Attitude of Gratitude

We are so thankful to be able to hangout together and as usual we engaged in some hi-jinx for your reading pleasure.  Here are some images from our recent encounters with the wonder that is a MA shopping day.

We only go to the best establishments in town to start our day.

What else do you need other than coffee and cigarettes to start your day?  Since we aren't crazy youngsters, we don't need cigarettes, but a cup of large coffee is often a great eye opener.

After fondling $500 boots at the shoe store while picking up some resoled boots we headed to the land of holiday gift giving enchantment...Target-boutique.

For those of you looking for gifts, we have compiled a collection of what are sure to become the hottest trends of the season, and some could even become treasured family heirlooms.

For the women in your life - a collection of festive sweaters...yep it lights up!

To add a bit of pizazz to the office holiday party try this...

Hmm, just make sure HR or the PR department isn't around if you are going to share it with someone.

Looking for a jazzy yet practical accessory for a special lady in your life?

Perhaps an impressionistic wallet for Gramma?

Something classic for the Stephanies and Erikas in your life.

 

Or some sparkle for your favorite aunt to match with her purple school gear (hint, hint!)

Don't worry, we haven't forgotten about the guys - try this on for size.

Finally, here's a bit of nature to bring the outdoors inside for all the city-folk.  We think these are sure to be the heirlooms that your kids will fight over.

Such as this lovely bear pillow and complementary ottoman...

Or the classic deer head -- look at the number of points on this guy!  People are sure to be impressed.

After all the glitz and glamour of our adventure we caught a glimpse of the big city Boston skyline on the way home.

No matter where your holiday shopping leads you remember to always be cool, kitty cats.

c & k

You can't make this up (aka why we should have our own reality show)

This post can be filed under the "you can't make this up" category.  The day started like any other Thursday during the school year.  I began my carpool to work this week on Tuesdays and Thursdays in an attempt to get me home earlier and to get my colleague to stay at work later.  On our drive in today one of the questions we discussed was whether we would want children.  My response was that I have a pretty awesome life and am free to come and go as I please without them at this point.  Tonight was a prime example of this.  After being dropped off at home, the plan was to take a 45 minute walk to Nut Island. What happened was a phone call from one of my closest friends Ned that went something like this:
Me: Hello
Ned: Good evening how are you?
Me: I'm well, how are you?
Ned: I'm well, are you at home?
Me: Maybe, why?
Ned: Well, because you weren't anywhere else I tried.
Me: What do you need?
Ned: A drink, people are crazy
Me: I'll meet you at the Wharf

Fast forward 30 minutes where we meet at Wharf 88 and then proceed to the Farmers Market before settling in to prime seats at the end of the bar.  We are greeted by our regular bar tender (who we believe is named Brian).  We know many things about him, where he goes to school, that is he a single dad, what he wants to do after college, etc., but haven't exactly got the name thing down.  After determining that Fall sucks for drinks since people tend to put pumpkin in things and declare it a fall drink recipe, we order our regular summer drinks and an appetizer.  Everything is on track for a lovely evening, we plan vacations, talk about work, have some laughs, and then it happens.

Ned's eyes get big and I hear a little "oh look" and as I turn we see Brandi and Sandy.  These were two characters that we met several months ago -- Ned believes it was a year ago, it was really about 5 months ago.  They are regulars at the bar, but call themselves frequenters because regulars sounds too well, you know.  They sit down next to us and we chat about drinks, work, and that we never connected like we said we would since the last time we saw them.  Then I hear a "oh no" and as I turn and look I see Frank enter.  Frank is a regular at the Wharf and makes his way around to all the patrons.  He cal tell you why we know drink vodka and martinis, any number of things about Presidents and film trivia, and many other topics of no consequence to anyone.  The last we we saw him he insisted that Ned freed the Irish from persecution.

Brandi and Sandy insist that Frank is going to sit next to Ned, at which time he tried to take up as much space as he can at the bar.  This doesn't work and Brandi and Sandy let us know that Frank is in his 80s and we need to be more kind to him.  Ned continues to mumble "you can't make this shit up" under his breath.  At one point, our dinner comes, Frank, Brandi, and Sandy are all talking to us, and neither of us are listening to any of them.  I look at Ned and ask "Is he talking to you?"  Ned replies, "I think so, but I don't care".   Then Sandy and Frank decide to play trivia and begin loudly asking questions that come to their heads about various topics.  At this point another woman (maybe Susan) comes in and Brandi goes to talk with her while Sandy and Frank continue to quiz each other.

At the end of the night our bill arrives and Ned writes a note to our bartender that says:
"This was a completely crazy night at Wharf 88.  We love you!"  Brian had all he could do to keep a straight face while he ran our cards and returned the check to us to sign.  Ned (the extrovert) hugged all the folks on the way out, while I (the introvert) did a subtle wave and he promised Brandi and Sandy we'll catch up soon. The entire staff escorted us out when we left and were laughing with us when we made it to the parking lot.

And as I drove home to the sounds of the Frozen soundtrack I was reminded of the morning conversation where I stated that I wouldn't be able to have spontaneous adventures if I had to think of taking care of a kid.  I think tonight was a perfect example of that.

Pickles, Pretzel Buns, and other random nonsense

The Banjos and Brastaps team was back in action this Labor Day weekend.  Since KBW had doggie duty she and Luna headed for Boston with a bag full of cucumbers and a dream of making pickles. She also dropped some hints about the need for jam and so we squeezed a few jars of peach pear jam in as well.  At the end of the weekend we had sweet and spicy relish, bread and butter pickles, and dill pickles made along with the jam.  Here is a lovely magazine like photo of half of the bounty.

We'll share the recipes later in case you want to try the same at your home.
We also spent the weekend walking at the beach, eating Chinese food, playing Crimes Against Humanity with our gal pals, and shopping for school clothes.

KBW also thought we should share some quotes from the weekend with you so here we go:
1. Nobody owns Carrie Cokely.
2. You have to establish your dominance, that's why I ignore the dog.  I saw it on the dog whisperer.
3. I like that game, crimes against humanity.
4. Are you trying to see if I'm in a coma?
5. You've got to make your own adventures Luna!
6. Can I tell you something without it sounding like sexual harassment?
7. Oh goodie, I get to learn about white people!
8. Have you ever eaten a Wendy's pretzel bun burger? Yeah!  It's like a pretzel, but it's a bun and a burger.  It's great.

In the end I think while we were enjoying ourselves, the dog couldn't make heads or tails of what was happening as evidenced by the picture below.

That's it for now Banjos and Brastraps fans.  We'll try to post more often in the last half of 2014, especially now that I have the correct password!

we are busy people (or not)

HA!!  I just decided to check the blog and while I know I haven't been able to add any super duper important things to it for a few weeks or months, I was assured that my compadre Mizz Carrie was dutifully discussing the complexities of being a wild single career gal in the big city of beantown.  Alas, this was not true.

How could this be?  What has she been up to?


HA HA!!! That was a lie!  Sort of, she has been busy but never promised to continue the blog although we have discussed it at length, somehow we haven't been able to keep up with this.  To let you know we are still doing important things for humanity, this is the Congressional Edition of our blog - YOU decide what is truth, semi-truth or a falsehood.  If in doubt, contact the NSA, they know what's going on.

1.  The first is easy, since last we posted in July 2012, Carrie, me and a gang of nefarious characters have had dinner with P!nk right before her concert.

False!  We did go see her in concert thought and it was with a gaggle of nefarious individuals:

 2.  (Damn I can't get this blog to format correctly)... Ok so both of us moved, I am now living in Hanover NH with my partner Daisy, some kids and various animals  that live inside and outside of our home.  Carrie purchased a new home in lovely Houghs Neck MA - right on the ocean pretty much.  You can decide who lives in which place:

  


3.  Carrie decided to to finally admit she loves animals and got a new house pet:



4.  In addition to moving I decided to go back to school and earn my MPH (Master's of Public Health).  Here's a picture of some friends of mine from the program who just finished:



5.  At the risk of shameless self-promotion - Carrie just got a promotion to Associate Dean of the College (aka. Ass Dean) and Daisy and I just published an article on screening for substance use and pregnancy in the Journal of Midwifery and Women's Health.

6.  I think this is enough to prove that we are still alive and kicking.  Do stay in touch and we'll try to do something - whether its interesting or not - and maybe yack about it here, in less than 11 or so months.  Oh, we decided to make a documentary about our friendship - here's the promo for it - let us know what you think:


toodles

Apparently We've Been Busy

Yo B&BS pals - if there are any left that is - guess we've been busy since it's been seven months since we've reported any shenanigans.  Here's a brief update on our combined activities.  You can decide who's doing what and one of these days we'll get it back together and try and get this blogging thing going again.

Life's happenings for CC & KW - things we've done / encountered / etc.

Went to the Beach - had a cookout - got a new job - got a new house - traveled to Cali - traveled to NC, twice - went to NH, went to MA, drove through PA, NY, went to VA, MD, VT - drove - posted stuff on facebook - had relatives visit - had friends visit - drove - visited relatives - visited friends - ate lots of yummy food - fought mysterious unwanted illnesses - ate not so great food - drove - DIY on the house - wrote reports - made graphs - wrote papers - drove - got into graduate school - planted flora & fauna - discovered deceased things in the yard - met the neighbors - mowed - drove - went to concerts - went to plays - went to shows - drove - saw fireworks - did laundry - had semi-famous people stay over - mailed bills - mailed letters - cleaned the house - drove - went shopping - picked up dry cleaning - bought random things that were and were not necessary - drove - talked on the phone - texted - got lost - registered for classes - drove - visited each others houses - got caught in the rain - slipped on ice - went to the dentist - went to the doctor - hung out with friends - drove - hung out with family - made plans to move - moved - working on renting or selling the house - had ice cream - watched movies - watched a little tv - played with the Wii - joked around - giggle - sneezed - drove - saw beautiful wonderful things - flew on planes - rode on trains - took the bus - drove the car.

The BIG Game Weekend

To celebrate the last weekend before the start of the semester, Carrie traveled to Maine to have a fun-filled weekend with Kristina. 

Here's the breakdown...

Fun Friday: Carrie arrived to a snowy Maine where she was able to view a beautiful sky and the pyramids of western Maine from the comfort of Kristina's chichin.

We then talked about important things at "seminar" with KBW's friends Ashley, Chris, Kristen, Tom, Drew, Sarah, and Stephanie.  We had cool drinks and a nice snack and headed home for enchiladas and a Skype date with Gretchen and Ruth who are in Paro, Bhutan.  We learned about Ginger cookies, the meat market (where there are piles and piles of meat), hats from Assam, India and the difference between where they are and North America.  We then settled into part I of the Yahtzee tournament.

Super Saturday: We began our day with Carrie noticing a new DIY project for KBW.  What started with the simple phrase "Did you know your medicine cabinet is a little lean-y ended with this:

Don't worry b&b fans it's under control!

With screw measurements in KBWs pocket, we headed to Daisy's for a lovely breakfast of popovers, fruit, omelets, and all you can drink coffee and tea.  We were entertained with animals chasing each other and watching high schoolers have a floppy wrist fight while trying to avoid a case of caffeine psychosis.  The seven year old was smart and played legos by himself in another room.

FINALLY after 7 years of waiting KBW finally took Carrie to the elusive town of:

WATERVILLE!  While here we took in the movie The Descendents and while shopping for dinner afterwards couldn't quite figure out what the big deal is with that movie except that Clooney cries [oops spoiler alert].  We then came back to Farmington and made a chicken dinner and prepared to go back to Daisy's for part 2 of the Yahtzee tournament where we learned that probability theory doesn't help you win at all.  Clearly this is why KBW excelled at the tournament.  Good thing Carrie got her groove on and was able to manage to win one round -- although this did happen the time that she started keeping score.

Snoozy Sunday: After recovering from Saturday -- meaning we slept in past 8am -- we celebrated by having pancake Sunday.

 

Once we got our carbs on we decided to round out the game weekend with some ladderball. [Don't try this in your own home -- it really should be played outside -- but it's cold in Maine and our moms weren't here to tell us "don't play ball in the house!".]  If you aren't familiar with the game you toss these balls at the frame from about 15 feet away -- we had just enough room from the living room to the chi-chin.  Once again KBW won -- she's fulfilling her horoscope that said she would have a good year.

Sometime during the weekend, we won't tell you when, we played a game with cherry stems from our drinks.  Guess which of the b&b team could do this:

Yep there's a knot in the stem and you can't use your hands!

Until the next adventure, all we can we say is -- we've got balls!

KBW's Heterosexual New Year :)

A couple of years ago Carrie traveled to Maine to celebrate the new year with Kristina and her lesbian friends.  This became known as Carrie's Lesbian New Year.  So in keeping with our tradition of celebrating the new year together, Kristina came to Boston for a 'low key' new year celebration.

The beginning plan: eat bad food while watching some cable TV and playing games

What it morphed into -- dinner party for 4 and a rousing game of Mall Madness and what will now be known as KRISTINA'S HETEROSEXUAL NEW YEAR!!!!!!

After doing some late day grocery shopping we mixed up some cosmos and began making dinner.  Apparently you shouldn't do this if you are planning to made risotto for dinner or someone will lose track of what she is doing and dump the entire 2 pound bag of rice into the pan instead of the 1 cup that was needed.  Needless to say that dish was an epic fail -- good thing we had appetizers, steak, candied carrots and cupcakes!

During the evening with Ted (Carrie's cousin) and Sarah (our awesome friend who resembles Wonder Woman) Kristina kept track of her favorite quotes on this index card:

Here's the translation:
1. [Carrie to Kristina] Be careful, you don't want to wack your nuts!
2. [Ted] No one is going to beat Ted Kamas at Mall Madness!  ...{Carrie won}
3. [Sarah to Ted] That's not an elevator that's a fountain.  It's cute you went swimming in it. [Ted] Where the hell's the fuckin' fashion boutique?!
4. [Sarah] If you were a superhero what you would superpower be? [Kristina] Ummmm  [Carrie] Invisibility  [Kristina] Ummm I think I would choose the power to make everyone in the world do the right thing [Carrie] Huh? I thought you would have picked the greatest superpower of all.... [Kristina] What's that? [Carrie] Heterosexuality!  [Ted shouts woo-hoo and throws his arms in the air] ...[Carrie] The power, the paradox and the promise!
5. [recovery day] While watching the Big Bang Theory [Kristina] We're smart like this.  [Carrie] No we're not.

Here are some picture highlights from the evening...

Cousins

Attention Mall shoppers.....

KBW and SAS

Party on!

Oh two final highlights of the weekend -- we decided to call Friday free furniture Friday in honor of the 2 tables that we reallocated to ourselves from the side of the road.  And we learned about the honey badger -- click the link to learn more.

Happy 2012 y'all!
c&k