Category Archives: Uncategorized

I just remembered that Blitzen Trapper is playing Pearl Street next Wednesday (my birthday!). When I first saw them on the schedule I thought about getting tickets, but since I forgot until just now it seems unlikely that our plans for that night will include the show. I do like this band and this video though– if you have four minutes, use them to enjoy the prettiness of the sound and the images:

So back in December I asked for photo book making recommendations— maybe you remember. The idea was that, for Christmas, I was going to put together a book of our wedding photos for our parents to hold them over until we received the (much higher end) photo books from our photographers. I received some good information and links, and decided to go with Blurb.

You may also remember the intense frustration I ran into while compiling the books. I don’t think the problems I ran into were Blurb’s fault. In retrospect, I should have done a few things differently:

• Uh, like, start sooner. Apparently I will never learn.
• Alternatively, I could have accepted that I wasn’t going to finish by Christmas and waited to receive the DVDs of fully-edited high res photos from our photographers. The discs arrived in the mail just as I was finishing the books, too late.
• Since I was downloading the giant files from the online gallery of our photos, just getting the photos took forever. For-ev-er.

• Had I started earlier, it would have been less frustrating when it took eons for my less-than-speedy computer to deal with those giant files. It took many many minutes just to place each photo. Argh.
• The slooooowness of the process led to me working on this project into the wee hours of the morning a few days in a row. I was so tired by the end that I made silly mistakes– underestimating the bleed (re: chopping tops of heads off), leaving space between photos where there shouldn’t have been space, etc.
• Again, starting earlier would have made the not-so-speedy-delivery less aggravating. It was about 10 days between ordering and delivery, which is not so bad really, but it’s not the quickness I’m used to. We gave Pat’s parents their book when they were out to visit on New Years’ day and just gave my parents theirs when we were at their house a couple weeks ago.
• Lastly, this project should not have been my first photo book. Again, better laid plans– I should have done a practice run with a smaller, less time-sensitive (and consuming) book.

I honestly don’t blame Blurb for the slowness– it was mostly my computer, and partially the size of the files. Had I started earlier (or accepted that it wasn’t going to be ready by Christmas), many of the problems I ran into either wouldn’t have happened or wouldn’t have been as frustrating.

So, the good parts. I love how the book came out. The print quality is good, the paper quality is lovely (I upgraded to the premium paper), and everyone who’s seen it has gushed over it. I made three 80-page books, each one is hardcover with a dust jacket, and made with the premium paper. They came to about $42 each. This is a bargain for such a gorgeous book. I was happy with Blurb’s layout software– while not entirely customizable, it offered enough options for me. There were a few things that were a bit limiting, but overall it was fine for what I was doing.

Another nice thing about putting together our own book was being able to incorporate some guest photos in addition to the pro photos. I put together a page using our friends’ photos from our rehearsal and rehearsal dinner and used a few guest photos from the reception as well.

I’m looking forward to doing a book of our honeymoon photos and working on some books as a way of finally organizing the thousands upon thousands of photos we’ve taken over the years– and hopefully keeping it up in the future. I love the idea of having a bookshelf full of our photobooks, neatly organized by year or adventure or occasion, ready to be flipped through at any time. Having the captured moments on Flickr is nice, but having them in a book in one’s hand is even nicer.

There’s a lot of bah-hum-bugging about Valentine’s Day going around. When I’ve asked my attached friends about their Valentine’s plans, nearly all of them have said “eh, Valentine’s Day is dumb, we don’t do anything”– or something with that jist. You know what I mean. I don’t get it.

I appreciated this post at LittleBrownPen about a meaningful Valentine’s Day on a sparse budget ($20, to be exact). To me, this is the point of Valentine’s Day– a little reminder to just take some time to enjoy one another. It’s a good thing to do at this point in the winter. I’ll admit, my last solo February was in 1997, so maybe I’m not sensitive enough to the pains of being single on 2/14. But for those who are in a relationship, I don’t understand. I’m not talking about blowing big bucks on a hideous Valentine-themed diamond-encrusted piece of jewelry. But what’s so bad about getting out the crayons and drawing a heart for your beloved? Or carving out some extra time to spend together? Take an average Saturday and find a little extra romance in the melting snow, it’s good for you.

My husband and I spend a lot of time together– I think we’re very good at showing our appreciation and love for one another. That doesn’t mean we can’t find something to enjoy on a holiday that is all about L-O-V-E. Especially when it’s gray outside, when the hubster is bogged down with homework, and we’ve just had a crazy week. Ok fine, maybe Hallmark invented it (although National Geographic begs to differ), but still. I don’t see the perks of kicking St. Valentine in the shins– is there something to prove that I’m missing?

Tomorrow, our first married Valentine’s Day, we’ll make breakfast (cinnamon raisin french toast, freshly ground coffee, grapefruit). That Valentine of mine will spend a few hours working at his desk, I’ll go to yoga class. In the afternoon our plan is to check out some exhibits at a contemporary photography museum in the area followed by dinner, local beer, and conversation at a brew pub we’ve been meaning to try since we moved out here. Just us. Nothing fancy, but a little something different than a normal Saturday. A reason to slow down.

Why not kick the cynicism and enjoy one another tomorrow? Have a good conversation. Laugh a lot. Find a little romance in the every day. Cut a heart out of construction paper and give it to a cute boy or a pretty girl. I promise, Hallmark won’t get a dime.

It snowed again today, all day. I really do love snow, but this winter has been a bit much. I guess I should have splurged and bought those snow shoes this year.

Last week, in the midst of all the ice and cold, I convinced myself that spring will come eventually and signed us up for a farm share. Mountain View Farm is just around the corner from us, and from June through October we’ll be making a weekly visit to the farm to pick up our just-picked veggies. We’ll also be able to pick our own herbs, beans, berries, flowers, and peas. We’ll even be able to use the farm for walks and picnics. Since we’ll be getting tons of vegetables each week we’re sharing our share (ha) with a couple friends.

The ideas in the book The Omnivore’s Dilemma, by Michael Pollan have really influenced the way I think about food. With the farm share, we’ll be eating food that is grown so very locally, in a sustainable way. It’s not always easy to eat local and sustainably grown food, but at least for the summer and fall the farm share is a great solution.

Eating food grown and raised right here is heavily promoted around these parts. The area CISA (Community Involved in Sustaining Agriculture) is highly visible– their ‘Be a Local Hero’ bumper stickers are plastered all over Valley cars. Agriculture is a big part of the lifestyle and economy in this part of New England, and there is a sense of responsibility to keeping it that way.

Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) farms are getting more popular, and farm shares are even available in urban areas. To find a CSA farm in your area, check out Local Harvest. It’s good for you and good for your community.

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Photo by Flickr user Asmey145.

My dear friend Emily knit me these leg warmers and delivered them on Sunday. I haven’t owned a pair of these since dance classes as a little girl– I’m loving them.

Here’s Em last weekend, working on the leg warmers while Calvin catches a snooze.

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Top photo by me, bottom photo by Patrick.

This past weekend brought, in a two shifts, seven visitors from five states. It brought the closest hitting (so far) very-bad-news-as-a-result-of-the-economy as a good friend lost her job when the magazine she worked for folded. It brought cheering-up, Valentine-making, secret missions, Tetris-playing, jolly-making, and reminiscing. We drank wine and tea, made Valentines, crocheted hats and scarfs, played Tetris, strolled in Northampton, ate pizza and blondies and noodles and bagels, and of course talked and talked, laughed and laughed.
We always question why we have these gatherings in cold places in the dead of winter– vowing that next time we’ll go to Jennie in Houston. It seems backwards, but I think there’s a reason we tend to gather in the darkest, coldest months. By late January, togetherness is what we need. Filling our home with the energy and laughter of our friends sustains us at the time when we all long for sunlight and green grass. As last weekend came to a close and we all had to say our goodbyes, those friends left me feeling happy and warm and full of light.

Cake wreck ornament, Originally uploaded by pcorreia

Remember when I suggested that it would be amazing to have a replica made of our wedding cake wreck?

Well, our cousin Meg actually made us our very own wreplica ornament! Its accuracy is rather unbelievable– the cracks, the lopsidedness, the unfinished decoration– it’s a perfect image of the disaster. (Clicking on the photos will bring you to their Flickr pages where you can view them larger– the only way to fully appreciate the level of detail).

She created the cake as a Christmas ornament, but you better believe this baby is staying out and on display all year long.

Meg is amazingly crafty (she’s the one that designed and helped assemble our wedding invitations), and she has a brand new craft blog. Check out her handiwork and tales of their creation over at Mega*Crafty. You’ll want to add this blog to your Google reader, it’s good stuff.
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Photos by Patrick.

What an amazing set of events we all witnessed yesterday. I watched the live broadcast of President Obama’s inauguration alongside high school students and other employees of the school where I work, all of us gathered around a large screen set up in the dining hall, the room constantly erupting into applause. I walked back to the office with my co-workers later, all of us elated and breathless.

I’ve been thinking about how I will describe this moment in history to my future children and grandchildren, who will only know a world in which a black man can be President. I will tell them about election night, when across the country we danced in the streets. I will tell them about the doubts that existed during the campaign, how many times I heard people say that America will never elect a black man, or a man with the middle name Hussein, certainly not a black man named Barack Hussein Obama. But America did elect that man. I will tell them about the feeling among my generation, so jaded and so accustomed to not feeling represented– today we know what it feels like to have hope and faith. Some of us have already fallen back on the old jadedness (“His words are the same as Bush’s”, “He’s already letting us down”, “He’s just another politician”), but the rest of us are choosing to believe that this president is who he says he is, and we’re willing to give him the time to show us. I think when they ask about this moment, the images will speak best: the images from the campaign, from election night, and most of all the images from the inauguration ceremony. My favorite set of photos from yesterday is over at The Big Picture.

Amid all the large historic moments and pageantry, another thing stood out to me, and I’m sure you noticed it too: the love between the President and the First Lady. We don’t often see that kind of genuine love between people in the public eye. These two don’t just love each other– they really like each other. When they got out of the limo during the parade and walked down Pennsylvania Ave, they never let go of each other. Michelle alternated which hand she waved with, and whichever one wasn’t waving was holding her husband’s hand. And then of course, did you see the way they danced together at the balls last night?

Yesterday was refreshing and hopeful. I know we won’t all be getting ponies and 3-day work weeks, but I do think we’ve entered a new era of respect, accountability, and vision. Here’s hoping!

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photo: Reuters

Can you believe it’s finally here? What a day this will be.

As I mentioned, on Saturday we had a potluck dinner. Our new(ish) apartment is good for hosting things like this (although really, everyone clumps together, regardless of how much space there is. At one point in the night everyone was in the dining room and kitchen– the living room was totally deserted). While snow fell outside, our home was full of sweet and fun friends who brought delicious and cozy wintery things like:

• butternut squash and goat cheese casserole
• rice pilaf with pomegranate seeds and other special things
• sweet potato biscuits
• spinach-artichoke dip
• homemade bread
• greens with craisins and walnuts
• salad with hard ricotta (how did I not know this exists??), roasted beets, and pomegranate vinaigrette
• angel food cake with fruit and whipped cream
• chocolatey chocolate chip cookies
• mulled white wine sangria with all sorts of fancy fruits
• Panettone (which we forgot about until 1 AM and proceeded to rip into. We used the leftovers for french toast the next day. Delish.)

Patrick and I made the Tuscan lasagna recipe that his mom brought back from their recent trip to Italy. It was our first try at it, and I’m happy to report that it was very tasty.

Calvin joined the party, playing with whomever wanted to play, and plopping himself in various doorways so that he could keep an eye on all the action. We had a few offers of people wanting to trade us our playful/aggressive/crazy cat for their mellow cat… it was tempting, but we kept him. (This photo of Calvin is by Patrick, and it’s not from the other night, but you get the idea).