She's My Carrie... Bradshaw, That Is!: 2012

Tuesday, December 11, 2012

Puritan and Company

Inman Square recently got a new neighbor in the form of a new restaurant called Puritan and Company. Last week JO and I were both feeling a bit overwhelmed with our hectic schedules and heavy workload. JO had the great idea to rally out of our funk, take advantage of a Tuesday night, and try out the new restaurant.

The restaurant opened just a few days ago and the yelp reviews were phenomenal. The decor of the restaurant is very "New Englandy." The waitstaff were all wearing red plaid shirts or gray v-necks with argyle accessories. The restaurant's decor is a nice mix of rustic and modern! There is even a charcrutiere bar in the back of the restaurant with about 6 seats. (sorry for such dark pictures...I couldn't really use my flash!)

Our waiter was very friendly and knowledgable about the menu. The menu doesn't have many options but they all look and sound delicious. The prices are a bit expensive but when you taste the food you'll know why. The drink menu is pretty reasonable with lots of local breweries represented. For dinner, I got the chicken with farro and brussel sprouts. JO got the steak special.

When I say the food was fabulous I absolutely mean it. The brussel sprouts were amazing! Who knew charred onions could taste so good? And the potato stack thing on JO's plate was unreal!

Puritan and Company isn't a restaurant we can go to all the time but we definitely love having the option for such great, upscale food so close. Plus, the bar area has a lot of potential for those days when you just need to get out of the house!

Election 2012

I love living in Cambridge! It's especially fun during election season.

We spent election night at the Tavern in Central Square watching the election results come in with good friends. I'm not going to lie- we had been talking about moving to Canada if Mitt Romney had won so needless to say we were thrilled with the outcome.

The energy in Cambridge was electrifying after President Obama was declared the winner!

Thanksgiving Fest

Well once again it's been a while! I've been juggling almost selling my father's house, sewer installation, social security paperwork, and what seems to be never ending school work. It's not just me. JO's been super busy at work lately too, sometimes working until well past midnight. Between our two hectic schedules we've really struggled to get out and enjoy the city life.

We did find the time to host our annual Thanksgiving Fest for our friends. Since I never had much of a Thanksgiving tradition growing up this yearly dinner is really something special for me. This year we had 23 adults and 2 babies around one long table in our kitchen!

Tuesday, October 30, 2012

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.