Society Olympics

Today was a very long day at work. It was such a BEAUTIFUL day outside. We had the Society Olympics today at the Medical School, which was done right outside our office. It was very distracting as they danced to "Thriller" and other 80s songs. This photo I snapped on my way to Starbuck's Happy Hour. They were doing the limbo. When I came back there was some sort of eating contest going on. And to think, these first year students will be treating us in a few years! What a day, it was so nice no one wanted to work, and to be honest...not much work got done in our office.

Home Goods Grand Opening

I'm a shopaholic. Not with the typical girl items like clothes, shoes, purses, make-up, etc, but with home goods. Today I went home early b/c I was beyond exhausted after last night's game. I took a nap and after I woke up I went shopping. When I grabbed the mail today I saw a flyer announcing that today is the grand opening of the new Home Goods store in Allston (part of TJ Maxx, Marshall's, etc). OMG! It's like heaven. I got so many ideas, but only bought one thing... a thing that you put under your area rug to make it a little cushioning on the feet and keep the rug from sliding on the hardwood floor. I've been toying with buying one for my living room rug for months now and decided it was a good price and bought it (but I paid with a gift card so I don't feel so guilty). They didn't have as much as I was hoping for, for the size of this store (I think the one in Somerville near the Christmas Tree Shops is better), but I did spent quite a while walking around looking at items, like lamps for the living room and paintings. This could be dangerous, having this kind of store so close to where I live. They even have Waterford Crystal at really low prices and really nice Italian wine glasses that I really had to show some self control b/c I really don't need anymore wine glasses, but these were really nice. Maybe once I buy a china cabinet will I start purchasing nice dishes and glasses, but until then, I have to keep telling myself I don't need anything!

Red...

...Pin

...Sox


Well today we got rain. Got caught in a downpour at lunch and have been wet since. Tonight was my Red Pin party. And yes, it wouldn't be a party if I didn't win another party, which I did during the last 10 minutes striking on my one and only front red pin.

After bowling a friend and I hopped over to Fenway for the Red Sox/Angels game (he got free tickets from his boss). We get there at the end of the 4th, and no sooner do we get to our seats do they call a rain delay! I'm thinking "cool, I've never been to a game delayed by rain". We didn't get to see any plays, only the guys running off the field and the ground crew putting the tarp on the field. 8:30pm and we end up going to Fenway to watch a Bruins game (as they put the game on the jumbo tron). 2 hours later, it's still raining and I'm being stubborn wanting to stay to watch at least 1 inning...if the rain ever stops. My friend leaves at 10pm. It's still raining. Finally at 10:45pm the ground crew takes the tarp off the field and the top of the 5th begins a little after 11pm, with it still misty raining. I am soaked and cold. We get to sit wherever we like so I choose 8 rows up from home plate looking straight down the 3rd baseline. I get great views of my favorite players, Mike Cameron and Adrian Gonzalez. We get free Dunkin Donuts coffee, tea or hot chocolate for our patience during the 2.5 hour rain delay. 1:12am and it's the bottom of the 9th. I'm tried, the T has stopped running, it's still raining, but then the Sox tie it up. So I stay, find myself near the away team's dugout, 4 rows from the field. 10th, 11th, 12th inning. We think we're going to win it, as someone (honestly, I'm too tired to even look at my photos, but I think it's Youkilis) hits the green monster but it bounces into left field and we get an out at home (which would have won the game). So it's 2:24am, top of the 13th, it has stopped raining and I have to go home. So I walk about 10-15 minutes and catch a cab in Brookline to take me home. My first time taking a cab by myself (ok, 2nd time, forgot I had to take a cab home from the airport once), and I get home just a little before 3am. What a game! Just checked the score and the Sox lost in the 13th inning, final score 3 to 5. Now I just hope I don't catch a cold!

Rain?

Today I get up expecting to see rain and cooler temps, but nope... it's sunny and a bit on the warm side. I check the weather channel and it says it's supposed to rain all day starting at 9am. So I decide to walk to work since I didn't want to walk home in the rain. I'm sweating by the time I get to work. I'm carrying my rain coat, my 10 pound gym bag and my purse, walking for 30 minutes with the temp in the 60s (despite the temp on my phone saying in the 50s). The day goes on and not a drop of rain. I go to the gym, it's sunny. I leave work, it's warm but cloudy. I run some errands, sweating in the Library as I search for a movie they didn't have on the shelf and make my way to the T station. I cram into the T and start to sweat. I get home and still no rain. I decide to change and do Wii Sports for 40 minutes and take a nice cool shower. I don't get the weather, it says it's supposed to rain and it doesn't. It's very frustrating. I would have put my plants which have been transplanted outside on my front windowsill if I had known it wasn't going to rain. Ever since the Pear (not cherry like I had thought) trees outside my apartment started to bloom my plants haven't been getting enough light. I'm really worried that my whole plan to have a nice container garden isn't going to work. So far the kale, squash, cucumber and tomato plants are doing ok; the lettuce and flowers don't look like they will make it. And now that I have squirrels on my back porch, I'm not going to plant anything out there.

Walk a Different Route

Today was another beautiful day out and decided to walk home from work. I ended up taking a different route home and walked through a part of Brookline that reminded me of the suburbs. Huge houses, kids riding bikes, some nice apartment buildings, neighbors talking outside, yards for gardening. It was so pretty walking through a new part of the town I live in. It's funny it seemed a little longer than my usual route, but I'm thinking it's b/c it wasn't as straight of a walk. I had to turn on to many different streets, whereas I usually only have to turn twice if I walk up Longwood and Beacon. I did feel a little out of place being in an unfamiliar area, but it was nice to explore a new route coming home from work.

The Morning After

I feel like a bad hostess. I ended up sleeping in until 11:30 this morning. I didn’t wake up at all once my head hit the pillow, and did not plan on sleeping so late. Poor Suz who crashed at my place after our party was awake for an hour or so before me. Thank goodness for iPhones, she was able to keep herself entertained while I slept. It was nice having a house guest and now my place feels empty and I find myself lonely. She was my first friend to sleepover. I’m glad I have a comfy couch. We had a light breakfast with coffee and chatted before taking over some cupcakes to the firemen next door. They weren’t the same ones from last night who rescued us, but there was a cute red head sitting at the desk and seemed to be the younger crew (of course, I always see the older crew in passing). So, yes, I’ve finally met (albeit briefly) some firemen from next door. [I wonder if they actually eat the stuff people bring them??] We had a cab pick us up so we could carry her hoop, table we used for beer pong, bags and cupcakes in the tins. We pull up to her apartment and get everything and Suz was like “are we forgetting something? Do you have the cupcakes?” Oops! They were sitting on the planter outside my apartment where we were waiting for the cab and totally forgot to grab them when the cab finally arrived. I was worried that someone would have taken the tin pans they were in, but after running errands and walking through the park to snap some tulip photos, I came home and found them in the same spot where we left them. So now, I have almost an entire lemon cake and 15 cupcakes to take to work because I’m not eating them all. The rest of the day I just lounged around. Finished up one book I was reading. I was too tired to take out the trash and recyclables, wash dishes and wipe down the tables…but there’s always tomorrow. I decided to leave all they decorations up. It makes the apartment look festive and we spent so much time putting them up, might as well get the most out of them. I do have to post another party sometime soon since I now have a full shelf of beer in my fridge thanks to everyone who brought cases.

Photo taken in the Public Garden. Not all of them are blooming yet, but wanted to get some photos just in case I don’t make it over again. I always walk alone, if I wasn’t wearing loungewear I would have asked someone to snap my photo so I would have another tulip photo, but next time. It was a nice day. I’m loving this cooler weather and happy that it’s warm enough to wear flip flops!!

The Royal Afterparty

Tonight Suzanna and I celebrated our birthdays. We had a royal theme since the party took place the night after the Royal Wedding. We converted my spare bedroom into the dance floor/prom photo backdrop. Every room had balloons and decorations (yes, even the bathroom). While we didn’t have as large of a turnout as expected (which I’m actually thankful for), we had a blast. All that stress this week regarding the cleaning, the decorating, the hosting, the clean up afterwards and the noise was really silly, but I can’t help myself. Suz went next door and met the fireman; we couldn’t turn the knob on the helium tank, so she got a strong fireman to come to our rescue. Robin was a HUGE help, driving her car over and helping us move stuff from Suzanna’s apartment to mine. The drinks were tasty and I have a fridge full of beer that people brought (good excuse to host another party soon). The birthday girls donned our birthday tiaras and had a great time dancing, drinking and talking to friends. We had beer pong going in the kitchen, cocktails in the living room (white Russians and Suzi Saturns) and a tasty lemon cake and some cupcakes in the dining room, with chips and dip spread throughout the apartment. We had party favors…some bling; we had rings that were fun and fit well with our Royal theme.

We ended up taking the party down the block to the Golden Temple for some dancing around 12:30am. No cover, close to home, great music (despite the fact that the amount of songs played there were also on our party playlist and the dance floor about the same size as ours) and of course wonderful friends who came out to help us celebrate. I feel like an old lady though. By 1:30 we were done and managed to leave just before 2am to get home, clean up a little and call it a night. My feet are killing me and it feels so good to lie down. I’ve been on my feet since I got up at 9am and don’t think I could have lasted any longer. Tomorrow I’ll have to mop and take out the trash/recyclables and take over some cupcakes to the fireman since they were all asleep by the time we got to the cake and candles at 11:30pm. Overall, a great nice and I’m so thankful for having a nice group of friends here in Boston and am really glad that Suz and I were able to pull off this dual birthday bash. I’ll never forget this birthday party and look forward to living the last ye