I'm shipping off to Boston...

...to find my wooden leg!

Just kidding, not really but I did go to Boston.  More specifically, I went to Boston last weekend (April 12-15, not the weekend that just happened...yes I am that far behind...) to visit one of my best friends int he world!  Rachel (RT to those who know her best) and I met when we sang in the same voice studio Freshman year of college.  We hit it off and have been close friends ever since - we were music major buddies and even performed our junior half-recitals together.  Unfortunately, RT now lives in Boston.  Well, fortunate for Boston, but unfortuate for me because I miss her.  Fortunately I am now done with grad school and have a job, so I can afford the occasional plane ticket.  Boston, here I come (went?)!

The first thing we did was eat, obviously.  I would estimate that in the four days I was there we ate approximately half the food in the city, but that's neither here nor there.  RT lives in Brookline, and we hit up one of her favorite spots, the Regal Beagle, for dinner the first night. 


This is Rachel.  She is awesome.



After dinner, we somehow determined that we needed even more food, so we went to Trader Joe's for some snacks.  Three oranges, two granola bars, two bottles of wine and a box of sea-salt brownies later, we were back at Rachels' place enjoying some quality vino and Grey's Anatomy.

Where are the vegetables?



Sea Salt Brownies.  It happens.

The next day we decided to just run amok in Boston.  Rachel had access to $7 MFA passes through the library, so we decided to start there and see where the day took us!



Ready to head out for the day!

  On our way to the MFA, I realized I had not informed Ben of my safe arrival in Beantown.  Being the genius that I am, I also forgot to pack my phone charger, so I decided to text him from RT's phone so I could keep mine turned off to conserve battery power.  Unfortunately I got the last two digits of his number wrong and we ended up informing some random person that I was alive and well.  Our new anonymous friend responded that she had no idea who I was, but it was a blessing to be alive!  Indeed, my new friend.  Indeed.

MFA!

We had fun wandering around the MFA for an hour or so, spending most of our time in the Europe section.  We did manage to get into a serious disagreement with some bird statues, but it was no big deal.  I think the birds and I worked out our differences in the end.


Birds all up in RT's face



Hey friend - we can work it out

I have no idea

 During our wanderings, RT told me about her favorite tree in Harvard Square.  She stumbled across the tree right after she moved to Boston, and it is apparently where George Washington gathered the US troops for the first time!  Pretty cool and historic.  We had dinner plans in the North End, but decided that we should head over to Harvard Square to check out the tree first.

Obviously we got distracted.  I hadn't really planned on doing any shopping while in Boston, but then I found Goorin Bros hat shop and I couldn't resist.  I love hats, and this place felt like an honest-to-goodness old timey hat shop.  I purchased the hat pictured below.  Rachel did not buy the exact hat pictured, but another similar (superior) hat.  Success!  We had lunch, walked around for a bit and then caught the train over to the North End...and COMPLETELY forgot about the tree.  Oops.



Boston - so much history!

 Saturday was also a big day.  In case you didn't know, I am a mildly obsessive baseball fan...and RT somehow managed to score free tickets to opening weekend through work!  Don't ask how - the girl is magic.  Anyways, I was super excited...opening weekend AND the Fenway's 100th birthday?  You don't get much more monumental than that.



First, though, we met up with our good friends Lindsey and Chris for lunch!  Linds and Chris are friends from college as well, and they recently moved to Providence for Chris's medical residency. I saw Linds at the holidays and at my wedding in July, but Chris wasn't able to make it to either of those, so the last time we had seen each other was at their wedding in 2010!  Almost 2 years! Lindsey is an artist, and she was wrapping up an art installation near Fenway, so after lunch we went to pick her pieces up and then grabbed a drink at Eastern Standard next door.  So much fun seeing old friends :)



Friends - they love you even when you look awkward in pictures



Ted Williams! (on the right)

 Our evening at Fenway was so much fun, and it ended up being a great game.  I will always be a die-hard Twins fan, but there's something about a team and a stadium with so much history behind it that definitely adds something special to the experience.  You feel like you are part of a tradition - something deeper than just this game or even this season.
  





This sweatshirt was for Ben, but I wanted to 'test' it first.
I mean, it might have been full of bombs right??



After the game we walked back to Brookline and had dinner at Rachels' favorite Indian restaurant, Rani, followed by frozen yogurt.  The perfect end to an eventful day!

Lovely sunset on the walk home



Sprinkles...you know me :)



On Sunday, we got up bright and early so we could go back to Harvard Square and see the famous tree before I had to be at the airport.  We had no problem getting there on the train...getting back was another story.  If you have ever taken public transit in Boston, you know that there is really no scheduled arrival/departure time for the trains...they show up whenever they show up.  Unlike the BART, which at least has a digital display of when the next train is arriving, Boston trains give you no indication of how long you will be waiting.  So after about 30 minutes of waiting for a train back to Brookline, we finally gave up and caught a cab.  Totally worth it though!



G-Dubs himself stood under this tree!

 





See you Boston, it's been real



So now I am almost caught up on blogging.  Tonight I have yoga at 7, but I'm hoping to get out of the office early enough that I can grab a latte and some reading time at Bull Run before class.  I just started A Storm of Swords, the third book in the Game of Thrones series.  I'm not normally a huge sci-fi/fantasy reader but I read the first book last winter (early 2011) and was hooked!  But, I have to admit the second one was kind of a slog...but I've heard the third one is much better so I'm giving it a shot!  It's definitely not that I have an aversion to long books...my favorite novels are Les Miserables and Crime and Punishment... it was just a boring book. Storm of Swords, you better live up to your lofty promises.

AND. Speaking of lofty promises, I am extremely disappointed to inform you that I found out what the 1089 Grand building is, and it is NOT a pub.  It is a GLASSES STORE.  Lame.  I'm not excited at all and I even wear glasses. 

That's all for now, have a great (tolerable?) Monday!