freezing in Vermont (with good friends!)

For the long President's Day weekend, we headed to Vermont for a holiday extravaganza with friends. We rented a giant lodge, divvied up meal duties, and planned out what local attractions we wanted to see. How often post-college do you get to spend so much time with friends?

It also turned out to be the coldest weekend New England has seen in decades. Thankfully, our new (to us) Honda Fit handled the weather like a champ. We made it out to to the lodge Friday night, arriving to a roaring fire, a big stack of firewood, and a whole bunch of awesome people. After dinner, we whiled away the evening by the fireplace with good tunes and good conversation (and maybe a little "Hotline Bling" on a toddler's ukulele, thanks to Ian).

The next morning, everyone decided to brave the cold for lunch. We caravanned into the great white wilderness until we reached The Blue Stone. Hot pizza tastes extra good when it's below zero outside. And logically, we decided to head to Ben & Jerry's for dessert. After enjoying our ice cream, our friend Alli agreed to join me for a quick walk to the Flavor Graveyard. It was so cold, my phone shut down. We took that as our cue to head back to the lodge. We spent another evening by the fireplace, only sneaking outside for a brief moment to learn that yes, boiling water tossed into frigid cold air disappears in a puff of snow. (For the record, the real-feel temperature hit 40 below.)

The next day was Valentine's Day. Because Ian knows the way to my heart, he drove the two of us to Cabot for a factory tour with lots of samples. We knew Cabot is a farmer's collective, but it was fascinating to learn exactly what that means (including how great it is for farmers). They are also continually working on sustainability. They save all the liquid from the cheesemaking process and through a reverse osmosis system, they're able to harvest the dried whey protein and reuse all the purified water. We also learned their muenster and jack cheeses are made from some of the same curds as cheddar. The difference is the curds for jack and muenster are rinsed once or twice, which inhibits aging and increases moisture content. After a lengthy wander through the Cabot store, we headed back to the lodge for another night around the fire, with lots of delicious cheese to share.

The next day we packed up and headed home, exploring Montpelier on the way. Hearts full, we were thankful for a weekend away from our daily lives and distractions. No matter the weather, we love spending time with friends, new and old!

thankful list | February 2016

01. soup club at the office, for the good food and the good company.
02. close proximity to a good library.
03. our community group.
04. a REUNION baptism celebration.
05. a date at Blackbird Doughnuts.
06. strolling through Niche. #crazyplantlady
07. hosting Kerwin for dinner (do you really have to move to California?).
08. hosting a Super Bowl party.
09. living so close to so many good friends
10. an apology painting from G (for missing our party because she acted up at naptime).

11. dinner at Tasty Burger.

12. our first DR team meeting (people showed up despite the snow!)
13. a weekend in Vermont with friends.
14. a big cozy lodge with a roaring fire to ward off record low temperatures.
15. Pizza at The Blue Stone.
16. a stop at Ben and Jerry's.
17. watching boiling water turn into snow when thrown outside in said low temps.
18. a Valentine's Day date at the Cabot Visitor Center.
19. a Valentine who knows my love language is cheddar cheese.
20. an evening in our old stomping ground.
21. dinner at Dorado.
22. watching the Oscar-nominated animated shorts with Ian (our oldest tradition).
23. the guys at Meat Spot.
24. a Skype with the Oaks (counting down to seeing them in person again).
25. a two-year-old birthday party (we love you, H!).
26. the Medfield Animal Shelter.
27. our new cat (she's still skittish terrified, but purrs like crazy when you pet her).
28. community group brunch.
29. the best pizza ever (with sausage and eggs, because brunch).
30. a night with friends at the Warren family taco truck.

and the 2016 nominees are...

This is Ian and I's eighth year watching the Oscar-nominated animated shorts (our sixth at the Coolidge Corner Theatre). While this year's nominees didn't feel as compelling overall as in previous years, we still enjoyed our continuing tradition. Our prediction record is now 3 for 5, counting just the years we've seen all the animated shorts. I'm still disappointed The Dam Keeper didn't win last year — Disney seems to be our prediction kryptonite. But especially since there's not a Disney short in the mix this year, here's hoping we're 4 for 6 after tonight!

Sanjay's Super Team — Sanjay, a first-generation Indian boy, loves super heroes. But when his beloved cartoons conflict with his father's Hindu prayers, he is forced to reconcile his western culture with his storied heritage. I can relate to Sanjay's experiences as a first-generation American trying to balance his two identities. Through an entertaining story and beautiful visuals, Pixar reminds us that a fresh perspective is sometimes all we need to bring different worlds together.

World of Tomorrow — A little girl suddenly finds herself transported to the world of the distant future, where humanity has made vast strides in the effort to extend life. The short finds laugh-out-loud humor through the juxtaposition of an innocent toddler with the strange experiences of her glitchy digital future self. This contrast also illustrates technological "progress" is not always what it seems, and the short manages to deeply explore questions of life and what it means to be human. Its minimalist but clever animation is fresh and incredibly fitting. This is our bet to take home the Oscar.

Bear Story (Historia de un Oso) — An old bear spends his days as a street entertainer, telling his life story as a kidnapped circus bear through an intricate and beautiful mechanical diorama. The diorama is a unique and impressive storytelling device, but I felt the story itself was missing an intangible spark.

We Can't Live Without Cosmos — From the director of Lavatory, Love Story, this short follows two lifelong friends as they train to be cosmonauts, following their shared dream of making it to the stars. With delightful bits of humor sprinkled in, Cosmos explores the idea of shared dreams, friendship, and failure.

Prologue — The ancient war between Sparta and Athens is brought into sharp, hand drawn detail as four warriors battle to the death. This was a graphic and intense short, noted as "not suitable for young viewers." The well composed animation with realistic human rendering was astounding, but the story itself wasn't as thought-provoking as I would have hoped, given the dark and deep subject matter.

Highly Commended Shorts

If I Was God — A middle school boy daydreams about ultimate power during a science class frog dissection. The claymation was a perfect medium for this hilariously awkward coming of age story. We've enjoyed all the selections we've seen out of Canada's NFB, which produced Bus Story in 2015 and Wild Life and Sunday/Dimanche in 2012, and this year did not disappoint.

The Short Story of a Fox and a Mouse — A mouse, alone and without cover, escapes one danger only to enter a bigger predicament. But an unexpected alliance at the right moment can change everything. The pale winter scenes and bright animals were a beautiful way to tell a sweet if predictable story.

The Loneliest Stoplight — At the intersection of two local roads, an old stoplight tells his life story, from installation to obsolescence to one shining moment thanks to a pileup on the freeway. It's a classic story of small town charm versus the efficiency of progress, retold through an unexpected lens. This was another solid short from Bill Plympton, the animator behind last year's Footprints and one of our all-time favorites, The Cow Who Wanted to be a Hamburger.

Catch It — A meerkat family has been anticipating the day they can finally enjoy the fruitful bounty of a nearby tree. When a vulture swoops in and steals their prize, the meerkats fight back, only to learn sometimes victory isn't so sweet.

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 World of Tomorrow, but Bear Story took home the Oscar.

2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015

our 2015 Christmas letter

2015: it wasn’t boring. In fact, it was so not boring that Ian and Anna didn’t have enough time in the year to write their annual awkward third-person Christmas letter. They kindly ask you to light a balsam-scented candle and eat sugar cookies while you read this, in hopes you won’t notice it’s kind of really late.

thankful list | January 2016

01. more time with Grandma Marilyn (and Susan and Debbie).
02. podcasts for a long drive (any Limetown fans out there?).
03. a visit with Uncle Jim.
04. a glimpse of Manhattan's Light Festival.
05. an evening of YouTube videos at Nathan and Sara's (almost) finished renovation.
06. seeing Winston again (thanks, Joey!).
07. KC barbecue.
08. catching up with Megan (everyone else, we'll catch you in 2016!).
09. board games, to console after a disappointing bowl game.
10. a quick direct flight home.
11. catching Super Cluckin' Sunday (to date, we've only missed one — for our now home's open house).
12. a visit from neighbors, one a little Elsa who played tiny football with Ian.
13. catching up on Castle.
14. sleeping in our own bed again.
15. getting back into our routine.
16. delicate snow flurries out the window (because snow makes cold more bearable).
17. new clothes, because I was feeling the shortage in my minimalist wardrobe.
18. a save the date magnet for April (counting down to my first official, legal sister!).
19. yoga, especially after the holidays.
20. flowers from Ian, because white spider mums are perfect for winter.
21. time with Micki.
22. a short work week.
23. a new light in our dining room.
24. a new episode of Sherlock.
25. a chimney inspection (one step closer to using our fireplace).
26. laughing with Ian.
27. a copyediting project at work.
28. an evening at Lesley, for Amy's graduation reading (she's incredible!)
29. info sessions for the 2016 DR trip.
30. community group.
31. a lost earring found (because the pair was a gift from Ian).
32. an evening with Kristin & Co.
33. play-doh at REUNION, to remind us we were meant to be creative.
34. hanging out with G + P before community group (babysitting success!).
35. a weekend on the Cape.