the busy heart

Last week (or has it been two now?) my brother came into town for work, and brought along his lovely wife, and we spent two really sweet days with them in the city. While my brother was in meetings, we picked up my sister-in-law from their hotel in Copley Square and went to find some lunch. We tried to take her to one of our favorite restaurants in Boston, but as we got closer we realized how close it was to the site of the Marathon Bombings. There were workers repairing the sidewalk a block or so down from it, and when we got to the restaurant itself, it was closed, and people inside were obviously trying to put it back together quickly, and a man was up on a ladder out front, retouching their logo painted on the outside of the building. We kept walking, and I remember pushing the stroller, looking down at Henrietta's white lacy sunhat, and realizing it was so much closer than I had even imagined. After finding another place to have lunch, we sat in the Public Garden, ...

On Sunday we had the best weather of the year.  Sure, it rained, but it was also 77 degrees and mostly quite sunny, so we did the only logical thing: we took a walk along the Charles River.                                  [i didn't get a good pic of sam. he'll thank me for not posting a not-good one.] [boats. we have big plans to ride one of these boats very soon.] I love spring here.  I wish it would feel more springy and less wintery already, but the trees are blooming, and I'm remembering how obsessed I get with them.  When I'm walking downtown, I have to be careful not to run into buildings or cross streets without looking both ways, because all I want to do is look and look at these incredible trees.  I love how dark the bark looks, and how green the green looks--like the freshest thing in th...

[looking up, right outside the front door] It's not truly early spring anymore, but bear with me. I took my camera to work one day, and snapped pictures all along the way. Here's what it looks like to walk to the train in early spring. It's a beautiful world, no? [walking down washington] [blossoms, up close] [a house i'm obsessed with + tree i'm obsessed with] [Cleveland Circle] [train stop] [train a-comin'] [emerging] [arriving] [once there, i play with very fat books]

After three full days of outrageous, pummeling, constant rain, the sun is out today. It's nearly 60 degrees, which feels nothing short of a miracle. So after eating my lunch, I decided to walk down to Copley square to drop off some film. I listened to my iPod, watched all of the people taking pictures and eating their lunches and wearing pretty shoes, and felt so happy I thought I'd burst. I was literally just grinning (as in last post) like a fool, giggling occasionally for no reason at all except that life, at the moment, is good. Reasons to rejoice: a. Sam's parents are in town, and they're just lovely people. They take us to dinner and tell me stories about Sam as a wee boy. b. After over a month of searching, I am the swooning owner of a new work bag. See below. I got it on etsy, and probably paid too much, but what else can one do when they see it and gasp and know deep in their heart that they are beholding the bag of their soul? See the pretty insides? S...

Hello, friends. I've unprivatized, which I think will help me feel more like posting. I've been, as you've seen, relatively postless lately. Don't know what the deal is. I haven't really been commenting on ya'll's blogs either, but I'm working on that. Since it's been hovering around 6 degrees (!) lately in Boston, I've been eating my lunch at my desk and bopping around the Internet for an hour. It's pleasant, but I really can't wait until I can bring my lunch over to the Public Garden and watch the swan boats. Yes, I am already dreaming of spring, longing for it with all my heart, remembering what it feels like to have a sunny, lovely day. I can just barely recall. I can recall just enough to miss it viscerally. Anyway, pneumonia's mostly left me, although a cough lingers, and this afternoon, when I meant to just read for a moment, a nap took me its clutches and I slept for two hours. Whoops. I'm exhausted still, is what I'...

So today I made fat free vegan waffles and I know you're groaning over there, imagining how hard and icky those would be. But you know what? They rocked. And not as in hard as rocks, but really genuine rocking. Wow they were good. Especially with my special berry sauce, which really isn't special, just tasty. Come to my house. I'll make you healthy waffles. Also, Sam and I went on a walk because it was sunny and gorgeous and there were little tiny flowers, so there are SOME flowers up in this hood. He made me walk up this hill that was enormously steep, which was fine because there was a pretty little park at the top with a stone wall and a view of Boston and happy people were sitting on the stone, and I was in this lovely mood so I kept asking Sam if we could have a picnic some day at this pretty park, and I don't think he was digging my four-year-old-ed-ness. Whatever though, because if I make the food and I put it in a basket and I tell him we're eating...