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!)

A story of two monks

"I need oil," said an ancient monk, so he planted an olive sapling. "Lord," he prayed, "It needs rain that its tender roots may drink and swell. Send gentle showers." And the Lord sent gentle showers. "Lord," prayed the monk, "my tree needs sun. Send sun, I pray thee." And the sun shone, gilding the dripping clouds. "Now frost, my Lord, to brace its tissues," cried the monk. And behold, the little tree stood sparkling with frost, but at evening it died.

Then the monk sought the cell of a brother monk, and told his strange experience. "I, too, planted a little tree," he said, "and see! It thrives well. But I entrust my tree to its God. he who made it knows better what it needs than a man like me. I laid no condition. I fixed not ways or means. 'Lord, send what it needs,' I prayed, 'storm or sunshine, wind, rain, or frost. Thou has made it and Thou dost know.'"

Story taken from this book (again :)

Wrapping things up

I've decided that I pretty much love all of the seasons, except for below-freezing Boston winters and Texas summers :P. This isn't to say that Boston and Texas don't have nice weather, they do. Still, if I could pick anywhere to live in the US as the seasons change, this is where I'd live. Boston in the fall and spring, Texas in the winter, and California in the summer. Boston gets humid in the summer (this was a shock to me) but I will never forget how beautiful it was here during the fall...

Across the street from our apartment:


Apple orchard/farm in Concord, MA:


I love Texas in the winter, because it is just cold enough to wear a jacket but not so cold that you have to wear long underwear :P:

Mayfield park, Austin late winter


Boston in the spring:


The beach is the place to visit in California during the summer (so long as it isn't closed due to being overly polluted :P)


We're about to head back to Texas for the summer, it'll be a nice change but I have to admit that I'm starting to like it here again, now that it's warming up and the flowers are blooming. It'll be nice to temporarily have a car, though. The ability to get up and go (and not have to think about where the nearest bus stop/T station is) will be nice. But Jose and I have learned to get along quite well without a car. Zipcar has been a lifesaver; we rent a car 2 times a month, when we go grocery shopping. There have been a few times I've forgotten to buy something on the grocery list, I've walked to the grocery store when that's happened. Looking back, I never thought I'd be able to walk 3 miles in 30 something degree weather just to buy xanthan gum for a baking project! I remember when walking 3-4 blocks down the street from my apartment (in Austin) to the grocery story was a big deal :P.

So with 1 school year down and 2 to go, I can say this: though I do look forward to picking apples again when we come back in the fall, Boston isn't home. It's a nice place to visit and if you can afford to get by comfortably, it might be a fun place for an on-the-go person to live permanently. But I have to admit, I miss Texas and it's somewhat slow pace. If Northern California weren't so expensive, I'd move back in a heartbeat (to the outskirts, not the city), but Jose and I have decided that Austin is probably the best place for us to settle down. It has some of the quirks/entertainment you'd get in a bigger artsy citiy, but it still isn't as crowded or expensive.

Sometimes I have a hard time imagining myself as someone who is "settled down", though. After moving so much throughout my life, I wonder what it'll be like to finally have a place to call home for more than 3 or 4 years?

foodie fun and stuff in boston (and everywhere else)

Haymarket: Cheap produce and lots of it!

Christina's Spice and Specialty Foods Store in Cambridge


Oh oh! And if you love Anthropologie.com (but aren't a fan of their prices), check out Ruche. Their clothing is gorgeous, still a bit pricey for me, but they do have pretty good sales! I love their earrings! Lulu's also has some cute stuff. And Purlsoho.com is so fun, I'm thinking of getting some of this fabric for kitchen curtains...

First (and second) snow!

From The Snow Fairy by Claude McKay

Throughout the afternoon I watched them there,
Snow-fairies falling, falling from the sky,
Whirling fantastic in the misty air,
Contending fierce for space supremacy.

And they flew down a mightier force at night,

As though in heaven there was revolt and riot,
And they, frail things had taken panic flight
Down to the calm earth seeking peace and quiet.

I went to bed and rose at early dawn
To see them huddled together in a heap,
Each merged into the other upon the lawn,
Worn out by the sharp struggle, fast asleep.

The sun shone brightly on them half the day,
By night they stealthily had stol'n away.

What Boston's Bean like for us so far

It's been almost two months since we've moved to Boston and Jose and I have both grown to love this city in our own way. Initially, it did take us some time to adjust to being car-less, but now we don't really give it a second thought when we go out. We might change our minds once it starts snowing, though.

Speaking of snowing, I can't believe how cool it is here already! This morning when I woke up it was 48 degrees outside! I'm not sure when our radiators get turned on by our apartment complex, but Jose says probably not until November! The high today was in the mid 60s and it was a beautiful day. Perfect weather for a picnic, a Harvard Law Couple's picnic. Jose and I attended our first Harvard Law Couple's event earlier today. The picnic was inside but it was still fun. We got to meet a few different couples, including those in Jose's section. (There are 500 something first-year law students and the entire class gets divided up into sections consisting of about 80 students each.)

Everyone was really friendly at the indoor picnic, which made us both feel at ease. Well, mostly me :). The next event they're planning will revolve around apple picking in the Fall, I can't wait to go! I met a few folks today, and I'm pretty sure I'll be seeing more of them outside of these gatherings. Jose's already settled in; he's made some good friends and is enjoying law school more than undergrad. He says a lot of it just has to do with the people. They're more mature and he has quite a bit in common with them, which makes sense and is definitely a good sign :).

I've been working full-time and Jose's usually pretty busy studying during the week and on most weekend nights, but we make it a point to go out during the weekends. We've already explored quite a bit of the city, but there is still so much to see. It's a good thing we're going to be here for 3 more years. There's always something to do, whether it's taking a tour of historic Boston or strolling through a beautifully landscaped park, where it's usually very peaceful.

A park in Beacon Hill, Boston

Last weekend we checked out the library in Downtown Boston. It was a sight! I can easily say it's the most ornate library I've seen so far. What I like about it pretty much sums up what I love about Boston, in general: THE DETAILS! Even the AT&T building located in the South End is a stop-you-dead-in-your-tracks architectural masterpiece. Thankfully, the meticulously crafted historic structures have been nicely preserved. I've taken so many pictures!

These are the library photos (Click to enlarge. The second to last photo is the At&t building, the last photo is a church, all others are pictures of the library):

Jose and I both feel very blessed to be here for a variety of reasons. We've transformed this 100 year old, timeworn, but very easy-to-love apartment into a home that will serve us well for the next three years. We're both getting to experience and see so many beautiful things and places; as cheesy as it sounds, there's something very cozy and magical about this city. Hmm... I'm putting two and two together: They call Boston beantown and beans are the magical fruit, I'm sure that has something to do with it ;).