Surprise!

A few hours late, but was not going to blog at 2am when I got home from my good friends surprise birthday party. I started planning for this a month ago and we managed to pull it off! Chicken, beef and veggie kabobs, chips and dips, fruit and cheese, and of course beer and ice cream cake. It was quite a lot of work, but I know he enjoyed the night so totally worth it. Now, 6 hours of sleep and a stomach punishing me for drinking 6 too many bottles of beer, I seriously don't know how I'm gonna get through the day, a day I can't call in sick for. Then, to top it off, I have another birthday party to go to tonight...yeah, I'm not going anywhere this weekend.

Walking

Today I did a lot of walking around. The leaves are starting to change in the city, so I decided to snap a photo on Brookline Ave as I walked around the Longwood area on my lunch break. I also walked home from work today. It was a lovely day out, fresh air, cool breeze, but definitely noticing the sun setting earlier which means soon I won't be walking home after work because it will be dark. I do love watching the seasons change and I'm okay with this Indian Summer we are having, it makes for nice walks. I also enjoy walking around, being one with myself. It gives me clarity, time to reflect on life. This week has been an odd week for me. I feel like my body is moving and doing things, and yet, my mind is in a haze. It's almost like the body is just doing its normal routine and I'm along for the ride. So, I am thankful for this nice weather, so I can get out and walk.

31 Apples

So, I bought 31 apples for $14 which is roughly 45 cents an apple, putting into perspective that the $1 a pound at the grocery store is a good deal out here in New England (even though I would prefer the 3 pounds for $1 like I got in California). What does one do with 31 apples? Well, I eat an apple a day, so they could last me a month. I could bake my famous apple pie, but then that wouldn't help with my weight loss goal. So what did I do? I decided to use 9 apples and take a stab at making homemade applesauce for the first time. It was surprisingly easy and turned out yummy! I made it chunky and wish I had vanilla ice cream to put some on top, but I resisted walking up to the store to get some (again keeping the goal in mind). So, add make homemade applesauce to my list of Boston firsts.

Dreams and the Past

Today was a lazy day, almost all caught up on TrueBlood episodes. After dreaming about Latin Lover last night, I woke up feeling strange. That dream was really intense and it made me text him [his name with a question mark]. He responded in a way that made me smile, answering my question without having to ask. My heart sped up so fast when he responded, but I feel better hearing from him. I've had weird dreams before and am learning to just go with the instinct and reach out. We all have some sort of a 6th sense, it's just a matter of exercising it, so I'm doing my best to just listen and trust my body. Anyway, before leaving to come back to Boston, we took the dog for a walk through the forest. I love walking through there and seeing old ruins, imagining what it must have been like living way back when. Then came the fun part- packing to get all my stuff home. Borrowed a suitcase to bring the 24 bottles of Sam's Octoberfest beer which would not fit in my little suitcase I brought. Thankfully, I packed their suitcase up and used my small one to put my clothes, wine and apples in it. Everything made it safe and unbroken after being rolled on a train, up stairs and on the T. When I got home, I unpacked everything, unrolled my hallway runner and went to see "The Social Network" with my movie buddy- with my can of Coke Zero and popcorn I brought from home ($1 movie popcorn is on Tuesdays, today was $1 candy which I bought these Crazy Core Skittles which were gross fyi...unless you like Skittles, I wouldn't recommend). The movie was good, but there were certain features of one of the main characters which reminded me of the ex, so that was kind of weird, ugh! Thank goodness Latin Lover is distracting me from that, b/c tonight could have turned out very differently. So, instead, I watch Dexter and chat with LL :)

Shop 'til I dropped!

An early morning after a wonderful night's sleep, love this fresh air up here! Today I went shopping in New Hampshire. I finally purchased my living room set at Jordan's. I got this sectional, the 3 tables, a TV/media stand, a 50" Plasma TV and a Blu-ray disc player for a little over $2000 after taxes, shipping and various warranties. I'm pretty excited because I needed a living room set. I also bought a wi-fi adapter for my Blu-ray player so I can stream TV shows, Pandora and Netflix (if I subscribe) directly on my TV. Now, I will be saving up for this uber comfy feather down oversize chair and ottoman I fell in love with today... maybe as a tax return/birthday/meet my weight goal present for myself next year. Besides all this, I did some clothes and rug runner shopping before I dropped. Now it's apple sauce making before we sit down to eat some fondue (which we didn't get to last night) and some more wine...oh yeah, and football!

Apples and Wine

Today I got up early to take the train up to North Billerica for the long weekend. Once I was picked up, we headed to my home away from home in Groton and took the dog for a walk through the forest. Then we went apple picking. Now, I must say, this year picking with my adoptive parents was way funner than when I went with the ex-roommate and her aunt & uncle last year in Maine. A quick drive into Harvard, MA to Carlson Orchards where for $14 we could pick our own peck of apples. I haven't counted my bag of apples, but I think it's still cheaper buying apples at the grocery store for 1.99 a pound. Of course, I had about 5 apples today while picking my own apples. It was a gorgeous day, didn't wear my jacket, just jeans and a short sleeve top. Perfect day to be outside.

Our next stop was the Nashoba Valley Winery. Where for $4 we got a nice glass and 5 tastings of their wines and/or beers. Most of their wines were way too fruity for me and they were out of the ice wine I wanted to try, but I did walk away with a bottle of Riesling (and Phil bought about 8 bottles of various wines we tasted). It was so crowded, everyone and their mother were out tasting and buying wine today while the families were out picking apples in their orchard. This winery was cool because they have a nice lawn with tables that people were able to open their purchased wine bottles and drink out overlooking the beautiful Fall New England landscape. After that we headed to the store to buy cheese and crackers to snack on and pizza dough to make our own homemade pizzas, which turned out oh so yummy! Dinner was around 7, we had our glass of Vidal Blanc which Phil bought at the winery. All this country fresh air has made me tired, so off to bed I go.

B is for...

Boston. Bump. Bus. Boy. Another beautiful Fall day. Tonight, as usual, I took the bus to Zumba where I got to dance for an hour with no one bumpin' or grindin' on me... just me and 15 others dancing salsa, merengue, cumbia, reggaeton, belly dance and samba. I have a crush on the bus driver that takes me and picks me up from Zumba. He has that Boston accent that just makes me want to listen to him talk. Of course, I'm not going to do what I normally do when I like some guy...I'm not going to talk to him, not going to ask him out, not even flirt. No. He works the evening shifts, getting off at 2am, and I know that doesn't work for me, so not even going there. But, every Friday night, I see him. I don't know his name, and I am fine with that. Just makes me look forward to riding the bus on Friday nights. Day 5 of going to the gym (twice today) but then ate way too much ice cream (I just want to get it out of my freezer). Oh well, first week was a success.