quingie

i know it's a weird name, but that's what we've always called my grandma.

she was a gardener, a mother of 12 kids, a very hard worker, and a writer.

i didn't know her very well until i moved here a few years ago. she called every once in a while to check up on us and stopped by for 5 minute visits sometimes.

she lived for over 89 years. i'm glad she can be with my grandpa now who died in 1982.

photo taken by jonathan canlas

boston

we drove up to boston one day to visit nancy and ronan (nancy is my friend from high school). we hadn't seen each other in 11 years! it was so fun to stay at her place in the city, eat lobster and crab, walk around boston a bit, take the T, and eat some good samiches in the north end.



the view from one of Nancy and Ronan's windows (they had many lovely views)



a tree on Hahvud campus



Katie - are you still looking for a summer job?

Nancy pants and me (we look just the same as we did 17 year ago)

Samuel Adams' gravestone

not sure if this was Paul Revere's gravestone or a monument

is this not the best graffiti you've ever seen?

Nancy and Ronan's apartment building from one of the entrances

sneak peak

check us out at a little sussy!

other photos from the trip

doylestown trip

we left for doylestown, pennsylvania on july 1. the flight was hellish to say the least. eric and anabel (dan's dad and mom) offered to pick us up in newark, new jersey (over an hour away) so that we wouldn't have to rent a minivan for $1800.

highlights of the trip included:

getting stuck in a torrential downpour (literally!) and bringing home a turtle crossing the road (he was safely returned to his home the next day),

going swimming with gma and gpa,

playing at kid's castle (thank you for not naming it kid's kastle),

dan and i going to boston (separate post to follow),

finding a froggy friend,

playing with little Libby (the wiener dog),

going to a Trenton Thunders baseball game (complete with fireworks),

playing Rock Band and Guitar Hero,

and getting to watch fireflies at night (sorry - no photo).

the countertops

i picked out a really simple granite (you should have seen some of those pieces, they looked like vomit or head cheese) and it turned out exactly like i imagined! i love it!

all those stacked up boxes are the tile! the next project (and the last big one).

the cabinets

i was in such a rush to get these done because i wanted them to be making the countertops while we were gone (since they take 2 weeks and that's how long we'd be gone). they came to measure for the countertops the day before we left and we got the last 3 (of 17) cabinets installed the day before that. man was that a stressful job and time-line!

i'm back

i've really been missing blogging lately due to several things that have been going on . . .

we've been gone for two weeks to pennsylvania where i was hoping to catch up on some blogging but wasn't able to upload any pics,

i attended the funeral of my grandma (my mom's mom) yesterday where i got to see her entire family (a rare event),

countertops were installed wednesday! (the day after we got home),

i've been stressing out about what to wear for family photos by Nicole Hill tomorrow morning,

and trying to finish the kitchen!

pictures and commentary for all of these things will come soon . . .

haven't been blogging much (as I'm sure you know)

because dan picked this up the other day. (and it's awesome!)

checking in

for those of you who are fans, you may be wondering what has happened to me lately. have i just given up entirely because of this ?$^%* kitchen project?

last week, just in the nick of time, i finished installing the cabinets. i wasn't really planning on doing this, but that's just what happened. my bro-in-law carl showed me how to do it the first two nights, but then had to work some overtime and couldn't make it over. dan helped some one night and my bro andy and cousin dan helped me another night. with the counter-top guy coming on monday, dan and i got the last 3 cabinets in just before then.

the countertops will take 2 weeks at which point they will be ready for installation. during this 2 weeks i will be taking a little break - from everything kitchen related. maybe reading a little, doing some sewing, playing with the kids, you know - my normal life.

unfortunately, i'm having trouble posting pictures right now, but when i get a chance i'll get some cabinets up for you!