"this is the story you wanted to write, well tonight is the night that you can..."

As I posted on facebook- Guess where we are?! The 14-yr-old girl in me is going wild right now.

 Logan took me to Newsies on Broadway in NYC for our anniversary!

It was really good. It took a little getting used to because the characters were a little different (I mean- who can really play Cowboy except Christian Bale?) and they changed the lyrics to some of the songs (which I probably only noticed because I'm a long-time fanatic) but overall the show was great. I'm so glad we got to go!

We spent the day in New York and wandered around doing touristy stuff.

We got "NYC's best hot dogs" from a vendor on Times Square:

We went to the Empire State building, (look how cool the floor in there is. It was so pretty)

We went into M&M world and got a picture with this guy on our way out:

We visited the daily planet: 

We stumbled upon this cool thing I've been wanting to take a picture by for years:

And we finished the trip with ice cream cones in Central Park:

We also had some other terrifying and hilarious subway experiences along the way, as well as the worst taxi driver in the history of taxis and drivers. Which I think means we got the whole New York experience. :)

Sidenote: I found out in the morning while getting ready that New York LOVES my hair. My hair does not reciprocate the adoration. 

It took a minute and a good amount of water to calm this down to an acceptable level. 

For a second there things were a bit reminiscent of my hair in the old days, as my mother so recently reminded me:

Are you jealous yet?

"this is really happening...it gets better"

YOU GUYS. It's been sunny and warm, and I am so happy about it.

Me. Being happy about it. 

Yesterday Logan officially finished his first year of school! I can't believe how fast this is going. We went out to dinner to celebrate, and we tried to go see The Great Gatsby, but it was sold out. (we went tonight instead.)

While we were downtown we walked through Boston Public Gardens, which I love doing. It's so pretty, they do a really great job keeping it up. There are swirly bushes and flowers of just about every color- right now there are tons of different tulips- and trees everywhere that have pretty blossoms that smell wonderful. I like sitting in the gardens and people watching.

The sunshine felt like it was filling me up and restoring all the energy I lost while hibernating over the winter. I think springtime here might be my favorite. It might be a little early to judge that, but I'm optimistic.

I really like Boston. I like riding the subway and seeing all the different musicians that play down there. Tonight there was a guy playing reggae. Last night 2 guys were playing some sort of peruvian music with a pan flute and such, and they were really good. People were dancing while waiting for the train, which made me laugh.

 A couple weeks ago I was riding in a really packed subway car and I looked over and saw a unicorn riding with us. Minding his own business. Basically like this guy,

only with lots more people around, on a subway, and perhaps slightly not as well dressed. 

I'm just saying, you never know what a trip into the city will bring and I like that. It's a fun place to be. 

"Oh, I had one friend by my side.... Now I have two... him and you..."

This morning I walked outside my apartment and was greeted by the salty smell of the ocean. Heaven. It's funny how some things can make your whole day just seem happier in an instant.

Logan bought me some watercolors a few months ago, which I've never used before. I mean, not since kindergarten. I read somewhere that you have to paint 100 paintings until you can decide if you're any good at it or not. While I'm not sure I'm getting any better at it, I've been having fun experimenting and playing with it.

Anyway, yesterday I decided to do some spring cleaning. While doing that I hung one of them up in the bathroom. I give you- Pete's Dragon.

I spent the rest of the day walking around with the songs in my head, which was fine, but especially amusing when I got to sing dragon. I don't mean to brag, but I do a pretty awesome Elliott. "boo bop bopbop..."

Some time later that night I got a phone call, and then a mysterious text from "carlos." It went a little something like this:

I'm not sure what was happening, but I'm pretty sure we bonded. I mean, how could we not?

"the stars are gonna guide me, i'll follow 'til I reach that brave new shore..."

This week has been a good one. Last Saturday we went into Boston to enjoy the day.
On our way there we stopped at the beach which is about 15 minutes from our house and right by the subway station. We decided to film a video for Earth Day, and the beach seemed like a pretty place for it.

At least...that's what I thought until the wind hit me and I realized I could barely hold the camera because I was shivering. The video is here: I apologize in advance for the shakiness. I was trying, unsuccessfully, to hold still but there's only so much I can do with 50 degree weather! Also, if you listen at the end, I got to sing along with Logan on this one, which was fun.




 It was nice to be back in the city after the almost week-long lockdown that had been happening. There were people everywhere,  and we wandered along with them. It was sunny and pretty, and we walked through a couple parks in the middle of Boston.

The next day we filmed another video for Earth day, because Logan got a banjo he was super psyched about. Um, again, I was misguided by the sunshine and ended up shivering while filming. Please don't judge me. Next time I'll bust out the tripod if we do another one before summer!



Yesterday was our 1 year anniversary. I'm pretty sure this was the quickest year of my life so far. It seems so strange that it was a year ago we were getting married.
This year has been a whirlwind!

We had dinner and dessert plans in Boston and I was all ready to go when suddenly this person came wandering into the living room.

Breaking news: Beardy has left the building. I repeat: the beard is gone. 

After I picked my jaw up off the floor I realized it was Logan.

I'd almost forgotten what his face looks like!
He's a little bit heartbroken and I'm still a little bit stunned. Ha ha.

We had a great day celebrating and he gave me a gift that I am so crazy excited for- I will be posting a picture of it later.

This year has been amazing! 

Boston Marathon

This morning was the first sunny day we've had in what feels like so long. I was excited, but bundled up anyway knowing that just because there is sunshine here, warmth doesn't inevitably follow. (insert sad face.) Logan teased me a little because I always seem to be cold and then we headed out on the subway into the city. Today was the Boston marathon, and also a holiday in Boston, "Patriot's Day", so Logan had no school and we thought we'd spend our time together at the festivities downtown. I was happy. It was sunny, it was warmer than it's been in a long time, and there were people everywhere. There was a sense of excitement for what we would see, and experiencing something new. We were going to be right there where people from all over the world were accomplishing their dream. Probably crossing this marathon off their bucket list.

When we got to the city, we were planning on heading to Copley Square, where the marathon finish line is. We figured there would be lots of things going on down there. I was suddenly starving on the subway and told Logan we should get lunch first. We stopped off about a mile from the marathon finish and as we were walking towards where we'd be eating lunch, we heard a huge boom. We looked around, but didn't see anything, and I assumed there was some sort of building construction demolition going on down one of the other streets. I guess my first thought just wasn't "tragedy".

We ate lunch, and when we finished, we walked outside and headed toward the finish line. I started looking around and enjoying the day when a big group of people passed us with the strangest looks on their faces. The only emotion I could read was fear. I turned to Logan and said "they all looked terrified." He agreed, and then I noticed the sirens on the street ahead of us. I looked around and noticed more people huddling together as they walked quickly past. We turned a corner onto the main street and Logan got a text from his school about bombs going off at the finish line. Suddenly it seemed to be everywhere. Everyone we passed was talking abut it. To each other, or on the phone. This many injured, this many bombs, subways shut down, etc, etc.

We walked further down the street and saw a group of people huddled around looking into a store window. I stopped to see what they were looking at, and there was a TV broadcasting the news that was just a few blocks from where we were standing.

We watched for a few minutes and everything seemed surreal. So many hurt. People looking for their families. After a few minutes we decided to move on, further from the explosions. We went over to Faneuil Hall to decide what to do next. We tried to go into a store there but they told us they were closing and that the Mayor was having everyone evacuate the city. "Go home and be safe" the girl told us as she shut the doors.

We waited there outside for awhile, watching people and trying to make any sense out of something that can't be made sense out of. We listened to sirens that seemed to surround us in every direction and heard people talking to loved ones letting them know they were alive and okay... and then we were able to get on a subway and head home.

Now that we're away from all the bustle and excitement and commotion it's starting to sink in a little more. It's so sad watching everything on the news. I can't believe how close we were to it all. My heart goes out to those injured and their family members in this tragic turn of events.

After watching the video clips people recorded, I was struck by the people in the videos they showed that were running to help. Strangers helping strangers. It's enough to fill your heart back up a little after so much sadness. Even with so much bad happening, there still seems to be room for a lot of good, too. 

Yesterday I got bored with my hair and cut some bangs. I didn't realize until afterwards that this basically left me with the same haircut I had as a kid...