reveal

Update on the Saavedra Wedding:

Our invitations went out June 4th and I wanted to share the cover here which is stunningly beautiful. 

Not the one above, but our invite is below.

My dear friend Acacia, a graphic designer I worked with for three years in Colorado offered to make these invitations for us, a combination of instructional and celebratory - they are perfect.

We had a visit to California on Memorial Day Weekend and checked it all out, confirming we are going to have a tiny ceremony on August 31st (yup, that's this year!) and a dinner afterwards at Argentinian- flavored Estrella in Paso Robles.
I really like to think this a low-maintenance wedding -- friends who have been through it assure me it never is.  We are aiming for as small / intimate / casual as it can be for such a big deal kind of event, knowing that there are still a lot of logistics to organize when we're not able to physically be at the sites ahead of time.

At right is a photo with my mom in her unconventional "mother of the bride" dress that we both love, from Boden.  More colors and wedding ideas are on my pinterest page.

Most things are done at this stage, surprisingly... and no one will be surprised if I hint that our souvenirs may involve music and may involve stickers, and may be a bit much on the way of effort involved...

Below are some photos of the site, Leffingwell Landing on Moonstone Drive in Cambria, which we really loved for the backdrop of ocean blue.

Beach Feet (beach-feet.com)

This blog has been silent ever since we adopted Buster in January!

Well, the house is very, very full of paw steps and wagging tails now.  I think they might be spoiled.

Every morning when one of us sniffles or moves a leg in bed, around 6 a.m., the dogs know the signs and you start to hear beating tails out in the hallway.  The moment our bedroom door opens, they come barreling down the hall and tackle us on the bed with hugs and kisses.  Buster has a tendency to use his paws and 'punch' us in the face but I think he's just trying to hold on to us the way we squeeze him.  It's the most joyous benefit of dog ownership, the overabundance of frolicking love and excitement in the morning and when you come home at the end of a day.

Boston had a too-long and very cold Winter, but we started to realize in February that taking the dogs to a dog park weekday mornings would keep them both exercised and less moody.  They seem to bond when they have off-leash time together.  In fact it was only after the first time I took them to the beach on Cape Cod in March, they finally decided they were willing to share the chair in our office (which is just the size for two dogs but AS you can tell, pictured, they usually they take turns on it).

Big news that has been spreading through my family and friends is Jose and I got engaged on March 15th, just before Saint Patrick's Day.  We were out at the Cape with the dogs on my favorite beach in Brewster with no one else in sight, and the dogs were way off exploring in the marshland.  We had no camera, no combed hair, no music playing, but just hugged each other in the joy of the moment.

We are rapidly building a wedding web site (updated: beach-feet.com) with details, meanwhile here is a photo Jose took of my emerald engagement ring, a gift from his business trip to Cartagena, Colombia in early March this year.

Above, me on the same beach in Brewster, age 2 1/2 or so.

Zzzzzzzzz

Happy New Year from a very sleepy household.

Introducing our new second dog... Price!
No... Bryce?
Brewster!
Elvis!
No...
Buster!
I think Buster is going to stay.

We found this little guy on Adopt-a-Pet Thanksgiving Day, he was listed as a "dead dog walking" from a shelter in Virginia... heartbreaking.  And his face just said it all.  This is why people gotta spay and neuter!  Anyway we talked it over, we hemmed and hawwed, we worried a lot, but I posted a request for transport on the wonderful, heroic Pilots n' Paws web site, and we found several pilots willing to deliver Price to us by New Year's.

He arrived this past Saturday night and he just sat as I hugged him in my lap for the 30 minute drive home.  We were careful to let Lucy and him approach each other from the side and sniff sniff sniff, not jump all over each other.  They seem to get along but are different personalities for sure.  Lucy is athletic and agile, often jumpy and reactive.  Buster is a rolly polly softie, he just likes to play with toys for a few minutes and then curl up and sleep.  It will take some time to see how they adjust but Lucy so far has gotten mellower in the first two days.  Just to be safe, they have a balance of time together and time apart.  But we all snuggle together first thing in the morning.

A whole year more incrediblerer

My friend Amy gave me this card for my birthday last year. And yep, it was serendipidous. I don't think I will soon forget the year 2013.

Since buying my house last year, all the pieces in my life fit so much better. José moving to Boston a year ago was one of my life's best twists -- a happy ending.  We are often still surprised by how natural the transition felt.
Facing History has similarly felt like a puzzle piece solved, it's a high expectations job with relaxed non-profit culture and excellent benefits.  There are always new projects and always new little nuances.  Effective January in the new year, I was promoted to Assistant Director and I feel very blessed to have a job with a full week paid vacation at Christmas, many holidays and occassional days to work from home (especially in snowy weather).

And speaking of settling into new homes, José and I both wanted to adopt a dog ASAP all year, and we are so happy to have waited for the right weekend to find Lucy, who is the most adoring, cuddly little monster when she's on our laps, but is an absolute rebel, acting fiesty and fierce when she's out in the world. 

Because of her fiesty-ness, we were lucky to find a fantastic dogwalker Stephanie who takes Lucy for twice a week playdates with another wildly-happy puppy.  She also made Lucy this Gwen Stefani-would-approve dog sweater (and yes, Stephanie has an etsy store).

 

Here's a few updates since I last wrote:

We ate out at the Legal Sea Foods Harborside for Thanksgiving Day to celebrate a year since José visited Boston.  This 'Merry' oyster was about half the size of my face.  It may be untraditional Thanksgiving, but the lobster pizza and the fish n' chips there are unmatched!

Christmas was wonderful and relaxed - we cooked a delcious home-cooked meal of arepas, pork shoulder, butternut squash and blueberry pie for dessert on Christmas Day.

...the weekend beforehand we drove out to Cape Cod where we Lucy ran free on the beach with almost no one around.  The weather was in the mid 50's, shockingly high for Winter.

I sent my mom a photo of her christmas cookie seeing its last moments (before Nom Nom Nom) at the beach. Her buttery snicker-doodles are always happily munched on.

Lucy went a little crazy at having the Chatham, Eastham and Brewster beaches to herself.

In late October, I took a week off of work to spend with my sister visiting from California and my cousin Dorota (who we had encountered last year in Losie, Poland!) who visited from the UK.  The fall colors were high 'in bloom' and it was a really nice time for all of us together.

Even though it's not a dog-friendly walk, José and I find ourselves walking in the gorgeous Mt. Auburn Cemetery every season of the year to see how it's changed.  The tail-end of autumn was definitely the prettiest and we happened to walk there at the best time -- just at dusk when leaves were still wet from rain but it had stopped raining.


(sigh)
Lucy is a handful of puppy, but the plus side is we are learning a lot of discipline ourselves in learning to teach her consistency and comfort (on walks, she is often acting as if she just heard a firecracker go off - antsy and on high-alert).  Whenever she is super sleepy in our presence, I find myself taking pictures to remember the moment!

How bout a Whoodle Doodle?

I was applying for pet insurance today and when I selected "mixed breed", it prompted a drop down with these choices:

Bagel

Beabull

Bichpoo

Cavachon

Cavapoo

Cockapoo

Chorkie

Dorgie

Dorkie

Frenchie

Goldendoodle

Havashu

Jug

Labradoodle

Mal-shi

Maltipoo

Morkie

Pom-a-nauze

Pomapoo

Puggle

Shnoodle

Sharpoo

Shih-poo

Whoodle

Woodle

Yoodle

Yorkipoo

You can't make this stuff up.  Why are there no dalmatian or weimaraner mixes in there?  Surely a Pugaweim or Daschmatian sound cool. Jose was joking that he wants to tell people who ask that she's a Djablome Haywood mix (wait for it) but... all we know is she's just a wired pointer-pup.

Fall La La La La

We have been spoiled with warm weather this September and October, and are trying to soak it in with lots of time outdoors on the weekends.  Lucy has been fun to take along on road trips, but she loves to "hot box" the car which is hysterical, especially to listen to Jose complain about the smell and open the windows constantlyy.  She's also a bit of a frenzy on a leash when it comes to seeing other dogs, so we're working with her on improving behavior a lot.

Here's some photos of adventures this past year.

Jose kayaking under the Zikam Bridge during a guided tour of the harbor and river. We cracked up about learning that we don't need to share a double kayak ever again:

We've been really into pancakes and coffee on the porch on the weekends:

Boston's little ducklings were supporting the home team in June

Sol Lewitt murals at the Mass MOCA museum:

I loved this little non-art exhibit at the MOCA, below:

Lucy at Fresh Pond just a day or two after we first adopted her, eye on the squirrel:

One of my favorite hikes is World's End in Hull where a New England forest directly meets the ocean... it took us three attempts to get Lucy there in weekend rush hour (first time she peed in the car, second time she barfed in the car...oh, the joys) but we made it last Sunday:

 Way up in New Hampshire, not far from where we adopted Lucy:

 and at the entrance to Franconia Notch State Park, NH:

Let Lucy Come Over

Wulp.

We have a wiggly waggidy puppy and boy does she ever love to be the center of attention.

We found this little sweetie through a friend's recommendation of a humane society in Conway, New Hampshire next to the White Mountains.  So she came with a bonus little roadtrip!  She is a pointer mutt, and seems a little pit bull or boxer in the ears, but we don't know her exact muttiness. She is incredibly bright and observant, joyful in playfulness, and just the right size (bigger than a beagle but smaller than a lab). We thought we were getting an "adult" with her being 19 months but it was clear from the first few days that she's a puppy all the way (probably for another six months). She needs a long walk every night and a lot of chewing, but Jose and I look forward to that walk at the end of the work day.

I trade off every other day being cool and happy with this, with feeling overwhelmed from puppy drama, behavior training, and errands/shopping lists.  But we had both been sighing and staring with longing eyes at dogs whenever we went outside the house for the past six months... it was time we gave one a home.

feeling amelie

I have been going through the annoying administrative task this week of upgrading my phone to an iphone and updating/syncing/fixing the address book contacts for 3 days now, plus all the apps and music and photos and everything, but finally when I got to the fun part -- ring tones -- today and was looking for tunes to wake me up in the morning, I realized that La Valse d'Amélie is exactly where I am right now. Very happy times.

I've been accussed of sometimes not taking enough people pictures on vacation.  Here's a few photos from a really beautiful visit home in early June to see family and friends including Dad and sister below.

Love in the air

A few photos of the "To Boston With Love" quilts which debuted at the MFA last weekend.  These little valentines from around the world brought joy and cheer to Memorial Day weekend and remind me a lot of the patterned Rex Ray raindrops that wallpaper my twitter page.

from mfa.org:To Boston With Love is an installation of more than 1600 hand-sewn flags created by quilters from nearly every state in the US and from countries around the world. They convey inspirational messages of love, peace, and hope and highlight iconic Boston images.  The project was a grass-roots effort conceived by Berene Campbell of Vancouver, Canada, and organized locally by Amy Friend of West Newbury.