Over the Weekend

One (of many) unfortunate side effects of this home buying roller coaster has been feeling a little like we are stressing away our summer and spending a lot of time and energy on things other than the beach and sunshine. Of course I know that in the long run it will be more than worth it, but I really can't wait to just be in our new home and get back to summer time and the livin's easy instead of INSANITY. It does look like we will be on track to close on July 31st, which happens to be the day before we go to Newport Jazz Fest, but those boxes will be there waiting for us when we get back, right? Right.

I cannot help but laugh at the way things happen, but at least it looks like it is happening so no complaints over here. If there is one thing I love, it's a time management challenge!

This weekend we did manage to have a whole lot of fun despite the stress of everything living in the back of our minds. We started Friday afternoon visiting our favorite librarian at the Allston Farmers Market and had a nice evening of books on the couch and going to bed early. Saturday, Maddie and I went to her gymnastics class and then went to the WGBH Fun Fest, which was so much fun for her. She has never really seen costumed characters up close and has not met anyone that she "knows" so I wasn't sure how she would react but, as these pictures show, she just went right up to them with her usual confidence and was all smiles! She even started singing the "Dinosaur Train" theme song to Buddy the dinosaur, which pretty much warmed every heart in a mile radius. It was adorable.

Saturday night this mama went out on the town with my bestie; we hit up THREE bars, talked, giggled, made fun of what the kids are wearing these days and overall had the most amazing time. I am so, so glad that she is back in Boston and am looking forward to more of these girl's nights, though maybe without all the delicious cherry and rye cocktails from the Beat Hotel that went down a little too smooth.

Speaking of too many cocktails, Matt and Maddie let me sleep in Sunday morning before we got up and got ourselves to the beach, which was definitely worth dragging myself up for. We went to Rockport, to the same beach I was sitting on when I got the job offer from my current organization almost four years ago! The water was a little frigid, even for New England, but there was plenty of sand to be turned into castles and just enough of a breeze to help me sweat out my Saturday night fun.

After the beach we headed into Gloucester, which is one of my favorite towns in New England because it reminds me so much of my Dad. He never made it to the East Coast before he died, but I know that he would have felt like home in Gloucester surrounded by old boats and beautiful scenery. It makes me feel close to him to be there and think about how much he would love it. We had lunch at one of our favorite breweries, Cape Ann Brewing Co., who have an awesome pub with a deck overlooking the water. Two fish tacos and two beers later and I was ready for a nap while Matty got us home (thanks, babe!).

So overall, a pretty awesome weekend, and hopefully just two more before we are home sweet homebuyers!

Happy Monday!