oh, Boston, you're my home.

Okay, so maybe Boston is not my home any longer, but "Dirty Water" (by The Standells) came into my head as I sit here drinking this coffee and reflecting on our recent trip to New England.  Every year, I have to make at least two trips up to Massachusetts to visit dear friends and family and to get my annual fix of the New England air.  This year, I have been lucky enough to have Douglas in tow for both my winter and summer trips up north.  In the winter, we got a chance to dance on my favorite beach, show off our impressive knowledge of useless information, and walk around the Museum of Science.  This trip, we had a little bit more time and got to see a few more people and places.  I was definitely satisfied with our little northern excursion and am already dreaming about the next one.

We left on Saturday night when Doug finished up with work; I did the driving since Doug had been up since early that morning and lucky little me got to sleep in a bit.  We spent the six hour trek grooving out to the new album from The Lumineers and devouring over half the road-trip goodies we packed (of course the cheese and chocolate disappeared well before the apples and baby carrots).  Saturday night was spent catching up with my lovely cousin, Emily, and her husband, meeting their overly-friendly puppy, Lexi, and checking out what might become a new-favorite show, Discovery Channel's "Alaska: the Last Frontier."

Sunday was spent with my dear friend, Kimberley, and her husband, Aaron.  We enjoyed a nice nature walk and trip to Winnekenni Castle, a delicious steak tip dinner whipped up by master chef Aaron, and won a competitive game of Trivial Pursuit (for the second time! muahahaha).  It was hard to leave them - such a fun, caring couple.  Kimberley is one of the few friends I have who I really feel absolutely "gets" me, and loves and accepts me for exactly who I am.  One of the hardest parts about moving out of New England was having to give up our almost ritualistic conversations over hot cups of tea.  It was definitely fate that we ended up experiencing one of the worst years of our lives together :)

Doug and I ventured south on Monday to float around Boston and enjoy a few hours at the Museum of Fine Arts.  We toured a few of the collections and enjoyed a delicious lunch of salad, cheese and charcuterie (yum!) at the museum café.  After we got our fill of art (or, better put, after our parking meter expired) we headed out of the city to meet up with another dear friend, Carolina.  The three of us met up with her roommate and my brother, Ryan, for a night of trivia and drinking.  Regrettably, we did not win, but it was still a fun-filled evening.  Anyone who knows me can attest to the fact that I cannot resist competition and a chance to put my know-it-all attitude on display.  Carolina and I were part of the infamous "Pink Rangers" team that dominated trivia night at our beloved Gullifty's every Thursday night in college.  Okay, so maybe we only won a handful of times, but I love trivia games anyway.  Good times.

We finished off our vacation with a trip to Benson's Homemade Ice Cream in Boxford (you may remember them from here).   It would not be a proper summer without a scoop from Benson's.  I enjoyed a delicious cup of native red raspberry and Doug had a hefty serving of their creamy coconut; I tried to warn him of their colossal sizes, but he wouldn't listen.  All in all it was a crazy, whirlwind trip, and I wouldn't have had it any other way.  For now, though, I am tired.  Douglas is working for the rest of the week and I am attempting to check a few items off the list before our busy weekend of fun begins.  Reading, blogging, errands... there is always so much to do; good thing I am a workhorse!  We are squeezing in as much fun as we can this weekend because as of next week this nose is back to the grindstone; I have only one week of "freedom" to get as many lesson plans done as I can before my three-week workshop begins at the New York Public Library.  Here we go!