Becky's photoblog

We met up with Mel for dinner at Assembly Row and had fancy adorable drinks at Earls (yes, it’s a honey bear shaped glass … very grown-up)

Melissa couldn’t believe that we had never been to any of the Boston Harbor Islands, so we made a last-minute plan to fix that right away. We packed a picnic, hopped on the ferry from Long Wharf (which stopped at Spectacle Island) and spent an absolutely perfect Saturday afternoon wandering around Georges Island.

Most of the island is what’s left of Fort Warren, a civil-war era fort which is now mostly grassy fields, big empty rooms, creepy dark stair wells, and upper ramparts with amazing views  in all directions. We could see Boston, Quincy, Hull, and Boston Light on Little Brewster Island. There were tons of families out there because it’s a fun and inexpensive way for kids to run around and explore, and for adults to relax along the shore with amazing views. We got our exercise in, and we also sat for a long time and read our books. Perfect afternoon! Thanks, Mel!!

Did you know there are over 3,000 islands off the coast of Maine? We took a little day trip up to Portland Maine, and we saw about 10 of them on a 3-hour cruise on Casco Bay Lines. The cruise is called the Mailboat Run because it brings passengers and mail deliveries to the islands twice a day, and it gives tourists like us the chance to see Maine as it was intended to be seen: from the water. A perfectly beautiful relaxing  inspiring New England day.

We passed Gorges Island, Peaks Island and Little Diamond Island, then our first stop was at Diamond Cove on Great Diamond Island, followed soon after by a stop at Long Island. Our third stop was at Cliff Island, then finally at Great Chebeague Island, then back to Portland for window shopping and an amazing dinner.

On our long drive from San Jose to Los Angeles, we stopped in Pismo Beach around 1 or 2pm for a late lunch. We picked out Ventana Grill since it’s right on the water, and we enjoyed a delicious meal with an incredible view! Then, we drove down a bit to get a little closer to the public beach. The sand was incredibly soft, and we got our feet wet in the Pacific Ocean!

Back on the road … we arrived at Adam and Celeste’s house in Los Angeles by dinner time.

2013 was a lovely year, filled with family and friends, weddings and babies, little trips around New England, trips to Pennsylvania to see family, a trip to California to see old friends, and of course, our endless wanderings around our beautiful city. Life, as it should be.

Here’s a few of my favorite photos from this year’s photoblog entries:

<p>This one's a bit out of order, but it's my favorite</p> I used a handful of vacation days to make long weekends this summer, and in honor of my last official summer vacation day, we used a groupon and went on a sunset cruise on the Charles River (with the Charles Riverboat Company). It was an absolutely gorgeous way to see the city, and I highly recommend it! Very relaxing and pleasant, very beautiful.

Thanks Alex for taking a few great photos of us in State College, PA

A year after our wedding, we can look back and honestly say that we would not have done anything differently. Our wedding weekend was truly joyful, and we returned to the Hyatt Harborside to celebrate our first anniversary and enjoy those wonderful memories. We enjoyed a delicious dinner and breakfast at the Harborside Grill, and we still can’t get enough of that spectacular view! Brian’s family surprised us with a delicious antipasto platter and a bottle of champagne, which was a really sweet treat.

Brian planned a wonderful surprise of his own. He ordered a mini-version of our wedding cake from the bakery where our wedding cake was from, and we picked it up on our way to my parents’ house. He tried to get the bakery to decorate our cake with the same leafy design as our wedding cake, but it didn’t work out quite as he had planned. Instead, it was even better. They frosted the cake with the leaves of two full trees meeting in the middle. We had lunch with my family, and shared the cake with them.

Click here to see Maureen’s wonderful video slide-show from our wedding.

Maureen Cotton photography

With three months to go before the wedding (and six months of wedding planning behind us), we finally let Maureen talk us in to an engagement photoshoot. Thank you Maureen!! She did a wonderful job capturing us at some of our favorite landmarks in Boston’s Back Bay: The Boston Public Library, the Hancock Tower, Trinity Church and a recent favorite – the holiday lights on Commonwealth Avenue. Then she surprised us with a wonderful video slideshow!