Heaven on Earth

My other favorite part of our trip, in close competition with the glorious sunsets, was Back Door Donuts. One night Chris and I were out for dinner at Nancy's (delicious baked stuffed shrimp) and decided against dessert there because our bellies were full. We are of the belief that one must walk approximately 1-2 blocks to "work off dinner" so that we can more gleefully enjoy dessert. Once we announced this decision to our waiter he happily suggested Back Door Donuts. He told us "to smell our way there." Now, if you know me, you know I have a very poor sense of smell and constantly stuffed up nose so telling me the world's best donuts reside on the island, but I have to smell my way there is cruel. Fortunately he cooperated and gave us some directions, BUT lo and behold we could have smelled out way there!! It was amazing. The little back door in the a darkened corner of a parking lots, but the smell and lengthly line indicated that yumminess lay ahead.

In line!

Awaiting yumminess!

I cleverly kept my eyes on what other, more experienced people were ordered. It seemed the apple fritter was popular and I also observed that the baker-lady was nearly burning her hands on the freshly baked chocolate glazed donuts. So, when we arrived at the door I ordered those two things. And all I can say is that both of those baked goods were heaven on earth. Quite possibly the most delicious things I have ever eaten. The donut was perfectly warm and squishly, not at all dry or bready like some other places' donuts. The apple fritter was the size of my head and delectably cinnamony and sweet.

Apple Fritter. This picture doesn't even do it justice.

This joint was so stinkin' good that we went back two more times (!!). We certainly ate well (and unhealthily) on this vacation of yummy goodness.

Our second trip, with friends. The girl on the right was eating her first EVER donut!

Menemsha

My first post about vacation (finally!). One of my favorite parts of our vacation was Menemsha. Menemsha is on the west point of Martha's Vineyard and has gorgeous views of the sunset. We enjoyed two sunsets from there on our trip.

The first trip was a bit rushed and we barely managed to find parking, rush to the beach and still catch a glimpse of the sunset. We also barely escaped from a parking ticket (thank you kind parking lady who only gave us a warning). Despite our frantic arrival, we were able to peacefully enjoy the sunset. Each night, as the sun goes below the horizon, the crowd claps and I overheard one man say, "Well, we won't get that day back." And while that sounds a bit depressing, its also a good reminder to live each day fully.

Wine in our Dunkin' Donuts cups... Classy!

Our second night was much more enjoyable :) We got there around 5:30 nearly 3 hours before sunset time. We went to this tiny little shack that has delicious fried seafood (and fried zucchini!) and had a picnic on the beach. We spent time reading and enjoying a bottle of wine. The sunset that night was heavenly.
DEEEE-licious!

ahhh...Goodbye, wonderful day!

If you ever get the chance to see a Menemsha sunset, I highly recommend it.

Strawberry Swinging.

You might remember me mentioning my intense love for Coldplay, particularly Viva La Vida, a while back. I still love it, though I have to admit my CD on repeat these days is Big Whiskey and the Groo Grux King.

I follow Coldplay on Twitter and they just linked up to the new video for Strawberry Swing, which is one of my favorite tracks from the album. I highly recommend checking it out. Its very clever with the entire background drawn in chalk and with acting by Chris Martin that further confirms his absolute quirkiness. And while I must admit I had a more literal image of the song stuck in my head, I like the images they created.

http://www.babelgum.com/3022304/coldplay-strawberry-swing.html

Enjoy!

ps- yes i'm back from vacation but am overwhelmed by blogging it. soon to come, promise.

img. cred: strawberry swing

Back and gone again.

Sunset on Lake Champlain, VT

Martha's Vineyard was amazing. We had an absolute blast exploring the island, laying in the sun and eating a variety of delicious foods. I will write about all of it soon. But, we are off again today to the Vermont Brewer's Festival. This is our second time going. Burlington, VT is gorgeous and the festival takes place right next to Lake Champlain. So, enjoy a lovely weekend. I will be tasting lots of delicious beers, savoring the company of good friends and enjoying the last few days of hubby's vacation.

The guys at the festival last year :)
At a delicious brunch the next morning!

Life and death

I am not quite home from vacation yet. Still on the Vineyard waiting for the ferry, but I felt compelled to blog briefly. Life is funny. While one person (me) finishes one of the best weeks of her life another person/family can be living the very worst day. A family dear to my own lost their grown son to a brain tumor today. He leaves his wife, two young children, dad, mom, two sisters and many friends. I have been praying ceaselesly since I heard the news a couple hours ago. I ask you to do the same. I am grateful tonight for a God of comfort and peace and for the loved ones in my life near and far, especially my husband.

Praying for you, Whitworths.

And we're off!

I've been a bad blogger lately, so I'm sorry, but I can't promise you things will be any better for about a week. The hubs and I are headed to Martha's Vineyard for a week long vacation. I am sooo looking forward to getting away. The hubs deserves a major break- he just got a new job/big promotion (!!!!) and the whole process was stress-inducing. And while I have been pure and simply a bump on a log this summer, I'm grateful for the chance to get away from it all and have quality time with my man. So, ta ta for now! I will leave you with some photos from our last Martha's Vineyard vacation.Harry Potter came out over our vacation :)

Such a good weekend.

I hope you all had a wonderful weekend, full of fireworks, food, friends and family. Mine had a bit of it all.

Friday night, Chris and I went and walked where we got engaged (Reflecting Pool, Boston), which we actually haven't done since we got engaged (!!) though before the engagement we went alllll the time.

Saturday, we went up to Salem and hung out with good friends. We also enjoyed some fireworks at Derby Wharf.

Today we went to church, had lunch with friends then took full advantage of the gorgeous day and went to Robbins Farm (a park with an incredible view of Boston) to read and soak up some sun (read: get scorched).







Life is good. I miss my parents. But, life is good.

Happy 4th of July!

I'm headed out (in my patriotic garb) to enjoy the sunshine, good friends, a cute baby and some yummy food. Happy 4th of July!!

It's the little things.

Today was not a perfect day. It seemed like the skies ripped open to let out all of the world's water on my little spot of earth. I chose this exact moment to trudge outside with my laundry to the laundromat. My parents are still driving towards Texas and away from me. But, despite these things, today was a good day. Sometimes its just the little things.

Like baking chocolate chip cookies from scratch.

Like fixing homemade chicken noodle soup for your sick husband.

Like washing, drying and folding a wildly out of control pile of laundry.
Like ending the day sitting quietly near the love of your life.
Days like today make me grateful for my husband, having the summers off and for the simple things in life.

Cupcake Update

So, you might remember my gloating post about summer wonder. I mentioned Joe and I visited Sweet in Harvard Square for some scrumptious cupcakes. They flavors were very creative and the presentation was fantastic. All around, a great first stop in the cupcake crawl of summer.

Yesterday, Joe, Chris and me journeyed to Kickass Cupcakes in Somerville. Those cupcakes were mind-blowingly delicious. Much better than Sweet. The cupcakes were more moist and were just as aesthetically pleasing and cleverly creative.

I had the Lucky Cupcake, lemon cake with white chocolate icing. Chris had a peanut butter chocolate cupcake with chocolate cake, chocolate frosting and a peanut butter filling. Joe tried the chocolate malt milkshake cupcake. Yumminess allllll around. I highly recommend it.

For a sneak peak at where my journey may take me next: http://www.boston.com/thingstodo/gallery/06cupcakes/


Do you have a a favorite cupcake place?