Butternut Squash in Chapel Hill

Things are about to really change here. I worked my last shift at the Olive Garden yesterday and we are packing up the las of our belongings and moving to Fort Collins, CO on Monday. I cannot wait for this new beginning to start!

Unfortunately, new beginnings also means saying goodbye to some old friends... at least for now. Yesterday afternoon, in between packing and work I met up with one of my oldest friends to have lunch. She suggested we go to "Butternut Squash" in Chapel Hill which serves vegetarian and vegan cuisine.

The atmosphere was nice, a mixture of modern and eclectic design in a smaller setting with an even smaller staff. Our server, Masie, who also doubled as our host and cashier, was an absolute delight! She was friendly, helpful and one of the better servers I've had in a long time.

Now the important part, the food. The food itself is not overly pricy with sandwiches starting around $9.50 and entrees from $10-14. I ordered the black bean burger pictured below and Rachel had an oversized loaded baked potato. Both our meals came with a fresh field green salad and was delicious. I tried her tofu bacon and i have to say, you'd never know it wasnt meat For the price and portions you really can't do much better for a specialty restaurant.

Mass MoCA

 I'm starting to feel very cultured this vacation, as I have now ventured to three different art museums this week alone. I will say this much for the Massachusetts/New England area you will not want for a lack of art or artistic expression.  Yesterday, I went to the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art in the small town of North Adams about a 30 minute drive from our resort.

The museum itself is located in an old 19th century Mill building lending to its overall character, size and scale. I do have to say that because of this the museum was a bit of a maze and I found I was frequently asking for directions. The featured/special exhibition was titled "Oh, Canada" and displayed the works of several different Canadian artists. I'm not going to lie, some of it I loved, some of it I hated, and the common complaint most of us have about modern and contemporary art, a lot of it went over my head. I loved artists who did more fiber art and stayed away from the ones that did visual/videos. To the left is another one of my favorites. It is this cool looking spaceship made out of old children's toys and trinkets. I cannot even begin to describe all the little intricate things in and around this piece.

Within the museum's permanent collection is the work Sol LeWitt, who I am assuming is from this area or once lived here because I saw another one of his installations today at the Williams College Museum of Art. LeWitt's work is composed of several large "wall" drawings and paintings which quite literally take up the entire wall. The museum breaks up his career by floor going from early work to later as you travel up the staircases. In my humble and not so critical opinion, his early work was the most impressive. In several of the installations on this floor, LeWitt left the work unfinished so you could read and see his artitstic process when executing a design. It is unbelievable of formulaic and intricate some of his designs are when the finish product looks quite simple. Some of his instructions seemed more like problems a geometry teacher would assign for homework rather than a large scale art installation.




Also, as a side note for if or when you visit. I was brave and tried lunch at the cafe located within the museum. It was surprisingly phenomenal. One of the better meals I have tried while we have been in the area. It was a simple black bean burrito with corn chips but all together delicious and full of flavor. Def. grab something to eat while your there enjoying the museum.

The Norman Rockwell Museum

Various works by Howard Pyle, Norman Rockwell Museum

Hello again lovelies,

I think I mentioned this in my last post but once again, the nanny is getting ready to move to Colorado which is now TWO weeks away. I cannot believe time as flown by so fast! I feel like the last month and a half has just disappeared. Well before I move away from North Carolina, the state that has been my home the last fourteen years, my parents invited my to spend their summer vacation with them in the greater New England area. I have to say that I have been pleasantly surprised about how enjoyable this vacation is going so far. Saturday we drove from our resort in Hancock, Massachusetts to Boston and spent the day walking the Freedom Trail.
(I will write about this in another post.)

Various works by Norman Rockwell, Norman Rockwell Museum

Since yesterday was a little rainy we set out for the Norman Rockwell Museum located in the sleepy New England village of Stockbridge, Mass. First off, let me say that this part of the country is absolutely beautiful. Gentle rolling hills back dropped by mountains in the distant horizon and all surrounded by lush greenery. Nestled in the idealic New England countryside the Norman Rockwell Museum is one of the most delightful museums I have visited in a long time. It is not a huge museum about the size of a small family home the museum masterfully displays a large collection of Rockwell's paintings as well as having three smaller galleries in which they can have special exhibits. For their special exhibition the museum was displaying the works of Howard Pyle, who according the the museum, greatly influenced Rockwell's work. It does a great job a displaying a variety of Rockwell's art and conveying themes that appear throughout Rockwell's career. The museum is a must go-to if you are in the area. 

Happy 4th of July!!!

Happy Independence to day to everyone out there! Sorry to have been gone for so long but there has been a lot going on the past month. Just to  quickly update everyone in the past month I have to say good bye to my kiddies, the boy and I have started packing up the apartment and we are preparing to move out to Colorado. Grad school is less than a month away, the move is even closer and we are really starting to get excited.

More to come soon! Hope everyone is having a great day enjoying barbques, sunshine and fireworks :)