Nothing But Love... (IX)

It's been a looooong time since I've done one of these! Colin Firth is oh, so deserving.

I love this clip of Colin Firth on Ellen  

And also, how great is this quote? As I've shared before I feel the same way. I get lost in my books. I find myself in a melancholy mood when I'm reading a sad book or worrying about the characters when I'm away from the text. Such.a.nerd.

Are you a Colin Firth fan? What are your favorite movies of his? I love The King's Speech, Bridget Jones' Diary and Love Actually.

 

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Wordless Wednesday: hanging out

Chana Masala

Ever since I was first introduced to Indian food in late high school/early college I have loved chana masala. While I've started experimenting with making Indian food over the last few months, I had yet to try chana masala, mostly because my husband is a meat-tarian. He has trouble eating a meat-free meal. But he is a good sport about it every once in a while, so we gave it a try last night.




I followed Smitten Kitchen's recipe, which you can find here.  I have to admit I was really impressed with myself using so many spices for one meal. Chris even asked if I had used a sauce base. I was pretty proud to say I had totally made it from scratch. My only complaint is that the flavors weren't as rich as I might've expected from so many spices. Next time I will try making this in my crock pot (without the added water).  I think this will allow the chickpeas to better soak up the flavors.



I served the chickpeas over jasmine rice with garlic (store bought) naan. I buttered the naan and warmed it on a pan. It was basically heaven on a plate.

Are you an Indian food lover? Let me know if you try it!

home style.

One of the things I am most excited about with our move is getting to redecorate. Since we've gotten married, we always rented our homes, so I've never gotten into the mindset of making our house a home in terms of decorations. I've decided it's time to finally commit the time and resources to making our house the way I'd like it to be, rental and all. I think it will be really important for us to feel really happy in our new home because we won't have lots of other familiar things around us. Right now I'm thinking I'd like a teal, red and yellow color scheme, but who knows!? I could definitely change my mind. What color combinations have you been loving lately? I'm also hoping to incorporate multiple textures & patterns which is a big deal for me. I'm usually fixated on perfect matching.

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florence.

oh, florence. i love you. really, i do. i swear there were days last long, miserable, cold, snowy winter that i wouldn't have survived if it weren't for Dog Days of Summer and the dance parties you encouraged. thank you.

and thank you for this new song. i have a feeling this might be the anthem of our move, for those long, lonely days that i know will come even though i'm excited about our adventure.

what do you think? do you like it? are you a florence + the machine fan?

ps. i know i've been a little video happy lately. i'd say i'll stop soon, but no promises.

a family day.

I was going to save this for next week, but honestly? I was too excited to share this little video of our family day. We spent the day together at the Boston Children's Museum and it was amazing. The three of us had so much fun exploring. Chris and I enjoyed every minute of watching Meredith discover and learn. Cheesy, but true. We also got lunch at the new Legal Harborside (bucket list!) which was delicious. If it weren't for the killer migraine I got later, it would have been a completely perfect day. Hope you enjoy our little video :)

a night at the park

yesterday was chris's last day of working at Harvard so my little lady and i were on our own for the evening. after a late afternoon nap for both of us, we headed to one of my favorite parks in town. let me tell ya, the 5 o'clock hour is the hour for the park. not too many children, but enough for quality people watching. cool, but not too cool and no sweating. only problem: bugs.

meredith and i had a grand ol' time. enjoy some pictures and a wittle video i put together.

A night at the park. from Beaktweets on Vimeo.

Wordless Wednesday: lately

some songs for a rainy day.

i'm sitting on my kitchen floor surrounded by packing paper and awkwardly packed boxes. the rain is trickling out of the sky here and there. i'm listening to my rosie thomas pandora station and feeling somewhat melancholy. you know that music that you love but also makes you want to cry? here are some of the tunes that i'm humming along to this morning.


the swell season
falling slowly


ray lamontagne
within you


amos lee
the wind

Becoming a mother

Becoming a mother
has made me
weaker, and
stronger, and
better.

Weaker because
I am no longer able
hold back my tears
or hide my emotions.

Stronger because
I am no longer
ashamed to let those tears
stream, or
let my love be
known.

Better because
I can love,
empathize, and
care more.

Thoughts for a Friday

Choosing health insurance is really overwhelming. I had this moments last night, while looking over plans that I felt very much like an adult. And then I called my dad for his help.

Monkey pajamas are the bee's knees. And these? Are size 2T. When did my baby get so huuuge?

I've started packing some boxes. The problems is that six weeks out you pack things you don't need for a while. These tend to be things like books and home decor. Our house has quickly started to look like we are leaving sooner than we are.

 

Is there anything better in the world than morning cuddles with your baby? Well, maybe watching her sleep late at night before going to bed.

My brother posted this video earlier in the week and I thought it was so amazing. I've watched it several times already.


I really would like to see The Head and the Heart here in Boston at the end of the month. Just need to make it happen, I suppose.

See this guy? He is the best. The absolute best. The past three weeks have felt so insane, overwhelming, emotional and stressful. And if I'm being honest with myself, none of that is going to change anytime soon. We are busy getting estimates on our move. Chris is actually starting his new job in a week. We are trying to figure out how to rent an apartment/house from so stinkin' far away. I am starting to pack some boxes. We want to be sure to see all of our friends and maintain some sort of semblance of normalcy. We want to still be attentive parents. It feels like a whole lot. A whole, whole lot.

And yet, we've hardly fought. Like not at all. Our communication has been better than ever. We are learning quickly that we process things like this big move very differently. He wants to talk, talk, talk. I want to think, think, think. Normally, we'd fight over this issue of differences, but instead we've figured out how to allow both of us to have our needs met.

I've never felt so tired. Well, that might not be true considering I had a baby a year ago, but I am seriously tired. All the emotion (and allergies) are wearing me out. Chris is in the exact same boat (obviously) but he got up with Meredith this morning and took her for a walk so I could sleep an extra hour.

I just had to put it out in the universe. My husband is incredible. The fact that I get to go on this adventure with him and have my best friend by my side every step of the way makes it a whole lot less scary. I love you, baby.