Gobble Gobble

Posted on December 1, 2013 by Ali

I have always looked forward to Thanksgiving. The succulent turkey roasting away in the oven alongside apple-filled stuffing, the giblets simmering on the stove-top to yielding rich stock to mix with roux, and the sounds of the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade coming from the TV. This year, I got to experience that TWICE. My pretty sister and her fiance hosted round one in their cozy and full-of-character apartment here in Portland. After stuffing ourselves to the gills with turkey, stuffing, sweet potato casserole, cranberry sauce, green beans and mashed potatoes, Miek and I grabbed the dogs and headed to Pine Point for round two. Not a low-cal day!

Traditions are so important, and I’m so thankful that my parents have fostered rituals, tastes and sounds of the holidays! It has created a solid holiday foundation upon which to build our own traditions.

xoxo Al Season’s Greetings!!!!

Dogs and Guitars

Posted on November 14, 2013 by Ali

A typical Friday night at the casa…xo Al

WOW It Has Been Awhile!

Posted on October 2, 2013 by Ali

I’ve been MIA from this little corner of the Internet! This summer was gobbled up by studying for my insurance license, attending training sessions, traveling for business, and helping my parents move back to Portland.

It’s already autumn! So far, we have already been apple picking, I turned 27 and we are in the throes of getting ready to celebrate the engagement of Erik and Cecelia this weekend. So many good things!

Here’s a sampling of iPhone snaps to fill in the blanks.

Summer Scenes

Posted on July 15, 2013 by Ali

Somehow, we are smack-dab in the middle of summer. Although work at the office is keeping my brain busier than ever, I still have had an opportunity to live in the moment and enjoy all that lazy days of summer have to offer: wildflowers, grilling, fireworks, swimming in the ocean.

Here are some snippets of the fun:

Hugs on the Fourth of July

One of the last dips in my parents’ pool (end of an era!)

Experimenting with my camera

Wild, orchid-like flowers nestled in the hydrangea that borders my driveway

Admiring the Boston lights back at the hotel after seeing Sir Paul McCartney

Bonding puppies

Fourth of July fireworks over the Atlantic, as seen from the top deck

Speckles, one of my parents’ Bengal cats

A fuzzy little bumblebee gathering ingredients to make his honey

xo Al

Harvey the Bugg

Posted on June 20, 2013 by Ali

We weren’t really planning on getting a new dog, at least not right away. But. It had been raining for a solid week, I was feeling down, so Miek and I went to look at puppies. When this little guy cocked his head at us, it was all over. Meet Harvey!!

Portland Head Light

Posted on May 5, 2013 by Ali

When I moved to Portland after college, there were some lonely years. Most of my best friends were from away anyway, and we had met under the trees on the quad at Bates. They went back to NYC, California, Chicago, Michigan. While there were some moments that were challenging (I couldn’t quite bring myself to go out to the bars by myself to meet people, thus having nobody with whom I could go out to the bars to meet people…and on and on), I cherish those solitary, self-sufficient days. I learned how to amuse myself. To slow down, to make friends at work. To eat lunch downtown with a book and my iPod.

Sometimes, when I needed to clear my head, I would make the short drive over the bridge to Cape Elizabeth to sit on a ledge over the rocky coast. With Portland Headlight to my right, and the fort to my left, the craggy boulders beneath me with their simmering tidal pools opening up to the vast expanse of the Atlantic, I could think. Roll in, crash, spray, roll out.

Now that I have a network of friends in the city, and my thoughtful, caring boyfriend, I don’t make it out to the lighthouse as often. I don’t need to. When we want to sun and hear the waves, we go to the sandy beach behind my boyfriend’s parents’ house. Miek had never been to the lighthouse, so this Saturday we took a walk there with Melo. I remembered why I love it there so much. The clarity, salt air, rose-hip perfume swirling around those cliffs.

xo Al

Boston

Posted on April 16, 2013 by Ali

I’m still processing what happened yesterday in Boston, vacillating between being really, really sad and confused/angry/frustrated. I love that city. I have so many friends there.

I’m trying to focus on the acts of bravery, heart, and selflessness that Boston residents displayed yesterday. Those are Boston traits.

Yesterday, I ran an errand around 1 pm to buy lightbulbs. As I left the office, I looked at the sky. Took a picture, actually, because it was so blue. Here in the northeast, blue blue skies in springtime are hard to come by. Later that afternoon, when I heard the first reports of the bombings at the marathon, I immediately thought of that blue sky. The same blue sky that I remembered from the morning of 9/11. That juxtaposition of beauty/darkness. Eerie.

As I watched footage of the explosions later that night, seeing such chaos on a street that I’ve walked countless times with my love, I was struck by the symbolism. All those flags lined the street to signify international camaraderie, and represented participants in the race. As the blast made those flags shake, I cried. The world needs to remember that we are all in this together. This kind of violence needs to stop.

Thinking of all those injured, maimed, frightened yesterday. Thinking of all those runners who were nearing the finish line when some coward detonated the bombs. Finding solace in stories of people helping one another in the middle of all that darkness. Thinking of my Boston (how the gold dome of the state house glows in late afternoon sun, the north end cannoli, concerts at the garden, Miek’s friends at Uptown Cafe, Copley, all my Batesies who grew up there or just “15 minutes outside” the city.)

Sending love.

One Year Anniversary!!

Posted on April 14, 2013 by Ali

Hot Off The Dress is officially one year old today!

Lately, I’ve been thinking a lot about the passage of time. This weekend, Miek and I traveled to beautiful Cohasset, MA to attend the wedding of one of my college friends. Even though it has been 5 years since Bates, everything fell right back into place. Dancing the night away, we might as well have been under the yellow sodium lights on the library terrace.

As my friends said their vows on the dock, with the Atlantic lapping at the shore, I thought about my parents home in Maine. They were married exactly 28 years ago! 28! What an accomplishment!

Below are a collection of photos to celebrate the blog’s one year anniversary, and to document the little snapshots of life in the midst of this great, big, passage of time.

xo Al

Easter Sunday Funday

Posted on April 1, 2013 by Ali

Easter Sunday was the epitome of Sunday Funday: decadent brunch and dinner with family and mimosas, playtime with puppies and kiddos, and FINALLY a warm, sunny Spring day.

xo Al

Unapologetic

Posted on March 19, 2013 by Ali

Way back in September, Miek surprised me for my 26th birthday with tickets to see Rihanna in Boston — the show scheduled for March 10. We booked a quaint little Beacon Hill hotel through Jetsetter, and spent the next few months getting excited.

On our way down to the show last week, Miek got a weird 1-800 number call. It was Ticketmaster informing us of Rihanna’s “laryngitis” and need to cancel the Boston show. Slightly deflated <understatement>, we decided to keep driving and make the most of the weekend.

Despite dropping my debit card at the south-bound rest stop (and not realizing this fact until reaching into my wallet at a store on Newbury Street…), and mourning the canceled show, we still had a pretty fun time. A lesson for me in “going with the flow” and taking things as they come. When you’re with your best friend and it finally feels a smidgen like spring, few things can completely dampen spirits.

Some highlights:

1.) The snug Beacon Hill Hotel and Bistro. Gray-walled and archetypically “New England”, this hotel had class without being pretentious, comfortable rooms despite being small in footprint, and a world-class staff. The spunky blonde bartender gave us waters and sodas for free after an afternoon of walking the city, and the front-desk concierge stopped up late-night and fixed our Direct TV with a smile. Owned by an American and a Swede, the hotel is undeniably European. A nice departure from the “big box” hotels that pepper the city.

2.) Laughing at the ridiculously haughty and pompous worker at Levi’s. Look, I know you’re working on Newbury Street — the self-proclaimed “Rodeo Drive” of Boston — but come on, you’re hocking denim. The wardrobe workhorse. No matter how “museum quality meets boutique” you say they are, they are still jeans. And I found better ones for $10 at the Forever 21 down the street.

3.) Running through the chilly North End streets after dinner to pick up to-go cannoli at Modern Pastry. Miek lived in Boston during college, but had never been to this family-run Italian joint. It was well worth the wait.