it's my birthday! and everything else

Almost. My birthday weekend at least. Tonight, we are going to an art opening at a gallery... that we can walk to! And then for drinks at a cocktail bar... that we can walk to! How awesome is the new apartment?

The old apartment is empty and clean and the keys have been given back. This is the only thing about the old apartment that I will miss:

My lovely window views, especially with the river decked out with Christmas lights.

But husband hung up some Christmas lights in the new apartment that make up for it:

Since the view from my new window isn't quite as lovely:

If our apartment in Gloucester was the sound of seagulls, and our first one here was the sound of ambulance sirens, this new one is definitely the sound of train horns. At least I've not had any problem waking up early.

Tomorrow, we are going shopping for a birthday present for me. I bought myself these earrings already, but still need a little something more.

These earrings were a birthday present from my mother that I love and have been wanting:

So pretty! She gave me the matching necklace for my birthday a few years ago.

Thanksgiving was great. It was nice to have my new little family around my whole old family, since they never really spend time together. The boys had a great time, I think they like just being around family, meeting cousins and great-grandparents (their only one) and being the oldest children. They ran around outside, roasted hot dogs and marshmellows over backyard fires, taught little kids how to play Wii, watched a two-day James Bond marathon, tried Greek food for the first time, and, why not?, had leftover pie for breakfast.

Here's the hub teaching the kids how to burn a leaf using a magnifying glass and the sun:

I love this man so much! Isn't he handsome in his cowboy hat?

And a trip to my sister's (almost) farm:

Rats!

My favorite of her three cats:

The baby Siamese was so pretty, but way too skittish to stay still for a picture.

And a backyard full of chickens that will jump for treats (like a puppy):

I'm still trying to recreate Starbuck's holiday lattes, and my latest attempts have failed miserably. Turns out Pumpkin Spice soy milk still tastes like soy milk, which was so yucky in my coffee.

And I accidently bought vanilla spice eggnog, which isn't too terrible but isn't quite right.

(I love the coffee mug in the picture so much that I actually stole it from the kitchen at my old job.)

Yeah. And I'm totally addicted to the iFarm app right now. It's free, you just plant and harvest (before your crops wither) and plow and plant again. I don't know why, but I love it. It's calming.

My husband laughs at me for playing it.