Ten Thing Tuesday/Random Thoughts

1. I started a book club! Since I've been at my new job I've been seriously lacking on my reading (podcasts however, are a different story). I used to have about 2 hours of reading a day (commuting and lunch time). Now I read for about 5 minutes most nights before I go to sleep. Unacceptable! I'm hoping this club will inspire me to squeeze more reading time into my days.

2. I've been running 2x a week and am officially on week 7 of couch to 5k. It's taken me about 12 weeks to get to this point because I repeated a few weeks and am not following the 3x a week schedule. That being said, I'm happy to be sticking with it and it's always wonderful to feel like running is getting easier. I'm hoping to sign up for a 5k before the year is over.

3. I'm trying to avoid my seasonal depression by doing fall activities. Apple picking is always the best and I WILL carve a pumpkin before October is over. I also have a few fun weekends coming up!

4. I've been on a Netflix documentary kick lately. I watched the Amanda Knox one and 13th -- recommend both. 

5. After avoiding a salon for...way too long...I finally got my hair cut and dyed it back to my natural color. Away with the highlights!

6. I feel like I'm really in need of a big trip. The last big trip I went on was almost two years ago to Israel. By big trip I mean greater than one week and preferably overseas. I've gone on plenty shorter trips in the US in the last two years. Where should I go? The two places I'm thinking of the most are Japan (always) and Italy.

7. My nephew is 6 weeks old! I can't believe how big he's getting!

 

8. I took a wonderful trip up to Vermont the last weekend of summer. Here are some pics:

This picture sucks but this road looked magical!

 

9. I miss playing volleyball! I played beach volleyball over the summer then took a few months off because of travel. I subbed last week and had a blast. Can't believe how much I've come to love this sport. I'd really like to sign up for a real team that practices during the week! Where can I do this?

10. I don't know how I used to write in this blog so often. I can barely make it through this list of 10 things! I guess I'll just end it here...!

Jackson Nicholas!

On August 29th my perfect nephew was born!! Jackson Nicholas Clement arrived at 10:46 am at 8 lbs 14 oz and 20 inches. He's such a munchkin!! I was in San Francisco for work and decided to change my flight home from Boston to New York in hopes of being there when he arrived. I'm so beyond happy that I got to meet this little man just a few hours after he was born. I love him so much already and can't wait to see him grow!

Clearly I haven't been keeping up with posting, but there are still some things I want to be able to look back on and read...and this is a big one!

Life Lately

Life's been pretty great lately! I haven't been taking TOO many photos, but here's just a bit of what I've been up to.

I started a monthly restaurant club with some of my friends from my sports league. Check out those beautiful margaritas!

I went to Pittsburgh for work and we went to a Pirates game. We had the whole owners' suite and the owner even came in to talk to us -- who says nonprofits don't have perks?!

I went to a super fun beer festival called Beer Camp here in Boston. It was a gorgeous day and I tried about 1,000 new beers, including a bunch of 2016 collaboration beers made especially for the festival.

I've tried a couple new restaurants and eaten some delicious food:

I watched some fireworks in Somerville and was in awe at this incredible sunset:

 I've gone to a lot of BBQs, drank good beer, and kicked butt in corn hole (see background :-))

I've found my favorite form of meditation: cutting up my favorite food :-)

I said goodbye to one of my good friends who is leaving me to move to Florida :-(

Goodbye parties = a lot of drinking, so I recovered with this great combination of snacks.

I've spent lots of time after work with some of my new awesome coworkers! I can't believe I now have a work-related social life. Suddenly I have 15 new friends who are around my age, like to do fun things, AND share the same career/life passions that I do. I feel so lucky! What took me so long to make a job move????

 I've tried to counter balance all the eating/drinking/partying with some runs on the beach.

And I spent a few days snuggling with this adorable pup who visited us!

Unfortunately not all has been wonderful. My lovely grandmother passed away on July 3rd so I spent some time in NY saying goodbye to her. My grandma Dotty was so spunky and almost brutal in her honesty. She loved her grandkids with her whole heart and was constantly showering us with gifts and treats like makeup, jewelry and hand-knitted blankets and hats. I'm even wearing one of her necklaces in my new headshot for work. 

She was an incredible artist and passed on her love of watercolor painting on to me. In college she used to subscribe me to art magazines and was always sending me new paint and brushes. Although I will miss her greatly, she was in a lot of physical and emotional pain and I know is in a better place now with my grandfather. They were married for 63 years and I don't think she ever truly recovered from her heartache after he passed in 2011. 

My grandparents at age 17/18

I'll always remember how much she loved me and my family. I feel lucky to have had so many years with her and memories of her.

28th Birthday!

I managed to keep the celebrations going for my 28th birthday for over a week this year! I am one lucky duck. I have been really bad at using my camera lately so I have very few photos to share. Oops!

The celebrations started with a beer gift and then a trip out of the city over Memorial Day weekend. I went to Gloucester for the first time (I think) and it was a wonderful escape from city life. The weather was gorgeous two days and pretty bad the other two, so we got in a good mix of activities. We did a lot of drinking, eating (of seafood, of course!), game playing and walking. We spent some time in the adorable town of Rockport, visited Hammond Castle (so cool), sun bathed at Good Harbor beach, and had a failed visit to Wolf Hollow (sad).

Beer!

Hammond Castle

Rockport

Lots of rocks in Rockport :)

Yum.

Cape Ann Brewery

Buddies.

On my actual birthday the weather was GORGEOUS. I had to work and came in to some nice gifts and cards from my new coworkers! Then I was taken out to lunch by some people on my team to the nearby food trucks and we ate outside and hung out in the sun.

After work I was treated to an amazing dinner at Sarma, a restaurant I've been wanting to try for ages! From the website: Modeled after the traditional meyhanes of Turkey, the menu is a large selection of small, seasonal plates that are designed to be shared. The flavors represent the Mediterranean and encourage food-friendly cocktails, craft beers or a glass of wine from a small but carefully selected list.

Sarma was everything I hoped it would be. The food was amazing and the cocktails were fantastic. No photos but here's what I tried:

Tunisian steak tartare radishes, soft cooked egg, harissa chips
Black orzo paella octopus, squid, loukaniko, sunchokes, celery
Brussels sprout bravas hazelnut migas
Sweet potato latke jalapeño labne, rhubarb, lime, scallion
Fried chicken (special)

The black orzo paella was insanely good. After dinner I got some ice cream from Scoop n' Scootery, my new favorite ice cream delivery truck!

Later in the week I continued the celebrations with another dinner at Tavern Road. There were 9 of us so I think we tried every single item on the menu. Again, no food pictures but here's a group shot!

Finally, on Saturday I had a joint birthday celebration at Lawn on D with one of my good friends. I think about 30-40 people came out to celebrate with us and it was such a blast. We stayed there for almost 7 hours! I was too busy having fun to take any pictures, but here's one my friend Caity took of the birthday girls.

Birthdays always make me feel extra loved and special. I'm so lucky to have so many great people in my life who want to celebrate (multiple time) with me. I'm only about a week in, but so far 28 has been awesome!