Another HOT Day in Boston!

I'm pretty sure Spring has come and gone and the summer heat has arrived. I'm sorry I've been a bit...ok, a lot, of a slacker but work has kept me SOOOOO busy! April, May and even early June were such crazy, crazy months I barely had time to sleep. But today I finally had time to take a day off and relax...just in time to sit in my non-air conditioned top floor apartment on a 95 degree day. Good timing, as always!

My friend Vanessa is staying with us this summer and has just started her awesome summer job at a vet clinic out in Everett. She's getting to do a lot of really cool stuff that will be great for her when she starts up her classes at Vet School again in the fall. 

My wonderful husband is on his second day on the job and do you know what he's getting paid to do??? He's getting paid to go on the company golf tournament! Rough life he's got, worrying about sun screen, keeping hydrated and making sure he has the right club. He is really excited to get started working, though, so it will be fun for him to get in the office the next few days.

In a couple of weeks the two of us are heading to the big NY for the weekend. We're staying at the 

Plaza to check out all of their amazing $400 million dollar renovations and we may even check out a Yankee game at the "old" Yankee Stadium. This is pretty much considered our big vacation for the

 summer other than a quick trip out to Arizona over Labor Day weekend for a friend's wedding.

That's about all for Boston. I sure hope it gets cooler like it's supposed to and, I guess, Go Celtics!

Another Day In Boston: Marathon Craziness - Spring is Here!

The minute I declare that Spring is here it is going to snow, but I think it might actually be true. The sun is shining and the temperatures are going up - who knows, I might even go out without a jacket one of these days...ok, I won't go crazy or anything, I'll keep the jacket for a while.

Plans for Monday's Boston Marathon are in full swing and I am well aware of every detail. The Fairmont -- you may recall that is the hotel where I am gainfully employed -- is the marathon headquarters, being that it is located just steps from the finish line. The massive white tents, bleachers and medical headquarters are being constructed and I readily await crowds of people and masses of exhausted runners puking their guts out (as I'm told happens every year)!

The hotel has been aflutter with Marathon excitement for days. Two of my colleagues are even running the race. I do my best not to tell them everyday that they're absolutely insane, but every once in a while it slips out.

Apparently just about everyone here in good ol' Massachusetts has Monday off for some ancient holiday called Patriots Day. Luckily I won't notice the difference because I've had to work on this day my entire life. It turns out that the rest of the country doesn't just make up random holidays, decide that everyone in the state gets them off from work, and then go to a baseball game right after they've watched a bunch of sweaty people run 26 miles. Who knew this was actually happening somewhere in the world??!!!

Another Day In Boston: Happy St. Patrick's Day!

I never really understood what all the excitement was about on St. Patty's day...until I went to Southie for the parade. Glenn and I were invited to a friend's house for some Irish car bombs and St. Patty's Day madness and we ended up walking through pretty much all of Southie by default. The cabs were barricaded from driving in or out, so we were dropped over a mile from where we were headed and had to walk back to get out. It was pure craziness.

I got "beaded" before we even made it to Broadway and, no, I didn't have to do anything for them. We saw the entire parade - people dressed as Irish Star Wars characters included - before any of it even started. Anyway, the whole place was crazy and although it was a blast to see it all I was thrilled to get out when we did.

The NCAA selection show was today. Go Cougs - a four seed, but in the toughest bracket. Hopefully they can get past both Winthrop and Notre Dame and at least make it to the Sweet Sixteen this year. That Notre Dame - WSU matchup could be a really interesting one. 

Unfortunately, their first game hits when we're flying to San Francisco Thursday night. But because we're on the West Coast - assuming they win the first game - we have a much better chance of actually seeing them play game 2.

Glenn accompanied me to a Pac-10 alumni event to watch the Cougs play in the Pac-10 tourney and beat Oregon last Thursday. It was fun to see some people from the west coast, particularly another Coug that came.

All is going well here. We are keeping very busy as Glenn is getting into his last semester of his first year and we're looking forward to my best friend Vanessa spending the summer with us here in Boston starting in mid-May also.

Another Day In Boston: I'm Going To Be A Big Sister!

Yeah, I know I'm a little old for that kind of announcement and no, there aren't any secrets I've been keeping about my family. I recently signed up for the Big Sister's program and this weekend I completed the orientation. This means that some time in the next three months I will be matched with a little sister and I'm very excited to get started! I also met some other great big sisters at the orientation.

Not much else going on around here other than work, work, work. Glenn is enjoying his spring break right now and that's about it. Check in with you later.

Another Day In Boston: So Much To Say...

Hello again! I apologize for taking some time off, but I managed to catch that nasty flu that hit the country this year and my flu shot did no good at all. I was out of commission for a while, so I'll just hit on some major points from the last couple of weeks today.

My friend Andy from grad school visited for a few days a couple weeks ago right around the time I got sick. We had a good time catching up and I enjoyed eating his wonderful goodies (he works for Sahale Snacks - you should try them, you can find them at Whole Foods & Costco and they're very good!).

A couple of weeks ago was that dreaded time of year when you must choose something to give up until Easter. So for Lent I gave up all drinks except water. Yes, that even includes my daily diet Pepsi! It has been tough on occasion, but it's for a good cause - God - so I'm sticking with it...only 27 days to go.

We went to the BeanPot - an annual hockey competition between Harvard, Boston College, Northeastern and Boston University - at the Garden a couple weeks back. I got Glenn the tickets for Christmas and we had a blast! I got so into the hockey that we decided to follow it up with a BC hockey game this weekend, which was also really fun. The snow on Friday tried to derail us, but we made it.

My cousin Erick was in Boston for work so we were able to have dinner, which was great. Work is going really well and Glenn is gearing up for finals this week and then his spring break the week after. I can't believe we're already to spring break time. We will be heading out to San Francisco at Easter to see some friends and family at Easter and we're really  looking forward to that as well. 

Hopefully you are all caught up on the goings on and hopefully I will be more diligent about my blog writing. 

Another Day In Boston: I Voted!

So this may sound absurd to some of you, but I voted in person for the very first time today! In Oregon they do vote by mail, which is all I had ever known, so when I registered in Washington I checked the 'mail my ballot' box, thinking this was the normal way. Turns out that was actually absentee voting. So my vote today here in Boston was the first time I got to vote in person. Surprisingly no one ever checked my ID. Oh well, go Obama!

And go Giants! Yeah I know, I'm supposed to magically become a Patriots fan now that I live here but it didn't happen. I was actually pretty upset that the Patriots were planning their victory parade for today, Super Tuesday, which I thought would really hurt voter turnout here in Massachusetts. Well, no need to worry about it because the Patriots managed to trip over their own destiny. Happy voting!

Another Day In Boston: Chipotle Madness

Hello All! Well unfortunately I wasn't able to make it to the Chipotle grand opening on Wednesday due to a very brief illness, but I sent my secret spies to check it out. Apparently it was a good thing I didn't go - the line was out the door and almost two blocks long! So I'm going this afternoon to get my first Cleveland Circle burrito. I'm also excited for the upcoming Chipotle opening in Harvard Square!

Well, another 6 weeks of winter - stupid Phil! Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow, so get ready for more cold, yippee. Does anyone remember the last time Phil didn't see his shadow? I mean if we're supposed to be having all of this global warming, could someone please tell Phil?

Another fabulous week of work. I finished my training and had a successful first week of "real work". I'm looking forward to continuing my work and hopefully continuing my success. I'm also looking forward to a visit from a friend from business school next week. My friend Andy is visiting me for a few days while here on a business trip, so we can catch up and I can show him around Boston a bit.

I finally played Wii for the first time last night. I bowled on the Nintendo Wii, it was really fun. I think that thing is a great step towards a solution to people's inactive lifestyles while playing video games. Enjoy your weekend and the Super Bowl - I'll be watching at a friends house that just got a brand new huge HD TV, should be fun. Go Packers...I mean, go...wait, I don't care.