Today: A tax-free weekend.

This weekend was truly tax-free, in the shopping sense and in the sit back and relax kind of way.  I kicked back (and took a lot of naps, due partly to a lingering cold… but hey, a nap’s a nap!) and enjoyed a slow-paced end to the week in the city.

Cirque du Soleil’s Ovo at Fan Pier

Please don’t turn me in for taking this prohibited photo.  Flashes were a flashin’ pre-show, so I joined in fun, only to be reprimanded by a security team member.  Whoops.  The show was, not surprisingly, fantastic.  The show as practically in our backyard; it was great seeing the swirling blue and gold tents of Cirque du Soleil in the circus that is sometimes Southie.  Ovo is in Boston through August 29th, and I believe tickets are still available.

New sneaks

Out with the old, in with the new.  I was due for a new pair, and with marathon training beginning in earnest this week, it was time to trade in my old Alchemys for these newly updated Alchemys.  Billy at South Boston Running Emporium taught me a few shoe-tying tricks and caught me up on all the improvements made to this version of my favorite running shoe.  My old pair is off to be donated or recycled.

Oh, Martha. Oh, Clark.


I am a sucker for anything created by, related to, and inspired by Martha Stewart.  I aspire to be her, minus the jail time and less one Frenchie.  When it was announce that she had a line of pet products coming out, I practically camped outside of the pet store.  Except that I didn’t at all, because I was afraid I’d get kidnapped at a strip mall and I find pet stores generally repulsive, due to the ferrets and the omnipresent aroma of eau du urine.

The Martha display was like a bright spot, an oasis, inside Petsmart.  Or is it called Pet Smart?  I don’t know, and I don’t rightly care.  And I can’t imagine you do either.  I nearly bought one of everything.  In multiple colors.  The big hits were the rope bone, the bone handled treat jar, and the chicken coop.  Unfortunately Clark destroyed the snoring lamb and tennis balls within minutes– clearly Martha’s Frenchies don’t have Clark’s tiger teeth.  I’ll be returning the bathrobe (yes, you read that correctly) because it’s too small.  And as Nick appropriately questioned, “When would Clark wear a bathrobe?”  When we’re relaxing with a tall glass of cucumber water, reading Martha Stewart Living…  Obviously.

Or after a bath.

Hey! Where'd my ears go?

Oh good. They're baaaaaaaaack.

Home, home on the Lane

I spent most of today in the Mother and Fatherland, perusing the local farmstand, checking out my dad’s gardens, making a miraculous comeback to beat my older brother at corn hole and enjoying my younger brother’s hilarious antics.

Farmstand finds

My parents' backyard

Sunday bake-off… with myself

One of Clark’s favorite people/trainers has a birthday this week.  I love to bake on Sundays, but I am not crazy about having sweets about the condo.  I love having a reason to whip up some cupcakes and send them off into the world.

Isn’t frosting and fondant fun?  Best served light and fluffy, just like the weekend.

Also On Tap for Today:

  • We had a blast at the Team in Training kick-0ff this weekend, more on that later! :)
  • I am obsessed with this baby hippo
  • Congratulations, Falmouth Road Race runners!

What are your Sunday rituals?

Today: Fall back to reality

fall

This is how I know it’s Fall (even though it isn’t until September 22nd):

  • I wore a sweater today.
  • I am allergic to my allergies.
  • I can’t find a parking spot.  Anywhere.
  • There are giant yellow buses.  Everywhere.
  • I wore corduroys today.  Kidding.
  • The tomatoes at Shaws looked a little funky.

This summer might go down in the record books for all the rain the sky poured on us, but otherwise, it was kind of a dud.  If it wasn’t raining, it was pouring and if it wasn’t pouring, it was raining.  And then late August came.

In the last two weeks, we’ve managed to pack in a whole season’s worth of good, clean summer fun.  The part where I fainted from dehydration at Country Fest wasn’t exactly fun, but it was relatively clean.  That was not one of my finer moments.

In an action packed two weeks, we finally saw the sun, closed on and moved into our new condo, went to a real Cirque du Soleil show and then a fake Cirque du Soleil show (there are no words), had Nick’s nearly stolen Vespa fixed, drank Matt’s FDA un-approved Mattaritas, floated around in our new rooftop pool (heaven), celebrated Tim and Stacey’s wedding, danced like maniacs, bought fresh vegetables at a roadside farm stand, made Andrea dress up like a beer bottle, gave purple nail polish a go, finished reading The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society and wished there were 200 more pages, stalked various dogs in our building and surrounding environs, and smiled at a homeless man holding a “Just Smile” sign by the underpass.

If I can pull all that off in two weeks, just imagine what I am capable of in a whole season.  Bring it, Fall.  Briiiing it.  By the way, there’s a new direct to DVD Bring it On movie out.  No word if Sparky Polastry makes a cameo.

Also On Tap for Today:

  • Have dinner with Mom and Dad after giving them the grand tour of the new place
  • Congratulate the Dana Farber Institute on raising $1 billion… a year early… in a recession; inspiring!
  • Pick up some fresh flowers at the market
  • Take a little break and read about a little… um… fart

What are you most looking forward to this Fall?  And how much do you love a good country song?

Today: Adore the new abode

SouthWe have, at last, moved into our glorious new condo.

It’s quite incredible.

I could have (and frankly did) spend hours  this week turning off and on various switches, discovering such delights as under cabinet lighting in our kitchen.  After unpacking our kitchen goods, I promptly ran the dishwasher twice and swooned over our thoroughly cleaned dishes.

And the washer and dryer… ohhhh, the washer and dryer.  I would fully admit to being a domestic dork, if I hadn’t learned the origin of the word dork from my younger brother.  [Do not Google.]

I am very lucky, and very grateful.

Also On Tap for Today:

  • Keep the Kennedy family and our irreplaceable Senator in my thoughts
  • Try out some of the tricks I saw at Cirque du Soleil last night, maybe fire spinning first?

What makes your corner of the world feel like home?  And where might a find a sleek, white hamper?