Good Morning, Sunshine! Thank You for the Unspeakably Gorgeous Sunrise, So Let's Just Say it in Pictures

{Ok, ok, pictures and a few words}

Came up to Boston for a visit with my awesome mom (mawsome? awesmom?).  She lives in the converted 1917 Prince Spaghetti factory on Boston's waterfront. (Yup, my brother worked as Aladdin at Disneyland, and my mom lives in a spaghetti factory, and that's just the beginning *sigh*) 

 Sun setting behind us, to the back of the building {below}.

{View:  form left, the stone building is Lewis Wharf, next is the roof  of a commercial building, in the distance is the Hyatt Harborside, the white and gray building at the end of the wharf to the right is Yachthaven, which, in case you are thinking of visiting my mom and would like to arrive on your yacht, caters to mega yachts, the lights behind it are a bunch of tugboats just hanging out, and along the right is Commercial Wharf.)

Not much (um, nothing) can make me actually WANT to get out of bed at 6:15 AM except the glow coming the floor to (high) ceiling, quadruple width glass separating Mom's living room from her porch looking out onto Boston Harbor.   

This morning, half (probably more like three-quarters) asleep, I stepped out there, with camera, in my jammies.  Oh what a sight!  (both the sunrise, and me in my jammies snapping the sunrise in the frigid cold ... for different reasons.)

Everything below is sunrise over about 30 minutes, enjoy!

 

The pilings you see to the left, poking out of the water, are original wooden supports for the buildings that used to be on these wharfs more than 100 years ago. They are actually privately owned real estate.

 

Gorgeous Fall Harvest at Old Town Alexandria Farmers' Market: Apples, String Beans, Corn, Fresh Breads and Fall Wreaths!

Love our farmers' markets in Alexandria -- both downtown and in my hood, Del Ray.  Always, delicious, fresh, beautiful and fun!  These photos are from our visit to the Old Town market on Saturday morning.  Enjoy!

 Happy customer choosing some great looking veggies.

 I stopped this woman to ask where she bought the gorgeous red sunflowers (vendor on the North West corner of the plaza).  Yup, brought two beautiful bunches home for my favorite white vase.

 

Mom, in black jacket, tasting her way down the row of fresh breads.  She brought home the fully wrapped, marbled looking one on the right -- spinach and feta loaf.   

 Mom holding a beautiful blue hydrangea square wreath at my favorite floral design designer's stop in the market, Natural Designs ... BTW, Mom is 72.  Gorgeous, huh? Yup, I know.  I wish I worked out half as much as she did!

See the pretty red (dyed!) sunflowers Mom has in her bag.  And, no, I could not resist that new wreath, top row, of acorns, pods, and chestnuts.  Will take photos as soon as I figure out where to hang it ...

Love this new Bordeaux straw flower version of the barley wreath I bought form Anne (with yellow straw flowers) that is hanging on my front door!

My front door!

Hope you are having a great day and are looking forward to the weekend.  TGI Hump Day!

xoxo JPV

My #1 Blog Fan, Mom, Visits from Boston and Attempts to Clean Out Marianna's Macarons at Del Ray Farmers' Market

Had a great visit from Mom this weekend, down from Boston. She wanted to visit the Farmers' Markets and specifically try the macarons she had seen in an earlier post.  She bought three dozen to take home for friends and family, and a dozen or two for herself.  Note the all lemon box at the bottom.

On our way to my haircut, we dug into a mixed box ... below is mom's happy face, and a tell-tale sprinkle from the "birthday cake" flavor:

Below is mom holding the chocolate & banana peanut butter. Whoa that was soooo good.

Yup, see that face, THAT is how crazy good these things are! (below)

Mom and Marianna

(Below) Vera's Bakery's RIDICULOUS fresh berry coffee cake.

  Mom pointing out the crustless piece she wanted. 

It is gluten free and I think the gluten is replaced with many sticks of butter.  And that is a beautiful thing.

We hit the big Old Town Alexandria Farmer's Market, too ... fresh breads, new wreaths from my favorite floral artist, Anne (see earlier blog entry of my gorgeous front door wreath made by Anne), coming in the next installment!

Thanks so much for visiting!

Much love,

xoxo JPV

P-town Characters: From Drag-Performer-on-Pink-Bicycle to the Bronze-Soldier-Statue-That-Moves

There are always interesting new characters in Provincetown like Herbie and Erin who we met this year where they work at the one room P-town Chamber of Commerce.  And the man dressed and made up so much like a bronze statue that mom and I sat nearby and watched three children burst into tears when he (the man-as-war-statue) moved to salute those who put money in his statue-stand-cum-collection box.  ManStatue was eclipsed for a few minutes when the incredibly tall drag queen rode by on a pink bicycle advertising his show called Lip-Schtick.  He was distributing postcards advertising his show which read: "One Boy's Journey to Fabulous and Back!'  I would say he is surely still at Fabulous!

Below: Wait one second ... why is that bronze statue now facing to the right? 

The Many Wonders of Provincetown! And Happy Weekend!

Peering over a (short) fence to a perfect spot in someone's yard: white Adirondak chairs surrounded by huge lace cap hydrangea bushes, just waiting for good friends and fresh mint iced tea..ahhh

 Had a fantastic time with my mom in Provincetown celebrating her birthday.  At least once every summer growing up my parents would pile my brothers and me into the Suburban and drive to the very tip of the Cape to the sand dunes (now mostly closed off to the public due to erosion mostly caused by the Piscitelli children in the 1970s I am sure), art galleries, shops and the fantastic characters of P-town.

Standing in the water with the sun setting to my right.  Serenity now! (and clinging to new camera so it doesn't end up swimming with the fishes.)



 

Lobstarama Goes Lobstah Ravioli (LobRav!)

I lived in Southern California when for two years from 21-23.  I represented a fun restaurant out there doing PR.  I used to hang out the chefs.  One, named, NOT kidding, Fabio, a few years fresh from Trieste, Italy (so close the border accounted for his being a 6'5" redhead).  He showed me the easiest way to make ravioli that everyone uses now:  the fabulous wonton wrapper.  Open a can of pumpkin puree, scoop onto a wrapper, use a little water to seal it into a triangle shape over the filling, boil very gently and voila!  Serve with sauce to dip in or as a dish on its own.



With all of that leftover lobster meat, and mom taking Valentine + Valentine (my husband and his wonderful brother) to wait in line for tickets to watch batting practice at Fenway (Red Sox - White Sox game, V+V are rabid fans of the latter), I decided to put that lobster meat to good use. 

Lobstapalooza -- Kicking off the Summer Right

Boston, Memorial Day weekend.  Friday and Saturday:

Lunch on the waterfront with hubby and Mom (What? The DV has never participated in a lobster boil? Clambake?  Wha?  Poor deprived hubby ... Mom and I decided to bring on Lobstah Fest for Saturday's lunch.)

Saturday woke to the smell of sauce mom had starting making at 5 AM -- mmmm heaven. (Dinner for Sunday ... today is lobster!)

Commence Lobstarama:

In the middle of Downtown Boston, neaar the waterfront, is J Hook:

Where we met lunch (and future lobster ravioli):

Boiled 14 pounds of Mo, Larry, Curley and Snappy, stinking up kitchen (Hmmm, we usually do this at the beach house where smells disperse a little better and more quickly ... )

Is the Holiday Weekend Over? Can I Have it Back? Pleeease?

It was fantastic!  Pictures and stories to follow all week.  And my homemade by me lobster ravioli for snacks all week, too!  We picked those lobstahs alive ... this is some dead serious ravioli.

  Not bad for a pic with the crackberry ...

More to come.  Hi Mom!

xoxoxo

Going Places?

Called Mom in the hospital.  She sounds great.  She said, excitedly, “You know how I get up and after five minutes I’m so exhausted that I have to sleep for two hours?”  Yes.  “Well I feel great and I am up and about and have been for a while now!”  If she was home, this means:  I got up (at normal 5 AM), cleaned the house, emailed, Facebooked, handled paperwork, went to gym for step aerobics and lifting, worked on the website or posters or donations for the Christopher Columbus Park and worked in its rose garden. And cooked a chicken.

At the moment, though, she’s in the hospital.  With mystery pneumonia.

So exactly what does up and about mean when you have a tube in your lung attached TO A WALL? 

Just asking.

She said, “Well, I can’t go very far.”  Like the bed?  “Yes, and a chair.”

Thank you JudyGroupers and everyone for their well wishes and prayers!

Go Mom! Feeling better.  Phew.  Maybe home by Tuesday.

Of Cooking and CAT Scans: Thanksgiving 2010

My mom (that's her beautiful self to the left, with baby tree-climbing Moroccan goat) was supposed to come to DC to visit for Thanksgiving.  A few days after she returned to Boston from our girl bonding trip all over Morocco, she came down with pneumonia (that's her in Morocco, a day pre-pneumonia).  More on that elsewhere (and the goat in the tree behind Mom.  For real.  Not. A. Joke).  Our wonderful friends Mary and Stilly invited us to Thanksgiving at their house, very close to ours.  Hubby and I met on Thanksgiving Day and got engaged 15 days later so we consider it our true anniversary.  This year makes five years (eeee so cool!!).  Mom was supposed to celebrate with us.

Instead, the day before, she went to see her doctor at Mass General who promptly admitted her. My reaction to this is not to cry or scream or freak, rather, I felt overwhelmed with exhaustion and literally wanted to curl up in a ball and go to sleep on the floor of my office.  Ditto next day, Thanksgiving, 10:30 AM when 1.  I hear how scared she is, 2. CAT scan showed fluid around lung and heart and a problem with her liver.  This time I freaked.  Called hubby on golf course.  I thought.

Hubby is Jr. 

I called Sr. By mistake.

Who I later found out thought his oldest son had been in some horrible accident.  Smart man, handed phone to wife, my glorious mother in law.  She is not just an R.N. The woman runs hospital E.R.s.  Rides in choppers.  Medical and managerial badass.  Talked me off ledge.  Didn’t even bother hubby on golf course.  Set about to chopping.  Very therapeutic.  Before that, I went through over my entire iTunes library and every some I clicked on every song that made me smile AND made me feel good, like I wanted to dance.  If I could.  Even though I can’t. (Listening now, loooove it).

Played music, made Mom’s dressing with my tweaks, and her sauerkraut, also tweaked for hubby.  I eat the former, but not the latter. 

Yup, that’s the Thanksgiving story.  Finally spoke with Mom and her attending physician (so very Grey’s), who explained how they were ruling out all sorts of things (bad things, this is where I started rooting hard for infection, any infection, bacterial or viral; I’ll take it over lupus or rheumatism). 

Happy Thanksgiving!! (That's a shot I took of Mom in Morocco a few weeks ago.  Did I mention she's 71?  Just wanted to see if you read to the end, kidding!! But I bet you're going to check out that close up pic at the top ... I would.)