my kinfolk

We returned home ten days ago from our very favorite family vacation yet. and, with the whirlwind of jumping back into Fall schedules and routines i’ve been reminiscing how wonderful our trip was and wishing just a bit that we were still there.

this trip served three purposes.

one: i was raised in Montesano, Washington with a good deal of time spent all-over the state as a child due to the fact my kinfolk were scattered all-over the Northwest. Since my Dad passed away on 9/9 – two days before 9/11 {it was a very emotional week in 2001.}, I have not been back to visit family, or friends since his funeral. meaning: MY KIDS have really never met their Beckner family! absurd.

two: Not only did i want my kids {and husband, and myself} to re-connect with family & friends. I wanted all of us to see the sites i grew-up with.

three: mix in a little family road trip/summer vacation.

so, with these three purposes in mind, i planned a Washington-state-family-reunion-road-trip-vacation-style. and. it was awesome.

{nieces: Jennifer Beckner, moi, Jessica Beckner & Lyric} * {cousins Beau Beckner, moi, Irina & Brock Beckner}

the first evening we arrived in seattle, we had a family reunion-style dinner with kinfolk i have currently living in or near seattle. we dined at the famous Ivar’s Acres of Clams, with beautiful views of the sound right on pier 54.

{our family + nephew Ken Hirsch & Jessica Rodriquez-Jenkins, Jasmine & Isabel}

I’m curious, do you live in or near your hometown or do your travel their frequently? It was so so good, and fun to go back to my roots. I hope it will not be another 11 years before it happens again. and, i feel in modern day, everyone is busier than they used to be, I know it’s so hard to break away from work, and responsibilities — i owe one more big thank you to everyone who took time to meet up with us while traveling. mercy darlings. xo.

{photos by me.}

Posted in extended family, husband, jane, kiana, KJ, myla, restaurants, sela, travels, washington | No Comments »

the child’s* come to town…

one – so happy friends from home came to visit – our first stop was lunch here and second lunch here.
two – we spent the evening by the waterfront with dinner here.
three – casey is an ice cream kind of guy, so we finished the night here. {get the banana – homemade & to die for!}
four – we purchased our first scalped tickets & made it into the grandstand for a red sox game! {we now have “bobby, the ticket scalper” on speed dial! everyone should have a scalper listed in their contacts, right?}
five – more food here! pasta for everyone in honor of the marathon, except sela who opted to have a salad.
six – taken from a window on our second floor, the boston marathon goes right past our house! we turned on the sprinkler in the front yard for the kids to play, and cheered from our driveway for the runners!  |  shannon at mile 15.
seven – shannon at the finish line, with her sister kim who also ran in the marathon. {read more about my friend, here.}
eight – my friend kelly ran for a diabetes association in honor of her 4 year old son who suffers with this disease. it was also her birthday on the day of the race. how cute was the sideline birthday party?!? i missed getting a picture of kelly running. boo.

* Child is our friends’ last name. it’s so good to have friends from home visit. my favorite! but it’s good they don’t come too often, because we sure over eat when they do visit! ::smiles::

{all photos by me.}

Posted in boston, friends, red sox, restaurants, spring break | 1 Comment »

Jerry Remy’s

we have become fans of jerry remy’s down on the harbor in the city.

and, our family loves group hugs, whenever we can squeeze them in!

who is jerry remy? in a nutshell, he was a red sox second baseman starting in the late 70s, he is currently president of the red sox nation, and a red sox commentator for NESN, so obviously we are fans of the restaurant. {go sox!}

have you been to jerry’s?

Posted in boston, husband, jane, kiana, KJ, myla, restaurants, sela, Uncategorized | 2 Comments »

Cheers Boston

I get asked all the time, “why is your husband a red sox fan if he’s from nevada?”

first of all, Nevada doesn’t have any professional sports teams.

second, husband watched the tv show “Cheers” as a kid, and was a Sam Malone fan.
in the show, Sam Malone was the bartender who was a Sox pitcher.

…at six years old that started husbands passion for the Sox & all of the New England sports teams —
Celtics. Patriots. Bruins.

it was mandatory that we take our kiddos + the Howell boys to the Cheers bar/restaurant on beacon hill.

Taking a break from all your worries, sure would help a lot.

Wouldn’t you like to get away?

Sometimes you want to go

Where everybody knows your name,
and they’re always glad you came.
You wanna be where you can see,
our troubles are all the same
You wanna be where everybody knows
Your name.

You wanna go where people know,
people are all the same,
You wanna go where everybody knows
your name.

***

click here for the cheers boston site.

Posted in boston, friends, husband, jane, kiana, KJ, myla, restaurants, sela | 1 Comment »

boston came to visit

…a few weeks ago.

shannon & cory brought boston {their 12-year old son} out here for a special birthday trip for his 12th birthday. it was time he visited his namesake city! boston and myla have grown-up with each other at home, and of course shannon & cory are dear friends.

we visited newberry street + went trail running together one morning + played lots of blokus + went shopping + had a little karaoke-concert by the kiddos, sela made a sign for her band, it was called “tea & the band” and she set-up her tea set for us during the show – hilarious little girl! + spent a morning at nahant beach. the taylor family also did lots of other sight-seeing while our kiddos were in school & husband went to a red sox game with them vs. the yankees. i was very impressed with how much they fit in to about four days!

happy 12th birthday, boston!!! we love you.

the best part: our home was filled with extra love & laughter for a few days. total dessert.

*****

while on newberry street, i took these pictures of our kids. i love the big sisters giving the younger two rides on their back/shoulders…

and, check out miss four! she’s so snazzy and hip. rockin’ her accessories & itouch.  {she was also playing a fashion-dress-up app!}  i’m pretty sure she was supposed to be a kardashian. somehow she was misplaced in our family.

i’m genuinely grateful for the mix-up!

Posted in boston, friends, husband, jane, kiana, KJ, myla, restaurants, sela | 3 Comments »

our top ten new-to-us restaurants:

while living in a hotel, and we didn’t even have a fridge in our room, we managed to try as many restaurants in this area as possible. which, was fun. and most of the time, delicious! only a few places were not-so-great and didn’t make our list!

* nick’s pizza is right down the street from our house – their cheese pizza {thin crust} is uh-mazing.  the kids love it & we can get a large cheese pizza delivered to our front door for $9, for a city – i think that is a pretty great deal!

* johnny’s luncheonette is in newton, and it’s a total tourist stop. great atmosphere – retro 50′s diner. our little kiddos love the toys they hand-out to play with while you dine, and we all love their food.

* 5 napkin burger. downtown boston, an upscale burger joint with to-die-for rootbeer floats that are served all snazzy.

* maugus. in all my years, i have always loved a good-family-owned restaurant with a small-town feel. this pile of red bricks is also right down the street from our home, and for breakfast or lunch, you can’t find anything more affordable that is this good! we feel like locals when we dine. in fact, this afternoon husband and i stopped by here for lunch. our waiter told us that we were sitting next to youkalis’s ex. wife… {youkalis is a red sox player.} – husband leaned over and discreetly whispered in my ear, “honey, this goes without saying, but anytime you can be-friend a red sox wife or ex-wife, please do.” ha!

* peet’s coffee & tea house. this is a favorite local shop, our kids beg for their white hot chocolate, everyday.

* milestone. a little boutique-inspired-cafe downtown wellesley. i love their rustic/fresh menu. miss four loves their free mints.

* the cottage. my favorite stop if i am choosing where we eat. i mean, how can i not be swept off my feet by a california-styled restaurant boasting new england charm with the most amazing menu around? i’ve declared this our sunday-dinner & special occasion restaurant. they give the kiddos these little wax sticks to play with, and besides the time kj ran into a waiter on his return from the restroom {yes, the waiter was holding an entire tray of drinks that spilled – in complete-movie-esque-slow-motion-style} the kids have managed to have good behavior & they continue to let us come back. should you decide to dine here, please order the ‘baked haddock.’ it’s incredible. and, the kids love their “build-your-own-sundae” dessert.

* comelia’s. a local food chain with pasta i could eat every single day if i wanted none of my clothes to fit.

* dunkin’ donuts: i think we have eight of these shops on our street alone. no kidding.

* wasabi. a sushi joint at our local mall in framingham. the sushi is being made by the sushi chefs in the center of all the tables, then they place it on plates with little lids and send it around this conveyor belt – you choose what you’d like & based on the color of plates you’ve chosen at the end of your meal, they add up your bill. i know it sounds a bit sketchy for good sushi, but it’s a really fun concept & the rolls were so yum.  you can also order off their menu.

* forty carrots. cute name, right? it’s the cafe at bloomingdales, and until we moved here i’d never been. they take basic foods like grilled cheese & spaghetti and make them off the charts. AND. they serve cold coke/diet coke in mini glass bottles.  AND, they have super-unique coloring sheets for kids – we were all busy with the cool activity page!

..i’m sure there will be more favorites – soon!

dear readers, do any of you have recommendations of places we should eat/try while we are here???
xo.

Posted in husband, jane, kiana, KJ, myla, restaurants, sela | 7 Comments »

the cazookie.

kiana and three of her besties had their own little end-of-school soiree last week.

when the final bell rang, they all headed over to ‘the chocolate’ here in orem.

these young ladies are all fans of ‘the cazookie,’ which is:
your choice of two cookies doughs baked together in a cake pan and topped with a scoop of melty vanilla bean ice cream.

sounds divine, right? yeah. so, i’ve forbidden myself to even taste it! i’m trying to eat good, and once i take even the tinsiest bite of sugar – i’m a goner. it’s all or nothing, and right now: nothing.

so, my end-of-the-school-year celebration is going to have to be post-poned until we’re celebrating something else…

maybe my next celebration will be: when i’ve unpacked our last box in boston! that will definitely be a reason for sugar! ::smiles::

have you had a cazookie? visited the chocolate?
i highly recommend it – if you’re eating sugar!!!
{it’s a great place for any-reason-to-celebrate, even if that just means: happy weekday!}

Posted in friends, kiana, restaurants, sela | 19 Comments »