Turns out that there's no real reason for that phrase (or more accurately, there's no readily googled reason for that phrase which was first recorded in 1705).
I however, was sick as something. I started out with flu-like symptoms Thursday night, which I thought I was pretty much over by Saturday night so I went to a party endangering the lives of many nice people (is it bad to keep praying that none of them get sick? Is it like driving drunk and then being worried that you may have hurt someone while in your inebriated state? Is it merely a selfish wish or are you just as concerned for the possible victims as you have convinced yourself that you now are?). Sunday I was back to being full fledged sick, I was feverish and slept all day till 5:00 when the fever broke and I was as good as new until 9:30 when I started feeling clammy and gross again. Monday I stayed home thinking I would just need one more day to rest up. Tuesday I made it in to work long enough to throw up and then came back home dizzy and clammy and disgusting. Wed. I worked on drinking as many fluids as I could thinking that the dizziness might be from dehydration due to fever and sleeping so much I wasn't drinking that much. Thurs. things were starting to look desperate and I thought I might have to go to the walk in clinic (because I switched doctors when we got new insurance and I didn't make a new patient appt. at the time and they refuse to see me till I have that taken care of and they're scheduling them 3 months out -- have I mentioned I hate doctors? Sorry Drew. . . .). Thurs. afternoon my nurse friend said she was coming over with an IV if I didn't perk up. Miraculously (and I don't think it's just because of my fear of needles) I perked up significantly on Thursday afternoon. So much so that today I was able to make it to work YAY!!!
I attribute it to prayer, but the statistics don't support me so I am not sure what to say about that.
I have lots of blogging to catch up on, not sure what I should write about first. . . .
Friday, March 30, 2007
Wednesday, March 21, 2007
Dairy Queen
I forgot to mention that on Thursday night we went to Friendly's and split a sundae. We got the Jim Dandy with several substitutions that made it utterly lovely. We substitute peanut butter topping for strawberry and ended up with hot fudge, peanut butter and marshmallow topping with bananas, and five different flavors of ice cream that included, hunka chunka peanut butter, nuts over caramel, Vienna mocha chocolate, chocolate chip cookie dough and one other that I can't remember. The waitress complained that we chose the longest ice cream names on the menu (which I thought was really funny, especially since she refused to abbreviate them).
Friday in one of the lulls between mad rushes we also got a frozen yogurt to share. I loved that it actually had the tang of yogurt unlike most frozen yogurt treats. It is apparently also quite controversial. We opted for plain, with raspberries, mochi bits and almonds.
Saturday Suzib mentioned every time we passed a McDonald's that it was shamrock shake season. We finally stopped near one and she went to get a shake. Turns out they're as rare as leprechaun's gold in NYC. On the ride home on Sunday she mentioned it again and because we're big on strange pilgrimages, Christina did some research. Her research turned up the following incredibly great website: http://www.x-entertainment.com/articles/0948/ and lots more weboards of people discussing which McDonald's actually has the shake. Robert insisted on trying the next McDonald's we found off the highway. For all you shamrock shake fans, it turns out that they have them at the McDonald's in Vernon, CT. Robert and Suzib both got mediums. I had a sip and thought it was almost as foul as Moxie (the foulest consumable this side of radioactive material).
When I was out with my boy on Sunday night he said to me "I wonder if they still have shamrock shakes at McDonald's"I said "are you serious?!" and he said "yeah." I said (in a rather accusatory tone), "why are you asking that?" He looked at me kind of funny look (as one might when your girlfriend is grilling them about a passing comment that you're terribly sorry you even mentioned) and said "because it's march and I was just thinking about them." I said "I can tell you there are definitely McDonald's serving them. We got one earlier today!!" Then I went on to tell him the whole saga I have told all of you.
On Monday when we (suzib, my boy and I) were getting on the train at south station, we passed the small McDonald's there. It turns out they also happen to sell shamrock shakes. So the two of them got them (smalls this time) and drank them on the train, their faces cast in a green pallor from the reflection of the neon green goop. I told them I wasn't kissing either of them that night :).
Friday in one of the lulls between mad rushes we also got a frozen yogurt to share. I loved that it actually had the tang of yogurt unlike most frozen yogurt treats. It is apparently also quite controversial. We opted for plain, with raspberries, mochi bits and almonds.
Saturday Suzib mentioned every time we passed a McDonald's that it was shamrock shake season. We finally stopped near one and she went to get a shake. Turns out they're as rare as leprechaun's gold in NYC. On the ride home on Sunday she mentioned it again and because we're big on strange pilgrimages, Christina did some research. Her research turned up the following incredibly great website: http://www.x-entertainment.com/articles/0948/ and lots more weboards of people discussing which McDonald's actually has the shake. Robert insisted on trying the next McDonald's we found off the highway. For all you shamrock shake fans, it turns out that they have them at the McDonald's in Vernon, CT. Robert and Suzib both got mediums. I had a sip and thought it was almost as foul as Moxie (the foulest consumable this side of radioactive material).
When I was out with my boy on Sunday night he said to me "I wonder if they still have shamrock shakes at McDonald's"I said "are you serious?!" and he said "yeah." I said (in a rather accusatory tone), "why are you asking that?" He looked at me kind of funny look (as one might when your girlfriend is grilling them about a passing comment that you're terribly sorry you even mentioned) and said "because it's march and I was just thinking about them." I said "I can tell you there are definitely McDonald's serving them. We got one earlier today!!" Then I went on to tell him the whole saga I have told all of you.
On Monday when we (suzib, my boy and I) were getting on the train at south station, we passed the small McDonald's there. It turns out they also happen to sell shamrock shakes. So the two of them got them (smalls this time) and drank them on the train, their faces cast in a green pallor from the reflection of the neon green goop. I told them I wasn't kissing either of them that night :).
Tuesday, March 20, 2007
Traveling Stomach
So my weekend was eventful. It was not quite the weekend I had planned (you can see showering hippie's blog for the details she hasn't blacked out -- last night she learned that the fire truck came with screaming sirens so her description is hazy) but I realized that every meal I had was incredible and so I have decided to focus on the gluttony of the weekend (also known as the serious high points).
Thursday we drove down to NYC and stopped in CT for lobster rolls. It is important to note, that while no two lobster roll offerings are the same, Connecticut and Maine have decidedly different versions. I have only ever had Maine lobster rolls (mostly at the Big E in the Maine State House on the avenue of the states -- I LOVE the Big E). I was planning on not liking the Connecticut version very much out of loyalty to my traditional Big E lobster roll. I ordered a scallop roll (because what could be better than fried scallops?!) and when we were sitting down I merely had a bite of the lobster roll and then another. It was UNBELIEVABLY good. The hot butter they drizzled over the lobster was seeping into the roll which had been toasted and buttered already on the outside. I cannot stress enough, it was really good. I recommend the slight detour to visit Lenny and Joe's Fish Tale. I don't know if there's is the best Connecticut lobster roll out there, but it's pretty damn good.
Friday we had "confusing breakfast" at our very kind host's house. There was a creamy blue cheese that melted in your mouth, a natural salami, fresh fruit, warm bialys and cream cheese and lox. We met my roommate at the train station shortly afterward and to boost his moral (and blood sugar) after the confusing breakfast Robert got three Chinese pork buns and a bubble tea with freshly made tapioca bubbles. We all four took the train into town, had some excitement and three out of the four made it to lunch at Mandoo Bar where we had incredible color coded dumplings (pink for seafood, green for veggie and white for pork) and kimchee dumplings (which could have been spicier but were a fun idea) and a warm Korean dish (dduk boki) with fish cake slices, rice cakes, cabbage and noodles it was so warm and comforting in the horrible weather we'd trudged through all day. We also had a nice cool noodle salad with asian pear, and a lemony dressing (dotori noodle). After a long hard day and much more time spent in terrible weather we all four headed over to s'mac for a comfort food dinner. We tried the brie, manchego, Cajun, and hamburger varieties and the special of the night the buffalo chicken with a blue cheese topping. They were all incredibly good. I think in the end Suzib chose Cajun (shocking I know) as her favorite, Christina chose manchego, and Robert and I were split between the buffalo chicken and the brie. We all thought there should be a dessert mac and cheese and even came up with some ideas on how they could do it (creating a derivative of noodle kuegal and/or using a marscapone cheese). Perhaps we should write in and let them know. To finish the comfort food/single item restaurant theme we got dessert at rice to riches. Robert and Christina got the cinnamon graham and caramel puddings heated, I got half peanut butter and half banana (the peanut butter was great, the banana so-so) and Suzib got cheesecake and raspberry (the cheesecake was better than the raspberry in my opinion). There were like 20 varieties to choose from though, so it was hard to leave so many behind untasted.
Saturday we decided to take it easy. We went to dim sum in flushing (I am a little confused b/c the link I am enclosing I think is the link to the place we went except it doesn't say it's in flushing and so I am only hoping this is the place I am about to talk up). While I didn't have as much traditional dim sum fare as I do at the places we go in Boston, I loved this place. There was the option of dim sum, you could have fresh sushi (or hand rolls on request) there was a carving station with Peking duck and a salad bar with seaweed salad, lotus root salad, noodle salads and more. There were so many great buns (including a neon green one with a black filling that turned out to be sesame and tasted like peanut butter). Sadly, one of my favorite items on the menu were the corn nuggets which I swear was breaded and deep fried creamed corn, how white trash am I? The spread here was amazing though all the food tasted good and was of a good quality (though the three or four Italian dishes were slightly off putting). Bubble tea was included (but apparently the bubbles weren't that good) and the best part was the cotton candy on the way out. I LOVE cotton candy, no matter how odd it is to have at the end of a dim sum extravaganza. We went next door where I bought a sushi boat (I am so excited about this, I told my boy it was for him but we're keeping it at my house -- I have the fancy rice maker after all, it's just more practical ;)) and then we headed home to play games and watch a movie (which looked good but I fell asleep through). I woke up in time to discuss dinner and to mention that really I just wanted a salad. Robert REALLY wanted Korean fried chicken and won in the end. By the time we got home with it, it turned out he was right, I really did want fried chicken, not a salad, that was just crazy talk! This was the best fried chicken I had ever had. It was thoroughly crispy on the outside, so much so that you could hear the crunch as people ate. It was also saturated with flavor (we got garlic and hot and spicy varieties). We're going to try and make some of our own, but I think it will probably only be a dim reflection of what we had.
Sunday we had crepes courtesy of Robert (and Christina and her mother's watchful eyes). They were delicious. He made cream cheese and lox crepes, caramelized banana crepes, lemon sugar crepes, cinnamon sugar and blueberry jam. Every one that I tried was great. We left the house by 11:00 sorry to say goodbye to Christina's incredibly generous parents and headed toward Boston. Stopping shortly afterward for second breakfast. We went to this great (I can't stress that enough) empanada place. It was incredibly reasonably priced with an impressive assortment of flavors. They have three types of shells, flour, corn and whole grain. The fillings range from traditional beef and chicken, to spinach, tuna, plantain and caramel with cheese. They also have frozen treats that are rich and good (we got dulce de leche and peanut butter). I want to move to NY based on this place. I am hoping I can get an apartment right upstairs, you know to truly maximize the possibility I will get on TLC as the two ton woman!
Anyway, that's my trip. I ended the day with a burger at B. Good with my boy and a shared dessert at pizzeria uno (because it's hard for us to find places open late on Sunday nights).
Thursday we drove down to NYC and stopped in CT for lobster rolls. It is important to note, that while no two lobster roll offerings are the same, Connecticut and Maine have decidedly different versions. I have only ever had Maine lobster rolls (mostly at the Big E in the Maine State House on the avenue of the states -- I LOVE the Big E). I was planning on not liking the Connecticut version very much out of loyalty to my traditional Big E lobster roll. I ordered a scallop roll (because what could be better than fried scallops?!) and when we were sitting down I merely had a bite of the lobster roll and then another. It was UNBELIEVABLY good. The hot butter they drizzled over the lobster was seeping into the roll which had been toasted and buttered already on the outside. I cannot stress enough, it was really good. I recommend the slight detour to visit Lenny and Joe's Fish Tale. I don't know if there's is the best Connecticut lobster roll out there, but it's pretty damn good.
Friday we had "confusing breakfast" at our very kind host's house. There was a creamy blue cheese that melted in your mouth, a natural salami, fresh fruit, warm bialys and cream cheese and lox. We met my roommate at the train station shortly afterward and to boost his moral (and blood sugar) after the confusing breakfast Robert got three Chinese pork buns and a bubble tea with freshly made tapioca bubbles. We all four took the train into town, had some excitement and three out of the four made it to lunch at Mandoo Bar where we had incredible color coded dumplings (pink for seafood, green for veggie and white for pork) and kimchee dumplings (which could have been spicier but were a fun idea) and a warm Korean dish (dduk boki) with fish cake slices, rice cakes, cabbage and noodles it was so warm and comforting in the horrible weather we'd trudged through all day. We also had a nice cool noodle salad with asian pear, and a lemony dressing (dotori noodle). After a long hard day and much more time spent in terrible weather we all four headed over to s'mac for a comfort food dinner. We tried the brie, manchego, Cajun, and hamburger varieties and the special of the night the buffalo chicken with a blue cheese topping. They were all incredibly good. I think in the end Suzib chose Cajun (shocking I know) as her favorite, Christina chose manchego, and Robert and I were split between the buffalo chicken and the brie. We all thought there should be a dessert mac and cheese and even came up with some ideas on how they could do it (creating a derivative of noodle kuegal and/or using a marscapone cheese). Perhaps we should write in and let them know. To finish the comfort food/single item restaurant theme we got dessert at rice to riches. Robert and Christina got the cinnamon graham and caramel puddings heated, I got half peanut butter and half banana (the peanut butter was great, the banana so-so) and Suzib got cheesecake and raspberry (the cheesecake was better than the raspberry in my opinion). There were like 20 varieties to choose from though, so it was hard to leave so many behind untasted.
Saturday we decided to take it easy. We went to dim sum in flushing (I am a little confused b/c the link I am enclosing I think is the link to the place we went except it doesn't say it's in flushing and so I am only hoping this is the place I am about to talk up). While I didn't have as much traditional dim sum fare as I do at the places we go in Boston, I loved this place. There was the option of dim sum, you could have fresh sushi (or hand rolls on request) there was a carving station with Peking duck and a salad bar with seaweed salad, lotus root salad, noodle salads and more. There were so many great buns (including a neon green one with a black filling that turned out to be sesame and tasted like peanut butter). Sadly, one of my favorite items on the menu were the corn nuggets which I swear was breaded and deep fried creamed corn, how white trash am I? The spread here was amazing though all the food tasted good and was of a good quality (though the three or four Italian dishes were slightly off putting). Bubble tea was included (but apparently the bubbles weren't that good) and the best part was the cotton candy on the way out. I LOVE cotton candy, no matter how odd it is to have at the end of a dim sum extravaganza. We went next door where I bought a sushi boat (I am so excited about this, I told my boy it was for him but we're keeping it at my house -- I have the fancy rice maker after all, it's just more practical ;)) and then we headed home to play games and watch a movie (which looked good but I fell asleep through). I woke up in time to discuss dinner and to mention that really I just wanted a salad. Robert REALLY wanted Korean fried chicken and won in the end. By the time we got home with it, it turned out he was right, I really did want fried chicken, not a salad, that was just crazy talk! This was the best fried chicken I had ever had. It was thoroughly crispy on the outside, so much so that you could hear the crunch as people ate. It was also saturated with flavor (we got garlic and hot and spicy varieties). We're going to try and make some of our own, but I think it will probably only be a dim reflection of what we had.
Sunday we had crepes courtesy of Robert (and Christina and her mother's watchful eyes). They were delicious. He made cream cheese and lox crepes, caramelized banana crepes, lemon sugar crepes, cinnamon sugar and blueberry jam. Every one that I tried was great. We left the house by 11:00 sorry to say goodbye to Christina's incredibly generous parents and headed toward Boston. Stopping shortly afterward for second breakfast. We went to this great (I can't stress that enough) empanada place. It was incredibly reasonably priced with an impressive assortment of flavors. They have three types of shells, flour, corn and whole grain. The fillings range from traditional beef and chicken, to spinach, tuna, plantain and caramel with cheese. They also have frozen treats that are rich and good (we got dulce de leche and peanut butter). I want to move to NY based on this place. I am hoping I can get an apartment right upstairs, you know to truly maximize the possibility I will get on TLC as the two ton woman!
Anyway, that's my trip. I ended the day with a burger at B. Good with my boy and a shared dessert at pizzeria uno (because it's hard for us to find places open late on Sunday nights).
Monday, March 19, 2007
Killing Me Softly With His Song
My boss gave me an article that reminded her of my relationship (I told her about how I told my boy he should plan a special day for us the day before my birthday and he said, I already was. . . . I consistently give him bossy pronouncements which he's already taking care of quietly). She said the spelling is wrong, but I think you'll recognize it. I had no idea what she meant, but shockingly it all made sense once I started reading: http://www.boston.com/news/globe/magazine/articles/2007/03/18/coupling/
Thursday, March 15, 2007
This Weekend
As of tonight, my friends are whisking me away to NYC and I am terribly excited. We're going to visit S'Mac (a restaurant whose focus is all mac and cheese) and we're trying to see a fun documentary called Radiant City and I am visiting an insurance library and we're getting Dim Sum on Sat. and I don't know what else, but I am thrilled!!!! -- t0o bad we're not rich, we could apparently partake in fancy pizza :).
Oh, and to end the perfect weekend, my boy and I are going to see Lethal Weapon on the big screen (or at least the medium screen it is at the Brattle Theater). I LOVE Lethal Weapon!!
Whew, now you can't say I don't blog. . . .
Oh, and to end the perfect weekend, my boy and I are going to see Lethal Weapon on the big screen (or at least the medium screen it is at the Brattle Theater). I LOVE Lethal Weapon!!
Whew, now you can't say I don't blog. . . .
The Rest of the Day and then some
Okay, so I have blogged about the first third of my day. Sadly, It's taken me so long to do, I don't want to go into as much detail about the rest of the day (which is unfortunate especially for my boy who spent so long trying to plan a perfect treat for the day before my birthday and for who a long blog post would be sort of like a thank you).
After our bus ride, we walked over to the Museum of Science. It's a lovely walk (especially because the weather was so pleasant) and we paused just before the museum and looked down into the Charles (which is quite possibly one of the least pretty bodies of water out there). We continued to the museum where my boy picked up tickets for the butterfly garden AND the Alaska Imax movie. We wandered around the museum since we had about an hour before we could go into the butterfly garden. We watched kids down below building huge towers of cups and we visited the cartoon exhibit and a model exhibit. Then we headed back to one of my favorite parts of the museum the illusions section. By this point it was time for the butterflies. After some slight confusion and a lecture from a mentally handicapped (though higher functioning than we were) guy we got in the correct line and proceeded to go look at the butterflies. Some of them were absolutely huge and it was fun to search for them and find random little ones so far away and realize you were staring at them through the wings of another one right in front of your face :). At one point a giant brown butterfly (I can't remember the real name -- I am not just trying to protect its identity :)) flew really close to us around in circles and landed at our feet. When his wings were open they were a beautiful iridescent blue and when they were closed they were a drab brown that I am sure keeps him safe. I liked that. One of my favorite things is to have something plain/conservative that inside is wild (a black jacket with a brilliantly colored lining, a plain purse with a wild pattern inside and so on). I feel like I am kind of like that, when people first meet me I am quiet and bland, but once they get to know me I am loud and obnoxious (I like to think of that as a brilliant lining ;)). Anyway, once we had our fill we attempted to leave the garden, we did what I will forever think of as a "tick check" to make sure no butterflies were being carried out with us and we started to walk out. My boy roughly grabbed my arm though which startled me since he's usually not so mean or so quick, I asked what?! and he pointed to the ground and said look out. . . . had my path wavered at all, I would have squished the lovely butterfly that had landed on the floor near us. . . . Luckily we left with no further incidence.
We went to stand in line for the Alaska Movie (which I think my sister showed one summer as her summer job, probably the most conventional summer job she ever had). It was in line that my boy revealed his utter dorkiness (which btw was really cute). He is apparently an IMAX freak. I mean he used IMAX terminology (dog house in reference to the projector) and told me the film used for the IMAX is 10mm larger than the film he uses in his camera. While the dredlocked projectionist was changing films over, my boy told me that it used to be they could only show two movies a day but they've not expanded the projection room to fit more reels on at a time so they can have more showings. He also told me a woman used to work in the room with the man and I started laughing at him. Because really, I thought he was going to give me the dirt on her and tell me some soap opera about the two when he's usually so mean to me about my love of the TLC documentaries/reality shows. . . .
The Alaska movie was ok. I mean it was cool to see the scenery and everything, but it didn't go into depth about any one thing and the generality of it was disappointing.
After the movie we walked back to my library where my boy left me to change as he went back to his respective office to change. By the time I was finished I looked H-O-T-T I had on a beautiful brown 3/4 sleeve Anne Klein dress (I looked for a picture to post but I cannot find the dress online) that was originally $160 marked down to $100 marked down to $89.97 and further marked down to $36. Not only was the price perfect, once my roommate stuck two safety pins in it, the fit was perfect, it had ruching at the shoulders and a crossover top with a sash at the waist. I matched the dress with some gold wedges (yay, styles that come back every decade or so) and a purple velvet purse my friend made for me quite some time ago. My hair was curled and pulled up and I even put on make up I think my sister would have been satisfied with (including an eggplant shadow to mirror the purple purse, but not to overwhelm the face). Anyway, I looked hot (I know because not only did my boy say so -- you can't really trust him-- but a stranger on the street called out to him and told him he was lucky to have such a hot girl :)).
We walked over to the North End for dinner (the Italian district for all you non-Bostonians) to the restaurant he had chosen on Hanover street (the most popular street there). He had chosen the Daily Catch as our destination that night. It's a great restaurant that I highly recommend. It is not, however, very fancy nor very good for a romantic evening. We had to share a table with three business men and couldn't hear each other over all of the noise also, I was wearing a long jacket that evening and had to fold it and sit on it to prevent it from getting stepped on. The food was incredible though. They make a black pasta with squid ink (and it is very black) and they have various toppings we got the appetizer size of the alfredo and of the aglio olio. I was a little hesitant about the aglio olio, but LOVED it. I have thought about it a lot since then. I think that it would be incredible if they put the aglio olio sauce on top of bread and shaved thick bands of parmesan cheese over that and broiled it. I think that would be irresistible. MMMM. Don't you want some now too? Think I can convince them to make it when we go back? Think I can figure out how to make it myself. . . right now. . . .
Whew, ok, back to the story. As we were walking back to the library from dinner my shoe started rubbing on my toe really badly. My boy finally asked me (in the kindest possible way) why I kept squeezing his hand really hard every few seconds. I said oh, that's probably every other step when my shoe hits my toe. We made it back to the library and my toe was now bleeding. I put a band aid on and tried the shoes again but it still wasn't enough padding at that point. I dug under my desk and found a pair of brown sandals from the summer that were beat up and knocked about and put those on, they weren't very pretty, but I assumed wherever we were going next wouldn't be that fancy either so it would be ok. At some point that evening the clasp on the purple purse broke so I ditched that in favor of my every day purse too. I also noticed a hole in the toe of my nylons but assumed it would be passable. . . . We walked to the train and as we were on the platform (far away from any of my fancy accessories) my boy says, "we're going to the Top of the Hub for dessert."
I have never been to Top of the Hub, I have just heard about it from other people. As far as I can tell, it's a fancy restaurant. I have heard of people proposed to there and it seems like a special occasions only kind of place. I don't know that I hid my sadness about our destination very well. I had felt so pretty earlier in the evening and now when we were going to a fancy shi-shi kind of place, I had downsized to the crappy accessories and the tired feet. I feel like somewhere in the experience is a sermon illustration, but I am not sure what, perhaps the bridesmaids with the lamps? Anyway, I felt terribly shabby, and sad that he had mean so entirely well and yet I looked horrible and couldn't possibly live up to Top of the Hub standards.
We got off the train at the Prudential stop and strolled through the mall a bit. He showed me the places his firm had worked on the building and explained why one particular corner was especially difficult which was very interesting. Eventually our stroll ended at the Pru proper where women in evening gowns were passing through the door (in case I didn't feel poorly enough about my appearance). When we walked in there was a long line and a woman greeted us and told us that it would be an hour wait to get into the lounge. I tugged my boys arm and asked if we could save it for another night and just go home where we had left over red velvet cake waiting for us. He acquiesced and we went to the grocery store to pick up bananas for the next day's pancakes (and where he indulged my search for a special wine even though he doesn't drink and in the end I didn't find what I wanted). I realized too late I had no milk left in the house and so we took the train to porter and went to the grocery store once more to get milk and he treated me to daffodils. We went home and I arranged the daffodils and we watched a movie and then went to bed (and I mean that literally, it's not a euphemism for anything and I want to be clear about that since my dad reads my blog :)).
The next morning he made banana pancakes (my roommate cleverly threw chocolate chips in them while they were cooking so we had the yummy chocolate banana combination) and then my roommate, my boy and I headed out for ice skating. Sadly, free skate is over. We caught half a hockey game between the State troopers and the BPD though which was fun and then headed to my candy store (which was not so much fun since it was crowded and my candy store guys weren't there to wish me a happy birthday). Then we went to church and then my boy and I couldn't convince my roommate to join us and another couple for dinner and a movie (she insisted she was a 5th wheel which made me sad because I would never want her to feel that way and I love her and wanted her there). Anyway, we had dinner at Fajitas and Ritas and then went to see Reno 911: Miami which was just as stupid as the show but still made me laugh quite a bit!
After our bus ride, we walked over to the Museum of Science. It's a lovely walk (especially because the weather was so pleasant) and we paused just before the museum and looked down into the Charles (which is quite possibly one of the least pretty bodies of water out there). We continued to the museum where my boy picked up tickets for the butterfly garden AND the Alaska Imax movie. We wandered around the museum since we had about an hour before we could go into the butterfly garden. We watched kids down below building huge towers of cups and we visited the cartoon exhibit and a model exhibit. Then we headed back to one of my favorite parts of the museum the illusions section. By this point it was time for the butterflies. After some slight confusion and a lecture from a mentally handicapped (though higher functioning than we were) guy we got in the correct line and proceeded to go look at the butterflies. Some of them were absolutely huge and it was fun to search for them and find random little ones so far away and realize you were staring at them through the wings of another one right in front of your face :). At one point a giant brown butterfly (I can't remember the real name -- I am not just trying to protect its identity :)) flew really close to us around in circles and landed at our feet. When his wings were open they were a beautiful iridescent blue and when they were closed they were a drab brown that I am sure keeps him safe. I liked that. One of my favorite things is to have something plain/conservative that inside is wild (a black jacket with a brilliantly colored lining, a plain purse with a wild pattern inside and so on). I feel like I am kind of like that, when people first meet me I am quiet and bland, but once they get to know me I am loud and obnoxious (I like to think of that as a brilliant lining ;)). Anyway, once we had our fill we attempted to leave the garden, we did what I will forever think of as a "tick check" to make sure no butterflies were being carried out with us and we started to walk out. My boy roughly grabbed my arm though which startled me since he's usually not so mean or so quick, I asked what?! and he pointed to the ground and said look out. . . . had my path wavered at all, I would have squished the lovely butterfly that had landed on the floor near us. . . . Luckily we left with no further incidence.
We went to stand in line for the Alaska Movie (which I think my sister showed one summer as her summer job, probably the most conventional summer job she ever had). It was in line that my boy revealed his utter dorkiness (which btw was really cute). He is apparently an IMAX freak. I mean he used IMAX terminology (dog house in reference to the projector) and told me the film used for the IMAX is 10mm larger than the film he uses in his camera. While the dredlocked projectionist was changing films over, my boy told me that it used to be they could only show two movies a day but they've not expanded the projection room to fit more reels on at a time so they can have more showings. He also told me a woman used to work in the room with the man and I started laughing at him. Because really, I thought he was going to give me the dirt on her and tell me some soap opera about the two when he's usually so mean to me about my love of the TLC documentaries/reality shows. . . .
The Alaska movie was ok. I mean it was cool to see the scenery and everything, but it didn't go into depth about any one thing and the generality of it was disappointing.
After the movie we walked back to my library where my boy left me to change as he went back to his respective office to change. By the time I was finished I looked H-O-T-T I had on a beautiful brown 3/4 sleeve Anne Klein dress (I looked for a picture to post but I cannot find the dress online) that was originally $160 marked down to $100 marked down to $89.97 and further marked down to $36. Not only was the price perfect, once my roommate stuck two safety pins in it, the fit was perfect, it had ruching at the shoulders and a crossover top with a sash at the waist. I matched the dress with some gold wedges (yay, styles that come back every decade or so) and a purple velvet purse my friend made for me quite some time ago. My hair was curled and pulled up and I even put on make up I think my sister would have been satisfied with (including an eggplant shadow to mirror the purple purse, but not to overwhelm the face). Anyway, I looked hot (I know because not only did my boy say so -- you can't really trust him-- but a stranger on the street called out to him and told him he was lucky to have such a hot girl :)).
We walked over to the North End for dinner (the Italian district for all you non-Bostonians) to the restaurant he had chosen on Hanover street (the most popular street there). He had chosen the Daily Catch as our destination that night. It's a great restaurant that I highly recommend. It is not, however, very fancy nor very good for a romantic evening. We had to share a table with three business men and couldn't hear each other over all of the noise also, I was wearing a long jacket that evening and had to fold it and sit on it to prevent it from getting stepped on. The food was incredible though. They make a black pasta with squid ink (and it is very black) and they have various toppings we got the appetizer size of the alfredo and of the aglio olio. I was a little hesitant about the aglio olio, but LOVED it. I have thought about it a lot since then. I think that it would be incredible if they put the aglio olio sauce on top of bread and shaved thick bands of parmesan cheese over that and broiled it. I think that would be irresistible. MMMM. Don't you want some now too? Think I can convince them to make it when we go back? Think I can figure out how to make it myself. . . right now. . . .
Whew, ok, back to the story. As we were walking back to the library from dinner my shoe started rubbing on my toe really badly. My boy finally asked me (in the kindest possible way) why I kept squeezing his hand really hard every few seconds. I said oh, that's probably every other step when my shoe hits my toe. We made it back to the library and my toe was now bleeding. I put a band aid on and tried the shoes again but it still wasn't enough padding at that point. I dug under my desk and found a pair of brown sandals from the summer that were beat up and knocked about and put those on, they weren't very pretty, but I assumed wherever we were going next wouldn't be that fancy either so it would be ok. At some point that evening the clasp on the purple purse broke so I ditched that in favor of my every day purse too. I also noticed a hole in the toe of my nylons but assumed it would be passable. . . . We walked to the train and as we were on the platform (far away from any of my fancy accessories) my boy says, "we're going to the Top of the Hub for dessert."
I have never been to Top of the Hub, I have just heard about it from other people. As far as I can tell, it's a fancy restaurant. I have heard of people proposed to there and it seems like a special occasions only kind of place. I don't know that I hid my sadness about our destination very well. I had felt so pretty earlier in the evening and now when we were going to a fancy shi-shi kind of place, I had downsized to the crappy accessories and the tired feet. I feel like somewhere in the experience is a sermon illustration, but I am not sure what, perhaps the bridesmaids with the lamps? Anyway, I felt terribly shabby, and sad that he had mean so entirely well and yet I looked horrible and couldn't possibly live up to Top of the Hub standards.
We got off the train at the Prudential stop and strolled through the mall a bit. He showed me the places his firm had worked on the building and explained why one particular corner was especially difficult which was very interesting. Eventually our stroll ended at the Pru proper where women in evening gowns were passing through the door (in case I didn't feel poorly enough about my appearance). When we walked in there was a long line and a woman greeted us and told us that it would be an hour wait to get into the lounge. I tugged my boys arm and asked if we could save it for another night and just go home where we had left over red velvet cake waiting for us. He acquiesced and we went to the grocery store to pick up bananas for the next day's pancakes (and where he indulged my search for a special wine even though he doesn't drink and in the end I didn't find what I wanted). I realized too late I had no milk left in the house and so we took the train to porter and went to the grocery store once more to get milk and he treated me to daffodils. We went home and I arranged the daffodils and we watched a movie and then went to bed (and I mean that literally, it's not a euphemism for anything and I want to be clear about that since my dad reads my blog :)).
The next morning he made banana pancakes (my roommate cleverly threw chocolate chips in them while they were cooking so we had the yummy chocolate banana combination) and then my roommate, my boy and I headed out for ice skating. Sadly, free skate is over. We caught half a hockey game between the State troopers and the BPD though which was fun and then headed to my candy store (which was not so much fun since it was crowded and my candy store guys weren't there to wish me a happy birthday). Then we went to church and then my boy and I couldn't convince my roommate to join us and another couple for dinner and a movie (she insisted she was a 5th wheel which made me sad because I would never want her to feel that way and I love her and wanted her there). Anyway, we had dinner at Fajitas and Ritas and then went to see Reno 911: Miami which was just as stupid as the show but still made me laugh quite a bit!
The Bus Ride
While my boy and I were waiting for the bus (which took an unusually long time) another guy waiting for the bus turned to us and said, "you two haven't been dating long have you, what two months?"
I said, "one month this week."
He said "yeah, you're still standing close to each other touching" (for those concerned about the ick factor, my boy had his arm around my shoulder, mine was around his waist).
He went on to do an incredibly funny bit (no idea if he's a comedian or just a ham). He said: "that will wear off, soon you'll be standing here and she'll be standing there," he pointed slightly apart, "we're still talking, but I'm gonna stand here and you can stand there. . . . that's what it will come to."
He also gave my boy advice. He said, "women have a totally different sense of time than men. You can go out with your boys for one night. One night's okay. Absences makes the heart grow fonder and all that but don't go for more than one night. More than one night and she's complaining you're never around, you don't appreciate her etc. One night's okay, not more than that. I went away on a military mission for two days, I got back and my girl said 'you've been gone so long, why were you away that long?' I said 'what?' and she said 'it's been 38 hours, and 49 minutes!!' I said 'babe, I was gone for two days, just two days!!" He continued, "Women have a totally different set of time. You'll go out to get some milk and you'll come back home and she'll ask 'what took you so long, it was 45 minutes to get milk?' You'll say 'well I had to stop at the atm on the way and then when I got to the store I realized that I had to go to the bathroom and then the line to check out was really long and on the way home someone stopped me for directions. . . . .' and then you stop and think to yourself, who am I? What has become to me that I am standing here explaining what I did every minute I was away?!"
He had some amusing thoughts on "that time of the month" his final advice to my boy as he got on the bus (which had finally arrived) was "I have three ex-wives and 12 children and I am currently living with my girlfriend, my advice is get out now -- I mean, good luck!" (so if you're counting he was the second person that hour to tell my boy he should run from any sort of commitment!!
The other thing of note on the bus ride is that a woman from our Thurs. night group got on the bus two stops down from where we got on. I am not sure that she was aware my boy and I were dating. She hasn't come to group consistently since we've started dating and even if she had, often at group we don't sit near each other. . . . She looked slightly shocked but didn't say anything about it. Apparently she promptly called my roommate (who she hasn't talked to in months) after she got off the bus though and I suspect would have asked about us if my roommate had actually picked up her phone :).
I said, "one month this week."
He said "yeah, you're still standing close to each other touching" (for those concerned about the ick factor, my boy had his arm around my shoulder, mine was around his waist).
He went on to do an incredibly funny bit (no idea if he's a comedian or just a ham). He said: "that will wear off, soon you'll be standing here and she'll be standing there," he pointed slightly apart, "we're still talking, but I'm gonna stand here and you can stand there. . . . that's what it will come to."
He also gave my boy advice. He said, "women have a totally different sense of time than men. You can go out with your boys for one night. One night's okay. Absences makes the heart grow fonder and all that but don't go for more than one night. More than one night and she's complaining you're never around, you don't appreciate her etc. One night's okay, not more than that. I went away on a military mission for two days, I got back and my girl said 'you've been gone so long, why were you away that long?' I said 'what?' and she said 'it's been 38 hours, and 49 minutes!!' I said 'babe, I was gone for two days, just two days!!" He continued, "Women have a totally different set of time. You'll go out to get some milk and you'll come back home and she'll ask 'what took you so long, it was 45 minutes to get milk?' You'll say 'well I had to stop at the atm on the way and then when I got to the store I realized that I had to go to the bathroom and then the line to check out was really long and on the way home someone stopped me for directions. . . . .' and then you stop and think to yourself, who am I? What has become to me that I am standing here explaining what I did every minute I was away?!"
He had some amusing thoughts on "that time of the month" his final advice to my boy as he got on the bus (which had finally arrived) was "I have three ex-wives and 12 children and I am currently living with my girlfriend, my advice is get out now -- I mean, good luck!" (so if you're counting he was the second person that hour to tell my boy he should run from any sort of commitment!!
The other thing of note on the bus ride is that a woman from our Thurs. night group got on the bus two stops down from where we got on. I am not sure that she was aware my boy and I were dating. She hasn't come to group consistently since we've started dating and even if she had, often at group we don't sit near each other. . . . She looked slightly shocked but didn't say anything about it. Apparently she promptly called my roommate (who she hasn't talked to in months) after she got off the bus though and I suspect would have asked about us if my roommate had actually picked up her phone :).
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