Holiday Home Makeover!

In October, after our house had gotten egged by some neighborhood pranksters and we realized that the stain it left on the siding would just not come off, we decided to give our house a little facelift. And because one project logically leads to the next, it started with siding, but then became new windows, new steps and walkway, and a new portico over the front door. Ro and I immediately agreed that the black-and-white had to go, and instead we opted for a steel sage green for the siding and fresh white trim to compliment our red front door. And when it was done, it was time already to decorate for Christmas! Here are a couple photos of the new look:

The project will not be complete until the spring, when it's warm enough to paint the rest of the house to match. I'll post the before-and-after shots then, when there's some fresh grass and the plants begin to spring up! Can't wait until then!

But overall we are very pleased with the way the project has turned out so far!

Halloween 2011...in November!

On Sunday, November 6th, Halloween was officially celebrated in Middletown. HUH?

The backstory is that on Saturday, October 30th, Connecticut, and much of New England, was hit with winter storm Alfred. It was a devestating storm, because the unexpected and premature combination of snow and ice blanketed the trees that were still covered in leaves. When the trees fell, they took the power lines with them. And the response from CL&P was underwhelming....it took 5 days for power to be restored on Clover Street....and even longer in other places. But the combination of lines and debris down everywhere, and the lack of power, made Trick or Treating impossible. And so once things were reasonably cleaned up, the Mayor "rescheduled" Halloween for the following weekend. We got the message....but unfortunately many people did not (which is not surprising because nobody had power!).

Elizabeth and Emily visited on Saturday night (they already had other plans on Sunday night).
The Superheroes: Nathan as Batman, and Maya as Superwoman!

Princess Lily and her dad, the Pauper.

The Bouchard's came for a visit, with Connor monkeying around!

The Patriots played the Giants that night, so we had Teagan rooting for New York, and Jack rooting for New England in their team gear!

Ro was particularly fond of the little Giant's fan!

Bienvenidos Rachel!

On Wednesday, October 26th, I headed to Boston to meet up with some of my BC roommates for dinner. We were there to see our beloved Rachel, who has been living and working in Spain as a geologist for the last 5 or so years. Since she is from Cali, this is the first time she was on the East Coast in a very looooong time! It was so good to see her!
Alison, Meg, Rachel, myself and Jen all had an amazing dinner with amazing conversation. Even after all these years, we never miss a beat!

Ashley and Phil's New House!

On October 17th, I had the honor of being the closing attorney for my cousins Ashley and Phil as they bought their new house in West Hartford! As soon as the last signature was put on paper, I headed with them to see the house and take some photos!



The house is lovely, and I wish them many years of health and happiness (and a few good parties) there!

Welcome Home Robbie!

Over the course of several weeks in September, our cousin Rob, a member of the U.S. Air Force, made the long trip home from Afghanistan. He had been serving for the past 6 months at FOB Lightning in Gardez, Afghanistan.

To welcome him home, our family celebrated with a cake from Fusion Bakery, decorated with photos taken while he was serving.

A truly Welcome Home Robbie! So glad you are safe, and thank you for your service!

Steph's Surprise Birthday

On Saturday, September 24th, Andy (Steph's boyfriend), Julia, and Eddie (Julia's boyfriend) decided that since Steph was always so giving, that they would throw her a surprise birthday party at a local spot in Queens. We wouldn't miss it! Needless to say, she was surprised!

Mrs. Manning came all the way from Georgia...

And cousin Tanya (on the left, pictured with cousin Claudia) came all the way from Jamaica!

Andy manages the bar!

Ro and Darren.

Us.

Eddie and Julia.

Cousin Troy, Ro's brother Winston, Ro, and Uncle Arthur.

Ro's New Job

Ro started a new finance job at Open Solutions in Glastonbury, CT in August. The company "helps community-based financial institutions succeed by providing essential technologies and insights that enable them to operate more profitably, efficiently and collaboratively."

One afternoon in September, I got to visit him at work and snap this photo of him in his office! Congratulations Dear!!!

Meeting Ari

On Saturday, September 10th, Suzanne and Sam were up from New York, so we all went to visit Jon, Sarah, Lily and little Ari and bring our gifts.

Lily loved the embroidered stuffed puppy Suzanne made for Ari, and the baseball cat cross stitch that I made for him! Ari looks just like Lily when she was a baby, except that he has red hair! Adorable!

Hurricane Irene

On Saturday night, August 27th, we had a few family and friends over for a 'pre-hurricane party'. We had known for the past 2 days that Hurricane Irene would be a direct hit, but we weren't sure just how bad it would be. But we definitely wanted to cook up the food we had in the fridge...just in case!
The rain starting coming down heavily by nightfall, and after we said goodbye to our guests, we readied ourselves by putting away all the oudoor furniture and getting the candles out....just in case! We awoke at around 5:00 to hear the wind howling and rattling the windows. The power cut out a few minutes later. And then at around 5:30, we heard a huge WOOOOSH, only to discover that our beloved dogwood tree in the front had been uprooted. Big Boy looked out the window in shock, as he loved climbing this tree, and couldn't figure out what had happened to it.

By Sunday afternoon, the wind and rain had left, and the neighbors came out in full force to examine the damage. Eli, Judith, and Dave were convinced that there were enough intact roots on our beautiful tree to try to save it. So for the next couple hours, with the neighborhood's help, and a big truck, we developed an extensive pully system to try to upright the tree! The pully sytem worked, and the tree fell right into place....

but before we could secure it, it toppled down in the other direction, snapping the roots! So even though we couldn't save our beautiful dogwood, it was a touching neighborly effort, and we were so thankful for everyone's thoughfulness. Fortunately, this was the only big damage done on the block by Irene, where other neighborhoods had extensive destruction. We were without power, however, longer than most neighborhoods, and didn't get it back until Thursday. (But I didn't mind, it was a great chance to unplug and have some great conversations with Ro and mom and my childhood friend Jason who was staying with us from NY, all over a few bottles of wine!).


We will replant another dogwood just like it (but smaller) in the coming spring. But we will always remember the beauty of this tree, as photographed this May.

Welcome Ari Edward (born on my 32nd Birthday!)

On Monday, August 22nd, I turned 32. I woke up that morning for work, and had many voicemails and text messages on my phone, all wishing me a happy birthday! Without time to look at or listen to them all, little did I know that there was also a message from my cousin/parnter Jonathan at 6 a.m., also wishing me a happy birthday, and letting me know that his son was on the way, and that he wouldn't make it to work! When he didn't show, I eventually figured out what was going on! So by noon, with no baby yet, on a gorgeous late summer day, I played hookie and went to the beach with Mom. By the time we got back, a baby was born!

The two birthday Leo's (myself and Baby X, who was still unnamed), and proud mama Sarah, looking fabulous!


It took two days to name him Ari Edward! Ari means "lion" in Hebrew, fitting for a little Leo!
He is adorable!

Jonathan, big sister Lily, Sarah and Ari! Mazel Tov!

After the visit to the hospital, we came home and had a great birthday dinner! Hazel helped me blow out the candles!

Happy birthday Ari! I'm so proud to share such a great day with you!