3 day weekends are for...

finally watching the LOST finale,

and the 24 finale,

ordering a wetsuit,

washing cars,

getting a tan if the sun cooperates,

doing a little shopping,

cleaning the house,

harvesting some lavender

(because harvesting sounds so much cooler than plain ol' cutting),

grilling,

making jewelry,

exercising outdoors,

and a lot of other things.

they are certainly not for blogging,

so sorry for ya!

get outside and enjoy your weekend,

if you need me i'll most likely be in the garden...

just waiting for that hydrangea to burst open. can't believe how big the peony and lavender got this year!

decided to try something new this year and grow something edible.

tomatoes, 

jalapeno peppers,

cilantro,

bring on the fresh salsa!!

 spicy and regular basil,

wild strawberries,

and mint...

mojito anyone!?

the end of an era.

woot woot!

the demichele kids are officially done with school.

we're all adults.

haha oh that's just silly,

i get carded for everything,

how can i be an adult?!

at least we're all attempting to be adults.

weekend recap before we get to the good stuff.

the pictures!

friday:

m&i took the day off and flew into rhody.

toured the gardens (aka the backyard :)).

went to a fun irish bar in east greenwich for dinner

...Fat Belly's...don't ya just love the name?!

finished the night off with some tasty ice cream!

saturday:

drove up to beantown.

helped kara move into her new apartment in the seaport district.

spent about 16 hours and 1 million dollars at target.

so worth it, her place is super stylish now, 

cream/black/burgundy/lime color scheme going on in the bedroom,

ocean hues in the bathroom.

and can you really beat new sheets and towels?!

makes me think it's time to spruce up my own space...

saturday evening the true festivities began...along with the surprises!

marc and erin showed up for the partay.

lovely little spread of wine, cheese and treats in the 

Marriott Copley Place to kick off the food portion of the night.

then we headed to the Prudential Building to dine at the Top of the Hub.

we lucked out, the weather was perfect for crystal clear views of the entire city.

gorgeous!

and the food....wow...

kara and i went with the fixed three course menu

and for some reason we made the awesome decision

 to start with an appetizer of short rib and gnocchi.

let me repeat...

an appetizer...

of short rib...and gnocchi!!!

that could've been dinner, but hecks no....

follow it up with a giant veal chop and risotto.

yep, meat/pasta followed by meat/pasta.

these people really know how to make a girl happy!

and the finale...creme brulee!!!

quite possibly my favorite dessert ever.

ooooh....don't we look fancy!? and full! :)

late dinner = late night.

early morning on sunday. darn.

i attempted to swim in the hotel pool but it was about 4 feet long

 so i did some drills before deciding it was a waste of time.

sunday morning was filled with more moving and organizing.

we got over to the apartment and my grandparents 

and aunt & uncle showed up as a total surprise to kara.  

as if the weekend wasn't overwhelming enough, 

being completely stunned by unexpected visitors

 - in the middle of the streets nonetheless - 

created a bit of chaos and just a few happy tears!

'i just surprise easily!'...said the teary eyed graduate. too cute.

a short walk down from the apartment is my grandparents' favorite restaurant in boston.

Anthony's Pier 4 Restaurant.

it's in a SERIOUS timewarp.

but it still turns tables like crazy.

the menu is about 98% seafood,

so of course i had to laugh hysterically 

when nana sits down and got all excited to order prime rib

...when questioned on her selection she curtly replied

'oh, this is a seafood restaurant? i didn't know that!'

ha!

you literally have to search with 

all.of.your.might to find a non-seafood item!!

everyone was very happy though, 

who cared if they knew what was on the menu.

  

after lunch we drove around boston for a few hours

...only went 5 miles but took forever...

stupid traffic lights and polite pedestrian yielders...

and took a little detour to see an old college friend and their little baby.

then guess what it was time for...

you guessed it...

more food!

north end bound for amazing 

pasta and parmigiana

at Lucia's restaurant.

although i'm sure they would've had some phenom desserts,

when you're in the north end you MUST get a cannoli.

so says all the people waiting in line down the street!

we ended up at Mike's Pastry.

the cannolis were huge,

delicious,

filled to order...

i need to work there so i don't have to wait in line!

and that brings us to...

duuunhh duhnaaahhhh 

(sound of a trumpet playing in my brain/out loud)

graduation day!!!

boy was it a hot one!

we arrived at the stadium at 8:30 for the 9:30 procession.

it was already too hot to sit in the non-shaded area of the stands, 

so we setup shop far away but in a cool seat.

poor little graduates had to sit out on the sweltering

 astroturf field for about 5 hours.

in polyester.

i hear there were lots of naps taken out there.

smart kids.

and just as quickly and chaotically as the weekend began,

it was over.

and we were racing off of the boston college campus

before the cops ticketed us for overstaying our welcome 

in that nice little illegal parking spot we snagged.

check out all of the pictures by following the links below:

Top of the Hub

Anthony's Pier 4

Commencement

confession:
it just took me a good 65 minutes to write this post.
reason being, the tv is on and it's not dvr.
my brain gets a little crazy when i have to watch commercials...
'oooh....goody spinpin...does cool looking things to your hair. i wanna try it!'
'whaaat....i didn't know aziz ansari is in that new movie (get him to the greek), 
now i def need to see it'
'ah hahaha....chili's new slogan "it's all in the pepparation" 
makes me giggle, plus my dad would totally say it'
why am i watching this junk!?

be back tomorrow!

i've been super busy...

packing 

and unpacking

and repacking

and organizing

and cleaning

and moving out

and moving in...

and none of it for me!

bad for blogging,

good for my sister :).

she's officially an alum

and all settled into her new place.

wow, what a great little space she found.

what a whirlwind weekend,

wouldn't trade it for the world!

pics tomorrow.

pinky swear.

the graduate.

dear baby sister,

i am so glad that this little pipsqueak 

...who only spoke to others by whispering to mom...

grew up to become one of the most unique, intelligent and exciting people i know.

you have taught me more than you could understand..

how to laugh uncontrollably, even at myself,

how to act insane and not give a what about who's watching,

wearing funky clothes because eventually people will realize how cool you are,

how to truly enjoy life, no matter what,

the list is unending.

watching you blossom into the woman you are today has been an 

amazing and hilarious journey.

i can't wait to see what you do next because i am certain it will be fantastic!

WHAT.DO.YOU.MEAN 

you're graduating from college today?!

i simply cannot believe it.

congratulations!!

xoxoxo!

that means i love you.

lots. and lots.

always.

perch!

stotesbury regatta

i'm up in boston with the fam,

helping my sister move out of her dorm

and into her brand-spanking-new apartment.

eventually there will be pictures.

but for the time being here are some from my adventure

with andrea and little alexander last weekend...

we drove into philly,

boathouse row to be precise,

to watch 1500 high school students row their hearts out

on the schuylkill river.

don't let the wikipedia picture fool you,

it's brown and sludgy.

can't wait to swim in it for the triathlon.

gag.

awwwhh.
looks like someone didn't get permission from their mom to shave their head.

sad!

haha.

did i forget to mention that freshman year at

Villlanova

i was on the crew team?

not so certain why i decided to

devote my first year of college to waking up at 4:30am,

but i am definitely proud to say that i was part of that team.

if only for a short while.

mmmm...

unisuits make everyone look sexy!

hahahha.

note the insane shortness of my hair too.

we won the frosh light8 at DadVails that year.

got some of our rowing footage in a commercial for the regatta 

that ran in philly for a few years afterwards too.

15 seconds of fame? 

holler!

the house that built me.

this is my house.

my home.

i haven't been a true resident here in years.

my bedroom has changed.
but it's still mine.

maybe just a little fancier thanks to a 
healthy homegoods obsession shared by me and my mother.

the room over the garage was finished over 10 years ago.

yet it's still referred to as "the new room".

the grandfather clock has a new home but still chimes the same.

the piano has been replaced 
but the new one can still handle my dad playing a mean version of 
'Batman'. 
the best breakfasts are made here. 

there's new carpet,

a new patio,

new driveway,

new windows and doors,

plants have quadrupled in size,

the list goes on

but it's still the same.

it's still mine and always will be.


today i get to go back.

just for a night,

it's never long enough,

but i'll take it.

seems like miranda lambert knows exactly how i feel...

ps.

mom, 

seriously, 

put the napkins back in the correct drawer.

they've lived there for too many years and they don't deal well with change!

xo.

the great outdoors,

spring is finally here to stay.

guess that means it's time to get the garden in order.

i really enjoy gardening and see everything in full bloom while sitting out on the deck.

unfortunately we don't have a ton of garden space.

but it's enough to take up a considerable amount of time for the first few weekends of warmer weather.

this year most everything had matured nicely 

so only a few filler items were needed.

plus about 20 bags of mulch.

i swear that stuff shrinks as soon as it comes in contact with the ground.

how is it possible that no matter how much you buy you ALWAYS need more than anticipated?!

sheesh!

gardening = great.

 being swarmed by wasps and hornets = not so great.

 michael and his friend, and two cans of Raid, came to my rescue.

a whole bunch of ninja moves were involved in getting these bees killed.

drop kicking furniture,

 running and jumping,

emptying cans of hazardous chemicals into the earth.

highly entertaining.

especially when observing from a distance!

while we're on the subject of my backyard i feel it necessary to give you a complete experience, so here ya go...

open a window or sit outside

in my 2 mile town

and you will inevitably be greeted with the sound of 

barking dogs, 

laughing children,

screeching trains,

and this...

  

yes of course i have stood in line with the neighborhood hoodlums to get an ice cream treat.

the creepy ice cream man might also sell drugs, can't be certain.

garden pics coming soon!

Festivals, Carnivals and Fairs, oh my!

confession:

i love festivals.

and carnivals.

not just because they rhyme...

and therefore could be incorporated into one kick-butt rap song.

i love them because no matter how much people scoff at them,

every year they come back around.

and they're super hokey.

they remind you that it's time to get outside.

it's time to marvel at wild and crazy things...

like adults participating in a pie eating contest.

or the fact that parents guard their kids from all foreseeable danger

yet allow them to ride on rickety carnival rides because hey, when someone sets up a deathtrap right at the end of the street you've GOTTA try it out! 

and of course it's time to eat the food that we love but only can find when the right event rolls into town.

so when i received a text from a friend at 8:30 on a saturday morning 

(yes, of course i was up already)

 inviting me to the strawberry festival in peddler's village, 

i thought:

"wait, what?! a strawberry festival?! 

it's the beginning of may, 

it's not strawberry season!"

ha no, my mom thought that, 

i just thought

"YIPPEE!! A FESTIVAL! I'M IN!!"

so we went.

and we ate everything strawberry.

and we marveled at the people selling their wares.

and gawked at the people wearing crazy hats.

and in my mind i was as excited as a small child 

and probably would've acted exactly like one

...you're never too old for a balloon animal...

but since she actually has a very adorable small child,

i let him do all of the small child things instead.

i didn't even fight him for his pretzel :).

oh yea,

and i love fairs too.

preferably quaint county fairs.

but that didn't rhyme so i saved it 'till the end.

tying up loose ends.

the 30/30 challenge is over.

it has been.

i've just been a jerk that made you look at 27 pairs of shoes

and then left you hanging.

by a shoestring.

i'm happy to say that i succeeded.

no repeats!

i even continued it a few days afterwards to make sure all of the shoes got their fair wear.

it also pointed out the couple pairs that really needed be given away.

but honestly, there are only so many shoe pics the world can take.

so here's the final stretch...

one more black pair on thursday.

new MaxStudio strappy heels.

a punch of pink on friday.

these are on their way out the door,

just need to find a replacement pair!

and finally,

drum roll please....

the neatest shoes i own.

custom painted by a little old lady in a london market.

present from the sis last year!

    

big ben, city hall, and my age floating in the london eye.  too cool!

So over being whelmed

blog, i have not abandoned you.

i'm sorry for my disappearance,

but i'm back.

promise!

it's just that life got in the way.

life. and sucky work.

and so i did what i do best when the world is trying to drown me.

i shut down.

and hence the lack of blog magic.

but i've decided that i'm over it.

totally.

i just don't have time in my day to fret over things that are out of my control.

or things that don't matter.

time to do things that i actually want to do.

like blog about all of the bizarre-o things that consume my day.

duh.

so i'm back.

for real.

stay tuned...

goodness is coming your way!

oh and mr.mac...

you can try to throw that tricky little red dotted spell check line under 'whelmed' all you like.

but i'm not buying it. 

it's a word.

might be listed as an archaic word.

but i'm bringing it back.

so there.