July 25

Tonight was the Girl's Guide to Gaming party at 60 State Street. It was amazing! I spent the evening with some fellow bloggers, some wine, and Nintendo DSi's. At the end of the night, we got free DSi's, Mario Kart, and a charm bracelet. A few of us headed out afterwards to the 6B Lounge for martinis. It was a great evening and I was happy to meet some new people, including the ladies behind We Are Not Martha!

July 24

We had a great night out with Sam, Jason, Ben and and two of Jason's friends. We had dinner at P.F. Chang's, then went over to the Pour House for some drinks. On our way to dinner we saw some snails on the sidewalk near the Stony Brook T stop. We thought it was kind of weird to see snails crawling around JP. When we came back, they were still there so we took some pictures. They're kind of cute.

July 23

Tonight we got to see RENT with the original Mark and Roger. The show was fantastic, the audience was excited, and I left with all the songs stuck in my head. This is the third time I've seen the show after seeing it twice in NYC. Dane has never seen it before, but he knows the music and really had a great time. I can't wait to bring him to his first show actually on Broadway.

July 22

Again, I spent most of the day sewing/shopping for sewing supplies. I went to Joann's and sewed up these little bookmarks. They're thin enough to fit in a book without making it feel awkward. I had scraps laying around and this was a great way to use them.

July 21

With all my free time while I'm off from work I've been sewing things for our new Etsy shop. Today I used the fabric that Sam got for me to make a small tote bag. I absolutely love the way it came out. The pattern looks great!

July 20

Today was Dane's last Monday off from work for the summer. We decided to hit the beach. After searching online for beaches that were close, and not Revere Beach, we ended up at Carson Beach. We had a nice relaxing few hours in the sand. The water was a bit too cold to go in, but we did put our feet in.

July 19

Happy Birthday Mom!

We did some geocaching with Sam and Jason today. It's one I've been wanting to do for a while, and last time we went to it the park was closed. It was such a huge bummer. But we got a beautiful day and finally got to find it after poking around in the bushes for a while. Dane made the find (he always seems to).

July 18

This is a super creepy picture, but it makes me laugh. We went out to brunch with Becca, Scott, and Evans this morning. Evans can't help but be crazy and he was making this awesome face at Becca. It was so good to see them all. And of course brunch at the Pour House was delicious.

July 17

I finally finished my mom's birthday present today. She's getting a tote and matching wristlet with her signature whale on them both. She already has a larger tote of the same design, so this is becoming her own signature line of accessories. I'll call it the Scylla line. Only my mom and sisters will know why.

July 16

I met up with Scott for dinner tonight. We went to the Pour House for half price Mexican food. As always, it was delicious. On our walk back we stopped at these cool solar powered stations that are now on Boylston Street outside the Prudential Center. You can use them for free wi-fi or there are outlets you can use to charge your phone.

July 15

Today we went to see Harry Potter 6! We have been waiting for this movie since the second we walked out of the theater from the fifth movie. To prepare, we watched the fifth movie and we got t-shirts to show our love for Harry Potter. Dane and I bought tickets early, and we went to see the movie with Sam, Jason, Corinne, and Adrian. I definitely want to go see it again!

July 14

When Dane got home from work we went to dinner at El Cuba Oriental on Centre Street. I absolutely love their cuban sandwich and tostones. On the walk back, we found out that there is a community garden right down the street. Even though we've passed it countless times, we somehow missed it. Someone who was tending to their garden gave us some freshly picked scallions. I would love to have a spot in here next year.

July 13

I made this clutch the other day. The fabric is beautiful and orange, which makes it even cooler. It was kind of frustrating, but a good learning experience. It forced me to figure out how to use the button hole attachment on my machine. I was really intimidated by it, but now it doesn't seem like a big deal. Pretty!

July 12

After staying over at Sam and Jason's, we woke up to Sam's world famous waffles. They are always delicious and you can always be sure that they will have real Vermont maple syrup. Both of them feel the same way about fake syrup that I do about jarred sauce. It just isn't right. As we were eating, Dane tapped me on the shoulder and said "Look what I did!". He put a berry in each hole in his waffle and was very proud of himself.

July 11

We went over Sam and Jason's tonight. I made dinner (chicken vodka, which is really penne alla vodka with grilled chicken) and it was great. Sam and Jason have this weird light up ball thing, and Corinne was squishing it so that one of its eyes got really big. This was incredibly entertaining to me.

July 10

Dane and I went to see Bruno at the movies tonight on a date. We got there really early for some reason, so we went to the arcade to see if any of the games looked fun. In the claw game there were a ton of Star Trek things. I really wanted to win one for my mom, but figured no one ever really gets anything when they play. Dane told me to give a try anyway. I did and I got the Live Long and Prosper hand on my first try! I was so excited!

July 9

I made the trek back to Boston this afternoon after spending the morning with my grandparents. When I got home, I met Dane for dinner at Pho & I. Then we got dessert at Godiva in the Prudential. We had chocolate covered strawberries and they were delicious!

July 8

Another day at grandma and grandpa's house! We did a little shopping in the morning, then when we got back I decided to clean out my car. I never seem to get the time to do it, and my car really needed to be washed and vacuumed. I did most of it on my own, but when it came to washing my grandpa helped me out. My little car deserved some pampering.

July 7

Today I headed down to NJ to visit with my grandparents for a few days. They always spoil me when I go to see them. I guess it's one of those privileges of being a grandparent. We went to the mall and I got a few things in Forever 21. While we were there, I found a really cool pair of earrings. Well, my grandma really liked them too, so she got herself a pair. She thought that it was very funny for her to be buying something in Forever 21. I think they look great on us.

July 6

I spent some time with Abby all afternoon today. It was so nice! We played outside, dipped our feet in the pool, watched some TV, ate lunch, and then took a nap. Jenna and Melissa were off doing errands, so it was just Abby and me. After all our playtime she finally got tuckered out and fell asleep on the couch. I'm not sure how she was comfortable, but she managed to stay asleep for quite a while.

July 5

We finally got to meet our photographer today! She is absolutely wonderful, and we had a great time doing some test photos with her. She wanted to get a feel for us and we wanted to get a feel for how she works. Jessi suggested we start at Highline Park, a really cool park in NYC that just opened on old railroad tracks. It was definitely not a place we would have found on our own. I love all the pictures she took, but this is one of my favorites! I think we were looking at Jason and he made us laugh. It's very us.

July 4

Party day! I'm so thankful to my family for throwing us this party. They did so much work for us, and we had such a great time. My mom always manages to find the best party decorations, and she got little beer bottle covers wearing a wedding dress and a tuxedo. They were so cute!

July 3

More preparations for the party were underway today. We mostly spent time cooking food and decorating. But, there was time for me to take my sewing machine out, and Abby immediately decided it was her new toy. I think she's going to be crafty, just like her Aunt Kristen.

July 2

We headed back to NY really early today to help my family get ready for our engagement party on July 4. My mom told me the first thing we had to do was get sand for the centerpieces. After getting turned away from the town marina (because I'm no longer a resident) we went to a nearby playground. This was really funny to me, because everyone there must have thought we were crazy to be sifting sand into a bag. After we were done we took some time to play on the playground. We had fun!

July 1

I attempted to make a skirt today, and it came out pretty good! I'm really pleased with the way it came out. And I even have the perfect top to match it.

June 30

After another day of sewing (I made a bookmark, skirt, and bag), Dane and I went out to dinner at P.F. Chang's. It was a nice treat to get out together. Our waiter was awesome and brought us a free entree to go along with the chicken dishes we ordered. We had quite a selection of food to choose from.

June 29

My first day off from work! I spent the day doing crafty things, including making decorations for our upcoming engagement party. This was the beginning of a Congratulations sign. It came out really cute, and I can't wait to put it up for the party.

June 28

Today was the Phantom Gourmet's Barbeque Beach Party at Suffolk Downs. We met up with a bunch of friends and enjoyed some really amazing food. I had a pulled pork sandwich from the Aussom Aussie and it was amazing. Dane tried about three places, and I'm pretty sure he had no complaints. I wish it had been a little nicer out, but the food and company made up for it. Ben and Dane really had a good time, as you can see.

June 27

After the OL Closing Banquet (also known as grilling kabobs by the boat house) Dane and I took a long nap, then woke up and went out to Match. We met up with Becca and Nino, and some other fun CSDCers, for martinis and fun. I can't remember what kind of martini this was, but it was delicious and well deserved after 2 weeks of orientation.

June 26

Conveniently for me, my boss let me take the minivan we've been using or orientation home for the night. I have to say, I think I can totally rock a minivan. I'm also completely sure that I never want to own one. Here we are together.

June 25

Today was a really long day. Our last session began, I was at the office late, and on the way home my car broke down. The battery just gave out. I called AAA and they came to tow it back to my apartment. I had the nicest tow truck driver ever. Here's my little Emma on the back of the truck. I got home around midnight. Luckily I have the best co-workers ever and Jenny came to pick me up on Friday morning to take me to work.

June 24

On our day "off" we took the OLs out to dinner at TGI Friday's. They all know I have a love of pickles, so Shahin offered to share his with me. This is Mike handing it over with Shahin in the background enjoying his burger. The pickle went perfectly with my pizza (ok not really, but I just love pickles).

June 23

After another session ended, Dane and I celebrated with some ice cream at J.P. Lick's. I got a waffle cone with two scoops of ice cream, but they were the biggest scoops of ice cream I have ever seen. The person making my cone was very generous. Dane got peanut butter ice cream, but not as much as I did!

June 22

Another orientation session started today. Somehow I'm still going. Once again, it's raining which tends to make students a little cranky. I don't blame them, I don't like walking around in the rain either. Our OLs managed to keep their spirits up. Here they are with their awesome jerseys.

June 21

After sleeping over Sam and Jason's we woke up and had waffles! How yummy and delicious does this look? I feel like I need to have waffles more often.

June 20

We went to Dane's favorite restaurant today, the Rainforest Cafe. While we were waiting for a table, we tried out the photo booth. Let me tell you, fitting four adults in a photo booth is not an easy task. It was really fun!

(thanks Sam for making this into a printable format!)

June 19

This might be surprising, but it's still raining. I took this out of my window this morning. Still gray and dreary.