February Highlights

* Late birthday lunch with some friends from work at Perly's

* Lunch Buddy field trip to the Science Museum of Virginia

* Dinner with a good friend

* Lauren and Mike's shower

* Valentine's lunch with Daddy, Lauren, and Leslie

* Amazing trip to Boston to visit my friend from college, Amanda

* Cake and pizza to celebrate Shana Love's 5th birthday

* Flowers from my awesome brother-in-law on a particularly bad day

* FREE piano from Craigslist!

* Awesome new CD - Thriving Ivory - LOVE it!

* Girls' day with Mama to Southpark for shopping, Confessions of a Shopaholic, Starbucks, and dinner at Panera Bread

Looking forward to March!

More pics from Boston - day three

Boston - Day Three

My third and final day in Boston, Amanda was off the whole day! We started the day by going to the Harvard Museum of Natural History. In my opinion, this was the worst museum ever! It had boring exhibits and we went on a Sunday morning (FREE to MA residents). If you live in MA and STILL want to go, I recommend going anytime other than Sunday morning, even if it's free. It was way too crowded and we didn't even go to some exhibits because it was so crowded. After walking through Harvard Yard and getting a mini-tour from Amanda (who had been on a real tour), we lunched at Chipotle.

After lunch, we hopped back on the T and headed to the New England Aquarium. After waiting for an hour to get to the TICKET BOOTH, we finally got into the aquarium. We were just in time to see the penguin feeding, which was pretty cool. Each penguin has different colored bands on their arms so the employees can mark which ones have been feed. Amanda loved the penguins (as you will see in the picture!). The jellyfish exhibit was really cool. My favorite was the sea turtles! I have been fascinated with turtles since I led a turtle to the ocean about ten years ago on a family vacation to Holden Beach.

After a couple of hours at the aquarium, we went to Faneuil Hall Market Place, where we checked out the shops and listened to a quick lecture of the history of Faneuil Hall.

We finished off the day at an Italian restaurant in the North End, topped off by dessert from Mike's Pastries. There were no fewer than 50 people in line to get pastries - and for good reason! Best pastries ever! You can get them online! :)

Because of the luggage issue I had on my way to Boston, I went ahead and left Sunday night instead of Monday morning. It was an amazzzing trip! My only problem with Boston is the wind - that place is freezing!

Boston - Day Two

Amanda didn't have to work Saturday morning, so we headed downtown to Skywalk Observatory. If you are ever in Boston, I definitely recommend spending the $10 or so to visit the 50th floor of the Prudential building! You have a 360 degree view of Boston with an audio tour explaining the significance of important buildings/areas of Boston. The two bottom pictures are some that I took while at the Skywalk Observatory.

After a quick lunch Amanda and her roomie, Jenn, headed out and I headed to the JFK Museum. I didn't expect to enjoy this museum as much as I did. After a 17 minute video which takes you from JFK's birth to his election, the museum exhibits pick up and walk you through his election, his time in office, and his assassination. It was really quite interesting and I thoroughly enjoyed the museum - it was actually my favorite of the ones I visited. One of the middle pictures is the view of Boston from the museum.

For dinner, Amanda, Jess, and I went to an Indian restaurant in Jamaica Plain, the super cool town where they live. This was my first time eating Indian food and I LOVED it. I also loved that they served us free champagne for Valentine's Day! After a yummy dinner, we headed to a local pub. Lucky for us, it was karaoke night! Although none of us participated, it was fun to watch the locals get drunk and happy and sing for us! :) haha. We also learned to rock the dart board. Fabulous V-day in Boston!

Boston - Day One

Amanda had to drop me off at her house as soon as she picked me up from the train station. She had to work, so I was on my own my first day in Boston. I am proud to say that I found the metro station (the T), figured out where I was going, and made it to the Museum of Fine Arts all by myself! :) I spent the morning at the museum, which had photography exhibits and art from different parts of the world. The picture above was part of my favorite room in the museum - European furniture from the 1700s. There were also lots of paintings by Monet that I loved.

After the museum, I hung out and ate at a Qdoba near one of the universities while I waited for Amanda. We walked down the famous Newbury Street (looooots of shopping!) and through a nearby park before heading to Cheers for dinner. I wanted to go there for the atmosphere, but was amazed at how good the food was! If you ever go, definitely get the Carla's Pasta Caprese. It was delicious!

By this point, my feet were killing me! So we headed home to rest up for day 2.

Boston via Amtrak

When I decided to visit my friend Amanda in Boston, I checked into plane and train tickets. I've always thought it would be fun to take a train trip, and considering the tickets were cheaper, Amtrak became my mode of transportation to Boston.

I've never travelled by myself, so I was a little intimidated. A friend dropped me off at the train station, where I printed off my tickets and checked my really big (50 pound) suitcase*! I read my book, looked at a magazine, and listened to my ipod for about 2 hours until we made it to DC, where I had a two and a half hour wait until the next train. I slept almost the entire night and arrived in Boston about 7:45 AM Friday morning. Besides a guy who would start singing at the top of his lungs in the middle of the night for no apparent reason, it was a pretty good, quiet trip. The only problem I had was with my luggage - they sent it to another Boston train station (thankfully, only about 10 minutes away)!

My trip back wasn't too eventful either. I took another night train, so I slept most of the way. I've decided I enjoy travelling by train, but maybe Boston is a little far! :)

*FYI - I only had a four day trip :)