I’m one of those lunatics that grabs her iPhone from her dresser first thing in the morning and whilst still lying in bed, checks her email, Twitter, Facebook, you name it. This little find had me crying with laughter for some reason….

Why yes, Willy Wonka, I do go on many adventures. In fact, this weekend I’m headed to New York for another girls weekend trip. Can’t wait to tell you how it goes.

Happy weekend everyone! What are your plans? Isn’t there a football game or something?

Winter in New England can be dreary, even when you come across some unexpected spring-like days like we had this week. While I’ve always been one to love having all four seasons, this time around, I’m already ready for Spring. Who knows, maybe if we had more snow I’d appreciate just how pretty a winter in New England can really be.

Until then…

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Also, it’s time to announce the winner of my giveaway for an Easy Canvas print. Did you think I’d forget?

Congratulations to Katelin of Pretty Sandy Feet! And thanks to everyone who commented and shared your travel photo memories with me.

To me, purchasing a plane ticket will always take precedence over a designer whatever. I’ll continue to try and find a balance between work and travel, while always being open to uncovering special opportunities that will take me anywhere.

We’re on the brink of 2012, but I’m not making a list of resolutions. Instead, among all the commitments I’ve made over the last few years, I’ll simply add one more to the list. From here on out, I’ll commit myself to always being open to new experiences and adventures (no matter where), to relish the times that I can get away, and also value them as life-changing, as integral to my growth as a human and an important way to connect with the world.

To what will you commit next year?

Mike and I bought a house. We spent last weekend painting, cleaning and lugging boxes – with the help of family and friends – hence my lack of activity here.

We’re not quite settled, but we’ve made a good effort. We got a Christmas Tree, which is something that I’ve been dying to have for weeks! And thanks to my favorite blog buddies - Becca, Susie, Kristen, Chelsee and Julie - we have a glitterized ornament already.

I’m also very late in announcing the winner of my On Location Tours giveaway!

Congrats to Hope of  A Handful of Dreams! I hope you enjoy your Boston Movie Mile!

The Blue Hills Reservation stretches through the towns of Quincy, Dedham, Milton and Randolph, MA just south of Boston. In the Winter it provides a short getaway for skiers, and during the rest of the year, it’s a great place to hike. Mike and I had been meaning to try out the trails for a while, so we were excited when our friends came up with the idea.

We followed the Skyline Trail, which brought is to the very top, where you can see beautiful views of the Boston skyline. It wasn’t too strenuous, but for a group still full from a whole day of eating, it definitely did the trick.

And the view was worth more than the hike up and back down the mountain.

How was your Thanksgiving weekend?

As much as I like to chronicle my adventures here on my blog, in a more tangible sense, I’m just not a scrapbooker. The last time I actually documented my travels beyond my blog was in 2004 when I returned home from studying abroad in Ireland. I purchased a white  binder – with the intention of making it pretty on the outside – and stuck my little memories between thin films of plastic and cardboard. Today, on the outside, it’s still blank canvass.

And the inside is sort of withering away – partly due to me peeling back the plastic to occasionally scan old memories for my blog, but mostly due to time and unfortunate neglect.

I’m not one to make concrete resolutions, but as we get closer to the New Year, one promise I’d like to make to myself is to be more organized, especially when it comes to documenting my travels.

How do you preserve your travel memories?

The leaves have started to change, but not quite everywhere. Even so, there’s something in the air that lets you know it isn’t summer anymore. It’s crisp, it’s cool and when the sun filters through the trees and splashes into the water or makes shadows on the street, it really makes me feel lucky to live in a place that has four seasons. I know that soon I’ll be complaining when my walk through the city means I’ll be up to my waist in snow. But for now, it’s perfect. It’s already late October but it still seems like we are merely in a state of transition.

There’s something about these times that make me nervous and even lose a little sleep. I’m happy there’s a change, but part of me wants to hang on to things like longer periods of sunlight and warmth for dear life.

It’s silly though, to think like that when we’re meant to live in the moment. So for now, I’m just going to try and stop every once in a while, take in a good view and then keep wandering.

How is it in your world?

I can’t believe how quickly time has flown since I married, and traveled so adventurously with, the love of my life…

I realized that the other day as I stomped over this.

A shamrock cemented into the sidewalk, there’s no way that this is new, but it was the first time I had ever seen it in my life. For some reason, at just the right moment, I broke out of my all business, look straight ahead and just get home attitude, and looked down. My feet were actually faster than my brain, but once it caught up I stopped, turned around and walked back to take a closer look.

It’s amazing what we don’t see sometimes, even if we walk over it every day. Don’t you think?

We spent the Fourth grilling with friends and watching the Boston fireworks from the sidewalk in front of my apartment. We also spent time with family.

Meet my grandmother-in-law’s beautiful and peaceful farm…

[Thanks, Instagram.]

Our weekend, even at its simplest, came with some unexpected discoveries. After a former mishap, Mike and I finally mastered a homemade lemon meringue pie, thanks to a recipe from our Better Homes and Gardens cookbook.

And when putting chairs away after watching a neighbor’s fireworks display, Mike randomly stumbled upon an old geographic chart of the U.S. and presidents in his grandmother’s garage that was made in 1931.

I always love finding antiques – they somehow have a way of bringing you back to a time you never even experienced – but considering the holiday, this discovery couldn’t have been more fitting.

How was your Fourth?