Birthdays and Dress-up

Yes, birthdays and dress-up. These things naturally go together!

This round of photos include the birthday cake Dakota made me for my birthday (yay kitty!) and the aftermath of the confetti contraption that Dakota made me!

Around the same time as my birthday there were also two really fun dress-up parties that we attended. First up was a rock-star party for another student’s birthday: Dakota and I went as John and Yoko… obviously.

The second party we went to was the 3rd annual Capricornucopia – a celebration for all of us Capricorns in the Upper Valley. I didn’t take any of these photos – they are purely stolen from others. The theme for the party was 1000 years in the past or 1000 years in the future… so, fur and metal essentially. The first photo is all the Capricorns, the rest are just collections of everyone.

January was a fun month!

Laura and Dakota xo

Sledding!

This was a few weeks ago when we walked through a field part way up the valley and found a little gully to go tobogganing in. We went with a bunch of first-year students the day before classes started – two of them have never been sledding before!

It was a lot of fun to bring out our hobo sleds (cardboard and plastic bags/bins mostly), and since the snow was so deep we had to pat down a trail for ourselves to start with. But we got in some good runs!

Merry Christmas NYC!

Hi All,

As you can tell, we here in WRJ have again fallen a bit behind in the posting, but tonight Ima upload so many photos. I’m not going to post a lot as far as explanation – I think the photos explain themselves for the most part. If you’re confused, just ask in the comments. It’s more fun that way anyway – kind of like a conversation.

First up is a gallery of photos from our Christmas trip to New York. Some are photos of the trip there (notably me posing with the town train station that has burned to the ground three times), but most are during our time there (including the blizzard that struck the day before we left, and Pee Wee Herman coming out to speak to the audience after his show). Again, if you have any questions, leave a comment.

xo

 

Winter Wonders

It’s the night before we leave for New York City and only 3 days until Christmas, so I decided that we should probably post a few photos from the last month.  In particular, I wanted to document our bizarre/non-winter weather which has given us a few smatterings of snow but nothing substantial.

When the first snowfall came this was our reaction:

We were excited to be walking in the New England winterscape.  However, a few hours later it rained and everything washed away…. in fact, that has consistently been the pattern here.  Snow, rain, snow, warm weather making it all melt, snow, rain, repeat.  Right now as we speak, most of the ground is still brown or grey with only a few patches of white (really, it doesn’t look a lot different than the photos above).

But the lack of snow has not quelled our Christmas spirits.  Although we hadn’t originally planned on it, we got a lovely tree and some thrift store ornaments and had a lot of fun setting up and decorating our very first Christmas tree.

It’s an interesting experience decorating the tree with ornaments that have no personal significance (yet).  But after a few short weeks we already feel very endeared to our little straw and wooden ornaments – and a few will likely stick with us as a reminder of our time here.

As we head out to celebrate our classic New York City Christmas, we wish you all the most happy of holidays and all the best in the New Year!

-Laura and Dakota  xo

Afternoon hangouts

Somedays I have the afternoon off of work – it affords me time to catch up on my blog, run errands, and otherwise keep on top of life.  But one of the best things to do on a free afternoon is video chat with Jayden and Amos.

It is fantastic to see Amos – he grows so fast and it’s nice to see the changes (it’s great to catch up with Jayden too).

During our latest chat, Amos and I played peek-a-boo and I got him laughing by imitating Ernie from Sesame Street – his laughter is the greatest!

I love the future!

Home Before and Afters

In addition to working and blogging, I’ve been keeping busy around the house trying to get a few projects done.  So, I thought I would share a quick update and some before and after photos from our place.

1) Side table: We got this table from a former instructor at CCS shortly after we moved here – with a fresh coat of paint, it looks a little sharper.

2) Bathroom: I’ve striped the wallpaper off of the large vanity mirror, painted it white and also painted the strip around the room a darker charcoal colour.

3) Bedroom: It took awhile to sort out what to do with the blank space above the bed, but a frame from the thrift store across the street with some paint did the trick.  In the middle is a sweet banner that Meghan sent to us in Montreal (it also was present at our wedding).

** Photos from the living room will be posted once it is a little more sorted out.

Gory Daze

Halloween in WRJ really is an experience – Dakota and I concur that it may be the most fun Halloween we’ve ever had (at least as adults).  The celebration is called “Gory Daze” (as a follow-up to Glory Days in September).

While we had some great ideas for costumes, both of us were simply too busy to pull them off properly so we decided to go as skeletons.

Spooky right?

This also worked out well because both Dakota and I volunteered to be a part of the “Monster Petting Zoo” which involves wearing all black as well as a big monster mask and frolicking in a bunch of hay for children.  As we walked to start our shift as monsters for the evening, we came across a little boy dressed as spiderman (complete with fabric mask/bag over his head) who delighted in telling us that he knew what we were (in a very non-scared voice).  He then gave us candy – man, trick-or-treating is awesome!

Shortly after, we showed up at the Main Street Museum where all of the festivities were taking place.  The museum was open for people to browse their curious collections (creative taxidermy, random collections of human objects), they had fortune tellers, bouncy castles, and of course the petting zoo (staffed by CCS students).

Nice monsters!

In addition to the stash of masks created by a local resident, a fellow student at CCS created a fantastic vulture costume for the zoo – he has done lots of puppeteering and could really get the kids going.  It was very fun and a little awkward because it’s sometimes difficult to see through the eye holes of the mask, and I kept forgetting that they were three dimensional.  I’m sure the kids were wondering why one monster was stumbling around and bumping into the other monsters (just dancing, kids – not to worry).  Dakota did a great daily comic about the experience:

At about 8pm, everyone congregated in front of the museum for the parade through town.  This really was the highlight of the night.  Most everyone in town and area comes to be a part of the parade – some people come to be spectators, but most participate.  So picture about 400 people all decked out in their finest (creepy, funny, confusing) costumes parading through town led by “The Lil’ Orphans Brass Band”.  As monsters, our job was also to haul the “fire organ” in the parade – a contraption with lots of pipes welded together that you play with a big propane torch.

I tried to take some videos from the parade, but they didn’t turn out particularly well – but I did find this video from a few years ago about the parade and the town.  It is quite accurate to the experience, though there were no horses and it lasted quite a bit longer than the film states.  Just lay some New Orleans style brass tunes overtop and you have it!

The parade eventually led to the town’s new dance hall for a town party late into the night (The Curve Ball)!

More brass band jams at the Curve Ball

Overall the night was fantastic and a little bit surreal, just as Halloween should be – we can’t wait for next year!

Ascending Ascutney

Being mostly-impoverished Canadians in America, Laura and I tried to figure out a cheap way to celebrate Canadian Thanksgiving in Vermont (read: eat tasty snacks). We eventually decided to pack a tofurky picnic, and hike to the top of Mount Ascutney.

 

That's the one.

 

I went on a class field trip a couple of weeks ago, which was a lot of fun. Ostensibly the trip was about drawing and sketching, but I think it was really just so that we could appreciate our new Vermont surroundings. Anyway, I enjoyed it so much that I wanted to go back with Laura so that she could appreciate it.

We booked the local car-share vehicle and I tore myself away from my personal mountain of homework, and we were off!

 

A-HURK HURK HURK

 

I said. hike, but there is actually a road that takes you close to the top of the Mountain. Well, I say mountain, but what I meant was large hill. Well, I say hill.

The leaves were much more colorful than they had been the previous week, and, combined with the bright blue sky, it was the kind of sight that draws all the ‘leafers’ from neighbouring states who come to look at the fall foliage.

 

Thar be doubloons buried 'neath the strange tree.

 

Eventually we reached the summit. It was a little crowded because it was Sunday, but it was still beautiful … I mean other than the guy talking on his cell phone in a thick New England accent, “Nah, I didn’t haiv a ha’t attack. Ah you goin’ to the shap laytuh? Ahrite. I’ll see ya they-ah.” That and the twelve year old boy who walked behind Laura for a time. Laura thinks he was trying to step in her footsteps, but I remember what it was like to be a twelve year old boy, and he was totally looking at her bum.

After having our fill of the majesty of the summit, we decided to go have lunch at the hang-gliding platform. Supposedly when the wind is right, hang-gliders can catch a wind current and ride it all the way to Maine. Of course, the only hang-gliders we saw was the raven kind.

 

They probably fly all the way to Maine if they see a piece of aluminum on the ground.

 

On the way back to The Junc, we stopped in Windsor to look around for a while. The long building is known as The Block. According to one of my instructors, it was once a pretty rough place, but has since been cleaned up and is now low-rent, partially subsidized apartments for low-income families. Also, check out the infinite staircase to the Mason hall.

 

But how else am I supposed to steal all the gold bangles ... I mean, leave flowers for the departed?

 

It was a wonderful day, and one that I fondly thought about while staying up until 3:00 a.m. to catch up on homework. Thanks Mount Ascutney, wherever you are.

 

Magic

 

California Dreaming

Holy Hiatus! As you can tell from the lengthy delay in posts, Dakota and I have been quite busy.  Dakota will be updating more about stuff at CCS in an upcoming post (though you can also follow his work on his website), so I’ll give you a little update on my life here in “The Junc”.

I started my internship as a planning assistant about 3 weeks ago and so far it is going great! My boss is delightful and the planners are super helpful and nice – everyone is great at answering my questions and making me feel at home.  I am currently working on a few projects with them: helping a subcommittee update the Town’s subdivision bylaws, and working on projects related to the downtown revitalization of the Town.  Most importantly I am learning lots.

In addition to proper work, many of you know that I also blog over at Regina Urban Ecology (RUE).  Before leaving Regina I had applied in my RUE capacity to attend the Urban Next Summit in San Francisco.  It was put on by CEOs for Cities and was a gathering of 100 urban thinkers from across North America to discuss the future of cities.  The day that we left Regina, after landing in Montreal, I found out that I was accepted to go!  So, a few weeks ago I headed off to San Francisco for a whirlwind 36 hour stay.  The conference was really inspiring and I am still a little full from all of the information.  In addition, my sleep schedule is still a little out of whack (surprising how a few hours here or there can really make a difference).  I have been writing more about the conference over at Regina Urban Ecology, so instead of rehashing it, you can go there to read more.  Instead, I’m just going to post some photos of my trip.

It took me 12 hours to get from WRJ to San Francisco.  I woke up at 1:30am to get on a bus at 2:30am and go to Burlington.  I arrived in San Francisco at 11am (2pm WRJ time) – and had to get to the hostel, change and get to the conference.  Ahh… the things we’ll do for a cheap flight!  In my 12 hours I took the following modes of transportation: car, bus, plane, rapid transit, and walking.  This is me shortly after arriving in San Francisco – just a little tired.

The hostel I stayed in was located near Union Square in downtown San Francisco – it is a pretty busy area which was fun for people watching.

The conference took place at the San Francisco Planning and Urban Research Association (SPUR) Urban Center – it is a beautiful space with a gallery, meeting rooms and so much light!

I also had the chance to do a little wandering and photo taking in the Hayes Market neighbourhood, near City Hall and the Public Library, as well as a brief stopover to check out Haight Ashbury after the conference ended and before my 12 hour travel back (beginning at midnight).

I was quite taken by the architectural style in San Francisco.  It is an interesting mix of European and South American influences – lots of tile work, mosaics, and elaborate facades.  Row houses are also always delightful and who can say no to a trolly car?  I bet you can’t!

After a mere 60 hours there and back, I arrived at the WRJ bus depot and walked down the hill back to our little home.  It was surreal to be in such a bustling city and then come back to our quite little town! It was nice to be home though – as always.

Other than being busy with proper work, and self-imposed work (RUE), I have been doing a few projects around the apartment – I took the gross wallpaper off the mirror in the bathroom and will be painting it (hopefully this weekend), bought a lovely tin ceiling tile from the Salvage shop that I will be painting (hopefully this weekend), and have been prepping some fabric to sew curtains.  Most of the projects are half completed but I plan on taking a few days away from blogging to complete them – when I get this place properly sorted out I will post more photos.

-Laura xo

Oh Glory!

So – remember when I mentioned Glory Days of the Railroad in the last post?  Well, we went, we saw, we drank lemonade and checked out trains.  That really is about all that there was to do at Glory Days but it was great.  It had the same small town festival feeling that I remember as a child in rural Saskatchewan spending time with my grandparents.  As I mentioned, the festival centers around the town’s history of the railway so most everything is somehow related to that.  One thing that I have learned more about in the last few days is “Old 494”.  Outside of the railway station and visitor centre, stands “Old 494” –  a “restored locomotive engine that hauled passenger cars and light freight up and down the river valley from 1892 to 1938”.  It is actually kind of cool that it is a landmark in the town, and is quite beautiful if I do say so myself:

The festival consisted of joyous street wandering:

Followed by seeing more street flags and  people dressed in olde timey clothes:

And of course, we couldn’t say we were in the U.S. without something like this going on:

I'm referring to the Rail Road show of course!

Then there was the CCS table:

And it all capped off with one happy camper:

Overall, a good, train-loving day!