October 2016 – My Lemon Drop Life

it’s just a little hocus pocus…our salem day trip

October 28, 2016 4 Comments

14567601_10154356482131293_2202737002413096952_o Hocus Pocus, my favorite Halloween movie! Which was mostly filmed in…SALEM!

The first time we went to Boston, in 2007, I saw a Salem sign on the way there and I just SCREAMED! I had no clue where Salem was but I knew this was the witches town, and witches equal Halloween, and Halloween equals fun! I wanted to go right away, Brian didn’t, so finally we settled that we would stop on our way back… I think he was hoping I’d forget about this while we were in Boston, but oh no I didn’t, I thought about it all weekend long…

So, on our way back we took the Salem exit, found a little village, not a ‘cute’ little village, though, like I imagined, but anyway, we were there and we started to look for witches! I had my Salem-witch-hunt-map ready, but strangely, it seems like I couldn’t find anything, it was just so confusing, the street didn’t match, there were no stores, nothing scary really. So we stopped at a General Store and Brian went in and asked where the most popular Witches Dungeon was, and, yeah, well, the answer was ‘sorry Sir, but what you’re looking for is Salem, Massachusetts. Here, you’re in Salem, New Hampshire’. So Salem, Massachusetts was left of the bucket list, until 3 weeks ago!

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So during our last minute October road trip to Boston, we finally planned a full day in Salem! Woohoo! We had no particular agenda, I just wanted to walk and visit this really ‘cute’ and unique village. October is very special for Salem, they call it Haunted Happenings, has they host a month long Halloween party! Yep, my kind of place. We got lucky, as it was also the Food Truck Festival while we were there in the Salem Common, a park right in the middle of this historic village. It was full of amazingly delicious food trucks, with so many people, a little bit of rain, some New England Clam Chowder and a few lobster rolls; we all enjoyed our food truck lunch under a huge pergola!

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We walked on the red line all day, which guides you through town. Going through shops, little cafés, delicious bake shops, while stopping every 15 feet to take pictures. We saw the CLUE house (ya, like the game, where a real murder happened!!!), the Bewitched statue of Samantha, and a wand shop called Wynotts. Everything was stunning…simply scary stunning! I was in heaven. The houses, the trees, the crooked sidewalks; I am just in love with this place. I can’t wait to go back… yeah, well, I’m going back next year, just decided!!! Next year I want to bring my mom and the boys. They would love it. So bucket list for next summer: Salem! And this time I wanna do the Red Trolley Tour and the Hocus Pocus tour (it was sold out).

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As I’ve said before, I’m not into the scary stuff, but even I loved walking in the Salem 300 years old cemetery…it was kinda creepy but yet so fascinating, or something like that! The old stones, the huge tombs, the graved names, the old trees and the very old iron gate; it felt like in a movie. Well, it was like in a movie… as this cemetery is the exact same one you see in the movie Hocus Pocus!

So next year, I want to spend more time just sitting in a pub or café, take a tour, visit Dani and Max’s house, visit the witch dungeon, and do the Salem Escape Room!

You have to visit, and if you do, please bring me! It’s just a little Hocus Pocus!

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Ah say ento pi alpha mabi upendi

In comma coriyama

Hey, hey, high, high

Say bye-bye!

Bye bye!

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Crafts and Fun

may the force be with us

October 25, 2016 11 Comments

Our costumes for this year are a bit different from the last few years… my boys are growing up and so are their tastes! So I went with it!

They don’t know anything about Star Wars…for a long time they called it CarWar. They’ve never watched a movie or show, know what Star Wars’ about or what they stand for. But last summer, Liam went on the Star Wars 3D ride in Disneyland at 10:30 pm for his last ride of the day and came out a fan. The following day everything Liam wanted was some CarWar stuff; so did his baby brother!

So, in 2016, we are officially Star Wars fans (I grew up watching the movies, but Brian had never heard about them until I came in the picture and dressed up as Queen Amidala in grade 13). I still wanted to make our costumes; Liam as BB8, Logan as R2D2 or has he calls him Hardy-too, Brian as Chewbacca (not included in our pictures because of his major lack of fun-ness!) and myself as Princess Leia (I have the hair so why not used it!).

My mom knitted some hats for the boys and I sowed and glued their robot costumes (probably the easiest of costumes ever made). So they were not too complicated to do, but they are just so nice! We went to a very shady part of Brian’s hometown for the pictures, a place call Peace Mountain, which was perfect for taking pictures, but a place I don’t recommend visiting alone, especially if you’re easily scared like my chicken-shit Chewbacca!

Now, we can’t wait to decorate our pumpkins and make special treat bags for our friends. Only 1 more week to go!

I love family themed costumes, I hope they’ll let me do it for a bit longer!

So what’s your costume this year?

Life

the one with the thanksgiving

October 19, 2016 8 Comments

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When I was younger, I remember patiently waiting for Thanksgiving to watch the series Friends special-themed episode; they were just the best. From The one with the Thanksgiving, to my ultimate favorite Friends episode, The one with the rumor when Brad made a guest-star appearance as a member of the I-hate-Rachel-Club. Friends… best series ever. I need to do a marathon and watch them all over again!

So, this year for Thanksgiving, there was no Friends themed episode, Brad and Angelina got divorced, which is really sad, even for a Team Rachel gal, but it didn’t stopped me from having a really great time!

We had a beautiful weekend ahead of us and so much to do; which started with a Friday night Pizza-night. We would watch movies and eat pizza every Friday if we could! On Saturday we had lots of errands to run and then 2 birthday parties to attend, as matante Lulu turned 67 and Brian’s goddaughter Méliane turned 7. It’s always great to see friends and family!

Sunday morning rolled in and we were out the door by 8:30. The boys had their first race, the Cumberland Fall Colours 1K Turkey Trot. They were so happy to finally get a medal. They were smiling, sprinting and reaching for that finish line both wearing their turkey hats! They were surely the cutest there!!! I think they’ll remember their bib numbers forever! I met up with my friend Jannick for the 5km race, boy oh boy I was NOT ready. The weather was perfect, beautiful country setting, leaves all kinds of colors, but those hills were killing me. Well, the first hill killed me, then I walked through the other ones! I wasn’t done my first mile that I wanted to quit. Jannick was chatty, smiling and having a blast while I could hardly walk, let alone run! We finally did it, in a time frame that I’m not too proud of, but we had fun, and we weren’t the last!

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We went home for a quick nap and then it was Turkey Time, so we drove to my mom’s place, ready to spend time with my siblings. The boys and their cousins played outside, hide and seek with flashlights, watched movies and sang happy birthday to the turkey! We shared a delicious meal with the most amazing cake for dessert. Played a few games of cards, had a few laughs, and then called it a night.

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Monday was for lounging, decorating the house, watching Halloween movies and picking up our pumpkins, where we went in our festive pj’s and danced our way through the aisles full of pumpkins. We picked our favorite ones and brought them home. I’m sharing this video of Liam dancing while shopping for our pumpkins, it’s hilarious! If you know my son, you know it’s out of his character to do this, but thanks to the Boomerang app, he’s dancing non-stop now!

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CLICK HERE TO SEE LIAM DANCING

Hope you had a great time and that your pants still fits after all that food. That’s why you need some Joey’s Thanksgiving pants on Thanksgiving!

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Party

we scare because we care

October 14, 2016 2 Comments

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I LOVE Halloween. But not the gory, gooey kind. The pumpkin kind!

When Liam was 2, I bought the most gorgeous Monsters Inc. Sulley costume, in size 2. When it came in, I was sooo sad, the costume could fit a 7 years old! So, we put the costume in the Halloween closet. Last year I was ready to bring it out again! I had to fix it up a little, cut the legs and sleeves but we were ready. The year before, I had also bought a Mike Wazowski for Logan! Finally, both costumes fit and we were ready to Trick or Treat! These will probably be my favorite costume EVER.

So since I had waited for a long time before the boys could wear these costumes, a party was in order. A kids Halloween party! And of course Monsters Inc. was the theme! We had donuts games, a dance off and we exchanged candy! 32

We had so much fun that we’re having our Second Kids Annual Halloween Party this year; no idea about the theme, but one thing is sure, we will have a blast! I’m leaving you with a few pictures from last year, as well as some pictures from our previous Grown-ups Annual Halloween Party (Awww I miss those years!!!).

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ha10

Food

oh my dumplings

October 12, 2016 5 Comments

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My new obsession is Dumplings! Oh how I love this delicious delicate dough filled little pockets. It started with the cutest food truck, Dumpling Park, behind Brian’s favorite coffee house and sandwich place, Morning Owl. They make fresh dumplings from Monday to Friday during the summer, and it’s just the best lunch ever! I went a few times last summer and I just fell in love with that place.

So, since the cutest place for dumplings is now closed for the winter, I decided to try making them for myself, and it worked! They were DELICIOUS! A bit tedious to make but so rewarding. I’m sharing my recipe with you and I hope you’ll try them! I whipped up a huge batch last night, made more than 75!

These are only pork dumplings but you can also add shrimps. This recipe should give you between 25-30 dumplings.

What you need:

1/2 lbs of ground pork

2 cloves of garlic

1/2 cup cilantro

2 tsps. toasted sesame oil

1 tsp olive oil

1 pinch chili flakes

zest of 1 lime

1 tsp of lime juice

1 tsp salt

1 tsp pepper

1 pkg of egg roll wrappers (not wong-ton) cut in circles

chives thinly sliced

How to:

In a food processor mix pork, garlic, cilantro, oils, chili, lime zest and juice, salt and pepper. Process for a minutes, it will create a paste.

Using the egg roll wrapper, wet half the circle with water and scoop a teaspoon of the pork mix in the middle of the wrapper. Fold and press, making sure all air is out. Place completed dumplings on a baking sheet and cover with plastic wrap while you make the rest.

Using a steamer or a bain-marie, steam a few dumpling (do not crowed them) for 10 minutes.

Heat vegetable oil in a skillet, on medium heat and fry them on both sides until brown.

Serve those beauties on a bed of rice, with a bit of sesame oil, soya sauce and Sriracha.

Garnish with chives and enjoy.

Bon appétit!

Travel

sweet caroline and farewell big papi

October 6, 2016 3 Comments

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Boston is one of our favorite city. Beautiful skyline, by the dirty water, gorgeous big old houses and vintage buildings, too many things to visit and home of the Red Sox.

I bought our first tickets to our Beloved Ballpark 9 years ago for Brian’s birthday (mistake #1). We had never went to Fenway Park, or Boston. We ended up watching 4 games in 3 days… (mistake #2). Didn’t even had time to visit anything, or just to do anything, but boy did I end up knowing a lot about the Sox. You know what Drew Barrymore went through in the movie Fever Pitch with her crazy-red-sox-fan-boyfriend doing nothing else than talking about baseball, well that resumes my first weekend in Boston (except I didn’t got hit by a foul ball, thank God).

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Since then, we have been to Boston every other years. Always with ball games in mind, with never enough time for my ever growing list of things to do, or things to see.

This past weekend was no different. But at least one thing got crossed of my list, Salem!

It was a last minute road trip with our friends Pat and Mel; and it was one of the best! The last few days leading to our trip were discouraging, with a shitty weather forecast, as it was supposed to rain non-stop for the entire weekend, but it didn’t, only a few drops on Saturday. Wouldn’t say gorgeous weather but we had an awesome time nonetheless.

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We left very early on Friday morning, maybe too early for some of us, making a first stop for coffee at 6 am and then heading to the border. Vermont is just gorgeous this time of the year, I wanted to stop and take pictures of everything; the mountain, the lakes, the views, everything was just so nice. Then on our second stop, at the New Hampshire Liquor Store, I let out a very LOUD scream out of nowhere, Pat hit the break, Brian told me WTF as he thought we had ran over someone or something, but no, no one was harmed, it was just a scream of excitement as I’ve just spotted the most perfect, gigantic, orangy 1200 lbs pumpkin in a pick-up truck!!! I almost jumped out of the running car! The boys were annoyed by myself a little, but I was just so happy! So I took a few selfies with this beauty, Pat bought a Cinnabon something bottle of something, Mel some bottles of wine and Brian a nice bottle of Scotch that he was so excited to get for ‘half the price’ he would have paid in Canada he said, but in the end, I think my pumpkin was the most exciting thing at that Liquor Store and so worth my screaming. For me it was just the best way to start an October road-trip!

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Once we got to Boston, we visited our favorite mall, stores and had a great lunch at Panera. Spent way too much time in a Sports Memorabilia shop with Pat and Bry, at the official New England sports gallery/store; Brian was like a kid looking at everything and showing me all the David Ortiz signed framed he could find, hoping I’d tell him to get one! He got one, and I couldn’t care less, but my only request of the day: FIND ME A TARGET! They did, and they left me there for a while!!! God I miss that store! I love you Target. Then, we made our way to the heart of Boston to eat at one of our favorite restaurant, Maggiano’s. We found that italian-family-style restaurant on our honeymoon in Vegas, and now, every time we’re in the states, we try to find one. We shared many appetizers, including my ultimate favorite one, the Mozzarella Marinara, all that melted cheese, it’s to die for! Great pasta dishes and perfect crème brulée!

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On Saturday we visited Salem, which in itself is worthy of its own post! So stay tuned Witches!!!

On Sunday morning we packed all our stuff and headed to a place that is very dear to my husband, Fenway Park… America’s Most Beloved Ballpark and Home of the Boston Red Sox! I’m not a sports fan, but there’s something about this place that melts your heart and makes you want to cheer and scream for the Red Sox.

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Brian’s favorite player, David Ortiz, is retiring at the end of the season, and the Red Sox were hosting a weekend long party honoring him. Always at full capacity, Fenway was filled two hours before the first pitch with first timers, families, friends, loyal fan, and Red Sox Nation, ready to give a proper Farewell to their one and only Big Papi. It was an emotional day at Fenway, celebrating one of the best player of our generation and one of the greatest Red Sox of all time (as he told me to say in my Blog). I have to say that the ceremony was very touching, even for me. Grown man crying, then smiling, then crying, aka Brian, people chanting his name, and everybody just having a great time.

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So Bry had a few beers, we had sausages and Fenway Franks, pretzels and some crazy pulled pork fries. We sang take me out to the ball game and Sweet Caroline, my favorite one, always watching while we’re singing if we’ll appear on the big screen (it happened once and I have a picture to show it). We were just so happy to be there, for his last game, all of us. Thanks for all the memories Papi!

Then, after they lost, we left the stadium, full and ready for a long long drive back home!

Oh Fenway, we will miss you, but we will be back! Boston you’re my home.

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