Going Coastal and beyond

Its kinda insane how many towns/places we saw in just a week. I think we racked up about 1,000 miles on the rental car in just 4 days. Here is a screenshot of "The Plan" aka our New England Vacation route. So this blog post will be a lot of rambling. :)

We rented a car once we were ready to leave Boston, and we headed North along the coast. First stop, Salem. Crazy time to be there just a few days before Halloween. Tons of people dressed in witch costumes and tons of little stores all about witch stuff.

We wanted to go through the "Salem witch Museum", but the line was wrapped around the building, and we needed to keep the day moving. aparently, they reinact the Salem witch trials with the actual true stories. We both thought it would be really cool, just not enough time in the day.

We drove through Marblehead which is right next door, and it was a darling little town. We took some video footage of driving through the cute neighborhoods, but i won't bore you/make you carsick by posting.

One of the few things on "Jeremy's list" was to go to Gloucester, where "the Perfect Storm" movie was filmed.

We went to the memorial of all the Fisherman lost at sea from the 1600s to present.
We also explored around where the fishing boats were.











Then we drove through Portsmouth, NH to get to New Castle, NH where we were recommended the best Clam Chowder at a hotel called Wentworth by the Sea. It was VERY good.
Again, very cute little residential area and I couldn't resist taking a picture of us with all the beautiful fall leaves.


That night we stayed in the cutest little B&B called York Harbor Inn (in York Harbor, Maine.) This was one of the highlights of our trip, as this little Inn was darling, and we were in the cutest little room, right up there in the top where the balcony is, called the L.L. Bean room because of the decor. They had a lovely homemade breakfast for us with muffins, cinnamon rolls and juice. And the location was amazing overlooking the Atlantic Ocean/Cove.


View from our Room:


It was a bit rainy while we were there, but we still loved it, as we don't get much rain in So Cal.




I really wanted to go see the L.L. Bean store really bad, so we drove up there (Freeport, Maine) that night pretty late, because the store is open 24 hours a day, and we didn't want to waste daylight in a store. It was GINORMOUS!! several buildings including home furnishings, kayak and outdoor gear, hunting and fishing gear, camping gear, and of course the normal clothes and shoes stuff too. I've wanted an L.L. Bean duffle bad since I was a kid in high school and would get the catalogs. So it was pretty fun finally getting the bag i've always wanted at the actual store in Freeport, Maine! :)



On our way back to York Harbor, we stopped in Portland, which is Maine's largest city and got dinner. We drove around to about 3 restaurants until we finally found one open at like 10pm.

The next morning we were back on the road. we first stopped at Nubble lighthouse, which was close by in York, Maine. Apparently it is the most photographed lighthouse on the east coast. IT WAS FREEZING and very WINDY:



We continued along the coast up to Kennebunkport. I LOVE this picture:


We saw the Bush's compound, which is located in Kennebunkport, Maine (very fun name to say out loud) and has been in their family for over a century.


We ate lobsta at "Mabel's Lobster Claw" in town where the Bush's are regulars! They had pictures on the wall. it was a really tiny, small town, down to earth little place. Jeremy got every last bit of meat out of that thing.


We LOVED our time in Coast of Maine, but next it was onto New Hampshire and Vermont. I'm a huge "what about Bob?" movie fan, so I really wanted to drive by Lake Winnipesaukee, even though they didn't even film there. It wasn't as great as I imagined. Maybe, because that's not what it looked like in the movie, but nonetheless, checked that off my list of things to see in this lifetime and it was onto Vermont. It was a long driving day. so we crashed as soon as we got to our hotel in White River Junction, VT.

The next morning we were ready to explore again. The other thing on Jeremy's list was "Sharon, VT" where the prophet Joseph Smith was born. He lived there for less than 2 years before his family eventually moved to Palmyra, NY. This was another highlight of our trip. It was a peaceful, calm day and we were in a beautiful woodsy small town. Our church has a Memorial and visitor center there. So we hung out there for a while and talked to the Senior Missionary who showed us a lot of the history of Joseph Smith, etc. We took a picture in from of the original hearthstone from their home that was salvaged.

In memory of this great prophet, a granite monument was dedicated on the 100th anniversary of his birth in 1905. The shaft was sculpted from a single granite block and stands 38 1/2 feet tall, one foot for every year of the Prophet Joseph Smith's life and weighs 40 tons.


Nearby to the memorial site was other property from the Family's farm. This is stone covered bridge over a stream that is over 200 years old.


That day we also drove up to Montpelier, which is the capital of Vermont. We ate lunch at a yummy place called, J. Morgan's , and we had the BEST French Onion soup we've both ever had. I'm a huge French onion soup fan. We also walked around and went into little shops and i found some vintage baby/children's book (including nursery rhymes and a Amelia Bedelia book that reminded me of my childhood) at a little bookstore. Here is a view looking down at the cute little town.


We continued north up to Waterbury opening to get to the Ben & Jerry's Factory before their last tour left. We made it just in time and we got a 30 minute tour and history of the company & Factory. and of course we got a huge scoop of the flavor of the day at the end of the tour--Triple Caramel Chunk. yum!!




We finished off our day by continuing north to Burlington, VT. A larger city next to Lake Champlain. It was night by then, and we were pretty tired and didn't stay here long. But did walk along "Church Street" and drove by the lake.

Our final full day we spent wandering around Hanover, NH, Norwich, VT, Quechee, VT, and Woodstock, VT. Another full fun day.

Dartmouth Row House (along Connecticut River):


We drove around the Dartmouth campus in Hanover, NH-- very pretty.

We went to Farmers market and each picked out our favorite apples in Norwich, VT:


And next door was "King Arthur Flour"-- which is a baking school, bakery, and baking shop. the coolest little place ever. we wondered around the shop for a while, tasting things, and picking our some souvenirs. I got "Perfect Pastry flour" and i'm determined to make the most perfect pie crust (and pie) ever!


We then wandered into Quechee to see Simon Pearce Glass. fun little stop. We toured the gallery of all their hand blown glass products and watched the guys down in the basement actually make it. the views from this place were gorgeous-- waterfall and covered bridge.


Also went to nearby antique store, and found some super cute quilting stuff that i'm going to use for baby girls room.
i'm going to frame these antique quilt squares:

and i found these little flower embroideries and probably going to frame these too (maybe):


We finished off the day in Woodstock, walking around and going in little shops and eating dinner at another fabulous place we loved called, Bentley's. Best Chili ever!

And that's all folks. We had the best vacation ever and have so many wonderful memories! And i'm glad I can blog about it now so that I will remember the little details later.

We loooooved Boston!

I was up at 5am wide awake this morning! Still on East Coast time -- plus the extra hour from daylight savings. Kinda weird, considering i've never been up this early in my entire life! I took advantage of the few hours I had before church started and downloaded all of the photos from our trip. I get so excited to view photos on a nice monitor rather than the small screen on the camera, so it was like Christmas morning for me. I sifted through about 500 photos and a few videos. So I did my best to cut down to the photos here.



for now, here is our Boston leg of the trip. We spent about 2 1/2 days here, and loved EVERY second of it. I think I lived here in a previous life, because I didn't want to leave.

PUBLIC GARDEN
Our first morning we walked to the public garden, which was about a mile from our hotel, which was conveniently located next to the Prudential Center. The park was BEA-U-TI-FUL!! The trees perfectly how I imagined them, and also very peaceful.


Lovely pond


lovely scenery




And a Statue of General George Washington:

DUCK TOUR
After our little morning walk, we took the DUCK TOUR- a fun city tour on a vehicle that goes by land and water. We got to see alot of the city on this tour, which helped us navigate through the city for the rest of our stay.

boarded up and ready to go!


cheese! the flash is us, this was our bus/boat:


We also cruised throughout the Boston Harbor on this thing.

NORTH END
Later that evening we ventured into the NORTH END -- Boston's oldest neighborhood, and now known as the city's Italian-American quarter. We went to dinner at this cozy tiny little home-made everything Italian place called Trattoria di Monica. Pretty much some of the best Italian food I've ever had. They are known for their Bruschettas, and we got the special that day which was sauteed spinach with roasted bell pepper and mushroom on top with a hint of butter sauce on top. yeah-- we liked it.


We saw tons of people everywhere we went with "Mike's pastry" boxes, so when I googled it on my phone I saw that it was just a few blocks from our restaurant, still in North end. It pretty much has every pastry you can think of. there were counters and counters, and shelves and shelves and refrigerators FILLED with endless kinds of pastry. here is just ONE counter of like TEN.


The Paul Revere House is also located in the North End, so we paid that home a visit- well at least a street visit. Jeremy loves the Paul Revere Story/History. Brave man.


I thought this building was cool next door to the Paul Revere house.


There was great energy at night with lively restaurants everywhere.

CAMBRIDGE/HARVARD
The next day we took the Subway across the Harbor to Cambridge to visit Harvard and neighboring cities. Very pretty area.
First stop, the COOP, the Harvard Bookstore.
I got a kick out of this sign, "The Book is Always Better". Totally reminds me of something my sister Jessica would say. :) So this one's for you!!


I also thought it was interesting to see an entire wall full of Harvard Authors.


Of course we walked through Harvard Yard, lots of little study groups scattered about.


Perhaps, the next future President of the free world?


Gorgeous buildings and campus


We then wandered through the neighborhoods of Cambridge, particularly, Brattle Street, where the Longfellow house is located. This is the place that George Washington used as his headquarters for almost nine months during the siege of Boston in 1775-76. During this time he was visited by Benjamin Franklin, Abigail and John Adams, and other revolutionary leaders.


Neighboring tall pretty trees:


We also ate here, and has some dessert here (home-made cake batter Oreo ice cream hot fudge sundae), which I think is note-worthy. :)

FREEDOM TRAIL
After a long hard day at Harvard (just kidding :-) we took the subway back into town and visited some parts of the Freedom Trail by foot that we had seen during our Duck Tour, including Faneuil Hall where there were a huge group of Bagpipe and drummers playing in a circle in front of the Market Place.


The Old State House, where back in the 18th Century where leaders such as John Adams, Samuel Adams, James Otis and John Hancock debated the future of the British Colonies. (this reminds me that we need to finish the HBO series, "John Adams"). Also, where we are standing in the circle of paving stones is where the Boston Massacre took place.


Old South Meeting House. Taking a little break.


Granary Burial Ground. 3 signers of the Declaration of Independence, nine governors of Mass., the victims of the Boston Massacre, Ben Franklin's parents, and Paul Revere all lie buried here. (As well as "Mother Goose". I always thought she was fictional.)


Next door to the graveyard is the Park Street Church and Boston Commons:

BEACON HILL
Later that night I still wanted to check out Beacon Hill. It is a neighborhood of Federal-style rowhouses and is known for its narrow, gas-lit streets and brick sidewalks. We ate at a place called Fig's there. and it was awesome. we had some pizza and the best beet salad I've ever had.


We walked around Louisburg Square, a very desirable expensive neighborhood. John Kerry has a place on the corner that was pretty nice. We also walked down Acorn Street (supposedly the most photographed street in the U.S.) So of course, I had to take my shot at it. Probably one of my most favorite photos and currently my desktop :)




Next up: Coastal Cities of Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Maine.

20 weeks

Friday marked 20 weeks--half way point. It was our last day of our New England vacation. It was such a wonderful trip, and i have many more pictures to come from the entire week. but for now, here is a picture at week 20 mark, at Simon Pearce Glass in Quechee, Vermont. Maybe I liked this place so much because i could take a picture with baby girl's name. :)

We watched the glass blowers make vases and wine glasses inside before we came out here on the balcony. Isn't this waterfall and covered bridge view amazing? We sat/stood here for a while and soaked it all in.

sugar and spice and everything nice

We're so excited to have a baby girl!!! my favorite part of the 1 hour poking and prodding with the ultrasound wand was seeing her little arms hands and fingers move up and down and to her face and to her side. and we got a few glimpses of her yawning. i think i might have gone overboard on the skittles, because she was all over the place, never still for a moment of the one hour exam.

Monday Night Football

I went to my first NFL game tonight! Jeremy's client gave him tickets to the Charger vs. Bronco game. It was fun spending the evening with Jeremy in San Diego. And the Charger fans are incredible. Would love to go to another game someday. But of course, would love to go to a SAINTS game even more! WHO DAT?!?!?!



i love jeremy's smile in this one. what does tyra banks call it? when you smile with your eyes? hehehehe

New York, New York

I actually had a really good time on my business trip to New York. Wednesday I was at the office all day, and went to dinner with a co-worker at Peasant as mentioned in previous post.

Then Thursday was a bit of a beast, woke up super early (felt like middle of the night, considering I was still use to West Coast time zone) and took a 2 hour train ride to Wilmington, Delaware to meet lots and lots of clients at Chase, who I've previously only talked to over the phone. It's always nice to meet someone in person, and I was glad I could meet so many of them.

It was my very first train ride, and I thought it was soooo cool!!!

You don't know what terminal your train takes off from until about 5-10 minutes before departure, so everyone crowds around the ticker board waiting to see where they need to go. I was also impressed with the train workers who come to punch holes in your tickets. I felt like it was just like in the movies. The seats are spacious and comfortable and you don't have to wear seat belts. You can get up for bathroom breaks and also visit the snack car. I thought it was a great way to get places. And I loved looking out the window and seeing every city along the way and seeing all of the old houses stacked next to each other.

I offered to go pick up lunch and help carry things with the Account Sup because I wanted to see what else was in Wilmington. So we drove to pick up sandwiches, etc for us and the clients, she did a quick drive through the area and down near the water. Where we were, are a lot of corporate and industrial buildings, nothing too exciting, but still looked nice. I just love the feeling of the east coast. When we were picking up the food at Cosi, the cashier was telling us they were short handed because one of the new worker's sons was stabbed, so she left promptly. Well that was reassuring, knowing there was a stabbing near by. Anywho, I digress.

It was a long day of meeting about a billion new people, and then taking the train back to Penn Station, where by 6:30pm was getting dark, freezing, and raining. But, I was in New York, so I was not ready to throw the towel in! I met up with a old-time family friend, David Garcia. He recommended a little Burger shack place (Shake Shack) across from his work- but I told him he's crazy, because it's freezing and raining and I am not sitting on a picnic table outside to eat dinner. So instead, we walked up 5th Avenue and went to a place called MESA GRILL that David had been before with some other friends from back home in New Orleans. I had no idea what I was walking into!!! When the hostess was seating us, I looked behind her and saw several of BOBBY FLAY's cookbooks, and I started putting two-and-two together, then after reading the menu- I just KNEW it had to be Bobby Flay's restaurant. I was BEYOND ECSTATIC!!!! I texted Jeremy right away saying "you will never guess where I am eating right now!!!" - we are both huge Iron Chef and Bobby Flay fans on the Food Network and I sooo wish he was there with me. I must say eating at this restaurant could very well be the highlight of my trip. I'm sure the only people who care about the details of what I ordered are my mom and myself. As she is the one who got me into it all in the first place. In high school, I was her dining-out buddy and I LOVED it. I'll never forget my first time at Emeril's, NOLA, Palace Cafe and Commander's Palace--some of my favorite restaurants in New Orleans. I digress again.
But here goes the run down of what I got and what I LOVED sooo much

A P P E T I Z E R
SHRIMP + ROASTED GARLIC
CORN TAMALE
with Fresh Corn + Cilantro Sauce


RED + BLACK PEPPER CRUSTED
FILET MIGNON
with Mushroom-Ancho Chile Sauce

Roasted Corn with Smoked Chiles,
Cotija Cheese + Lime

Mashed Potatoes
with Cilantro Pesto

A-MAY-ZING!

Friday was my fun day- or at least fun morning. I woke up as early as I could, and packed my camera and I was out the door.
I had a few things on my mental list that I wanted to do/see, but for the most part I just saw where the wind carried me.

I started by foot, out to look for a tasty breakfast. I walked through SOHO the same tracks I did the might I walked to dinner with my co-worker so that at least something would be somewhat familiar and remembered her telling me that BALTHAZAR is an awesome restaurant but it is super hard to get reservations without a couple months notice.

Well, when I saw it again on the corner, I asked if they had room for just one. I had to wait about 10 minutes, but they squeezed me into a little table. Just sitting there was fun, I loved looking at everyone around me, and listening to conversations - well at least the one's in my same language.

The waitress were in traditional French server outfits in (black dress with white beautiful aprons) and surprisingly really friendly. Since it is a French restaurant I wanted to order something "French"- hence the Brioche "French" toast. :) It was light and tasty, not very sugary like I am use to, so I didn't feel so heavy as I was leaving.

I took a trip down to the bathroom before I left, and I guess I am tickled by simple things, because I thought the waiting area was cozy and charming and wanted to take a picture of it.


I continued to walk, and walked a bit through Greenwich Village and was delighted by all of the trees lining the streets, and then realized I was walking through NYU. It was funny seeing college students, because at this stage in my life they seem so young. It's hard to believe that when I was in college and I felt so grown-up and old, that really I was just really young. Stylish kids I tell you. They all wear tall boots- weather they were leather or fancy rain boots.


I hopped on the subway around this area, and headed to Time Square. It wasn't as crowded as I imagined it would be- maybe because it was still pretty early (9:30am-ish) or because it was slightly raining.

I traded picture taking with a mom and her daughter from Minnesota. It reminded me of my mom taking us 3 sisters to New York while we were still in high school and how exciting it was being in a big new city. I loved that first trip and I will never forget it. It's probably my most memorable moment growing up.


I then walked from Time Square to 5th Avenue then to Rockefeller Center. I almost didn't make it to Rockefeller, but I'm glad I did, because that ended up being my favorite thing of the day.


I watched the ice-skaters for a while and just smiled. It was so cool being there. I loved watching these two little girls.




Then after a while I decided to take the elevator ride up to the 70th floor to see the views.
The elevator goes up REALLY fast-


It was breath-taking. I loved it up there. I recorded some video of me talking to the camera and took lots of pictures. I wanted to remember it.





Time was running short, I still had to get a slice of pizza, of course, before I left the city.

As I was looking for a pizza joint, I walked past Radio City Music Hall.


I got back to my hotel just in time for my ride to the airport. I was bummed I ran out of time and didn't get to go to Central Park. But I figured I did alot for just a half of a day. And there ya have it, my little New York trip.

18 weeks

(looking at the Empire State Building from Top of the Rock observatory deck.)

Today marks 18 weeks pregnant. It's crazy to think where I've been today.

- Walked through SOHO - and ate Brioche French toast at Balthazar Restaurant

- Walked through Greenwich Village and through NYU campus

- Was serenaded by a Mexican trio mobile band on the subway

- Stood in the middle of Time Square

- Watched ice-skaters at Rockefeller Center

- Was "on Top of the Rock" - top of Rockefeller Center and took pictures of Manhattan views

- Wanted to make it to Central Park but ran out of time--at least I got a pretty view from top

- Ate a slice of pizza

- Cabbed it back to hotel in SOHO to catch my ride to airport

- Chilled at Newark, NJ airport for way to long. And actually bought a book and finished reading half of it. (I'd definitely say this is the most unusual thing I did today. hehehehe)

- And now safely back at home

(more pics to come. just way too tired/exhausted, my feet are throbbing from walking so much, and going to bed now.)

P.S. This coming Tuesday will be our "anatomy" ultrasound, and hopefully we will be able to find out if baby is a boy or a girl.

Peasant

I ate dinner at this warm lovely hip place tonight in SOHO. I loved the ambiance- looked like old barn wood covering the walls, shared antique dinner tables, rustic centerpieces, mix of modern medal materials, exposed brick walls in some places, and excellent flavors.

I'm in NYC for a few days for work, and my co-worker recommended this restaurant--Peasant close to my hotel in SOHO area. Overall, really great quality ingredients, and simple. Started with a cows milk and roasted mini tomoatoes. the cow's milk tasted and texturally similar to mozzerella. and for my main course i had the suckling pig with fingerling potatoes. doesn't it just sound good? see pic below. it was topped with a crispy layer of skin that tasted better than bacon.
The peron next to me had the margherita pizza and i wanted to dive into that as well!

I'm trying not to let leaving my cell phone at home get the best of me. I was super bummed last night, and Jeremy reminded me that I need to live and enjoy the moment rather than wish it away fast. My frist day here was good. the weather is good. i met some of my co-workers for the first time that I've been working with for a while, and they were all really nice and fun, so its all turning out just fine. and i am managing to get around with no cell phone. tomorrow is an early day for me, I have to be at Penn Station by 7am for a train that leaves to Willmington, DE at 7:17am. yikes! i better get to bed. It's gonna be a really long day. But I'm looking forward to the evening to being a free woman, and to do whatever I please. peace out.

Lets get alittle [dirt] on the tires

I feel like I've just posted up some pretty random pictures from our Moab trip thus far, and still wanted to include some action shots. I thought the best way to show a bunch of pictures in a little space is to make an iMovie. I've never made one before, so I had Jeremy give me a little tutorial on the basics. It was pretty fun, and will definitely play with it again.

So without further adieu, my first iMovie, our little trip to Moab.

just me and him

My sweet little jeeper

16 weeks

16 weeks on Friday - Oct 2nd.

A little place called Moab

isn't she pretty?

The group

In our off-road expedition was:

Me & Jeremy

Clyde (Jeremy's dad)

Ken

Monique & Tommy

Lou

Jeremy, his dad and brother Brandon met Ken and Lou a couple years back in Moab, and have been offroad traveling buddies since. They also met them on the Rubicon Trail trip this summer.

Lou, Ken, Clyde, Jeremy


Tommy & Monique


Us

Roy G Biv leaving Moab

We left Moab in the early hours of Sunday morning, and it rained as we took off. And this was the beautiful backdrop.