A New Favorite Place!

I'm spending this Monday morning recovering from the past few days. Matt and I had the luxury of spending an ENTIRE weekend with my sister exploring Boston - it was amazing! I have to say...I'm not a city girl...but if I was...I would want to live in Boston! It's such a great city. If you've never been you MUST go! I love the history and small city feeling. It's only about 3 hours from Burlington so I hope to visit many more times :)

When planning our trip I asked a bunch of friends that have lived, or now live, in Boston for suggestions on things to do and see. We only had 2 days so of course we didn't get to everything but I think we hit most of the highlights. We were also lucky to have our friend Nick (one of Matt's fraternity brothers) serve as our tour guide for most of the weekend :)

Poor Nick and Matt spent most of the time waiting while we took pictures.



Don't feel too sorry for them because they did get to have some fun too :)



OK now for a rundown of my favorites spots.

1. Faneuil Hall/Quincy Market - Some fun historical facts: Faneuil Hall was built in 1742. It is where colonists first protested the Sugar Act in 1764 and established the doctrine of "no taxation without representation." It was also where George Washington toasted the nation on its first birthday. But enough history. This place was so cool - lots of fun shops and people watching.

Check out the show going on up front - I think he was hanging upside down trying to escape from a straight jacket.



At night the street is lit up...



It's also a great place to find late night snacks...





2. Newbury Street/Back Bay - Shopping, Shopping, Shopping. We walked down this street on Saturday and had to return Sunday to do a little bit of shopping. Everything from Chanel and Burberry to H&M. Our "tour guide" Nick told us that Tom and Gisele live in Back Bay :)

Commonwealth Ave. is another road that runs through the Back Bay neighborhood - it reminds me a little of Monument Ave. in Richmond.





The street is lined with beautiful buildings like this one.



3. Running along the Charles River - We stayed in Cambridge right on the river so we had to try the running path. Great spot!

4. Boston Common - The oldest park in the country. Beautiful!



















5. Beacon Hill - Again...If I was a city girl...I would live in Boston...If I lived in Boston...I would live in Beacon Hill. A.M.A.Z.I.N.G. A neighborhood nestled between Boston Common, the Charles River, and the government district, Beacon Hill is just adorable. We were in love. There are much better pictures of the adorable rowhouses, restaurants, and shops out there but here are a few I took.





We spent most of our time there like this.



Taking pics of cute things like this.



We had brunch in Beacon Hill at 75 Chestnut with my friend Johanna (I didn't get your picture!).



Dinner in Beacon Hill at Artu.





Did I mention we loved it?

6. Harvard Square - I couldn't leave Boston without catching a glimpse.





Harvard Square is a little bit of a hike from the rest of the city (I thought) and on the way there we passed places that made us wish we hadn't already eaten!



Haha. I laugh every time I see that pic. I've spent too much time around 5 year olds. Not sure what Meg and Matt's excuse is.

7. Liberty Hotel - This hotel used to be a prison but is now an awesome bar/club/hotel. I didn't get many good pics but you can visit the website if you're interested.



8. North End - A cute neighborhood with an Italian feel. We were told to try Mike's Pastries but this was the closest we got.



Old North Church is also here...





Others....The South End was a cute trendy neighborhood (I didn't take any pics). We passed this weekend market...not sure what it was called.





Whew. We missed out on Charlestown (have you seen "The Town" yet? Great movie) and on Fenway. Hopefully we can get to those on our next visit!

Meg - miss you already! Good thing Thanksgiving is coming up soon. xoxo

A Few Fall Hikes

We're currently in what Matt calls the "elbow season." We don't consider this fall any longer because all the leaves are off the trees, but it's not quite winter yet either. Vermont in November is a lot like Wyoming was, muddy. That hasn't stopped us from getting outside to explore - at least when it's not raining!

Here are some pics from a few hikes we've done recently...one was just Mt. Philo around sunset (I was playing with my iphone camera), another was down near Middlebury to a place called Abbey Pond, and then this weekend we hiked up to the Stowe Pinnacle. Here you go...

Mt. Philo - you can tell these are from a few weeks ago - the leaves still looked beautiful!







Hi Will!



Abbey Pond - We had a nice day for this hike up to a small mountain pond. The leaves are actually looking really pretty here too!

We saw this little guy on our way in. Glad we didn't come across him on the trail - Willow was terrified from the car and we all know how dog vs. porcupine would turn out!



Somebody told us that it's hunting season (we obviously had little clue on how that would affect us) and it's really important to wear orange while hiking. So we bought some - we all chose to sport our orange in different ways.





We hiked beside this beautiful stream all the way up!





I didn't take any at the top (oops) but here are a few others from the way up.









We stayed at the lake house after this hike so I included this one just because I think it's pretty :)



On to "elbow season." Today we hiked what's called the Stowe Pinnacle, a small peak that's a little lower in elevation (so we didn't run into all the snow up top again) with great views.

The trail was very well maintained and we saw some fun stuff along the way.





We saw some cool surface hoar frost on the way up. If you haven't seen hoar frost before, it's really crazy looking! I have only seen it form on top of snow, but on this hike it had formed on top of the frozen ground. Don't mind the mud in the picture :) As I said, it's muddy around here these days.



I couldn't help but think that it reminds me of pulled sugar candy.

http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/jYfTN52Wo8QW4tUG8M7iJw

There was no snow on the ground, but the trees were frosty!

Finally, some views from the top.













Hope you had a great weekend! I'm sure we'll spend this week trying to adjust to sunset coming at 4:30pm - at least we don't live in northern Russia where it's dark continuously from November until February - yikes!

You know winter is coming in Vermont....

When you see the front lawns start looking like this.







We have a wood stove but haven't collected any wood yet. I'm starting to think we might be behind.....Anyway, I wish we could skip over this post-fall season we're in now and head straight for winter. I'm ready for it to stop raining and start snowing.

Election Day

Happy Election Day!



Did you get one of these? I did. So did Matt.

We're sitting here tonight watching the election results come in. All I have to say is, THANK GOODNESS it's almost over. The political ads around here have been over the top. Our television station broadcasts both Vermont and New York ads so we've received double the love. Here's a sample for you...

Matt and I knew about some of the candidates - well at least the ones that were running ads. I decided last night that I should probably look up information on exactly how many offices we would be voting for. WOW - Turns out we had to vote today on everything from Govenor to Auditor of Accounts. So I spent some time looking up information online about all these other candidates. The state puts out a Candidate Information Guide for voters. We found some pretty interesting things.

For example, one candidate was running under the "United State Marijuana" Party. Yep. This candidate stated that "Some Vermonters believe religious freedom should include a person’s choice to use marijuana in a religious setting, like some religions use wine."

Another candidate included only a few statements in her biography. Here are a few of them: "Solo mother of two, Genius. Self-educated in metaphysics, arts, music, history of money and corporate control, spirituality, healing. I almost never watch TV and have mastered addictions of all kinds."

This is the last one I'm going to include. Another bio statement. "No kids, and no snowmobile or 4-wheeler."

The only result we know right now is that Patrick Leahy, who is beloved in this state, has won for US Senator! Yipee!

Happy Halloween!

We've had a fun-filled Halloween weekend! I carved my pumpkin last week and lit it for the kids Trick or Treating tonight :) They were cute. Even the one that said to me as he looked into the candy bowl, "You better have what I like." My response: "OK, do I?" Him: "Yep. No peanuts. Thanks."



Willow doesn't love Halloween. She's not a fan of dressing up and she gets all worked up when strangers come to the door. Plus we don't let her eat candy. No wonder she doesn't like it.



I must say...Halloween isn't my favorite holiday either. Our neighbors were way more into it :)



This Halloween was a good one though - I got out of dressing up this year (yes!) and Lizzie was visiting!

We had fun despite the fact that Mother Nature was NOT kind to us. It was rainy and cold for the entire weekend! Pretty much the worst weather we could have. It snowed a little bit too. Poor Lizzie. Matt tried to talk us into hiking on Sunday during a break in the rain but, lucky us, it was a little too muddy to make it far.

SO - we spent a lot of time hanging out enjoying indoor activities :) Willow was excited that we were around - she loves her Lizzie.



Besides snuggling, we also supported some Vermont businesses this weekend. We went shopping on Church Street, out to dinner with some new Vermont friends (that we met when we moved here thanks to Lizzie), and enjoyed some local wine and beer.

Wine Tasting at Shelburne Vineyards...trying to drink enough to keep herself warm.









We spent one night at the lake (our last of the season - so sad!) where we played a really intense game of Monopoly. Matt had never played before and we saw a side of him that wasn't pretty. Don't let this picture fool you. It looks like everyone has plenty of money - Lizzie actually got a little greedy early on and erected a bunch of houses she couldn't afford. When she ran out of money later Matt didn't take pity on her like I did and give her a break on rent. She lost it all :(



Before Lizzie went home, we took a quick tour of the Magic Hat Brewery. Magic Hat is a crazy place and we visited on Halloween, making it even more strange. Their beer is delicious though! Here are some pics of the factory. Every beer they make right now comes out of this one factory here in Burlington.











We did a little tasting afterwards - they always make an "Odd Notion" beer. This season it was a Green Apple - we both liked it so if you can find it in your area get some! The tour guide told us that one time the Odd Notion was a garlic beer.....complete with a whole clove of garlic in each bottle. Hmmmm. She said it didn't sell too well.

Lizzie made it up here right on time. Score another one for the Travelers. Including my easy travels to Grace's wedding and my dad's flight delay (a point that I decided the airlines won) that makes the score:

Travelers - 10
Airlines - 2

Lizzie thank you for visiting Vermont on a rainy and cold weekend! Miss you already!
xoxo

Green Product Update

I'm interrupting my fall posts to write a little update on my green/organic product search. I'll be honest - it has taken hours and hours of searching on the Internet and then looking up products I find on Skin Deep before finally ending up with a few products I'm happy with. Little did I know that I'd turn into one of these crazy all natural product-loving people - I used to think they were strange.

For years and years and years this bottle was my best friend. I mean, it doesn't look glamorous, but it works miracles on keeping skin clear. I never went anywhere without it.



Now I can't look at that bottle without seeing this in my head instead.



UG. I don't want to talk smack on my old friend but that's what hours of Internet searching will do to you. Maybe I have too much time on my hands. Anyway...I want to share what I've learned to spare those of you that might care *just a little bit* about this stuff all that wasted time.

First - I've found it was way easier for me to start small by switching out cleaning products and so called "beauty" or cosmetic products once I ran out of my normal one. Remember, I'm thrifty. Matt would call me cheap. So this was one way to make myself feel a little better. Anyway - while I know these products are more expensive, you only have to buy them every once in a while. I'd love to eat all organic food but we'd go broke! I already spend too much money at the grocery store. There's a reason they call it the Wealthy Living market here.

On to my pearls of wisdom...

I love all cleaning and soap products from 7th Generation (a Burlington based company!) and Ecover (I've already professed my love for this brand). They both make all sorts of stuff and they're sold all over.

Websites:
I've found 2 great websites for green products...
Natural Living for Women - This gives lots and lots of information but has some products too if you click around a little.
Spirit Beauty Lounge - This one is an awesome place to find products. I love everything I've ordered from them so far and they send lots of fun samples + give great coupons if you sign up. The brand I've tried is Acure Organics - they smell good and they come in a really cool looking bottle.

If you want in-person advice, I've found the employees in our (W)Healthy Living grocery story here are super helpful - if you have a natural market go and ask them! Beware - all these stores carry all kinds of expensive product lines that claim they're organic but are still pretty toxic (at least according to Skin Deep when I look them up). The girls told me that they have to offer a variety. I just started on some organic shampoo made with "Neem" that they recommended. I'm a little afraid that I'll end up looking like Monica from my favorite episode of Friends.



One other tip - not all products have to be "organic" to be low in toxicity. I looked up some regular old grocery store brands to see which had the lowest level of toxicity and found lots of stuff! For example, the all natural deodorant just didn't do it for me. Yuck. What's the point of putting something on if it doesn't work? PLUS paying all that money for it. I'm too cheap for that.

The winner?



That's right. BAN. Unscented roll-on. Again - not glamorous but it does the trick. My parents have been using this stuff for years and I just never appreciated it's greatness. Sorry Mom.

OK enough on green products - more pics to come after this weekend. I have another traveler trying to make her way up tomorrow - wish her luck!