... and Julie Comes

Friday night my sister Julie arrived. Being recently relocated to the town next to the middle of nowhere, Indiana, she has missed life in the city (Chicago). We made sure she had her sushi fix Friday night, her shopping fix Saturday (five hours on Newbury), and her good food fix on Saturday night (Monica's in the North End). Oh, not to mention her wine, couch time, and sleep fixes. We had an awesome time, but it was way too short!

Annual Sewing Lessons

I promised I would eventually write about "fabric" ... and now is the time. Last year when my mom came for her annual visit she taught me how to use my new sewing machine and we made a table runner and six placemats. Friday morning we went to Fabric Place (great spot, by the way- I had never been!), with the intention of buying fabric to make a new quilted purse in different colors than the one I already have. But once I saw all the cute fabrics, I had to have them. We ended up buying fabric for some pajama pants, the purse, and a cute apron as well. Here are some pictures of our day.

Mom's Here!

This weekend my mom came up from Arizona for our annual girls' weekend and sewing lessons! She came in Thursday and we went to The Daily Catch so she could get scallops (which are either nonexistent or not as fresh in Tucson). Here we are.

Torrone

People who know me and have been to the North End in the past year know about Torrone. It sounds simple: nougat, almonds, caramel, chocolate. It's not simple. It's heaven in a candy bar shape. Today after the Missions Brunch we (somehow) ended up back at Modern Pastry for (more) Torrone. That makes somewhere in the neighborhood of about six trips to Modern for Torrone in the past two weeks. Does that make me/us an addict? Don't comment if your answer is yes.

The quickest way to participate in this addiction is invite us over for dinner. We WILL bring Torrone. Or, you can come to our place (call first) - we will take you to Modern. (We will not let you near Mike's.)

And Christina, this is for you. The phone number for Modern Pastry is: 617.523.3783, for when you need your late night addiction fix.

Easter

Today is Easter! Citylife was packed today. Today's sermon was perfect: it was about the "already" and the "not yet" and living in balance with the two in perspective.

After worship, we rushed back home to host our first annual Easter brunch. Nicole & Dave, Christina, and Lauren were all there, and we had ham (thank goodness for the crock pot!), mini cheddar and broccoli quiches, green beans, Nicole's blueberry coffee cake, fruit, mimosas, and ta-da, the coconut cupcakes I've been talking about for weeks.

Haymarket

This morning I went out to the open Haymarket, about a five-minute walk out our front door. I love going here in the morning. They have all manner of fruits and vegetables for cheap! For $2 I bought a beautiful pineapple and a big bunch of bananas. It was a beautiful, warm morning in Boston.

Opening Week

Two chicks headed out to Fenway for Opening Week Thursday night. Here is a picture of Nicole and me in the bottom of the fifth inning.

For chicks, baseball is not about the baseball. We get excited for April because of Jason Varitek in his uniform, Big Papi's up-to-bat dance beat, Fenway Franks, and a cold beer. We get excited to go out to Fenway and chit-chat our way through several innings, occasionally glancing at the score, and eventually calling it a night.

Here's to six more months and, with luck, another trip to the grand finale.