Cape Cod Birthdays

At the end of February we took a little trip to celebrate a few birthdays. A long weekend at Cape Cod was just the thing for us overworked city-folk. And fortunately the weather cooperated.

We drove up from the city with Alison and Michael (and her dog Rupert, of course), Stephen drove down from Boston and Marisa drove up from the city later that evening. Things couldn't have started off better - we opened the fridge to put in a few groceries when we got there and look what awaited us...


Mom and Dad had been there a few days before we arrived and my wonderful mother, knowing how rest-starved we all were and how in need of a little R&R with our friends, left us 3 bottles of prosecco for celebratory purposes. It was The Best.

Friday night we just ordered pizza, had some wine and relaxed. I think we all went to bed pretty early. Saturday was coffee and toast and magazines and conversation in the living room for a few hours and then we went downtown to the Impudent Oyster for a fantastic late lunch. We strolled through downtown, popping into various shops, I swung by and got my bangs trimmed while the rest of the crew checked out some antique shops and bought some fudge and as the day drew to a close, we picked up lobsters for dinner. Lobster, corn and my favorite kale salad was a pretty killer dinner.


Sunday morning was a repeat of Saturday (with the coffee and the talking and the loveliness and whatnot) and then we headed to Hardings Beach for a walk.

(L-R) Alison, Geoff, Marisa, Michael (hidden behind Marisa) and Stephen


The Birthday kids...


Two of my oldest dearest friends from my early NYC days...


Rupert had quite the adventure at the beach. This is clearly not a water dog. But he had a great time.



Then we headed back to the house for a late brunch, as we were all starving. Alison set a lovely table (shocking, I know)...


We kind of made brunch up. I'd planned to make a whole wheat orzo salad at some point in the weekend, and ended up making it for brunch. Very easy - Whole wheat orzo with grape tomatoes, peccorino Romano cheese, lemon and arugula. I made up the ratios of everything and just kept adding things until I liked it. Stephen topped each plate with two poached eggs, because he is a kitchen wizard. And Alison made an orange & grapefruit salad with a little lime zest. Add some mimosas (OJ + that amazing prosecco -thanks mom!) and it was one fantastic brunch.


*sigh* I love traveling with other foodies.


And no, Alison and Stephen weren't on their phones during brunch - they were photographing their creations. Obviously.


After brunch I can't remember what we did. There may have been naps and showers and a bit of Downton Abbey watching and general down time. Michael's friends Jason and Jasmine made their way up to join us for the evening and once they arrived, we watched Chocolat before dinner. One of my favorite movies. Alison had promised Michael she'd make him a pie for his birthday - and make one she did. I believe this was a sage apple pie? Or a carmel apple pie? Or a caramel sage apple pie. Whatever it was, it was beyond delicious.


And Stephen made Alison a KILLER Guiness Chocolate Cake for her birthday. I think this even had a hint of orange in it somehow, which was beyond amazing. Alison promptly decorated it herself with things she found around the kitchen. She's resourceful, that one. (please forgive the horrendous lighting)


The birthday boy & girl


'Twas a lovely, lovely time. Lets do it again, please.

Wildlife and Bike Rides

We saw a ton of wildlife at the Cape. My parents have always kept binoculars at the ready at the Cape and at their home in Maine, and with good reason. The bird life alone is pretty awe-inspiring. It makes me feel pretty old to get excited by birds so much (and I believe Alison even once bought me a bird watchers guide in jest a couple of years ago), but here's what - birds are amazing. Straight up. They just are.

The day we were expecting Earl it was grey and damp out and we took advantage of the weather to get ahead on a few business things. So we were inside on the computer when all of a sudden a HUGE bird swooped right across the deck. We made our way outside gingerly (grabbing the camera of course) and found this guy, with his back to us, just chillin' on the roof.


Yep. A hawk. Just hanging out with us pre-hurricane.


Just check him right out! I believe at this point he was standing on one leg. He hung out like that for a while.


And then in a hot second, he flew away...


So he was pretty awesome. We saw him (or his cousin) again later throughout the weekend swooping around and flying back and forth. Also in the bird family, we were really into this guy.....


Particularly when he was drying out his wings


The rest of the wildlife we didn't manage to capture on film. There are usually some foxes who dart across the end of the deck. There was a super cute chipmunk who lived in this hole at the end of the deck and I just missed him poking his little head out.


There was also a ginormous black garden snake who lopped himself down out of the ivy in the above picture, and then looped himself right back up into it. But we won't talk too much about him (even though it was fascinating), because just thinking about him does my mom in. As she says.

Rightly so.

After Earl headed north, we had THE MOST AMAZING weather and we headed up to a bike path in Truro.


It was awesome.


Not a super long path, but a gorgeous one. After about a mile you come to this amazing bridge



It's right over this gorgeous marshland.


And then you're at the beach.


Where there were surfers taking advantage of what Earl left behind...


Honestly, what is better than Cape Cod?





No, seriously, try to think of ONE thing...







Yeah, I didn't think so.

Flowers in the Rain

The day that Earl was supposed to hit the Cape I got up early. I made some coffee and read for a bit and it started raining. It was so quiet. Peaceful. Mom had given me a list of things we should do to prepare for Earl (nailing shut the door to the outdoor shower, drawing off water, locking windows in the attic, pulling out the radio and flashlights etct) and one of the best things she suggested was cutting some flowers for us to enjoy indoors, since once Earl and his "75mph winds" came through, the flowers would be pretty much ruined. Excellent idea.

So when it started raining and I wondered if this was the start of Earl, I headed out to clip some flowers. The rain was gentle and a little warm and I was out there by myself. There was something about it that was so awesome. I didn't mind getting wet. I didn't mind the bits of leaves and pollen that stuck to my damp arms. I liked it even. And even though many of the prettiest flowers on the trees and bushes were scorched looking from the super dry summer, I found a few worth saving.





For some reason that I can't quite describe, those 20 minutes in the rain with the flowers is something I think I will remember for a long time. The peace of it. The simplicity. The total contentment I felt to reach for the highest branches to get a flower, to get mud on me, to let the rain fall and enjoy it. Rain in the city is only fun when you're safe inside. Fighting through the umbrellas in the streets and subways, trying not to have your eyes poked out....not my idea of a good time. Rain in the country....a whole different story. And rain and flowers together will now always remind me of being at peace.

Re-Entry

We're back from the Cape. We'll we've been back for a while, but computer issues have kept me from sharing. Earl kicked up a lot of fuss for no reason. But he left us with A-MAZ-ING weather for Labor Day Weekend.

Vacation is great. But always too short. The only time vacation was not to short was our 3 week honeymoon. By the end of that, we were ready to come home and start our life.

I find it takes me a couple of days to let the work stress melt away. During the rest of the year, Geoff and I usually get one day a week together (usually Sunday) and beyond that we're together daily from 10pm - 10am (or less). Most of that time, we are asleep. And as you may remember from our house rules, we are not allowed to have any real or serious conversations during those hours. We often have to break that rule out of necessity and it rarely goes well. Hence the house rule. So when we do have a whole week off it takes us a minute to adjust. To stop thinking about all the potential things we could be doing to get ahead on business stuff. To allow ourselves to dig beneath the surface and have a real conversation. Finding the balance between that and just allowing ourselves some down time to read quietly on the deck was more difficult than I thought it would be, actually. We each needed time to mentally space out, read, not have to think about anything, and we also needed time to actually KNOW each other. Which is difficult in real life with the 27 things we each have going on. I'm sure most couples experience this on some level, especially those with kids. In fact, I take comfort in the fact that at least the craziness of our current lifestyle will prepare us for the craziness of kids. It can't possibly be worse. Right? Right??!

All that being said, we managed to have a good time at the Cape. I'm convinced its one of the most beautiful places on earth. It just is. I love the history. I love the weather. I love the architecture. I love the charm. I love the fact that it feels like there is TIME there. We had some really great CONNECTING conversations that were a long time coming. We spent a lot of time on the deck. We grilled out. We went for bike rides. We read. We walked around downtown and had lunch at The Squire (Chatham's most famous restaurant/bar). We went to my favorite Home Consignment shop. We got ice cream. We took (a few) photos. We went to a great French place for dinner one night. We connected with nature and the local wildlife (pictures to come). We survived Earl. Which wasn't remotely hard to do. We made mojitos in the afternoons. We saw my brother for dinner and made s'mores on the grill. We wished we didn't have to leave.

More photos to come...

A Weekend at the Cape

After our liaison with Chowder, we headed directly to the house. And what should await us on our porch, but this...



A gift from mom. We are still growing the basil we gave as favors at our wedding two years ago, but those are not nearly as hearty looking as this guy. Hurrah! Since our wedding plants are practically senior citizens in the plant world, I suppose we could use a replenishment. But I will still attempt to grow our wedding basil until it shrivels up into a dry brittle twig, no matter how good this young whippersnapper looks. "Death do us part" and all....

We settled in on the deck and did a bit of work, I have to admit. Last minute planning for the shoot the next day and some other planning and answering emails for future shoots. Have to say, I didn't mind working in that environment. Certainly didn't mind chopping some tomatoes for a special green bean salad Mom was making with this as my view...


We had salmon on the grill and green bean salad and headed to bed pretty early. We had attempted to make it to the Cape late the night before, but after some hateful construction traffic on I-95 near New Haven, we couldn't make it to even Rhode Island before 2:30am. So we crashed at a cheap hotel which had an excessive amount of Betty Boop decor, a horrific tempurpedic bed and only a slight resemblance to something you might see in a horror flick, and continued our drive Friday morning. So all of that, plus a wedding to shoot the next day meant we were pretty ready to crash.

Saturday dawned and was absolutely gorgeous. Perfect Cape weather and perfect weather for a wedding. It was great to see my friend Anne again. It had been....gosh...6 years since I'd seen her, but it seemed like last week. And She. Looked. Gorgeous. Absolutely stunning. No pictures of that, sadly, but there will eventually be a great video we'll be sure to post here.

Sunday dawned a little humid and overcast, but we had a lovely time anyway. Clay and Kristyn came down as well and it was great to see them. Mom and I did some gardening, which was super fun. I'm discovering I really like it. We did some weeding and got rid of some overgrown ivy and made room for these guys again. Frick and Frack, who have sat on this rock in this portion of the patio for as long as I can remember.


We played the same frisbee/horseshoes game as we did last year at Clay's birthday. Clay & I vs. Geoff & Kristyn. And even though I am absolutely horrendous at frisbee (something about the wrist thing I just can't master), I did manage to get the winning point, so maybe there's hope for me yet.

Then I spent a little time with my old friend, the outdoor shower. If you've never had one, you don't know what you're missing. And after that it was time for gin & tonics. I don't usually like gin, but holy moses were these refreshing and wonderful.


While Mom whipped up some cilantro lime grilled shrimp...


And Hayley chilled on her special portion of the couch...



I mostly wandered around taking pictures of hydrangeas....




We had gorgonzola burgers and special Boston Creme Pie Cupcakes for dessert. Since we were celebrating Father's Day and Dad's birthday and Boston Creme Pie is his favorite, Mom outdid herself with this Martha Stewart recipe. A-MAZ-ING. Wish I had a picture.

We stayed over til Monday, which was H-O-T with not a ton of breeze. Had some great talks with Mom and Dad about life and the future and all was really good, even though it included a minor emotional breakdown about the state of my life. But in a way that helps me move forward, so all was good in the end.

Hayley did some swimming...


And we spent our last moments on the deck with a corona and some chips and salsa and good conversation. It was healing to my soul in a number of ways. Here's hoping that some day we can spend more than two days on either side of a shoot in this amazing restorative place....