Scenes From a Snow Day

Like I mentioned yesterday, I love snow and I think that the best walks occur when you hear snow crunching under your boots while a soft breeze swirls tiny flakes around your legs. Bundled up in a long puffy jacket, a knit headband and scarf, and fuzzy gloves with a travel mug of hot coffee, I ventured into the snowy streets of Boston this morning.

The travel ban was lifted over night, the T is running, and some people are heading back to work, like AJ did around 7:30 this morning, but it's still quite clear that the city is not back to its pre-snowpocalypse status. There are few cars driving around and the Common is filled with parents taking their children sledding. 

The sidewalks—some of them—have been shoveled to a small path that only one person can squeeze through at a time. There's a snowman at the corner of Charles and Beacon and the ducks in the garden are just barely peaking out of the snow.

Despite delays, closings, and soggy shoes, most people seem to be relishing in the fun and magic that this much snow brings. People are smiling as they walk through snowy paths and saying 'Good morning!' when you pass them in the garden. It seems that most people are enjoying the snow while it's here…except maybe this guy.

Thanksgiving Recap

My first Thanksgiving cooking the whole meal went surprisingly well. The day started off early. AJ had to work a half day so we were up at 6 and he was gone by 7. I took a little time in the morning to journal. I wanted to ensure that I would get to record what I was thinking and feeling on our first Thanksgiving here and together as a married pair.

I started preparing in the kitchen by 9 as a the parade started. I also called my mom and sister in Connecticut to wish them a Happy Thanksgiving and for a bit of cooking advice! Then at 10, I watched the Friends Thanksgiving marathon on my laptop because I couldn't decide between that and the parade! I'm sure I wasn't the only one with that dilemma.

I made mashed turnips, cranberry sauce, and gravy on the stove top early so I could just reheat it all when it was about time to eat. At 11:30, I put our turkey breast in the oven. I ended up ordering a pre-stuffed breast from Whole Foods so that I wouldn't have to worry about doing my own stuffing. It was tiny, little 3.5 pound breast and perfect for just us! I assumed the turkey would take 1.5-2 hours to cook but when I checked it around 12:30, it looked pretty cooked! So then I started to rush. AJ got home right around that time and I hadn't yet started the brussels sprouts or sweet potato casserole! I had already mashed the sweet potatoes and put them in a baking dish so I quickly put that in the oven with the turkey and started to sauté the sprouts with garlic and turkey bacon. Before it got too dry, I took the turkey out of the oven and covered it with tin foil and a dishtowel to keep it warm while I started reheating everything on the stove. I threw some pecans and marshmallows on the casserole and set the oven to broil. AJ helped put everything into serving dishes, opened the wine, and got the turkey onto a serving dish. But before we could eat, of course, we had to get a few photos of the table.

As we sat down to eat, AJ suggested we listen to Christmas music—which made me so happy because I love Christmas music but AJ usually does not like it until Thanksgiving is all said and done! He knows the way to my heart.

We had a nice midday dinner around 1. We ate and talked, had seconds and drank wine. After eating, we left all the dishes on the table and took a nice walk through the Common. It was a beautiful afternoon, chilly and cloudy but no wind! There were a few other people who had the same idea as us, but the city was very quiet! The Common is already decorated for Christmas and it looked beautiful! We walked down Joy Street to Mount Vernon Street and then home. We cleaned the dishes and put away leftover before taking out the dessert and pouring coffee. I think I stuffed myself the most with dessert! We didn't have pie this year, but we had chocolate chip pumpkin blondie bars and pecan bars. We watched football and then started taking out some Christmas decorations. We were slightly surprised by the fake tree we got. It's maybe 3 feet tall and completely looks like a Charlie Brown tree, which is a bit endearing really. And some how the strand of lights I got for is still not big enough! So we left that to decorate until I get more lights but we did string some white lights over our window and it looks like Christmas!

Today, we woke up to a bit of snow outside and it flurried for part of the morning. Later, I'm going to brave the crowds to do a bit of shopping...but if the lines are long or the stores are super crowded I will turn around and come home! I'm not big into Black Friday crowds.



I hope everyone had a wonderful, enjoyable Thanksgiving. I hope everyone was able to spend time with family and the people they love, that is what this time of year is all about!

The First Sunday In October

Today, the first Sunday in October, was the epitome of Fall as far as weather goes. It was sunny but chilly and you definitely needed a jacket if you were walking in the sun. AJ and I filled today to the brim!

We started the day off really early, 6:30 am early. We got up and walked down Beacon Street to Mass Ave to go to Crossroads Irish Pub to watch the Manchester United game. We usually do this if there's a weekend game.

After the game, we came back home and AJ watched more soccer while I did lots of homework. At 11:30, we walked across the Longfellow Bridge to Cambridge to go to the Cambridgeside Galleria. I had to make a return and AJ had to pick up an order. We shopped around a bit—I need new jeans but they were all too long! And we smelled lots of yummy smelling and not so yummy smelling candles at Bath & Bodyworks. 

We came back home and changed into warm clothes, our building hasn't switched over to heat yet. I lit a pumpkin candle, made a pot of pumpkin spice coffee, and got back to homework while AJ watched football. I fell asleep on him around 4 and then started making dinner at 5.

I tried a new recipe for dinner, 5 ingredient white chicken chili. I used 4 cups of chicken broth, one can of pinto beans, a little over 1 cup of cooked chicken, 1 1/4 cups of salsa verde, and 2 teaspoons of cumin and I topped it with avocado. I was nervous because AJ doesn't like chili, and I always get nervous when I try recipes for the first time, but we both loved it! AJ cleaned the pot he liked it so much. So I'm glad that was a success. I also made loaded baked sweet potatoes with parsley, bacon bits, and a blend of Mexican cheese. It was a successful dinner.

Now we're watching the Pats game and I'm trying to get more homework done even though my brain doesn't work as well as it gets later into the night.

I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend and I hope tomorrow is as happy a Monday as can be!