Gloucester

If you love fish, you'll love Gloucester. It's a fairly small town right along the Atlantic, with a few beaches and plenty of fish restaurants, including my new favorite: Lobsta Land! I can't decide whether I like it more because of the name or the actual fish they serve ;). We visited about two weekends ago and I inhaled the cod. So good, so fresh. No fishy taste whatsoever. I ordered it without the butter sauce and it was still delicious, with just a little lemon and salt.

...these two lobstas got away, and the one in the background was attempting to escape too, I think ;).

After visiting Lobsta Land, we stopped by a castle built by the guy who invented the remote control (with all that money, he had to invent something fun...like a castle, of course :P). It was gorgeous. Amazing ocean views. Check out the photos from our trip below...

Fall trip

Things have slowed down a bit around here. We decided to get out of the house last weekend (we've been cooped up for about 2 months!)... it was time for a trip, a low-key one. The fall foliage is at its peak, the weather is crisp and things, really, couldn't be better. I appreciate all of your comments and kind words/thoughts/prayers. Thankfully, everyone's doing well. The appointment last week went smoothly; we got to see our kiddo wiggle, he was asleep but the nurse insisted on waking him up so we could catch of glimpse of the baby in action. It's so cute and little! This ultrasound was from last week, I took the picture with my phone which is why it's a bit blurry:


I have a feeling I'm going to be one of those moms that takes too many pictures of their kids :P... but at least he/she doesn't mind now :)!

So our trip last week... it was so fun and relaxing. We wanted to go apple picking again this year, but with the clot issue creating a need to rest/not walk around so much, Jose and I thought an adventure to the Berkshires would be appropriate.

Stockbridge, MA

Located in what I'd call the East Coast countryside/mountains, the Berkshires, home to a group of small cities, is the place to visit when you're in Massachusetts. We spent most of our time in Lenox and Stockbridge, where we wandered over to the Norman Rockwell museum. (FYI, this is where Rockwell's Stockbridge Main Street at Christmas painting comes to life every year around Christmas time.) Then we headed over to The Berkshire Scenic Railway for an old-time train ride. Literally old time! No heating, rickety and a little rusty... the whole shebang, so fun! The scenery distracted us from the bitter cold :), especially during the train ride.


The drive up there was an experience in itself; it's going down as one of the most scenic drives I've ever taken. Ah... and dinner! Instead of staying over night and spending more money, we decided to treat ourselves to a nice but affordable meal. I just can't wait for Thanksgiving, so I had turkey, veggies, cheesy mashed potatoes, homemade cranberry sauce and the best butternut squash soup! Jose enjoyed a yummy pork/date stew with a potato cake, veggies and broccoli/bacon soup.


The restaurant is part of a cozy bed and breakfast! It was freezing outside when we arrived (I was wearing long underwear, makes a big difference!), so the warm vintage cottage-like restaurant/inn was extra inviting. We made reservations, got there right at 5, and had the whole place to ourselves. Mr. A and I got to chat and enjoy a good meal, with tea and hot chocolate... I love dates :). So what's the name of this restaurant I keep going on an on about? It's Rumplestiltzkin's (cute name), located in Lenox, MA!

View during the train ride.

It's been too long...

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's House (& George Washington's :)

It's been too long since I've written a real post :). I was full of energy and doing all sorts of things last weekend, but oh how things can change over the course of one week! One day pregnancy hormones are barely at 100 and three days later they're around 1000, no complaints! Thankfully all is well, I'm just a little tired these days :).

I did want to share a few photos from last week's trip to Longfellow's house. Well, I guess it really wasn't a big trip, considering we walked there :P. I can't believe how long it took us to find out about this place, we've lived only a few blocks away this whole time! It's definitely one of the most beautiful and well-maintained historic homes I've ever visited. They've done such a great job of preserving it (by they I mean the family). All of the furniture is original and only the window treatments and carpets were restored (but in one room everything is the same!).

Both George Washington and Henry Wadsworth Longfellow lived in this gorgeous house at one point, though at separate times. The deed didn't actually belong to Longfellow, though. When it came time to purchase a home for his new family, Longfellow was struggling to make it financially as a Harvard Professor by day and poet by night (this was before he made it big) . So Longfellow's wife's father stepped in and purchased the home as a wedding gift. What a gift!

Years before that, Washington lived here (I think it was around the time of the American Revolution). The neat thing is, he also fought alongside Longfellow's grandfather, so the two were coincidentally connected.

My favorite room is Longfellow's office or "poetry room". This is where he did his best thinking and writing. I instantly felt like a giddy little kid at Disneyland when the guide told us about this room's significance. It's pretty cool because Longfellow wrote his poems standing up behind a podium, not sitting down. And the original podium is still there! :) And this is where the magic happened, the podium is in the second photo.

Below is the dining room area and the exact table where Longfellow entertained guests like Charles Dickens and Ralph Waldo Emerson.


Below are photos of Martha and George Washington.

Everything is original in this room, from the window treatments to the wallpaper (sorry it's crooked, the area was roped off :)


Here's a small glimpse of his huge garden:


A blurry picture of Longfellow (poor lighting, sorry no flash!)

On Sewing and baking and cooking and...

One problem (well, it's not really that big of a problem) that I have is staying focused on one hobby. I've never really been the sit around and get bored type, but now, more than ever, I'm becoming the kind of person who can't sit through a whole movie because I get bored just sitting! My hands have to be moving or making something...

I spent a good part of the weekend sewing this purse, and though it was fun, I don't think I've had to focus on something that much in awhile! But I loved it! I love that sewing requires me to be super patient and diligent. I literally got sucked in and sat in front of the machine for hours trying to figure things out. I didn't like how intimidated I was of my sewing machine, my birthday present from the hubby. I let it sit there for the longest time. I did sign up for 2 sewing classes, both of which were canceled, because I wanted to learn. But I hadn't touched my machine before then. I let it get all dusty; I was literally afraid of it...

I had a hard time understanding why some folks find sewing/baking darn-right hard, until my sewing-fear gave me a reality check. I'll be honest, baking doesn't/didn't come easy to me before the food blog, I was more of a cook and still am, for the most part. Now I find myself fascinated by baking, I feel like a chemist in my kitchen -- but it's still a lot easier than sewing and I don't think I was as 'scared' of baking as I was of sewing. I thought "if it tastes bad, I'll eat it anyway. No harm done". For some reason, I couldn't apply that way of thinking to sewing. I don't know why I was so scared, I could've just picked up an old shirt and messed around with it. I could've just watched a few YouTube videos and cranked out something simple, but I was such a weenie.

So now I love to sew and I'm not afraid of the sewing machine. I have a much more 'so what if I mess up?' attitude, and that's helped a lot. The fear would still be there if not for that first step; opening up the machine, threading it, sewing a straight line on a scrap piece of fabric, the basics. Everything depends on that first step.

I could throw myself into cooking without thinking because I had to. I had to eat; I couldn't just pick up fast food from some random place, because it would make me sick to my stomach later. Funny how necessity and desperation override fear; the 'how bad do you want it' factor really applies to everything. But now I want to learn even more! How do you sew on a zipper (without help :P); how do you sew on a button properly? How do you sew a french seam?! I want to know how to create digital scrapbook kits from scratch, how to code blog layouts using CSS, how to take the perfect foodie picture without natural light, how to bake gluten free croissants, how to... and the list goes on.

I discover some other creative outlet and this process starts all over again. I'm almost afraid to see what else is out there! I dabble in this and that, and I almost feel guilty when I neglect one interest for another, or even when I don't fine-tune one thing. For instance, I sewed most of this weekend, but I haven't drawn in awhile and there isn't much cooked food in the fridge. And this isn't a complaint, really. I know there are much bigger bigger things to worry about/be thankful for. BUT sometimes, sometimes I just wish I didn't have to sleep! :P

One thing I'm actively trying to learn is how to lead a balanced life. I'm thankful that I don't have to choose; why not have a little bit of everything? Maybe Sundays are for cooking/baking and Mondays for drawing. Fridays are for grocery shopping and Saturdays are for outings and sunshine. I am so thankful that I can have balance, it's a blessing. So what if I can't become an expert over night?

Speaking of outings and sunshine, here are some pictures of a day trip we took to Concord, MA (home to Emerson, Thoreau, and Alcott). We toured the Alcott house and visited Emerson/Thoreau's grave site (sounds morbid but it was romantic and peaceful); we even got to see where 'the shot heard 'round the world' was fired, near Minuteman Park (think Battle of Lexington/Concord). Concord is gorgeous! Everyone, and I mean everyone, there was so so friendly!

I've always been a fan of Little Women, but I didn't know much about Louisa May Alcott. I didn't know that she was in love with her good friend Emerson, and that she wasn't a fan of marriage (though she'd apparently reconsider for him :). I didn't know that she was a war nurse, liked to paint, adopted her nephew, and was/came from a family of free thinking transcendentalists who lived in Concord precisely because (then-'backwards') Boston didn't appeal to them. I also didn't know that her home was part of the underground railroad and that it's now remembered for having honored guests, like Harriet Tubman and Nathaniel Hawthorne. (Even Emerson frequently visited and anonymously left money scattered throughout the house to support this never-asking-always-giving family which consisted of an artist mother, equally artistic daughters, and an intellectual father.)


Alcott House


Emerson's Grandparent's House/Where Emerson wrote Leaves/Nathaniel Hawthorne's House


Lexington/Concord Battle site -- where the first shot was fired.


Lexington/Concord Monument


Louisa May Alcott's Grave


Emerson's Grave


Thoreau family grave site.

Weekend Trip

This past Sunday, we took a trip to Gloucester and Rockport. So far, they are the most beautiful East Coast cities I've visited (haven't been to that many places yet!). New York City was fun, but Jose and I both enjoyed this trip a whole lot more. Gloucester and Rockport were peaceful and relaxing; no anxious crowds and noisy city streets.

We went to Halibut Point first then visited the lighthouse featured in The Perfect Storm. We wanted to try some fresh lobster at Roy Moore Lobster Co., but, being complete out-of-towners, it didn't occur to us that it'd be closed for the season. We're definitely going back, though :).

Our trip ended on a sweet note at Nichols Candies, where we loaded up on salt water taffy and tons of chocolate. Nichols chocolate is THE best; I loved their truffles. It's such a cute candy shoppe; the place is divided in two by a wall with a big glass window. The first room consists of the actual store and customers can view the little 'factory' in the adjoining second room through the dividing window. The old candy-making machines they've been using for years are on display there :).

This house (pictured below) is kind of hard to see (click to enlarge), but we both took turns snapping shots of it because we liked it so much (...getting ideas for our future home :).