Unflattering Photos... but the cut is cute!

Halloween 2009

My Halloween was several weeks ago, I babysat for a kid's Halloween party, and I borrowed J's ranger uniform for the occasion. J was headed out for a party this evening and decided to use the same costume.

But since apparently when you're an adult everything has to be "sexy" to be a costume, he used my parents' idea to become a "sexy ranger".

How lucky am I to have this guy!?Yeah baby show off that leg!!
Ready for action!!! I think we could call this Ranger Dangle... instead of Lieutenant Dangle.
In the end he decided he didn't know the other people at the party well enough to show off that much skin... don't want to be a slut.
He's still definitely ready for anything the holiday might throw at him!
In other news, that incredibly bright thing to the left of my oh-so-hot bf is my new running/biking vest. Good to know it's fabulously reflective! I dare cars not to notice me now. Ha ha ha!

Happy Halloween!

Hoarding

Autumn is in full swing so that means harvest vegetables everywhere. And my favorite is definitely squash! So delicious!

J says I'm hoarding it, but I don't care. It stays good for a long time and is so delicious. There are a few up here that I don't remember seeing before, so we're trying some new ones and sticking with some old favorites.

The photo below is supposed to be lengthwise, but the computer (or Blogspot) isn't cooperating. So the 2009 fall line up is, clockwise from the top, a buttercup squash, a sugar pumpkin, a spaghetti squash, an acorn squash, a butternut squash and a uchiki kuri squash. The sugar pumpkin is cut up because it's about to go in the oven to be roasted as part of dinner - pumpkin risotto! YUM!

Aren't squash beautiful?

Ok, this might be verging on obsession, but I love fall and I love squash! I'll let you know what we think of them all.

Anyone have a recipe suggestion?

I'm So Blue

So last night J and I went downtown. This is big for us. You may think we're young twenty-somethings who go out on the town all the time, but truthfully we're senior citizens trapped in the bodies of young people. Most nights we get home from a combination of class and work and are exhausted. Sometimes I drag myself to the gym, but if I don't go straight there from work we usually hang out at home cooking, eating, reading, watching some tv and getting ready for the next day. Most nights we're in bed by 10pm. Yup, we're living the city life.

But last night was different I was able to get tickets to a show through work so we were off to see the Blue Man Group!
The Blue Man group has been in Boston for years and there's signs all over the city advertising. We've wanted to check them out for a few months and now seemed like the perfect time. So, at a time when we would normally be cleaning up from dinner and getting ready for Jeopardy! (yes, we're so old we watch Jeopardy! every single night) we got on the T and headed for the Theater District downtown; a part of downtown we rarely go to.

Blue Man Group performs at the Charles Playhouse, tucked away in a back alley of the Theater District. I'm not sure why, but I was expecting a huge theater. In reality it was tiny little place, probably wouldn't hold more than 200 people. Our seats were row 3, dead center which happened to be directly in the "Poncho Zone". That's right, we got there and they had provided clear ponchos for us. This did not bode well.
The show itself was actually more fun than either one of us thought it would be. Music, paint, comedy, acting, audience participation, strobe lights... it really had a little bit of everything. We laughed hysterically, almost got covered in paint and "vomit", tried and catch marshmallows in our mouths, learned some rock concert moves, had thought-provoking lessons on art and coffee houses and got TP'd. Overall it was a blast.
If you're ever in Boston, or any other city that has the Blue Man Group, J and I would HIGHLY recommend checking it out. In fact, we'd probably go again in a different city to see what they do!

Seriously??

Well I said I was going to try and update the blog more often... and apparently the forces that be decided that meant some interesting stuff should happen to me.

In retrospect I should have kept my mouth shut.

This is my bike. It was my Dad's bike but he donated it to the cause of getting me to work in 20 minutes instead of 45. It is also apparently indestructible. A bit like my first car, a 1986 Volvo.
Wednesday on my way home from work a woman ever so kindly threw her driver's side door open into the lane and with approximately 2 seconds to impact I didn't have time to brake or swerve enough. It was Dana v. Car Door and Car Door definitely won.

The bike hit the inside of her open door, stopped and flung me into the road. Luckily traffic was stopped at a light and I landed on the pavement between two cars. After laying there for a good 10 seconds doing a quick once over of my own body to make sure nothing was broken or bleeding I got up and pulled the bike to the sidewalk. The driver seemed vaguely upset, but I would have appreciated a little more concern.

It was a lot like this video, except that she was coming OUT of the car, I didn't have time to move and there was a line of traffic stopped to my left.



A man walking his dog passing me informed me that a policeman had been driving by and was now parked and on his way over. At this point I got pretty dizzy and my right ear got all muffled and he took the liberty of calling EMS. So now me and my stupid little self have 3 police cars, 2 ambulances and 1 firetruck blocking a major intersection. At rush hour.

EMS gave me some oxygen (that stuff is nice) and checked me out, but I was given the all clear. Then I filled out the accident report with the policeman and the stupid driver (who was still showing very little remorse). Then I picked up my bike and walked the 2 blocks home. It's true, most accidents happen within a half mile from home.

Damage to the bike? After a full inspection this was all I could find...
I however, have some road rash, minimal bruising and a ridiculous amount of soreness.
That's it for the face...
My right shoulder hit the pavement pretty hard but was cushioned by a sweater and a windbreaker... actually, looking at that photo can you tell I also had on a backpack with a very padded strap? You can totally see the line where the backpack went! Shoulder is REALLY sore today. Hurts to move it much, a lot like my neck. Whiplash is no fun.
And then there's my knee. Can you tell it's a little swollen? It's better than last night, I couldn't even bend it then. It's bendable now, but doesn't like to be stood or walked on.
Based on the soreness and stiffness and overall trauma of it all I took a day off work. I'll be the poster girl for Motrin tomorrow and go back to work.

Remember kids: ALWAYS WEAR A HELMET!!

Photos

It hurts to live. Stairs are my new nemesis.

Find me. I'm in the pink shirt. All these photos were taken in the last 1.75 miles. So if I look like crap it's because I've been running for almost (or over in the bottom two) an hour.

Playing Catch-Up

Hello blog world. I apologize in advance for the underlining, but have no idea how to fix it. Gotta love technology.
So here's a quick update of September and October so far. Still have NO idea how it's almost the middle of October.

Mid-September was "The Nightman Cometh", a live musical put on by the cast of Jared's favorite show: It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia. While the House of Blues was HORRIBLE (seriously, don't EVER EVER EVER go to the one in Boston), and the opening act was awkward and out of place, the show itself was just what we wanted. Off-color and hilarious.

I also ran a race (wait, where did the underline go?!) as part of a sort-of-kind-of team effort for the college I work for. It was called the Mission Hill (it's a neigborhood of Boston) 5K. I was unaware of just what they meant by hills. I'm fairly certain that no more than .25 of the 3.1 mile total was even remotely flat. The uphills hurt my muscles and the downhills hurt my bones. Good times.

After the race we checked out the Allston Street Fair. It was ok. Loud and lots of free stuff, but interesting nonetheless. On the way home from it we stopped at a bike store to pick up a new seat for my newly refurbished bike. I ride the bike to work since it takes my commute from 45 to 20 minutes. Downhill on the way to work and uphill on the way home. It's quite the workout.
Here's another shot of the street fair.
We also finally took advantage of a very generous birthday gift card and took ourselves out to Aquitaine Bis up in Chestnut Hill. After a wonderfully leisurely meal we both decided it made the top 5, maybe even top 3 best meals EVER. Definitely recommend Aquitaine if you're in Boston and up for spending a little more for a truly amazing meal.
This past weekend J's parents were in town to visit. Got to see some stuff in Boston and spend time with them, which was fun.

Today, with my Columbus Day off, I ran the Tufts Health Care 10k for Women. That's right folks, apparently I lost my mind and decided it would be fun to run 6.2 miles at once. Here's me before. It's a terrible photo of me, but whatever.

There's me crossing the finish line... one of 8,000 who completed the course. It actually was really really fun and I never had to walk. Didn't know I had 6.2 miles in me! Who knows, maybe I'm more of a long-distance gal and not a shorter and faster person. I'm definitely of the slow-and-steady tribe. I'm ok with that.

This afternoon J and I were feeling very autumnal so we decided to make some soups/casseroles/stews for freezing. In addition to the containers below, we had a LOT of chili for dinner and have a large container of cassoulet saved for tomorrow.
The top left 4 are vegetable soup, the top two right are chili. Under the veggie soup is spiced butternut squash (we used our new immersion/stick blender: FUN!!!!) and the bottom two right are the cassoulet.

I think we're good for the next few weeks. Up this week to use up some other ingredients and have more frozen is lasagna and herbed chevre tarte. Yum!

And that's the update! I'll try and update more often from now on, I promise. Enjoy your fall!!