*the gratitude-a-thon

gratitude-a-thon day 150: crane’s beach

June 24, 2013Uncategorized2 Comments

crane-s-beach-ipswich — Ahhhh, the gateway to summer.

I christened summer yesterday with a day at the beach. This is up there on my permanent list of “things to be grateful for.” Give me the sand, the sea, and the sun, and I’m good. Add some food, and I’m better than good, I’m perfect.

It was pretty crowded yesterday, but within a few hours, it was more manageable.

Crane’s Beach is on the North Shore, nestled in the sweet New England town of Ipswich. It’s a protected by the Trustees of the Reservation, which maintains special places in Massachusetts, like this spectacular beach. It’s wide and expansive, with miles of shoreline and beach grass filled dunes as a backdrop. It’s also a wildlife preserve. These tiny little birds called Piping Plovers have chosen Crane’s as their nesting ground, so i have often been there when whole sections of the beach are cordoned off for the Piping Plovers Porn show. They’re funny little birds, who move quickly and who I can’t ever see without providing a running commentary of what I believe they are thinking. “Gotta go, busy, busy, busy, need to make babies. You look terrible in that bathing suit. Ever hear of a squat?”

piping-plover-img_8844mw — “Sex, sex, sex, gotta get to it.”

Anyway, yesterday was extra great because my friend Colleen and I were almost scared off by early weather reports that it would be raining in Ipswich, so we nearly didn’t make the pilgrimage, but then at the last minute, we saw an updated report and decided to give it a shot. The thing about Crane’s is that ,while the parking lot is pretty big, it’s not big enough for everybody who wants to laze around the shores of one of New England’s best beaches. So, if you don’t get up at the crack of dawn to stake your spot, you’re relegated to the inconvenient shuttle service, which forces you to park a few miles away and have little control over your schedule for departure. Since Colleen and I left at the tardy-for-the-party hour of 10:00 am, we figured we’d be as screwed as the prospective mommy Plovers, but we got lucky, and not only did we not hit any traffic, we actually scored parking in the main lot, albeit in the farthest, most distant area available, but hey, we were thrilled.

It was a great day of conversation and magazines, and eating good snack food, and drinking tons of water, our summer resolution, topped off with an hour walk on the shoreline. Welcome summer of 2013. I am so happy you’re here

gratitude-a-thon day 149: getting those stains out

June 23, 2013UncategorizedLeave a Comment

images — This isn’t me, but it could be. And I can’t tell you how many times it has been.

If I’m not spilling one thing on myself, I’m spilling another. I could be the queen of the stain, with a sash and the whole thing. So this article in Real Simple, really got my attention. I think I spilled something on it, while I was reading it……

gratitude-a-thon day 148: google doodles: first day of summer

June 22, 2013June 22, 2013UncategorizedLeave a Comment

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/06/21/summer-solstice-2013-google-doodle_n_3478428.html?utm_hp_ref=mostpopularhttp://

I am somewhat mad for Google. I mean, who doesn’t love someone with all the answers, who never gloats? I’ve come to rely on it as an extension of my own brain. I’m never far from an answer. I don’t have to ponder anymore, I can just go to the source. LOVE IT.

Anyway, I’m crazy about their Google Doodles–that is, special holiday logos. Yesterday, for one of my favorite days, the first day of summer, they did a cool one. You’ll find it above. It took me by surprise during a business meeting. Made me look forward to the fourth of July.

gratitude-a-thon day 147: new: small bites friday

June 21, 2013June 21, 2013UncategorizedLeave a Comment

And the gratitude-a-thon presents a new feature: Small Bites Friday: little gratitudes in a one sentence.

(p.s. not sure why, but my links don’t show up in another color, so you know they are links, but if you hover over the key words on most of these “bites,” you’ll find a link. I will get on this immediately, or at least before next friday.)

James Gandolfini is dead at 51. But Tony Soprano will live forever.

Kim & Kanye names their daughter North, making her full name North West. Makes me want to head South.

I will be on Martha’s Vineyard one week from today! It is one of my favorite places in the galaxy.

Hearing is magic.

Abercrombie & Fitch takes another hit, thanks to Taylor Swift fans. Yay!

Makeup and sunscreen. The marriage is a good one.

The weather in New England right now is pure bliss.

First Night in Boston is going out of business. I hope someone saves it.

The bad news: I have to say goodbye to my really pretty faucet today (which has been leaking a waterfall for a month and has been discontinued). The good news: The new faucet is not as pretty, but will not leak. (Freaking hallelujah!)

gratitude-a-thon day 146: james gandolfini (oh, tony)

June 20, 2013June 20, 2013Uncategorized4 Comments

I woke up to the headline “James Gandolfini, dead at 51.” And I had one of those visceral reactions of something not being right. First of all, 51 is really close to my age. Second of all, how could Tony Soprano be dead? Really? He was a fictional character bigger than life, a force of evil wrapped up in a heart made of caramel.

The Soprano’s was so superbly written, acted and directed that it was a highlight of my week to be able to sit down and watch. I’m always grateful to have a show like that in my life, because it adds an element of fun to your week.

So, James Gandolfini, a toast to your exemplary ability to have created a character that was believable and complex. You got whacked way too soon. Ba da bing, and he was gone……

gratitude-a-thon day 146: pasta (cue the hallelujah chorus)

June 19, 2013Uncategorized4 Comments

I could eat a bowl of pasta right now. By the way, it’s 5:45 a.m. That’s a lie. I could eat two bowls. Maybe three.

I love pasta like I love my legs, my dead mom, my first cup of coffee. It is more satisfying than finding out Ann Coulter has awakened unable to speak in that whiney, entitled voice, more versatile than a chameleon, and more delicious than being too tired to water the garden and having an unexpected flash rain storm hit.

Here are my top favorite ways of eating it, but honestly, I could probably enjoy it mixed with mud and gravel.

1.Aglio et olio. Ok, a moment for me to collect myself, since I was lost in the thought of a mouthful of this heavenly magic. I have no limit on this taste. I can eat a pound of pasta and look for more. Simple, simple. I like it best made with spaghetti. I then put it in a pan chop up as much garlic as my hand will allow, throw in my favorite oil and turn the heat on low, while tossing and tossing. Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.

2. Spaghetti and meatballs. i use my mom’s recipe for the balls, with a slight twist. I use white turkey meat in place of red meat. I swear, they’re just as good. I might even like them better (sorry ma).

3. Macaroni and cheese. Drool, groan, moan. I am a slave to macaroni and cheese, although I barely eat it and never make it. I fear if I did, I would never stop. My mom made killer M&C. I can smell it. I’m no snob, though, I used to sneak me some bites of Annie’s, and here comes the health police, Kraft, when the kids were little. This is one of the most satisflying things i can think of to put into my mouth. Seriously. It should practically be illegal.

4. Fettuccine Alfredo. I just jumped to the ceiling with joy at the thought of this rich, creamy, DREAMY meal. I used to eat this every chance I got, but honestly can’t remember the last time I sat down to a plate of it. I may have to change that in the next few days.

5. Carbonara. When it’s good, it’s great. When it’s great, I want to bathe in it.

6. Pastina. This is a comfort food of my childhood. And it’s one I still make for my kids. You take chicken broth and boil it, then you take small pasta, like elbows, or the teeny tiny alphabets, or the actual pasta called pastina, and throw it in, then a minute later you slowly lower the heat and pour in scrambled eggs and mix like crazy. Troubles fade away in moments. Harp music plays.

7. Bolognese. I love the one at Pomodoro, but I make a pretty darn good one myself. I just cook a bunch of meat, in sauce all day long. I think you could cook a rug all day and it would taste good, but use short ribs and pork and any kind of meat and you are on your way to a a fat slice of Christmas.

8. A good lasagna is like a stellar beach. Hard to find. So when you do, keep the recipe with your good jewelry.

9. Pasta Pesto. C’mon now. This is the taste of ecstasy. But it has to be just so. I like my own best, but Pam’s Provisions Pesto from the Vineyard is a super close second.

10. Sausage & pasta. I take out the sausage from its casing and crumble, fry it up, throw in the pasta (already cooked) and douse the whole darn thing in Parmigiano-Reggiano. Oh yeah. OHHHHHHHHH. YEAH.

Hmmmmm. Wonder what I’ll be having for dinner tonight? Forget dinner, how bout breakfast.

gratitude-a-thon: day 145: double rainbows

June 18, 2013Uncategorized2 Comments

Ally has become obsessed with the Whitey Bulger trial. She wants to go, because she feels like we’re so close to it, and it’s history, so somehow we should see it in person. So, we did the next best thing, and last night after a pretty intense thunder storm, we watched The Departed. I had forgotten how absolutely amazing (and super violent) that movie is. The performances are spectacular. One after another. Jack Nicholson, with his crazy hair, wicked little smile and larger than life swagger, as the Bulger character, Matt Damon playing a totally evil cop, Leonardo DiCaprio in the only role I’ve ever liked him in–a smart Statie, who’s gone undercover. You can actually smell his fear and feel the wheels of his brain working, Alec Baldwin playing a detective that could have been on 30 Rock, and Mark Wahlberg with the best Boston accent this side of Southie. There are about bajillion hilarious lines that come fast and furious. It’s just a real work of art.

Anyway, as we were watching, Ally was, as usual, on her phone checking Facebook. She announced there was a double rainbow. I didn’t immediately get up to look, because I figured if it was on Facebook, it probably wouldn’t still be out there, but no slouch on the Facebook front myself, I clicked in too, and within literally seconds, the whole page filled with pictures of the rainbows. Ally and I ran outside and caught one, although it was quickly fading and too light to capture on our phones. So, today, the gratitude-a-thon is stealing some of those amazing rainbow photos to share. Because, as good as The Departed was, double rainbows are even better.

425241_10201431001916209_262301283_n — Karin Weldon, thanks for this one.

1010790_580606221961871_294784249_n — This one from Lucas Plazonja via Jonathan.

19912_10201146519722361_2017068396_n — Jill Doherty Powell got this one for her anniversary!

944728_822623873213_1481975429_n — Thanks Patrick McCrossan.

1000049_10200807144915360_330008753_n — Karen Hall Sutton with one of the first sightings.

1013677_4817249834082_1610858109_n — And last, but no least, photo creds to Sally Shuman.

gratitude-a-thon day 141: light

June 17, 2013Uncategorized2 Comments

For someone who grew up with a dad who didn’t see the glass as half full, but instead completely empty due to a global water shortage, I look for the light where I can. I see the tiniest slivers when it peeks through dense foliage. I spy the God beams that laser through pea soup fog. I beeline to the sky that finds its way through dark, heavy drapes. Because light is good. Light is promising. Light is hopeful. So, while I do not have the innate and natural ability to see things in a sunny and positive way, I have worked at training myself to at least try and make that my first stop on The Disaster Express.

It’s not easy.

But over the years, here’s what I’ve learned: the light at the end of the tunnel, which might be a train, might just as well be a spotlight at a lavish, Great Gatsby kind of party, or a drive-in (I miss those), or the moon. See, I’ve come to realize that you can actually kill negative thinking with a bon fire, or a sparkler, or a cheap, but chic hanging lamp from Ikea.

The thing about light is that it offers you another way. A better way. It guides you when the shadows cover too much territory, and helps you see when there is a power outage of epic proportion. And if you can actually get yourself into the light more of the time, than less of the time, you’ll see, that the way you look at things is not only better, but the way you look is better, too.

So, here’s to 100 watt bulbs, and lighters, and candles that smell of verbena. And here’s to shooting stars, and lanterns and headlights, and chandeliers, and lightning bugs. Here’s to anything that can help you see your way.

gratitude-a-thon day 140: the dad in our house

June 16, 2013June 16, 2013UncategorizedLeave a Comment

Parade for all the dads out there today. It’s an all-encompassing, totally exhausting, mentally fatiguing, phenomenally fulfilling, incredibly fun gig. And my kids got one of the guys out there, who is not perfect, but damn close to it. Nobody has ever worked so hard at getting the father thing down, like Peter.

Yes, he spoils them. Yes, he doesn’t always stay consistent with the rules. But he also has been to every game, every class breakfast, every sneeze they have ever been part of. He drives longer distances than a trucker, stays up like a guy working the late shift in order to be there when they get home, and will patiently argue a point with them long past the time my frustration gets the better of me. He listens, he cajoles, he heals. Mostly, it is obvious, that he tries. Really hard. And that he loves his children with the same velocity it took for Dorothy’s house to knock the shoes off the Wicked Witch of the East.

Thanks, Peter for being so spectacularly there for our kids. They are lucky. They probably don’t really know how lucky, but I do.