http://www.flickr.com/photos/timony/ / CC BY-NC-SA 2.0
Well, this isn’t so much about what I like, but what Bostonians like. There was a nice post a few weeks ago on the b0s0ton livejournal community about what Bostonians and former Bostonians liked about the city. You should check out the comments yourself, but here are some of my favorites:
- Walking. Everywhere.
- Going out to the fort at the tip of South Boston and watching planes take off and boats go by
- Seeing John Hancock leading tourists around
- A blizzard in Harvard Square where it’s so empty you can hear the streetlights clunk from red to green
- Local breweries
- Crews teams practicing on the Charles
- Used bookstores
- The way everyone stops what they’re doing and looks out the window when the red line crosses the river between Charles/MGH and Kendall
- Marriage equality
- Regionalisms: bubbler, frappe/milkshake, jimmies, wicked, packie, Worcester
- Not owning a car
- Ice cream galore
- 4th of July fireworks and roof decks
- Seasons, for better or for worse
- The view coming over the Tobin bridge just before dark
- The lit-up trees along the Comm Ave. mall
- Hearing the roar of the crowd (and the announcers!) as you walk down the street during a baseball game
- Day trips to picture-postcard-esque towns like Gloucester, Newburyport, Portsmouth, etc.
- Trinity Church vs. the John Hancock Building
- When people dress up the duckings in the Pubic Garden
- The Citgo sign
Now I feel better about the 3 months of winter we have ahead of us. What are your favorite things?
I love my non-bridezilla friend.
All I ask is one thing, and I’m asking this particularly of young people: please don’t be cynical. I hate cynicism, for the record, it’s my least favorite quality and it doesn’t lead anywhere. Nobody in life gets exactly what they thought they were going to get. But if you work really hard and you’re kind, amazing things will happen. -Conan O’Brien
Never grow a wishbone, daughter, where your backbone ought to be.
— Clementine Paddleford
Bad news, friends. My Darcy calendar ends at the end of the month, which leaves me searching for a new calendar for 2010.
I wanted a calendar for my office that features the ubiquitous Keep Calm and Carry On image, but there are only two options out there and I’m not really a fan of either. What to do? Make my own, of course. These aren’t perfect, but I love them anyway.
- “It does not do to dwell on dreams and forget to live.” -Dumbledore, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone
- In honor of my birth month, we have lyrics from John Mayer’s Stop This Train
- Adapted from the 1997 Apple “Think Different” campaign
- “Well behaved women rarely make history.” -Laurel Thatcher Ulrich
- “If you obey all the rules, you miss all the fun.” -Katharine Hepburn
- You can wear the t-shirt too
- Get this on a sticker from CREDO action!
- One of the three original posters from WWII
- Modernizing an old FDR quote
- Rhett Butler and his southern charm
- The Olympic motto: Faster, Higher, Stronger
- Another Latin quote, but translated this time
There are many variations of this online. What’s your favorite?
I ran across Elizabeth Dye’s charming blog the other day and had to share it with you. Elizabeth owns a boutique in Portland, OR called The English Dept. Her blog features dresses from her Spring 2010 collection, in which each dress is named after a literary heroine.
Honeychurch
Ghost
Persuasion
In 1994, Congress passed legislation encouraging Americans to observe the King Holiday as a national day of service that brings people together from different backgrounds to meet needs in their community. The Corporation for National and Community Service was designated as the lead federal agency to execute the King Day of Service. Participation has grown every year since then its inception. The King Day of Service provides American the opportunity to celebrate the life and legacy of Dr. King through service to meet local and national needs. For more information, visit www.Serve.gov/MLKDay or http://www.mlkday.gov/.
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If you have Monday off, think about dedicating part of your day to community service. There are tons of very interesting opportunities that should fit multiple interests and needs. (Although the girl scout one sounds particularly cruel! There is nothing fun about exercising while staring at girl scout cookies.) You can get more information on community service projects for both MLK Day and other days at the following sites:
- Serve.gov
- Bostoncares.org
- Single Volunteers Boston (multitask, people!)
- YAVA (Young Adult Volunteer Association. The website isn’t much, but the emails are informative.)
- United Way
If you don’t have time, charities could also use money. Consider donating 1 hour’s worth of your wages to the Haiti disaster relief effort. The New York Times has a comprehensive list of charities on their website.
I love my 2 month old niece, but sometimes her hair is just out of control. In an effort to mitigate this situation, I’m making G a few headbands to give her hairline some style.
I used this tutorial from Wise Craft in order to make flowers for the headbands. I made two modifications. (1) I’m not using a button in the center since this is for a baby and I don’t want her to choke. I’m going to attach the flower to the elastic of the headband in the center using yellow thread. (2) After I stitched all the layers together, I made a loose, round gathering stitch in the center of the bottom two (larger) layers. I pulled the beginning of the stitch so that it scrunched up a bit, giving the flower some more dimension. (Otherwise, I found it to be fairly flat.)
You can see more on the flickr fabric flower photo pool. Next, I’m going to try a tutorial from Calamity Kim on how to make fabric roses. Wish me luck!
Check out this fierce lady:
Resolution 1: Study Like a Mofo
Resolution 2: Edit my wardrobe
Resolution 3: Travel more
I was limited by funding in 2009, so I didn’t get a chance to go abroad. I took several trips to Atlanta for weddings, and also managed to get to Portland ME, the Cape, Providence, Michigan, New Hampshire and DC (twice!). I want to do a few more domestic road trips in the summer of 2010. Moreover, I’m hoping to get in at least 2 trips abroad. One to Brazil and one TBD. Morocco? Ireland? Spain? I’ll keep stalking sales and figure something out.
Heads up– today is the last day to book sale tickets to Belize for Winter travel. When it’s still cold in Boston in March it’s warm everywhere else. Take advantage of this.
Where are you going in 2010?
