Staycation

Instead of going to Martha's Vineyard like we had planned we decided to take a "Staycation." I just couldn't deal with the suitcases and being away for an entire weekend after the past few weeks. So instead we booked a room at The Kendall Hotel.




We had come across The Kendall last winter when we decided to walk home from the Kendall T stop. Ever since then we've been trying to figure out a way to justify staying at a hotel two minutes from our apartment. The hotel is beautiful and everyone should stay there immediately. The ambiance is awesome, the rooftop retreat is beautiful, and the restaurant is really nice.

After checking in, and a very nice surprise moment, we headed into Boston. Our plan was to visit the Aquarium before dinner but unfortunately it was closed for a special event. We still had the chance to see the seals outside and ended up seeing an IMAX movie. I have an awesome picture of a seal but my dumb iphoto isn't letting me open it up! Anyways, trust me...it's real cute :-)

After dinner we hung out in Christopher Columbus Park on our way to the North End. We took a tour of the rose gardens and watched the boats come in. It was a beautiful fall day in the city and so many people were out.


We made our way to Hanover Street to have dinner at Taranta. Our original plan was to eat at Teatro but they didn't have a table. I'm glad we ended up here. Taranta is an amazing restaurant that fuses Italian and Peruvian flavors. I highly, highly recommend the mussels appetizer. Delicious!

After dinner we walked back through Christopher Columbus Park to the Last Hurrah at the Omni Parker. Anyone who reads my blog knows that I'm a big fan of this place as evidenced by this and this. I mixed up the drink order so we ended up with something we weren't expecting but it was a great way to end the evening.

In the morning we enjoyed breakfast on the outdoor patio. I love the fact that we were able to sneak in some more outdoor dining before the cold weather hits.

It really was a lovely weekend getaway and it was even better since our drive home was less than 5 minutes and I had about 5 things to unpack. We were able to spend our Sunday relaxing and celebrating something special with friends!

I love the city!

11 Green St. Apt. #1

I've been missing for a few weeks. I was supposed to blog about a "day of fun" at Woodward at the Ames and Drink but instead everything changed. My mom died suddenly and my world was turned upside down.

I spent a lot of time at home on the South Shore and what I was realized is that my happiest memories of my mom are from our time in Cambridge when we lived at 11 Green St. Apt. #1. All of the pictures from back then show my mom smiling and looking happy.

Just another reason why I love living in Cambridge so much! When I got back to Cambridge I had trouble getting back into the groove of the city. We went to Harvard Square and I was totally overwhelmed by the people and noise.

Luckily, after a week back at school and getting back into a routine I was able to enjoy the city again. I think my mom would be happy :-)

Exploring the Seaport

I love long weekends, especially long 4 day weekends! After a great few days back in the classroom it was nice to have four straight days off. Thankfully Hurricane Earl only stayed for a day and I was back in the Square Saturday morning.

I woke up pretty early for me on Saturday, before 8:00 a.m. so I headed off to the Square to enjoy the sunny weather. The Square was so empty. I went for a quick walk around the Charles River. It brought back so many memories from last fall when my Charles River walks were a means to escape my work stress! I left the Square in a great mood, ready for a fun evening at the Seaport.

One of our friends organized a Seaport adventure for Saturday night. I have to admit, I've done a few things in the Seaport area, but for the most part I never venture down there. Big mistake! The Seaport area has some great places... and I think we went to all of them last night :-)

First up was Drink. I've read about this place in Boston Magazine a bunch of times and was very excited to try it. A little hint- if you've never been it's pretty hard to find. It's in the basement of Sportello and the sign is a 3 inch tall black etching on the door. I highly recommend this place, and it may just actually be my new favorite. They don't have much a menu because they will basically make anything you want. The atmosphere was really relaxed, but trendy... a sometimes tough combination to pull off.

Next up we headed over to one of my favorite restaurants the No Name Restaurant on the Fish Pier. When I was younger my parents would take me here for special occasions, even though it's definitely not a typical "special occasion" restaurant. The menu is no frills and that's just how I love my seafood! My favorite dish is the broiled sauteed shrimp plate with broccoli, cauliflower, and carrots. It's such a simple dish but the flavors are so fresh and clean and everything is cooked perfectly. I was so happy that everyone seemed to enjoy it just as much as I do!

After the No Name we headed over to the Atlantic Beer Company to enjoy the roof deck. I'm slightly disappointed that I just discovered this place at the end of the summer. Maybe it was because it was Labor Day weekend but it wasn't crowded at all, and the clientele were mostly our age. In my opinion, a Boston outing is always better with less 21-24 year olds. I just can't take them sometimes :-) The roof deck has an awesome view of the harbor! Even though it was quite blustery, thanks to Earl, we all agreed it was refreshing after the heat wave from the past week.

Our next stop was The Whiskey Priest conveniently located right next door. I ended up liking this place a lot more than I thought I would, especially with the young crowd I spotted heading in before us. Once inside I realized there was a nice mix of ages. The bar is right on the water with large open-air windows. I also really enjoyed the mix of music which inspired us to go out dancing in the near future. We had a fun conversation about how you can tell a lot about a woman based on her footwear choices and amount of product in her hair. On our way out the door, at the late hour of 10:00, we were greeted with a huge line to get in. Apparently we were the trend setters that evening :-)

Our final stop for the evening was The Barking Crab. The Barking Crab is a fun, very casual, harbor side restaurant and bar. It was a great place to wrap up the evening!

Now, I'm off to review lessons on latitude, longitude, and hemispheres! Things are a bit different for me this year but I'm definitely much happier at school... and I still have one more morning in the Square to look forward to tomorrow. Now if only my tables were back!