A Fair Day for the Faire

So we went to the Renaissance Faire this weekend!
Wow, what an experience.
It was surprisingly crowded and not everyone was in costume
{unfortunately including ourselves - we decided to go for warmth rather than "authenticity"}
but I think I can still say we were some of the most normal people there
{and attractive, if we do say so ourselves}.



The cool thing was that it was basically set in a forest as you can see in the pictures.
I felt like I had walked into a Robin Hood movie or something.
The whole thing was a little village and there were stages with performers scattered throughout.

They accept all thy cards of credit:
Master Card, Lady Visa, New World Express and Lord Discover


Trying on wreaths at one of the shops



We mostly just walked around looking in the shops and staring at all the people.
There were some people who really went all out with their costumes
like this Troll
{this woman actually asked him to pretend like he was cutting off her head... yeah}

And this living Gargoyle which was also pretty cool.

My favorite guy was this performer who, while wearing a kilt, rode a unicycle and played "Star Wars" on the bagpipe.
It was pretty funny. And he was pretty cute.

Which led to the question:
Would you ever date someone you met at a Renaissance Fair?
And if you would, would you admit to how you met?

I think I would, even though it's a little quirky,
cause I'm kind of a nerd myself in some ways.
Plus I think it'd be a hilarious story to tell.

What about the rest of you, married or not?
Would you date someone you met at a Ren Fair,
or would you admit it if that's where you'd met your loved one?

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!

Summer Update!

I've decided to stop apologizing for the lack of posts. I feel guilty, but obviously not even those feelings of guilt have changed the amount I actually get on here. I'm pretty sure you're sick of hearing me say I'm going to try to be better and then not. So I've decided I'll blog when I can or when I feel like it and that will be that! Sorry to disappoint, but aren't blogs about the blogger anyway? I'll just tell myself it means I'm not very self centered (yeah right). Anyway, if you are still curious about what I've been up to this summer, here's a glimpse!

A couple weekends ago I went with a big group of friends to Palmyra New York for the Hill Cummorah Pageant! It was a long and tiring trip but very much worth it. Other than Sharon VT last Sept. it was my first visit to a church history site! My favorite part was the Sacred Grove, even though I got really sick afterward from lack of sleep and food. It was beautiful and peaceful and I can't believe it's still there! The Pageant was also really great. Not at all what I was expecting, it had more dancing and less dialogue, but I really enjoyed it. Even despite being rained on while enjoying it.

Our camping group:Erica, Cameron, John, Laura, Kylee, Lora, me, Ben and Jared!!

This is from the Smith Family Log Cabin. In this room is where the Angel Moroni appeared to Joseph Smith during the night. It was great to visit all these sacred sites.

This is the fireplace in the Smith Frame House where the gold plates were hidden for a time from a mob. Later they kept them in the box on the dresser in the room below.


The Sacred Grove was such a peaceful, beautiful place.


The weekend after that was Harry Potter craziness!! I can't believe that book 7 is finally here! I got a huge group of friends together for the book release party that they had in Harvard Sq. There were so many people it was crazy! I finally dressed up, and I wasn't the only one. In fact, every person in our group dressed up! I made Gryffindor Quidditch Team T-Shirts for people the night before and they turned out great. Check 'em out! We ate good food, listened to some interesting "Wizard Rock" and then got in line for the release. Natalie, Mike and I waited for an hour outside the store, then stormed the doors with the rest of the crowd and managed to make it in around 37th into the store, where we waited another hour and half until they started selling the book at midnight! By 12:04 I had two copies in hand (one for a friend who couldn't wait in line... I'm nice like that) and we were greeted by a huge crowed outside the store taking our pictures and cheering! It was amazing. I read until 4 in the morning then got up on Sat. and read all day and finished Sunday night at 7! I can't believe it's all over. Overall I enjoyed the book. I was disappointed by the Epilogue, I wanted more info, but Jo's been pretty good about answering questions now that everything is over. I'm thinking about planning a "Support Potter Party" in honor of the end, just as a last hurrah and for people to come talk about the final book, I'll be sure to keep people informed if it happens!


At dinner with Ben, Nicole, Lora, Jared, Angela, Anna, Riva, Cameron, Natalie and Mike!

Hey look! It's Luna and Ginny! Well, almost. Natalie poses with me as I try my best "Looney" Lovegood look.

Trisha dressed as Professor Sprout (she's a Hufflepuff), her cousin was Ginny and Anglea was Cho Chang! The concert was going on behind us, tons of fun!

And here we have the members of the Gryffindor Quidditch Team: Harry, I mean, Mike, Adam, Cameron, Jared, Ben with Natalie and Lora! Everybody loved the shirts.

On to other fun adventures this summer! This last week was great. On Tuesday I attended "Shakespeare on the Common" the free play they do every year on Boston Common. This year was my favorite, "A Mid Summer Night's Dream". The performance was pretty good overall. Not as good as last year though. Apparently they lost of a lot of funding, so they only did a week and it was a much simpler stage and costuming. The fairy scenes were very... interesting. They danced and sang to techno music and wore really crazy neon spandex feathery costumes. Yeah, interesting. The play within the play at the end was my favorite part, and not just cause that was my part in H.S., it was really clever what they did with it. It had me laughing so hard I couldn't breath!

Here are those psychedelic fairies!

I also saw two movies last week, but I think I'll save it for a movie review post! Ya'll come back soon, ya hear!?

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!

Presidents, Pligrims and Plymouth

Since it was a holiday on Monday, I didn't have work and my friend (and fellow history-enthusiast) Ben didn't have school. What a great chance to check out some history! Ben and I have been slowly working our way through the area's great historical sites (I'll post some pictures soon from some of our other adventures) and so after much deliberation about where to go and what to see we finally decided on Plymouth. I'd never been, so Ben acted as tour guide. It was a ton of fun, the only draw back to the day was that it was freaking freezing!! Like zero degrees! But it was still fun to learn about Plymouth and the Pilgrims. Check out what we were up to until my camera died:

We first headed up to "Burial Hill" where we saw some of the oldest Puritan graves in New England and the site of the first fort. As you can see from all the pictures, the day was beautiful, sunny, no clouds, which, of course, made it freezing. The wind was blowing a lot too, and being so close to the water, didn't help. But it does make for some beautiful pictures!
Ben poses by the "point-of-interest" sign, the First Fort, built in 1621 sat on the top of this hill, which is now a cemetery.

This is the grave of William Bradford, Governor of Plymouth Colony! He arrived on the Mayflower. Crazy!

Gorgeous view from the top of the hill (which is probably why they built the first fort here, great views).

This was a really interesting grave stone in the cemetery, check out the awesome skull and crossbones!

We then headed down to the water to see Plymouth Rock, but on the way went through this beautiful park which had a little stream with lots of bridges and a memorial to the Pilgrim Women. We saw some ducks and swans too.


Here is Plymouth Rock! OK, so I have to confess, so many people told me that it was really anti-climatic seeing the rock that I was expecting something even smaller, so I was pleasantly surprised when I could actually identify which rock it was! You can see they engraved the date 1620 on the rock. Also, an interesting tid-bit we learned later: during the revolution in 1775, the patriots wanted to move the rock to the town square as a symbol of liberty, but while trying to move it, they broke the rock in half, so now, it's smaller than it used to be. Kinda sad huh?

This is the building they put over the rock, so you can see it, plus it makes it seem more important and imposing than it really is. Isn't that what history's all about?

Here's a recreation of the Mayflower, frozen into the Harbor. We didn't get to go on, but it was a lot smaller than you would think. I can't imagine being stuck on a boat like that for so long!

I snapped this picture right before my batteries on my camera died. Ben climbed out onto some ice chunks that were floating in front of the Mayflower. Luckily he didn't go in, cause you can bet I wouldn't be jumping in after him to save him all too quick!! Brrrr!

After seeing all that, we were pretty much frozen solid, like the ice on the ocean, so we decided to head up to the museum. We stopped in some of the cute little shops along the way, then spent a good amount of time at the museum, which was pretty good for such a small town. I'd really like to help them out with their book displays though. They didn't have them resting in the most "conservation friendly" way ever... I'm such a book nerd.

After the museum, it was off for some lunch and then back to Boston! We took the scenic route back and saw all the quaint little old houses and towns along the coast. Seriously, if I can love Boston even in -5 degree weather, you know I've found a great place...