Scenes From The Land Of Sea And Sun

Last Saturday we snuck out of Logan airport between a power outage and a snowstorm and were quite thankful to have a stress-free trip down to the Caribbean. While we were in Antigua, we essentially sat on the beach for six days...lazy and proud of it. We took a catamaran sail around the island which provided an interesting perspective on other parts of the country, although the rough waters of the Atlantic Ocean also provided some not so happy stomachs. 

But what a wonderful week! It was refreshing to get away from the snowy Northeast and actually feel warm, no, HOT for a few days. The sand was white, the food was delicious, and the company was a delight. After a couple years pressing pause on our travels, getting back out there reignited my interest in exploring and I'm anxious to start planning our next journey!

Please Please Please Please Please!

Cross your fingers, kids. Cross your toes. With an enormous amount of luck and perhaps a tiny break from mother nature, this will be our view in a few short days. I feel like the stars would need to align to actually get us there given the utter disaster that is Boston, but let's try a new thing and be optimistic. Will also accept donations of sunny thoughts and tranquil skies.  

Dinner And The Oscars - Part Two

This past Saturday morning we woke up unsure what to do with the day. Hadn't made any plans and didn't have anything that absolutely had to get done. We ended up running some relatively boring errands but also buying a new car (ha!) then enjoying a really fun, spur of the moment night out in Portsmouth.

It's funny to call the evening spur of the moment because it turns out we did the exact same thing one night last March. I'm quick to refer to anything that happens twice a tradition, so I officially declare a yummy dinner out followed by the Oscar-nominated animated short films our newest tradition. Fun!

We started at Black Trumpet, a cozy restaurant tucked on a side street across from the Moran Towing tugboats that guide large ships through the Piscataqua River. We shared some small plates included an insanely delicious beet tortellini and a truffled greens salad served over a warm bed of gooey swiss cheese. Everything was amazing including the white chocolate and peppermint mousse tart. Drool.

Then off to the Music Hall Loft to watch the Oscar nominated animated shorts. The Loft is a little downtown venue owned by the much larger Music Hall a few doors down. We saw five nominated films and three "highly commended" ones that ranged from two to eighteen minutes. Perfect for my continuously waning attention span. We didn't agree on our favorites. I liked "Feast," which featured an adorable puppy spoiled with all kinds of human food until his owner's girlfriend enters the picture. Simon preferred "The Bigger Picture," a darker, painted-looking film about two brothers and their dying mother. We also enjoyed "Me and My Moulton," a comical Norwegian tale about three sisters and a new bike. The Oscars websites offers trailers of all of the nominated films here. 

A Poem For The Snow

Lines for Winter
Mark Strand

Tell yourself
as it gets cold and gray falls from the air
that you will go on
walking, hearing
the same tune no matter where
you find yourself--
inside the dome of dark
or under the crackling white
of the moon's gaze in a valley of snow.
Tonight as it gets cold
tell yourself
what you know which is nothing
but the tune your bones play
as you keep going. And you will be able
for once to lie down under the small fire
of winter stars.
And if it happens that you cannot
go on or turn back
and you find yourself
where you will be at the end,
tell yourself
in that final flowing of cold through your limbs,
that you love what you are.