family fun at Fenway

In the middle of our big move, Ren and Emily headed to New England for a weekend on the Cape. While we would have loved to spend a relaxing weekend with family, our move meant we had to settle for a Friday night Sox game (if you can call baseball at Fenway settling).

It was a beautiful night, and Grandma Judy, a lifetime die-hard Royals fan, got Alex Gordon's autograph and a wave from Ned Yost so we were all in a great mood.

Shortly after the game started, we discovered we also had the pleasure of sitting in front of two incredibly entertaining British gentlemen (seen standing in our classic family ballpark photo), who were absolutely delighted to be partaking in America's pastime. In the middle of the eighth, when "Sweet Caroline" began blasting through the sound system, one of them exclaimed, "Now that's what I traveled 4,000 miles and two plane rides for."



They also turned to us with a pressing question about a concession stand item:

British Gentleman 1: What do you Americans call that?

Us: Fried dough.

British Gentleman 1: God bless America.

British Gentleman 2: Indeed.

I love Fenway. Ren and Emily, come back soon!

I'll love you forever, Brookline.

So, we bought a house. Technically, half a house (a condo in a 1930s two-family home). It's a 20-minute walk from our office, with a washer and dryer in the basement (no more quarters!) and a couple extra bedrooms (if you visit, you won't be on an air mattress in our living room anymore! okay, maybe still the air mattress, but in a bedroom!). We get to DIY to our hearts' content. We have three families of friends within a few blocks, and even more friends in the area. We're so excited!

But we're leaving Brookline, which simultaneously breaks our hearts. It has been our home all our 5-plus years in Boston. We love our quiet little street, and the park next door that is sometimes full of silly kids and Little League baseball games. We have lots of friends nearby, and are a short walk away from not one but two green lines. We can be downtown in 20 minutes, while still enjoying life in a quiet cozy neighborhood. We're practically next door to the library, Cutty's, and Orinoco, and we can bike to Sox games.

We know we made the right choice to move (our home-buying story is in the blog pipeline), but it is bittersweet to leave a place we love so well. Thankfully, it's not too far away and we have plenty of reasons (good friends and good food, not to mention our dentist) to come back often.

Here's to an amazing 5 years, 9 months, and 4 days in our beloved Brookline!

thankful list | July 2015

01. summertime.
02. a birthday that involved lots of sweet treats at work.
03. a birthday trip to the Science Behind Pixar exhibit at the Museum of Science.
04. dinner with awesome friends.
05. fireworks, viewed from Cambridge-side.
06. Sam joining us for our annual Fourth of July celebration (yay burgers and ice cream!).
07. seeing Micki and Grandma Judy.
08. a long lunch playing bocce (#cantstopwontstop logs another win).
09. a delicious chocolate chip cookie from Fuel.
10. a successful teambuilding event for the 2015 DR trip.
11. dinner with friends who moved to NH, who we miss dearly.
12. Big Hero 6 at the Hatch Shell with other REUNIONers.
13. pulling off a delicious gluten-free cake to bring to the office for a coworker.
14. recognition for 5 years at Sasaki (for the both of us).
15. a few days with Ted, an intrepid Oregonian joining us on the DR trip.
16. a smooth-running packing party to get medical supplies into the team's checked bags.
17. getting 23 people to the airport, through security, and on flights to the DR.
18. no issues getting through customs with all the medical clinic supplies.
19. seeing awesome friends waiting to greet us curbside upon arrival.
20. an incredible team.
21. quick and efficient med sorting (thanks, Dr. America!).
22. updates on various GO projects, like the Santiago medical center.
23. a kind stocker at La Sirena who found my favorite piña con coco marmalade, missing from the shelf.
24. Helados Bon.
25. two days of painting and a successful medical clinic (even though it was especially hot).
26. Caitlin, for taking care of me when I was dehydrated + carsick (you are an awesome friend + NP).

snow in July: a reflection on Boston's record-setting 110.6 inches

The New York Times posted an article about a 12-foot tall snow mound that is still in the Seaport district. In July. Did I mention it's July?

I felt this was an appropriate time to reflect on the past winter, when Boston broke the record for total winter snowfall with a final tally of 110.6 inches. That's over 9 feet of snow, which would be 2 feet over Shaq's head, if you followed the Boston Globe's Shaq-o-meter in 2011. (Our mid-February very informal Ian-o-meter was photographed at 77.3 inches.)

After looking back through our photos, I have absolutely no complaints about the sometimes hot and sultry summer weather.



Curious about our past snow adventures in Boston? 2013 still stands as the fifth biggest snowstorm (thanks, WBUR!). And winter 2011 is the eighth snowiest with a season total of 81 inches, 4 inches short of maxing out the Boston Globe's Shaq-o-meter (we documented 20 inches and 70.1 inches).

And an interesting article from the Boston Globe explores potential demographic implications of the past winter. No, we're not moving to warmer climes.

thankful list | June 2015

01. a lunch date with three of my favorite ladies.
02. giving my 1990 Little Mermaid board game new life with G (cue Toy Story 3 finale music).
03. dinner with Ryan and the Girlbaums.
04. our dear friend Anna following her TFA dreams in Chicago (we miss you already!).
05. a plant walk over lunch at Mount Auburn.
06. dinner with some awesome REUNION people.
07. dropping in on the Perry family, which turned into dinner and watching the Triple Crown!
08. new possibilities.
09. a great DR team meeting.
10. watching the US vs. Nigeria game at the Whitsons over chicken and dumplings.
11. car-sitting while Dane and Micki are traveling.
12. another birthday celebration with Ian (I love you!).
13. a new vegetable garden at the office.

14. a simple, amazing dinner (halibut + bacon + fresh salsa + lime rice + avocado).

15. Seeing Keytar Bear on the way home from work.
16. dinner (at The Butcher Shop) and a movie (Pixar) for Ian's birthday.
17. Inside Out. go see it. now.
18. our dads.
19. the Sasaki bocce league.
20. another weekend on the cape to celebrate Dane and Micki's anniversary.
21. beaches.
22. FaceTime.
23. Skyping with the Vargas family, the Aguilars, AND the Oaks!
24. finally, summer.