I’ve spent the last week with family on Cape Cod and I have a bevy of photos to share.

Unlike in past years we haven’t had any snow, which is TOTALLY FINE with me.

This first set of photos was taken at Monomoy beach near Morris Island.

My silly sister:

The seashells are pretty great here and my parents are always preoccupied with searching for the best ones. My sister imposed a “one shell limit” since we already have so many at home.

Doesn’t the object below look like a giant dinosaur egg? It’s some sort of broken nautical sphere.

Fancy homes in the area:

Next up we walked around nearby Chatham, a really cute town we like to frequent.

Love this rubber ducky window display:

We always find fun stuff at Mermaids on Main, located at the far end of Main Street in Chatham:

The next day I walked a beach in Harwich and stayed for sunset.

Thousands of shells…

I climbed up a lifeguard tower for a better vantage point:

We’ve enjoyed several meals this week, like dinner at Jailhouse Tavern in Orleans — easily my favorite restaurant on the Cape.

I won’t bore you with food photos, except for this one collage of our best meals:

Board games are a big deal in my family and we played three with our aunt and uncle — Redneck Life (expansion pack), The Resistance, and Balderdash. All of them were fun but The Resistance was the most spirited.

On New Years Eve I went into Boston to meet up with my good friends Kelley & Irving — I hadn’t seen them in about seven months! We all graduated from Emerson College about a decade ago and it was especially neat to hang out around our old stomping grounds.

A similar photo in front of the Little Building, where I lived during my freshman year of college:

After our dinner at Rock Bottom, Kelley and Irving went to see John Oliver at the Wilbur Theater while I walked back by the Boston Commons on my way to the T. We could hear fireworks going off nearby but I couldn’t see them until I got to Boylston Street. Here are some of my favorite shots:

I drove back to the Cape by 9:30pm and we played board games until midnight. Here’s our New Years Eve toast:

On New Years Day we went for a nature walk around Wing’s Island in Brewster.

To get in a little more exercise, we went to Eagle Point in the Punkhorn area of Brewster.

The evening ended with a lovely dinner at Brax with our dear friends Diane and Clay — Diane and my mom were college roommates for all four years they attended UConn (apparently in the early 2000’s, since they both claim to be 29 years old). It’s a treat to see them.

Longtime friends are the best time friends!

And that’s how I’ve spend the end of 2014 — enjoying the cold weather on Cape Cod with family, friends, and nature beach walks. Not too shabby!

EDITED TO ADD…

So the fun continued after I published this post. Here’s the final wrap-up from Massachusetts.

This past weekend my mom and Aunt Chris whipped up a fantastic and very photo-worthy brunch (I contributed the bacon):

And I cuddled with cute dogs, which is my happy place.

Then I visit my longtime friend Victoria and her boyfriend Brian at their apartment in Boston. We chatted into the wee hours of the night and spent most of Sunday together (and watched this delightful flick). It was so great to catch up with them.

We ate brunch at Fuel, which features a delightful honey hazelnut latte on their coffee menu. This nutella banana toast wasn’t too shabby either!

Thanks for the love, Massachusetts! I’ve missed you.