Roberts in Boston

Jared and Kelsie came all the way from Michigan to see us! What a fun time it was!

They brought sweet little Olivia. Cutest Cougar fan around.

The Cougars came to the east coast too! We all drove down to Connecticut to see them play!

Tiny hand-holding. So cute! Her headphones got lots of comments lol

These boys had fun playing video games together again. Or as they call it, "saving the world".

Of course we had to eat at Five Guys at least once. A Roberts-Manning tradition.

It was so fun to tour through Boston with our friends. I love showing off this beautiful city and it was so fun to hear Kelsie keep saying how much she loved it. 

What's not to love, really?

Strolling through the Boston Common

Acorn Street

Had to get a family pic on the most photographed street in Boston

There are so many cool buildings on Beacon Hill

Seriously love this place

Hotty McJefferson on Beacon Hill

Olivia's first "Make Way for Ducklings" picture

such a cutie, and perfect size for duck-back riding : )

Our besties in the best city in the Northeast

No trip to Massachusetts is complete with stopping by Kimball Farm

We had the best time with you guys, Jared and Kelsie. We are so lucky to have such wonderful friends! Hope to see you again soon!

Yoga & Baseball

I started a new job this week! I am now a Program Coordinator for an after-school program in Newton, MA and it's full time and salaried and legit and I'm super stoked. I spent some time getting to know and working with the director and two other program coordinators this week and they seem like they will all be great to work with, which bodes well. Anyway, I'm sure I will have more to tell about this new position in forthcoming weeks and months, but for now I'll just mention how Jeff surprised me on my first day home from the job.

I hadn't seen Jeff all day since I went to a yoga class by the Charles River right after work. My friends Mary and Danielle suggested we try it out and I was all for it! Yoga outdoors on a beautiful summer evening with views of the Boston skyline and river?? Yes, please! The class was awesome and it couldn't have been a better yoga venue. 

So I finally got home later in the evening and Jeff says he has a surprise for completing my first day at the new job. He pulled out an envelope and inside it were two tickets to Saturday's Red Sox game! Earlier that day he had won a triva contest at work and earned these sweet tickets, loge box seats right behind the first-base dugout. What a champ! I can't believe he was able to keep that a secret all day. 

So to the ballpark we went on a fine saturday afternoon; we discovered that day games are really just the best in late summer. Our seats were great, the weather was great, and although the Red Sox didn't play so great after the 4th inning we had a lovely time enjoying the sites and sounds of the ballgame and spending the afternoon together. 

Brought my mitt just in case. Didn't catch a ball today, but we got a few foul balls in our section!

Great seats

After the game we took our time leaving Fenway and decided to walk through the city rather than getting on a stuffy subway car for an extra five stops. We walked all the way down Commonwealth Ave and through the public garden before hopping on the train at Park Street. What a way to take in the city. I want to stroll down Comm Ave every day; can't wait to walk it during the fall months. 

Love this place.

Summer Sunset Soirée

We had a fun time saturday venturing into the city for an evening on the town. Or rather above the town! One of Jeff's friends from work threw a party for all the people who play on the KPMG soccer team and it was on the roofdeck of his posh apartment right in the middle of Beacon Hill. The view from the rooftop was gorgeous.

Overlooking the gold dome of the State House

Just can't get enough of this Boston town.

Blueberry Pickin'

Jeff was recently pulled onto a 6/30 year-end client (aka a client that has its busy season in the summer), just for a week luckily, but he had to work saturday. In his absence I opted to drive out to Tyngsboro, MA with Mary and Dean for early morning blueberry picking at Parlee Farms! We chose a great weekend to go because the blueberries were big, and plump, and ripe, and super tasty! The deal was 2.99/lb if you picked at least 5 pounds so I filled my so called "5 pound bucket" to the brim and ended up with 6.7 lbs of blueberries. Woops. But they were the best blueberries ever so what's a couple extra pounds in the freezer?

Mary was the first to fill her bucket. She's a quick picker!

Full to the brim. I kept thinking of the line from Fantastic Mr. Fox, "Beagles-love-blueberries".

The following sunday we had a nice meal with friends and I made a blueberry crisp for dessert. It was DELISH. Can't wait to make it again. Although I might need to put the blueberries to use in a few other goodies first. Blueberry pancakes, cobbler, and muffins look out! Thank you Parlee farms : )

Harry Potter and the Boston Book Club

Anyone who knows me well knows that I love Harry Potter. Ever since I was eleven years old and discovered my first copy of Harry Potter at a scholastic book fair, I have been Harry Potter's #1 fan. One of my friends from my study abroad in Wales started a book club specifically for re-reading the Harry Potter series and has been throwing totally awesome Potter book club discussions/parties for the past year. Unfortunately this friend lives in Utah and I have enviously eyed pictures of these events on facebook wishing that I could be part of such awesomeness. Sigh.

For a long time I thought, why don't I start my own Harry Potter book club? And for a long time it was just a thought. BUT, Jeff and I finally reached the point where we knew enough people on this side of the country to invite to participate in such a venture, and I finally got the gumption to do it. I sent out some emails, and got a good enough response to start a reading group. Thus was born the Harry Potter Boston Book Club!

July was our trial month. I put together a reading guide and everyone in the group read Sorcerer's Stone. We had our very first meeting on July 31st (in honor of Harry Potter and J.K. Rowling's birthdays) and had a magical time. We dug into the book and discussed deep topics such as:

• "How do Harry's Aunt and Uncle live with themselves?"
• "How did you pronounce character names the first time you read Harry Potter? Hermy-own anyone?
• "How does the Ministry of Magic track who is magical and know who to admit to Hogwarts even if they don't come from wizarding families (like Hermione or Lily Potter)?"
• "What's up with the points system at Hogwarts?! It's so subjective and the Hogwarts teachers can totally rig the system."
• "Which Hogwarts House best represents each "Big Four" Accounting Firm?"

It was fun to get different insights into various parts of the book and to hear everyone's favorite parts of the story. It totally took me back to the days when the books and movies were being released for the first time and my excitement and passion for Harry Potter was rekindled. Glad I have an awesome husband and good friends who are willing to share in this kind of fun : )

Our first meeting was a success!

By the way, everyone is welcome to join the Harry Potter Boston Book Club, even if you don't live nearby. We are now moving on to Chamber of Secrets and will be holding another meeting at the end of August! Let me know if you're interested. Here's to many months of happy Harry Potter reading! Let the Magic begin!