How could I be so remiss?

As to forget to post the adorable photos (and videos) from my trip to see my adorable niece and nephew!

Let me fix that right now.

Can you handle the adorableness?


Are you dead yet?

Jack loved my shoes.



How can you resist this face?

Oh and we had a dance party. Jack loves to dance.

Just ignore silly Aunt Carly...
Oh and did I mention that my phone now takes video?
Thanks Edwina!

Hello August

So far I've been very busy in the month of August. It started out as a volunteer thing and turned into a part time job. This is where I've been for the last week and where I'll be every night for the next week and a half:



Working on the Boston Common as a Costume Assistant for the annual Free Commonwealth Shakespeare Company production! So far working on the Comedy of Errors has been fun (if stressful going from full time day job, to the Common until midnight) and I've been excited for the chance to meet some new people and get out of my comfort zone a bit! Read the great review the Boston Globe gave us here. If you're in Boston come see us before August 16th!

Then two days after the show ends, I will be here:




Visiting my brother and his cute cute family in Utah! Yay!! I'm so excited!

And then when I get back it's time to move.... Dun dun dun! It's gonna be busy! Hopefully I'll have time to post all the adorable photos I'll be taking of my niece and nephew while visiting them, so check back later this month!

In the effort to be a better blogger...

Here's a random mind dump of things I've been up to lately:

1. Taking a whole Saturday to play at Six Flags New England
2. Feeling like I've taken a beating the day after said adventure
3. Signing a new lease for a new place with my roommates - we'll be moving at the end of August
4. Buying tickets to visit Utah at the end of August, which will make moving 5 days after getting back from said trip super fun
5. Enjoying Edwina, my new iPhone 3GS, whose name had to be changed since she was just too pretty to be a boy
6. Lamenting the fact that pretty much everyone (and everything) in my life is now female - where have all the men gone?
7. Volunteering as a costume assistant for Shakespeare on the Common and then feeling like a crazy person for continuing to email them since I haven't heard anything from them (but keeping my fingers crossed)
8. Watching Harry Potter 6 last Wed! And loving it!
9. Continuing to love my new car, Gemma, and the freedom it brings to go anywhere I want whenever I want
10. Getting some fabulous knock-off Coach bags at a great "purse market" in New Hampshire for super cheap (ie around 10 dollars a pop - oh yes I bought more than one)
11. Watching "So You Think You Can Dance" every Wed. and Thurs. and consequently wanting to start dancing again (thinking about taking a class)
12. Thinking about maybe teaching a bookbinding class at the "Cambridge Center for Adult Education" since I heard their teacher left
13. Reading lots of good books, especially the "Percy Jackson & the Olympians" series, you should check it out
14. Getting no where on the quilting projects that I made goals to finish before the end of the summer and feeling guilty
15. Finally starting on the tan I vowed to get this summer - I no longer look like a vampire
16. Video chatting with the nieces and nephews - this is probably the best invention ever

That's it for now... And just because it's not a post without a picture:



Part of the group I went to the beach with 2 weekends ago which was the beginning of said tan!

Whoa... sorry there.

I'm finally back!... from being a slacker! Man, I'm so bad. It's really been a while, huh? I think I've started a couple posts, but I think I just haven't had much interesting to share or say. Which is totally not true as evidenced by my sisters blog, I went to visit her and her cute little family just a few short weeks ago. You can see some of those pictures here.

Nope, I think it's probably all to blame on my laziness! I keep wanting to be better, but a combination of a super slow computer, a broken camera and freezing temperatures that just make me want to sleep all the time, like a hibernating bear, really get the better of those noble aspirations! It's cold, I'm boring, there you go!

Well, so what is there really to tell? Not much, except we finally took down all the Christmas decorations, and I'm wishing I had some fun Valentine's decorations to put up. I did do something fun last week and finally went to the "Open Press Night" at the letterpress studio that Harvard has. I wasn't expecting to be able to print anything, maybe just set some type, but I was able to complete a whole project in just one night! It was so fun, I might even be going back tomorrow night, the creative juices are starting to flow again (despite the temperatures, or maybe because of, since I'm starting to go stir-crazy). I have lots of ideas about other projects I want to do.

Anyway, here's a not very good picture taken by Edwin (my iPhone) which of course is the only camera of the three I own that works right now... he's such a good BF like that (in the working department, not the picture quality department, unfortunately).

(those are drawings of molecules, I know it's kinda hard to tell...)

I thought it was pretty clever, and so far so do most people. Also, pretty appropriate since I just finished my Chemistry class at Harvard! Now if only I had someone to give it to. Of course I'll probably end up giving them to all my roommates, friends and coworkers anyway, even though they might start to get the wrong idea about me... but what can I say? I love Valentines Day!

Oh and P.S. Guess what's coming up at the end of this month? Only the most Awesome Event Ever! We're having a 1920's Theme party to celebrate the end of my "Roaring '20s"! I'm super excited and am busily planning away with my roommies. It's been a long time since I've had an actual birthday party. Should be fun!

Oh and just to close it out with a fun picture... here's one from I think my 7th Birthday Party when we lived in Bakersfield California. Pretty hot huh? I think the ring, the tiara and glasses just give the outfit a little something... extra, don't you?



My Dad gave me one of the coolest Christmas Presents ever, an external hard drive filled with pictures, movies and audio books. It's been fun going through all the pictures. So much fun that I might just have to start "Flashback Fridays" or something cheesy like that.

Long Overdue

Hi everybody! Sorry I've been so bad about keeping this up. What can I say, somethings never change...

Anyway, I thought I'd do a little bit of an update and try to get pictures up another time when I get my camera battery back from a friend.

Wow, a lot has happened in the last couple months! First some really good news, I got accepted to Grad School at West Dean for next year!! I am so excited to know for sure that it's going to happen! It's going to be an amazing year (I mean, just look at the pictures below), but I'm also glad that I have a year to prepare. I'm loving my job and not quite ready to leave just yet. The one thing I'm not quite looking forward to is taking a Chemistry class this year in prep. I'm a little nervous, but I think it will be ok.

More awesome news, my sister had her second child just a few short weeks ago! Grayden is so cute and I'm so excited to be an aunt again. I can't wait until I get to hold him!

And luckily I won't have to wait long! I'm really excited because I'm going to Utah next week because my little brother Mikie is getting off his mission this Friday! I will get to see my entire family and I can't even wait! I've actually been super homesick in the last couple months and was bummed that I'd have to wait until Christmas to see everyone in my family again. As much as I love Boston it's just too far away sometimes. But thank goodness for sale tickets! I got the sweetest deal ever and am going to have so much fun, I just wish I could stay longer!

Anyway, that's the big stuff that's been going on. Other fun stuff that I've been up to includes:

• reading Breaking Dawn (and winning the costume contest at the midnight release party... I'll have to post pictures) in one weekend and continuing to talk about it almost nonstop since, plus getting other people reading the series
• trivia night every Monday at the Sunset Cantina with groups big and small - last night we finally won!
• taking a workshop at North Bennett Street School - 18th Century French Leather Bindings that was really fun (except for the days that I got sick, lame)
• seeing lots of movies including American Teen (highly recommended), Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants 2 (ditto), Mamma Mia, Batman: the Dark Knight, and gearing up for the Twilight movie!! (btw, if you didn't know, since Harry Potter moved back to 2009 - boo- Twilight is now coming out Nov 12th! Yay!)
• Watching tons of Olympics and cheering on my secret boyfriend, Michael Phelps (guess it's not so much of a secret anymore...)
• Spending a Saturday soaking up the sun at Walden Pond
• Getting caught in a major thunderstorm while giving a tour of the Freedom Trail downtown
• Watching free Shakespeare on the Boston Commons ("As You Like It" - pretty good, but still can't compare to my first year here)
• Seeing a great little production of "The Importance of Being Earnest" (one of my favorite plays)
• Probably a lot of other stuff that I can't remember right now
• Talking with my niece, Kirsten, on the phone, who's just 15 months old. She somehow is able to randomly call me and proceeds to talk my ear off, it's the cutest thing ever!

Anyway, I guess that's what you get when I forget to update for so long! Sorry again! I'll definitely try to post some pics this week, and for sure will have lots to report on when I get back from Utah! I can't wait for the cuteness of all the babies I'll get to hold! My head just might explode from all the family fun!

And look! Another post!

And since I'm on a roll with the posting, here's a look at the BBQ we had on Sat. for my roommates big achievements: Abby and Nicole both graduated with their Masters, Nicole is starting a new job and Lisa was promoted to "the floor" at work! My roommies are the best and the smartest. Can you believe I'm the only one in the house without a Masters Degree now? Smarties, that's what they are!

So we had about half the ward over to celebrate. David, our neighbor, brought his sweet new grill over and we cooked up burgers and good times. I made more of what is quickly becoming my famous Banoffee Cream Pie and we had a good 'ol time! Check it out:

This is what the pie looks like before the whip cream, just so you can get an idea... That's the toffee under the bananas.

Trisha looking fabulous as always!

My roomie Nicole really getting into a burger... Mmmrughh, yummy!

Marci and Erica, who came back for a visit.

Matchy-Matchy, me and Molly!

The Grill Master, David

With the Famous Banoffee Cream Pie

My roommie Abby and her BFF, Barbara

Laura, Alice and Leah chillin'

A good gathering

Picnic BBQ next to the square foot gardens

I'd say the party was a good success! The rain held off until most of us were done eating. We brought it inside at the very end and ended up watching a movie with a few people still hanging around. For me it's the first BBQ of the season, and I say, Bring It On!!

Oh, and I just have to plug The Cuteness... It was my niece and nephews One Year Birthday Party Picnic at the same time in Salt Lake! Wish I could have been there, but it looks like it was fun, check out the pictures here.

Jack and Kirsten are one year old! Such cuties!!

Remember to stay tuned for a post about J.K. Rowling! I get to hear her speak, live, tomorrow afternoon!! Can't wait!!

Are you ready for the Cuteness Overload?

Christmas vacation was so great! It was so much fun to go home and be with family. And of course to spend tons of time with my niece and nephew! Babies really are the best kind of entertainment! We chilled out at home and took lots of pictures. Here are just a few:

Kirsten and Jack love Aunt Carly!

Sometimes Kirsten is so serious! But such a doll!

Jack was teething during the trip and cracked us up with his "teething monster" antics. Can you believe he could fit this entire thing in his mouth? Check out the video to see more of the teething monster!

With Grandma

Christian gave Jack a "faux-hawk".

For some reason Kirsten pulled her arm out of her shirt like this! We were all laughing hysterically!

Matchy-Matchy! I got Kirsten this little outfit for Christmas, so of course I had to put on my yellow too for a photo.


I got Stuart a table tennis set, which of course took over the dining room table, providing hours of entertainment. Here's Jack and Kirsten in their first match!

And now, if all those pictures weren't enough, now for the videos!


Jack the Teething Monster!!



Like I said, hours of entertainment!

Oh, and if that's still not enough for you (I know I can't get enough), check out my brother and sister's blogs by following the links here and here.

I hope every one's holidays were as great as mine! I'm back in Boston now and starting my new job. After my first day, it's so far so good!

Super Summer Post

It's been an amazing summer for me. So many fun times I didn't have much time to blog about them! I'll try to squeeze everything in here now, but I'll never be able to do it all justice. I really should try to be better about this.

Anyway, onto the fun-ness!

First up we have the Friday Night Movie Extravaganza! This entailed 3 weekends in a row where my friends Anna, Amy and various others depending on the week went to dinner then a movie on Friday night, followed by ice creams at McDonalds. First we saw Hairspray, next week we saw Becoming Jane and then finally Stardust. Let me just say they just kept getting better with every week! I loved Becoming Jane, but Stardust is definitely my new favorite movie Of All Time.


Now for picture time!

This is a little slide show of the road trip I took over Labor Day weekend to Pennsylvania with my friends Ben, Holly, Aaron and Lindsey. It was a lot of fun! We left Sat. morning and drove to Philadelphia saw all the sights there including the Liberty Bell, Independence Hall, Ben Franklin's House, basically some of the oldest parts of Philly. My favorite part was Elfreck's Alley, which is the oldest occupied residential street in the US! All the houses were so cute and quaint! We stayed outside of Philly that night and then went to church the next day on our way to Gettysburg. We stopped on that drive in Amish Country, specifically, Intercourse, PA. Had some good laughs about that one. We got to Gettysburg, walked around the cemetery and saw a lot of memorials and some of the battlefields. My favorite part was that night we went on a Walking Ghost Tour where we got to use electronic "ghost finders". Our guide had a lot of good stories. On Monday we woke up and walked around Gettysburg a bit more then ate at "The Gingerbread Man", where it turns out Mary (my sister-in-law) worked when she lived there for a summer! Then we were on our way to Hershey, PA! Pretty much Heaven in my book! We went on a "tour" of the factory, which was really just a "choclified Disney ride". Delicious! Then it was back to Boston for just a day before heading out on my next trip!

I left on Wed. after getting back from Philly to visit my sister in Monterey, CA. It took forever to get there and they lost my luggage but at least the tickets were free thanks to Sky Miles! Plus on the way I had a quick layover in SLC and got to meet Jack! Christian and Mary came to the airport with Jack so I could see them! It was so fun getting to chat and see what a cutie-pie he is! Definitely not enough time, but at least I won't have to wait until Christmas now. He was little, sleepy sack of potatoes and I wanted to eat him up! I can't wait until we're altogether for Christmas.

When I finally made it to Cali Lizzie and Kirsten met me at the airport. The dogs went crazy of course when I came in. They remembered me! We had fun sleeping in, getting pastries at all the best bakeries, playing with Kirsten and watching movies. It was a low key trip, but that's what I wanted. We did go up to San Francisco on Sat. with Stuart and had fun walking all over China Town, Little Italy and Pier 39. On Monday before I left we visited the Monterey Aquarium which was really fun. I of course loved the Jelly Fish (anyone remember my Jelly Fish costume from a couple years ago?). Kirsten was so much fun and is such a happy little baby! She wakes up talking and smiles all day. The only not so fun times were when she got tired of her car seat on the long trip to San Fran. Who knew those little lungs could scream so loud? I taught her a couple new tricks, like standing up from a sitting position (it kind of helps that she likes her legs to be stick straight) and she did take her first bottle from me (for a little bit). She also started rolling over just before I left, she's such a smartie. I can't wait to see her again in a couple months! It will be especially fun to see Jack and Kirsten together!

Overall it was a fun end of the summer! And I've been up to a lot since then too. Too much to recount really. I'm super busy right now helping plan the Education Conference. It's going to be awesome. I'm in charge of the Black and White Ball at the State House on the second night. I'm really starting to stress out though, so I probably won't be posting much before then. But hopefully I'll post next week about the Ward Campout this weekend. We're going back to Sharron VT. Remember last year? It promises to be another fun adventure! See you soon!

Playing catch up!

Ok, so you all hate me now, for having to watch that Jane Austen video over for 2 whole months! I'm really sorry for slacking off on blogging for the last little while, but I've been kind of busy and unmotivated to find the time to squeeze in a post. I know that's no excuse, but maybe with the weather getting better, I'll be better about blogging too. But seriously, if I had to leave you with anything, at least it was Austen!

Anyway, there's so much to share from just this past week! I'm finally and Aunt!! Yay! I can't tell you how excited I am to finally be an Aunt. And do you know what the best part is? I got a niece AND a nephew in the same week! Just two days apart! Ok, you can tell I'm really excited when I can't stop using the exclamation points. So I'll try to contain the mirth and show you some pictures of the cuteness that is little Kirsten and Jack.

My sister Lizanne and brand new baby Kirsten Elise! I would post more pics of her, cause she super cute, but I haven't been sent any except in a video (hint, hint).


My brother, Christian, Sister-in-law, Mary and cutie-pie Jack Malcom!

Such a cute little face!


He's going to be a heart-breaker. He's already got the wink down!

Becoming and Aunt is awesome, I just wish I knew when I will finally get to hold them! I don't think I can wait until Christmas.

Here's what else I've been up to in Boston in the last little bit:
(sorry, there's a lot of photos...)

My roommate and some of our friends went out to dinner a couple of months ago to an Ethiopian restaurant and we had a ton of fun! It was just this little restaurant, but it felt like we were in a completlely different world! We sat around these baskets they use as tables, on really cool chairs and then ate with our hands.
Lora and Nicole enjoying Ethiopian Food at Addis- Red Sea.

It was fun to eat with your hands!


Melinda and Cassie shared my basket with me. All our food came with these yummy crepe-like-things that you scooped up the "stew" with. It was a real cultural experience!

After enjoying Ethiopian food, what's better than belting out some songs karaoke style?! We met up after eating with Kylee and Natalie to sing some Karaoke at this place called "Limelight". It was a blast. I was a little scared at first, but after getting up and doing my first song, I was ready for more. In fact, I had so many song choices I couldn't decide what one to do! Guess I'll just have to go back!
Kylee rocking out!

So many choices, so little time...

This was our last number, Kelly Clarkson's "Since U Been Gone". The drunk girls in front of the stage there love us!

Kylee, Nat and Lora are super stars!

Next we have some pictures from the play I was in in March, "Savior of the World". If you want, you can see the entire thing on this website.

Some of the friends from my ward who came to one of the performances.

Here were are back stage getting ready to be "Angels" and "Townspeople".

Stephanie and Amanda, two of the awesome young women I got to sing with! It was really fun to be a part of this performance. It was a great testimony builder going and singing everyweek. It was a lot of work, but really worth it. I had a blast.

A couple of weeks ago it was a beautiful Sunday, the lilacs were in bloom and it was "Picnic Day" at the Arboretum. Aparently an arboretum is a tree garden. I had never been there before, so my friend Laura and I decided to go down, spread out a blanket and soak up some sun. We ran into a bunch of other people from our ward who were having a picnic, so we sat around a bit, went to see the lilacs and took a pretty walk back to the car. This place was huge, and I want to go back to explore some more!


Next up, we have Patriot's Day! This was a really fun weekend, except for the Nor'Easter that was ripping through the area. This was also the Boston Marathon weekend. Patriot's Day is a big deal here in Boston, since we are "The Cradle of Liberty". People get all dressed up and reenact the battles of Lexinton and Concord and the Old North Bridge. I'm glad we went to the Minute Man National Park's event on Sat. becuase the Old North Brdige reenactment got canceled on Monday because of the storm. I'm thinking it might be fun to dress up next year! My fellow historian Ben and I went to check it all out and we had fun despite the cold.

When we first got there you could walk around the whole park, go into the buildings and watch the Minute Men get into formation.

Here I am trying out the spinning wheel inside the house.

We went down to check out the British Camp and marched back with them and the cannon, on the way to the big battle!

Here's the British all lined up getting ready to march. Could they stand out anymore? Aparently if you want to join the reenactment as a British soldier it's close to $2000 for the outfit!

At the park, they aren't allowed to actually aim at each other, so they kind of set up where they would have been, but fired in the opposite dirrection from where the Rebels were actually hiding. They also aren't allowed to "die" so we just kind of watched a bunch of guys in red coats running around firing at nothing. The Patriots kept well hidden. I love being in the midst of all this history here in Boston. It's a lot of fun.

Ben hanging with some real Patriots. Seriously, these guys had every little detail of their outfit historicaly acurate. Ben and I were in heaven!


Ok, well that's gonna have to do for now! Whew, kind of a picture overload, huh?! Hopefully I didn't just kill everyone's computer. Because I almost killed mine.
Next post, I'll update you on my Memorial Day Weekend and whatever else I'm up to until then. Sorry this post was a little random, but some of you have been asking for updates, so you got it! I aim to please. But that doesn't mean I always hit the mark!