So long, farewell...

Between moving to a different country, work, travel, training for fundraiser walks, going back to school, etc... we've got so much on our plates that it's time to take something off, and unfortunately this project is it. It's been really fun doing this, and I'll still be watching the City Daily Photo community. And who knows, maybe things will slow down and BDP will be back up and running someday!

In the meantime, thank you for all the past watching, commenting, lurking, and supporting. If you can't live without a beautiful photo of Boston every day, please head over to Clueless in Boston. If you want to keep up with me, you can visit my personal photo blog (and if you want to donate to help me reach my $2,500 fundraising goal for the 3 Day Breast Cancer Walk that's taking up so much of my time now, head here.)

Do It For The Boobs.

I have taken on an incredible challenge...on Oct 3rd-5th, my sisters (find one of them here) and I will be walking 60 miles over the course of three days. We must be crazy!

But we're not that crazy! It’s for the boobs! We're walking in the Breast Cancer 3-Day, which benefits Susan G. Komen for the Cure and the National Philanthropic Trust Breast Cancer Fund. Every advancement in breast cancer research, treatment, education and prevention in the last 25 years has been touched by a Komen for the Cure grant. They are working hard to build a future without breast cancer, and I plan on raising $2,500 to help bring us closer to that goal!

Please consider making a donation. You can donate online by clicking on the link in the right hand menu bar. Or you can call (in the US!) 800.996.3DAY to donate over the phone. And don't forget to check with your employer to see if they will match your gift!

Without a cure, one in eight women in the U.S. will continue to be diagnosed with breast cancer. How many women do you know? Divide that number by eight. Makes you want to donate, doesn't it?

Thank you in advance for your support! The CDP community has continually amazed me - from teaching me why people leave small stones on top of grave markers and what flowers I've come across recently, to seeing folks reach out when one of our community members suffers a horrible tragedy...I know that those of you who can will donate generously, and those that can't will be sending me lots of positive thoughts and vibes throughout my training and the walk itself. Thank you, thank you, thank you!

Welcome Will!

While we're on a string of personal photos, let's say welcome to Will! Will was born on April 22nd around 12:30 AM to Mark and Amy, who Leyre and I have known since high school. He's their second little monster, I mean....angel, and his big sister Loula has been a wonderful big sister since he's been home! I hadn't gotten a change to meet him before we left for California, so I took advantage of having the day off from work to spend some time with him.

By The Sea

We spent Sunday in the sleepy village of Capitola (By The Sea is tacked on to the name according to the welcome sign, but I don't believe it's the official name). Our GPS unit, Guadalupe, had taken us through Capitola Friday morning on our way to Starbucks, and we had fallen in love with the little village without even getting out of the car. Monday we had a lot of time before we had to get to the airport (booo!) so we spent some time wandering through Capitola before heading up to Santa Cruz.


Leyre's father-in-law tells us that these adorable houses along the beach were built by Al Capone, who used to vacation in Capitola. I can find absolutely nothing on the internet that can either confirm or deny this claim, so I'll just put it out there. Regardless of who built them, they're totally adorable and I would like to live in one.

Los Gigantes

Sunday we met up with Leyre's parents in San Francisco and spent the day checking out all it had to offer - Chinatown, Lombard Street, Golden Gate Park, Union Square, In-N-Out Burger. We also went to AT&T Park to watch the Giants lose to Cincinnati and get a little sunburn. ;)

PCH

Saturday morning we drove a few hours down the Pacific Coast Highway to Big Sur, then headed back home and with a detour through the 17 mile drive to check out Pebble Beach and it's surrounding neighborhood.

Also on Saturday, we went to Andrea & Dave's wedding - the reason we were in California!



Andrea and Dave were married on Saturday at the Monterey Plaza Hotel. It was gorgeous weather, and a fun wedding. Congrats Andrea & Dave!

This must be heaven where the ocean meets the sand...

As promised, we're coming to you live from (very) sunny and warm California! We spent most of the day in Carmel today, visiting the Mission there. We then headed down very steep Ocean Avenue to Carmel Beach. The two little girls to the left of the signs were rolling down the hill and giggling the whole time, there were a group of dogs playing fetch in the water and rolling around on the sand, and the sun was out in full force while a nice breeze off the water kept us from overheating. After such a long winter, sunshine like we had today feels like it's healing your body. You can almost forget about all the snow and bitter cold. Boston, you'd better be nice and sunny for us when we get back!

Pack Your Bags!

We're going to California! Since 1/2 of us are headed West for a long weekend, we thought it would be fun to bring you along. Where are we going? Monterrey, Santa Cruz, and San Francisco (for a Giants game!). Hope you're packed...and don't forget the sunblock!

Where I'd Rather Be....

You know how some days you just wish you were somewhere else? It doesn't have to be a particularly bad day or anything, you just would rather not be where you are. Today this is where I would rather be...back in Madrid, on vacation with my parents and some of my closest friends. Eating well, exploring a new city, and taking over 500 photos in a week!


That's the Catedral de la Almudena, which is located next the Palacio Real. This picture was taken from the Templo de Debod - an Egyptian temple located near Plaza España.

*This photo was actually taken by my father - thanks Dad!
**Click to enlarge!
***We'll be back in Boston tomorrow, I'm just daydreaming today. :)

Milton

This is where I catch the trolley every day. Only I'm usually not this low to the ground - I was just trying to make it more interesting for you guys since I haven't been straying from my usual route lately. Next weekend I promise to go on a photo adventure so I'll have lots of new things to show you!

Never saw the sun shining so bright

This is still Harvard Square (just next to the theater on Church St I showed you a few days back), and there is nothing particularly special about it except that I liked the layers and the angles created by the different buildings. And the sky was a beautiful blue. This was in between some pretty fierce snow squalls, one of which produced this picture as I crossed the Charles. That story goes like this, and it's all about you, my dear BDP readers...

I went to Harvard Square to take photos of the Lion Dance that was happening as part of the very small Harvard Square Chinese New Year celebrations. Even though they were forcasting snow in the afternoon, I left my house in not my warmest but definitely my cutest hat and scarf and jacket, because the weather looked great out my window! Over the course of the 1.5-2 hours I spent in Harvard Square, there was one sudden and short downpour of rain and two snow squalls. Anyway, it was under beautiful skies like this when I decided I would just walk down Mass Ave through Central and catch the T at Kendall/MIT to catch the T home. I mean, come on! Do you KNOW how many potential Boston Daily Photos are along Mass Ave between Harvard Square and Kendall/MIT?! (I told you it's all about you guys!) You don't know? There are lots. L-O-T-S, people!

So anyway, I walked along Mass Ave and realized that I don't have any idea where the Kendall/MIT stop is, and it certainly isn't on Mass Ave...so I ended up crossing the bridge into Back Bay so that I could hop on the T at Hynes. And then there I was, in the middle of a bridge over the Charles in the middle of a very crazy snow squall, fighting to stand upright and praying I wouldn't lose an ear/finger/limb to severe wind induced frostbite while I took a photo. Because I, dear readers, would do THAT for YOU.

Anyway, the moral of this story is to not dress cute when you should dress warm, and to pay attention to the weather forecast before you leave the house for a photo taking adventure. Also, maybe to actually know where the T stop you're supposedly walking to is located. ;)

Happy New Years' Eve

This is who I'm kissing at midnight!

Stay Inside

Folks, it is a very windy, very cold, very icy day here in Boston, so here's a picture to make us feel all warm and fuzzy inside. That's my cat Barley, who is a complete and total pain in the butt, but is so cute that you always forget what a jerk he was and fall in love with him all over again.

Today there was snow, sleet, rain, and lots and lots of wind, so I kept my mittens on and my hands in my pockets, which makes it hard for taking photos! ;)

Congratulations are in order!

If you take a look at Whit's finger, you'll see why we're congratulating her! That's Whit and her fiancé Ed, who have actually been engaged for about three weeks, but apparently are cut out for the CIA as they kept that under wraps until this past weekend - despite people flat out asking "so when are you guys going to get engaged?".

Whit, Ed...I've been sitting here for five minutes trying to figure out how to say what I want to and can't, so here it is: You're both so awesome individually that when you first started dating it was like "does it get any awesomer than Whit and Ed as a couple?!" Well, I think it just did! Congratulations again, I love you guys!!!

Out My Window

I think some of you already know that I live in a building that was part of the old Baker Chocolate Factory...here's the view out my window! Okay, it's the view out the skylight in the loft, so from the 5th floor of our 6 story building. The building across is another old chocolate factory building, and the tress beyond are on the Neponset River Reservation - our "back yard", complete with bike/walking path and gorgeous vistas.

Day Trip: New Hampshire

Leyre and I are (very sadly) back from our vacation in NH, but we wanted to share some of the beautiful views! If you drive 2.5 hours north on I-93 you'll end up in the White Mountains of New Hampshire. We woke up at 5:30 on Wednesday and hiked up Mount Chocorua. We were told by a map at the rental house that we were going to be doing a rambling, 4.5 miles, 1,500 ft elevation hike. Our Fearless Leader had assured us that on a scale of one to death, this hike was way closer to a one. A few hours later, Leyre and I were pretty sure that this hike was actually closer to Death (with a capital D) than to one, and we had struggled to get 3/4 of the way to the top to enjoy the view above. Our FL was saying "this trail seems worse than the 3,200 ft hike we did yesterday!" He continued up the mountain and we relaxed and enjoyed the view. On the way home we bought a hiking map and discovered that Chocorua is actually 3,475 ft of elevation (3,490 according to Wikipedia!). Guess the map at the house was out-dated, huh?!

It had been a really foggy morning, so we didn't get to see the lakes, but we think the fog made for a pretty awesome view. Click on the photo to enlarge and really enjoy!

Baker's Chocolate

I was looking for these to bake brownies, because how cool is it to bake brownies using chocolate that used to be made in the building you live in, right? Well, it's even cooler when you can buy the chocolate in a building that used to be part of the first Baker
Chocolate Factory, and then to home and make the brownies in another building that used to be part of the factory!

Sorry, rough weekend!

Sorry for backposting a day AGAIN! Whit's got visitors in town (for something like the 5th straight weekend, poor thing!), Leyre is moving into her new apartment and unpacking, and I've been plagued with a migraine for the last 36ish hours.

Enough complaining...I was walking over to Leyre's new place in Roslindale (yeah! Back in the city again!) and came across this house, who had planted flowers between the curb and the sidewalk as well as along the edge of their yard. It doesn't take much to cheer up a city sidewalk, and this certainly did the job!

Moving Day!

Sometimes you can't get a couch out of your old apartment, and since you were going to leave it on the curb anyway...well, you just take a saw to it and cut it in half!


We had a H-O-T, HOT day moving Leyre and her hubby...halfway at least (everyone cross your fingers that the floor guy finishes up in the new place and the gas line is fixed by next weekend!). That's her FIL taking care of the couch for them.

First Church of Christ, Scientist

This is part of the Christian Science complex in Boston - the Christian Science Monitor is published here, and the church administration and research facility is here as well. I don't know much about it, and I'm interested in learning more. There's also the Mary Baker Eddy Library and Mapparium is also located just on the other side of the church (to the right of this photo). I need to explore more.

Here's the "our live" story for this photo - Leyre and her husband went on their first official date here (well, and dinner, too...)!