Cloudy In Newport

Last weekend I was in Newport, RI for my college roommate's bachelorette getaway. It was a fun time. As always, Newport was gorgeous, even though some clouds did sneak in on us.

See more pictures from the weekend right here.

Newport Ball

Friday was the Newport Ball, the second HBS formal we've attended. Eric got all suited up in his tux, and I wore a black satin cocktail dress. Dressing up is so much fun.

There were good things and bad things about the ball, so I've made two lists:

Cons:

• I was freezing for hours. It was raining, in the 40s at most, and we were in a tent for dinner. I had no idea we'd be in a tent, so I just brought a little wrap instead of the coat, scarf, and mittens that would have been appropriate.
• Dinner was served at 2 different times, depending on section, so it was really hard to find my friends afterwards because there were 900 people there.
• I wasn't a huge fan of the music.
• It felt chaotic and I kept waiting for somebody to tell me what to do or where I should be (that never happened).

Pros:

• I got to know a bunch of new people since I couldn't find my friends. I had some really great conversations and enjoyed the company.
• I wore low heels so standing for a long time was not a problem (and I did stand for a really long time). Plus there were chairs, so when I wanted to sit it was easy (that wasn't the case at the Holidazzle).
• It was a buffet, so I got to eat a lot of salad (the best part of the meal).
• I eventually did find some of my friends, and we had a great time.
• It was warm inside (once I discovered that there actually was an inside).
• I got to wear a pretty dress and Eric got to wear his tux (and we looked great)!

As you can see, the pros outweigh the cons. I had a good time even if I was freezing and somewhat confused about the goings on!

Saturday we went on two mansion tours (no pictures allowed inside) with a small group while other people went to a wine tasting (which we heard was terrible).

The mansions were cool and it was a lot of fun. We carpooled in a station wagon, and I sat in the way back (you know, the backwards seat!) and took pictures from a different POV. After the tours we had Awful Awfuls (milk shakes) at the Newport Creamery.

That night was a dinner at the Clarke Cooke House for Eric's section. A few of his section-mates put a lot of effort into an end-of-year presentation which we enjoyed after a delicious meal. Sunday morning we met up with some friends from college for brunch and hanging out before heading back to Boston. Overall, good weekend.

Check out this slideshow for more photos from the weekend.

Eric's Birthday Cake

Saturday was Eric's birthday, so I made a cake for him. We decided on a brownie mosaic cheesecake; there were 4 parts to it. First I made the brownies (I used this recipe), then the crust (Eric crushed the teddy grahams), then the cheesecake filling, and lastly the ganache topping. We don't have an electric mixer, so this cake took some muscle. Eric took a picture of me stirring the cream cheese - 3 whole packages - until it was fluffy.

We met a bunch of friends at Boston Beer Works for dinner, and I brought the cake for dessert. Not only was it the first cheesecake I ever made, it was my first cake of any sort. And wow, it came out well. If you like chocolate, that is. And I don't. So I didn't like it that much. But everybody else seemed to enjoy it.

We had such a good time that I only took 1 picture of the cake and a few terrible photos of our group (so bad that I will not be sharing them). Anyway, I think Eric enjoyed his birthday and I know he enjoyed dessert. ★

*In other news, you can check out my homemade chalkboard here.

Hello 2010

Hello! I've been absent for a few days, but I'm back in business now! I was pretty busy last week and over the long weekend I upgraded to Windows 7 and did a clean install, which means I had to reinstall all of my programs. I also had to move all of my files to an external hard drive and then move them back. Something about that is completely nerve wracking, but I don't seem to be missing anything. So I've been tied up with that and getting used to my new and improved operating system.

Eric and I had a wonderful New Year's Eve celebration. We started the night early by heading downtown to catch the parade at 5:30.

The streets were packed with people.

At 7 were watched the fireworks on the Common. I learned that they have fireworks at 7 (they also have them at midnight, of course) because 7 PM our time is midnight Greenwich Mean Time! Awesome!

Afterwards we headed back to our apartment to ring in the new year with our friends. We chatted, ate too many snacks, sipped champagne (or sparkling cider), played Taboo, and watched the ball drop.

It was a lot of fun. Tell me about yours!

Click here to check out some of my goals for 2010.

2009 HBS Holidazzle

Friday night was the 2009 HBS Holidazzle. It was a black tie (optional) gala for all of the current HBS students and their partners. We had to be ready by 5:15 in order to catch the bus from HBS to the hotel. I was mildly surprised to discover that we'd be riding on a school bus (it was surreal to see people openly drinking on a big yellow bus).

We arrived at the Westin Copley around 6ish for hors dourves. It took me a little while to feel comfortable in my new dress (I got it second hand for a steal and then had it shortened about 6 inches), but as I looked around the room and saw the other girls all decked out, I began to feel like I'd gotten it right!

Dinner started at 7:00. Each section ate together, in separate rooms. That meant that I didn't sit with any of my usual partner friends, but I had the opportunity to get to know some new people. It was nice to spend some time with Eric's section, and during dinner there were slideshows, videos, and jokes about the first semester. There were lots of laughs.

An ex-colleague of Eric's made Jello shots for him to bring to the event, and I'm pretty sure our table had the most fun.

After dinner, we headed up to the ballroom for dancing and a dessert buffet. The dinner was just for first years to celebrate with their sections, but after dinner the second years joined us, so the ballroom was packed.

Everybody looked wonderful. Dressing up is fun! But know what? I think there were one or two people who didn't recognize me with my hair down (and curly).

Confession: I didn't dance. Not even to one song. The dance floor was uncomfortably packed, and I wasn't feeling the music. But I still had a lot of fun, and I enjoyed the company immensely.

I think my favorite part may have been seeing Eric in his tux. We picked it out over the summer, and I've been looking forward to this since we took it to the tailor! So handsome.

By the end of the night I was hobbling around. Heels really aren't my thing. I'm more of a sneaker kind of girl. We took a cab back to HBS, and it dropped us off pretty much as far from the car as possible. I walked very slowly with Eric, but when we were about three quarters of the way it just hurt too much. I took off my shoes and felt momentary relief. But then I noticed how cold the pavement was and my feet starting hurting in another way! So I ran. LOL. There I was, all dressed up, with my heels in my hand, sprinting across the HBS parking lot. I wish I had a video. It was an invigorating way to end the evening. ★

{Brooke took the first picture, another partner took the one of Dani, Brooke, and me, and Eric took the last photo. I took the others.}

An Afternoon In Greenfield, MA

When we left Plymouth, VT on Sunday, we headed to Greenfield, MA. From there, Eric headed back to Boston and I spent the afternoon in Greenfield, MA with my dad. We walked around the town and had bite at The People's Pint (which was awesome; I highly recommend this place). I had a homemade raspberry-lime soda. Can you say delicious?

We saw a really, really small cafe. It was closed, so we didn't get to try it out. I don't know that we could both fit in it! Look at it compared to the car parked outside. Haha.

At 2-ish we headed over to Hope & Olive for a small party that my dad was invited to. I tagged along and spoke with some very nice folks. There were some hors d'oeuvres and one lady brought yummy chocolate mocha cupcakes. I generally don't like chocolate, coffee, or cake, so that's how good they were.

It was beautiful day, and I had a great time with my dad. After that we drove to North Adams; I'm working from home allllll week!

Slide Shows

As promised, here are more photos of our San Francisco trip and my Grandparents' 80 surprise birthday party.

Most of the photos in the slide shows haven't appeared on this blog and aren't edited. Click here to see them on my flickr page.

A NJ Surprise Party

My grandparents (on my mom's side) turn 80 this summer. Their 5 kids threw a surprise part for them this past Saturday, and quite a few people showed up!

The party was in New Jersey, so Eric and I drove down Friday morning. We arrived at my other gramma's house around 2:30, and spent some time with her before heading to a friend's apartment in Weehawken for the night. When spent a wonderful evening (into the early morning) just chatting with our friends and eating homemade pizza and brownies. At one point we walked a couple of blocks to Hamilton Park to see the grogeous view of New York City (click the picture for a larger view, as always).

Saturday was party day, and my parents and brother arrived in NJ around lunchtime. We went to the restaurant early to decorate and prepare for the big surprise.

I didn't get pictures of every guest, but as you can see it was well attended! The birthday boy and girl are in the top left corner (click for larger view). A delicious dinner was served, and then my family broke out the musical instuments and microphone for a little entertainment. What happened next brings these R. Kelly lyrics to mind:

Crystall poppin in the stretch Navigator
We got food every where
As if the party was catored
We got fellas to my left
Hunnies on my right
We bring em both together we got junkin all night
Then after the show its the (after party)
And after the party its the (hotel lobby)
And round about 4 you gotta (clear the lobby)

The party was supposed to end at 7:30. After 8:00, it was announed that it had been extended to 9:00. Good thing, since cake was just being served! Then there was an announcement that we had the restaurant until 10:00. We didn't leave the parking lot until 10:45, when a bunch of us headed over to the hotel to continue the fun. We stayed there until well after 1:00. Hahaha. We didn't get back to my Gramma Horty's until after 2:00.

So we had 2 very late nights after a crazy-busy week in San Francisco and a red-eye flight, but it was worth it! Eric got to meet my cousins and some uncles he'd never met before, and I got to see people that I usually only see at Thanksgiving. I only wish my sister had been there.

Sunday, it took us 6 1/2 hours to get back to Boston. Ugh. That was the worst, and it was completely draining. But we made it, and I think we've finally recovered from all of the activity.

Today is Thursday, and Lost In Thoughts is inspired by black & white this week. I've also featured a photo of my cousin Rachel singing at the party, so check it out here.

Looooong Weekend

I was detatched from technology for a few days, and it felt good. Remember the soggy month of June? I have no idea what it was like in Boston or the rest of the world for the past 5 days, but we saw nothing but absolutely and unbelievably perfect weather for five days. Five days! In a row! It was paradise. Seriously.

We spent our vacation in Martha's Vineyard, with Eric's family. We arrived Thursday afternoon, just missing a crazy hail storm. The fog was lifting as we pulled into the driveway, and it was cool, but bright.

That evening, I met Eric's cousins for the very first time, because they were also on island (they live in Florida). Seems silly that I hadn't met them yet, but Eric still hasn't met all of my family either. We spent the night with the extended family celebrating a birthday, and it gave me the opportunity to get to know everybody. I ate too many cupcakes (I felt fine, but 3 is just too many).

Each morning we woke up and went out for a little exercise; we'd go past the west chop lighthouse and do a little loop-de-loop back to the house. I think it's about 3 miles, total. What a beautiful way to start the day, don't you think?

Friday, Eric and I went to a lagoon in the motor boat with his brother, Will. That night the three of us went to town and picked up supplies for root beer floats (we had them with my family last weekend, and I can't stop thinking about them!). Yum, yum, yum.

On the 4th Eric took me sailing on the sunfish and we spent the afternoon on the beach. When it got dark we went back down to the beach to watch the fireworks. We looked over the water to the coast of Cape Cod, and had a panoramic show. It was very clear out, and we could see at least a dozen displays of fireworks. The big ones seemed to be coming from Falmouth, and we could actually hear them (with a bit of a delay). The neighbors even shot off a few fireworks, so we had some close ones too! If we turned around, we could see the tops of the firworks in Edgartown, on the other side of the island.

Sunday afternoon we went sailing with Eric's parents in a bigger boat, borrowed from the Vineyard Haven Yacht Club, named Fair Dinkum (funny name). It was really windy, so we went fast. Eric's dad always encourages me to help out on the boat, and tells me which ropes to pull. One time I pulled a rope, and it didn't move at all! I looked back at him, feeling like a total idiot, but he's got a good sense of humor and he knows what he's doing, so it wasn't a big deal and he gave me different directions.

We originally planned to leave Sunday night, with Eric's dad, but ended up staying an extra day. I'm so glad we did. In the morning we went into town and scouted out stores. I'm going to contact a few of them about possibly carrying my cards. We headed back to the house for lunch, which we ate on the beach, and we went swimming. The water was chilly, but warmer than you'd think given the past month of grey, rainy days.

We caught the 5 o'clock ferry back to Woods Hole, and pulled up to our apartment at 8:04 PM.

It was a perfect vacation. I can't think of a single bad moment. *Sigh*

Sunday Night Party

A few weeks ago I designed an invitation for a friend's enagement party,and last night was the big event. It was a traditional (I think) Pakistani enagement party. That means that most of the time I had no idea what was going on or what anybody was saying, but I really enjoyed observing from the sidelines. Everybody was dressed beautifully and the food was delicious.

The party gave the couple a chance to officially announce their engagement in front of family and a few close friends. They exchanged "rings" (she received a beautiful solitaire engagement ring and he received a fancy watch), and then family members fed them colorful sweets (I'm not yet sure about the significance of that). Afterwards, they took millions of pictures. It was totally adorable how everybody was included in a photo-op with the bride- and groom-to-be. I'm guessing there will be billions of pictures at the wedding (can't wait!). 

In the photo: the bride & groom are seated and the groom's brother is feeding the bride one of the sweets. The little boy is the bride's nephew.