the Serial podcast. We also were able to turn our lunch stop into a meetup with friends we hadn't seen since their wedding almost three years prior. In Dodge, we chauffeured Grandma to her appointments, and enjoyed lots of time by the fire. It was a quick trip, but we were looking forward to the family reunion in February for Grandma's 85th birthday celebration.
On New Year's Day, we headed back to Manhattan to celebrate our anniversary. We hiked Konza Prairie, bundling against the brisk Kansas wind, had a dinner date at Old Chicago (we were thankful, because all our favorite fancy date restaurants were closed for the holiday). We spent the night at the Morning Star Bed and Breakfast, where we spent our wedding night seven years ago, and stopped by the first T on Manhattan Hill, where Ian proposed.
We headed back to Kansas City and met up with Nathan and Sara. It was K-State bowl game night, so we headed to Barley's Brewhaus to meet up with friends (hi, Megan!), then consoled ourselves from the loss with a game night back at Sara's.
The next morning, we headed to Nathan and Sara's new neighborhood, where they're halfway through a gut renovation as first-time homeowners. We met up with Amber and Veronica for brunch, then drove to the house for a tour. They're doing a great job, and we can't wait to see it as a cozy home the next time we're in Kansas. (They're only mildly terrified by the renovation process...)
Like always, our two weeks felt short but sweet, full of people we love and miss. And after a fall of stress and busyness, it felt right to unwind and spend time together under the expansive Kansas sky. Never everything we want to squeeze in, but enough for now. Until next year.
01. good food and conversation with our community group coach.
02. made-from-scratch bananas foster Pop Tarts.
03. a Super Bowl watch party with great friends.
04. reading books to G.
05. a surprise Patriots win (because Monday at the office would be rough if they lost).
06. new gloves, because my old pair didn't keep my fingers warm.
07. a sweet new solid wood ironing board, half off, to replace the old rickety one Ian had in college.
08. a winter season clothing swap, organized by a coworker.
09. the Patriots parade (because we've added it to our Bruins and Sox parade experiences).
10. yoga.
11. Oscar shorts at the Coolidge.
12. Bootstrap Compost, for allowing us city folk to give our food scraps a new life.
13. a photoshoot for the Sasaki project in Dudley Square (a rare opportunity to be a project model!)
14. a fun party to celebrate a coworker's birthday.
15. Super Cluckin' Sunday at Cutty's.
16. the option to work from home (because snowstorm, again).
17. community group (despite the mountains of snow).
18. a catering tasting at the office (a perk to being a studio assistant: being courted by caterers).
19. Valentine's Day conversation heart sugar cookies with a catering order from Fuel.
20. a Valentine's Day date with Ian (brunch at The Merchant and an attempt to climb the MIT Alps).
21. getting our friend Anna as our server on said Valentine's Day date.
22. making the DR meeting happen virtually, when the snow prevented us from getting outside.
23. a holiday (i.e. no commuting through crazy snow on the Make Believe Transit Authority!).
24. far exceeding my step goal after walking from Kenmore to Coolidge (thanks, no-show C Line shuttle).
25. hosting Dane, Micki, and Grandma Judy before their 6 a.m. flight to Kansas.
26. meeting another one of Ian's favorite cab drivers.
27. safe and on-time flights back to Kansas.
28. catching up with family, some of whom we haven't seen in years.
29. fun stories at Grandma Marilyn's 85th birthday party (flopper stoppers and Fudgesicles).
30. unexpectedly visiting my parents while driving Ren and Emily halfway back to Boulder before the storm.
31. a safe drive back to Wichita despite the snowstorm.
32. no damage to the rental car after getting rear-ended bumped at a red light on our way to the airport.
33. two more safe and (mostly) on-time flights.
34. a ride home from Logan (thanks, Wilbs!).
35. K-State beating KU!
36. ordering Filipino food from JnJ Turo Turo for the office (for a discussion of our project work there).
37. carpooling with a coworker who we just learned is a neighbor.
38. great conversations to and from the office.
39. a clean apartment.
40. a night at the Paint Bar with coworkers (all our paintings turned out so well!).
41. the Kids Baking Championship.
42. Ingrid's surprise birthday party.
For the seventh year in a row, Ian and I watched the Oscar-nominated animated shorts (our fifth year watching at the Coolidge Corner Theatre). Our prediction record is now 3 for 4, counting just the years we've seen all the animated shorts. Here's hoping we're 4 for 5 after tonight!
Me and My Moulton — This was a delightful recounting of a memorable summer for a young Norwegian girl and her two sisters growing up in the 60s. Their quirky and unconventional parents, both modern architects, often leave their daughter uncomfortable, wishing they could be more like other families. But over the course of that summer she learns to appreciate her family, quirks and all. I loved both the storytelling style and the bright, simple, yet expressive animation. Ian and I relate closely to the parents' design sense, which made us enjoy the short even more. (Someday, we are going to be those parents. #notpregnant)
The Bigger Picture — Two brothers deal with the responsibility of caring for their aging mother. Her increasing dependency changes her relationship with each of her sons, and also reveals the brothers' differences. Most impressive is the stop motion animation of the characters, painted life-sized, frame-by-frame, on the walls of the rooms, and the way they interact with the three-dimensional rooms and the objects the contain. This unique technique combined with the creators' willingness to address such a difficult topic makes this a serious contender for the Oscar.
A Single Life — An album mysteriously turns up at the door of a young woman, and it turns out to be, quite literally, the record of her life. It's a hilarious two minutes of film that still achieves a poignant message about what can happen when we're in a hurry to get to the next phase in life. And the soundtrack is fantastic.
The Dam Keeper — A young pig has inherited his father's job as dam keeper, protecting his small town from the ominous dark cloud on the other side of the wall. His job is thankless and unappreciated, and the other animals at school bully the dirty pig. When a new student appears at school, the pig begins to hope he might not be so alone. But with friendship comes vulnerability. The story touches on important issues of bullying, loneliness, and metal health. Beautiful and epic, this is my pick to take home the Oscar.
Highly Commended Shorts
Sweet Cocoon — A well-fed caterpillar needs some help squeezing into her tiny cocoon. Two kind bugs work hard to assist her, with surprising results. I loved the almost slapstick comedy, and the humor of a lady working hard to wear a too-small dress translates so well into the insect world.
Footprints — From the creator of The Cow Who Wanted to be a Hamburger is a story of a man who wakes up in the middle of the night to a crash through his window. He grabs his gun to track down the intruder, and with each new clue, the imagined monster grows larger. This was a dark short with a deep twist, the meaning of which we're still debating.
The Duet — Glen Keane, an animator who worked on The Little Mermaid, Pocahontas, and many other Disney classics, created this short for Google's new virtual world app. A love story is told in one continuous spiraling shot, twisting to follow the two characters crossing paths until they finally unite. It's a beautiful animated short, which I can imagine is even more impressive when experienced in the viewer for which it was created.
Bus Story — A woman has an idyllic dream of life as a school bus driver, picking up happy children and waving at parents while rolling along the beautiful Canadian countryside. When she gets the opportunity to drive the only school bus in town, she soon feels the reality of a temperamental boss, charmless passengers, and an unwieldy bus. This was a delightfully funny short, and I particularly loved the narrator.
As always, we enjoyed all of the shorts, and highly recommend catching them if you have the opportunity. Have fun watching the Oscars, and may the best films win!
*update: we predicted The Dam Keeper, but Feast took home the Oscar.
