teeny halloween

harlan as jake gyllenhaal as donnie darko as a hipster skeleton

mister irving and i really get into halloween. i don't know if there has been a year that we've known each other that we've not dressed up (or had a kick ass party). but, this year, with the coming of our wee sprog, we were a bit sidetracked and forgot to buy costumes. of course, being new parents, it's easy to get sidetracked with a baby when the rest of the world kind of 'let's go' of you. i'm just saying, in years past, ernie and i have been invited to at least two (usually multiple) halloween parties. this year, we were invited to one (thank you jesse's friend jon for inviting us to your party...we assume that you invited us because you forgot we have a baby, but thank you anyway, it made us feel good).
i know, i know...there's a good chance we wouldn't have made it to any parties (and didn't), but c'mon people, we have a baby, we aren't dead yet.

we vow that when harlan is older we will treat him to halloween costumes and parties that will blow his friends away. we will probably spend more on halloween than christmas...and if he wants to go to salem to go trick or treating with the rest of the frat boys and goth kids, so be it, we'll drive him ourselves.
so, we fell short this year..his costume was bought at target, and daddy and mommy didn't dress up...we'll be better parents next year.

just in time for halloween

still breaks my heart, this song...


also, if you're bored, check out jeffrey lewis "williamsburg will oldham horror"...simply fantastic.

day man, fighter of the night man (aaahhh,aaaaaaaah,aaahh)

it's the third season of 'it's always sunny in philadelphia'...if you aren't watching this show, get your shit together and and don't miss another episode.
this is from last week. i almost lost my mind laughing at this scene. in fact, i stayed up later to watch the second showing of the episode just to see this scene again, and i laughed just as hard the second time.
i was crying. literally crying.

harlan and the hippies

on saturday, mister irving and i were hanging out around the house as we usually do on saturdays, wondering what to do with our precious family time, since there is always a delicate balance when you have a baby and a dog. it's very hard to find interesting things to do that will make the whole family happy (and as we move into toddlerhood with harlan, i'm sure it will begin to get much harder). as we were padding around the kitchen, drinking tea and eating egg sandwich, our great friend ethan called to tip us off to a street festival that was happening in davis square called "honk! fest". as he described it, "a bunch of punk kids with marching bands, you know, lots of stinky hippies"...he had me at 'marching bands'.
i have to say, i'm not one drawn to the 'pseudo hippie element' that sometimes permeates somerville/cambridge..in fact, mostly those kids annoy the hell out of me (you can not be an anarchist AND a social activist, it just doesn't make sense!!)...but, when it comes to louisiana/carnivale/balkan style marching bands with lots of horns and drums, and circus types, belly dancers and people in costume on stilts, i'm all mush.
somerville really came through on this one. there were five staging areas, where the band would play, then they would all march to the next staging area on the hour, one big crazy sidewalk parade. so, at any one time, at least five marching bands were playing in a one square mile area. i can tell you it felt quite like we were in a fellini film, and that's what made it wonderful.
here are pics from the festival just to give you an idea of what it all looked like.
harlan was less than pleased with all the noise. i'm sure when he is a bit older, he'll love all the hippie freaks in their costumes with their noise makers...but, at seven months into this world, it was a bit much. he promptly fell dead asleep in his carrier.
mister irving and i loved it so much, that the next day, some of the same bands were performing in harvard square at the annual oktoberfest, so we dragged some of our friends out and did the whole thing again.

this is a promo video for the most entertaining band at the festival, the 'march forth marching band', (the one that brought us back the next day).

absolutely smitten

i am absolutely taken with Beirut's new album, 'the flying club cup'. i loved, loved the last one, but i think this new one may be a smidge better.
you can listen to the entire album here or you can visit here to watch a video for 'nantes', my new favorite song.

go support this kid, he's wonderful.

falls first donut

without a doubt, one of my favorite things about living in this area is the knowledge that when the seasons start to change from summer to fall, someone somewhere will be making cider donuts for me to dip into hot apple cider and fill my belly.
in massachusetts that place is russell orchards in ipswich. hands down, best cider donuts i've ever eaten. yesterday, hubby and i drove the hour to ipswich and then waited in line, in a barn, for an hour to enjoy these beautiful, heavenly circles of love.
yesterday, i ate five cider donuts...i was up for an entire night with horrific stomach cramps. today, i will eat more. they're just that good.