The Zoe and Silas Show

6/7/14: It was the opening day of the Roslindale Farmer's Market last Saturday. I was so happy to buy some fresh, local produce (mustard greens, radishes, harukai turnips), and S&Z were excited to be able to check out a Boston Police car! That evening we met up with some friends for a 40th birthday celebration/pub crawl in Cambridge. It was great to go out with some awesome people!

4/25/14: I saw on the Arboretum's Facebook page yesterday that the magnolias are in bloom. It was a gorgeous afternoon today so we headed out to see them. They were GORGEOUS!!! And they smelled ah-MAZING! We meandered and explored and eventually found ourselves heading to the Leventritt Vine & Shrub Garden where Derek & I got married 5-1/2 years ago. We haven't been there in years and never with the kids, so it felt very special to share it with them. Oh sweet magnolias, I can't wait to see you again next year!

4/19/14: On Saturday Derek and I had an ambitious agenda of cleaning out our closets. We've both lost so much weight that we had a lot of clothes to get rid of! In total there are 8 garbage bags of clothes that don't fit us anymore! The kids were very good helpers and played in their room for much of the morning while we worked. Derek was off work so we also had a date night planned. We took advantage of the opportunity to wear some new clothes! After having such a fun time in Eastie on our last date night , we decided that we should visit a different neighborhood each time we go out. This time around we went to an amazing Moroccan restaurant in Charlestown called Tangierino . The atmosphere was lovely, with intimate seating in small rooms featuring draping fabric, couches and low tables, middle eastern music, and even a token belly dancer. This was technically my last birthday dinner of the birthday month, but we were already d...

3/8/14: We had a lazy morning at home on Saturday, which included lots of imaginative play on S&Z's part! In the afternoon we divided and conquered: Zoe and I went to Stop & Shop and Derek and Silas went to BJ's. Derek was off on Saturday night so we had a glorious date night checking out a new-to-us Mexican restaurant in East Boston. It felt like we traveled to a different city. I think that our future date nights (which happen every 6 weeks or so) should definitely include some aspect of checking out new neighborhoods or restaurants!

12/9/13: The first snowfall of the season fell on Monday and Tuesday of this week. Monday was more of a "wintry mix", but it was enough to get S&Z very excited first thing in the morning! The first snow of the season calls for one thing: hot chocolate! And marshmallows! Mmm mmm mmm!! ***** I took the day off from work on Monday in order to do some Christmas shopping. While the kids were at school Derek and I ended up getting ourselves a Christmas present. Behold the Technivorm Moccamaster ! Derek did a bunch of research until he found this, the Cadillac of all coffee makers. It brews the best cup of coffee either of us has ever tasted! In < 8 minutes! ***** Cook's Notes: The issue for me with cooking during the week is that because I'm a single parent most nights I can't really start making dinner until the kids go to bed. By the time dinner is ready it's between 8:30 and 9:00 and I'm absolutely starvin...

12/7/13: Derek was off on Saturday so we were busy trying to get stuff done - weekly errands, stuff around the house, and Christmas shopping. S&Z were pretty slow moving after nap (Zoe)/quiet time (Silas)... The Christmas shopping part of the agenda was scheduled for the evening. We had a woman I work with come over to babysit for the night and we had a full shopping schedule planned. Right as we were getting ready to leave the kids decided it was "snowing outside" and they put on their (rain?) boots and mittens. They pretended to make a snowman and then laid down to make snow angels. These are the parts of being 4 that I absolutely love! We had a very productive night shopping and then had a chance to relax over dinner and drinks. I think this will be a new December tradition for Mommy & Daddy!

Friday couldn't come soon enough - it was finally time to celebrate our 5-year wedding anniversary! This was only our 2nd time leaving the kids overnight. The first time we did it was in August of 2011, which means we were long overdue for some "us" time! After throwing around lots of ideas for where to go - we wanted to stay within about 75 minutes of Boston - we finally settled on Newburyport, MA. Located near the border of MA and NH, Newburyport is absolutely adorable. We had a great time walking around when we arrived late Friday afternoon to explore. We stayed at an adorable boutique hotel called The Garrison Inn . It is a very special place that just may be our anniversary destination in years to come! We went out for dinner at a steakhouse located in an old church that was just down the street from the hotel. All in all, it was a wonderful night away - our only complaint was that it was too short! It sounded like S&Z had a great...