Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum

I visited the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum this week to celebrate the opening of the new wing. Here are some images (captured with my phone) of the new wing in the areas where photography is permitted. I especially enjoyed the living room with its rich warm tones, vibrant orchids growing, and birds chirping. It is a place for people to come and feel at home at the museum... I didn't expect such an amazing museum could get better, but it did! Can't wait to go back and put my feet up in that living room after taking in Ms. Gardner's impeccable collection again.

Home again :)

Today is the second time I reached home safely from a trip when home is Brighton, Massachusetts. I moved here (my apartment pictured on the left) almost 2 months ago, and have been to Long Island and Ottawa to see both sides of my family since then.
Today, from my seat across from the propeller of the De Havilland, I admired fiery reds cresting a rim of yellow on the early signs of forests in fall. Harvest time from the sky is something I'm sure I've done before, but today I really took joy in it. About 20 minutes before we reached Logan International Airport, I remembered a conversation I had during high school in Rome with a friend who was missing the New England autumn. As I got closer to Boston, I saw rivers, the ocean, farms, and forests that I want to learn, at least by name. Land passing beneath me in the warm glow of early fall.
I watched the wheels lower and soon after felt the welcome home thud of runway. I was lucky with my connections to the airport shuttle to the T with my connection from the blue to the green line... I took the D this time.
I moved to Brighton at the end of August and I'm still learning things. One of the most handy thing I've learned about my place is that the B, C, and D lines are all within a 15 minute walk, the closest being about a 45 seconds away. Along with my new (and only electric) mode of transportation, I've learned many of my immediate neighborhood's commercial stops. Recognizable standards (like my bank, Whole Foods, CVS, Chipotle...) are all easily walkable, as are a number of good finds. In a 10 minute radius, I can walk to Spanish food, 2 Thai restaurants, great pizza (there IS a difference between good pizza and pizza that misses the mark), a couple decent bars, and a dangerous frozen yogurt place. A neighborhood best for enjoying Boston in the fall - The Chestnut Hill Reservoir. The oldest "large scale public park" in Boston, two miles around the water, and two blocks from home. I saw it on a map while I was apartment hunting and decided on this place partially because of the nearby water. Now its my favorite spot. Not as quiet as Lake Braddock, but I can get a good walk in and be around trees, the water, and a little history now too- the waterworks- a beautiful building founded in the late 1800's sits by the water. Its now condos and part if it is actually slated to open as a museum in 2010.
Of course, I've looked outside my 10-minute radius and found solid connections (and re-connections) to people, amazing restaurants of all kinds, a Synagogue I can grow in, a sweet bead shop, and lots more. I've been to Fenway Park (the Sox won), the Museum of Fine Arts and a couple galleries.
I have sold some jewelry, secured a show at the Metropolitan Gallery (November, more to come), and picked up a photojournalism gig on Boston Billboards for Boston24.com.
I'm LOVING learning Boston and looking forward to more. I think the next few weeks will be a bit hectic- I want to explore the city and surrounding areas before winter hits, since I imagine the cold will dampen my tourist spirit slightly. I am really enjoying this season, and I know that someday, should I be somewhere other than the North East in fall, I will miss it too.

Shana Tova, keep in touch, and ENJOY AUTUMN!
Sarah