Spring Break in Boston: Arrival and Day 1

I arrived in Boston right on schedule on Sunday afternoon after two generally pleasant flights (saw Hitchcock though they announced the in-flight movie would be Silver Linings Playbook). I hopped on the airport shuttle and met Erica at the train station, dropped off my suitcase at her house, and headed in to town. My sister lives in East Boston, out close to the airport. We walked through Boston Common (the oldest park in the country. there was an outdoor ice rink playing Michael Jackson and cops on horses!), and went to Newbury Street and to Erica's place of employment- the famous Georgetown Cupcake! Oh, and as you'll see, there was snow on the ground (they just got some more weather a couple days ago)! The weather was perfect, I think. Cold but everyone said this was the warmest it's been in a while, so it wasn't freezing. 

 the Boston public library

Erica is a manager there, so I got to go "backstage," meet some folks, and bypass the line to have a chai made for me and a dozen cupcakes taken right from the rack. Woohoo! We then met up with two of my friends, Allie and Emma at Coda for drinks, appetizers and catching up!

so many pink boxes!

cherry blossom and strawberry

We walked around a little in the evening and then headed in to watch the Walking Dead of course. :) So far I love Boston. It is so different from Texas, and reminds me of the kind of lifestyle I really like- where you can take public transportation and walk everywhere, there's people always out and about, things to see, parks, dogs, cold weather...It reminded me of living in DC or Pittsburgh, so I guess what I've learned is I'm sort of a cities of the North person? I think I already knew that, this just verified it. It felt so nice walking around seeing everything, and it was just the first day!

- From the desk of Mrs. M

The Salt Lick

Today Kyle and I drove down to Austin (area) for our first visit to The Salt Lick BBQ. I saw it on the Food Network a while ago, and figured it should be on our Texas bucket list before we move back North. Kyle is a much bigger barbecue person than I am, it's rarely my choice for dinner, but I was excited to visit and try this place people rave about. It was really good, everything on the plate. Kyle and I both got brisket and ribs; it was very moist and the sauce was delicious. Oddly enough I think the cole slaw was my favorite (also the bread); it was light and simple with roasted sesame seeds. The location was beautiful, too. Totally a place I would pick for a wedding (hopefully on a less rainy day). I think this would be a great place to take people if they come visit us and we spend a day in Austin; definitely the best barbecue we've had down here. Unfortunately I didn't get a picture of the pit, but maybe next time.

- From the desk of Mrs. M

JT and JAY Z

While the tickets for the first show in Boston sold out in twenty minutes while my sister was in two virtual waiting lines, this morning she got us tickets to the second show they added for August 11th! Heck yes.

- From the desk of Mrs. M

FEED

I recently purchased a bag from FEED. FEED was created in 2006 by Lauren Bush Lauren, as a way to sell a product, fund raise, and raise awareness, specifically to benefit the United Nations World Food Programme's School Feeding program. FEED has since raised enough money to provide over 60 million meals to kids around the world.

If you're interested in purchasing a bag or other FEED item yourself, visit their Shop. The product description of each item tells you exactly what your purchase will be contributing; my bag (the original) gave school meals to a kiddo for a whole year. Of course, the whole price doesn't go toward WFP, it is a business after all, but that's still pretty good.

I was thinking of doing a hunger awareness campaign paired with a FEED bag giveaway; would anyone be interested in joining with me for something like that? The more people involved and aware the better, and covering the cost of a bag would be more manageable with several folks participating. Let me know! Leave a comment or email me at sarah.f.mcpherson@gmail.com

- From the desk of Mrs. M

This is an unsponsored, unfunded post. I just want to help end hunger. Do you?

2nd Anniversary

For our anniversary we did our usual meal at IHOP :). We were in class and at work all day, and we're generally not big celebrators, so it was low key. I guess it fits, considering our wedding day involved a court house, IHOP, waiting in lines at Army all day, and a night sharing a twin in the barracks. Oh, and we watched Away We Go; it's our special movie. Maybe we will watch it this weekend; and I think we're taking a trip out to the Salt Lick to try something new and spend some time together before I head to Boston on Sunday.

- From the desk of Mrs. M

Two Years Ago

I married a good man.

- Mrs. M

Week in Photos

 lovin' leopard (but I look white?)/ colorful peppers/ cute kittens turn 2!/ first time taste

 hello, March!/ I spend a lot of time here/ doing this/ Texas!

watch this!/ Shipley do-nuts/ The Office season 3/ lots o' kale (to make up for the donut)

Kyle's new slippers/ tired kittens after running around in the backyard/ Hux tries kale/ Sis and I didn't get JT/Jay-Z tickets, but they added another show in Boston, so there's still hope! 

napping/ simple rings/ dinner prep/ Huxley using the curtains wrong

cooking breakfast (mushrooms, kale, onion, pepper)/ gold-tipped wedges on sale/ maple bacon cupcake/ Anniversary card from the in-laws 

- From the desk of Mrs. M

Monday Movie: A Place at the Table.

"50 million Americans exist without enough to eat in a nation with more than enough food."

Today I'm bringing you the wonderful documentary about hunger in the USA, A Place at the Table. I rented it on iTunes this weekend as it's not showing anywhere near here, and hunger has kind of become my area of interest. I am trying to organize a viewing at Baylor for at least social work students, and hopefully beyond, with a discussion and maybe someone from THI to talk about hunger in Texas and answer any questions that may come up. My mind is running, and I hope to get others running, too.

While watching I took three pages of notes, of facts, quotes, and anything that stood out to me, answered questions I had had, or brought up new ones. I'll share some of that with you now, but I highly recommend you watch it for yourself. Here we go:

- 1 out of 6 people say they don't have enough to eat.

- Mississippi has the highest rate of food insecurity AND obesity. (Texas is #3 in food insecurity, by the way)

- 2.3 million people live in food deserts, and 75% of food deserts are urban

- Obama proposed $10 billion over 10 years to increase child nutrition programs, and the money would be taken from the least-justified payments to affluent land holders. That was shut down, and instead we ended up with the Healthy, Hunger Free Kids Act (2010), which allowed for a $4.5 billion increase over 10 years, coming out to an ONLY 6 cent increase per meal (for lunch/breakfast meals at schools for kiddos), most of which probably won't even go towards actual food but administrative, transportation and other costs. Oh, and over HALF of the bill was paid for by cutting Food Stamps. 

- "The great temptation in Washington is to always take something away from those who, frankly, can't defend themselves." Bill Shore (Share our Strength)

- "If another country was doing this to our kids we would be at war." Jeff Bridges

- "Charity is a great thing but it's not the way to end hunger. We don't fund our department of defense through charity."Jeff Bridges

- experts in the film addressed that we have no food policy, and there needs to be a way to make healthy food accessible, "widespread governmental programs that are focused on the human individual."

Just some things to think about...

If you're interested in finding out more or taking action, you might start here. Or ask me! :)

- From the desk of Mrs. M

Shipley Do-nuts

Kyle convinced me to rearrange my schedule on Saturday (put off work? well if I must), so we could go pick up his dry cleaning and do a little shopping earlier in the day. I requested a stop at Starbucks for a beverage on the way, and he suggested stopping at Shipley Do-Nuts, so that's what we did! We've both tried the regular glazed donuts before, but I've never been to a shop, so it was a new experience worthy of documentation (I don't get out much, people). I also worked at Dunkin Donuts for a while in Pittsburgh, so I consider myself something of a former donut professional.

I had sprinkles and half a maple, and Kyle had a maple and a cinnamon sugar and the other half of my maple. They were all tasty, and it was fun watching them baking while we ate. There was a daddy-daughter duo sitting near us, and it was funny watching the bakers reactions to the little girl's wonder about it all.

- From the desk of Mrs. M

2nd Birthday

You're my favorite. Thanks for being awesome kitties.

- From the desk of Mrs. M