Staycation

Instead of going to Martha's Vineyard like we had planned we decided to take a "Staycation." I just couldn't deal with the suitcases and being away for an entire weekend after the past few weeks. So instead we booked a room at The Kendall Hotel.




We had come across The Kendall last winter when we decided to walk home from the Kendall T stop. Ever since then we've been trying to figure out a way to justify staying at a hotel two minutes from our apartment. The hotel is beautiful and everyone should stay there immediately. The ambiance is awesome, the rooftop retreat is beautiful, and the restaurant is really nice.

After checking in, and a very nice surprise moment, we headed into Boston. Our plan was to visit the Aquarium before dinner but unfortunately it was closed for a special event. We still had the chance to see the seals outside and ended up seeing an IMAX movie. I have an awesome picture of a seal but my dumb iphoto isn't letting me open it up! Anyways, trust me...it's real cute :-)

After dinner we hung out in Christopher Columbus Park on our way to the North End. We took a tour of the rose gardens and watched the boats come in. It was a beautiful fall day in the city and so many people were out.


We made our way to Hanover Street to have dinner at Taranta. Our original plan was to eat at Teatro but they didn't have a table. I'm glad we ended up here. Taranta is an amazing restaurant that fuses Italian and Peruvian flavors. I highly, highly recommend the mussels appetizer. Delicious!

After dinner we walked back through Christopher Columbus Park to the Last Hurrah at the Omni Parker. Anyone who reads my blog knows that I'm a big fan of this place as evidenced by this and this. I mixed up the drink order so we ended up with something we weren't expecting but it was a great way to end the evening.

In the morning we enjoyed breakfast on the outdoor patio. I love the fact that we were able to sneak in some more outdoor dining before the cold weather hits.

It really was a lovely weekend getaway and it was even better since our drive home was less than 5 minutes and I had about 5 things to unpack. We were able to spend our Sunday relaxing and celebrating something special with friends!

I love the city!

11 Green St. Apt. #1

I've been missing for a few weeks. I was supposed to blog about a "day of fun" at Woodward at the Ames and Drink but instead everything changed. My mom died suddenly and my world was turned upside down.

I spent a lot of time at home on the South Shore and what I was realized is that my happiest memories of my mom are from our time in Cambridge when we lived at 11 Green St. Apt. #1. All of the pictures from back then show my mom smiling and looking happy.

Just another reason why I love living in Cambridge so much! When I got back to Cambridge I had trouble getting back into the groove of the city. We went to Harvard Square and I was totally overwhelmed by the people and noise.

Luckily, after a week back at school and getting back into a routine I was able to enjoy the city again. I think my mom would be happy :-)

Exploring the Seaport

I love long weekends, especially long 4 day weekends! After a great few days back in the classroom it was nice to have four straight days off. Thankfully Hurricane Earl only stayed for a day and I was back in the Square Saturday morning.

I woke up pretty early for me on Saturday, before 8:00 a.m. so I headed off to the Square to enjoy the sunny weather. The Square was so empty. I went for a quick walk around the Charles River. It brought back so many memories from last fall when my Charles River walks were a means to escape my work stress! I left the Square in a great mood, ready for a fun evening at the Seaport.

One of our friends organized a Seaport adventure for Saturday night. I have to admit, I've done a few things in the Seaport area, but for the most part I never venture down there. Big mistake! The Seaport area has some great places... and I think we went to all of them last night :-)

First up was Drink. I've read about this place in Boston Magazine a bunch of times and was very excited to try it. A little hint- if you've never been it's pretty hard to find. It's in the basement of Sportello and the sign is a 3 inch tall black etching on the door. I highly recommend this place, and it may just actually be my new favorite. They don't have much a menu because they will basically make anything you want. The atmosphere was really relaxed, but trendy... a sometimes tough combination to pull off.

Next up we headed over to one of my favorite restaurants the No Name Restaurant on the Fish Pier. When I was younger my parents would take me here for special occasions, even though it's definitely not a typical "special occasion" restaurant. The menu is no frills and that's just how I love my seafood! My favorite dish is the broiled sauteed shrimp plate with broccoli, cauliflower, and carrots. It's such a simple dish but the flavors are so fresh and clean and everything is cooked perfectly. I was so happy that everyone seemed to enjoy it just as much as I do!

After the No Name we headed over to the Atlantic Beer Company to enjoy the roof deck. I'm slightly disappointed that I just discovered this place at the end of the summer. Maybe it was because it was Labor Day weekend but it wasn't crowded at all, and the clientele were mostly our age. In my opinion, a Boston outing is always better with less 21-24 year olds. I just can't take them sometimes :-) The roof deck has an awesome view of the harbor! Even though it was quite blustery, thanks to Earl, we all agreed it was refreshing after the heat wave from the past week.

Our next stop was The Whiskey Priest conveniently located right next door. I ended up liking this place a lot more than I thought I would, especially with the young crowd I spotted heading in before us. Once inside I realized there was a nice mix of ages. The bar is right on the water with large open-air windows. I also really enjoyed the mix of music which inspired us to go out dancing in the near future. We had a fun conversation about how you can tell a lot about a woman based on her footwear choices and amount of product in her hair. On our way out the door, at the late hour of 10:00, we were greeted with a huge line to get in. Apparently we were the trend setters that evening :-)

Our final stop for the evening was The Barking Crab. The Barking Crab is a fun, very casual, harbor side restaurant and bar. It was a great place to wrap up the evening!

Now, I'm off to review lessons on latitude, longitude, and hemispheres! Things are a bit different for me this year but I'm definitely much happier at school... and I still have one more morning in the Square to look forward to tomorrow. Now if only my tables were back!

Facing Reality- Vacation is Over

Well, with the exception of the "urban hiking" disaster the other night I've really been enjoying my summer vacation. Back in June I had the following "summer resolutions." Let's see how I fared.

• Spending most mornings in Harvard Square Big check!
  
• Once a week I plan on doing some Urban Hiking from the Public Gardens, down Newbury Street, and back home This is kind of funny that the exact walk that nearly took me down was on my list of things to do. I'm sure when I typed that I envisioned myself wearing sneakers!
  
• We have to eat at East Coast Grill and Tupelo because we've lived in Inman for a year and half and I'm embarrassed to say we haven't eaten at either of these neighborhood favorites I hang my head in shame.
  
• Spending some lovely days at the rooftop pool at The Colonnade Hotel It was a lovely day...and I'm hoping for one more in the very near future
  
• Mega road trip to Utah and Colorado Amazing, amazing, amazing!
  
• Spending quality time at Daedalus, Small Plates, and my other favorite Harvard Square restaurants Been to Daedalus a bunch and heading to Small Plates tonight (just sneaking it in)
  
• A boat trip to the Boston Harbor Islands Ran out of time...and there were a lot of weekends that were too hot. Perhaps in the early fall.
  
• A day trip to Martha's Vineyard We moved this to the late fall...it's in the works
  
• And most importantly.... relaxing, relaxing, relaxing! I definitely did a lot of this.
  

For the past few years I've dreaded going back to school but this year I'm very excited since I'll be teaching 4th grade!

How Did I End Up Like This?

I'm currently sitting at my desk, slathered in Icy Hot, with an Ace Bandage wrapped around my upper shin trying to figure out how a weekend filled with such promise failed so miserably?

It all started off so fabulously. After a horrible day in the Square on Thursday, mostly due to Harvard Freshman Move In Day, Friday was a welcome change. The weather was gorgeous and I was able to find a place to read, although my tables are gone for good! On my way home from the Square my friend texted and suggested lunch outside in the Square.

We ended up on the roof deck of Daedalus enjoying the beautiful weather, and the best Cobb Salad ever! We had a great lunch, enjoying the fact that we weren't working on this Friday afternoon. We followed up the great lunch by hanging out with our friends in the evening at The Precinct, another favorite of ours. It was really a perfect way to start the weekend and I was really looking forward to one last hurrah before starting back at work this week.

The plan was simple. Swan Boats in the late afternoon, followed by a picnic in the Public Gardens, and then just enjoying the city at night. All I really wanted to do was walk around the city when it's all lit up! We enjoyed a lovely Swan Boat ride. We also saw three different wedding parties getting their pictures taken which is always a fun surprise. After the Swan Boat ride we realized how hot it really was. We decided to nix the picnic plans, instead opting for dinner at Wagamama at the Pru. Due to an unfortunate mis-communication, we did not stay in the city to see it all lit up at night... instead we started walking home.... from the Pru! That's about a 2.5 mile walk... in sandals, after having run two miles at the gym earlier in the day.

I was really confused so I didn't understand what was happening until it was too late. I love me a good urban hike, preferably when there is shopping involved, and I even like this urban hiking route... but not after running 2 miles and only when wearing sneakers!

By the time we approached the Mass Ave Bridge my feet were killing, by the time we got to the other side my feet were numb, and by the time we reached the train tracks in Central I had to sit down. My walking became a shuffle and I honestly didn't think I would be able to walk the rest. However, we couldn't really get a cab from Central to where we live on Prospect without the driver laughing in our face so my only choice was to walk. We had thought about stopping somewhere for a drink but I was so miserable, and my legs were aching, that I turned down all of the places along the way, until we ended up at the Field. I'd been wanting to try their new patio all summer and I figured this might be a way to salvage the evening. The patio was great, very similar to the patio at Devlin's in Brighton, but it did nothing to raise my spirits.

After a quick stop we walked the last few blocks home. I was pretty much near tears at this point, as I could no longer feel my legs and feet. (Please don't think I am horribly out of shape... I blame my complete body breakdown on the running I had done earlier and the sandals I was wearing.) JO went to get ice cream and I winced my way up the 3 flights of stairs to our apartment.

Once inside it was all I could do to lie down on the bed. My entire body ached from my head to my toes. My muscles were definitely very angry at me. I fell asleep by 9:00 but woke up at 1:00 due to the pain. I remained awake until 4:00 when I was finally able to fall asleep again.

As a result, today, my last real day of vacation, has been pretty much a waste!

Fear not, there are lots of fun things planned for next weekend which will hopefully make up for this mess!

A Lovely Little Saturday

On the heels of two super city days Saturday day arrived with some very nice weather. I took advantage with a morning trip to the Square. I was very happy to find that my singer was back!

We were meeting friends in the Square around 5:00 for birthday festivities but we didn't want to waste any of our weekend so we decided to check out the Allston Field and Fairway to play a little mini-golf. I have to say this is a great little gem, sponsored by Harvard University, it provides free mini-golf and batting cages. The golf course wasn't anything spectacular, but it was still fun!

After golf we met our friends at Fire and Ice for some improv grilling and a delightful evening at Legal's Outdoor Terrace. I was shocked that at 7:30 on a Saturday with gorgeous weather the place was empty. I don't get it but I'll take it. I love the location of this spot in the courtyard of the Charles Hotel. While we were dining I couldn't help but be drawn to the new outdoor patio at Henrietta's Table. I've looked at their menu several times and haven't been that excited, but their new patio might be changing my mind.

A Delightful Day in the City!

It just so happened that two of my good friends ended up with today off. After such a great night last night I couldn't wait for another day in the city.

Of course, I spent the morning in Harvard Square drinking coffee and reading my book! Sadly, I don't have many of these mornings left :-( but for a change I'm actually excited about school starting!

I met up with one of my friends around noon to grab lunch before meeting our other friend at the Sam Adams Brewery. I've been wanting to try this particular restaurant in Boston since I happened upon it in the spring. The Woodward at the Ames Hotel has a beautiful outdoor patio area and it just looks like fun! I've also seen it popping up all over the place in local magazines. Lucky for me my friend wanted to try it too. We were lucky to score and outdoor table on this gorgeous day.

Lets just say that we had a great time and are already planning another lunch date here in the fall! We both got the steak salad and it was out of this world! I know that sounds funny for a steak salad but it really just worked. All of the flavors were perfectly balanced! The atmosphere was great too. The patio is on the sidewalk across from the Old State House. It was kind of fun when we realized that most of the people at the restaurant were probably on their lunch break... not us! This is also the place that the new phrase, "You've been stackajaweaed," was coined. I had gotten all of these $1 coins and I used 12 of them to pay my bill.

After lunch we headed over to the Sam Adams Brewery for a tour. It was so much fun and such a great way to start the end of my summer vacation!

Have I mentioned lately how much I love my city life? If I haven't, shame on me! I am so lucky to live where I live and have access to such amazingly fun places on a daily basis!

And the best part of all of this fun... it's not even Saturday yet! Score me!!!