rewind: cliff island

Ok, with the temperatures hovering in and around freezing lately, and our heat officially turned on (but only to 60, with space heaters galore) I figured it might be nice to look back at a few summer adventures I had that I never wrote about because of the whole wedding vortex-y black hole.

So, CLIFF ISLAND! We were lucky enough to stay the weekend in a beautifully simple island home abutting the water that Joe's friends own.  An amazingly peaceful place that all but demands you forget the outside world and focus on the here and now.

We took the ferry en masse, with Osa charming everyone, and sometimes scaring the by poking her nose through the gates on the top deck.  It was windy but sunny, and on days like that it feels like you have to layer up and stay right in the middle of the fresh ocean breeze.

We packed a haul of groceries, and then left many of the crucial supplies back on the main land. But we made due, with risotto and fresh caught lobster from a neighbor down the road.

We biked and strolled on the beach, talking about my parent's island dream house in a secluded section surrounded by nature and on the edge of a cliff.  We skipped rocks, explored the beaches, and chased Osa down.  We even played tennis and took turns catching some internet on the porch of the island library.

Joe and I biked down to the dock late that first night to lay on our bellies and swish our arms in the water looking for bioluminescents and sipping on whiskey.

It was an amazing break from reality, which is always true for me when I visit new parts of Maine.  The islands especially give me a very content sense of myself.

I can see the draw towards island living.  It would slow your pace by simple necessity, and disconnect you from that sense of urgency I often feel when living in a city.  But for now, it is enough to take those moments in spurts, and look forward to the next.

it's been waiting for you

We had a splendid long weekend in NYC that of course flew by way too fast, and utterly wore us out in a good way.  We had quite a lot of fun, and we packed in as much as we could!

Our trip down we listened to Bossypants read by Tina Fey, and it was great.  Perfectly hilarious and entertaining.  I had been meaning to read the book but held off until I had time for Tina to read it to me, which made it all the better.

After battling the massive traffic pile we made it to Brooklyn and settled our things into Joe's friend's apartment which was much bigger than most places I've seen in the city, and suited us just fine.  We basically went straight to Caracas, my favorite place to eat in New York, and met up with Emily and her friend Sophia.  I don't even think we were that hungry when we got there, but that did not stop us from shoving an ungodly amount of food in our faces, and then finishing it off with dessert.  MMMmmmmm.  If you an opportunity to try an arepa first hand, you should jump at it because they are delicious.  We make them at home, but somehow we are missing some small thing cause they are never as delish as the ones you can get at Caracas.

On Saturday we slept in a bit, and whipped up some tasty breakfast before zipping out the door to catch the train.  I always find it disconcerting when you pop up from a subway station and are in a completely different place.  I think it's because my grasp of the neighborhoods and stations in NYC is basically non existent, which means I am constantly turned around and unsure of myself.  Plus, a lot of the streets look quite similar to the untrained out of town eyeball.  But, luckily we were with Joe who is a seasoned traveler and knows NY well so we were in good hands and free to people watch and follow blindly as much as we wanted.

We went to Central Park of course, and walked around the Highline before going to the Natural History Museum and gawking at the dinosaurs.

We met up with JP's friend Jordan from Louisiana in Chinatown and he took us to a little hole in the wall restaurant right by his apartment called Nam.  It was amazing.  Like ordered multiple round of food amazing.  They had some ribs that were outrageously tasty.  After we stuffed ourselves there we played some pool and rounded out the evening with a little karaoke of course.  My cousin Nick and his husband Greg even made it out after they got off work!  Haven't seen them in years!  It was a great time, although Emma and I sang I Wanna Dance With Somebody, and we both forgot that there is a pretty significant key change about halfway through that we both almost, but did not in fact, hit, at which point the song sounded mostly like giggles from there on out.  I like to think it was cute, but that's cause if it wasn't cute it was probably ridiculously obnoxious.  BUT FUN.

Sunday morning Sophia and Emily whipped up an amazing breakfast spread before we got back on the road with Tina filling our car with laughter.  And then, before I knew it, it was back to work again with me pretending to not be sleep deprived from all the hubbub.

fall back

This year is the first year that the fall time change has hit me so starkly.  It's like a blanket at the end of my day.  Maybe it's because I have daily routine now.  And that routine for me means early dark and evening dark.  I don't even remember how I've not noticed this so much before.  It is SO DARK, before I even leave the office.  Honestly the first day back after the time change I almost didn't know my way home because I had never driven in Buxton without sunlight.  It was bizarre.  Even this exact moment, I feel like I am staying up past my bedtime and it's only 6:30.

It's gonna be a looong winter I think.  Although, knock on everything, but Maine has been holding steady thus far in the weather department.  We had just a few sprinkles of snow and a day or two of pretty chilly, but for the most part it's been nicely bundled weather. Which, given that it happens to be almost thanksgiving, isn't too bad all things considered.

This weekend I am taking JP on his very first trip to NYC.  I'm really excited! Joe and Em and Emma are coming too, which is especially nice because they know a lot more about the workings of the city than I do. We've got museum plans, park plans, arepa plans, and sightseeing plans.  I'm excited to leave Portland for a few days, it's always nice to be somewhere different, and nice to come back to the comforts of home after adventuring.  Should be good!

Now here's a Buxton sunrise for you to enjoy:

this is halloween, halloween, halloween

Ok, before I back date and rewind through my life the past few months, I was going to get in one sneak peak Halloween post, but I was late to the game on that front too!  As you may know, Halloween is one of my favorite holidays.  I absolutely love making costumes.  I realize that it’s time consuming, and doesn’t really serve much purpose other than the sheer delight of it all, but sometimes that is exactly enough to make it worthwhile.  Luckily, I have discovered that a few of my friends here share this same costume love as well.  So naturally we had a big crafting day two weekends ago.

Liz, Julie, and Patrick came over and we busted out the sewing machine and paper goods to make a glorious mess.  Although the men folk lost interest about ten minutes in, and slunk out back to play video games,  Julie and I stayed to the bitter end stopping only once we realized that the sun had gone down and we needed to put food in our bodies.

Ok, this all leads me to the point of this all, which was supposed to be a sneak peak of my costume this year, but since I am clearly late to that party, I shall just show you the makings of and the final product.  Next year you can guess!

Our spectacular finished products in action: Pineapple and Christmas Tree, Medusa and Poseidon, and The Ocean!

And now, an extra special bonus section for all you baby loving fools out there.  Can you even handle these two adorable little ones?!! I can't.

Way too adorable.  And that was basically our Halloween in a nutshell!