Hurricane Sandy

I started hearing about Hurricane Sandy last week and started wondering if I should do my school plans for this week or not.  I hate writing my plans and then having to redo them.  By Friday it was obvious we were going to be affected.  On Saturday I slacked on my storm prep, opting for a beautiful day in Harvard Square and lazy night at home playing Zelda.

I certainly paid the price on Sunday.  I had a meeting in Portsmouth in the morning and tried to go to the grocery store there with no luck.  I tried three other grocery stores in Cambridge before I was able to get a parking spot 1/4 of a mile from the Whole Foods at Fresh Pond.  As a friend pointed out, pre-storm panic is much more civilized at Whole Foods.  They even had a cheese tasting so although it was packed it wasn't obnoxious.  I left with $50 worth of non-perishable food and enough snacks to last a week.

JO and I spent most of Monday watching the weather from our living room.  I don't remember another storm quite like this.  We were fortunate to keep power for the entire day and night.  We saw a couple of trees fall but nothing major.  I couldn't get over the wind and the crazy rain.  I'm currently engrossed in the coverage from New York and New Jersey and can't even imagine what people there are going through.

I know a lot of people are upset that we don't have school today, but I for one am glad.  Roads are still closed, power is out all over the city I work in, and I can only imagine what my commute would've been like (and I live close.)

At one point the Red Car Parade zipped through our neighborhood.  Not sure what that was about!

We watched this tree all day and sure enough, around 3:00 p.m. it fell.  The city was dealing with a lot of other major tree problems so a passerby ripped down the limbs and pulled them off the road.  Community spirit at its best!

Inmanween

I've said it before and I'll say it again.  I love my neighborhood!  I especially love all of the annual events that the business association puts on:  Inmanween, Shop by Moonlight, and movie night to name a few.

Our schedules, and the weather, have not cooperated in the past for us to participate in Inmanween but that was not the case this year.  We picked up our pumpkin for the carving contest at Ricky's Flower Market.

JO used an image of the UConn Husky to create a carving template and then spent 3 hours carving this masterpiece.

We brought our pumpkin over to the plaza and enjoyed the festive atmosphere.

And in the end, we won!  Our pumpkin was displayed in the window of Boutique Fabulous and we won some gift cards for neighborhood businesses.  We loved seeing our pumpkin in the window and enjoyed all the compliments people gave us!

Belly Wine Bar

A few weeks ago I came across an ad for a new wine bar in Cambridge called Belly Wine Bar.  I immediately wanted to try it out, and luckily my good friend was willing to join me.

The wine bar opened up in Kendall Square next door to the Blue Room.  Kendall Square is really growing and I'm loving all the new restaurants and shops that are opening up.  Belly Wine Bar didn't disappoint.  The decor is rustic and modern at the same time.  There is a variety of seating: long bar tables, round table booths, and some smaller tables.  The space is small but well set up and certainly doesn't feel crowded.  There is also an outdoor area with a fireplace.  It was raining the day we went but I'll definitely be headed back to enjoy that soon.

The people behind Central Bottle in Central Square handle the wine and the people behind the Blue Room does the charcrutiere.  Both were great.  The wine menu changes every few weeks and features lots of unique wines (no Cab Sav or Pinot Noir here.)  Luckily, the staff is really knowledgable and is willing to give you samples.  They also do small pours for $4 or $5 so you can really do a wine tasting. I also enjoyed their humor with the captions on their menu:

This place is a great addition to Cambridge!

Anniversary

JO and I celebrated our 1 year wedding anniversary recently.  We had so much fun reliving the day with drinks at the Kendall Hotel and dinner at the Commander Hotel.  We realized our anniversaries are forever planned, no stress there!

We really enjoyed spending some time at the Kendall Hotel.  We hadn't been back since last fall.  It's a great place to hang out and grab a drink or eat dinner.  The lobby is really relaxed with lots of fun decorations and the staff, as always, is great.  We're thinking it would be really nice in a winter storm.

Dinner at the Commander never disappoints.  The food is always top notch and the service is great.  We had our picture taken in the lobby and I think that will be another tradition for us in the years to come.

We're definitely really lucky that we can revisit our wedding venue whenever we want.  It's always nice to remember all those special memories!

Out and About in Harvard Square

We've definitely been enjoying Harvard Square in the fall.  We've hit up the Hubway bikes for a Sunday ride up and down the river, hung out at Oktoberfest, watched the Regatta, and did some pre-hurricane roofdeck dining at Daedalus.  We've also been visiting the Brattle Theater for Hitchcock movies and live debate coverage.  Harvard Square is always a fun place, but the fall seems to be particularly awesome!

The gorgeous pre-hurricane weather gave us a chance for one last roofdeck lunch.

Gorgeous weather for the Regatta.

Hubways!

Live coverage of the debates at the Brattle Theater.  It was really fun to watch the debate with so many people.

Epic Road Trip

Don't get me wrong, I love everything about Boston and Cambridge and I can't imagine living anywhere else, but I really enjoy the West Coast.  This year we flew into San Francisco and drove up the California Coast to the Redwood National Park.  Then we headed into Oregon with stops at Crater Lake National Park, Portland, and Mt. Hood.  I could write a book on the trip but instead I'll let the pictures do the talking.

Our final stop was the Timberline lodge at Mt. Hood.  The lodge is at the base of Mt. Hood.  The views are breathtaking and the mountain is rather impressive.  

Skiing in August- only at Mt. Hood

We were lucky to have a lot of expert advice about our time in Portland.  We loved this city and I for one really want to go back asap.

Voodoo Doughnuts- not to be missed

Japanese Botanical Gardens

The Rose Garden

Merriweather's for lunch- beautiful and delicious

Crater Lake National Park is one of the most amazing places I have been.  We swam in the lake, hiked up 800 vertical feet in 18 minutes to get to our dinner reservations on time, and watched the sun set behind the lake.  I would go back here every year if I could!

Crater Lake National Park- everyone should go here!

I could stare at the lake all day!

The one and only boat allowed to operate on the lake. It looks so tiny!

Wizard Island

The Phantom Ship

View from dinner at the lodge

Drinks on the veranda as the sun went down.  A magical night!

"Not real." That's what we said throughout our visit to the Redwoods.  The trees are epically huge and pictures don't do them justice.  I was totally waiting for a pterodactyl to fly over our heads.  We felt like we were in the age of dinosaurs.

"We're in a tree."  Yes, we were actually inside a tree.

Perspective shot

San Francisco was a great place to start our adventure.  It's such a relaxing city with great weather (when it's not raining.)  Happy Hours abound and everyone just wants to enjoy life.

Westin St. Francis in San Francisco

Our favorite restaurant in San Francisco

Fun times in small town Petaluma, CA

 Driving along the California coast was a lot of fun.  The ocean views were stunning.

Lunch with an epic view!

Upon seeing this from the car JO said, "We are moving here."

The beach at the BeachComber Hotel

Fog rolls in along the beach

I Make my Return with a Champagne Brunch

It took the horrible superstorm Sandy, but I finally have time to blog again!  Trust me, every week writing a blog post has been on my to-do list but unfortunately so have about a hundred other things.  With all of the changes in school this year I feel worse than I did when I was a first year teacher.  I'm bringing 6-8 hours of work home each weekend and I'm staying at school later than I ever have before.   I've been so overwhelmed it's hard to describe.  Fear not though, I managed to sneak in some fun city adventures and one epic west coast road trip along the way.  But, for the first time in a long time, I have nothing to do today!  I can finally blog again!

I'll start with one of my favorite outings from the summer- The Champagne Brunch at the Taj Hotel.  A while back my friend mentioned wanting to go to this brunch.  The funny thing was I had just looked at it online and was hoping to find someone to go with.

It was a lot of fun to get dressed up and treat myself to a fancy morning in the city.  Normally I don't love fancy places but every once in a while it can be a lot of fun.  I've never been in the Taj before.  It's an absolutely beautiful hotel.  The brunch is in the rooftop dining room with skyline views of the city.  Every possible brunch food is available: oysters, omelets, waffles, cheese, quiche, potato dishes, fruits, desserts, etc.  Everything was delicious and so was the champagne.

It was a really fun way to spend a Sunday in the city.  Sure, it's a bit expensive but every so often it's fun to treat yourself to something fancy.