SNOWMYGOD, the recap.

Spoiler alert:  we did fine. 

Ricky and I both were at home on Friday, which was key because then we wouldn't need to fight our way onto the last train out of town.  I could also make a crock pot roast to feed us all week.  It was nice to see the snow lightly falling during the day.

After dinner, we did a pre-emptive shoveling, but it didn't matter because we were covered in snow so badly at the end of it.  We also tried to walk and see what the water looked like, but the conditions were so bad that we had to turn around five minutes in.  It was so windy and white out that we couldn't see, and feared walking into a plow.

The next morning, we woke up to the most snow we'd ever seen in Salem.  At least 2 feet, possibly more.  It was to the top of my boots, whatever that may be.  I tried to walk and see how it looked, but nothing was plowed so again I turned around.

Ricky and I made egg sandwiches, then spent an hour shoveling.  We'd end up doing another pass at it once the snow stopped, and then cleaning up our cars on Sunday.  My arms are still sore from shoveling.

We took a walk to see the snow once it stopped and the plows had been through.  It was crazy how desolate the city looked.  since there are so many historic buildings in Salem, it also made us feel like we went back in time with the barren streets and no cars.

At night, the city began to wake up again and we walked to Howling Wolf to meet up with friends and get tacos.  It was nice to see people again.

Sunday things were getting back to normal.  One crazy thing was that there is nowhere to put this snow.  Most of the sidewalks are still covered in snow, not because people didn't try... but because there is nowhere to put it.  It'll be warmer this week, so hopefully the accumulation will melt a bit.

Here are some of my photos from the storm.

Our street on Friday night.  Not a lot of snow at this point, but a lot of snow is falling.

Derby Street, Friday night, in the middle of the white out conditions.  You can't see the harbor straight ahead of us, but you can see two people who had a similar plan of taking a snow storm walk.

Yard, Saturday morning.  I had shoveled this last night, but it was all for naught.  This is at least 2 ft of snow.

Custom House, completely covered in snow.

Salem Commons, looking like it's 1900.

Fifty Fifty Movie Round Up: Movies 11-15

I haven't updated this in a bit, and since I'm at home I figured why not?

11.  Lincoln (11/17/12).  SO GOOD.  OH MY GOD.  It's a quiet movie that says a lot and is riveting.  There's no crazy action scenes and the only special effect is good acting.  Daniel Day-Lewis is pretty much a shoo-in for Best Actor and he deserves it.  Ricky loved watching all the political wheeling and dealing.  It's also great that a book like Team Of Rivals can get a movie deal.

12.  She's Having A Baby (11/21/12).  Very sweet and cute.  It's a weird movie at times, but I enjoyed it.  The end credits is pretty much made for John Hughes fans.  I loved young Elizabeth McGovern, especially since we're in the midst of our Downton Abbey watching.

13.  The Last Waltz (11/25/12).  This movie has been on my mental queue for years, but I wanted to wait until we had a bigger TV.  Well that finally happened so I rented it.  It's really beautiful and good, a loving tribute to some of the best musicians from the 70's.  Oh, and so much coccaine.  Soooo much coccaine.

14.  Miracle on 34th Street the 1947 version (12/21/12).  Neither of us had seen this movie, so during our Christmas movie stretch we made sure to watch this.  I liked it, a lot more than the remake from the 90's.  The end feels a little rushed.  It's great seeing what parades and deaprtment stores from the 1940's looked like.  And the guy who played Santa Claus... I'm pretty sure he's Santa in real life.  He was that believable and filled with mirth.  I read that Natalie Wood thought he was actually Santa, and was disappointed that he was not.

15.  Les Miserables (12/26/12).  Day after Christmas we made our pilgrimage to the Salem Cinema to see this movie.  Ricky enjoyed it, but me being a fan of the musical enjoyed it.  Yes, some of the performances were bad (Russell Crowe) and he used too much upclose and didn't mix it up at all, but I had realistic expectations and they were met.  This won't win Best Picture or even Best Actor, but it was enjoyable.

SNOWMYGOD

Ricky and I are at home this Friday due to the snow storm Nemo.  Ricky is off getting a bit of gas and a DVD player (priorities) and I have made a roast so we can eat for the rest of the weekend.  Lewis is beyond excited to have both of his parents at home all day.  We have salt and shovels at the ready.  The laundry is done. 

BRING IT, STORM.

I'm excited to use my new camera to take high-quality storm photos.  Probably won't do it until after the snow has fallen.

According to the news, the snow has already started and Al Roker is in town.  It looks quite light right now, which is good since Ricky is still out buying a DVD player to replace our broken one.  I'm looking forward to being snowed in and drinking wine and eating pot roast and brownies while we watch movies.  It seems very cozy.

Again.... BRING IT, STORM.

12 Days of Christmas Music: Day 11

Yesterday I continued on my tour of old friend Christmas parties by heading to Worcester to embrace my college days.  Tim has been teaching at HC and living across the street from the campus, and he held an egg nog party for his friends.  It was really fun getting together and laughing about crazy old stories.  When we were getting into our cars, though, Jess and I both agreed that we wished that this was 7 years ago and we lived across the street from an off-campus party and didn't have to drive over an hour home.  Alas.

I asked Ricky what Christmas song he wanted, and that was Robert Smigel's Christmastime for the Jews, which was featured on SNL a few years ago.  It made him laugh so hard he cried.  Not a traditional Christmas carol, but definitely a good one for this.  And it's clay animation... who doesn't love that?!




Christmastime for the Jews from Bix Pix Entertainment, Inc. on Vimeo.

12 Days of Christmas Music: Day 9

Tonight was one of our favorite Christmas traditions:  decorating stockings!  For the last few years, Ricky and I have been painting stockings for ourselves and the pets.  It was very nice to have some egg nog, paint, and watch Bob's Burgers.  I will post our stockings soon.

Speaking of pets, can we just take a moment to appreciate this photo of President Obama shopping with and for Bo at a Petsmart?!?

HOW CUTE IS THAT?  He's picking out some snacks for his dog Bo.  How great is that?  There are also photos of Bo meeting a poodle named Cinnamon.  Worth checking out.

Anyways, back to Christmas music.  We watched a favorite of mine for the last 20 (!!!) years:  The Muppet Christmas Carol.  I've loved this movie since it first came out in theatres, and no season is complete without a viewing.  In honor of that, here's my favorite song from it, It Feels Like Christmas.  Keep your eye out for the cutest mouse Muppets ever, which Ricky loves.

Fifty Fifty Movie Round Up: Movies 6-10

"You have a crazy group of movies to talk about." ~Ricky

...Yep.  Yep I do.

6.  See No Evil Hear No Evil (10/24).  This movie was the level of 80's hijinks and crap I expected.  A lot of Gene Wilder yelling and a lot of Richard Pryor making a wide-eyed look of shock.  That being said, I did laugh and I enjoyed seeing a young Kevin Spacey playing a vaguely European villain.

7.  30 Minutes Or Less (10/27).  It was funny but a little predicable.  I enjoyed a subtle Social Network reference.  I will say, at the request of Ricky, that we watched this movie at 4:30 on a weekend.  That is the perfect time to watch this movie... late afternoon on a weekend before doing weekend night stuff.

8.  Despicable Me (10/28).  I really loved this movie.  Clever and sweet and funny.  It has a lot of heart.  I strongly recommend this movie.  It's so fluffy I could die.

9.  Bottle Rocket (11/2).  I liked it a lot, but I have to say... I like his later works a lot better.  Cool to see young baby Wilson brothers, and it's funny and typically Wes Anderson weird, but my heart belongs to The Royal Tenenbaums.

10.  The French Lieutenant's Woman (11/11).  HUGELY disappointed with this movie.  It had great potential to be weird and different and creatively made, and it fell so flat.  I mean, Meryl Streep and Jeremy Irons are great actors, but the whole time we kept thinking "you're falling flat, there's so much more you could do with this plot".


Wow, I seem grumpy about these five movies.  I promise the next five will be a lot happier!

Thankful 2012

What I'm thankful for this Thanksgiving

Ricky
Lewis
Alva
Friends and Family
Marrying Ricky in a little less than a year
warm coffee
snacks
cozy yarn
That while 2012 has been a shit storm of a year, there were some highlights and the year is almost over
Wool socks
Downton Abbey
Leather boots
Fun winter jackets
Puppies
Greek yogurt
Netflix
Local news being wacky and keeping us entertained
Employment
The TARDIS
Pinterest
Bagel World

Election Wrap Up: 48 hours out

It's been almost 48 hours since Barack Obama was re-elected for a second term.  You wouldn't be able to tell that the election was two days ago from the constant stream of news coverage and strategizing STILL going on.  I'm quietly blogging and reading up on things like pretty photos and animals, and not worrying about polls, theories, and states.  Ricky is probably spending more time on the internet budgeting and looking at IMDB.

How do I feel, after my third presidential election that I've been able to vote in?  Now that what seems like 8 years of campaigning is over?

To be brutally honest, relieved it's done with.

I'm relieved that I haven't seen a political ad -- each one nastier than the last -- on tv in two days.

I'm relieved to not have to watch debates or the pundits yell over one another about who's more right or who knows more when it comes to politics.

I'm relieved that my Facebook and Twitter friends are back to constantly putting photos up of their children instead of angry rants about politics and candidates who do or do not support their views.

I'm relieved that Ricky won't be so stressed (full disclosure:  I told him he could start worrying about the 2016 election after Thanksgiving.  He thought that was fair)

But on top of my relief that this whole song and dance is over, I'm also relieved that the candidate that I voted for won.  And that candidates across the country who spread a message of limits towards women's issues or the LBGT community were told by their consituents that their message of limits were not welcomed or supported.

So in closing, I'm happy with the results, but so fucking glad it's all over.


Back to posting photos of Lewis.

Happy at 12:30 am.

Happy with the results. Wish Romney would man up and concede. Can't wait to sleep.

Oh it happened!

Victory.

Election 2012: bring it, coverage!

Fiancé and electoral board are ready to go!

Election 2012: bagel quote

Election Day bagels are always made with more freedom. ~ Ricky

Election 2012: we voted have you?

Ballots have been cast, and now we wait...

Morning of Election Day 2012

We're both up and getting ready to head to the polls. Ricky is reading stats and drinking coffee. It's going to be a long day.

Obligatory Hurricane Sandy post

I want to thank Hurricane Sandy for bringing rough winds and high seas so the roads are treacherous and Ricky and I can spend the day at home and be safe inside.




Not to be confused with this Sandy, though...

Stay safe, everyone!

So Meta

We saw a picture my friend Megin put up of her fiancé Jon creating a cartoon version of himself. She called it meta. Ricky decided to take it further by drawing a cartoon of himself while looking at Jon drawing a cartoon of himself. The result is pretty great.

True moment during Parks and Rec...

"Jerry's like me, he checks all his websites by searching for them in Alta Vista!" ~Ricky

2012 Election Night Coverage is ON

Loyal and early readers may remember that Election night 2008 I spent it making tasty food, drinking a lot of wine, and drunk dialing Tim, Michnya, and Michelle.

This year election night cover is ON.  Don't think that me being four years older and wiser and me settling down with a fiance and cat is going to make me not spend the whole night recapping the night with electoral vote counts and photos of what was going on.  We're not sure if we'll be watching it at home or watching at Erin's house with Buffalo dip.  I think for Ricky's sake, it'll depend on how well Obama is doing so he's not too bummed at a friend's house.  Either way, I think I'll be making mitten cookies and a board.  The low rent version of this...

If we watch it at Matt's house, maybe I'll send him out on the street to do off site coverage. 

I also downloaded Blogger for my phone so I can blog the night away straight from my fancy phone no matter where I am.  Technology at work four years later!  Progress!

I also took some time to reread my 2008 series and it's amazing how different things are since 2008.  Most of my friends have since gotten married and even had children.  I work at a dream job in Boston.  And I met the love of my life and we've adopted a cat that we love (perhaps too much) and are making a great life together.  So yes, Mitt Romney, when you ask if your life is better than it was four years ago... I'd say yes.

Fall Inspiration

A few weeks ago, Ricky and I drove around the North Shore to check out farms.  We had two goals:

1.  Get decor inspiration for our wedding.
2.  Find a cider doughnut.

Due to insane lines, we only were successful with goal #1.  (seriously, I'm not waiting 45 minutes in line for a doughnut)  I'm hoping today we're successful with goal #2.

We want to decorate with pumpkins and berries and leaves for the tables, namely because they're so pretty and seasonal and I'm not crazy about flowers.  I'm also not crazy about someone else making the centerpieces when I am more than capable of doing it.  As are about half of my bridesmaids.

I loved the look of the different colors and shapes of all the pumpkins piled up!  I also found a neat project where you can decopage leaves onto white pumpkins.  I'm going to get a white pumpkin in a week or so and try this myself.  That could also be neat decor around the barn itself and also lining the gazebo where the ceremony is going to take place.

I also tried to take photos of flowers and pumpkins, but I came to the conclusion that I am not crazy about the outdoor flowers that are available.  I've been seeing a lot of mums, which look a little sad and dried.  Great for a yard, but not for a table.

This is about as far as I've come with wedding plans so far.  Just some pumpkins.

Ten! Ah ah ah ah!

On my way to Worcester yesterday Erin texted me that Jerry Nelson had passed away.  I read a few months ago that he was in failing health, and that he had pretty much retired from puppeteering except for the vocal work of Count Von Count.

When I was rattling off to Ricky all the characters Jerry Nelson played, he was amazed.  Sherlock Hemlock, Camilla, Gobo, Emmitt Otter, Robin, Fozzie's mom, The Amazing Mumford, Floyd Pepper, Dr. Julius Strangepork, Uncle Deadly... I could just list roles, but that'd be boring.

Here's him as Count Von Count, along with Jim Henson as Kermit the Frog.



And here's a video I found of Jerry Nelson singing When The River Meets The Sea at Jim Henson's memorial service in 1990 with another Muppeteer, Louise Gold.   Try to keep a dry eye at this one: