We are Dog People.

For the next 24 hours, anyway. We are dog sitting for our landlords who went to take their daughter to camp today and will be back tomorrow. Lulu's been here for an hour and so far so good! I don't think she knows that the last dog I watched tried to die on me or that I had to load her into the car and rush her to the doggie emergency room where she was checked in and tested for days before they found out she was suffering from a tick-born auto-immune disease which just happened to manifest itself the week her parents were out of town. (So totally not my fault, is what I'm trying to say. But nonetheless.)
The first thing I told Lulu when she got here was, "I promise I won't kill you!" Her ears perked up a little bit as if to say, "Is that something I should be concerned about?" She immediately went to sit at Bryan's side.
This is Lu:

Not dead. Just sleeping.

The Sweetest Things

We had a picnic at the river today. Bike rides and lobster rolls and a cool breeze. How lovely!

And look at that sweet stache!

It's all Greek to Me

We have had a couple meals at the big Greek Street Festival near our house this weekend. How delightful! So does anyone know how to make Spanakopita? Yea, me neither... I guess we'll have to wait until next year to get another taste. It was super yummy, though.

Also this morning was Brunch Team Spectacular. We drew Erick on the table: He loves snuggies, glade plug-ins, the Yankees, his new Droid phone, and Slushies (he just bought a slushie machine) and since he couldn't be there in reality, he was there in 2-D. (see if you can spot all of his favs in the drawing) Pretty good, eh?

Last but not least, I got a haircut today! Yay! I really needed one and when I said "a little bit hip, a little bit Tim Burton," this is what I got:

I love it! Thanks, David, at Judy Jetson's!!

Hope you all called your dads today! Happy Father's Day!

It's Cherry Time

Elizabeth discovered that cherries would be $2 a pound yesterday so we decided to get together and make a cherry pie from scratch and some cherry oat muffins!! Elizabeth, Carolyn, and I  baked the night away! Bryan even helped pit all 6 pounds of cherries!

Just look at that lattice!!!

(Elizabeth, me, Carolyn)

We accidentally poured cherry juice all over the floor the first time we tried to take this picture.Oops. Also, the crust was super crumbly. I haven't had that problem before with crust, but if anyone has a fool-proof crust recipe, I'd be interested in hearing it.

I hope you are all having a lovely weekend!

Rig A Jig Jig

And Away We Go...

We just returned home from an awesome weekend in Newport with our friends! It was so nice to go and stay!
We cooked dinners,
watched the World Cup,
played games,

(Ben & Lucy)

played other kinds of games,

(Nolan & Erick -- a.k.a.: Rinse and Repeat)

(Haythem & Laura-- a.k.a: Shake and Bake)

and went to the beach! (It was rather cold and rainy, though, so we didn't quite get the sun we hoped for)

(Laura and Lucy-- I love these girls!)

Those boys LOVE throwing rocks into the sea!

And in case you forgot how awesome I am, I just want you to see a little something:

When I was sick last week, I laid in bed all day and learned how to make shadow puppets!!! I whipped this little bunny out the other night and Bryan died out laughing because it was so legit!

Newport Residence, Take Two

The final shots are in!

Sailing

Thanks for checking in all weekend! I wish I had beautiful photos of the day... of brunch... of sailing on the Charles... but I have been in bed all day with a fever! I thought I was just having some allergies for the last few days but it's a full blown sinus something now, awesome. It's been raining all day anyway. (Did anyone else just hear the *whaa whaaaaa* from Debby Downer?!)

I do have some fun photos of a brand new, up-and-coming photographer who, I feel, has a very unique angle on life.
I'd like to present: Miss Martha

And one that I took for good measure

Newport House

As promised!
I just got home from Newport and we accomplished SO MUCH today! The house looks awesome! There are a couple more tiny things to be done before the real staged photos are taken... you know, the ones with fruit and flowers and drinks on tables and dogs lounging near the sofa... but I got a few shots before I left. It was already dark out so please ignore the flash. I'll repost pics once I get the real ones!

Entry:

(kitchen to the left, dining to the right)

Living Room:

Master Bedroom:

(the house is directly across the street from The Elms- a famous Newport mansion- so the telescope is to spy into the beautiful gardens, not on the neighbors)

Twin Room:

(Newport plays host to The National Tennis Hall of Fame, hence the tennis rackets.)

Upstairs guest room:

The downstairs guest room and the dining/ kitchen areas were still a little bit under construction so those pictures are soon to come! I'm really happy with how everything is turning out!

Montreal

We made it home Wednesday night from Montreal. Montreal was a beautiful city and we had a really good time together up there. Those 'Frenchies,' though... sheesh.
Anyway: Our Trip in Pictures

Day One involved some hiking. We climbed to the top of Mount Royal (pronounced mawn-roy-ahl) which was really just a big hill but it provided a beautiful view of the city and the rivers surrounding the island of Montreal.

We also walked out to St. Joseph's Oratory. It was beautiful inside and had the most amazing wrought iron gates and sculptures!

Day Two we toured the Old Montreal and Montreal Port areas.
Notre Dame/ Her Lady's Church. It was beautiful inside. Everything was so detailed and perfect.

Old Montreal where we had savory crepes for lunch.

After lunch we walked down to the river and climbed the clock tower.

From which we could see one of Buckminster Fuller's geodesic glass domes.

And the '67 Residences which we walked over to once we left the clock tower.

The third day I wandered while Bryan attended lectures (which is the main reason we went to Montreal- for the philosophy conference)
And Wednesday morning Bryan presented his paper. I went to see him give his lecture since I've never seen him present before and was so glad I did! I snuck this picture while he was setting up before anyone came into the room. He did such a good job! I don't know what the heck he was talking about, really, but I know he did a really good job! I do try to understand philosophy, but I just can't. My brain doesn't work that way and he loves me still!

All in all I'd say it was a great trip!

Tune in for updates every day this weekend!
On the agenda:
1) Finish the Newport House tomorrow (post pictures)
2) Brunch and Sailing on Sunday (post pictures)
Hooray!