Forgotten Photos from Concord

I uploaded these at the same time as the pictures from the Wayside, but completely forgot we had even taken them until today! These are also from Concord, MA, but from Louisa May Alcott's actual house, instead of the one she lived in later on with a bunch of other authors. The house is really woodsy and looks like it could easily be haunted, but it also looks just like the one where the March sisters lived, which greatly reduces its creepiness!

Looking through these made me pick up my copy of Little Women to read it again, and while I was unpacking my boxes I found my dvd of the Katherine Hepburn version of the movie, so I watched it. It reminded me of Christmas, and somehow made me excited for it, even though I couldn't be happier its officially Summer!

I've only got a couple more months to fit as much reading as I possibly can in before I start school and my book choices are dictated to me! Do any of you have any suggestions for good Summer reads? I'm half way through Leonard Cohen's second novel, which is really pretty to read, although slightly more artsy than I'm used to. I think I'd like to read more slow moving old-American novels like "Oh Pioneers!" and "The Heart is a Lonely Hunter". Feel free to comment your suggestions to me!

We're still unpacking boxes and getting things set up, and there are still some renovations to be done in the basement, but my new neighborhood is perfect for Summer, and as soon as Mike gets back will be full of blogphoto opportunities! Plus I'm right around the corner from one of my favourite vintage shops, the one where I got my accordion! (Which is coming along I might add! - Jessica, Rhiannon get your instruments ready!)

Finally moved in!

This week has just been awful! But the move is finally done and I've spent my first night in my brand new room! I am so excited about this apartment and as soon as I have a couple days off to decorate and organize I'll be posting pictures for sure!
In the mean time, here are some photos we took outside of Mike's Mom's show a couple of weeks ago because the sunset was just too pretty over this big field! I think I'll stop blabbing and let these pictures speak for how happy I feel to not have to carry any more boxes from a truck into a house!

Boston, The Arboretum and a Blogger Meetup!

I was a horrible blogger on my trip to Boston and didn't take nearly enough pictures of all the wonderful things we did! I was so excited to have Mike back, and to reunite with my friends Libby and Allie in Boston that I completely forgot to take out my camera! On my last day though I did get some pictures of Mike and Allie and I at the Arboretum, which really was one of the highlights of the whole trip! Not to say it didn't have competition though! The trip was mostly highlights really. And it ended on the most wonderful note as I got to spend the afternoon with Josie and Josh and Elisa who I had had the pleasure of meeting the night before at Tory Row for drinks and veggie burgers!

Other moments worth honorary mention:

• Breakfast with Libby at a restaurant that I can't remember the name of for the life of me (Zeigfeids, Zigfried, Zedgeits? Ugh I don't remember), but banana-stuffed french toast......mmmmm!
• A Wednesday night dance party involving a super mix which included the likes of T-Rex, The Animals, Pulp AND David Bowie!
• A Daria marathon on Allie's comfiest of comfy couches
• Walking part of the freedom trail with our newfound Australian pals and exploring parts of Boston we hadn't discovered, as well as seeing some pretty neat old cemeteries!
  
• Discovering Jamaica Plains and all the pretty little vintage shops on South Street, buying baked doggy treats for Lola and two new vintage dresses for me (and a third from the famous Bobby from Boston!) as well as delicious take out mexican food!
  

Allie and Libby were fantastic tour guides, taking us to all their favourite spots. We explored the South End which was an absolute dream to walk around, and the North End and Jamaica Plains and then a little of Cambridge as well, though mostly for ice cream and drinking! The whole trip couldn't have been better, and I'm so glad that I finally made the effort to go. It's right next door and I never end up making the drive over! Hopefully I can go back again soon and explore the area even more!

One of the reasons for the trip, among a long standing love for the city, was that Josie and Josh would be there, and boy were they a lot of fun! They couldn't have been any sweeter or fun to be around, and their Australian accents were really great to listen to (I finally figured out who says to-mah-to!). We had a great time exploring and swapping travel stories and comparing Canadian and Australian culture, which is strangely similar! They're really fantastic people and it was a pleasure to spend time with them (you too Elisa!) I can't wait to follow the rest of their world tour!

***Disclaimer***
I am really tired, and just finished work and I'm sitting in a pretty loud cafe right now, so you'll have to excuse any spelling or sentence structure mistakes...I'll probably re-read this in a few days and hate it and re write parts of it....but in the mean time, sorry!

The Wayside

I've been meaning to get to Concord, Massachusetts for a pretty long time now, ever since I found out that that is where Louisa May Alcott lived and wrote Little Women from. But I really didn't expect to love the town as much as I did. The big traditional New England style homes (that are sort of Gothic, and remind me of wholesome Barbra Stanwyck Christmas movies) and the abundance of literary history combined to make it my new very favourite nearby weekend destination! We ate really delicious New England clam chowder and grilled tomato mozzerella basil pesto sandwiches at a local cafe, and I think overall it was just one of the prettiest small towns I've seen!

I got a little inspired by some of the girls who have been posting about wearing more 70s dresses with longer hemlines lately, and when I thrifted this number last week I couldn't help myself. To be honest I felt totally comfortable in it, the loose flowy fabric was sort of nice, but I still don't think I could wear it around Montreal....I'd just feel too awkward and silly. Here though, I just sort of felt like it fit perfectly with the super green foliage and the pretty honeybees buzzing around the honeysuckle plants.

This house in particular was bought by Nathaniel Hawthorne and turned into a bit of a literary residence, a whole bunch of authors have lived there, including Louisa May Alcott for a little while, and walking around in the sort of grey rainy weather, made it really easy for me to picture Miss Alcott running around in the woods catching bugs and generally just being a tom boy. It also made me wish I could sit in that perfectly peeling screened in porch writing wonderful stories and playing out scripts up in the attic of the old house. The whole day was really lovely, and it ended on a wonderful note when I finally got to meet Josie of Frances Baker and her boyfriend Josh and their friend Elisa, who are all on one of the most wonderful road trips I can possibly imagine! We're meeting them again tomorrow to walk the Freedom Trail and visit Boston like tourists....So I'll try to get some pictures! I'll also have to share the dress I bought at the loveliest vintage shop called Bobby from Boston.

A long silly post about nothing!

Well the countdown to Mike's return has begun! His flight gets in Tuesday night and we'll be leaving the very next morning for a few days in Boston together! After that it'll be lots of packing and organizing and cleaning because we get the keys to our new home on the 21st! Suffices to say from the 21st to about the 25th I fully expect to be eyeball deep in paint cans, unpacked boxes and furniture arranging! There's something so exciting about a fresh start in a new home, and Lord knows I've had my share since moving out of my parents house a few years ago, but even though I dread moving day itself, I never stop getting excited to make a new place my own.

Anyhoo, here are a few of the many things I've been doing to keep busy while Mike is away! In less than a month I'll have the internet back at my apartment, and I'll be back to posting a little more regularly and hopefully being better at replying to comments! I also will be launching a brand new Etsy shop, which I'm very excited about. I'll be posting a few pictures and a video sometime next week to show you what it's all about. But I'm really excited to get back into selling on Etsy, it is loads of fun, but just not very practical when I only get to check my e-mail every three or four days!

I know that in my last post I promised photos of my vegan baking endeavors. Truth be told my vegan challenge has been put on hold for a bit, since I started breaking out in hives these past couple weeks. I'm trying to identify the culprit, and I'm starting to think it might be soy or chickpeas. Either way, I've found the whole lifestyle pretty hard to maintain. Cooking for myself at home is one thing, but it's next to impossible to go to any family dinners without feeling really rude turning down delicious home cooked meals. So I'm not really sure if it'll stick or not. We'll have to see how this allergy thing turns out! I have however been very busy enjoying sangria and fresh veggies with my friend Isabel, hiking the mountain in Montreal with my Mom and sister, and lying in bed watching the Office with Lola as I drowsily fall into a Benadryl induced sleeps! Other than that, I've made a really yummy mint lemonade, visited a bird sanctuary with Yana and sat by the water with my sister, her boyfriend Chris, and my mom! We've been so so lucky with weather here!

I've also taken my shiny blue bicycle (Barbra-Jean) on many a bike ride around Montreal! I usually bring a book and wind up sitting somewhere sunny and letting myself get right into whatever it is I'm reading. I already mentioned that I got finished with Flannery O'Connor's "Wise Blood", which Rhiannon was nice enough to send my way in a package with some wonderful music! In the same way I fell in love with Carson McCuller's "The Heart is a Lonely Hunter" I totally fell in love with this book too. It was just so perfectly slow moving with almost no real story line, but it reminds me of the sort of motionless hot sticky southern air and the weird people you meet in small Southern towns. And even though Wise Blood takes place in rural Georgia, for some reason it reminded me of little towns in Mississippi that Mike and I drove through last year, and the weird people who worked in the corner stores and highway side antique shops we'd go into.

And I guess other than that I've just spent a ton of time enjoying the sunshine, driving out to my parents house (Mike being gone always makes me strangely homesick for some reason) and doing a lot of reading. I'll be really glad to have my partner in crime back in a few days, but the time to myself has been good! Now I just need to remember to take pictures of the things I do so I can document it like this more often!

I know I say it every time, but I can't say thanks enough for your super sweet comments! They always really make my day!