Holiday season kickoff

November's been busy busy busy. To start off the month, we spent a week in Copenhagen visiting dearly-missed friends and colleagues... it felt like we'd never left! It was an excellent trip all the way around full of laughter, reconnection and many shared meals with treasured friends.

Speaking of shared meals... our Thanksgiving was delicious, how was yours?! Big thank-yous to Meg's parents who were in town for the week to play around Boston and celebrate the holiday. We split up the foodie responsibilities and were able to get out of the kitchen for a bit and really enjoy the whole day.

We took a midday walk that was especially colorful...This year, I made all of my pumpkin recipes (bread, pies and soup) from actual pumpkin puree... it was so easy! And it made the apartment smell awesome.

Heat the oven to 350F, pour 1/2 inch of water in a baking pan, half (halve?) a small baking pumpkin and scrape out the seeds and stringy stuff. Place pumpkin halves cut side down and bake for about an hour. Take out to cool slightly, then scrape out the lovely steamed pumpkin flesh and give it a zizz with a blender to make it super smooth!

A getaway was in order after so much hanging out in the Boston/Cambridge area, so we headed up north for some daytripping in Gloucester, MA then Portsmouth, NH and finally Kittery, ME! Three states in one day... the Californians were all duly impressed.

Late fall twilight while crossing over from NH to Maine.

From where I sit...

The foliage in New England is doling out its last few bursts of color. Here's the view from my computer right now...

I drove up to rural New Hampshire last weekend (sounds far away, but it was only 70 minutes from Cambridge) and the drive was just exquisite. I *may* have been a potential hazard as I could barely keep my eyes on the road...

I mean, really, how was I supposed to concentrate when there were red barns! and fiery orange trees! and old mill buildings! and antique co-ops! to be drooled over?!

We can't get over how lucky and privileged we are to be living in this beautiful and historic part of the country.

Montpelier, Vermont

We spent a picturesque October weekend visiting some of our cousins in Northern Vermont.


A stop-off in Putney, Vermont (so cute!) led us to a wonderful lunch spot: The Front Porch Cafe. Highly recommended! Located within an independent bookstore/yarn shop - it was Megan's idea of heaven-on-earth.

The weekend was full of good conversation ranging from green-living to education to New England living to lab-life (guess who?!)... and much time was spent doting on sweet Josephine.

We enjoyed dinner on the town at The Black Door Bar and Bistro and then watched the Sox win Game #3 over the Rockies on Saturday night. On Sunday, the yammering continued over a long walk on the outskirts of Montpelier and maple creemees at Morse Farm (yum!). We returned to the city refreshed and happy from a great weekend!

The cutest Pumpkin Head ever.