Getting Restless

Something came over me today. Well, a lot came over me... particularly in a "must find new purpose/job/happiness" sort of way. With the sudden need for productivity, I decided to start a new blog focused on life in my new apartment and all the fun that goes with it. That reminds me, I moved. Oh right, I also worked on that movie... hands down, best month of my life. My apologies; I've left you all in the dark for a while. I will try to remedy that soon. For now, check out the new blog. Leave some comments. Share some stories about your apartment experiences... whatever you want to do!

http://jh-take-two.blogspot.com/

P.S. For all you loyal readers, first of all thank you for even reading, secondly I will still post here. I'll just post as the photos come to me!

Busy Bee

Life has been a bit of a whirlwind lately. I've moved up to 40 hours a week in Boston, begun apartment hunting in Brighton and Southie with Jill and Adam, ran my 2nd half-marathon followed by a 5-mile in Mattapoisett, tried to grab a few shifts at the Black Bass Grille in Dartmouth, been scouting out any and all furniture donors around the Southcoast, and filled the props master position for an independent film on the Cape... which begins shooting in 9 hours! Geesh. So needless to say, I've let this blog slip again.

Hopefully, though, once the movie gets under way I will have plenty of blogging and photographing with which to update you. Fingers crossed! In the meantime, I hope everyone enjoyed their 4th of July cookouts, fireworks, and other celebrations. While buzzing around to finish up some pre-production work, I stopped to watch some bees swarm around lilac bushes. (FYI: I escaped un-stung. Have no fear.)

That's a wrap! (Well, for now... I may only return at the end of filming, but I'll be back regardless. Hollywood, here we come!)

Playing Catch Up

I must apologize, I have neglected the blog yet again. So, this post is acting as catch-up for the past few weeks. In that time, I have begun an internship at WorldCare Clinical (actually on April 12th, but I failed to mention it earlier), helped Jill celebrate her 23rd birthday, worked my final shift at the Kinsale Inn on Mother's Day, and kicked off the summer season at the newly renovated Black Bass Grille!

Here's the run-down... I'll try to keep it brief!

Feliz cumpleanos, Jill! A few of us met at Sunset Cantina to celebrate her 23rd on Cinco de Mayo!

Luna likes windows. Skylights pose an issue, however... now what?!

Happy Mother's Day from the blooming tree in our backyard :)

Driving home after grocery shopping, I passed this vehicle from the Jetsons. The backend came together in what I can only describe as a fin. Pretty cool, if I say so myself!

First night at the Black Bass Grille and the staff who made it possible (plus a regular behind Matt, err...) Congratulations, Matt!

Thursday night, as my second shift came to a close, a man grabbed a drink, then shaved bits of homemade prosciuto. Yes, that's a pig leg at the bar. What haven't I seen while working in the restaurant business?!

When I began my internship, the circus was going up in Government Center. Now... it's down...

Somewhere Over the...

It was a beautiful, sunny afternoon. Weather reports predicted rain would begin around lunchtime, but nothing came. The sun kept shining. Clouds never darkened. Then, the storm rolled in. It was close to five when the first drops fell. They fell hard and fast, but the sun kept shining. A rainbow had to be in the sky. Somewhere. We checked behind the restaurant and saw only ominous clouds, carrying more buckets of water. We returned to our work certain we missed it. A customer entered, dripping, and mentioned the amazing rainbow she saw on her drive. With returned determination, we ran to the front of the building hoping for a similar view. We found better. The storm painted two complete rainbows across the Mattapoisett sky and into the harbor. Fortunately, I carry my camera with me everywhere...

One end over land...

...the other end over sea.

Phantom Phest

Local-area restaurants and vineyards stockpiled the Bayside Expo Center with culinary delights and wine bottles galore for the Phantom Gourmet Wine and Food Phest Sarurday. A bunch of us took in as much as we possibly could. True, we rolled and floated out of there, but we were able to munch away the afternoon and sample over 25 wines. Yum! My favorite wine turned out to be one I had already had, Relax Reisling. Ed Hardy's sangria came in a close second. (I suppose I like it cold and sweet!) We all had such a great time, but it's probably for the best that the fest only comes around once a year.

Sorry for the blurriness... perhaps the camera was a little tipsy as well? (Jill, Juliana, me, Adam, and Jilly; Dan and Erin were playing photographers for this one)

Opening Night

Thanks to my Uncle Joey, I had tickets to opening night at McCoy Stadium. Dad, Heather, and Matt helped me cheer on the PawSox as they won the first game of the season 11-3, beating the Rochester Redwings. It was a great opportunity to see the up-and-coming Sox players firsthand. A couple of guys to keep in mind are Darnell McDonald, who already batted in 5 runs, and Tug Hulett (great name!). It was the perfect start to the Pawtucket season!

Dad and me :)

It's not too often that you see a 1.000 batting average!

Turtles Again!

It was another beautiful day, which meant that the turtles were out again on Sarah Sherman Rd. As I walked to the car to head out for the night, I stumbled upon a newly hatched turtle in the driveway. After showing the family inside, I was back on my way to the car and found a second! Before putting them by the creek next to the house, I snapped a few photos of the teeny painted turtles. I hope they survived their first night in the wild!

They were adorable!

This little guy was feisty.

Turtle, Turtle

Extra! Extra! New England skipped spring! Today, we leapt straight to summer. It hit 90. Yes, you read correctly. Ninety bloody degrees. Crazy! Mother Nature has kept us on our toes this year. I loved every minute of it. :) I'm ready for beautiful summer weather. Bring it on! I made sure to spend time reading in the shade (I was not prepared to reach any degree of crispy) and later put on my sneakers for a gorgeous run through the mean streets of Rochester. The turtles in the swamp next door made their appearance with the sun, too.

I wasn't fast enough with the camera when it read 90 degrees... but 86 isn't too shabby!

The upper-left arrow points to a turtle's head bobbing out of the swamp while the bottom one points to the fully surfaced one.

Pile-o-turtles catching some rays

Sox:Yankees :: Oil:Water

The Red Sox opened their season at home Easter Sunday against the Yankees. They came out on top that night. Too bad this wasn't the case during game two. I joined a caravan from the Inn to cheer on the Sox Tuesday night, my first Red Sox-Yankees game! Lester vs. Burnett. Good vs. Evil. Boston vs. New York. Eight of us bought tickets in the bleachers and hunkered down for the long nine innings ahead. In the end, only three of us were left after a few unfortunate ejections (gotta love the bleachers). The game was intense and tied at 4 in the 8th. Scutaro made a throwing error to Youk which loaded the bases. Okajima walked the next batter to give the Yanks the go-ahead run. The Sox bats were silent in the bottom of the inning, while the Yankees added to their lead in the 9th when Cano soloed. Again, the Sox bats were silent in the 9th and we left deflated from a 6-4 loss. Blah. The evening was not in our favor in many ways that night. I guess you could say it was fun while it lasted and, at the very least, a memorable game. Better luck next time...

I love that dirty water...

Part one of our group (Carla, Leily, and Matt)

And part two(Cristina, Jeremy, me, and Cory)... Amy is the only one missing from the photos, but she was there I promise!

For some reason, I love this photo of a father and son cheering together (in matching shirts!).

Mr. Lyon

On this first day of April, I tended bar during the afternoon shift. The general manager left to run an errand before we opened the doors. As he left, he instructed me to answer the phone (because normally I'd let it ring off the hook... right). I wrote down a message. When he got back to work, he grabbed the note and I anxiously waited for him to return it. And I waited... and waited... and waited. I had practically forgotten about my message when he stomped downstairs six hours later.

"Did you know the number you gave me was to the Buttonwood Park Zoo?" he asked. I burst into laughter. The message I had written down earlier told him that a Mr. Lyon called wanting to plan an event and to call him back at the number provided. The number was to the zoo. I figured spelling the name with a y would throw him off the trail. Success!

"I called the zoo and asked for a Mr. Lyon!" he practically shrieked. I simply kept laughing. I could not have been happier that my April Fool's Day joke worked! The general manager was not so thrilled. All he could say was, "Like I have time for this!" Everyone has time for a joke or two on April 1st.

It's a picture I took during my time in London, but it gets the point across. I love those Trafalgar Square lions. Roar!

First Half

It all boiled down to this. March 21, 2010. After weeks of training, it was finally time to run my first half-marathon! To say I was nervous would be an understatement. (I woke up three times the night before, once to a nightmare that I was nauseous from running. Eek!) John Vaughn, his neighbor Jack, and I ventured to New Bedford early Sunday morning to brave the 13.1 miles with 2,600 other runners. We fueled up with some oatmeal, bananas, and high-quality H20. At 11:12am, we powered off in the perfect weater (60 and sunny, who'da thunk it for March?!). My goals were to a) finish, b) not finish last, c) finish under 3 hours, and d) run the entire way. Well, I accomplished a through c. I finished. I placed 2,263rd (haha, still wasn't last though!). I ran the half in 2:40:44. I have to admit; I took a walk break after mile 8, which meant that I took a couple more before mile 12. I hit a wall and it hit back! It's ok though, I still completed the race and was able to power through the final mile. The last two tenths were a full-out, balls-to-the-walls, last-bit-o-fuel sprint. That finish line could not have come soon enough!

If it weren't for the support of family and friends along the way, however, I don't think I could have made it. Dad, Karen, Brittany, and Christian were there at the beginning, a few places in the middle, and at the end. Zanna and Ronnie from the Inn made sure to cheer on the big hill around mile 3 and then watch me cross the finish line. Matt and Heather drove up from Rhode Island to root me on around mile 11. John Vaughn inspired me to register for the race and kept tabs on my training each week. I really could not have asked for a better group :) We continued celebrating at various New Bedford establishments with fellow Inn-mates Leily, Scott, and Joey.

Once my eyes began to close at the bar, though, it was time to call it a night (not to mention, the shower was beyond calling to me, it was officially yoddeling... and no one likes a yoddeling shower). All in all, it was a fantastic day... minus the 13.1 miles of pain. I'm never doing that again! Well, except for my next half-marathon in June. Oh, and probably the New Bedford half again next March. What the heck? Might as well sign up for a bunch of races in between, right? Basically, the fact is that I'm nowhere near done racing. I'm hooked :)

The crowd before the starting gun... 2600-deep!

I'm the idiot waving on the left at mile 5

Beginning of mile 12--painful but Christian and Brittany running beside me was a huge help (see them on the far right!)

Sprinting to the finish--the last few yards!

Celebrating post-race with oranges and my medal... and impersonating a monkey... a girl with many talents haha

*Photos courtesy of Brittany and Karen. Thank you both for capturing this day! :)

First Beach Day

With the beautiful weather and day of rest before the half-marathon, I decided to head down to Silvershell carrying a book and beach chair. I spent the afternoon reading and watching the kids play in the waves for the first time in 2010. (It is still March, after all!) Nothing like 70 degrees and toes in the sand :)

Flip flops in March are a very good thing.

Erin Go Bragh!

To wish an employee of an Irish pub a "Happy St. Patrick's Day" means something entirely different. I don't believe happy is the correct adjective. Forget hours of merriment with friends gaily singing rounds of "O, Danny Boy" while slinging back Guinness after Guinness and engorging oneself on a boiled dinner feast. Nay. The employee of a pub, instead, gets to serve the hordes (and I mean HORDES!) of merrimakers. (Yes, I made up a word. This is what St. Patrick's Day does to us.)

As workers, we spend our holiday covered in a variety of condiments, mainly mustard. We chastise the customers who order hot tea. We answer the question, "Are you Irish?" a dozen times, each with the same answer (mine being, "I look the part, but no..."). We gulp water between soup runs or while the Guinness settles. We desperately await the elusive final table. We run... and run... and run. We set the records for fastest times eating pizza on a loading dock. We contemplate whether it's worth three to five in the slammer to prove to the customer that he or she isn't always right. We work through the nausea at the thought of seeing another corned beef and cabbage. We curse the walk-ins who blankly say, "I didn't think we needed a reservation." We arrange an 8-top, turn it to a 4-top, then back to an 8-top, only to make it a 6-top, all before anyone ever sits down. We salute each other with a traditional shift's-end shot which quickly leads to a staff-wide buzz from lack of food, dehydration, and overwhelming exhaustion. We inevitably make it through.

Despite my ranting, the Kinsale Inn had a great St. Patrick's Day. I'm sure that as time passes our memories will blur and we'll remember the day as happy.

Scott twirling his leprechaun tails before the madness began

The crowd mid-afternoon (notice the daylight outside the "porthole" on the back wall), already deep enough to require throwing 'bows...

Marshachusetts

Apparently, New England has entered monsoon season. Throughout the region, rain is falling, rivers are overflowing, and trees are swaying. In fact, Massachusetts entered a state of emergency tonight. As I type, I'm watching the news which shows rescue crews tugging homeowners to safety in dinghies. The state has become one massive marsh. The Southcoast has reportedly been doused in 5 inches of rain. Holy umbrellas, Batman!

With that being said, I decided to venture past the Mattapoisett River on my way to work. Guess what... it's flooded. (The ducks, however, could not be happier!)

This is typically not part of the river.

North End

If ever you're searching for a great way to end a weekend (or start one for that matter), I have the perfect solution. Simply navigate the Storrow Drive jungle to Boston's North End and overload your tastebuds. That's exactly what Jill, Juliana, and I did tonight. Butternut ravioli, pumpkin tortellini, shrimp and scallop linguini... oh my! Giacomo's was amazing; the dessert at Modern Pastry was equally decadent. We had a great, much-needed catch up session! I was so distracted, especially by the feast, that I forgot all about the camera in my pocket until our plates were clean. Fortunately, we remembered my camera when a familiar face walked in the bakery. Let's put it this way, I think someone called Al will be calling me Betty. (Get it? Paul Simon's song 'Call Me Al'?!... Nevermind.)

What was left of dessert: nothing... just our payment and a few dirtied utensils. (Juliana so kindly pulled a Vanna White and showed off Modern Pastry's menu!)

Bags of Easter treats hung from the ceiling.

Creeper picture of Paul Simon (anyone else think it's him too???) that Jill strategically snapped. Be thankful I cropped my face out of the foreground.

Bad Blogger

How many ways can you say lazy? Because that's what I've been, a lazy blogger. My sincerest apologies... again (I'm going to try to stop the sporadic blogging). Anywho, back to business. The weather today, and for the known future, is bleak. Very bleak. The perfect weather for ducks and apparently a swan.

They swam away the instant my camera powered up. Bummer

'I Spy'

I had my 53rd Remicade treatment today. Over the past ten years (Valentine's Day marked the ten year anniversary of my diagnosis... nothing celebrates Crohn's like candy hearts haha!), I've become very skilled at passing the hours during my infusions. Today was no different. I whipped out my camera and began snapping. The photos aren't interesting (after all it's just one tiny room), but I managed to find a heart among wires. I'd like to think of it as my own 'I Spy' page. Can you find the heart? Haha. *Sigh* I miss those books!

You have to love the digestive tract diagram!

You Had Me at Cupcake

I was going to boycott Valentine's Day. I say that every year. I stay strong... until that little hopeless romantic voice within begins to speak. So instead of boycotting, I baked. My family and the Inn staff received nauseatingly romantic red velvet cupcakes. Here are a few photos of the work in progress and the final products. Unfortunately, the staff didn't see the intact versions. While driving to work, the sun beamed through the windows and warmed the chocolate sculptures I creatively piped. Hearts turned to noodles. Abstract cupcakes, anyone?

Whip it good!

The batch

(A treble clef+love) "If music be the food of love, play on"

In a nutshell, I had a blast decorating :)

Mid-Bake

Co-workers began complaining that I hadn't supplied baked goods in a while. They were spoiled around the holidays, what can I say? Well, I baked for them. Chocolate chip cookies. Simple is always safe. (For Valentine's Day I'm also making red velvet cupcakes... depending on how they come out, there may be a second baking blog in one week. Keep your fingers crossed!) While the cookies were baking, I decided to risk my camera's life and snap a few shots in the oven. The cookies were mid-rise and sparkling with their ooey-gooey, almost complete deliciousness. I'm drooling.

Baker's Note: I only recently discovered the glory of Silpat (those fancy, schmancy, oven-safe rubber mats for the kitchen... I highly recommend investing in some. That's what these cookies are resting on.) Seamless removal everytime! :P

Calm After the Storm

Meteorologists state-wide predicted that the South Coast would be blanketed with snow Wednesday. As meteorologists are allowed, they were wrong. Twelve to twenty inches became three. True, they were slightly off with the accumulation; however, their predictions for the strength of the storm were spot on. The wind roared all night (I still don't know how Rochester only lost power for ten minutes!). Branches littered the streets. Thursday morning painted a different picture... a cloudless sky, the shining sun, and serene snow twinkling.

Snow-topped branches on a Caribbean blue sky... talk about contrast!

Drops of snow pelted the ground below (and my car while driving to work)

Pandora-esque

I still have some catching up to do. While trying to make up for missed blogs, I've broken my own rule. Rather than take a new photograph, I've used old ones... definitely not from 2010. For shame. I'm about to break that rule again. Forgive me?
Last night, my dad treated me to a movie. We met at Flagship, which translates to: I sprinted into the lobby toting my puffy vest for added warmth and a purse chock-a-block full of discounted snacks purchased moments earlier at a nearby Cumbie's (rather than the exorbitantly priced theatre snacks that probably expired in 1999 but still have enough gumminess to rip out any decent tooth filling therefore causing an even more expensive dental repair the following day) where Dad was waiting with tickets and 3-D glasses in hand; he passed them off in as if handing me a baton while we quickly said hello, found our way to the appropriate theatre (or "port," as Flagship so cleverly calls it), quickly caught each other up on the various activities of our days while Johnny Depp's interpretation of the Mad Hatter filled the screen, then donned our stylish goggles and nestled in for three hours of Avatar. I'm not saying this because the critics are boasting it, but... go see it! It's definitely worth it. I completely forgot I was wearing those sexy glasses, that's how phenomenal it was. (Then again, I'm a nerd when it comes to CGI... Avatar, Pirates of the Caribbean, Toy Story... pff, any Pixar for that matter... the things you can do with computer graphics amaze me!) After seeing Avatar, I figured I should dedicate a post to Nature, specifically really big trees. Here are a few photos from my family's trip to California this past summer. We spent a majority of our time in Arnold, a remote town high in the Sierra Nevadas that happens to be a stone's throw from a redwood park. Some dedication to Avatar, huh?

If only 'the People' had a sign like this... could've helped their cause, just saying.

Truly breathtaking

The hopeless romantic side of me loves this carving, seems to have been done ages ago.

Ginormous doesn't begin to describe.

Storm

Weather reports have been warning that the South Coast is going to be blanketed with snow today. So far, the storm isn't terrible. The morning started with rain that was desperately trying to turn to snow, which it eventually did around noon. Snow has been steady ever since, but it doesn't appear to be accumulating like they predicted. Any case, the storm was the perfect excuse to get things done early then spend the rest of the day curled up in pajamas with a cup of tea. In the interest of checking things off early, I headed to the gym. On my way out the door, a snowflake landed on my mitten. (I've lived in New England all of my life... this happens.) I decided to spend a few minutes in my idling car photographing the flake and later the water droplets as they slid down my windshield (this may prove that I'm actually the flake haha). Ah, I love my camera!

A teeny hexagon amid mitten fluff. I decided to stick with black and white after the other day.

I am slowly figuring out the various settings on my digital... it's only taken 3 years.