Thanksgiving 2009

Even though we are far from family we were fortunate to have a wonderful Thanksgiving with great friends. I hosted my first Thanksgiving meal and our good friends Lisa & Dan Hadley and Amelia & Barry Sorenson came over.

It was a lot of fun making a beautiful Thanksgiving table. We used our china and crystal for the first time (since we got it for our wedding 4 1/2 years ago) along with our table cloth from Damascus that we bought this summer and some really pretty chargers that my sister-in-law bought me for my birthday.

Adam & I also stayed up late Wednesday night figuring out how to brine our first turkey. It was well worth the effort. It was perhaps the best tasting turkey I've ever had. Amelia also brought the most scrumptious sweet potatoes (absolutely to die for, the secret trick- coconut milk) and Lisa brought her mouth-watering rolls and pies. It was all truly amazing. I think we really out-did ourselves this year.

Later in the evening more friends came over for dessert and games. It was a ton of fun until I kicked everyone out around 10:00. I had to get up early the next morning to teach a cycling class at 6:30 and need my beauty sleep.

But the party continued on Saturday, as our friends Bonnie & Patrick hosted a big group of us for brunch- complete with Patrick's "puffy pancakes", cinnamon rolls, orange rolls, hash browns, and eggs benedict. Wow. Then the ladies headed off to the mall for shopping, pedicures, and dinner that night. What a fantastic weekend. Two things I'm grateful for: good friends and good food!

Amelia enjoying her dark meat.
Adam: master turkey carver

Sorensons and the Hadleys before chow-time

My beautiful Thanksgiving table

Fun Weekend

I had such a great weekend! I Friday night with some of my Cambridge girlfriends for dinner and a movie. We battled out the crowds at the Boston Loew's movie theater to see New Moon. And despite the TERRIBLE acting, we had a total blast.

Back Row: Me, Bonnie Donigan, Amberli McCoy

Front Row: Aubrey Layton, Jhordan Cox

And one of my best friends (since 2nd grade) was in town. Whit was here for a conference and we managed to spend a couple evenings together. It was so great having her here, I wish she didn't live in Arizona. Adam and I are trying to convince her to apply for jobs/post-docs in Boston. Thanks for a fun weekend, we love you Whit!

And if you didn't notice, we are every bit as ridiculous as we used to be when it comes to posing for pictures. :)

A Link In Time

Just wanted to promot my Mom's new website and business A Link in Time. If you are interested in giving yourself, a friend, or a family member the gift of family history, consider hiring my Mom to do it for you!

2nd Annual Donigard Halloween Party

We hope you all had as much fun on Halloween as we did this year. Last year we missed the 1st Annual Donigard (Donnigan & Wangsgard) Halloween Party, but fortunately we didn't miss out this year. The Donigards went all out with food and decorations and the rest of contributed with some pretty awesome costumes.

Here's a shot of Adam and I. I wore my Abbayah that I got in Saudi Arabia and Adam got dressed up as a terrorist. Hopefully we didn't offend anyone on the bus ride over. Adam did win the award for scariest costume- rigthfully so. Doesn't he look frightening?

Food table

Awards and trophy for various costumes- unfortunately I came home empty-handed. Maybe next year...

Fun little game: had to reach your hand in and guess what you are touching (zombie eyes, blood sucking leaches, etc.)

Drink table: can't see the frozen hand ice cube which was awesome

Picture wall: elaborately crafted by Kate & Bonnie

Rich, Leslie, & Jonas: Live Poultry, Fresh Killed- a landmark here in Cambridge

Courtney and Quinn as a Marathon Runner and a Hardcore Singer

Peter and Eunice as Margot and Richie Tenenbaum

Bonnie and Patrick as Juno and Paulie Bleeker

Dan and Lisa as Sister Wives

Logan, Soren, & Kate as Egon Spengler, Slimer and Janine from Ghostbusters
Kate actually crafted his Proton Pack.

Laci as The Octomom and Christian and Berkeley as Curious George and The Man in The Yellow Hat

The Forrests as The Forrests (get it?)

Stuart and Aubrey as Captain Hammer and Dr. Horrible

Krystal and Richard as Madonna and Prince

Gwen and Andrew as an Avenging Angel and a Fallen Angel

Amelia and Barry as Temperance Brennan and Seeley Booth from Bones

Shawn and Jhordan as Elliot and E.T. (complete with Reece's Pieces)

Donut eating contest

Thanks for an amazing party Donigans and Wangsgards! Now I'm busy plotting for next year...

Cran Fest at Edaville, MA

On October 10, 2009 a few of us decided to head South for the annual Edaville Cranberry Festival. Ok, I have to admit that I was the mastermind behind this little trip. I mass emailed all of my friends to see if anyone wanted to check out the cranberries. It's cranberry season after all, and Massachusetts is one of the few places in the US that farms them.

To my luck, the Gentrys and the Laytons were up for it! And as you can see, I was the 5th wheel since Adam felt that studying was more important than seeing the cranberries and eating fried dough. Unbelievable. :)

Laci, me, and Aubrey in front of the "Greetings from Edaville" sign.

Christian, doing an awesome pose with Berkley in the Baby Bjorn.

Me and the cranberries- isn't it beautiful?

Ok, I'm sorry for being so cheezy. But the view is pretty awesome. They float the cranberries and that's how they are able to gather them up. I wish I could tell you more, but at Edaville they don't have anyone to explain the cranberry harvesting process, which was a MAJOR let down for me.

The Laytons- what a gorgeous picture! Great outfit choice Aubrey.

Thanks for a fun time!

Matt & Lynsey Come to Boston

Matt & Lynsey came for a visit to Boston Sept. 11-15 and we had a ton of fun. The first 13 pictures are from the day we spent in Plymouth which was a total highlight. We wanted to do a day trip on Saturday but when we woke up it was a torrential downpour. We rented a car anyway and started to drive to Newport, RI. On a whim, we realized that we didnt' want to drive that far and decided to stop in Plymouth, which is much closer and none of us had been there before. It ended up to be a great day trip and we didn't have a speck of rain the whole time we were sightseeing and walking around the town.
These pictures don't do this view justice. It was a really cool view of the foggy coast line and boats dotting the water.

Touring the Mayflower II- a recreation of the original.

Matt & Lynsey talking to one of the men on the boat. They dress up in 17 c. garb and act like they still live in the 1600's...totally weirds me out.

Outside the restaurant where we had lunch.

Plymouth Rock- pretty disappointing, very small, as it had been chipped away at and dropped a couple of times.

In front of where they keep the rock.

Plymouth Plantation: a recreation of an Indian village and pilgrim village from the 1600's. More people acting like 17 c. characters which is odd and uncomfortable for me. But still pretty interesting, and the landscape was beautiful.

At the Indian Village

Working hard in our canoe.

Laboring on the Pilgrim's farm- probably would have gotten in trouble had someone seen Adam sitting in the old wheelbarrow.

Matt & Lynsey went on a Duck Tour and I thought it'd be great to post some of their photos of Boston. Something I always forget to do, since I leave here.

Boston skyline.

Longfellow Bridge- which links Cambridge & Boston

Zakim Bridge & TD Bank North Gardens Arena

Boston Common- or at least the periphery of it

The infamous Cheers restaurant- not actually where the show was shot but the outside is

Me & Lyns before boarding our Whale Watch Tour, which was AWESOME! We saw tons of whales and I didn't get too sea sick.

Me & Matt- I'm lucky to have such a great brother!

Thanks for coming to visit! We had a blast and hope you come back. :)

Aunt Marci & Uncle Adam

Well, I know everyone thinks they have the cutest nieces and nephews. But as it turns out, I actually do. I hate to say it, but knowing they are growing up on the other side of the country is the hardest part about living so far from family.

My nephew Carson is turning 4 this month (Oct. 15th) so Adam and I sent him a couple of books from Amazon. I just got this email from my sister-in-law Lynsey and couldn't resist posting it on my blog. It seriously made me want to cry.

So, about Carson's Amazon delivery. The flat little box came and Matt brought it inside. The next morning Carson brought it to me and told me I received a package. I told him the box was actually for him for his birthday. His face was priceless! He couldn't believe something would come in the mail for him. I told him it came all the way from Boston and that Aunt Marci and Uncle Adam had sent it. Again, his face was priceless. He was glowing just looking at the flat box. He then hugged the cardboard box and said, "Oh! I just love it mom!" I was cracking up. He thought the box was the gift and he was thrilled. I then told him there was something inside the box. His response, "Do you think they sent me a flat jet?" I was laughing again. He shrugged and said, "I don't know....maybe." He has slept with the box on several occassions since then. Every morning he asks if it's time to open the present from "Uncle Adam and Aunt Marci all the way in Boston."

HAPPY 4TH BIRTHDAY CARSON!!!

These pictures of Carson (3 3/4 yrs) and Blake (10 months)