Christmas Lights!

A gluten-free gingerbread couple decked out in pink marzipan :D

Sometimes I feel like the older I get, the faster the Christmas season goes by...

I remember when I was little, time never passed quickly enough. Staring at the presents under the tree was torture! But I loved counting down the days until Christmas, especially when I got to eat the chocolates in the Advent calendar :)!

Jose and I took a mini-trip tonight. We went to go look at a neighborhood, more like 3 houses :P, decked out over-the-top in Christmas lights. I don't think I've ever seen a house so festive and bright, to say the least, it really put Disneyland to shame.

About

At the ripe old age of 25 (kidding :), I can say that I've learned a few things -- but I've still got quite a bit of learnin' to do. This is where I reflect on what the Good Lord has taught me. He's been my source of strength and inspiration throughout the years. One of the greatest gifts he's given me? Well, there are 2 (actually, there are many). A strong, wise and loving husband and this tiny baby in my belly, Mirabel -- the little (miracle) girl I hope to meet around May 17th 2010. You can read more about her story here.

Life's been exciting so far. I grew up mostly in Northern/Southern California, then moved to Texas, and now we're living in good ol' Massachusetts (around the Boston area). Why are we here? (I ask myself that when it's 5 degrees outside. ;) Well, the husband is in grad school, so we'll be here until May 2011... then we'll find ourselves deep in the heart of Texas, once again. That's where pretty bluebonnets line the long, expansive highways (with little traffic) and the skies are just as blue, with many puffy clouds (whose funny shapes are guaranteed to keep you entertained for hours, thinking of unicorns and flying pigs).

You'll hear about our adventures on this blog -- mostly the indoor ones that revolve around yarn, fabric and drawing paper. I also try to post about etsy shop updates. Music and love keep us sane and content, so occasionally I'll blog about those things, too. Oh yes, and trips. We take those sometimes. We always have fun no matter where we are or what we're doing, even if we're just grocery shopping. Flour Arrangements is where I post about what becomes of the items purchased from the grocery store :).

Feel free to drop me a comment/email. I welcome random friendly hellos.

Thanks for stopping by :)!

Want to know how I came up with the blog name? Click here then fast forward to about 7 minutes and 20 seconds for the answer :).

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What Boston's Bean like for us so far

It's been almost two months since we've moved to Boston and Jose and I have both grown to love this city in our own way. Initially, it did take us some time to adjust to being car-less, but now we don't really give it a second thought when we go out. We might change our minds once it starts snowing, though.

Speaking of snowing, I can't believe how cool it is here already! This morning when I woke up it was 48 degrees outside! I'm not sure when our radiators get turned on by our apartment complex, but Jose says probably not until November! The high today was in the mid 60s and it was a beautiful day. Perfect weather for a picnic, a Harvard Law Couple's picnic. Jose and I attended our first Harvard Law Couple's event earlier today. The picnic was inside but it was still fun. We got to meet a few different couples, including those in Jose's section. (There are 500 something first-year law students and the entire class gets divided up into sections consisting of about 80 students each.)

Everyone was really friendly at the indoor picnic, which made us both feel at ease. Well, mostly me :). The next event they're planning will revolve around apple picking in the Fall, I can't wait to go! I met a few folks today, and I'm pretty sure I'll be seeing more of them outside of these gatherings. Jose's already settled in; he's made some good friends and is enjoying law school more than undergrad. He says a lot of it just has to do with the people. They're more mature and he has quite a bit in common with them, which makes sense and is definitely a good sign :).

I've been working full-time and Jose's usually pretty busy studying during the week and on most weekend nights, but we make it a point to go out during the weekends. We've already explored quite a bit of the city, but there is still so much to see. It's a good thing we're going to be here for 3 more years. There's always something to do, whether it's taking a tour of historic Boston or strolling through a beautifully landscaped park, where it's usually very peaceful.

A park in Beacon Hill, Boston

Last weekend we checked out the library in Downtown Boston. It was a sight! I can easily say it's the most ornate library I've seen so far. What I like about it pretty much sums up what I love about Boston, in general: THE DETAILS! Even the AT&T building located in the South End is a stop-you-dead-in-your-tracks architectural masterpiece. Thankfully, the meticulously crafted historic structures have been nicely preserved. I've taken so many pictures!

These are the library photos (Click to enlarge. The second to last photo is the At&t building, the last photo is a church, all others are pictures of the library):

Jose and I both feel very blessed to be here for a variety of reasons. We've transformed this 100 year old, timeworn, but very easy-to-love apartment into a home that will serve us well for the next three years. We're both getting to experience and see so many beautiful things and places; as cheesy as it sounds, there's something very cozy and magical about this city. Hmm... I'm putting two and two together: They call Boston beantown and beans are the magical fruit, I'm sure that has something to do with it ;).

First Week in Boston

Getting to know Boston has been an interesting experience for Jose and me :). The day we arrived, it was a lot hotter than we'd anticipated; it was about 91 degrees. So when we got to the apartment, we were a little disappointed that it didn't come with an AC unit. But we weren't too upset. What we'd seen on the way from the airport to our new place was enough to put us in a good mood for the rest of the day. The taxi driver was hilarious and I think we saw our lives flash before us the whole time we were in the car, let's just say the taxi drivers like to keep you on the edge of your seat when they're behind the wheel, literally :D. They honk for any reason, sometimes I think it's their way of greeting other drivers.

Anyhow, as I mentioned, the drive home was beautiful. The homes and apartments look like what you'd see on a stereotypical postcard of the East Coast. Tall, old, and classic, with just enough character to not be considered intimidating, the deep red brick buildings look cozy and inviting next to the many Christmasy looking trees. And the homes? They remind me of the Victorian ones in San Francisco, but they're a tad bit bigger...and I mean a tad. Every once in awhile you'll see a larger one, though. They usually have nice sized patios, tall pillars, and detailed molding on their exteriors.

So how does our apartment compare to these homes? It's old, about 100 years. It has creaky wooden floors and tons of character. The oven was probably from the 60s (I say was because it's no longer with us :P...), at least, and the heaters? They look like antiques, but they definitely match my style :). The oven started sparking the first day I used it, and it got so hot that it set off a fire alarm in the building. I didn't hear it, but I called 911 when the oven started to pop and sizzle after I turned it off, and they'd mentioned that an alarm had just gone off in the building. The head firefighter said it was no longer safe to use, so he, along with a few others, disconnected it from the wall...and I got a brand new beautiful oven a few days later! It works great! I don't think I've ever used an oven this new before, but it's nice to know I can bake again without having to worry about whether or not I'm going to start a fire in the kitchen :P. All in all, the kitchen is great. Not up to date, but huge! There's a ton of counter space, which makes cooking and baking a lot easier than it used to be in our old apartment.

Our new apartment has really turned into a home over the past few days. Our boxes arrived from Austin just two days ago and, anxious to set everything up and get this place feeling cozy, Jose and I unpacked all but one box the first night. UPS delivered them outside the building, so it was difficult getting a few of the 100lb boxes up here (the delivery guy was, apparently, supposed to help [he refused to and later got in trouble for it!] but he didn't, so Jose had to carry them all in on his own, injured shoulder and all!).

Other than that, we've gotten lost nearly every time we've left our apartment in a car :P, at least until today (you'll find out why in a minute :D). Though we did sell our car, Jose signed us up for a service called Zipcar; they charge their members a reasonable hourly fee to use one of their vehicles whenever an online appointment is made in advance. Thankfully, we live literally 2 blocks away from 18 Zipcars, so getting access to one is easy...getting back in time before our car rental ends isn't, though :P. This has made getting lost in Boston a bit more stressful for us (if we don't make it back before our time with the car is up, Zipcar charges us $50. They monitor their cars via satellite, cool huh?).

Good news, though! Our GPS system came in today! We decided to take a trip to Home Depot a few hours ago, to pick out a few flowers for our cute patio and try out the new GPS system, and it works wonderfully! We didn't get lost and we got back half an hour before our Zipcar reservation ended! I don't know why we didn't think of getting one before, but I really recommend it to anyone who's moving to a new city. It's a really cool device because it reroutes your trip if you take a wrong turn! Part of the reason why we were getting lost so much was because the streets here aren't named (a lot of the signs are missing), but the GPS is able to track our every move, so now we don't miss the streets we're supposed to turn on :).

We plan on going back to Harvard Square (click here to read about it) tomorrow.  Jose checked out a few stores and restaurants they have online, and they sound awesome. They have a bookstore that specializes in selling reallllly old books, some of them are from the 16th century! 

CD Review: A New Hope by Minipop

San Francisco is one of my favorite places on Earth. Its busy streets are bathed in creativity from the countless artists and musicians that give the city its spark. Minipop calls the great SF home, and their music accurately captures one of the city's many faces-the one that's usually covered with the make-up of a more eccentric stereotype. Sometimes gentle and carefree like the dandelion featured on the cover of their latest release, while other times appropriately mellow and candied, Minipop offer a generally smooth brew of music. Possibly inspired by groups from the 90s, like The Sundays, Minipop create hummable tunes that are melodiously comfortable. Using simple instruments like keyboards and guitars, Minipop easily create the kind of glowing dreampop that's light on emotions and easy on the ears.

A New Hope offers perfect picnic music that's also worth listening to on a rainy day. "Precious" is beautifully sung in a mildly sad tone as instruments whisper-in the melancholy feeling that isn't aggressively conveyed in the lyrics. A little bit more on the upbeat side, "Someone to Love" comes to life as Nick Forte's bass guitar is effectively showcased alongside lead singer Tricia Kanne's mild and delicate voice. The last song on A New Hope shares its name and marks the end of the listening experience perfectly as it comes together like a sweetly composed farewell song.

In A New Hope, Minipop has created a complete album without any holes that could reveal a lack of talent. All in all, like cotton candy, Minipop's tunes will satisfy your musical sweet tooth, but they'll do so without leaving you sticky and covered in pink sugar.

The Birthday Massacre

Check out their MySpace page here

The Birthday Massacre give bland, computerized music a make-over by combining two different genres (electronica and rock, aka rocktronica) that would seem to clash if they weren't blended with just the right amount of color. Chibi, the lead singer, has a voice that takes plain old vanilla ice cream rock and gives it a good dose of purple sprinkles. A little less girlie than the color pink, Chibi's voice offers an unexpected but perfect amount of lightness that contrasts with the generally heavier notes created by airy synthesized sounds mixed with lower guitar tones. Borderlining goth rock while incorporating dreampop/electronica elements, The Birthday Massacre create an appealing, unmatched sound that's upbeat while, paradoxically, slightly macabre.

If you judged their album by it's cover, you'd get a good idea of what their music represents: Something dark and youthful, almost like a musical fairytale including goblins and a Peter pan-like hero. But you'd never guess they liked creating songs like "To Die For" with simple lyrics and a happy tune. Nonetheless, they do stay true to their image by covering heavier topics overshadowed by mysteriosly eerie sounds in songs like "Video Kid" and "Kill the Lights".

If you took all of the fun Halloween memories you had as a kid, collected them in a jar, then threw in a few sparkles, you'd end up with a snowglobe that resembles what The Birthday Massacre creates with music-something that's easy to grasp and hard to let go of, once you've seen and heard what it can do.

MySpace Music Discovery: Standfast

Visit Standfast on MySpace Here

There is something very welcoming and familiar about Standfast's music. Just a few seconds after discovering their MySpace Page, my ears easily drank in the new but familiar sound of their featured tunes. How do I describe this experience? It felt like I'd actually stumbled upon a page presenting an artist with years of experience behind them; musicians that might've toured with bands like the Mama's and the Papas. They definitely make the kind of music that could've filled the psychedelic airwaves about 20 or so years before my time.

Standfast is a band that gives an obvious nod to many groups of the past. But, of course, their music is crisp and far from cloudy or stale; they're not just recreating someone else's work. Standfast makes sure to add the more "modern" beats in all the right places so that they work well with the accompanying vintage rhythms. This is how they've put their own signature on this somewhat mellow but modernized happy hippie music. And, last but not least, I can't forget to mention lead singer Suzanne's voice, which is like the perfect pair of shoes that make any outfit worthwhile-the outfit being the music. It fits the band's image just right, and it makes their music what it is.

As for brief bio info, Standfast started making music a few years ago in the place they call home, Stockholm, Sweden. With one album already behind them, they recently released their second one here in the US entitled, Beneath and Beyond; I believe it was this past August. There are more details on their MySpace site, which I highly recommend you check out. Standfast has created the kind of music that reviewers will often fail at fully capturing in words, but that's a good thing in this case.