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Back in the airport after a very long week. This is when I really can't wait to be home.

Yum!

We went to Boston for hubby's work conference, which means schmoozing/taking people out to dinner. Which means we get to go to some pretty fancy places sometimes (which this time in Boston included Menton (teeny tiny macaroons!), Erbaluce, and Sensing (watermelon daiquiris with cayenne pepper!). Oh, and Coppa which wasn't as fancy but made me feel like I was back in Rome.). But this was the absolute best meal I had all week:


Mmmmm.... lobster roll with such fresh lobster! With a Sam Adams Light from a waterfront shack place called The Barking Crab.




The best! I also found a new favorite drink: Blue Moon Pumpkin Ale from an irish-ish bar called Clarkes. They gave us Cinnamon Sugar to sprinkle on it.

Travel Daze

Good-bye New York!


Hello Boston!


Want to see our travel outfits?



Pretty spiffy, right? I love to dress up on the plane; it makes me feel like a movie star or something. Plus, we were going straight out.

grafitti+art

One of my favorite things about New York has got to be the quality of grafitti. Particularly, all the Albert Einsteins. Here's Woody and Albert on the same block! (Ok, Woody was actually part of an art exhibit: Mr. Brainwash Icons Remix show, which sadly, was closed.)



It's funny but I just realized that when my hubby gets really old, I expect him to look like one or the other of these guys, or maybe a mix.


(That's a compliment, right? Love you baby!)

airport



Ah, we are at the airport again. We always get here early, and this time I brought my computer so I can watch the first two episodes of the new season of America's Next Top Model (!)... love that show so much it's crazy.

new (Old) Music Monday: Deftones



I've always loved the one Deftones song that periodically comes on the radio, Change (In the House of Flies), and whenever I hear it, I remember that I want to listen to some more of their songs, and then always forget. Last weekend, my neighbor randomly played them on his iPod, and I've gotta say, I really liked their sound. Sometimes, it can be a one hit wonder type of thing, but not this time... look them up on youtube!


(They look cool, too, not what I was expecting, but in a good way for a change.)

Hair Cut!

I've been so good about keeping up with the hair cuts/dyes this year. I am totally proud of myself! This time, I had about 4.5 inches cut off, which is a lot... I'm not used to my hair being this "short".

I'm sure I'll take some pictures, when I'm actually dressed with makeup on, but, for now, it looked similar to this when I left the salon:


Although, now that I've washed it and not brushed/blowdryed/straight-ironed, it looks a lot more like this:

shopping in silver...

So, we've been doing a tiny bit of fall shopping lately, in preparation for a trip to New York and Boston!

I got the most perfect black (ballerina?) flats:



(I've waited forever to find these!)

A black one-button blazer for throwing on in the fall when traveling, and in the winter at home:



And a lovely Texas lone star belt buckle for hubby:


(Not too over-the-top, but just enough cowboy bling.)

I can't wait for fall to really come here. The nights are already getting cooler, leaves are piling up, and the days haven't tipped 95 degrees on the scale in about a week or two. (Fall is really much better for clothes, because in the summer here, it's so hot you can't bear to wear more than shorts and a tank top, or maybe a sundress. You can't wear very much makeup because it just sweats off, and your hair really, really wants to be in a ponytail or bun all the time.)

love stories

Sticking with our accidental theme for the weekend's movies, these were all about couples and their complicated/messy relationships. All three were really good.

Crazy/Beautiful
Ending was a little lame, but happy and the California scenery and darkroom was definitely a plus. I also happen to love Kirsten Dunst.







I had no desire to see this, since I don't really like either of the stars. But some friends insisted that it was really good, and it was. It was super cute and funny, not at all what I expected. It made me like Mr. and Mrs. Pitt much better than before.







Overboard
This is definitely an oldie (1987), but goodie. I can't remember how many times I've seen it, but hubby hadn't so we sat down with it last night. It's a cute, wholesome, sort of movie.




Shrimp and Feta Pasta

Last night, I made one of my favorite dinner recipes. It's so quick and easy, with such subtle, great flavors. Honestly, boiling the water (on my crappy stove) is the hardest part.


I call it Shrimp and Feta Pasta, and apparently I got the recipe here originally.

Here you go:

1st step=5 minutes
Start pot of water on high heat. Start some olive oil in a skillet onmedium heat. Defrost big frozen shrimp under cold water.

2nd step=3 minutes
Add garlic and shrimp to skillet. Opens cans (regular can of petit diced tomatos, and small can of sliced button mushrooms) and jars (artichoke salad). Drain diced tomatos and mushrooms.


3rd step= 6 minutes
Hopefully, your water is boiling by now and you can add 3 cups or so of dry penne pasta, mine never is. Add tomatoes, artichoke salad, and mushrooms to skillet and cook for 3 minutes. Add 1 cup crumbled feta cheese to skillet and cook for 3 minutes.



Last step!
I usually have time to set the table and wash up the dishes in the previous step. Then wait for the pasta to finish (12 minutes total boil time for me and my crappy stove), then drain and add to the shrimp feta mix, and dinner is ready.

This is so good! Simple and subtle and elegant.

New (Old) Music Monday: Led Zeppelin



Yep, I know. But I've not ever actually listened to a Led Zeppelin album before, other than when I was a child and forced to on car (van) trips with my dad. Led Zeppelin reminds me of my dad, in the same way that Rod Stewart reminds me of my mom.

But, even so, I decided to give them a try since hubby loves them very much and, so, a few years ago I bought like 5 cds fully intending to listen to them. Hadn't gotten around to it them until last weekend, when we spent most of Sunday's 12-hour drive listening to them.

Verdict: I like them. They have few songs that I don't care for, a few songs that I really like, and all-in-all I can now tolerate, and even enjoy, a drive set to Led Zepplin. (Does this mean I am old?)

In addition, I think the dudes looked way cool:




(Especially Robert Plant. I mean, anyone who goes around practically bare-chested when everyone else has their big coats on is all right in my book.)

And I always love when people have interesting Wikipedia entries. (The song lyrics referencing Lord of the Rings totally freak me out though. I mean, I like LOTR too, but c'mon...)

Labor Day weekend



Spent a nice long labor day weekend in New Orleans, full of family and parties and (possibly) the last swimming of the summer...







new (Old) Music Monday: Muse



This isn't so much a band that I like, because their songs are either love/hate for me, so it's more like a few songs I really like. Here's a few of my favorites:



I also love the way so many of their songs have space-related titles. And this is so mean, but I don't like to think that it's this middle dude singing:


because he looks a little creepy to me. I kind of hate it when people don't match with my preconceived notion from their voice.

Is it weird to love a band's music, but not like the band?

Cinema movies: The Dreamers+NINE

So often movies seem to accidentally fall into themes. These two were actually very similar: both dealing with people so cinema-obsessed that they sort of hide in it away from the real world (they actually both even had black and white "movie" clips interspersed throughout), both somewhat lacking in the story-line and plot, but beautifully shot and well-acted. Worth watching for the visuals alone, especially the city street scenes of Paris and Rome.