why brandon never studies

(ok, really, all b ever does is study, but from 7-8:30 am and 5-7 pm, he has a really hard time focusing. . .)

best. hat. ever.

Harvard vs. Yale

Cost of football tickets: $45
Cost of parking: $10
Temperature: mid-twenties
Temperature with wind chill: low teens
Time spent wandering around outside in the cold looking for the people that held our tickets: one hour
Amount received from selling our tickets to a scalper ten minutes after receiving them: $20
Watching the game at home in our thermals: priceless

Recent updates on us: none.
A week or so ago, Brandon took the MPRE (an ethics exam for lawyers - and no, I'm not kidding, lawyers have to pass an ethics exam). He also had a research proposal due that same week. So since then we have just been relaxing (it took every ounce of will power not to use the word "chillaxin" . . . and yet I still did).

Dinner?

All done!

Happy Halloween!

Impromptu Canadian Photo Shoot

Trip to Canada: Quebec City!

A short two-ish hour drive northeast and--ta da!--we arrived in Quebec City! Our hotel was a lovely old building from 1870 in the middle of Old Quebec. It was only one block from the waterfront, the Hotel Frontenac, and all sorts of historical sites. Old Quebec City is beautiful!

We spent part of our time at the Ile d'Orleans. We love agri-tourism, so this was right up our alley. We stopped at three cider mills and a chocolate factory--with varied success. We recommend the cider, however, and their apple turnovers.
Speaking of food: Sugar pie? A must! Poutine? Overrated. Crepes? Always!

Unfortunately, ridiculously cold weather traveled with us to Quebec, so our exploring became somewhat limited. We superficially checked out the waterfront and the Hotel Frontenac the evening we drove into town, but we never got the daytime experience because of the biting, cold wind and rain. On three separate occasions we attempted to climb to the top of the hill that parallels the water to enjoy the view. When we had to walk backwards uphill and lean into the wind to see it, I decided enough was enough.



Canada was c'est magnifique! We'll definitely come back sometime...when it's warm.

Trip to Canada: Montreal!

October means fly-out week for HLS students, but since we didn't have any interviews this year to fly to, we decided to head north to Canada for a vacation. Canada in October? Yeah, we thought it sounded like fun, too.



Our first stop was Montreal, where we spent two days exploring the city in the brisk Canada cold. Neither Brandon nor I speak French (beyond what I learned by watching Good News several dozen times over the course of my lifetime and it's difficult to find reasons to say "quel fromage" in everyday conversation); luckily, we got around just fine without a French dictionary.



Here are some pics from the city:



We also stopped by the Olympic park to check out the Montreal Biodome, which was closed, and the Olympic Tower. But we really enjoyed the Biosphere. It's like a giant treehouse surrounded by a metal sphere instead of, well, a tree. It was pretty impressive.



And then it was on to Quebec City!

I'm still salivating...

I had the extreme good fortune during college to live with one of my best friends while she was attending culinary school. Ever since I have known her, she has been passionate about food, and her education definitely increased her abilities--to my benefit.

Now, she is a full-time mom and runs her own cake and catering business in southern Oregon. She's my hero. So, although I am obviously biased, I couldn't help but brag and promote her newest endeavor--cake bon bons.

She so graciously sent Brandon and me a package of six in the mail. They were fabulous! We opened the box and then ate them all in one sitting--we couldn't stop ourselves! Brandon's favorite was the Chocolate Milkshake, and mine was the Devil's Favorite. WOW.

So if you want to spoil your honey (or yourself) and are looking for something a little different, take my (or Brandon's) word for it and check these out!

who needs law school when you can take pictures like these?

On the off chance that I don't pass the bar, I'm going to be a rock star. If that doesn't pan out - professional photographer?

Mosey on up to Maine

Brandon didn't have class on Wednesday, so we decided to venture north into the unknown - to Maine!

Originally we wanted to go to Portland, but we never made it that far. There was a TON of traffic going to Maine from Boston on this Wednesday morning. Who knew? So, half-way there we opted to cut our trip short, geographically, and only went as far north as Kennebunkport.



By the time we got to Kennebunkport we wanted lunch, so we ate at the high-quality Cape Pier Chowder House. Imagine a hole-in-the-wall seafood joint on a pier where they only serve fried food and lobster. Yum. The food was amazingly good (and no, neither of us got lobster), but the view from the pier was GREAT! After lunch we strolled around on the pier (which was bizarrely busy) and chatted it up with some of the local fisherman, recently back with their morning's catch.



After Kennebunkport, we started our trip back south, stopping in Kittery, which is right across the river from New Hampshire. Before we went, Brandon scouted out (thanks to Google Maps) what he thought would be an ideal beach (at Fort Foster) -- it seemed secluded and rocky enough to be interesting. The good news was it had a really sweet pier with great views. The bad news is that there was a HUGE middle school cross-country meet that started a few minutes before we got there. Imagine trying to enjoy nature while surrounded by teeming masses of pre-teens who like to "run."

Ick.

Needless to say, we didn't stay long (despite the number of pictures we took).


But there was a cool lighthouse, and some other abandoned something off the pier, which were nice looking.





So we finally got to cross Maine off the list!

BTW--Can we still call ourselves "New in New England" after being here for more than two years and having hit all the New England states? Hmmmmm.

The trip to nowhere and back

The initial destination for our day trip was to the Cape Cod Potato Chip factory in Hyannis, MA to have a factory tour and spend some quality time on the Cape Cod beaches. However, on the way there, we decided to take a slight detour to see some cranberry bogs at the Flax Pond Farm in Carver, MA. Unfortunately, there weren't any bogs in sight. And the farm looked a little sketchy. (I should have spent a little more time on the website before we decided to take the detour). With that failed attempt, we now had a new objective: find cranberry bogs.

So we headed to Wareham, MA, where we knew cranberry bogs were located. And on the way, we did see one little bog with actual cranberries in it, but such a small bog didn't satiate our desire. We wanted more! But we didn't find any cranberry-filled bogs in Wareham. Who knew bogs could be so hard to find?

Alrighty, then, change of plans again: we decided to find the beach. Wareham's beaches were less than inviting, so it was on to Sagamore Beach. Cape Cod. Beaches. We couldn't go wrong.

And we weren't disappointed! Sagamore Beach was beautiful and practically empty. (Seriously, we never go to the beach during the summer.) Kiddo loved to watch the waves hit the shore and we were glad that we had finally arrived somewhere!





So that was our trip to Cape Cod. We didn't end up where we thought we would, but it's all in the journey, right? How many people can say they've driven through Huckleberry Corner and on the Cranberry Highway?


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The Annual Visit

Felicia's folks came into town for two days of non-stop fun with the Wilsons!
First stop: food. Dad Dyal was excited (er, willing) to have his first experience with Indian food. Visit your local Punjabi Dhaba for the best Indian you'll ever eat on a tin tray! Afterwards, we rewarded ourselves with a little Rosie goodness.



The next stop? Walden Pond. The folks had never been, and we were more than willing to go back.






(Like father like son....)

We awoke the next day to rain, but would we let a little New England downpour stop us from going to the New Hampshire coast? No way! We got all bundled up and started driving.



Unfortunately, we weren't willing to fight the late afternoon Friday traffic. After driving for about an hour and not making it half way, we decided to turn back and start thinking about dinner. (You can tell where our priorities lie.) BUT, doesn't Kiddo look cute in his coat? Yeah he does!

So it was a very quick and relatively uneventful visit from the Dyal Padres.

You, too, can have an exciting visit with the Wilson family. Call your nearest Wilson and, for a limited time only, we'll throw in a chance to babysit absolutely free! Until next time!

then and now

How did my baby boy go from this...



...to this?



Happy Half-Birthday, Kiddo!

the first supper

Kiddo had his first try of solid foods! So far he loves his spoons, but isn't that crazy about the food. We're sure he'll get it down in no time.

Mini Me