Our Weekend Trip: Part Two

My taste buds don't fully know how to express what they experienced during our weekend getaway. The freshest assortment of lobster rolls, crab cakes, and handmade pastries that a town could offer. Boston really knocked it out of the park when it came to the food (reference the picture below) and we didn't leave our stomachs hungry for one minute. If I had to rate my favorite thing about our trip, this would be it. I like to think the amount of walking we did in those 48 hours balanced out our caloric intake, but who am I kidding. When we weren't eating or touring, we were taking advantage of every photo-op that came our way or buying dollar accessories for our phones.

The Freedom Trail conveniently merged into Little Italy, that or our tour guides took us on a detour. Either way, it was just where we wanted to be. We went to about five different pizza places before eventually deciding on Regina's. And after our server misinterpreted our order, we ended up with two extra large pizzas and a bunch of root beer. We left just enough room for cannoli's from Mike's after we were told they would be worth it, but we weren't prepared for what we were about to partake of. Unbelievable I tell you. These canoli's alone made the Chinatown Bus worth it. Alex may or may not have also ordered three different tiramisu's, just to find the best. I'm not sure he was ever able to decide.

We'll be seeing you again soon, Boston. Thanks for the good times, good eats, and great memories.

Our Weekend Trip: Part One

There are a few things that I learned from this trip, that I think I should share upfront. First, you might naively think, "We'll just take the Chinatown Bus. It's dirt cheap and it will be a funny story I'm sure..". Don't do it. Spend the money. Spend any amount to avoid that bus. And, if you decide to go against my experienced warning, make sure you and your friends buy tickets for the same bus.. otherwise, one of you may end up delayed for an hour at a Chinese Buffet somewhere around New Haven, Connecticut. Second, if your friends invite you to share their hotel room with them in Boston for free, do it. Always do it, and repay them with compliments and a promise of flattering photos from the trip. And last, go to Boston. Because it's one of the greatest, most quaint cities I've been to, and I fell in love with it the second I stepped off that Chinatown bus. 

We left on a Friday night after work, and got back to NYC on Sunday night, so when I say it was a quick trip, I mean quick. But it was a great little adventure, and this is starting to get wordy, so cue photos:

Against our better judgement, we embarked on a walking tour courtesy of our friends Jeremy and Estee, on a beautifully frigid mid-January day. Now, the only thing better than friends, are friends who make great tour guides. And the best kind of tour guides are the ones who like exactly what you like, which in our case was staying warm, staying full, and staying entertained. Needless to say, these former Boston residents kept us thoroughly entertained from sunrise to way past sunset.. 

We spent most of Saturday walking The Freedom Trail, a trail paved into the streets of Boston which leads you through the locations of historical events, the resting place of historical figures, and a plethora of copper clad architecture (loved). It was like reliving my 8th grade History class, but in the best way. Some of the highlights included a select few Paul Revere landmarks, like the church where he hung the lantern (one if by land, and two if by sea...) and even the house he called home. There is something to be said for taking a step back, and remembering how it all began, and the amazing people who made it happen.

The Freedom Trail was fantastic. Everyone needs to venture down this brick lined trail at least once. If I had the time, I would have just kept going in circles. But then again, if we didn't have our tour guides, that probably would have really happened.. Until next time, Freedom Trail. 

2013!

I know you weren't prepared for this slew of belated Holiday posts, but as someone who can barely remember the events of yesterday let alone last year's Holidays I felt it was necessary for me to record as much as I could remember with as many accompanying photos as I could find, just in case I get around to "making that photo book each new year." There it is, in writing. It will happen now.

We counted down the new year with some of Salt Lake City's finest (and our favorite people + Calvin) who we also happen to be related to.

It involved a lot of pizza, inside jokes, and some sort of frozen coconut cake concoction I insisted on buying and then ended up eating myself. The night was spent catching up and thinking about the past year full of more changes than we could have imagined would come. It also included the first self-timer success of the year- plus full cooperation from Calvin, success! The night was a great start to the new year, and hopefully 2013 will bring fame, fortune, and a bulldog for Alex. Just kidding (about the fame.. but I mean if it happens, it happens, right? Okay but seriously, I'm kidding. And this joke inside these parenthesis is over). Here's to 2013!

Christmas at home.

The Holidays came before we even had time to realize it. The only problem was, our pockets were a little short changed, and making it home was starting to look less likely every day. So, we did what we like to think any normal, desperate, home deprived couple would do-- we signed up for a shady online credit card deal to get two free round trip flights. Surprisingly enough, it worked like a charm. We had to play around with some odd departure dates and inconvenient times, but we decided there's really no inconvenient time to head home and see friends and family (there may be an argument for 4am, but Alex would be the one to talk to about that). 

I think we really needed a little fresh air to boost our spirits. Everyone does, right? That's the best part about home, the fact that even though your life may have completely changed, home is always the exact same (Cue: Ryan Reynolds in the movie Just Friends.) And we welcomed the hominess with open arms. We tried to cram as many people, presents (including one of my favorites- a hanging terrarium!), and parties into a week and a half as we could, and we left bursting at the seams from all of them. We did all the other traditional "at home" activities as well, such as driving through the neighborhood at precariously slow speeds with my family in my dad's beloved LeSabre and forcing Alex to join in building horribly frosted ginger bread houses. 

It was awesome. Our families are the best. And I can't wait for next year, to do it all over again.

The day my Thanksgiving sweater emerged..

What's that? Thanksgiving was 4 months ago? Yes. I know. I'm extremely behind the times, but if you had inherited a sweater as festive as the one my mom gave me to celebrate giving thanks, I think you would rather share it later rather than never as well.

Besides that, I realize that I have a lot to be thankful for. As Thanksgiving Day came, I found myself feeling more than thankful. I was feeling thankful for the experiences of the past few months more than anything. I was also thankful to have Alex's family (sadly minus Chris and Kait) cram into our apartment for 5 days, thankful for Laura and Bryce for creating a traditional Turkey feast for all of us (and for the giant dining room table we were all able to sit at in the Chelsea loft where they were staying), and thankful to catch the tail end of the Macey's Thanksgivng Day Parade. Heaven knows I couldn't have fought the crowds longer than the 4 minutes we were there.

We spent the week as tour guides, and as payment Alex's family treated us to all our favorite eats, shows, shopping, and entertainment hot spots. Since we're still working on our documentation skills, Alex's dad managed to get a few photos here and there (including but not limited to the most unflattering yet hilarious photo of us on the Meri-Go-Round).. 

We are so thankful for all the memories that came from these wonderful visitors, but we are not thankful that between all five of us we gained about 500 pounds. All in all we can't wait until they come to visit again. Maybe next time we'll have real furniture for them to eat, sit, and sleep on. Enticing, I know.

Where have we been?

Let me explain. Living on one income has meant only living with the necessities. The necessities include a roof, a floor, and a few unexciting yet mostly organic groceries in between. And by groceries, I mean cereal and the occasional box of Trader Joe’s Jo Jo’s. Alex is still trying to debate that video games, denim, and 5 pints of ice cream are necessities, but 5 pints of ice cream won’t fit in our freezer, which (in addition to our bulging waistlines..) clearly classifies them as unnecessary. We’re still working on the video games and denim.

Internet has fallen right to the middle of the list between want and need. It had risen to the top of the need category until our air mattress popped at 2 am, at which point our sanity and our sleep deprivation needed a real bed. Shortly after that, it made its way atop the list yet again, until our radiator stopped spewing steam and our pipes stopped clanking every hour on the hour- leaving our frigid apartment around 45 degrees and a space heater trumping the internet.

The answer to this was Starbucks. Geographically speaking, we are within walking distance of about 800, give or take. So it seemed easy and convenient enough, walking a few blocks to indulge in free internet to enlighten social media on my whereabouts and share filtered pictures of the food I’ve been eating. But I was wrong. There is nothing easy or convenient about standing one legged amidst a jungle of computer cords, balancing my laptop on one knee amongst starving artists and up and coming actors who have sprawled themselves onto every usable surface within sight, who are streaming Netflix carelessly- leaving the internet slow and useless for the rest of us. Meanwhile, trying to pretend that I’m undecided about what to order as the glances from behind the counter change from subtle to irritated. Finally, once I master my balancing act and the internet finally connects, one of the starving artists who fell asleep in the corner awakens and starts to pack up their things in the slowest, sloth-like manner I’ve ever seen. So I half run, half dive into their seat before they’ve even fully left, just to ensure that it will be mine for the taking. And then, once they leave, I sprawl and stretch and bask in the glory of free internet- until my screen goes black. And I realize that I left my charging cord at home.

It’s at this point that I reconsidered buying a space heater instead of the internet.

Needless to say, it’s been a challenge to share our latest happenings- namely the past few Holidays, our new bed, and Alex’s recent jump into employment. However, soon enough- things will be changing. With employment comes great responsibility, and we realize that we are responsible for sharing the thrills and shrills of our life (mainly for our mothers sakes), which include but are not limited to our new Britta water filter, as well as full posts describing any and all celebrity sightings. Soon enough, you will all be bombarded with be-lated pictures of where we went, what we did, and who we are wearing. Life’s great, and I can’t wait to finally be able to share it from the comfort of my own couch.

Sandy

Photo credit: unknown

We had just returned from Utah when we heard rumor of a hurricane, or “super storm” if you will, that was making its way up the East Coast. I was panicked. My co-workers weren’t panicked. No one within a 10 mile radius of me was panicked. I was no longer panicked.

The night before the storm, we walked over to Duane Reade and bought 4 cans of baked beans, a glade candle and a 24 pack of water so that we were “prepared for the worst”. I was slightly worried that we might lose power, but we also hadn’t paid our utility bill since we moved in, so either way I was expecting a power outage.

It was comical how naively unprepared we were for the unimaginable devastation about to wreck havoc over the next couple of days.

We sat on our air mattress, trying to decipher if we were hearing ambulance sirens or just the wind. Water slowly rose up our street filled with fire trucks, emergency vehicles, and people (including us) dodging airborne branches and debris, waiting to hear if we were safe or needed to evacuate. We were put on standby, and told to go back into our apartments. So, we plugged in our borrowed radio, and waited.

We spent the next couple of days inside, glued to the radio, using the vivid descriptions of news anchors and our imaginations to try and comprehend the damage that had been done by Sandy. However, we never could have imagined.

We were more blessed than we knew how to handle, we didn’t lose power and our apartment was still standing, water free. When the winds and flooding came to a stop, the dark, quiet and still streets of Manhattan were filled with fallen trees, submerged subways, and a feeling of awe at the power of Mother Nature.

Along the entire East Coast, power, homes and loved ones were lost, but the generosity and service that I saw the following weeks renewed my faith in the power of good people. We were lucky enough to have the opportunity of spending a Sunday serving the people of the Far Rockaway’s, just one of many areas that was hit the hardest, with friends by our side, and new friends made.  

Photos courtesy of Lauren 

As life has slowly tried to get back to a new normal, I will always remain changed as I know so many others will too, at just how blessed we were, are, and continue to be, and how grateful I am for the examples of service, kindness, and love, especially from those who lost everything. Sometimes, when so much is lost, it allows you to see what you really have. Which, in my case, is more than I could ever ask for.