Election 2017

JO and I have made a bit of a tradition out of watching the election results at Tavern on the Square in Central Square.  We were there eight years ago when Obama won and the energy was electric.  This year, not so much.  I couldn't even stay because I was so stunned at what was unfolding and looking at the utter shock and awe on the faces of the other people was too much to take.  Cambridge is probably the most Democratic place in the state and the election pretty much sucker punched all of us Cantabridgians.  I had a lot of trouble processing the results, and quite frankly, I'm still having trouble with it.  I wrote the following post the night after the election.  It pretty much sums up where I'm at with that.  Throughout the whole thing though, I've been comforted by the displays of solidarity my city has shown.  We get it here and we'll fight the good fight and I feel good about that.

Parlor Sports had a pretty touching post

and Gather Here made a lovely statement in their window

I thought long and hard about writing this (and it's long, sorry) but seeing as the ethnic market next door was defaced today I feel the need. This is going to be long, it's how I process things and I was stuck in traffic for a real long time today with nothing to think about but my feelings. I know it has helped me tremendously to read what my friends are feeling so maybe this will connect with you.

Maybe you saw us, those people with tear stained faces, red and puffy from a sleepless night. The ones that looked dazed and confused, unable to speak two sentences without the tears falling. We'd been crying all night, since around 11:00 pm when we started to realize this insanity unfolding in front of us was turning into reality. Maybe you're one of us. But maybe you're not, and that's ok. I'm not going to judge you, we're all entitled to our own opinion but I want you to know why I'm reacting like this.

Elections are all about winners and losers. I know this, you know this, we all know this. If you vote, at some point during the race you pick a candidate that most aligns with your views and the direction you think the country is going in. If you're candidate wins, great, but if they don't it stings. Your dreams for the country won't get fulfilled....but in time you can get over it and live with it and it's not as horrible as you thought it would be.

This election was different. We didn't just lose our candidate for president. Last night we lost some of our faith in humanity and that scares the crap out of us. Whether intended or not, a Trump victory sent the message that racism is ok, bigotry is ok, sexual harassment and body shaming is ok, making fun of disabled people is ok, making bold statements about excluding whole groups of people based on a religion is ok. Billy Bush was fired from a network tv show for his role in the Access Hollywood scandal, Trump was elected to the most powerful office in the world. Think about that for a minute.

And if you're a teacher, the feelings cut deeper. Today I heard from my teacher friends across the country. There were stories of children asking how long they could keep going to school, asking if we had a king now, if they should hide, if the wall was going to crush them, if they wouldn't have anyone to play with on the playground because their friends will get sent "home." Other children made their teachers goodbye cards because they are afraid they won't have time to say goodbye when their time comes. And for me, the one that was most telling, do Americans ever immigrate away from the United States? Seeing as we crashed the Canadian immigration website last night, the answer is yes.

People tried to comfort us by reminding us of the checks and balances in place. It's hard to find solace in that when their is also a Republican majority in Congress, and a soon to be conservative Supreme Court.

People tried to be optimistic and point out that Trump's victory speech was very "toned down" and "reserved." I spend my days teaching kids that you own your words and actions. Once you say or do something you can never take it back and I hold my political leaders to the same standard. Trump can't undo what he has sad and done and I can't forget it. Maybe that's my flaw to have to deal with, and maybe in time I will get there. But the wound is too raw now.

In this dark time, I am comforted to know that we still have the right to free speech and to protest peacefully. We must fight to protect what is important to us, even if it feels impossible. We cannot, must not, be silenced!

In the end, it's all about RESPECT!

Boston Ballet's- La Corsaire

Boston Ballet has a great system of rewarding ticket purchasers with deals to future shows.  I'll probably never have to pay full price for ballet tickets again.  When the flyer for La Corsaire arrived at my house, with a nice coupon code, I couldn't resist getting a ticket.  JO is a good sport and will go to the ballet with me, but I also don't mind going alone.  The Opera House is in a safe, easily accessible part of Downtown Crossing and getting a cab or catching the T is no problem near there.

Since I didn't want to be late, and I always overestimate how long it will take me to get places, I found myself quite early for the show so I ducked in to Sip for pre-ballet bubbles.  Sip is fun and I almost always am able to find a seat at the bar.

The ballet was beautiful.  The second act, and especially the last few dances, were breathtaking and exactly what I was hoping for.  I always feel so inspired when I go to the ballet and so happy that something so artistic is so close to where I live.  Going to the ballet would've been a production when I lived on the South Shore, now it's nothing.  I've already gotten my next coupon code so more tickets won't be that far away!

Alibi Lounge

I'd been wanting to go to Alibi since summer started.  We finally made it there in November.  It was a cool, fall night but still warm enough to walk there over the Longfellow Bridge (fyi- I can't wait to drive on this bridge again!)  The view of the city from the bridge is probably the best in the city.  The renovations to the bridge are really nice for pedestrians.  You can walk around the edge of the Salt and Pepper Shakers which was fun.

We were lucky enough to get two seats at the bar at Alibi.  I love hotel bars and Alibi doesn't disappoint.  You always get a neat mix of visitors and locals.  I really appreciated how they had music playing but it wasn't loud.  I ordered a mint mojito.  I'll  probably go back to my regular order of bubbles here because the mojito was super strong and lacked the club soda, or something.  It wasn't bad but it was lacking that refreshing taste you get from a mojito.

It was fun checking off something from my summer list, even if it took until November to do it.  Like JO says, there's always city winning waiting for us, no matter if I'm working or not!

More Halloween Fun and Desfina's

My hairdresser is always telling me about his crazy Halloween display.  He usually starts working on it in September, and actually accumulates stuff throughout the year.  Last year he told me I should stop by and take a look but I wasn't able to, so I made a point to go this year.  The display did not disappoint!  He even had the Gremlin's showing on a tv!  There were so many people there, it was definitely the place to be!

On our way home, we walked past this cute, little Greek restaurant called Desfina's and decided to check it out.  I love a good Greek salad and am always on the lookout for something that rivals the Greek salads from Christo's that I grew up on.  I've actually become a pretty big Greek salad snub.  Mona Lisa's pizza has a pretty good one, but the tomatoes aren't always as fresh as they should be (and actually, on second thought, there probably shouldn't be tomatoes in a Greek Salad.)  Well, let me tell you!  Desfina's has taken the top spot in the Greek Salad War (there's no war...it just sounds fun!)  The ingredients are fresh, the dressing is served in a bottle so you can drench your salad in all of the deliciousness you want, the feta soft and creamy, and the grilled chicken!  Let me tell you about the grilled chicken.  The grilled chicken is actually what made me so excited about this salad.  The chicken is grilled to order perfectly with lots of flavor.  It's moist and flavorful and tender and perfect!  Last week I wasn't feeling well and I willed myself to drive "all" the way there just for the salad!  That's how good it was.  JO's swordfish was very good as well, but back to the salad.  AMAZING!  I also loved the quaint atmosphere.  It reminded me of Casa Portugal.  A total family restaurant with delicious food.

Halloween Fun at the Fermentation District

Last year Parlor Sports hosted a Halloween Party and we had a lot of fun at it.  This year they didn't throw the party so we had to figure out something else to do.  Our friend suggested the Halloween event at the Fermentation District in Everett, specifically the party at Nightshift Brewing.

Being the "elders" that we are, we went out for dinner around 7:00 with an estimated time of arrival of 8:30ish at the brewery.  I figured that "no one" goes out early on Halloween and we wouldn't want to be the only ones there.  Clearly, I'm out of touch because when we arrived at Nighshift the line was snaking down the block, complete with Gronk's Party Bus, and the wait was going to be well over an hour.  The Fermentation District features another brewery, Bone Up, and a distillery, Short Path Distillery, so we had options.

We tried Bone Up but it's so small, and again the line was pretty long, so we made our way over to Short Path.  Short Path features gin, rum, and triple sec.  We all got different cocktails and found seats at one of the picnic tables.  The cocktails were ok, I think they could've used more high quality ingredients, but the spirits themselves were good.  We played some crazy card game they had.  The tasting room was cool and one of the employees gave us a lot of information on the backstory of the distillery which was neat.

The Fermentation District is definitely an up and coming area worth revisiting!

Belly Bar is Back

Belly Bar, in Kendall Square, has been closed for more than a year, after a fire caused smoke and water damage.  I was so excited when they announced that they would be reopening.  JO and I made a point to set aside a weekend night to go and enjoy the bar.

Belly Bar is a great wine bar.  You can get small pours and sample lots of different wines, or larger pours and stick to tried and true favorites.  All of the wines are also available at Central Bottle so if you find something you like it's easy to find more of it.  They also have lots of great snacking items, like salami, cheese, and olives.  They did a great job renovating and fixing up the space after all of the damage they suffered.  They kept the decor the way it was-  a beautiful mix of modern and rustic.  The lighting is soft and they have a patio for warmer nights.   They change up their wine menu every few weeks so you never know what they will be serving.  We spent the night sampling various champagnes and proseccos, which was totally a win for me.

So glad this place is back in the rotation!

Tom Rinaldi at Harvard Bookstore

A friend of mine at work mentioned that the legendary ESPN reporter, Tom Rinaldi, was going to be at Harvard Bookstore doing a talk and book signing.  Thankfully, I was able to move some things around and join him for the event.  I'm a big fan of Tom Rinaldi's character pieces.  He always gets to the hearts of the athletes and/or events he's profiling.  More than once I've teared up watching his stories.  He recently wrote the book, The Man in the Red Bandana, based on one of his most famous segments by the same name, which profiled a man who was a hero on 9/11 and ultimately perished in the towers.   I can't do the story justice so watch the linked video for the original ESPN segment.

Tom Rinaldi did not disappoint.  His voice is just like it sounds on tv and it's entrancing.  For thirty minutes I was spellbound as he talked about the story and the making of the book.  Afterwards, he stayed and signed copies of his book.  When he signed mine he asked me why I came and I told him I was a big fan.  He asked if I watched ESPN a lot and I responded yes and told him about how I was a Husky fan.  He had such kind words for UConn and Geno- it made my night!

I've never gone to a book signing at the Harvard Bookstore but I had such a good time I went back a few weeks later when the author of Dining Out in Boston:  A Culinary History was in town.  I'm definitely keeping up with the author's visit calendar.  Such a fun thing to do in Harvard Square!

Parlor Sports has the Best Signs

I just love the gang at Parlor Sports!  They always have the best signs!  This one made me laugh out loud on our way to the rock gym!

The Bittens

The Bittens have been super cute lately.  Just thought I would share :-)

Reel Rock Film Festival

Well, obviously school work and the holidays took over my life, but I'm on vacation now and it's time to get caught up.

Back in mid-October, JO and I headed over to our rock gym, Brooklyn Boulders, to watch the newest installment of the Reel Rock film festival.  Often the film is shown at a theater in Arlington, but this year that wasn't an option so we opted for the local screening.  I actually really enjoyed watching it at our rock gym.  I'm glad we got there early to grab front row seats though.  It was a pretty intimate screening in the back of the gym and it was kind of neat to be surrounded by the rock walls while watching some of the most epic climbing of the year.  We even got to do a little climbing before hand, and even had time to pop over to Aeronaut Brewery for a quick drink before the show.

I always feel so inspired after watching the films.  Even if you aren't a rock climber I recommend them.  The locations are usually really beautiful and cool and the climbers always have lots of personality.