In My Easter Bonnet . . . Colorful Easter Carnage

Ok so it’s not really carnage.  Nor am I wearing a bonnet.  What defines a “bonnet” anyway?  It’s Spring!  Easter is Sunday.  I love this time of year!

Granted, it isn’t warm out, but it’s mild and there’s no snow and I made it through another Maine winter and hardly had to wear my long johns but still complained about the cold and waited patiently for this day or days like these.  Maybe not so patiently. 

Beyond finally basking in the light at the end of the tunnel, I love this time of year for so many reasons.  The crocuses are up in the yard.  The robins bob around my front lawn.  The daffodils are poking up bright green through the desolate garden beds.  Flowers will bloom!  The sun will shine!  All will be right in the world! 

And with Easter at our doorstep, the very best of it all . . . PEEPS. 

Ok, I have to admit I love peeps.  I tried chocolate bunny peeps (are they still a peep without a beak?) and almost melted into a puddle. 

I should probably get help.

This morning I worked out for two hours.  See how I try to justify my complusion?

This afternoon I ate two (so far) blue peeps.  With their little brown dot eyes . . . I couldn’t resist!

The Cadbury eggs have been around for a while, too.  I have to proudly say I have been able to stay away from them, even the caramel filled one.  And caramel is my favorite gooey sweet substance on earth.  You could put caramel on a tire and I’d eat it.  Well I guess that doesn’t hold true since --- ta da! --- I haven’t eaten a Cadbury egg.  I have had many opportunities.  I buy them for my daughter, who loves them and therefore I use it as a bribery tool to get my way.  I wish I could record an evil cackle after that.  I don’t bribe (much) I reward, but I tell her in advance what her reward will be . . .

When I was a kid, my sister and I would wake up so early on Easter morning and slither downstairs where my mom would have placed two identical (they had to be or we’d kill each other) baskets of Easter goodness. 

Growing up Catholic and therefore being forced to participate in the Lenten ritual of sacrifice I would usually have given up candy or some other innocuous item, since back then I really had no true vices from which to abstain.  I was a kid.  What do you know about sacrifice when you’re eight?

So after forty days with no candy that heaping basket was looking mighty fine.  My sister and I would sit on the floor with the baskets.  Mom and Dad would be awakened by our chatter and would haul out the camera as we dove in.  

Jelly beans by the thousands.

A pastel rainbow of wrapped chocolate things.

The aforementioned PEEPS!  (this must be where my habit developed.  So much for an innocent holy life without vices).

And always . . the star attraction . . . a huge chocolate bunny.  (Sorry but for some reason I don't have a chocolate bunny photo)  Colored candy eyes, sometimes a smart little bowtie . .  usually hollow but I didn’t know the difference.  I’d go for the ears; my sister, the feet. 

Somehow we’d survive the sugar overload in time to put on our Easter dresses that were purchased special every year for this occasion.  Sometimes scratchy.  Sometimes rough.  The Easter parade of matchy jumpers and patented leather shiny shoes still haunts me. 

Obviously this holiday has scarred me.

But now, I cope by buying my daughter the Cadbury eggs and picking up a couple of racks of Peeps, then hiding Easter eggs around the just bloomed crocuses and daffodils.

Enjoy my spring flowers and Easter candy visual overload.  I did it just for you. 

The dewey magnolia . . .

Next up:  Garden Season!!!

and it begins . . .

LIFE on Life’s terms: Living in the moment or “Seas the Day”

Like many people, I struggle with the bucolic concept of living in the moment.  My daily planner is planned out months in advance.  Each week I plot out my goals for the week, my appointments, and my dinner menu.  There are very few moments that I’m not at least partly considering the next moment rather than the one I’m in.  Perhaps I’m the oddball, but I suspect that this is pretty common amongst people today.  Everything is about what’s next. 

Living in the moment . . . what does it mean?  Is it akin to so many other phrases that denote the need for appreciation for what you have or what you are or who you are at any given time? 

Is it a reminder that “life is short” so “seize the day” but don’t forget to “stop and smell the roses?” 

Those expressions wouldn’t have gained overuse prominence if there weren’t truth to them. 

This is what has prompted my little life appreciation lesson.  I was fortunate enough to “have” to go to Fort Lauderdale for my work.  Leaving Maine in March to go somewhere warm and sunny is something I dream of every January. 

This trip came up fast and took a lot of work to pull together.  With a little help from some hotel points and a supportive spouse, I was able to extend the trip two extra days and bring my daughter with me.  We had a wonderful, sunshine filled, causal couple of days. 

The evening before our 8:00 am flight home, after touring around on a water taxi and seeing the yachts and mansions of the rich and famous, we took a walk on the beach before dinner.  Always prepared, we both were wearing our bathing suits and decided to take a swim.  The water was warm, easy to get into and the waves were just raucous enough to be fun.  We have beautiful beaches in Maine but the water rarely reaches above sixty degrees and swimming in it is, well, numbingly uncomfortable for me at this age. 

We splashed and bobbed and floated for two hours.  It was getting dark and we hadn’t had dinner yet.  The guys who worked for the hotel were clearing the beach, stacking lounge chairs and picking up towels.  I felt that pull of responsibility and got out of the water to dry off.  My daughter protested and made a case for staying in, claiming she’d only rinse off in the pool rather than swim for another hour once we left the beach (she lied). 

So I gathered up our things and sat in the sand with my camera.  Watching her jump and flip around in the waves made me curiously sentimental for days when I had nothing to worry about, nothing to plan or prepare for.  Truthfully, I can’t even remember feeling like that although I must have as a child.  We had seen a boat earlier in the day that was named “Seas the Day” and I loved the play on words with one of my favorite sayings.  It was a struggle for me to just sit in the warm sand, digging my feet in, shooting the beach and waves and my sweet little daughter just playing in the ocean. 

I have returned home.  I’ve thought about those moments quite a few times, that churning in my stomach, a gnawing feeling that I should be doing something else (like packing for our early departure).  For me, recently diagnosed with ADD, I wonder if it is that “driven” feeling that is a symptom of the disorder.  Or is it’s a byproduct of a busy life?  Perhaps my Catholic school guilt which says that I shouldn’t stop and enjoy myself, that I must always be productive.  I don’t know for sure why I feel the way I do about it but I know I’m on a quest to practice more mindful behavior.  Allow myself to take pleasure in the small, wonderful things about my life, like being able to type this post with one of my cats just over my shoulder and the other nestled on the desk in front of me. 

And I will sit in the sand and watch my daughter play in the sea.  I will live in the moment, even if it’s just for a moment.  This moment. 

Hotel Review: The Seaport Boston Hotel

 

this is puppy.  he is our traveling companion.

I always get excited about staying at a hotel.  Whether it’s for a family vacation or a business trip, like the one I’m about to tell you about, I just love hotels.  I love travel in general, and hotels are just one fabulous part of it all.  Maybe it’s the crisp clean sheets (hopefully!) or the fact there’s no pressure to do stuff like laundry and dishes.

So recently I had to go to Boston on a business trip.  My work in tourism marketing has me attending or participating in events to promote my region.  In this case, my region agreed to send a volunteer to help man the Maine booth at the Boston Globe Travel Show.  I’ll tell you more about the show later but today’s post is about my swanky accommodations while I was in Boston representing my state to the traveling public.  The show was at the Seaport World Trade Center in Boston harbor and I booked a special rate room at the Seaport Boston Hotel. 

orchids in hallway

Getting to Boston from where I live in Maine was easy.  At the very final moments of the road trip, my gps told me to go right when I knew it was left, but I figured it had some kind of lock on one way streets and such so I followed and found myself in a multi block loop of right turns.  When I wrangled us out of that I was a little flustered.  I found the hotel and pulled up near the curb.  I got out and asked the valet how to find the garage.  He smiled and said “a right and a right.  Follow me” and I did, really relieved to have found a helpful person. 

He wasn’t the only helpful person at this hotel.  Check in was smooth and easy.  We had quite a few bags and I can usually handle that myself but a porter brought the stuff up.  Service is included in the price, so there’s no tipping expected which was kind of nice.  I never know how much to tip this person or that person.  

 

upon first arriving to our hotel room

The room wasn’t huge, but I didn’t expect huge.  What I did expect was clean, modern and nice and I got it.  It had a Keurig coffee machine with a couple of choices of their Kcups, including tea.  I don’t have one of those at home and it’s a treat to be able to make different flavors just one cup at a time.  The bad thing that I discovered the next morning was that there was only one little packet of powdered creamer and sugar, barely enough for one cup, and not really a good one at that.  I like my coffee light and sweet (like my men) and despite the cool little machine, the coffee sucked.  I would recommend that if you like coffee in your room in the morning and don’t want to go out to get that first cup, you bring some cream with you somehow.  Or you can get room service and I’ll write about that later.

nice terry robes

shampoo & conditioner

Some nice touches included the two very plush terry robes, a special black towel in the bathroom to wash off makeup (1. sorry my photo of this didn’t come out clear 2. you can buy them in the gift shop for $6), and the shampoo and conditioner wall dispensers in the shower. If you’ve ever tried to stretch one tiny bottle of shampoo over two or three people, you’ll recognize that this is a wonderful thing.  I usually pack my own shampoo and conditioner for this very reason.  It was plentifully dispensed.  The brand they advertised and used was Gilchrest and Soames, a UK based creator.  I did wish, however, that the whole product line, the soaps, lotions, shampoo & conditioner, though very nice, would have been a Boston or at least New England based manufacturer.  I understand the hotel’s desire to be perceived as internationally sophisticated and that they’re not promoting it as organic or local or anything, but I would have really liked some US made toiletries.  Given that they’re not a big chain hotel, they could have sourced something more locally created and made a big difference to a manufacturer in their own back yard.

my daughter's bed with pjs and puppy

Beds were very comfortable, with nice cotton sheets and duvet and an extra blanket.  They actually have a “pillow library” according to their website where you can go an select the type of pillow you prefer.  I didn’t see it mentioned anywhere in the room, though, or anywhere in the hotel for that matter, only on the website. 

the view

to the right:  the harbor

to the right with zoom

The view from our room wasn’t very nice.  Being that we were right across from the harbor, I would have loved a nice water view, lights twinkling on the horizon and all that.  I do understand the fact that a building has four sides and only one can face the water and there are only so many of those rooms available.  Add to that the fact that I got a discounted room because of my affiliation with the show and well, I suppose I should be happy we could at least SEE the water.  We did get a 9^th floor room, though, which was pretty cool. 

A couple more notes on the room;  perhaps I’m used to staying at hotels that are more family oriented but two things would have been great:  a small refrigerator and dare I say, a microwave.  I know that’s pushing it.  Our bottled water got warm and our dinner doggy bags got cold.  Something I really appreciated was the flat screen TV with easy to clean remote (have you read about how disgusting hotel room remotes are?) and the free wifi with no password/login was great.  I hate having to set up a new wireless at every hotel and then fight with my laptop when I get back and it’s still looking for the hotel wifi.  Something that wasn’t so hot was that our room was near the ice machine and the housekeeping station, also near the elevators, so it was noisy, people coming and going all night and early in the morning.  I suppose SOMEONE has to have the room near all that, but it would have been better had it not been me.  As a woman traveling with a child, those voices and bumps in the night have a way of disrupting sleep. 

the lap pool

I had read reviews about the indoor pool being really small and it was.  It was obviously catering to the guests that come for business and want a workout swim along with their use of the gym.  The night we went, however, we pretty much had the pool to ourselves, and swam for quite a while.  I noticed that the hotel was promoting a school vacation special – pool, play, breakfast, etc – and while I applaud their outreach to this market, I think any parents coming here thinking they could unleash the kids on the pool for the afternoon would be disappointed, or rather, the kids would be. 

I’ve got to say this, though:  the ladies locker room was FABULOUS!  Ok, I only went in to use the bathroom and didn’t take full advantage of it all, but really . . . nice finished wood lockers and cubes for stashing your stuff, wall dispensers for lotion – a really nice touch that I wish all locker rooms would provide – hair dryers, plenty of counter space and mirrors (magnified ones, even!) and large roomy showers.

I wish I could have photographed them for when I win the lottery and want to build a home gym and locker room or just to post here to show you all, but I hadn’t brought my camera into the locker room and would have felt a bit voyeuristic using it in there.  Something about a woman’s right to privacy . . . but really, if you go, check it out.

One more note about the gym at the Seaport Boston’s gym;  at the entrance, they have a large glass container with lemon water.  I thought this was a nice treat.  I would have appreciated it more had I actually used the gym for a good workout but nonetheless had a couple of cups worth while sitting by the pool.

cool knives

my daughter's plate

Breakfast at Aura was not what I had planned, thinking by looking at the menu, that the prices were too high for just me and my picky 12 year old daughter.  On the first morning there, I went and surveyed the options for breakfast.  It was either Aura or the Seaport Café, a quicky convenience mini Starbucks coffee (grande 4.25 thank you).  Knowing that it would be the only chance of this trip to have a sit down breakfast (the next day I had to be at the booth early) I decided, okay, lets do it.  The breakfast offerings – eggs benedict $14, huevos rancheros $16 – weren’t cheap, but we don’t do that sort of thing often and I knew my daughter would be happy about it.  As we were seated and began to place our order, the waiter told us that the breakfast buffet was ½ price for kids and would save us a few bucks.  I thought it was really nice of him to make the suggestion and we happily opted for the buffet (I love buffets!).  It was beautifully displayed and kept warm and fresh, and was downright delicious.  I cleaned my plate and don’t usually do that.  Pancakes with warm blueberry sauce, cheese blintzes, crispy hash browns and my favorite:  piles of perfectly cooked bacon.  The buffet price is $19 per person.

my breakfast plate

The next morning, given my no cream experience of the day before, I did something I’ve never done, ordered room service.  Just a small pot of coffee with cream and sugar.  It arrived early, around 7:30 and was the perfect amount for me.  Two little pitchers of cream, nice cups, all was good.  The room service order form said it was $6.25, which I figured was better than two grande lattes at the café, but when I got the bill upon check out, it totaled over $11 after the gratuity, room taxes and other crap was added.  Lesson learned:  perhaps it wasn’t better than two grande lattes.  Easier, but not cheaper. 

A couple more things;  check out is at noon and I had to work at the show until 1pm so I asked the front desk if I could possibly have a late check out and was given until 1:30, a courtesy that I appreciated.  It just eased my mind and allowed me to avoid some morning hassle of checking out, loading up the car, finding something for my daughter to do while I was at the show, etc.  When I left the show and came back to the hotel, I had a very heavy box of brochures that I was taking with me.  The concierge offered to keep them at his station so that I didn’t have to carry them up to the room and then down with my luggage and kid in tow.  Just a little thing, but certainly labor saving and appreciated.

Overall my experience at the Seaport Boston Hotel was a good one, and I’d be happy to recommend the place to others and will plan on staying there for next year’s show. 

Stay tuned for my reviews of the restaurants we enjoyed while in the area and of the travel show. 

fishy graphics on the glass at the pool

Candid Maine Coon Cats

I’m deep into the bookkeeping part of the year, when I get everything together for the taxes, and when my creative side is put on hold, acting like a restless child waiting its turn. 

The Boy "Buzzer"

It’s also cold.  Winter in Maine, even this year with very little snow and some mild days, is drab, gray, and seemingly endless.  And with the cold, drab, grayness (especially the cold) my outdoor exposure is made up of a house to car to office to car to house routine.  No lingering near the lilies in the driveway.  No taking the long way.  This is the worst time of year for me.  January.  February.  At least March has some promise – the first day of spring, moving the clocks ahead.

Because so many of my best photographs have been the result of having my camera with me and being at the right place at one of those times and taking a few shots usually outdoors, I haven’t photographed much lately. 

What have I photographed?

Kittens.

Maine Coon kittens.

We got kittens.  Two.  A male and a female.  The male’s name is Buzzer and the female’s name is Bella.  This is what has been in my viewfinder for the past month or so. 

My daughter and the kittens.

One of these days I’m going to set up a set with some props and get them to act cute for the camera so I can take some shots to sell to the greeting card people.  For now, this is it. 

Keeping me company while I work.

A little background on the Maine Coon:  there is only speculation about the Maine Coon’s origins.  Some say that somewhere back a couple of hundred years ago a cat mated with a raccoon (highly unlikely if you ask me) and on down the generations and here we are. 

Hard to tell where one ends and the other begins.

Another story says that Marie Antoinette was preparing to flee France and had her prized possessions loaded onto a ship, including 6 of her Persian cats.  The ship set sail without Marie (you might know what held her up) and landed in Wiscasset Maine.  Cats bound out of their confines and into the arms of the local feline population and here we are.  I like that story best. 

We really don't need to buy cat toys.  Boxes work just fine.

Whatever the true history of the Maine Coon cat, it seems that several personality traits are constant.  One is their gregarious nature.  They want to be with their people, hanging out on the couch, near my desk, on our bed.  They’re like dogs in cat’s bodies.  They’re not the kind of cats that scurry away in fear when people come around.  No, they want to “help”. 

Searched all over before finding them here on New Year's Eve.

They’re also very vocal, “chirpy” even, and communicate with each other and with us pretty darn well.  Maine Coons are the biggest breed of cats, with the record for the longest cat held by “Stewie” a Maine Coon measuring out at 48.5 inches from tip of the nose to end of tail back in August of 2010.

Just so sweet.

We got them from Coldstream Cattery in Enfield, Maine.   Marie, the breeder, had two litters available at that time.  My daughter and I went to see them, not sure if we were going to get one, but knew if we did it was going to be a surprise for my husband and it had to be a male.  We were set on a brown tabby male and there were quiet a few to choose from, but so hard to do when they're so young.  Something we didn't expect was to fall for one of the two silver females.  Both were so alert and absolutely beautiful.  One our second visit, we decided on one of the brown males, mostly because he just kept coming back around us and didn't seem afraid.  The fact that he was completely adorable made it even easier.  When we met Marie to pick up the kittens just after Christmas, they had already been vet checked and had their first shots.  Our vet recently confirmed their health and complimented on their appearance. 

Blanketed in kittens.

Bella is a silver tabby and Buzzer is a brown tabby.  Our kittens are true to their breed, in temperament and personality.  Bella doesn't like to be picked up but does like to ride around on your shoulders.  She's the more vocal of the two; very chirpy and meows very loudly whenever I get near their food bowl, clearly asking for more (though there's usually plenty of food.)  She favors my husband, having found the perfect spot on his lap from her first days here.  Her preferred place on our bed is right up near his head on the pillows.  Bella purrs easily, instapurr we call it.

Bella, the gray tabby Maine Coon kitten, snoozing on the couch.

Buzzer was nameless for some time while we debated and tested names.  With my daughter just having finished the Twilight series, she named Bella.  I did not allow the male to be Edward or Jacob.  Not happening.  I gave the naming rights to the boy to my husband.  The cat we lost (and still miss) was named Ocho.  We tried out a lot of different names that were similar to that but in the end, he went with Buzzer, trying to find something that went with Bella (a bell and a buzzer . . . yeah, I'm not that good with it either).  My daughter and I liked "Taco" like Taco & Bella.

Buzz in the best spot in the house; back of the couch in front of the fire.  Smart cat.

 So, Buzz is sweet.  He comes trotting out when I get home, tail up, purring and happy to see me.  He virtually jumps us and is in our faces rubbing his face against us and then just flops with an audible thud.  He's very lovey.  We like that in a cat. 

Sleeping near the window in my office.

Together they've brought new life to the house.  It was way too quiet without a cat around.  With all of these cute kitty photo opps, I say it's no wonder I haven't looked beyond.  Well, okay, that's a lame excuse for not photographing more in the winter.  Or writing more blog posts . . .

Buzz, in my "in" box.