leftie's minimalist Halloween costume (you can't see her tail here and she'd refused the mask)


easily the best costume at the parade

We took leftie to a neighborhood Halloween event yesterday. It's the annual Pumpkin Stroll. I wasn't sure if I'd still be pregnant with jr. or not so I was a little underprepared for Halloween. Leftie's still a little young to understand what all the fuss is about so I didn't feel badly about it. Also, I wasn't sure how she'd feel about getting in a costume so I kept it simple with some kitty cat ears and a tail.

I had some childhood flashbacks with this kitty costume remembering how the whole effect gets a little diminished when you have to bundle up covering up nearly all the costume. Or how you have a great costume but then you only have sneakers to wear which, again, ruins the effect. My plan had been to dress leftie head to toe in black and add the ears and tail and a mask I made her to kitty it up. Sadly the temperatures dropped considerably with a crazy nor'easter that hit our area. We got about 3 inches of snow the night before! So instead she wore lots of layers and even my scarf when I realized that her wool jacket wasn't keeping her warm enough for the parade.

I was super into Halloween as a kid dreaming up costume ideas as early as May (much to my mother's dismay). I lost my enthusiasm for it after college and never really got back into it. I can feel the Halloween crazy settling into me again though. Walking home from the Pumpkin Stroll yesterday I thought about next year's Halloween and how I'd better get started early if I wanted our costumes to look as cool as I was envisioning them. Yes, I plan to participate next year. Happy Halloween!

The city girl contemplates the fruit.


m and leftie


leftie prefers gathering rocks over apples

We went apple picking over Labor Day weekend. It was warm and muggy and the mosquitos had a field day with my bare arms and legs. But I'm glad we went. The orchard we went to also had raspberries ripe for the picking. That's where the mosquitos got me. Our raspberry experience wasn't so great. The trade-off for organic/pesticide free food is that sometimes you have to share it with critters. In the case with the raspberries, I decided to let the grubs have my share (shudder. grubs.).

The apples are another story. We picked half a bushel and bought another bushel of "drops" at half price.  I have ambitious plans to make tarts and pies and the like. And eats lots and lots of orchard apples with peanut butter and a glass of milk (or herbal tea) which is my favorite way to eat apples.

If you're in the Boston area, I'd recommend Old Frog Pond which is the orchard we went to. It's a modest establishment but the only organic orchard close to us so we're thankful that they keep it running. I've noticed that apple picking has become a popular fall activity for families with small children. And I'd like to take leftie and jr to one where they feature hay rides and corn mazes and cider donuts (the donuts are for me, not necessarily the kids :) but as far as apple eating is concerned, it's strictly organic or nothing at all. We'll be back to Old Frog Pond later in the season to pick more apples to keep us going through winter.

Nahant Beach is lovely. It's clean, the waves are gentle, the parking fee is modest and we've enjoyed ourselves both times that we've been. An added bonus is that it's a little closer than the other beaches we go to.

Our first trip there I kept seeing what I thought were plastic discs in the water and sand. I tsk-tsk'ed a few times thinking about how sad it was that such a pretty beach could draw such irresponsible polluting visitors. I wasn't wearing my glasses. Upon further investigation it turned out that the grey disks were tiny sand dollars. How thrilling! For me, finding a sand dollar on the beach feels like finding a twenty dollar bill on the road. Of course I got all grabby and scooped up as many as my pregnant belly would let me bend over to scoop. Sadly these sand dollars were super fragile and I ended up breaking as many as I collected. I'm guessing that they are grey because the sand is grey?

We went back last weekend and I don't remember seeing any sand dollars this time. How mysterious...

Nahant is basically an island, by the way. Connected by a long bridge. Does that still constitute as being an island? Here's what google maps shows:


After the beach we circled back down to the Porthole Restaurant in Lynn, Ma (just at the Lynn and Nahant border). Going to the Porthole makes me feel like I've gone back in time to a restaurant with my parents. The menu, the decor, the bar, it all reminds me of seafood restaurants I went to as a kid with my parents. The food was surprisingly very good. (Is that snooty? I had low expectations. I was tired.) And very affordable considering that it's a seafood place. We were so impressed that we went back after our second Nahant Beach trip. It's basically a package deal now so if we go to Nahant Beach, it's pretty much expected that we'll have dinner at the Porthole.

It's been cooler lately. So much for September beach weather. So we'll probably have to save our next Nahant Beach trip for next summer. See you there or after at the Porthole.

I'm not supposed to talk about this as it upsets m, but wow! It's already that "back to school" time of year, isn't it? Not that anyone in my house is going back to school this week (or this fall for that matter). But m just gets sad thinking about the end of summer. We shouldn't be so greedy. We've had a lovely lovely summer. I've enjoyed so much our little trips like the one to Portland, ME and the smaller day trips  to explore different parts of New England.

The above is a photo from a day spent at Arlington Reservoir Beach. The Boston Globe named it one of the best swimming holes in Massachusetts. It's basically an outdoor pool meets a lake as the water was chlorinated and there were flocks of geese and ducks swimming the perimeter - probably wondering who the heck these annoying humans were taking over their home.

One of the best things about the reservoir is that it's a 15 minute drive away from where we live. If we want to get to a nice beach we have to commit to an hour drive either north or due south. I like the reservoir but it could have been a bit cleaner (lots of feathers) - couldn't one of those life guards have put a skimmer to the water? And since it's a reservoir the water is calm and so leftie could sit comfortably in the shallow end and sort rocks (her favorite beach activity these days) without getting pounded by a beach tide.

We've also been to Crane Beach up in Ipswich and Nahant Beach (just south of Ipswich). I foolishly forgot to pull out my camera the two times that we were at Crane Beach which is too bad because it's so pretty there and probably my favorite beach we've been to in New England. Nahant Beach was also nice - I'll save my review of it for another post.

Thank you New England for providing us with such a pleasant and enjoyable summer. It's not over yet. I keep hearing how the best beach days are in August and even all the way through September. Here's to a few more days of sandy toes and sun-kissed shoulders.

I love that we live in one of the densest cities in the US but have easy and close access to so much green space including lots of farms! We went to Chip In Farm some weekends ago, maybe the 4th of July weekend? It was nice and quiet (no crowds). There's a small petting zoo where you can feed the animals scraps for free.

The general store (first photo) is very charming and old-timey. We picked up a dozen of their eggs which seemed to be the more popular item in the store as the handful of other patrons came in solely for the purpose of buying their eggs.

There were a few chickens running loose out on the grounds. One in particular (3rd and 4th photos) who seemed to know the drill even if we didn't. I eventually ran back into the store to pick up some scraps for an offering.

And that baby cow was just about the cutest thing ever.

I'm thinking of making this farm a part of a regular weekly activity for leftie. For her first trip to a petting zoo she was a little nervous - there was a rather demanding goat that made us all jump. But she did enjoy watching me feed the bunnies. No photos of that since I'm the family photographer and m was in charge of baby-wrangling.

me (at 23 weeks) + leftie + jr. on Peaks Island, Me


daddy + leftie at Fort Williams Park near Cape Elizabeth, Me



We took a long weekend up to Portland, ME last Saturday through Tuesday. It was wonderful! I've always wanted to explore Portland because so many blogging artists/designers whom I admire live in the area. And after spending a few days there I can see why they do.

Unfortunately having so much fun while juggling a toddler left me with few photos to show for my trip. I finally remembered on our last two days to pull out my camera and snap a few shots. Some of my favorite moments - alas - are left undocumented. I made a list of them though (I feel like I'm forgetting some):

Watching and playing with m and leftie in the hotel pool.
The charming sleepy downtown in Bath, Me. I think we got there on a slow weekend. Nearly everything seemed closed.
The lovely beach where I wish we had worn our bathing suits at Ferry Beach.
All the amazing food we ate.

To wit:
Duckfat in Portland which is basically a pressed sandwich joint but oh do they make the most amazing fries! I could have eaten all my meals there.

Ditto The Good Table in Cape Elizabeth. The best breakfast I've ever had. Ever. Leftie was surprisingly uninterested in the freshly baked (in-house) blueberry muffin we ordered for her so m and I ended up splitting it between the two of us. Even though I was stuffed to the gills. Stuffed, I tell you!

I also need to make special mention of the beans (called "Lisa's Beans" on the menu) that came with m's Maine Guide Breakfast. I would love to get a recipe. As I type this I am contemplating the 2+hr drive it would take for us to get there from Cambridge so I can enjoy another meal. We only got breakfast, imagine what their other meals must be like!

Solo Bistro Bistro in Bath which had a wonderful sounding prix fixe menu which I now regret not ordering. I opted for their miso glazed cod instead and wowsers! It was love at every bite.

Gilbert's Chowder House in Portland (on the waterfront) where we enjoyed clams three different ways (in a chowder, fried and steamed). I also ordered a lobster roll. I was on vacation. It felt necessary.

Lois' Natural Marketplace in Scarborough where I picked up the best tasting mediterranean "mezze" plate. M's Thai peanut chicken wrap was also quite divine.

We need to go back to try more food and take more photos. M still laments that we did not make it up to Maples where they make organic gelato in small batches. We might be able to console him with some local ice cream this weekend.

Happy 4th of July weekend everyone!

Exploring our neighborhood.

It was a very foggy day.
Photos taken at Walden Pond just after the start of the new year.