End of Summer Recap

 Wow! I can't believe it's the end of summer.  I kind of feel like it was just yesterday that I was logging off my Google Meet for the last time.  Now, I find myself heading back to in person teaching in a new school in a new grade.  The last ten days have been unreal.  We had some life stuff explode on top of unpacking a new classroom and getting ready to teach a grade I've never taught before.  Along the way, we tried our best to still get out an enjoy the city.

Evviva Trattoria

If you find yourself in Malden, check this place out.  We visited my dad earlier this week and on the way home realized we hadn't actually eaten dinner yet.  (That's how our life has been lately.)  This place is around the corner from my dad and I've been intrigued by their fire pits every time we drive by.  (The heat index was in the low 100s on this day so the fire pits were super confusing, but still, I will definitely bring my dad here when it's cooler.) I was seriously impressed by this place, especially the Aperol Spritz!  The menu is huge, varied price levels, and the staff were so friendly.  

NuBar and Noir (N Squared)

On Friday night, I really wanted to do something to celebrate the fact that we were still standing and to also celebrate the end of summer vacation.  Of course, we headed to NuBar.  They have such a pretty patio and the food and drinks are always great.  (This steak was delicious!)

After dinner, we extended the evening by stopping by Noir for drinks and dessert.  This patio has really been a bright spot in our pandemic lifestyle.  It's safe, pretty, and has a great ambiance, so we don't miss eating inside.  (Note- you can definitely eat inside at Noir but we have made a choice not to eat inside.)  The manager always gives us a complimentary mini-champagne cocktail at the end of our time which is just such a nice gesture.  

And as I head back to school, here's a pretty sober reminder of how important it is to be responsible.  I can't believe this teacher made the decisions she made.  We have a duty to protect each other!

Currently Thinking

Currently on my mind!!!  

As Close to Normal as Possible

In a crazy turn of events, we had an actually kind of normal summer Saturday night in the city.  We were both kind of tired after a crazy Ikea trip but we mustered some energy to go out for dinner.  The weather was perfect and we wanted to take advantage.  (Of note- we spontaneously decided to go to Ikea on tax free weekend and were in and out in forty five minutes with no crying. I was pretty impressed.) We headed over to Nubar only to find it booked solid.  

We decided to head over to Inman Square and see if there was a table available at Casa Portugal's outdoor patio.  Casa Portugal is one of my favorite spots in Inman.  We haven't visited since we moved seven months ago so I was really excited when there a spot available for us.  Our waitress was so happy to see us and we were so happy to be back.  It felt so nice to be back in our neighborhood.  I've really missed the sense of community in this special part of the city.  Even though we are moving to Union Square, in my heart I will always be a part of Inman Square.  After a delicious meal we decided to walk over to Union Square (what a novel idea- being able to walk somewhere...I've really, really, really missed being able to walk places) to find a place for drinks.

I suggested we try Back Bar.  I've been wanting to try this place forever.  My main reason for going there on this night though was the fact that they had just instituted a "vaccinated only" policy.  I'm not a fan of eating/drinking indoors right now but a vaccinated only policy makes it much easier to enjoy myself.  After having our vaccination card matched with our ID we were let in.  

This place is great.  It's a small space featuring a mix of industrial and rustic decor.  The bar is absolutely incredible with wall to wall/ceiling to floor liquor bottles illuminated with uplighting.  The drink menu is a work of art.  It's a magazine featuring spreads on each of their featured cocktails.  Currently they are doing a bear theme and each page features a recipe, sketch, and information about the creation.  This place also gets high marks from me because I do love fancy glassware and this place did not disappoint.  

This was the most normal thing we've done since March of 2020.  Sitting in a bar, ignoring all of our condo stress, enjoying fun cocktails in a cool space and not worrying about Covid was seriously such a great feeling.  

Friday Night Fun

The weather was still pretty warm on Friday but we decided to brave it and go to Desfina's.  Desfina's is a great Greek restaurant near the mall.  It's an authentic, family owned restaurant and every time we go I imagine it's like going to your Greek grandparents for a meal.  The interior is nothing fancy, but it feels so cozy and comfortable.  During the pandemic they put in a really nice patio space.  The patio is enclosed in flower and herb boxes and lots of umbrellas offer plenty of shade.  Even though it was super hot I couldn't resist getting a cup of their lemon chicken and rice soup.  Honestly, the best soup in the city.  I always get the Greek salad and it never disappoints.  I was also pretty excited to see that they had a mojito back on the menu because their mojito is the best in the city, hands down.  The mint to sweet ratio is perfect!

After dinner we decided to walk over by the river and check out Art Bar at the Royal Sonesta.  Pro tip- Art Bar is always crowded but if you go for drinks you can get your drink at the bar and take it over to the adjacent hotel patio.  The hotel patio is superior for three reasons:

*Lounge furniture
*Less crowded
*Better city views

It was so nice to sit and enjoy the view.  Between our traveling, the heat, and the rain, this summer hasn't left us with too much time to get out an enjoy the city so when we do have these chances, I'm glad we are capitalizing on them!

Back to Harvard Square

 Do you know the expression a watched pot never boils?  That's how I feel right now.  There is only so much refreshing of emails one can do without going crazy.  So on Thursday, even though it was insanely hot out, we decided to go to Harvard Square.  

My once vibrant and bustling Harvard Square has turned into a bit of a ghost town.  It's more "ghostier" now than at any other point in time over the last year and half.  There are pockets of people- Charlie's Kitchen, Russell House Tavern, and our personal favorite, Noir but overall there aren't crowds of people milling about and enjoying the atmosphere.  It's actually really sad to see and I hope the Square rebounds in the fall when students come back.  You know what would really help with that...a vaccine mandate to do indoor stuff but what do I know!

Anyways, we decided to go to Noir but found it to be completely packed.  We walked around a bit looking for another place to eat but got side tracked when we found out that the Brattle was open again and showing a movie by one of JO's favorite directors.  I wasn't really ready to go see a movie again but I sucked it up.  Thankfully, this is Cambridge and they controlled the seating to leave some distance and everyone was wearing masks.  The movie was fun and it was nice to be back in the Brattle.  

The movie ended at 9:00 which meant we really only one option for food and that was to try Noir again.  Most places in the Square close at 9:00 or 9:30 now.  Luckily when we returned to Noir there was a table for us on the patio.  I love this place.  It really got us through the long winter last year.  We ate out a few times on this patio, and thanks to heat lamps and blankets, we were able to enjoy some quality city living during the winter surge of cases.  

One of the best things about Noir is the staff.  The manager knows us and loves chatting about things.  I always order an Old Cuban and the manager always checks in to see if it was good.  I've missed the community aspect of living in the city over the last several months while we've been living in our temporary apartment.  As usual, the food and drinks were great and we both left excited that we hadn't really checked our email for a few hours 🤣

The Summer of 2021

 This summer was supposed to be a comeback summer.  It really hasn't panned out that way.

Live in Limbo + Delta + Selfish People = Unsettling at Best

We just got back from a trip to Colorado.  Overall it was a great trip but witnessing people pretend Covid isn't around anymore was super frustrating and stressful.  It was great to get back to Cambridge.  

We haven't been able to do too much city living but we did manage to visit Oleana for drinks...

Colette for dinner and mojitos...

And Formaggio's to enjoy their neighborhood barbecue.

Vax Up- America is Burning

Some day, we will look back at this time in our country's history, and realize we, as a country, could not pull ourselves together enough to wear a piece of cloth on our faces and get a shot when it was available to us. Instead, we turned the pandemic into some super messed up political pissing game and now we find ourselves here.

I am thankful that some of our local businesses are now requiring vaccines.  

Life in Limbo- Day 198

 Back in November, JO and I decided to do something crazy.  We put an offer on a new condo, about 15 minutes down the street from our beloved apartment #5, and it was accepted on Thanksgiving.  The offer was contingent on us selling our place, so we mustered all of our energy and over Thanksgiving break we painted, cleaned, scrubbed, and moved most of our stuff into storage.  I can't even begin to tell you how much work that was.  It was nonstop for seven days but it worked.  We put our place on the market the first week of December, and four days later we had accepted an offer.  

Everything was going so smoothly until January.  I won't get into the whole long story here, but it's been one delay after another.  On January 23rd we moved out of apartment 5 and into temporary housing behind the Whole Foods in Fresh Pond.  We went from living in a vibrant square, to living behind a strip mall and across from a park sometimes visited by hooligans and cultists at night.  (Don't get me wrong, the park is awesome but weird stuff happens there at night and there are almost no places for us to walk to here.)

When we moved into this apartment it was supposed to be four a month, maybe six weeks. Well, today marks day 198.  I'm really sick of being stuck in this weird "in between."  This apartment isn't bad, but it isn't home and it's small.  It's only a 1 bedroom, and JO and I are on top of each other.  There's really no where to walk to around here and I hate the idea of driving to places in the city.  There have been so many times during these 198 days where it seemed like we were close to being done only to find out that bricks were stuck in China, or historical doors weren't historical enough.  Now it seems like we are super close but things are delayed yet again.  

School starts soon.  Moving our home and moving my classroom are going to crash into one another and that's a bit overwhelming.  In any event, I'm super sick of sharing a bathroom with my cats, I'm sick on not living in a neighborhood, and I'm sick of limbo.