Fall City Traditions

 One of my favorite things about living in the city is all of the traditions I've created.  From May Fair to the tree lighting in Harvard Square my calendar fills up with traditions and I love it.  These outings have become a special part of my life and help shape my city life.  The fall is full of festivals including Oktoberfest and Smoke This!



Harvard Square's Oktoberfest is always a fun time!  The Honk parade is so much fun.  I love watching people who are just loving life.  The Square is usually packed and there are always a lot of vendors selling great items.  The weather was nice, have I mentioned how lucky we've been lately, so we spent a lot of time taking it all in.  I love how the Square is shut down to traffic.  Eventually we ended up at Grendel's Den before heading to the movies.

On Saturday we headed over to the Charles River Regatta.  The weather was perfect and we spent the day strolling up and down the banks of the river watching the races.  We were smart this year and stopped at Whole Foods for picnic supplies.  We found a great urban park at the corner of Western Ave. and Memorial.  The picnic tables had a great view of the river.  

I took a lot of pictures because I'm trying to capture the perfect shot to submit to the city's parking permit photo contest.  The Regatta always brings a lot of people into the city and I love sharing my city with tourists!

This weekend we headed down the street to the East Cambridge Business Association's Smoke This Rib Fest.  We stumbled on this event a few years ago and were sold immediately.  Some of the top restaurants in Cambridge competing for the title of rib champion.  The city closes down a large portion of Cambridge Street and there is live music.  It's basically a street party with amazing ribs.  We were lucky to get tickets before they sold out so we got to taste ten ribs and vote for our favorite.  There were three of us and we each had a different winner.  My vote went to Trina's Starlite Lounge.  Once again the weather was gorgeous and it was hard to leave knowing I had school work waiting for me at home. Work has been really stressful lately so I made it a point to boycott school work this weekend and focus on city living.  Judging from my current happy mood I think I did the right thing!

Boston Red Sox

Well I'm definitely one of the many people totally wrapped up in the Boston Red Sox march through the playoffs.  Our really good friend lives in the Fenway area, with a direct view of the Jumbo-tron, so we headed over to his place to enjoy a few of the games.  We had fun trying to guess what the crowd reaction meant due to the eight second game delay.  Watching the crowd react to Victorino's Grand Slam before seeing it on the tv was awesome.  Prior to the end of the game last night JO and I had decided to leave a little early so we wouldn't get caught up in the madness, but after the Grand Slam I just couldn't.  I wanted to be in the Fenway area and celebrate with good friends.  Such a fun way to spend some city nights!

Go Sox!!!!

The Pru was decked out for the big game!

This picture does not do the view justice!

Play Me I'm Yours- 75 Pianos

Back in early September the "Play Me I'm Yours 75 Pianos" project was announced.  I loved the idea behind this project- bring art and music together all over the city.  I never thought Inman would get a piano but sure enough, on my way to work one morning I spotted one in the courtyard.  This put me in a good mood all day!  A few days later we found a piano just outside of the Square on the way to Kendall.  We had fun trying out both pianos.  I loved that for the few weeks the project lasted the sounds of piano floated through our Square at all hours of the day and night.  It added something really sweet to the neighborhood and I'm hoping the project returns next year.

New Hampshire Weekends

 We spent three straight September weekends in New Hampshire.  It was hard being away from all the fun places to visit in the city but it was a lot of fun to escape school work for three straight weekends.

Weekend 1- Wedding Fun
We spent the first weekend in Portsmouth celebrating the wedding of one of my very good friends.  The weather was beautiful and we had a great time roaming around downtown Portsmouth.  Portsmouth is such a fun town to explore.  We grabbed drinks and dessert at the Black Trumpet and absolutely loved the rustic decor.  The wedding itself was a lot of fun with a great after party.  It was the perfect way to start the fall.

Weekend 2- Lake Winnipesaukee
We spent weekend two at our friend's family condo in the Lake Winnipesaukee area.  It had been a stressful week at work and the escape North was much needed.  I had a great time hanging out with such great friends.

We spent a lot of quality time at Fun Spot playing arcade and carnival games.  JO and I left with over 4,000 tickets!










We enjoyed a lovely lakeside lunch at the Lake House, a beautiful restaurant in Meredith, NH.  I'm already planning a way to get back up there to eat there again.  We had lunch the next day at Castle in the Clouds, a personal favorite.











The whole weekend was just awesome and completely stress free.  It was so nice to spend time with great friends.  It reminded me just how lucky I am to have ended up where I am.

Weekend 3- Lake Winnipesaukee and the White Mountains



Our final weekend found us going on an anniversary trip to the White Mountains.  Back in the summer there was a Groupon for the Mountain View Grand Resort and I snapped it up immediately.  I had been wanting to stay at this hotel for quite a long time.  We decided to head up to New Hampshire on Friday to avoid Saturday morning traffic, and it gave us a good excuse to visit Lake Winnipesaukee again.

We spent Friday night at Fun Spot and Lobster Pound.  After a morning walk down by the shore we headed to the Polar Caves.  I immediately felt like a kid again.










After the caves we stopped at The Basin before heading to the resort.

It was even prettier than the pictures.  I loved the historic, yet sophisticated feeling of the resort.  Everyone was so friendly and the views were spectacular.  There were lots of fall colors everywhere, and for the third week in a row we lucked out with gorgeous weather.

We had drinks on the veranda, dinner in the dining room, roasted marshmallows at the camp fire, hiked on the nature trails, and watched a couple get married in the courtyard.  JO had been really busy at work so the calming atmosphere at the resort was exactly what we both needed.  I can't say enough great things about the resort and highly recommend it to anyone who literally "wants to get away."

On Sunday we hiked another mountain, Mt. Pemigewasset, and found spectacular fall views.

Although I absolutely love the city life, every once in a while (or three straight weekends), it's good to get away from the hustle and bustle of the city!

Labor Day Weekend

What a strange start to the school year we had this year.  We had a full day teacher training on Thursday and then Friday through Monday off.  It was nice not to have to do any school work over the long weekend and we had lots of fun things to look forward to instead.

Friday night we hit up one of our favorite local spots, Trina's Starlite Lounge.  Since we had someone with us who had never been to Trina's we had to sample a little bit of everything.  That's never a bad thing.  After a lovely night with friends, we headed to bed early to prepare for a hike we had planned for the next day.

Since returning from Mt. Rainier National Park I've had a bit of the hiking bug.  Anyone who knows me would know this isn't typical for me.  Something changed while we were hiking around Mt. Rainier and JO took advantage of my changing view towards hiking to plan a local hike for the long weekend.

We headed up to New Hampshire, on a beautiful day, to hike Mt. Monadnock.  The hike was a bit more challenging than JO made it out to be so the fact that I got to the summit was a real accomplishment.

It was a fun way to spend my last weekend of "freedom."