Beantown

I was in the Cambridge area of Boston all of last week for the 2012 New Media Consortium Summer Conference (sounds thrilling, right?!). Outside of awkward schmoozing and endless tech talk, I managed to find enough free time to fall in love with this city. Here were a few perks to my trip:

Lobster Roll at Legal Sea Foods. Need I say more?

MIT Media Lab Dance Party. It took place on the top floor, overlooking the MIT campus and downtown Boston. Breathtaking.

The Charles River and everything about it: the rowboats, the sailboats, the countless joggers/walker/bikers, the wind... you name it. I went for a rejuvenating run along the river and over a few of the bridges, and it was just a wonderful scene to be a part of. I could do that every day.

The Friendly Toast. I met a friend of mine here for a lovely little dinner on my last night in town. Great drinks, fabulous food, and a completely funky/adorable hipster environment.

The MIT Strata Center. Talk about amazing architecture.

Point being, I will be dragging Ryan back here soon so I can do some more in-depth exploration. And so I have a companion for a Red Sox game. :)

Is it Friday yet?

So ready for this week to be over. I'm tired. (Vacation in one week!)

Summer Solstice

In celebration of the summer solstice, [pause] ...

Wikipedia: The summer solstice occurs exactly when the axial tilt of a planet's semi-axis in a given hemisphere is most inclined towards the star that it orbits. Earth's maximum axial tilt to our star, the Sun, during a solstice is 23° 26'. This happens twice each year, at which times the Sun reaches its highest position in the sky as seen from the North or South Pole respectively.

[continue]

...we attended the Museum of Life and Science's Summer Solstice AfterHours event last night. I posted about the Science of Wine event we attended there, but with the warmth of summer and allure of foodtrucks, beer, and live music, all of the museum's recent events have been immersed in the outdoors. We tasted the delicious local Cackalacky spice sauce (and brought a bottle home with us), enjoyed some yummy IPAs (and a PBR or two), took a stroll through the butterfly house, dressed up as dinosaurs on the Dinosaur Trail (yes, this will be publicly posted), and visited the black bears, red wolves, and playful lemurs in the Explore the Wild exhibit. Oh how I love these mid-week night outs. 

Here's a gorgeous butterfly we passed in the Magic Wings Butterfly House. First day of summer, indeed!

Snore, Chew, Stretch

You might need to turn your volume up for this one. Moose was snoring and twitching mid-dream. Near the end (before he wakes himself up), he found something to chew on. I'm guessing a plump little birdie.

Oh, a cat's life.

Craigslist Queen

In case you don't know, there are few things that get me more excited than making a great purchase (that is, getting an absolute steal). Many a time has Ryan seen the jump/dance (?) that occurs once the transaction is complete. Sometimes you've just gotta buy new, but in so many instances, why bother when there's so many awesome things you can buy for a fraction of the price? Point being, I have mastered finding these amazing deals with craigslist. It takes a lot of patience, speediness, flexibility, and the desire for that high you get after getting a $900 table for $300. Yes, that was my most recent feat. Here's a few of my craigslist success stories in this year alone.

Six William Sonoma cottage-style white dining chairs. Normally, each chair is $200/piece. How much did I pay for all 6? $130. These paired with the Crate & Barrel table we recently purchased. Actually, finding these chairs was my justification to Ryan for buying a full-priced table at C+B with delivery charges. Like I said, sometimes you just have to buy new; I looked for dining tables for two years and never found "the one."

Here's the originally $900 coffee table that I got for $300. It's a reclaimed wood coffee table from Virginia Turning House and it's in perfect condition. I've been wanting to secure pieces like this that not only have the character we're looking for, but are ones that we want to keep in our family for a long time. It's a charming rustic table that goes perfectly with the warmer-color wood we've been transitioning to.

What makes a purchase even sweeter is when you find a long-lost companion piece to a line of furniture you already own. With luck, this has happened to me twice. First I found a second nightstand to a bedroom set we bought from World Market. Again, in perfect condition and for only $50. And here's a World Market console table that I purchased recently for $70 (originally around $299). I'm using it as a sort of hutch/buffet in our dining room, right next to the matching wine cabinet I've had for years.

I've also found lamps, art, and other decor items that could have cost me a pretty penny in store for no more than a few bucks here and there, but I mainly just use craigslist for those larger pieces that can be unaffordable at times. We love to fill our home with items and mementos from our travels that serve as little reminders of a special time in our lives, so craigslist can't really help out with that.

But based on the items above (and the many items I've acquired in craigslist-past), I solemnly declare myself CRAIGSLIST QUEEN!