Christmas in Connecticut

My blog-silence over the weekend was due to the fact that, after working for two weeks without a day off, AJ took a few days off so we could spend a long weekend in Connecticut with our families. After a yummy dinner at Boloco, we hopped on Amtrak and got to Stamford around 10. AJ's dad picked us up with Christmas music on the radio and took us to his house where we slept and caught up with AJ's family.

The next morning, I ran some errands with my mom and had lunch with her before we picked up AJ again and headed to Kiwanis Park in New Canaan for our tree! This has been our tradition ever since we moved to CT. Everyone at Kiwanis is a volunteer and the money you spend on the trees all goes to donation. The trees there are all perfect and we usually end up buying the first one we see. This time, we got one that's about 6 feet tall and very full! The volunteers strapped it to the top of the car and we headed to my grandmother's house nearby to pick her up so she could spend the night at our house.

Once we headed home, we realized that the tree was probably not going to make it home so AJ opened the sunroof, grabbed the tree by the trunk, and held onto it that way for the rest of our drive home. It also started hailing at that point so we all got a bit pelted with ice but it's all in the name of a good tree!

We spent the rest of the day decorating the tree and my mom's house while watching Elf. My sister came home from Manhattan, too, to help decorate.

I'm really glad that we were able to go home to pick a tree and help my mom set it up. It's one of my favorite things to do and AJ and I have been doing it every Christmas since we met. I'm glad we could keep it up! I know my mom appreciated the help, too, and it wouldn't have felt like Christmas without picking out a real tree and stringing it with lights!

We had so much fun being home with our families and tried to fit in as much fun time with them as possible. Thankfully, AJ was able to workout his schedule so that we can be home for Christmas, too! We'll head home late on the 23rd, spend Christmas Eve and Christmas Day in Connecticut and head back first thing on the 26th. I know we're lucky that even though we live in a different state than our families, we're still relatively close to them and it's an easy train ride to get home. But we are both so close to our parents and siblings that we feel we can never see them enough! We're very lucky to be able to go home when we can and we are especially blessed to be able to spend this holiday with them.

I hope all of you have great plans for this Christmas!

Saturday at Smolak Farms and Salem

This weekend went by so fast! I can't believe it's already Sunday night. I'm sure the weekend went by so fast because we did a lot of fun stuff! On Friday, my sister, Marina, and her boyfriend, Sharaf, drove up from Connecticut to visit. They got here around 4 while AJ was still at work so Sharaf went to rest and Marina and I sat and chatted for a while. Once AJ got home and Sharaf woke up, we went downstairs to order two pizzas from Upper Crust. While we waited for them to be ready, we walked through the Common and down Boylston Street a ways. Marina and I walked and chatted while the guys walked together behind us and had boy talk.

Once we picked up the pizza, we brought it up to the apartment and ate ALL of it and went through a bit of wine as well. The talking was non stop, my throat hurt by the end of dinner. It was really fun! After dinner, I made kettle corn for everyone and we sat down in the dark to watch Hocus Pocus. AJ and I both fell asleep during it but I'm sure we'll watch it a few more times before Halloween.

On Saturday around noon, we all got into Marina's car and drove up to North Andover where we met with Marina's friend, Katelyn, and her boyfriend, Scott, at a pumpkin patch, apple orchard, petting zoo place called Smolak Farms. It took quite a while to find but it was so much fun! It was packed with families and little kids in cute costumes. We walked around the animals for a while at first and then, out of nowhere, it down poured! Everyone was running for cover and we, smartly, ran inside the bakery where we just had to buy apple cider donuts, hot apple cider, and baking mixes. We hid under some tents, eating the donuts and drinking the cider, until the rain let up and it was a beautiful day again.





We played with the animals a bit more; there were llamas, alpacas, goats, rams, pigs, turkeys, deer, and everything. Then we walked to the pumpkin patch but we didn't buy any pumpkins—we already have some small ones in the apartment and I didn't think we should keep the big ones inside. From there, we walked down to the apple orchard. Apple season was just about over so we couldn't pick them off the tree and bag them ourselves—but that didn't stop Sharaf. We found a few that still looked good on the trees and he picked them down. AJ and I shared an empire apple and it was so sweet and delicious!

We walked around a bit more before stopping to buy apples. They had three big barrels of apples that we could pick from. AJ and I bought the biggest bag and loaded it up with apples. I have big plans of making apple pie, apple cookies, pork chops with apples, and maybe apple pancakes so they will definitely get used quickly!

As we were leaving the farm, we decided to go to Salem since Sharaf had never been. It took a good hour to get there because the traffic was crazy! And once we actually got to Salem, it took us another 30 minutes just to park. It was absolutely packed with people!



We met back up with Scott and Katelyn at Beer Works. I had a pumpkin beer, which I've been wanting to try, and it was ok but the best part was the cinnamon and sugar on the rim. We had to wait at the bar for about 40 minutes for a table but we finally got seated outside so we could people watch as people walked by in weird and crazy costumes. The food was good and we had a really nice time. We did a bit more walking around Salem to see some of the sights and some of the places where Hocus Pocus was filmed before calling it a night and driving back to Boston.

That morning, AJ and I had realized it was our one week anniversary of being married and a few people texted us throughout the day to remind us, too. It was an ideal way to spend our one week anniversary! I love Fall in New England and everything that goes along with it, especially the apples, apple cider donuts, and festive spirit of everyone enjoying the same thing!

September Update

I've been neglecting my blog again! I hate when this happens—and it seems to keep happening—because once I go a few days without blogging, it becomes even harder to get back into it! But I'll try to now.

The past few weeks have been buys ones for us. Two Sundays ago, AJ went back to CT for an appointment he had and stayed there for 5 days until I met him there. I went back on a Thursday after class and stayed until the following Monday morning. While there, I had a few appointments to tie up some wedding details and spending time with the people I missed. On Monday, Mom drove AJ and me back up to Boston. I brought quite a few more shower gifts and more clothes to have here at the apartment so it took me a little bit to unpack, not to mention I had a lot of homework to get done over that weekend.

We had a few days to get settled back in and then this past Friday, AJ's parents, siblings, and grandmother came to visit! We spent this weekend showing them around the Public Garden and Boston Common, eating at Quincy Market, going to Mass, eating Upper Crust Pizza on the roof, and spending time talking and hanging out together. It was really fun and it's hard to believe that the next time we'll see them it will be at our wedding! Which is 20 days away, by the way. Crazy!

AJ's family just left about two hours ago and we promptly fell asleep watching football. Tonight we're going to a Black Keys concert and tomorrow we'll be back to our normal routine. It's crazy how quickly the time is flying by.

I hope everyone had a great weekend!

Boston Has Been Good To Us

 We've been here for a full week now and have enjoyed our time to the fullest. There's a lot to do every day and we're taking advantage of it! Here are a few perks from our time in Boston so far:

I had my orientation this past Thursday and had some down time between events so I wandered over to Brattle Book Shop, one of my favorite places in Boston and a book lover's heaven on earth. While browsing the outdoor shelves, I came across the above book which you may recognize from past posts about my love for Elena Ferrante (are you sick of it yet?). I don't know how that copy ended up there—it's not available in the US until September 2nd. I checked the copy, flipping through pages and looking for any signs that it might be an advanced proof and as far as I could tell, it's the real the deal! At the end of the day I came home, told AJ about it and where it was, and the next day it was sitting on the kitchen table with a new mug as well. I'm still reading Russian Winter (I'm over halfway through and loving it!) but as soon as I'm done, I will jump right into Those Who Leave and Those Who Stay. 

This is AJ in his element. He's a big Manchester United fan and it just so happens that the same year we move here, a bar on Beacon Street becomes the official bar for Manchester United watching in Boston. AJ was excited to have a fun place to watch the games and even though we're not bar people, I thought it would be an experience. However, because the games are played in England, the time difference means that many games are first thing in the morning. So, at 7 am yesterday morning we rolled out of bed and made our way down Beacon Street for a 7:45 game at the bar, Crossroads.

We had breakfast sandwiches, potatoes, and coffee while watching the game among other rowdy fans. The man who organized the game watching at Crossroads introduced himself to us and said he liked having a community of fans together for games. It wasn't too crowded and it was very laid back, probably because it was so early, and we had a great time! I'm sure we'll be back for more games. 

Last night we went to Mass in the North End at St. Leonard's church. This weekend, the North End is celebrating the feast of St. Anthony so we knew there would be a lot going on down there. After Mass, we headed down Prince Street to Thacher Street where the original Regina Pizzeria location had set up an outdoor patio for diners to eat al fresco and watch the people milling about the food stands that had been set up in the streets. Of course, there was a line but I really wanted to eat there and we decided it was worth the wait. While in line, the procession of St. Anthony made it's way down the crowded street. There were trumpets and drums and people pinning money to the ribbons around St. Anthony's likeness. 

Our wait in the line was probably 30 minutes long, seating was limited, but the line moved faster than I thought it would. We ordered a crostini appetizer that was delicious and split a small pizza that had chicken, mozzarella, and peppers. Regina's Pizzeria is well-known in Massachusetts and has been in business since 1926! Their crust recipe is 80 years old and is probably the best pizza crust—it's crispy but not too thin—and the mozzarella is the best I've ever tasted! We both agreed the pizza was perfect and we'll be going back for more soon!

We could've stopped eating after the pizza, but the streets were filled with tempting smells from all the food stands set up around us. The most tempting smell was fried calamari. AJ bought a plate of that while I opted to buy myself a dessert of fried dough bites, covered with melted butter, honey, cinnamon, and powdered sugar. They were delicious, but not as good as my mom's pizza fritta. We walked among the heard of people and listened to the music that a local band was performing—they sang old school Italian songs as well as current pop songs so it was a fun mix! 

The smell from the cigar stand added to the feel of the night. Pizza and pasta and fried seafood were available at most food stands and there were plenty of cannolis being eaten from Mike's Pastry's stand—not to mention the huge line that was at Mike's real location on Hanover. 

Our last stop was at a drink stand where already drunk vendors were selling mixed frozen drinks in keepsake mason jars. I got a banana daiquiri and AJ got the piña colada. The prices were steep, $12 each, but you got to keep the jar and get a free refill. We listened to a bit more music and I sang along as the band played Che La Luna before calling it a night and walking back home to Beacon Hill. 

It was a fun night and personified the fun times I had hoped for while living here, and it's still only our first week! And what a great weeks it's been. Soon I'll be starting school and AJ will start working his new job and real life will set in but I have a feeling that, while living in Boston, doing something we've hoped to do since we started dating, it will never really feel like real life. 

Sisters in the City

A weekend in New York. All right, here we go. Friday afternoon, I hopped a train to Grand Central to spend the weekend with my sissy, Marina. She lives three blocks from Grand Central so I got off the train and walked to her building. We hung out for a few minutes, catching up, before heading out to the Morgan Museum and Library.

 It was a nice walk and not too far from her place and the museum was gorgeous. So many books! So many libraries! And there was an awesome exhibit on modern literature, showcasing rare editions, hand-edited manuscripts by the authors themselves, and interesting tidbits and facts about writers and their works. Both of us could speed through a museum pretty quickly, but we took our time here because all of the displays were so interesting! This museum also tends to change up their exhibits pretty quickly (and they are usually literary themed) so I feel like it's a place you could go to often and never get bored!

After the museum, we kept walking, went down through Union Square, and ended up at The Strand bookstore. I was in heaven. And of course, I have no photos to share because who has time to take photos when there are miles of books to be bought? I think we spent a good hour and a half to two hours in there, browsing. I must've picked up ten different books and carried them around for a while before deciding I had to be practical about what to buy. I only left with two books, The Valley of the Dolls and The Complete Short Stories of Flannery O' Connor, because they were both so well priced, but the walking and looking and reading was so fun and I will definitely be back.

All the book shopping tired us out so we took the subway back to Marina's and relaxed for a bit. We had dinner plans with some of her girlfriends who were coming up from DC but they wouldn't be in until 9 or later so we had plenty of time to just hangout. We put on a few episodes of Friends and Marina set out some cheese, crackers, and fruit and we started the bottle of rose we got to share with her friends.

Once we heard from the rest of the girls, we walked to a nearby restaurant called Tuttles. The four other girls met up with us there and we had a great night together! It was after 10, so Marina and I got some small plates to share and the whole table shared a bottle of Prosecco. We sat in the outdoor dining area that was enclosed by other buildings. It was beautiful summer night and we enjoyed the bright city lights.

I slept surprisingly well that night. I thought I would be awoken at all hours because of the noisy city, since I'm used to sleeping in the quiet suburbs, but I didn't wake up once! We didn't rush in the morning. We had breakfast, coffee, and I started reading The Valley of the Dolls.

Around eleven, we made our way down to Soho to check out the New Museum. They had an exhibit on Middle Eastern art and Marina and her friends used to live in Cairo together so they were all very interested in that!

From there, we made our way to The High Line and walked around it for a bit. It's so beautiful and such an odd feeling to be walking through a green park, winding its way through tall, city buildings. It was another gorgeous day but it started to get very hot in the midday sun and we were all hungry for lunch by then so we didn't stay up there too long before heading to the Chelsea Market for lunch. There, we ate and shopped around at the pop up shop.

After lunch, we walked to a nearby bar that had a roof deck for a glass of sparkling rose before Marina and I went back up town to get ready for dinner.

Dinner on Saturday night was probably one of the best parts of the entire weekend. We went to a great little restaurant in Chelsea called Bottino and sat outside on their patio that was strung with white lights. We had a good three and a half hour dinner. We split apps, had delicious entrees, and shared a big slice of tiramisu for dessert. We talked non stop and laughed like crazy. Our waiter commented on the fact that we had covered a wide variety of discussion topics over the night, spanning from Catholicism, Middle Eastern politics, waxing, weddings, the usual gossip, and college stories. Our waiter also fell in love with Marina's friend and slipped her a little love note as we left, which we then promptly performed dramatic readings of on our way down the street.

It was a great weekend made even better by the great company we had. I'd been wanting to stay with Marina in the city for a while and I'm so glad I was able to do it before I move to Boston! She was the greatest hostess and she guided me around the city like an expert. I love you sissy!

Here Lately

I've been slacking over here in blog world but I haven't really felt the great urge to write about my trip to spend the weekend with my sis in New York, probably because the task feels very daunting. We did so much and took so many photos that I know the post will be a job. But I will do it. Soon. At some point.

Until then, here are a few things that have been going on.

From Friday to Monday, I acquired so many new books, which is perfect considering I was already having difficulty deciding which books to bring to Boston. I could probably dedicate an entire post to all my new books. I think I might.

As of yesterday, we are only two months out from the Cabrera-Gabriel wedding!

Also, as of the day before yesterday, we were two weeks out from moving to Boston! Have we started packing yet? Of course not!

My mom and I got to hangout with AJ's family and his relatives visiting from Peru. They all loved each other and shared stories in English and Spanish and I got a round of applause for speaking my first full sentence in Spanish to AJ's grandmother.

I decided to stop reading Bellefleur. I'm on a roll of not finishing books lately, but like I said, I have so many books to read and this one was not getting me excited enough to pick it up. I'm on to others.

I feel like it would be wrong not to mention Robin Williams. His death is devastating. All I want to do is reach out to his family, his kids especially, but that's impossible and probably wouldn't do much anyway. I can't imagine what they are going through, and I can't imagine what he was going through in the moments before his death but I feel it's important to say that depression is an illness and like any illness it requires medical attention. I wish it was not a stigma to seek therapy or medication because it actually takes a lot of strength and bravery to accept help. But for those who need it, I hope you seek it. And now all I want to do is watch Mrs. Doubtfire and Aladdin.

Sorry for my absence around these parts lately, but make sure to keep your eyes open for posts about books and New York City!

A Concert And What's On Tap For The Weekend

This photo has nothing to do with the post, but it's pretty and it's a good image to start the weekend with!

Last night, AJ and I made the trip out to Hartford to see his favorite band, Kings of Leon, in concert. We had tickets to see them live back in 2011, but they cancelled the show a few weeks before so it's been a long time coming! We had lawn tickets, meaning we were sitting outside on a big hill and looking down at the concert. It was a beautiful evening and we had a beach towel in the car so it was the perfect set up but about 30 minutes before show time, a man that worked at the venue started passing out stadium tickets to everyone so we got even better and much closer seats inside for free!!
The drive there was good, the drive back was not fun. It was after 1 am and trying to keep myself awake and focused was a challenge!



It's almost 9 am and I just saw AJ off on his own adventure for the day—I'll talk about that more later, though.

This weekend I am going to Manhattan to stay with my sister, Marina. It started out as just us but now a bunch of her girlfriends will be joining us, too!

Our plans for a weekend in the city, so far, include:

Exploring the Morgan Library and Museum, something Marina and I have wanted to check out for a while

Browsing the shelves at The Strand. So. Many. Books!

A late dinner at Tuttles once everyone arrives in NYC

Visiting the New Museum of Contemporary Art

Walking The High Line

Saturday night dinner at Bottino

And hopefully, bagels at some point

Of, course, some plans will change and some activities may be added but I'm just excited to spend some quality sister time with Marina before I move to Boston soon! Needless to say, it will be a fun, packed weekend and I am looking forward to it.

What do you have planned for this beautiful weekend?

Coming Up This Weekend

• Seeing my sister. My sister, Marina, has been in Cairo for the last month visiting her boyfriend. We've seen each other on Skype a few times and she's been back in the country since Monday but has been working in the city so we haven't seen her yet. But tonight, I'll finally get to see her again in person!
• Farmers Market! Each time I go to a Farmers Market, I see something that I want to go back for the following week. New Canaan has a market every Saturday and I'm hoping the stormy weather will hold out so I can go grab some healthy goodies!
• Dateline. That's a given for Friday and Saturday night. 
• Spend time with AJ. He had a really, really overly busy and tiring week at work so there will be a lot of time spent relaxing and decompressing this weekend. 
• Zumba Toning on Saturday morning. I love all Zumba classes at the studio I go to, but Saturday morning Zumba usually feels like the toughest workout of all. There's still cardio in it, but this instructor seems to focus on strength training much more and I need that!
• Hearing stories. I mentioned last week that some of AJ's family is visiting from Peru and this weekend they are going to D.C. They'll be back Sunday night and I'm looking forward to hearing about their trip!

What are you looking forward to this weekend? Happy August!

Exciting Things to Come

July is almost over, but there are still a lot of things that are happening before month's end!

This Friday, the 25th, is mine and AJ's four year anniversary! I'm excited to celebrate with him and I have some fun things planned!

The following night, some of AJ's family from Peru is coming for a visit. His grandmother is coming and staying through until after our wedding. Also coming are AJ's aunt, uncle, and two younger cousins who will be here for 3 weeks. The Cabreras don't get to see their extended family very often so it's so nice when they get to visit! Every night feels like a party when everyone gets together and I'm sure this visit will be no different. AJ's aunt, uncle, and cousins that are coming are some of his family members that I haven't met yet and I'm looking forward to getting to know them!

On Sunday, AJ's sister is celebrating her 15th birthday. Her real birthday was at the beginning of the month but since more family will be in town, they were waiting to have an all out celebration! If you already read about my future mother-in-law's cakes, you'll know that the party will include a delicious cake, lots of food, and surely some dancing.

Obviously, I'm looking forward to this weekend and I hope you are too! What are your plans?