Fail!

Today was a nice rainy day. It was warm, but not too muggy. I wore a dress, a cordoroy light jacket and flip flops. It really came down during the evening commute and that is where I learned today's lesson, brought to you by the letter "R" [for rain]. Flip flops may seem like a good choice in footwear when its raining on a summer day, however, when the roads have tons of puddles and it's pouring, you have a hard time walking. [My reasoning for wearing flip flops today was this: I wear flip flops to the beach, river, pool, Sea World and other places that are "wet", so since it's a summer rainshower, why wear rain boots?] There was a time while I was walking to the bus stop when my right flip flop flew off my foot a good 3 feet in front of me. Just slid right off my foot. Then, this cheap umbrella failed me. It's so broken, but it did keep my head dry (for the most part). I might has well just worn a shower cap, lol. So, to recap, flip flops and cheap umbrellas don't mix well with rain.

Bruins Rolling Rally Parade

I had an exciting day. Woke up early to grab a spot along the Bruins Parade route. People were lining up closer to the Garden as early as 5am, but I grabbed my spot right at the barricade on the corner of Tremont and Boylston a little after 8:30am. The weather was nice, until the sun moved and shined down on us at high noon. I’m glad I had some sunscreen on me, even though I got a little pink. I estimated over 1,000 people across the street from me. I don’t know what the final numbers were for the parade attendance, but it was insane! It was a 2 mile route that started at 11am. The Bruins and their duck boats didn’t get to our intersection until noonish. I had forgotten how cute hockey boys are! Some had shaved their playoff beards, others still had facial hair and it’s hard for me to decide which way I like it best, beard or shaved. Of course, I was not on the best side of the route, as all the popular players like the goalie Tim Thomas and captain Zdeno Chara were all on the other side. I did get to see the cup, briefly, before they moved it to the other side of the boat for the people across from us to see. About 300 feet or so down they stopped the boats and actually got out with the cup to walk and let some lucky fans touch it, before moving it to a different boat. Darn! There was confetti and of course Dropkick Murphys “I’m Shipping Up To Boston” led the boats down the streets of Boston. The Stanley Cup is gorgeous, oh so shiny! I bet it’s going to be hard to get season tickets next season.

I wore a black shirt and hat since I still don’t own any Bruins apparel, I figure once the demand goes down for the roster style championship shirts, I’ll get one. Boston is the best city for sports and I was so excited that I could take part in the celebration.  The T wasn't as crowded once the parade ended b/c of how slow the parade was moving.  Once it past the people, they could hop on the T before it made it to the next T stop location. I experienced no problems riding the T.

Boston Bruins- Stanley Cup Champions!

Everyone knows I only came to Boston because of Tom Brady.  I had requirements for the city I'd live in after leaving San Diego.  If I move again, the city would have to have pro sports teams.  Why? Sports is a big part of my life, defining who I am.  I've been to numerous football (and baseball) stadiums and Boston really is the best sport's town in the US.  It was in Boston (and not LA) where I went to my first NBA and NHL game.  Patriots aside, I love living in Boston because I'm surrounded by so many sporting events.  I remember growing up and watching The Might Ducks with Emilio Estevez and falling in love with this sport.  My dad took us to the minor hockey team in San Diego, where I eventually ended up interning when I was in college.  I remember studying for school tests while siting in the stands before the puck dropped.  It wasn't until I moved to Boston and made some friends, that I finally got to go to my first NHL game and my love for hockey came out of hiding.  I always found it weird that there were fanatic hockey fans in Southern California, I mean, really?  We don't get snow.  How does one learn about this sport?  Of course, my dad was born and raised in Buffalo, NY and my parents were fans of the Buffalo Sabres which is how coming from Southern California, I was introduced to this sport.



Captain, Zdeno Chara, receiving the Stanley Cup
[what? I needed a photo to go with this blog, ok?]

 It was exciting to watch the Boston Bruins shut out the Vancouver Canucks in last night's Game 7 of the Stanley Cup finals. This is the first championship I've witnessed since moving to Boston and couldn't be happier.  The same feelings I felt when the Pats won the Super Bowl surfaced last night and I cannot wait for the parade on Saturday.  There's been a lot of talk about the other team and how angry they were with Boston for taking the Cup, but honestly, the Bruins earned it.  They stayed focus and from what I saw in the 3rd, the Canucks gave up and were skating rather sluggishly.  Tim Thomas was a better goalie and definitely earned that MVP trophy.

After the game, the scenes that were shown on TV outside Rogers Arena reminded me of those scenes in the Middle East with rebels burning the US flag and jumping on it.  Of course, I was quick to bite my tongue after seeing reports of Bostonians (many of whom were stupid boys) climbing on top of buildings, trying to knock over the police unit bus, and throwing things.  I guess compared to what was happening in Vancouver, Bostonians were behaving themselves. The USA wasn't angry at the Canadians when they took the Gold in the 2010 Olympics (which, by the way, starred Luongo of the Canucks) and if I were from Vancouver, or even a Canadian, I would be embarrassed. 

Now, I guess my one complaint is this: having to watch the game by myself b/c there really aren't too many hockey fans in my circle.  But I will never forget last night; coming home from my 2 hour massage while watching the first part of the game on my Sprint phone.  What a night to remember!

Wine Club & Weekend Round Up

Getting things set up before everyone arrives

Friday I hosted Wine Club. It was a small group compared to what I'm used to, but it made the night that much better! 7 of us sat around my new patio table, sipping on Australian (and one South African by way of Australia) wines. We had a great spread of cheeses, breads and fruit. We even ate frosting from tubs for something sweet to go with some of the wine. It was a gorgeous evening and everyone had a great time. I consumed way too much wine and figured out it was because I was actually having a good time. Usually when I host, I'm always running around to the small groups that form when I have parties with 18 people, making sure everyone is fine and being a good hostess, so I don’t drink as much. With the people that came to Wine Club, everyone knew where I kept things and helped themselves if they needed anything, while I sat and enjoyed all the wine everyone brought (8 bottles plus a bottle of port I took out of my reserve), the yummy cheeses and the great conversations.

The spread outside on my new patio table

We eventually made it in my apartment to watch the hockey game. Wine was spilled and the Bruins lost when the Canucks scored their goal. It sucked, but we all had a great time. I was drunk (and was a happy drunk), but the next morning proved that nothing goes unpunished. I had the spins, I’ll admit, during the hockey game and instead of being embarrassed when one of the guys found something, I laughed. Thank god I have such wonderful friends. I called up Suz who is greatly missed and some of us got to talk to her for a bit.

3am and I still wasn't asleep and my unwanted guest showed his face (yes, it was a fat mouse!) as I followed it into my stove top where he went down the heat vent!! Stomach started hurting and I camped out on the couch, waiting.  I ended up throwing up finally around 9am after drinking some bad ginger ale, and after bowing to the porcelain throne, was finally able to get some sleep; I slept until 1pm. It was cold and rainy, so I stayed in, unable to move myself off the couch and not having cable, watched all these weird 1960 movies that were on “This TV” like “Bachelor Flat”, “The Brass Bottle”, “Dr. Goldfoot and the Bikini Machine”, “Dr. Goodfoot and the Girl Bombs”. I finally managed to eat some toast and some spaghetti with butter and parmesan cheese, but man, I remembered why I don’t like drinking so much. I did have a chance to catch up with Suz for an hour on the phone, which made me feel a little better. It was so nice talking to her as if we were still living close to each other.

On Sunday, I had to get out after being laid up all Saturday. It was cold and rainy (in the 50s), but I managed to walk to and from church, fix some soup for lunch before heading out to meet a friend to do some shopping. We ended up eating at a Mexican place, Tio Juan’s Margaritas. I was craving Mexican food and I know New England does not have the best Mexican food, but I wanted some bean, cheese, guacamole and sour cream. Now, as a vegetarian, I definitely have a different standard when rating Mexican food. You can’t really mess up bean and cheese, and yet I was disappointed with the enchiladas I ordered. Their Mexican rice was not what I was used to (my mom’s is better), maybe too much lime juice? The beans were fine, but the enchilada sauce was not that great; again, I think they overdid it on the lime juice. I couldn’t eat all of my plate because my stomach started hurting, so I packed it up to go. Their chips and salsa were delicious. I have no complaints on their salsa.

The Jimmy Fund Scooper Bowl

I first saw this ice cream event on the Food Network before I moved to Boston.  So my first summer here, I took part in this fundraiser and have done so every year.  Last year I beat my first year’s record by eating 17 scoops of ice cream in the pouring rain and I set out to break last year’s record today.  It was a gorgeous day out and met up with some friends as I double fisted by grapping two cups of ice cream each time I went up.  There were 8 or so vendors, with over 30 flavors.  The key to eating so much ice cream in a short amount of time is just going for it and drinking water.  So, did I do it? Yes! I ate 19 scoops of ice cream, one more than I needed to break last year’s record.  I probably won’t be able to break today’s record next year; if I ate 20 scoops today, I would have thrown up.  So, 19 scoops of ice cream was the final count.  Don’t ask me what my favorite flavor was b/c I was just downing them, but here is a list of the ice cream I do remember grabbing, there are a couple flavors that I couldn't remember:


Baskin-Robbins®
Firehouse #31
S'More the Merrier
Oreo®Gold Rush

Ben & Jerry's®
Late Night Snack
Milk and Cookies
Bonnaroo BuzzTM

Ciao Bella Gelato®
Chocolate S'mores
Mango Sorbet
Wild Blueberry Sorbet
Key Lime Graham Gelato

Edy's®
The Original Rocky Road
Cookies and Cream

Friendly's
Rocky Road
Vanilla

HP Hood/Brigham's®
Brigham's Oreo

SoCo Creamery
Berkshire BerrySee More

Travel Nightmare

Can I just say this: it's always an adventure when I fly!

As you may have read in my previous post, getting to LEX was a little trying. I had missed my connection and had to take a later flight b/c the airplane had some issues. So on Sunday when I leave the resort (thanks to the maid of honor and her fiancé for taking me to the airport) I get there early in hopes of getting on the earlier flight to CLT. I go to print my boarding pass and ask the gal working the ticket counters for a few different airlines if I could get on the earlier flight. She said it would cost me $50 to do so. I’m like never mind, I just ran into issues getting here on Friday making me miss my connection and don’t want to have that happen today. She said that my scheduled flight was on-time. So, I go through security (easy-peasy) and get to the gate where they are boarding for the earlier flight. Now, I said I’m not on that flight, but the next one out and I really really really wish I had asked the gate agent if I could get on that flight since it was not full. However, I didn’t and thus the story begins.

Got to watch the sunset at least

My flight was supposed to depart LEX at 5:54pm, getting me into CLT with 45 minute to make my connection to BOS. Well, the plane we were taking came in late and we actually did a great job getting on and pushing back, making us only 5 minutes behind. However, the captain comes on and says “good news, bad news. Good news is we turned around and pushed back quickly, only 5 minutes behind schedule. Bad news, we’ve been put on a ground hold for 50 minutes”. Grumble, grumble and I’m thinking “You got to be effing kidding me!” So we sit there and end up calling US Air b/c I know I’m going to miss my connecting flight. I get booked on the last flight to leave for Boston, the last seat I am told for that flight.

[50 minutes later]

Lexington as we finally depart

Captain comes on and says they have put us under an hour ground hold. “They” meaning air traffic control due to weather in the CLT area. So we get back to the gate and they let us off to grab food and drinks and stretch our legs. Only problem, it’s 7:30 in a very small regional-like airport where their one restaurant is closed. I hadn’t eaten since 1:30 and know I won’t be able to grab something in CLT before getting into Boston. I munch my bag of Tostitos I had from my wedding gift basket. I check the monitors and we are delayed even longer, now we aren’t expected to leave LEX until 8:40pm. So, one of the guys I met at the wedding offers to pick me up some food and bring it to me at the airport! Got to love Southern Hospitality! No one would ever do that for me in Boston!! I make friends with TSA b/c they are supposed to close at 8:15, but since the delays, they are staying up a little longer, so I wait and chat with them. I receive my Bob Evans banana nut bread and salad which I ate on the flight in CLT.

Lightning storm as we approach CLT

Since we didn’t push back until almost 9pm, my connecting flight in CLT was scheduled to leave for BOS at 10:11pm. The flight to CLT was not as smooth as going into LEX on Friday, and I watched an amazing lightning storm as we flew into the CLT area. I’m looking at my watch and I’m like “Eff! I’m going to miss my connecting flight. There’s no way in hell I’m going to be able to deplane, wait for them to unload our suitcases (we couldn’t bring them on board since they don’t fit b/c it’s the small plane), and RUN through 3 terminals and get my boarding pass." I ask the gate agent if they are still boarding my plane and she said yes, in the middle of boarding. So of course, my suitcase is one of the last ones to get brought up, I book it running in flip flops through 3 terminals, on the moving walkway, up the escalators, nearly running and knocking over people as a bunch of us run to our connecting gates. I was out of breath, make it to the gate and the door is still open. I go to the gate agent and get my ticket and rush down the jet bridge. Of course, my seat is all the way in the back, second row from the back of an Airbus A321 which has 169 seats on it. That seemed like the longest walk ever! And, we don’t push back on time, nope!! The pilot announces that they are holding the flight for the delayed passengers whose flights just landed. Of course I was livid b/c I was sweating; out of breath from running through 3 terminals to make sure I didn’t miss my flight. It would have been nice if OUR PILOT told us or even the GATE AGENT WHO MET US told us that they were holding flights! GRR.

So, needless to say, it all worked out in the end.  I got into Boston at 1am and took a cab home since the T stops running at 12:50am.  I took the morning off from work to sleep and am back to my crazy life here in Boston.

Pen Pals

Well, I’m back! It was requested that I keep blogging, so here I am. I’m not blogging every day (like I did for my 2nd year living in Boston), but I will continue blogging about my more entertaining days.

This past weekend was a blast. I’ve been pen pals with a girl for 17 years. When we were 12 we submitted a pen pal request that was in one of the issues of Teen Magazine. We were given each others address and began writing [I still have some of the letters in a box back home]. Once email came around, we stopped writing letters and emailed. We talked on the phone a few times and continued with emails, AOL IM and then Facebook. After 17 years of communicating, we finally met. I flew down to Lexington, KY for her wedding. We were so excited, but I was a little nervous showing up for a wedding having never met the bride nor anyone else who would be there. However, the minute I landed and met her sister at the airport, I felt like I belonged.

Now anyone who has read previous blog entries (especially when I travel) knows I have the worse luck when it comes to delays. Friday morning I head out to BOS for my 11am flight. We board and are told we will be delayed due to some mechanical problem that arose before that plane landed in Boston. Paperwork had to be done before we could take off, which meant, we were an hour leaving and I having a very short connection time in Charlotte (CLT) would more than likely miss my connection. Now, I have never been to CLT and realized that my gate to my connecting flight was 3 terminals away. We landed as my flight to Lexington (LEX) was supposed to take off. I took a chance hoping that I would still catch my flight, but even though I sprinted and the flight left 10 minutes late, I was still 5 minutes too late to catch my connecting flight. Now, since I was flying into LEX, I had no idea when another flight there would leave. Luckily there was a flight an hour later, and instead of my pen pal picking me up like we had planned, her sister did b/c the bride-to-be had to get her hair and makeup done for the rehearsal.

Flying into LEX on a small, 50 seat aircraft (same type of aircraft I nearly fell from the sky a couple years ago flying into Rochester, NY) wasn’t nearly as bad as I had expected. I flew in over all the horse farms and it was much greener and hillier than I imagined. I was given a mini tour and was given a short history lesson of the city. I was greeted at the hotel by my pen pal and met her family just in time to go to the church for the rehearsal. I was the guest of honor and everyone was excited to meet me.

I of course was eyeing one of the groomsman, and was hoping we’d have a chance to hang out, but we only had a few brief encounters the entire weekend. Everyone was so friendly I felt like I had grown up knowing everyone. I stayed the night with the bride and we chatted, catching up on things. Then the big day! It was a nice Catholic wedding; the church was gorgeous and made me rethink having a Vegas wedding if I ever do get married. I sat with the bride’s family at the reception and mingled a little with some of the bride and groom’s friends. It was really hot and I got up there dancing the cha-cha slide and to some hip-hop /R&B songs. We had an after party at the resort’s bar where I tried Kentucky Bourbon Barrel Ale which is one of my top favorite beers. It tasted like vanilla and went down smooth.

The weekend flew by, almost as if it were just a dream. I had a great time down there and I would love to go back and visit. Nothing compares to the Southern hospitality. Much love for those in KY!