28 November 2011

Home

My word, that went by so fast! I am now back on the shores of blighty and much missing the US of A!
Its my first day back at work after a magical vacation, my email inbox overfloweth... and I dont fancy attending to a single one! Boo to work!

I have so much to tell you! Firstly Newport mansions, so spectaularly amazing and captivating I think I will do a whole seperate post on it! Suffice to say due to my 'Scanner' personality I am now hoovering up any books I can find on the Vanderbilts, who owned two of the largest mansions that we visited, filled to the brim with gold, marble and beautiful things.

I have roughly 350 photos, so as you can imagine picking just a few was tricky, so I will summarise some highlights:
1) me and mumsy: this is our 3rd trip to Boston together, last year we came in summer so it was sweltering but I think I like winter in Boston best, Its always sunny and crisp in Fall :) here we are in Boston Public Gardens


2) Faneuil Hall Christmas tree, the largest in New England and surrounded by lovely shops and cafes, lovely!

 3) The rotunda of the Boston Harbor Hotel: they have a variety of giant banners they hang from here, on thanksgiving it was the most patriotic....

4) The food: So good, so plentiful! I took pics of almost all our meals like a complete tourist! but this is a Boston Cream Pie and hot buttered Rum mmmmmmm :)

5) More decorations: I loved these giants baubles, scattered around our fave shopping mall, The Prudential, as though fallen from one giant tree!

6) The Museum of Fine Arts: we went to see a display called "Jewels, Gems and Treasures" Swoon!


7) 'Holiday High Tea' Oh, what a wonderful idea! high tea served during the festive season at Boston Harbor Hotel, christmas carols playing, champagne, festive themed teas (I had New England Christmas tea: apple and cranberry, and mumsy had Cinnamon Plum, both divine) snowflake cookies and many, many delicious cakes and pastries. These were homemade scones in cranberry and lemon and poppyseed flavour:




So, in my next post I'll tell you all about Newport, the Gilded age and how blimmin' awesome it must have been to be a vanderbilt!

xxx

18 November 2011

Holidays!

Just a quick post to express my excitment and nerves about flying to Boston tomorrow. Really looking forward to some thanksgiving festivities: Newport mansions for the decorations, Boston Harbor hotel for thanksgiving dinner, and lots of shopping and cocktail drinking!









XXX

8 November 2011

Crafting for Christmas and no.23

Im having a fine old time preparing for Christmas, Behold lino print wrapping paper and im also making sure I tick off number 23 on the list (decorate a christmas tree with food).

Meet the first of what should be a fabulous collection of Gingerbread men (what would be a good collective noun for gingerbread men? a troop of gingerbread men? a crunch of gingerbread men? a warmth of gingerbread men! yes I like that one)



7 November 2011

On Goals

I really enjoyed this article, (despite its rather silly title) and its' relevance to what I'm attempting to do with these lists of goals. As I suppose the underlying motivation to achieve such things as visiting New Orleans and owning a home, is that doing so will make me happy, or at least furnish me with new skills/knowledge. This article proposes that experiences and memories are better value than bought items, as they continue to bring joy and happy memories longer than objects of desire.

This article throws my goal into two distinct camps: experiences vs things which is a comparison I hadn't really thought of before. The author tells a nice story about a very expensive coat she yearned for but within weeks of purchasing this coat, it hung on the rack along with the others and wasn't particularly exciting any more: but the memory of sitting in said coat on a beach with her husband eating fish and chips brought about stronger positive feelings.

And whilst of course we will all continue to shop, a good rule of thumb is to ask yourself "will I remember this at the end of my life?" this seems very relevant when applied to my goals and prioritising them: I am certain visiting Miami, owning my first home and owning a dog are memories that will last me forever, owning an apple mac...I'm not so sure.

So dear readers, consider this before spending your hard earned clams....



XXX

1 November 2011

Halloween - Pet Cemetery

This weekend I was invited to the lovely Eleni's house for a Halloween party. The theme: pet cemetery. There were dead rabbits, peacocks, bees, mice, cats and several more abstract ideas...
I came as a ferocious sea serpent (see me below with a mad cow and strangled peacock!), and thoroughly enjoyed the Bloody Marys and good company!




xxx