A Tour Around My Town

Today was such a nice day! A little over 60 degrees and barely a breeze outside. C and I wanted to take A to the park but all the snow melting has made everything wet, not to mention she took a 2 hour nap! We decided to take a walk around our neighborhood instead, so here are a few interesting things about my hometown ♥

My town is not a town at all, it's a city! "A City on the Move" to be exact, so says our little slogan. We were a mecca during the industrial period, mills and three story tenements lining the narrow streets. Not much has changed, aside from cobblestone streets being paved over with smooth cement, and the ever-changing neon signs hanging in store fronts on Main Street. Mills are everywhere, most being renovated into amazing lofts. I like the "hole in the wall" vibe here, although it's more prominent downtown than anywhere else. This place is tiny, why it feels more like a town. Tucked into the northern part of the state bordering Massachusetts, we are home to thick New England accents, wieners, and Autumnfest. The population is what makes it a city, at around 46,000. Many people living here are French Canadian, and French is still a common language, along with Spanish and Portuguese.


The old police station on Front Street, now turned into condos. While you can't see the entire building, the wonderful detailing is original. I mainly took this photo to show the buds on the trees! A sure sign Spring is on its way.


One of the old mills sitting on the Blackstone River, looking out toward the Main Street Historic District and the Court Street Bridge. Many of the textile mills had runoff dye that would contaminate the River, poison the fish, etc. The Blackstone River has made a huge comeback in being able to sustain plants + fish thanks to the many clean-up projects the city hosts.




Munroe Dairy is a staple in Rhode Island, as they are one of the only (if not the only) company who still delivers your milk to your door! If you aren't home to receive your delivery, the will pack your milkbox with ice so it stays cold until you get home. The customer service is just incredible, and other products are available as well (eggs, grass-fed beef, etc.) The milk contains NO artificial growth hormones or antibiotics, and all products are local.
http://www.cowtruck.com/wcms/index.php?faq
A little touch of old in an era of new ♥


Don't you just adore this home? It's behind my apartment, and I am in love with it! Wish I could take a sneak peek inside ;) My favorite is the paned windows in the attic.


The L'Eglise du Precieux Sang, aka Precious Blood Church. This beautiful structure was built in 1873 as the first French-Canadian church in the city. The belfry is copper that corroded into the green color it is today. Precious Blood was added to the National Register of Historic Places in the early 80's. It is still used for mass and other functions, such as bingo! Fun fact* I made my first communion here :)


I'm hoping to do more posts like this in the future, not only of my city but all of Rhode Island, as it is truly a special place to live/visit. After living in Florida for a while, I no longer take this little state for granted. ♥

When it rains, it pours

I am soo happy today is over. It started off fine, quiet even. Surprising in this house, considering our neighbor lets her children run rampant at 630 a.m. Needless to say, we are never late for anything thanks to our little alarm clocks. Anyway, around 1:30 a National Grid gas worker comes to our door and tells us we need to evacuate our house immediately, don't turn on any light switches, etc. Excuse me? Turns out there has been a gas leak under our street and it has been seeping into everybody's foundations. I have been smelling something strong for the past four days, never would have guessed it to be gas. Well we're told to evacuate, unfortunately our Volkswagen hasn't been working for some time so where are we supposed to go in the middle of the day when everybody is at work? It was about 30 degrees at most. Luckily our downstairs neighbor, T, asked us if we'd like to grab a bite to eat. We headed out, having to use T's unborn daughters brand new car seat as we forgot ours in my parents car. We spent a while at the restaurant, A casually walking around with me trailing behind her. She is so friendly! Everybody was waving goodbye and smiling at her when we left. Since our street was now completely blocked off, C figured we could just go to his dads until things were figured out. 2 minutes from our destination, A starts to cry and is clearly uncomfortable. It all happened so fast, but within 10 seconds she had a huge, disgusting pile of vomit all over her..... and T's bag, car, and daughter's carseat. I about died right then and there. I don't think I need to go into details.... but it was bad. A NEVER gets sick, so I was freaking out. Not to mention, T's brand new car seat with vomit all over it, not even from her own baby! This story gets even better though. Remember I mentioned it being no more than 30 degrees? Well, C's dad had given the spare key to his stepmom. So, we waited outside for a half hour until his dad got home. A had to wear my coat because hers was totally unwearable. I have to say though, I'm pretty happy with how I handled it all today. I am totally the type that gets wound up about everythingg, especially if something isn't turning out the way I envision in my mind. I was calm and stayed level-headed. Progress is being made!

We were able to come back home around 6pm, when they were just beginning to dig up the road. But A went down to sleep easily, despite the chaos and noise outside. Naturally I just had to get a few photos. I don't think this project will be ceasing anytime soon, so let's hope Death Cab drowns it out nicely.. xo