My Photo Diary: May

What the WHAT? 

How did it get to be the end of May so fast?

After the longest winter ever,
spring is zipping by way too quickly for me.
 

The first order of business is to thank those
who participated in "Show Us Your April." 
I loved having a peak into your day-to-day, 
and the creative ways you packaged your photos.

A special thank you to my friend, Claire,

at a little CLAIREification,

who co-hosted the party with me.
Check out a sampling of everyone's photos, below,
and hop on over to their blogs for a visit.
Tell them Ms. Toody sent you. 

*******

 

 This past month for me was all about enjoying the outdoors,

so lots of photos from around the homestead.

Without further ado...

"May" I show you my photos?

May 1 

Today is Show Us Your April party day! The nice thing about so few link-ups is that everyone gets featured!

Photos 1 & 2:     Corinne  at Reflections Enroute
  Photos 3 & 4:     Debra  at Frugal Little Bungalow
Photos 5 & 6:    AnnMarie at Musings of a Vintage Junkie
Photos 7 & 8:    Claire at A Little Claireification
Photos 9 & 10: Chel at Sweetbriar Dreams
Photos 11 & 12: Jenn at Jenn's Random Scraps
Photos 13 & 14: Katie at Let's Add Sprinkles
Photos 15 & 16:  Zenda at Lady of the Manor

May 2
I could sit outside all day and take pictures of birds. I think they are onto me now, because they are actually posing.  

May 3
Yes, I really did pull right off the road on the way to pick up take-out sushi to take this picture. "I'm always chasing rainbows..."

May 4
Red, white and blue.

May 5
Bleeding Hearts are bloody gorgeous.

May 6
Glad I had time to stop at Bryant Park before meeting a friend for lunch on this perfect spring day.

May 7
No t-shirts for me from Disney...my souvenir was a whisk! I used it to whip up my fondant birthday cake.

May 8
Celebrating my sister's birthday tonight! She's still younger than me, darn it. 

May 9
Six turkeys crossed the road...why? I don't know, but only two of them signed the release allowing me to use their picture.

May 10
I set up an "open bar" for local hummingbirds, but so far no takers. What am I doing wrong, I wonder? No pretzels, maybe?

May 11
Mother's Day gift from Junior Goo Shoes...he knows what his mama loves!

May 12
First day it is warm enough to sit on the deck, and work on my blog. Heaven!

May 13
Move-in day for these little birdies.

May 14
Seems most everything was late to bloom this spring, but not the azaleas...right on time.  

May 15
"Waterlogued" my house today... 



May 16
Remember the birds that moved in a few days ago? I guess they didn't like the neighborhood. A new family is living here now. 

May 17
I took a dozen photos of this butterfly, and they came out crappy. Mr. Goo Shoes took one with his phone, and nailed it. 

I 

May 18
The day I look forward to every year -- the Greek festival at a local church. Greek pastries make me swoon!

May 19
Peek-a-boo! Or maybe I should say, Peck-a-boo!

May 20
Lunch and a show in Bryant Park. It's Fleet Week in NYC, and the US Navy Jazz band gave a free concert. For a little taste of it, here's a video.

May 21
Let the summer planting begin!

May 22
I finally bought myself three of those flower pots that I gave as gifts on Mother's Day.

May 23
More flowers to be planted. I haven't even made a dent!
 

May 24 
Sadie put on her patriotic outfit for the start of Memorial Day.

May 25
We kicked off the weekend with Skinny Sparkling Raspberry Margaritas...a recipe that I found over at Vicki's Life In My Empty Nest. Delish!

May 26
Yes, that is potato salad on my hotdog. I think the only people on earth who eat hotdogs this way, are from my hometown. 

May 27
This was the mother of all Designer Showhouses! Thirty eight stunning rooms! Thanks to one of my readers for sending me an email about it. Watch for a house tour post (or three) in the next few weeks. 
 

May 28
Had to park in a new lot when I went to get my hair cut, which was right smack in the middle of Little Italy. Hey, how did these cannolis get in my car?

May 29
Pretty Lilies of the Valley. Ann from On Sutton Place inspired me to take some from the front of my house, and plant them in the backyard, in this post.

May 30
So this was waiting for me this morning in my new flower box....

May 31
May comes to a close with the rhododendrons at their peak.

Wishing you all a Happy June!

Girls Weekend In Boston

Is there anything better than a weekend away with the girls?

I mean, NO ONE complains when you say

"I need to stop in the Ladies Room...again."

They say, "Me, too!"

And no one complains when you say

"Can we stop in this store?"

They say, with enthusiasm,

"Of course! Let's stop in every store!"

No one complains when you take an enormous suitcase, 

with enough clothes for a cruise around the world.

 They say, "I brought five coats and 14 pairs of shoes!"  

And no one will roll their eyes when you say,

"Should I buy this? I don't really need it."

They will say,

"Who says you have to need it? 

You deserve it! Buy two!" 

And that's the way it was, 
on a recent girls' weekend in Boston

with two sets of sisters, 
who happen to be cousins.

It was a laugh-till-you-can't-breath,

pee-in-your-pants kind of weekend.

Boston may never be the same.

I hadn't been to Boston in years...

in fact, it was so long ago that it felt like my first time.

The four of us drove up on a Friday morning,
the first weekend in April,

for another cousin's wedding.

We stayed at the Millenium Hotel in downtown Boston...

Doesn't look like much from the outside,
does it?
On the inside,
it was quite luxurious, 
Loved it. 

The location was perfect.
We were right across from Faneuil Hall,

which has been a marketplace and meeting hall since 1742,

Now, it's a hugely popular tourist destination,

with lots of souvenir shops and fast food. 
I wonder what Paul Revere would think --
"The Starbucks are coming?"

We had a great view of it from our rooms.

Faneuil Hall, on far right, with white steeple.

Since there were no men with us 
who needed to nap as soon as we got to the hotel,

we dropped our bags and hit the town.

First stop was the North End...
Boston's Little Italy. 

We made a bee-line for Regina's Pizza.

There's a good reason it's been an institution since 1926...

The pizza?  Best. EVER. 

 And the Scampi pizza?
 It should be illegal, it was so insanely good.

We ordered way more than was humanly possible to consume...

three different "individual" pizzas, which were huge...

and then we finished it all, LOL.

We left with full stomachs and killer garlic breath,

in search of Boston's best cannoli.

We stopped several people to ask which bakery had the best, 

and everyone said "The Modern."

So, of course, we went to...

 Mike's Pastry.

Why?
I don't know why.  

Maybe we're used to NY-style cannoli,

but we did not love them. 

Shoulda gone to The Modern.

I was in Boston for all of two hours,

and had already gained five pounds.

 

Our next stop was the Boston Holocaust Memorial.

I always get a lump in my throat 
when I see people from all walks of life 
paying tribute to the six million Jews
who were murdered by the Nazis. 
 

The marketplace at Faneuil Hall

was our final destination of the afternoon.

We looked, but we didn't touch. 

 

Happy Hour was the next mandatory activity...

and then,

we met a bunch of our other cousins for dinner at Anthem, 

right in the Faneuil Hall square.

I went for the cholesterol special -- 

New England clam "chowdah"

and a "lobstah" roll.
I had to...I was in Bah-ston.

I'm not sure I ever laughed as hard as I did that night,

but let's just say that the waitress actually pulled up a chair 
because we were having that much fun. 

I've got funny cousins, yes I do.

Next day, we were up and out early, 

and headed to Newbury Street
 for some breakfast and shopping. 

We kept asking for directions to The Paramount - 
a restaurant that was supposed to have a great breakfast.

Unfortunately, everyone thought we meant
the Paramount theater...

which had us walking completely around 

Boston Commons.

No worries...

it was a great walking tour...

and we did work off some of that food from the day before.

When we finally did find the Paramount,

there was an hour wait to get in.

Uh, no thanks.
We went somewhere else.

On our walk, we stumbled upon the "Cheers" bar...

yes, the very one where everyone knows your name. 

Did you used to watch it? 

Fortified with omelettes and coffee,

we walked over to Newbury Street,

where we went into almost every store...

and every Ladies' room, too. 

Later that night, was the reason 
we came to Boston in the first place...

The Wedding! 

Four showers, one taxi, an elevator ride, 
and thirty-three floors later...
 

We walked into the State Room atop
Sixty Six State Street in the Financial district. 

 Whoa...

Talk about a room with a view...
Stunning...

As was the Bride...
What an entrance!
Could you walk down those stairs in a long gown and heels?
Me?
I would have had a reverse-Jennifer Lawrence moment...
giving "Here Comes The Bride" new meaning. 
"Look out belooooow!" 

She nailed it, though. 

 "I do."
They did. 
Mazel Tov!

I don't have to tell you 
that we had the most fun table, do I?

After a farewell brunch on Sunday,

the girls' weekend was over, 
and we headed out of Bean Town...

Yes, we may have left Boston
weighing a few more pounds
than we did when we arrived...

but on the "Good Times" scale of 1-10,
our weekend was a...
10...
11...

I think we broke the scale. 

Linking With:
Take Me Away