It Takes A Village

I bought my condo a little over a year ago and I think it's high time for me to thank everyone who made the move possible.

First of all, without the help of my friend Kim and her husband John, I never would have looked at the place. Kim went to quite a few open houses with me and she knew exactly the type of property I was looking for. She mentioned my condo search to her husband and he knew of a place he thought I would like. Well Kim and I went to the open house and we looked at each other and we knew this was the place.

I must admit the gold color of the house was off putting at first. But now it has grown on me. And since it's the only one of it's color on the street it's certainly
easy to find. I own one quarter of the house. I have a garage and 2 deeded spaces and basement space.





My old place had a galley kitchen. Yuck, I hated it! It was old and dark. This kitchen is updated and airy and I actually enjoy cooking now.



Hardwood floors with an inlay. This is the flooring in my bedroom. My old bedroom had wall to wall carpet. It was a very dated look.



More hardwood and french doors.



I loved the mouldings throughout the condo.



Closeup of the french doors.



I think the previous owner had a thing for ceiling fans. There are 5 in the condo!
I would love to replace some of them with chandeliers but I must admit the fans cooled the place nicely this Summer.



Another shot of the kitchen. That's the home inspector and the seller to the left
of the photo. Neither of us used a realtor.



This photo was taken before the seller moved out. He had great taste but it had a modern look and I like vintage.



The bathroom is not large but it suits my purposes.



This the hallway area. Again, this was taken before I moved in. I love the high ceilings, they're 9 foot. That doorway leads to a half closet. My neighbor's stairs are above it so there's not much space there.

Wow, did I get off track. This was supposed to be a thank you to everyone who had a hand in helping me move.

To Don who spent hours and hours and days and days with me hauling boxes out of my apartment and into the condo. I snapped at him often because I was so overwhelmed but he never got angry with me. Not once! We took frequent breaks at Starbucks so we would have energy to get through the days. He continues to be my handyman. His wife Mary should be thanked as well because she put off any home projects at her own newly renovated home so Don could help me move.

My sister offered to help but then she broke her foot. She gave moral support.

My dad wall mounted my bedroom TV and had my garage door fixed for me. Right after I moved in, the garage door did not work. I mean the remote didn't work and the garage door would get stuck when it was manually opened. Dad took care of it for me.

My friend Debbi helped me clean out my storage space at my old apartment.

My friend Jean recommended a mover for the big pieces, bed, couch, hutch. She also offered her husband as a handyman for me.

Diane and Michael were foster parents to Oscar until I could safely take him in. His stay with them was much longer than expected. They graciously let him stay as long as he needed until I was ready to bring him home to the condo.

Thanks to all of the men who helped solve the washer/dryer situation. A brief synopsis, the Sears installation guys could not fit the stackable dryer in the closet. I bought the same size appliances as the previous owner yet the installation guys could not make them fit. They left the washer and dryer in my hallway and left me to fend for myself. John and Ronny both came over on separate occasions to measure the closet and diagnose the problem. They thought it was a hopeless situation and perhaps I would have to get smaller appliances. It certainly looked that way. Then Anthony came to my rescue. Anthony is like the incredible Hulk. He can lift anything! After Thanksgiving dinner, he and Don came over to the condo. Anthony lifted and wiggled the washer and dryer and under Don's direction, he was able to squeeze the unit into place. I wish I had taken video because it was a sight to behold.

It truly takes a village to help with the moving process. I hope I haven't forgotten to thank anyone. As you can see, I have terrific friends and family. As Thanksgiving approaches, it seems to be the perfect time to express my gratitude.

Daytripping in Boston

Today, my sister and I both had the day off from work. So we decided to spend the day in Boston. I wanted to go to the French Library to see the Paris Facade exhibit of Carol Gillott. Her blog is called Paris Breakfasts. I purchased two watercolors from Carol so I was excited to hear that she would be exhibiting in Boston.

Would you believe the Library was closed? I will have to go another day.



We walked from the T Station in the Back Bay to Tealuxe on Newbury St. Tealuxe had so many varieties of teas! My sister opted for the golden tip Assam and I had a pot of hot chocolate. We also had sandwiches.



If you need tea supplies, tea, strainers, pots, cups, this is the place for it.



We were pleasantly surprised by the autumnal colors surrounding us. We both thought it would be past peak in Boston.



I loved looking down the street and seeing multiple colors of trees.



I can't even remember the location of this monument. Was it while we were crossing Commonwealth Ave? We walked many blocks and hopefully we burned off all the calories we consumed during the day.



Ever since I saw the movie Green Card, I've wanted a rooftop garden to call my own.

Wouldn't it be cool to live here?



Such pretty street scenes.



I loved looking at all the architectural details.



Every residence had it's own classic charm.



The lanterns, the doorways. Quintessential Boston.




A bicycle might be the best mode of transportation during rush hour. Some of the narrow streets get gridlocked.

Today was quite cold as the wind chill made it feel like it was in the 40's.



More gorgeous doorways.




Autumn's splendor awaits beyond this gate.




Before heading home on the T, we stopped at the Four Season's Hotel for a late afternoon snack. This was the view from our table.



My sister enjoyed her hot chocolate. We were quite cold from walking around in a wind tunnel.



One more stop before heading home. It's Veteran's Day and we stopped by the State House and the Veteran's memorial across the street.




Here's the memorial to African American Soldiers. A beautiful monument that honors Robert Gould Shaw and the Massachusetts 54th regiment, the first African Americans to serve in the Civil War.

We had a wonderful Veteran's Day in the city. What did you do today?

Banking on a Cure

We held a charity bake sale at the bank yesterday. It was our 4th annual bake sale in honor of one of our coworkers who passed away from breast cancer in 2006. Since she was the best baker of anyone in our branch of the bank we thought this was the best way to honor her and raise money to find a cure for breast cancer. All the monies raised will be donated to the Susan B Komen Breast Cancer Foundation.



I have to say the women at this branch are phenomenal. They work so well together. They care about each other and they all loved their coworker Joanne.

Every year we worry that we won't have enough food, but, come bake sale day there is a steady stream of dropoffs. The bank courier brings pies sent from other branches and then I do a big collection at our corporate center. Sometimes the pies, cookies, and coffee cakes don't make it out of the building as inevitably someone will follow me asking me how much for that pie or saying I'll buy those brownies. I actually sell items from the trunk of my car as word gets around that Elaine has the bake sale items outside!



How could you resist Mary's mini apple pies? Mary made 4 two crust pies, 1 Dutch apple pie and 15 of the mini pies! Her father-in-law received apples from a friend and he gave them to Mary to make a pie for the bake sale. Mary's mother made coffee cakes and breads. Good stories came from the bake sale.

We sold our first pie through the drive up window. One of our senior citizen customers saw the sale through the window and he spied an apple pie he just had to have. We brought it out to him so he didn't have to leave his vehicle. (It wouldn't fit through the driveup drawer). I'm kidding, we didn't even try to make it fit.




And how can you say no to brownies made lovingly by the teller supervisor's daughter? She also made cupcakes with her younger daughters- teaching them early to give back.



Presentation is just so important. Everything must be appealing to the eye. We have creative people who sit and package the items that come in. They'll add ribbons, leaves, all sorts of embellishments. They work tirelessly.



I made cranberry apple crisps and lemon squares. Joanne's daughters bake and Joanne's sister made the most beautiful blueberry and apricot crostadas. I must
admit I had never heard of a crostada before yesterday! The crostadas barely hit
the table before they were scooped up.



A cookie monsters delight! Pumpkin, chocolate chip, cream cheese, and almond cookies.



This sour cream coffee cake found a good home. I loved hearing from the customers as they told me where they were taking the items. I am having coffee with a friend tomorrow so I'll bring this coffee cake with me or I am going to give these Halloween ghost cookies to my grandchildren or my family will love this apple pie.



Our Bank President is a woman. She made a huge container of chocolate chip cookies, attended the sale and bought some items to bring back to the corporate offices. These are her cookies and they sold out.



My boss's wife made espresso brownies and put them in the cutest containers. I bought a box to eat at the bake sale. I couldn't resist, I love chocolate and coffee.



You know an apple pie went home with me too! One of our retired coworkers made a pie and brought it in for us. It was still warm and looked and smelled heavenly.

We also took pre-orders for some blueberry pies. In fact, one of the bank's trustees requests a pie from the same baker every year!

The tally at the end of the day was $953. We will ask for an additional donation from the bank and we usually receive donations after the sale.

We spoke with some breast cancer survivors who attended the sale. They had good care, early detection and now a clean bill of health. Sadly, we also learned that there are women at the bank who are battling the disease as we speak. They will have our prayers and support through their recovery.

Our hope is that our grass roots effort will help fight for the cure. We will have raised over $10,000 in the four years we've held the sale.

We know Joanne is smiling on us.

Tea, Autumn and Waiting for Obama in Boston

I had a vacation day on Friday, an eagerly awaited vacation day.

I awoke to the colors of Autumn right outside my window. Fabulous! I knew it would be a good day.



I was meeting friends at the Boston Public Library for afternoon tea. Luckily, the night before, I saw the news,so I knew that President Obama was attending a fundraiser at the Weston Copley which is right across the street from the Boston
Public Library.



I knew there would be lots of commotion, roads blocked off, protesters, etc. So I took public transportation versus driving in to the city. I headed in after the morning rush hour so it was an easy commute and the Library was a short walk from the T station (that's what we call public transportation in Boston, the T).




Everyone was waiting for Obama. I have to admit I had the camera ready myself. The wind chill was, well, very cold but everyone waited patiently. The protesters were shouting out their causes, End the war, help the mentally challenged, I'm sure there were a few less vocal groups as well.



I started a conversation with some young men and we all agreed that Mr Obama would not be coming out of the hotel to the crowds and a four way intersection. We were sure the Secret Service would not want to worry about all the buildings surrounding the intersection. So I headed up the Library steps, leaving the commotion behind.

I had to stop to take a photo of the Edward Scissorhands lanterns outside the Library and to shout a warning to the pigeons. Careful, you don't want to get impaled!



A hot cuppa was just the remedy for my windchilled hands. I joined my friends for tea and conversation. We had lovely tea sandwiches, scones and desserts and the service was excellent.



Yes, I did have 4 desserts. They were miniature. Really!



This pretty courtyard reminded me of England. The arches were so beautiful.



It would be nice to sit here but not with Friday's wind chill.



I rounded the corner to see what was there and there was an invasion of... Witches Hats! They were really cool.



Some of them were really elegant with buckles and all.



I was fascinated by these hats. They were in a most unexpected place. I thought the scene looked like something out of a Harry Potter movie.



I know, enough with the Witches Hats!




I forgot to take a picture of the area where we had tea. I remembered when I was outside so here's my feable attempt to take a decent photo of the tea area.




The building is absolutely gorgeous. So grand and so much history. I could have told you about the history if I attended the tour of the Library instead of standing outside waiting for a glimpse of Obama's motorcade.






Guess I'll just have to go back to the Library.