New Hampshire Getaway

Back in July when yet another weekend was forecast to be humid and monsooney (yes that's a word if you lived in the Boston area this July) JO leapt into action by securing us a hotel room in the North Conway, NH area last minute.  They were predicted to have much better weather and JO felt a quick trip up North was the cure for our summer woes.

We left around 3:30 on Friday and once we got onto 95 the traffic wasn't too bad.  We stayed at the Eagle Mountain House in Jackson, NH.  On the way up we stopped at the outlets and did a little shopping.  As well as the shopping, we took note of the many mini-golf locations for the next day.

When we arrived at the hotel we decided to grab dinner on their porch with mountain views.

Inspired by the views we started talking about our National Parks trip set for August.  We had fun thinking about all the hiking and adventures we would be going on!  After dinner JO took me to an Irish bar that he and his family used to go to when they would visit the area.  It was fun to get a sneak peek into his younger days.

In the morning we woke up, checked out another pretty view, and played a lot of mini-golf!

We stopped at a local place for lunch before heading to "The Flume" area for some pre-National Parks hiking practice.  The Flume was quite exciting!

We returned home excited by the prospects of more weekend getaways in the future.  I was glad JO was so proactive in saving what could've been another rainy, boring weekend.  Sometimes you need a little mountain in your life :-)

The Perfect Seaport Summer Night

One part of the city that I don't think we frequent enough is the Seaport area.  It's an especially fun area on a beautiful summer night.  So when Living Social had a deal for reduced rates on a sunset harbor cruise we snapped them right up.

Our evening started at the No Name Restaurant, a nostalgic favorite of mine.  Growing up, my parents would take me here on special occasions or when we would come back to the city to visit friends.  There's nothing fancy about this place, in fact it looks pretty much the same as it did when I was little.  The prices are pretty reasonable and the food is good.  If you're lucky to get a window table you can watch the planes take off and land from Logan and the occasional boat get pulled over by the coast guard.  We were even here last fall when the earthquake rumbled through but we didn't feel a thing.

After dinner we killed some time by walking around the waterfront area.  Legal's Harbor Side is the big draw here but I'm more of a fan of the smaller places like 75 on Liberty Wharf (which I have not tried but really want to go to...and it appears it's pretty easy to snag an outside table on their beautiful waterfront patio.)  We also happened to walk by the most beautiful patio in the area, of course attached to Morton's Steakhouse, which was completely empty.  We filed this in the back of our minds for after the cruise and headed over to the wharf to catch the boat.

I have to say, Charles River Boat Company runs an excellent harbor cruise.  The crowd was a good age, and not into the crazy partying scene.  This ride was all about the views and a nice glass of wine to accompany them.  The ride lasted for an hour and was timed pretty well to get some sunset skies.  Sometimes the best city views are from the water and I for one loved what I saw.

After the cruise was over we both agreed this perfect summer night must continue so we circled back to Morton's.  We didn't get our hopes up though because how would it be possible on the best summer night of the year for that beautiful patio to be free.  Well, we lucked out because there were only a handful of people enjoying the patio that night and we were able to grab lounge seats very easily.  Thanks to Google Images here's a great shot of the patio. 

It's huge and airy with beautiful stone work anchoring the space.  There are great patio tables but also great patio lounges with lower tables, which I'm always a fan of.  We had so much fun enjoying such a perfect setting for a glass of bubbly.  We were having so much fun we texted a few of our friends to show off our new find only to find out they were next door.  They ended up joining us and we extended the evening a bit longer.  

It really was a perfect summer night in the city and the patio was a great find!

Rooftops in the Summer

A while back a co-worker took a new job in another town.  Although I'm sad to see her leave our building I am thrilled that she got this exciting opportunity.  A few of us decided to go out and celebrate with a dinner and when they suggested I pick a place in Cambridge it was an easy choice.  Summer in Cambridge on a beautiful evening means one thing- Daedalus in Harvard Square.

I have raved about this place quite often on this blog but once again Daedalus proved to be an excellent choice for a summer night.  Being a Wednesday I thought we might have luck on our side and get a coveted roof deck table.  We ended up having to wait about 45 minutes but it was totally worth it.  Everyone loved the restaurant and agreed that the roof deck was the way to go!  We had fun reminiscing about the previous school year and talking about upcoming trips.  The food was delicious, as always, and the service impeccable.  Without us asking, the waitress split our bill for us which is always a huge help.

I've had a lot of fun memories on the roof deck, most especially the memory of finding the place to begin with.  My roommate and I had hurried out of our apartment one Sunday summer morning to avoid the "roommate drama" only to wind up walking into Daedalus for brunch.  To say we were a bit dressed down was an understatement, I'm pretty sure I had sweatpants on.  When they asked us if we wanted to sit on the roof we both looked at each other and said "of course."  We couldn't believe we had stumbled onto such an awesome place.  It's been a personal favorite ever since!

Harvard Square in the Mornings

One of my favorite things about summer vacation, actually quite possibly my favorite, is spending the mornings in Harvard Square.  I've been doing this for several years now and it's really become a special ritual of mine.  Days that start in the Square are always the best.  I think that's why, back in July, I wasn't loving the direction my summer was taking.  It was so hot, muggy, and often rainy that I only made it in the Square a few times that month.  August was another story entirely though, with beautiful mornings and lots of trips into the Square.  I certainly didn't get to go as much as I would've liked this summer but it just made the mornings I could that much more special.

I love the short walk in, it's only about 20 minutes.  I walk down Harvard Street which is a really pretty, relaxing street in the city.  I love seeing all of the flower gardens on my way and the chance to stop at Whole Foods on the way home for lunch or dinner ingredients.

I have my mornings down to a fine science.  I grab my coffee and Dunkin Donuts and cut over to Harvard Yard.  They have tables and chairs set up by Dudley Hall, complete with canopies to keep the area shaded.  I relax, read a book, and drink my coffee.  Something so simple but it really does fill me with happiness.  I think back to when I used to live so far away from the city that something like a simple trip in for coffee and reading would not have been possible.  Now it's just a way of life for me, and one I won't take for granted.  Those precious moments fill up my "city meter" and make me feel so relaxed.  I was really thankful to squeeze one last Harvard Square morning in on Wednesday, the day before school starts.  I have to make sure I focus on myself more this school year and that will start with as many morning weekend trips into the Square as possible.

Boston Fireworks

One of my favorite traditions since moving to the city has been going to the Boston fireworks.  Most years we meet up with friends in Central Square, grab dinner, and walk down Mass Ave. to the river.  This year, we met up with friends in Boston for dinner, before watching the fireworks from the Longfellow Bridge (by the way I miss this bridge horribly, but that's a subject for another blog.)

Since it was 90+ outside we decided to take a cab from Inman to Scampo at the Liberty Hotel at MGH.  I was super excited since the thought of a walk to Central Square in the heat and humidity was not particularly appealing.  We knew a couple of the roads into Boston were shut down but we didn't think it would be virtually impossible to get into Boston.  It was ridiculous.  I totally understand the security reasons for this and am not complaining but we ended up having to walk from the Science Museum down to MGH.  The walk to Central would've been shorter.  Go figure!

Speaking of security- impressive is the word to use.  There was an incredible amount of police and FBI.  We saw an armored vehicle go down Storrow Drive, which was closed to traffic of any kind.  I definitely felt safe and secure.

Once arriving at the restaurant all was better.  It was nicely air conditioned and simply lovely.  I've been here once before, and had really enjoyed it.  If you go here for the first time I highly recommend looking at the menu ahead of time online.  To say it's diverse and complex is an understatement.  I really appreciated that on such a busy dining day our waiter let us take out time before ordering.  He had no intentions on rushing us and that really made the evening so enjoyable.  The fact that he was a dead ringer for Jim Carey (and Jim Carey was in the restaurant once and took a pic with him) made it even better.

I ordered the rock shrimp risotto with monk fish cheek pieces and to be honest I have been dreaming of this dish ever since.  Delicious!  We had a really fun time catching up with our friends who we hadn't seen in quite a while.  They are getting married in October and they had just decided to use our Justice of the Peace so it was fun to talk about how awesome she is!

After dinner we walked down towards the Esplanade, but it was way too crowded (not surprisingly) so we made our way up the Longfellow Bridge (still very sad about this bridge being closed) to watch the fireworks.  It was a good vantage point for watching the fireworks but we definitely missed the music.  Next year I think we need to go back to the Cambridge side.

After the fireworks we walked back to Inman and grabbed a few drinks at Bukowski's.  It was definitely a fun, city way to start the summer!

Cambridge City Dance Party

Every year the city of Cambridge throws it's residents, and guests, an outdoor dance party complete with light shows and crazy dj.  This was our third dance party and it didn't disappoint.  I think it is so neat that our city officials do this for us.  They close down Central Square, in front of City Hall, reroute buses, and throw a big party!

This was the largest dance party in the history of the event.  We were really lucky because the humidity broke for the evening making the event much more enjoyable.  So much fun!!!

Taste of Cambridge

 Every year JO and I make a March Madness Bracket bet.  The loser takes the winner out for dinner, or cooks a really nice meal (this has only happened once...it much more fun to go out!)  Sadly, I lost for the second year in a row.  I blame all of my school work for making me rush my bracket picks.  I mean really, JO barely follows college basketball with the exception of UConn and they weren't even in the tournament this year.

In any event I owed JO a dinner.  I decided to take advantage of the situation and got us tickets to the Taste of Cambridge event.  It's not an event we typically attend, as the tickets are a bit pricey, but it was the end of the school year so I figured I deserved something fun and I picked up JO's ticket to settle the bet.

The even was first scheduled for the middle of June, but thanks to those monsoon rains, it was rained out.  Then the rain date was rained out.  And then the rain rain date had the possibility of being rained out so they set up a bunch of tents because can you really have a rain rain rain date?  Any how, the event was held in early July and was a really nice way to kick off the summer.  It was held in a courtyard in Central Square.  I'd never been to this particular courtyard and it was really nice.  Lots of green grass and fountains.  It would actually make for a great urban picnic spot.  I'll have to keep that in mind.

Many local restaurants participate and so you get a chance to try out a lot of food from restaurants you might not usually go to.  My only gripe with the event was the VIP section.  A lot of the best restaurants, that I really wanted to try out, were only available in the VIP tent.  Other than that we really had fun.  There was plenty of food so no worries about early exits by restaurants.  JO was actually pretty late because of work and he had no problem sampling everything.  There were also beer and wine stands so you could enjoy a drink with your food.

We had a lot of fun enjoying a night outside sampling some of the best food the city has to offer!

Best presentation of the night

Swirly Storms

On the day I got back from Indiana I was resting on the couch when this storm rolled in.

Thankfully nothing happened, just some wind, but it was crazy.  The clouds were literally swirling and getting lower and lower.

Becoming Nocturnal or How to Beat the Heatwave

Most of July was filled with 90+ degree day after day.  As if the heat wasn't bad enough the humidity was killer.  It made my 5 minute walk to Dunkin Donuts torture and pretty much put the kibosh on any city adventures.

After several days stuck inside, or only venturing down the block, JO had a brainstorm.  Basically, his idea was to become nocturnal.  Beginning your day at 8:00 p.m., when the weather was tolerable (by no means perfect but tolerable), you get to enjoy the city and because of the heat, it's a lot less crowded.

One such lovely night found us hitting up the Brattle Theater to watch Godzilla.  After the movie we wandered around looking for a place to grab a drink.  We ended up scoring two seats at the six seat outdoor bar at The Red House.  The patio at this restaurant really reminds me of something you would see on The Cape or in Maine.  It's decorated simply with white lights, silver chairs, and other rustic decor.  We had a great time talking about our upcoming trip to Seattle and enjoyed being out of the house for a few hours.

On our walk back to the car we discovered something epic- Yogurt Land.  This is probably the 3rd or 4th frozen yogurt place in the Square, but what sets this place apart from the rest is that it's self serve.  No more waiting for slow yogurt scoopers who don't understand you are in a rush to eat said frozen yogurt.  You also pay by weight and can have as many toppings as you want.  Winning!

So, if you're looking for a way to beat the heat just start your day at 8:00.... at night!

Summer Funk

I seem to be a summer funk lately.

Maybe it's because my summer started with me coming down with a horrible plague.  At one point I went to the doctor's because I was convinced I had a combination of pneumonia and strep throat. I lost a week of an already short summer laying on the couch instead of out and about in the city.

Maybe it's that my school stress never seemed to melt away, like it usually does.  My school anxiety is actually on red alert level lately and it's barely August.  My head is spinning with thoughts of SMART goals, evidence binders, and more acronyms than I thought possible.  Most notably and stress inducing, DDMs (an acronym sure to be the cause of several crying sessions throughout the upcoming school year) and RETELL (this acronym will probably lead me to become all shouty from October through December so I apologize in advance.)  I hear my schedule should be arriving in my inbox by the end of the weak and I'm not sure I can open the email alone.  I might actually need to wait for JO to come home incase I have a complete breakdown.

Maybe it's that for the better part of July I was stuck firmly on the couch due to the alternating heat waves and monsoon rains.  How can you go out and enjoy the city when it's 87 degrees at 9:00 a.m.?

Maybe it's the ten day trip I took to AYOP, baton twirling's National championships.  Don't get me wrong, I had a blast on the trip and I love seeing the amazing twirlers but every AYOP is an emotional roller coaster and this was a down year for sure.

Lately the weather has been so much better, epic really.  I've been able to go into Harvard Square for my morning ritual of coffee and reading in Harvard Yard.  Until this year, I didn't realize just how vital this morning routine really was.  Starting the day in the Square is just so wonderful and it was sorely missed.

As a result of the nice weather we've been able to go out and enjoy the city a lot more.  The other night we headed over to Park for a Sunday dinner.  Last night I had dinner with some school friends on the roof deck of Daedalus.  And last weekend JO and spent a lovely night in the Seaport.  It was so nice it deserves it's own post.

We're leaving for a ten day trip to Seattle soon so I'm hoping I can keep my summer funk at bay and keep taking advantage of the city!