Weekend in review.

We had a lovely weekend. It was over too quickly unfortunately but here's a little of what we did. What did you do?

We started our weekend a little early and went out Thursday evening for "First Thursdays", a night once a month when galleries have new show openings. We started the night out at the Aviary Gallery, a great little art gallery / boutique in Jamaica Plain right off of Centre St. The show was "Process Objects and Instrumentation", Homemade instruments and paintings by Jason Sanford. It was a really nice show and Sierra fell in love with a little painting of a cellphone.





After Aviay we headed over to Yes.Oui.Si, Boston's multi-sensory exhibition space. The opening there was named "The Salon" and featured an artist that I graduated with from MassArt, Kira Leigh - Congrats Kira! There were 5 other artists along with Kira and the show was awesome. If you live in the area make sure you see it before it comes down March 9. Sierra was very interested in this little circular painting.

After work on Friday we had planned to meet up with a great friend and artist named Toai and do First Fridays, same as First Thursdays but on Friday go figure. Unfortunately Sierra was not feeling up to it so Toai and I adventured out just the two of us. We went to The Harrison Ave Galleries which is virtually a strip mall full of galleries, vintage markets and  cafes. It's awesome. So although it was a bummer Lauren and Sierra couldn't come with - it was nice seeing an old friend for a nice night of free wine, pretzels and art.

These "The Next One Will Be So Much Better" paintings by Joe Zane were by far my favorite pieces of the evening. So awesome:

Saturday morning we went to brunch with our good pals Liz (http://www.lizisfoodie.com) and Stephen at the Otherside Cafe. The Otherside is the best place to grab a bite in the city w/ vegan / meat-eater combos. Delicious for all involved! Stephan and Liz are both old co-workers of mine so it's great to catch up once in awhile as I don't see them as often anymore! Plus vegan ranchero breakfast is pretty awesome. You may also want to check out online culinary classes for tips on how to create your own vegan ranchero breakfast!

Sierra took this photo ^ (she's been obssessed w/ "take pick-churrs" lately.

After brunch we headed down to New Bedford to visit my grandmother who isn't feeling so hot. We figured a visit from her awesome grandson and awesome-er great grand daughter would cheer her up! I think it worked even though we did get the "Are you married yet? Please do the right thing for Jesus" speech - but that's OK she rules anyway. Her house is a treasure chest to any antiquer by the way. Check out her awesome kitchen (pics by Lauren of course that antique hound!).

After visiting with mémé we headed to my parents, ate dinner and headed back to Boston where Sierra went quickly to sleep and Lauren and I had a few drinks to unwind and listened to Brand New and Taking Back Sunday like we were 16. All in all a pretty great day.


Top Picture: Us sitting in the car for 30 minutes outside my parents house because Sierra was napping and we didn't want to wake her hah.
Bottom Left: A piece of my parents house
Bottom Right: Sierra playing with her Valentine's Day Gift from Gramma & Papa <3

Sunday morning we woke up watched Newcastle United beat Aston Villa 2-1 and take 5th place in the Premier League (WHAT! I COULD WALK ON AIR RIGHT NOW) and then Lauren and Sierra headed to Nana & Pépé's while I stayed home to get some work done before we headed out to our friend's Andre & Liz's house in Newton for some Super Bowl action. (That was the best run on sentence I have ever written!)


By "Super Bowl Action" I mean tons of baby kisses...

Sierra loves Eila! You should too follow her Mom and Dads blog at http://husbandwifebaby.wordpress.com !!! ADORABLE.

Sierra decided the sour cream (vegan) and hummus was just for her? Needless to say we got to bring the hummus home after she stuck her entire fist into it... Whoops.


Here are the men watching the game... 

And here are the girls 'watching' the game... Could we be any more stereotypical? Whoops.


I may add Liz actually does watch football I just caught her on an off moment. I may also add she is a New Yorker and wanted the Giants to win...

Her husband Andre? Not so much... this is him drowning his Super Bowl loss sorrows in beer, guacamole and twitter... Boo Giants!

Well that was our weekend. Hope you had as much fun as we did! xo -Craig

Soccer & Family

I have thought about writing a post about my passion for soccer for awhile now but wasn't sure how it really related to the blog. This past week was opening day of the Premier League in England and while pulling our matching Newcastle United shirts from our respective closets I started reminiscing about all the other "Soccer Moments" my family and I have shared and I realized that soccer isn't just a part of my life anymore it's a part of our families too. 

For the past 5 or 6 years I have been a season ticket holder to our local Boston Major League Soccer team, The New England Revolution. I attend every home game, and watch every away game. When Lauren and I first met and began spending time together I started bringing her along with me and much to her surprise she actually enjoyed her self. After a few games I got her a shirt and and it's been down hill (or up hill?) since then. 

Flash forward a year later when Sierra came into the picture. Two minutes after she was born I laid  a Newcastle United shirt across her and her mother and snapped a photo. I had this planned for months. I'm glad I did it - I love that photo and from that photo on Newcastle played wonderfully and won some great games that season. Two weeks later we brought our little infant to an event called "Meet the Revs", where season ticket holders get to tour the stadium, meet the players, walk around on the field and get autographs. We must have looked crazy bringing a two week old bady to a football stadium but it was worth it. She slept most of the time but I stand by the fact she had a lot of fun. I distinctly remember Edgaras Jankauskas (who has since been released by the club Thank God) saying in broken english "Baby... Little...". 

When I found out I was to be a Dad I was flurried with emotions and feelings on the topic. One I remember having more than once, and I know it sounds silly, but I distinctly remember wondering "Will she like Soccer?", "I wonder if she'll like the same teams as me?", "How young is too young to get her started?" etc. I know it sounds strange to wonder if an unborn child is going to like S.L. Benfica or not but these are things I thought about as I'm sure many soccer-dads around the world do every day. 

It's interesting how a 'silly game' can be so important to someone that they want to share it with their child. I want to teach her everything about the sport; the teams, the rules, the history and even the basics of playing. I want her to love it as much as I do so it can be something special that her and I share. I want to go to games with her and see her jump up with joy when our teams scores. I want to go cheer for her when she wins a game in her little league. I want to cheer for her when she loses too. I want to be the Dad who fills the mini-van with mini-soccer players and takes everyone out for pizza and ice-cream, vegan of course. I will love my daughter even if she hates the sport, but it would be pretty awesome if she loved it too.

Left: 2 weeks old on the pitch of the NE Revolution
Right: Sierra w/ Revs legend Steve Ralston and striker Kheli Dube

Left: Sierra as an infant cheering on Portugal in the World Cup / Right: Sierra and I at the Portuguese Feast in New Bedford, MA celebrating our heritage (she was pumped as you can see.

Sierra and I in our seats at the NE Revolution. Go Revs!

Sierra when she was just about 1 year tailgating with Papa before the game.