November 23, 2010

OOPS!

i just read rifle’s blog and she posted eye candy for monday, too. i must confess i saw hers before i did mine, but didn’t realize she did hers on mondays, so……..anyways…



i think i will continue or should i not?

November 22, 2010



i’ve decided to add a little eye candy to my posting. since mondays are not everyone’s favorite day, why not? (i used to LOVE mondays when i was a stay-at-home mom because mondays were the days that children went to school and husband went to work…aaaaaaaah.)



this is from gq. i did pick up the magazine while in borders since he was on the cover and real all.about.him.



so…lately i’ve been thinking about this guy since i read about the movie 127 hours. this is the making of a possible oscar for james franco. it’s about time that he is doing something like this. i mean, he graduated from columbia with a degree in english literature and is in graduate studies at yale. come on…



he was pretty in tristan + isolde, but it wasn’t a great movie. i loved his character in freaks and geeks. pineapple express was great. i didn’t even recognize him, at first. AND, he is even on general hospital. this guy is cool. (and he has amazing eyes)

November 21, 2010



sorry for not posting anything for a very long while. just got finished with daughter michelle’s wedding which was SO MUCH FUN! it was worth all the hard decisions that were made, which details to incorporate and worrying about all the stuff that needs to get done before the wedding. the best decision that we made? hiring a ‘day of’ wedding coordinator. worth every penny. seriously. i will post more of the details soon. i tried to take before and during photos of the wedding, but seriously failed because i was busy and kept forgetting to take my camera out. i will have to wait for the photographer’s photos.


and though the wedding was last weekend, my sister laura and sister-in-law lynn stayed around for a week here, so i didn’t get much done because i was having way too much fun!


speaking of sister laura…she noticed that my blog centers a lot around photos of food. and she is right. there are a lot of photos of food. i like food.


i am going to try to branch out and add other photos of stuff, but in the meantime…here is a photo of a most delicious brownie. take ghirardelli brownie mix and add toasted walnuts and voila…the best brownies ever.

October 14, 2010



We had a garage sale last weekend. When I set up everything the night before, I was embarrassed at all the clothes we were selling…they weren’t ALL my clothes…but it was more than I want to see. The sad thing about it is that my closet is really still full. Right now, I cannot add another thing in my closet…unless I take something out.
Anyways…see the ladder in the photo? It was extended the length of the garage and was filled with clothes. People came and bought and bought and bought. I mean, when the most expensive item is $6, a lot gets carted away. What I couldn’t believe was that I still bagged up 10(!) garbage bags of clothes for the Goodwill to pick up! I have decided I need to purchase more thoughtfully and not to impulse buy. I think that is my biggest bugga boo…impulse buy. Do you do that?



But even as I type these words…I keepnthinking about those J Crew boots (sigh).

October 05, 2010



how many clothes does one really, i mean, REALLY need? husband scott had a friend who came to the office everyday wearing the same tie. when scott asked if he had any other ties (and to have scott notice this…is pretty amazing), he said no. of course, scott asked why would he have only one tie and he said that he had only one neck. this is a true story. i really am not making this up. just ask scott.


so…i am only one person. do i need only one outfit? the answer is obvious - no, definitely not. practically speaking, it has to be washed…sometime…and i don’t sit around naked waiting for it to come out of the dryer. plus, i think one needs more than one look, right?


of course, i don’t have one distinct style. at least, i don’t THINK i have one style. i do shop at the same stores, but i do mix it up…somewhat. i don’t have the imagination that jane and judy aldridge have nor what tavi has…at all. but, i feel i need more than one look, even at the office.


at the same time, when something comes up, say a party or an event, i can never find anything to wear. i always feel i am lacking.


i have the ol’ syndrome of: a closet filled with clothes, yet i have nothing to wear. i do have nothing to wear…right now…because i have gained back some of the weight i had lost earlier and now nothing fits well. this is especially distressing since there is only 5 1/2 weeks left before THE wedding. why oh why do i do this to myself? i could write pages and pages of laments about that and THAT is another blog subject for another time and i really don’t think anyone would like to read that one.


so back to the subject…how many clothes does one need? i think i might facebook this and see what is fed back. if anyone is reading this blog, please feel free to comment.


if you are a j crew model, you need a lot of clothes so you can have a bunch of layers. i can’t really wear a bunch of layers without looking…bunched. i’ve worn a hoodie with a jacket and could barely move my arms and i felt like head was pitched forward with all that bulk at the nape of my neck…


if there was a formula out there for what one needs, i would love to see it.


but for now, the answer to that question, for me anyway, is that i need as many clothes as what will fit in my closet.


my closet is full to the point that if i want to buy something…i will need to remove something first.



so i returned the shoes and got a couple of pieces from j crew for less than the shoes. here is my fall look. i got the skirt…i love love love this color. it really is a neutral color in that it goes with everything. instead of looking at oranges and browns for fall, i think i will be doing this color with black and navy…i love navy. i got the navy/green/citrine top from anthropologie and the navy cardigan from j crew last year. i also got the dusty pinky cardigan and navy striped t-shirt from j crew. i always have a least one navy striped top in my closet…always. i think that is why i like january and february at the gap and banana republic so much. that is when they break out all the navy and white, and that is when i tend to shop the most. shhhhhh…don’t tell scott!



okay, i did buy these shoes from j crew and i love them…a…lot. they are even easy to walk in, even with the higher-than-i-normally-wear heels. BUT, they just don’t look that good on me. i look like i am wearing granny style shoes AND NOT IN THE CUTE WAY. so…i returned them (sigh). i was hoping i would find a pair of somewhat high heeled oxford…i have the feeling i just won’t be able to wear them.



now that it has cooled…somewhat. i mean…it’s october and i am reading other blogs where the bloggers are winterizing their gardens, hoping that the predicted freeze doesn’t kill their gardens and thinking about what’s on their minds for fall clothes. it did feel coolish this morning, but it could be the air conditioner. the high today is 78 degrees and it’s going to fluctuate from 83 to 87 degrees through monday!!!


but…i do need to clean out my closet after throwing everything on the floor this last month instead of putting it in its proper place. so, that’s what i did. i couldn’t really bring out winter clothes, but i did put up sandals and summer cotton skirts. since, we are having a garage sale this weekend, i also cleaned out stuff i just don’t wear anymore, but i still have a very full closet. that doesn’t stop me from looking at the last catalog from j crew.


i heart j crew!!!

October 03, 2010



YOUR PRESENT PLANS ARE GOING TO SUCEED
i love it when i get a fortune from the cookie like this. so, what are my present plans? well….there is a wedding in 6 (yikes!) weeks, the ongoing “gotta’ lose a lot of pounds in 6 weeks plan”, and i could go on, but i won’t because it is the same ol’ tirade. let’s see if this fortune comes true. i have another that rings more true above my desk. can’t remember what it says exactly, but it goes something like “the only that stands between you and success is you”….or something like that. so it boils down to this….a lot that happens in one’s life has to do with the decisions one makes. every morning i wake up and tell myself that i am going stick to my guns and not overrated and i will go to the gym and i will get a project done when i get home, but by mid morning i have talked myself into doing the exact opposite. why?

September 23, 2010



I heart Amy Tan!
I went to hear her at TCU Tuesday night. She is so engaging. After her talk, I stood in line for a long time to have her sign my books. Before leaving the house, I collected what I could find on my bookshelf and came up with four of them. I kept going back and forth on whether I should bring four books, (couldn’t find Hundred Secret Senses) and wondered a bit if it was … I don’t know… piggish … or was it a compliment to bring them? I wish now that I also had her memoir with me to be signed. I am going to take my coupon and buy it tomorrow. Also, see that red chop? Ms Tan doesn’t usually use it to sign books, but her thumb was in a splint, so she couldn’t notate, which leads to a little bragging … there was a Q and A where the audience wrote questions that were collected, screened and then asked. Only 3 were selected. The first 2 were questions about to get started writing a book and the third? It was … What happened to your thumb? … which happened to be the question I submitted (now, I know, someone else could have submitted the same question, but I would like to think it was mine.
Oh and how did she hurt her thumb? While juggling packages and the car door, she closed the door on her thumb. Her comment was that she was amazed that a door could close so tightly with a thumb in between the door and the car. Ouch!

September 14, 2010



I did it! I sewed, washed and ironed 154 napkins for daughter Michelle’s wedding! Yay! One task down. 2 gazillion tasks left to do.

September 07, 2010



i sometimes get accused of being a little negative on my posts……or maybe i complain a little too much…..okay……i complain a lot. isn’t that what blogging or writing in a diary is all about? you know…..”dear diary, you will not believe what so and so said to me…..”
anyway, today i am going to say how lucky i am to be blessed with a wonderful family. today, i went out to walk & didn’t take my cell phone. well… the storm sirens went off and my darling daughter michelle tried to call me & she heard my cell phone ringing in the house so…she went out to look for me in the rain. unfortunately, my walking partner and decided it was raining too much and went to starbucks instead so we didn’t hear the sirens. we were safe, but michelle didn’t know that. i was touched.
sister laura sent via mom this little mushroom for me. it’s just a little thing she picked up that made her think of me. no other reason. not my birthday or anything. so i propped it up on my sewing machine as a pin cushion and it makes me smile as i continue to sew 150 napkins for the wedding.
speaking of napkins, husband scott gave me the day off to sew and now i have 20 napkins left (yay!)
lucky lucky me!

August 23, 2010



REALLY?


I am so hot and miserable. There were 2 women in the grocery store today, looking cool as a cucumber in their sleek short dresses on their sleek thin bodies, minimal jewelry except the 20 karats on their left hand. I looked like a fat slob.


and…I realized that if I had started a sensible diet in January and lost just 5lbs a month (that’s just over a 1lb a week), I would be 40(!) pounds lighter!


so…I was talking to a pal at work who has started the HCG diet. I am going to try it, too…for 21 days. I think I should be able to do that, although I thoroughly bombed the Master Cleans. It looks a lot like the old grapefruit diet, but supposedly I will not be hungry and all the fat will just melt away…although I think that today all I would have to do is stay outside in the 111 degree weather…that surely would melt the fat (sigh).

August 17, 2010



work - i work for my husband scott part time (20 hours/wk). it’s not hard. i do it to help him out, so it isn’t like i majored in finance (opposite - i majored in biology) or anything. so, don’t ask me how the market is doing or how will it end for the year (i don’t know). it is just a job. i do envy people, sometimes, who are working their dream job, but i’m part time and the boss and i take vacations together and i usually get my way when i ask for time off, but it’s just a job.


so, what makes it pleasant (excluding, of course, that i am SURROUNDED by nice people…had to say that…i mean…i work for my husband AND brother-in-law, right?)?


well, what makes it better is starbucks…daily…



lunchbox filled with goodies: yogurt (fage is sooooooo good), fresh fruit, and this really cute ‘bento’ box. i got it from a place called rock paper scissors in wiscasset, maine. i need to look and see if it has a website…later…after this post. i mean, look at it! anything i pack in it tastes better. what is in it today? fresh blueberries for my yogurt, crackers and peanut butter. these crackers are not your ordinary saltines. these are from annie’s. this company makes organic saltines shaped like bunnies, hearts, x’s & o’s. they also make cheese bunnies like goldfish who are just as cute…the goldfish i mean, and bunny shaped graham crackers, chocolate cookies and chocolate chip cookies like teddy graham size. okay teddy grahams are cute, too, but bunnies? adorable!



a shiny lunch pail given to me by the boss…



i also like my calendar which i downloaded, for free, at the beginning of the year from somethingshidinginhere.typepad.com. you have to visit their website. it is so full of stuff. i will be purchasing something soon, i just know it, from their curiosity shoppe. and, they have awesome bowties now! husband scott isn’t the bowtie type, but maybe some day…


i hope they have a calendar for 2011. i love the huge size. i printed it on different colored card stock.



and of course my ipad. it makes me feel cool to own one AND know how to use it. actually, it is too cool for me, but i have it anyway (ha ha…ha ha ha). see the cover for it? it’s from byrd and belle at etsy.com. it is made out of a heavy felt and leather trim. and, see that snap closure? on the inside of the cover the metal part is covered with felt so it won’t scratch my ipad. it is so nice and so very very well made.


so… that is what makes work pleasant for me…to have my favorite things on my desk. oh! and of course the great people in the office, too.


where are my photos? i am needing some updated ones from my favorite photographer at michelle-connolly.com (hint hint…sure would like a mini photo session of jason and scott). so if anyone is out there reading, what makes your desk a happy desk?

August 16, 2010

OMG!

scene: at the butchers in Central Market


butcher: may I help you?


girl in her 20’s with 2 small boys (hopefully her nephews): I would like some hamburger


b: how much?


g: enough for 2 adults and these 2 boys. which hamburger do you recommend for hamburgers?


b: this one


g: how long do you grill it?


b: till it’s almost done, but don’t over cook because it will dry out since it is lean.


g: what can I do to make it not dry out?


b says something, but I don’t hear it because it is still early in the 21 questions game.


g: maybe I should get some chuck mixed in with it?


g: can you grill on the grill or on a George Forman grill?


g: can you mix the to hamburger meats together for me?


b says to me, as he goes to the back to mix the meat together: I will be with you in a minute.


me, trying very very hard to be patient, smiles


girl to butcher when he comes back: what buns do you recommend? which brand do you prefer? is there one brand that is better than another?


g: what kind of cheese goes with beef? what do you prefer? cheddar cheese okay?


me silently thinking and imploding inside: OMG!


girl still asking questions when another butcher comes and helps me.


2nd butcher: may I help you?


me: 3/4 lb of extra lean ground beef, please


2nd b: anything else?


me: no, thank you


girl still asking questions about making hamburgers as I leave to get the salmon.


I kinda want to see what the hamburgers are going to look like when she serves them to the boys.

August 10, 2010



everyday, i wake up and say to myself, “today i will not get mad. today will be a good day. today, i will get things done/finished.” husband scott would disagree with this in that i say this all in my head and i am not what you would call a cheerful morning person. it takes me a while to wake up. BUT, i do try everyday to be patient and good.


lately, however, i have the shortest fuse ever. everything annoys me. everything makes me mad.


and, i am not sure why.


do you think it might be that every route possible to work (and i mean every way possible) is shut down to one lane?



or perhaps, it is this…



or that i am getting fitted for my mother of the bride dress in 3 weeks. is there something i can do to drop 20 lbs in 3 weeks? i mean something besides getting sick.


so…tomorrow…i am going to not lose my temper. i will get everything done/finished. and i will be nice. (sigh, again)



or maybe, today i pressed my lips together (possibly to control my temper) and “ouch” why did that hurt? oh…yay…a pimple (deep DEEP sigh).


oh and could iphoto BE anymore flattering (in chandler bing voice)?

August 05, 2010



to b & b or not to b & b? that is a very good question. get it? macbeth?


thanks to some wonderful relatives (thanks mary and rolf), i have gotten to stay in some very very nice hotels. this is a photo of dale chihuly’s glass ‘garden’ in the lobby of the mandarin oriental in nyc. so, yes, i am very spoiled and because of that, i don’t like to stay at standard hotels. one of my favorite stories that i tell (over and over again, according to my children) is the time daughter michelle and i were checking into a hotel and son jason comes up and says, “this is a really nice hotel!” michelle and i looked at each other and went, “meh.”


anyway….i booked a lot of b & b’s for our maine trip.



so here is husband scott enjoying a motel in bar harbor, maine (though, it looks like he is not enjoying me taking a photo). this is highview motel which i truly recommend. it is family owned, very clean, and look at the great screen door.


scott doesn’t particularly like staying at b & b’s. he doesn’t like the intimacy of staying in a home. he feels that he has to be quiet and not disturb his neighbors. some of the places we stayed were very charming, but small or much to scott’s chagrin came without a tv. how can he stay on top of everything going on without a daily dose of cnbc? or espn? or cnn? i, not so secretly, like the fact that i can’t watch any of those channels. and why do men beeline straight to the remote when entering a hotel room? i also tried to save money by choosing a more inexpensive room which sometimes meant that the private bathroom was across the hall. it was not a shared bathroom, but to have to go across the hall…..well husband didn’t like that much.


these things don’t deter me, however.



i mean, how can one NOT like a view like this one at squall inn in wiscasset, where the host comes out and talks to you. paul was a great story teller and with his british accent, i couldn’t get enough. i think that husband scott came out on the porch just hoping paul would come out and say hello.



and, the bed and breakfast places were in charming houses like this one in bridgton. this one came with the nicest dog, daisy, which is a great compliment from a cat person like me.



noble house also came with a bottomless jar of homemade cookies, conveniently located. i am very appreciative of rick and julie for not commenting on the fact that scott and i ate on the average mmmmmmmm…about…oh i don’t know…a dozen cookies a day.


the breakfasts we ate were really good especially at the noble house and squall inn. and, one could, if one wanted, skip lunch since the breakfasts were very filling. we didn’t do that, but one could.



actually, at the end of the trip husband scott wasn’t complaining that much about the b & b’s. he got pretty comfortable.



the best part of staying at a bed and breakfast, though, are the people that stay there with us. we spent 4th of july weekend at one place. we had breakfast and great conversation with mitch and his girlfriend. we sat on the porch with everyone else and cheered the runners that ran by us for the four on the fourth, which included george and his daughter misty. we would talk with another couple who goes to bridgeton 3 times a year and stays at the noble inn each time.


and…we met chris and christine who decided to get married on the bridge in bridgton and spent time at the b & b with us, too.


could you do that at your average hotel?


nope!

August 03, 2010



what i like about the iPad…
when i can’t get to my computer, i can still post…yay!

July 22, 2010

rest of maine coming soon

THREES

THREES

I was looking to see if there was a quote on the internet about things coming in threes. I found, “all good things come in threes.” I always thought that bad things come in threes. You know, when something bad happens, then something else happens, so you are just waiting for that last one, right? Well, here is what happened to me (well….more or less to me) recently. First daughter Michelle’s car’s air-conditioning stops working, then son Jason comes home from a hot ride in his car - a broken air-conditioner. So, we take in Michelle’s car, then Jason’s car. $3900 later, I am driving my car to pick up son Jason’s car from the shop and bam(!) a flat tire. So, I take it to the shop. So…..I’m done, right? Noooooooooooo…just had daughter Michelle’s car towed today - alternator most likely. WHA’!?!?!


A good friend said that maybe I am getting a new set of threes. SHUSH! (sigh)

July 08, 2010



(W)holey mackerel, Batman! (ha ha…did you see what I did there?) We ate well in Maine. We had great great food and I photographed some of it. I couldn’t photograph all because a. sometimes I inhaled it before realizing I should take a picture b. I would forget my camera or c. it was too dark and daughter Michelle says that food doesn’t look good when taken with a flash.


The best restaurant that we visited in Maine was in Portland. It’s called Fore Street and I highly recommend it. I had the mackerel (see) and husband Scott had cod. We actually went there because a blogger had, well, blogged about Fore Street having the best lobster roll in Portland. What she didn’t say was that this restaurant has a rotating menu and only serves fish during its peak flavorful season and soft shell lobster wasn’t peaking at the end of June. Scott didn’t care because his fish was delicious and YEAH it was. When one cooks it in ham stock and serves it with fresh chard and bacon, I think even cardboard would taste good that way. So with cod AT ITS PEAK was even more delicious!



We, of course, had fried fish…more than once… 2 times to be precise which was pretty good for me (I mean good in that I could have eaten fried anything everyday). This is fried calamari (above) and fried whole clams - well, without the shell (below). The fries were amazing, too. This is from Seabasket in Wiscasset and we had equally good fried Maine shrimp, fried clams and fried pickles at the Angler’s Restaurant in Searsport. Maine shrimp is sweeter and smaller than regular shrimp. And at Angler’s, there was Dr Pepper!! Sodas always make fried stuff tastes better and Dr Pepper was NOT a common choice in Maine.



Chowder (or chowdah) was a choice everywhere. I had several cups of it for lunch. This is haddock chowder from The Brown Bag in Rockland. It was really really good. I also had really good clam chowder at Cappy’s in Camden. I found that I like these the best because they were made with very little ingredients and it was rich without being cloying. I don’t like thick chowder. There was haddock, potatoes, salt & pepper, and either cream or half and half in this one. I couldn’t tell if it was heavy cream because it was too thick or greasy. Sometimes there was celery and a little bit of onion, but that was all. No flour, no extra herbs or vegetables. Very simple and very delicious.



I also had to order some cookies to go from The Brown Bag in Rockland. I shared with husband Scott, begrudgingly. These are chocolate chip raisin oatmeal with nuts, but the best one I had was their ginger hermit cookies…mmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.



I decided to try the ginger beer at Cappy’s. It’s spicy because of the ginger and sweet. I am not sure if Cappy’s makes it or has it labelled. I wouldn’t drink it with everything. It is probably best with fried fish, french fries or potato chips…things that are salty and greasy.



The best latte I had during our vacation was this one from Black Duck Emporium on Monhegan Island. So rich and creamy. We also had some good and pretty ones from Bard Coffee in Portland. We saw only one Starbucks while in Maine. It was in Portland, but their bathroom was broken. That’s when we stumbled upon Bard Coffee. We like two-fers, (you know…two for the price of one), coffee and a bathroom.



okay…now for the whoopie pies. What I read was that Wicked Whoopie Pies are the best. So, while in Freeport, I got a chocolate mint, a classic and a gingerbread one. I shared each one with husband Scott so that I wouldn’t eat too much…then I noticed the Nutrition Facts on the back. See what it says? Serving size is half a cake. Half! Really? Half of a whoopie pie has 370 calories AND 21 grams of fat!!! You know how many Weight Watcher points half a whoopie pie equals? Nine!!! I am allowed only 18 Weight Watcher points a day. If I were to eat a whole whoopie pie……….Thank goodness they were too rich to eat too many. The gingerbread one was really good. I did NOT bring any home.



While in Bar Harbor, we had breakfast at Morning Glory and pre-ordered sandwiches to eat in Acadia National Park. This one is mine - chicken curry salad with lettuce and cucumbers. It was really good. Husband Scott had the tuna salad and it was good and different from what I make. It had capers and pickles. It had a nice salty taste. Now you know why the seagull wasn’t happy about not getting a taste. Also, for breakfast, I had a date scone from Morning Glory. It was the best scone I have ever eaten. It was so flaky. That was one that I inhaled before realizing that I should have photographed it before it was all gone.


There were several good restaurants in Bar Harbor. I strongly recommend Morning Glory and for ice cream, the best was MDI Ice Cream. I had orange chocolate and salted caramel. If you only have one flavor, it must be the salted caramel. So very very good. Maggie’s and McKays was also good for dinner. I wanted to try Atlantic Brewing Company’s barbecue place called Mainely Meat Barbecue, but husband Scott, after eating barbecue all the time, said he didn’t want it because he gets indigestion. Really? Why do you eat it all the time then?



aaaaaaaaaaaaaaah. Lobster. We didn’t eat it all the time. Even though it is cheaper in Maine, it still was expensive. Plus, I had to try other kinds of food. We had a lobster roll at Reds Eat’s in Wiscasset and it was good. It had the whole lobster in it and it came with a choice of clarified butter or mayonnaise on the side. We asked which choice was better and she recommended both. The clarified butter for dipping the lobster until there was just enough left for the bread and then putting mayo on the bread for the sandwich. That was the perfect way to eat it. My only criticism was that the lobster was chilled. It could be because we ate around 8:00pm. Most restaurants in the smaller towns closed at 8:00pm so maybe Reds starts storing the lobster in the frig for the late night eaters. The lobster stand closed at 11:00pm. So, on a rainy day, the chilled lobster isn’t as good as it could be. 


The above photo is the basic lobster meal at Ken’s Kove in Bridgton. It has only 3 tables and almost everybody calls in their order and takes it out. We stayed in. You get a a lobster and slaw and fries with clarified butter for $12.99. Not bad, hunh? It was really good. We had a choice of hard or soft shell. Husband Scott asked what the difference was and all he heard was the hard shell had more meat and that’s what he wanted. I would have liked to taste the soft shell because it is supposed to be sweeter, but more meat always wins out. We shared the lobster which was better. I had plenty. 


Another popular item on the menu was steamers. We could have gone back for more another day, but it was 4th of July weekend and they were overwhelmed with orders. They kept them on a bulletin board behind the cash register and it was several rows long and several layers thick with orders. So, if you go to Bridgton, try the steamers, too.


We also had lunch, in Bridgton,  at Tom’s Homestead and I had really good mushroom soup and fresh spinach salad. The spinach was picked from their garden that morning. Can’t get fresher than that.



Oh man! Really?! After all that great food, I had a chicken sandwich at McDonalds on the way to Logan Airport to fly home? (sigh)

July 07, 2010



Just got back from our first trip to Maine. I say our first trip because husband Scott and I decided that Maine is going to be one of the states we will have to visit over and over again. It was so pretty, had lots to offer and until we hit the first day of the heat wave (which was our last day of vacation), the weather was fantastic (compared to Texas June/July weather).

Today, I made a simple tilapia chowder to remind me of Maine…okay, I never ate tilapia chowder there, but there was no haddock and I didn’t want to get clams at the market. More on the food of Maine tomorrow. Today, I have posted many many photos of our trip. Sorry the post is so long…well…not really that sorry. I am enjoying reliving the great vacation.

ps I am getting ready to make napkins and yes, that is a ‘how to’ on mitered corners.



The trip didn’t start on the right foot. I misjudged the timing of using mass transportation and we missed our flight. 3 standby flights later, we landed in Boston, rented a car and got to our first city - Ogunquit that night.

This is a photo of Perkins Cove and the view from our motel the next morning.



Next, we drove to Portland. We spent time only in Old Port which is still a working commercial wharf. After spending a night in Ogunquit and stopping in Kennebunkport, Portland was not so pretty of a city. I mean, I liked it and all, but it doesn’t have the quaintness of the smaller villages in Maine.



The ubiquitous lighthouse. I am sure that one could spend the whole vacation visiting lighthouses, but we chose one - Portland Head Light in Cape Elizabeth…pretty.



outside Freeport. I hope the moose knew to cross there (ha ha).



Freeport is a town for people who love to shop outlets. There were a TON of people there. I put this on our itinerary only because the L L Bean flagship was there. Tons of other people were shopping there, too. We got an umbrella (because rain was in the forecast & husband did not pack one) and some postcards…not quite what other people bought.



We went to Rockland next, while staying in Wiscasset. We were supposed to go to Monhegan Island next, but it was raining. It made more sense to stay in Wiscasset when we were going to Monhegan Island (Wiscasset > Boothbay Harbor > Monhegan Island > Wiscasset > Rockland > Camden), but we switched the days.

We were in Rockland to visit the Farnsworth Museum. What a great museum! I tried not to schedule too many art museum visits since husband Scott is not into them as much as I am. We were supposed to see this one and one in Ogunquit, but due to missed flight, we were only going to this one. And it was great! Lots of small exhibits. I could stay all day at the Wyeth Center. The Wyeth men - NC, Andrew (my favorite) and Jamie were/are amazing artists.



This is just some of the landscaping by the Farnsworth Museum. Hostas are Maine’s primary choice for landscaping. They thrived there. There were lots of hydrangeas and fernss. There was also a rose that grew wild that was single petaled and smelled wonderful.

There was so much flowering landscapes everywhere…



also lots of flowering window boxes…