Sunflower Sill 255/365

Despite the fact that we have had SERIOUS trouble keeping a green plant alive in our kitchen, I decided to grab a $1 "Grow a Sunflower" kit at Target. How hard could it possibly be?! :) Well, we have had zero luck so far, but I promise I will be more than thrilled to share if we actually do get a flower out of this. But I will not be holding my breath in the meantime...

Neon Nix 254/365

Tyler had clients come in town on Thursday for the All-Star race weekend in Charlotte. I met them out for dinner at Nix, where we all enjoyed FABULOUS burgers and beers. Tyler is usually traveling up north to meet these guys, so I know he enjoyed having them in town on his turf for a change. After dinner we grabbed a few drinks before heading home for the night. Tyler had a weekend full of events and activities while his clients were in town and I was looking forward to a visit from my parents and Sophie.

Looking Up 253/365

I find Michael J. Fox to be both inspiring and hysterical...so I picked up his book Always Looking Up from the bookstore on Harvard's campus. I started reading it when we got home from our trip and 2 days later I had polished it off. It made me laugh out loud and above all I found his outlook on life to be incredible. I consider myself an optimist, but as most people who know me would tell you, I often find it too easy to push realism out the window. :) This book tells the story of a man who embraces both, which allows boundaries to be pushed and seemingly unrealistic achievements to be attained. To say I enjoyed it would be an understatement...

Happily Shedding 252/365

Tess is happily shedding POUNDS these days! After putting on a bit of a "winter coat," we are working her back to model legs and a little waist. She is LOVING her carrot snacks at home and apple slices when she gets to visit Sophie. She still gets a cookie in the morning and before bed, but a change in food and switching to carrots for snack has already made a huge difference! If only it were that easy for the rest of us...

It's Electric 251/365

And it's also our 2nd Anniversary...May 17th. It is crazy how quickly the past 2 years have flown by, but I know we would not have rather spent them any other way. I know, as we grow, that life happens and that tough times will come with the great times. I also know that we fully plan to walk through those times hand in hand, with our faces to the sun, like the giddy honeymooners I hope we'll always be. Tyler, you make our day to day moments perfect and I am so grateful for the me that shines through when I'm with you. You challenge me to be incredible and you never stop making me feel special. Cheers to a lifetime of celebration and many more anniversaries shared. I love you.

As for our day...we grabbed a quick on-the-go bite for breakfast on Monday morning as we headed out of our hotel and over the Aquarium. We were there early enough to catch the Penguin feeding and seal training before even getting started walking through the exhibits. We checked out the Jellies room first and could not help but stop at every tank. What amazing creatures!

There was also a great fish tank in the Jellies exhibit...it was filled with gorgeous bright fish!

Most of our time was spent checking out the penguins. They occupy most of the main level of the aquarium and we were there long enough to watch the feeding and also learn more about them during a session later on. The middle of the Aquarium is a huge walking ramp that moves up an enormous cylinder tank. There are fish and sharks and eels and turtles and eventually you get to the top and can look down into the whole thing. The design is incredible and there is something new to see as you get higher and higher. We loved spending the morning there and after grabbing a quick Bloody Mary at Legal Seafood across the road, we were off to check out the historical parts of the city.

We grabbed a map and walked ourselves through the city along the Freedom Trail. We made it through 16 stops following the red paint and red brick through the streets. At the end we grabbed lunch in the Quincy Market and walked around Fannueil Hall. It was a great way to end our weekend away and while we enjoyed visiting both Boston and Martha's Vineyard, we were looking forward to heading home to our pup.

Best of the Best 250/365

We were up early on Sunday to check out of the Inn and head back to Boston. We grabbed the first ferry off the island and caught our bus back into the city. While we enjoyed our quick night in Copley on Thursday, we were really excited to check out Boston's Financial District for the rest of our trip. We dropped our bags at the hotel and headed out to grab lunch at the highly recommended and much anticipated Neptune Oyster. While we had enjoyed great food in Boston and Martha's Vineyard on our trip so far, this place exceeded everything we had heard and was far and away our favorite meal of the trip! We were lucky to grab two stools at the bar of this tiny restaurant where we enjoyed sampling oysters and clams from all over and where we split a lobster roll that we may have consumed in record time. I don't know that either of us actually put the roll down between bites...it was that good! We couldn't wait to let Jimmy know how awesome it was and thank him repeatedly for telling us it was a place we HAD to try.

This picture shows the raw bar with the constant line of people waiting outside while we were there. It's amazing how quickly our barstools got snatched up as soon as we were finished. We decided it was a good thing we don't live in Boston because this would be a dangerous spot for us!

After lunch we grabbed a quick ride on the T and headed out to Harvard. We walked through Harvard Yard, which we happened to catch on move-out weekend. But despite the moving trucks, furniture, suitcases and trashbags...we enjoyed our stroll though campus. We made a quick stop at the campus bookstore to grab some books for the rest of our trip and then headed back into the city. We were glad we made the trip to check out the campus but found that we really loved the area of city we were staying in. It felt like a college campus...we walked everywhere, there were pubs and bars on every corner, and we were right on the water...what could be bad?! We enjoyed a drink at the wharf at an outdoor bar near the aquarium and got some great people watching in. Then we ducked into a bar across from our hotel to grab a nibble and watch the end of the Celtics game. It was pretty fun to be in Boston during the playoffs. After a LONG 3 days of traveling and exploring...we were exhausted! We still had more to cram in on Monday morning before our flight home so we stayed in for a quiet night at the hotel. 

Fairy Tale 249/365

We were up pretty early on Saturday and Tyler brought breakfast up to our room. We got ready for our day and walked down the street to pick up our bike. The great Inn keeper had given us a map and suggested we take the 6 mile trip to Oak Bluffs. She also suggested that we give a tandem bike a try. So we walked into Happy Wheels and told them what we wanted. They gave us a quick once over and let us know that the tandem bike with one chain and rear handlebars connected to the front seat would require good communication if we want to come back in one piece...with a bike in similar shape. We decided we were up for the challenge and even had them throw a basket on the front for fun. They wished us good luck and off we went. The picture of the day perfectly sums up our trip to Oak Bluffs....it was wonderful. :)

We stopped for a quick picture during our ride. There was beach on both sides and we were so glad we were told about the tandem bike because we were able to talk during the ride. Tyler may not have been so thrilled about it on the way back...the seats were not the most comfortable.

The main reason for our photo break...

We tied up our bike once we got into downtown Oak Bluffs and started walking through the cottage community made of little ginger-bread looking houses. They were colorful and adorable and we enjoyed winding our way through the streets of the neighborhood. We searched for a house numbered 17 but had NO luck! The closest we came was finding 19 and 15 with an empty lot in the middle.

We could not have had a more gorgeous day! Between the sun in the cloudless sky and the breeze coming off the water, the weather was absolutely perfect...

My favorite little house with purple trim and clothesline...

A sweet sleeping pup that made us miss Tess...

We grabbed lunch at a little cafe and walked over to a big green field at the center of town. We enjoyed some ice cream and after relaxing for a few minutes, Tyler went off in search of a kite.

We laid on our backs and flew our kite...the world seemed to turn a little slower on that island. :)

Then I managed to get our kite stuck on the one building at the center of the field. It look some tricky fixing but I was finally able to wrap up all the string and get the kite down. It did make for an eventful end to our day in Oak Bluffs.

We passed our kite along to a group of families with several children. Hopefully they enjoyed it as much as we did. Then we hopped back on our bike and headed back to Edgartown. We stopped for some quick pictures at the nursery on our way before dropping off our bike, which we managed to keep all in one piece!

We stopped for a little shopping and then for drinks in a local bar on our way back to the Inn and even collected a few wooden nickels. We didn't get anywhere close to earning our own mug or the big accomplishment, which is a plaque on the back of your own barstool, but maybe one day we can go back to rack up some more coins. We showered and changed for dinner and made the short trip to the restaurant attached to the Inn. We decided to catch the early ferry on Sunday morning back to Boston so we got a good night's rest in preparation for the rest of our trip. In addition to the relaxing days and beautiful scenery of the island, we took away a great quote with words to live by...if only we could...

Quit Your Job

Buy A Ticket

Get A Tan

Fall In Love

Never Return