New York for Thanksgiving-Part I

Night 1-Job and I took our traditional Thanksgiving trip to New York City last week and had a blast. We got to stay longer this year, 2 nights and 2 days, which was a lot of fun. We started out taking the bus Wednesday night from Boston and got into New York around 11pm. We went on this trip with some friends, who has a friend, who lives in Harlem so we got to stay there which was so nice :) It was a really cool apartment, newly renovated and complete with exposed brick. Thanks Megan!

Day 1-After staying up way too late talking we slept in on Thanksgiving day. No parade for us this year. Which was ok, it was nice to relax and skip the crowds. After rolling out of bed we went to a little deli and got a bagel (me) and muffin (Job) for breakfast, then wandered on over to Central Park for a leisurely stroll. The weather was PERFECT our whole trip there. Seriously, we could not have asked for more beautiful days. The sun was out, it was cool but still warm, ahhhh so lovely.

Then we made our way over to our Thanksgiving host's apartment in the upper West side of Manhattan (she was our friend's aunt. Yup, they had all the connections ;). Aunt Kay was so nice, and the food was awesome. She had a big group over for the meal and let me tell you, it was the most eclectic, interesting group of people. Job and I loved it! Just what you would expect from a group of New Yorkers. They knew the city well, they all had interesting, unique personalities, they were talented, they enjoyed the arts, had interesting style, they had traveled all over the world; such a fun experience talking to everyone.

Night 2-After dinner and games (Charades. Awesomeness.) we headed out to wander the city for a few hours. Rockefeller center, Times square, Radio City Music Hall, 30 Rock, the cute LOVE statue thing (you know the one I mean?), etc, etc... Some street food to finish the night and we were set.

To be continued in part II :)

Maine

Well hello again. I've got a list of things to catch up on so I'll just go ahead and start with this little gem:

Our day trip to Maine!

I had the day off work on Columbus Day and Job didn't have classes until the evening so we decided to head of to beautiful Maine to enjoy a little getaway. Neither of us had been to Maine and we just loved it. The weather was perfect, the Fall leaves looked amazing, and we did some really fun things. (yes I know, lots of pictures! And this was me editing down! ;)

We drove to Portland Maine first and wandered around a little craft market which was fun. It gave me inspiration on some Christmas gifts I want to make! We also met and chatted with this guy for a little while. He was a hardcore fisher/crab/lobster man and was lots of fun to talk to :)

After that we hopped on a ferry to Peaks Island. The ferry over was really fun, we passed some private islands with our future vacation home ;), saw a seal and lots of cool birds, and enjoyed the breeze.

Once we got to Peaks island (it is adorable!!) we rented a couple of bikes to do a bike ride all around the island (about 4 miles).
(*side story: we first were going to rent a tandem, and the guy said "do you want to try that first?" so we did, and then we decided to get separate bikes ;) haha but it was fun to try tandem for a while. I just have no coordination with it.)
This was my favorite part of the whole day. It was picturesque, the bike riding was so energizing and fun, and it was an awesome way to see this little island.
At one end of the island there was a little stand set up with this honey. How cute and trusting is that! We got a little bottle and I love it :)

After our ride around the island we wandered around on foot for a few minutes, went in some shops, and then took the ferry back to Portland. Then we headed down to Cape Elizabeth for a Lobster Shack meal (long line, awesome views, pretty good food), saw some lighthouses- including the famous one that you always see on things, called Portland Head (it is the oldest in ME too).

After Cape Elizabeth we started our little journey home so Job could catch his evening class. On the way home we got stuck in traffic because R.I.P.D. was being filmed on the highway that day (sheesh Ryan Reynolds, you made Job late for class ;)

It was such a wonderfully refreshing day trip. I can't wait to take visitors up there some time. Oh Maine, we shall be back again!

Oh I can't help it. I'm putting more on just for our personal enjoyment ;)

Another item off of our Boston Bucket List :) Yay, we are making good progress ;)

New England Fall

All right, I know Fall was so yesterday and I am way late with this post but I need to document a little bit of our Fall fun and the beautiful colors :) Then I promise I will come to reality that it is Winter ;)
Also, I just realized I posted a ton of pictures. I couldn't help it. I just loved the Fall here, it was so beautiful and new to me :) And trust me, the pictures just don't do it justice, the colors are so vibrant in person.

 A friend and I took a tour of Harvard where these next few pictures are from. It was a gorgeous day and the campus looked so pretty with the trees against the old brick buildings.

                                                     Memorial Church

 Job and I were on our way to somewhere when we saw this little nature trail by the Charles River. We couldn't resist. We stopped and took a little walk, took pictures, and enjoyed the colors :)

 

  This is a little historical cemetery near our house. We thought it was pretty cool.

 Job blindfolded me one Sunday to surprise me with a walk by the Charles downtown on the Cambridge side looking across to Boston. We pass it every week on our way to church and I have always wanted to stop and walk along it. So we did. And I loved it :)

I am excited for next year's Fall already. I want to take some trips to other parts of New England to capture more of the natural beauty.

We got up this morning and really felt the cold. Winter has come to Boston :)