Happy Friday!

(Here's a little of what I've been up to lately)

• Making friends with the birds - I sat alone on a bench the other day, taking in the sun and watching a water fountain when two little birds came over to keep me company. Aren't they adorable!

• The Boys v. The Birds - I went to the Beach and was thoroughly entertained by a flock of seagulls and a few rambunctious little boys. The boys, with food in their hands, would try to get the seagulls to come just close enough so they could WHACK them with their paddles.

• I once saw a seagull steal someones bag of gold fish right off their towel . . . while they were sitting on it. They are so aggressive out here and need to be put in their place every once in a while, so I was routing for the boys the whole time.

• The Big Switch - I finally did it. I turned in my Idaho license and became an official resident of Massachusetts. I hadn't planned to, at least not yet, but when I was called to jury duty I didn't really have a choice anymore.

• I had to fork over $100 and wait 2 weeks to change my license over. I was a little disappointed when I got the card and it was completely flimsy. I could rip this thing if half if I really wanted to. You'd think $100 would at least get you a more durable card. What gives Massachusetts?
  

• Alegria - My first Cirque Du Sole! It was absolutely amazing. There were some super creepy parts and some super funny parts. I was completely amazed by what these people could do and I now long to go to the Trapeze school here in Boston to try it out for myself.
  
  

• Have a great weekend!

In The Sun and Salty Air

Saturday I went to one of the most beautiful beaches with one of the cutest names. Singing Beach in Manchester by the Sea.

I grabbed my good friend Chen Ying. She's a total beach girl from Malaysia.

And my other good friend Krissy. She's a newly converted beach girl.

And here's me. A beach girl in the making.

Beaches are a little different here in New England. The biggest difference being that they are COLD. I mean really cold, like turn your legs red cold. So, it's a really good thing it was as hot as it was that day otherwise we never would have made it in.

It took us a good long while of jumping up and down and squealing like silly girls every time a wave came, to make it in. Once submerged, our bodies went numb and it was actually kind of nice.

What was really nice though was getting out and warming up in the hot sun. Here Chen Ying demonstrates how to properly cover your face. Something I need to do more of considering the recent freckle invasion. I'm losing the battle!

Going to the beach, particularly Singing Beach, is quickly becoming my favorite thing to do on a hot and sticky day in Boston.

I'll always be a mountain girl at heart, but I'll gladly take the beach in its absence.

Restaurant Week 2009

Last night I dined with a few friends at Pigalle, an upscale French restaurant in Boston's Theater District. I would normally pull out my camera and take a bunch of pictures of the food, my friends, and the establishment, however this place was a dark romantic type setting and it just didn't feel appropriate. Besides, I bet if I had pulled out my camera our snooty waiter would have kicked me curbside real fast. So, with no pictures attached, here's what I had this year:

To Start:

Moulles with Garlic, Butter, Fines Herbes and Toasted Baguette

Main Course:
Sole with Pearl Barley, Julienne Spinach and Almond-Garlic Purée

Dessert:
Classic Crème Brûlée

(A little park found on my way to the restaurant. It sits in the middle of a busy area and was so, so cute.)

While the food was excellent, the over all experience is one that I don't think I would pay for again. I was a little bugged by our waiter who had an arrogance about him that rubbed me the wrong way. I was told it was probably how he was suppose to act considering it was a French place, but I've been to France and was never treated like that there. Also, it took 2+ hours to get through our 3 course meal. We waited and waited and waited in between courses and I was starving!

(After running home in the rain, I found someone waiting for me on the front step. He was HUGE!)

As was previously mentioned, the food was GREAT. I just wouldn't go back unless someone else was paying and I could wear bright red lipstick, a beret and a serious french attitude.

Six Flags Baby!

After discussing it for some time, Matty and I finally made it to Six Flags! We woke up early, enjoyed some Doritos and Hostess cupcakes for breakfast (it was a two hour drive) and prepared ourselves for a thrilling adventure.

It was a pretty hot day, probably in the upper 80's or lower 90's, so after sweating it out in line for a few hours we decided to jump on the water ride (raging rapids or something like that). I completely forgot just how soaked you get on those things. After going directly through a waterfall and being sprayed from all directions, we came out refreshed and needing a towel.

You can't tell how wet I am in the above picture because I was so soaked you could have rung out my clothes. The only part of me that wasn't wet was the front of me (see below).

After getting something to eat we decided we were ready for the real roller coasters, so we headed straight for Bizarro (use to be Superman). It was the biggest and most talked about ride in the entire park, so we happily jumped in the one hour line.

While waiting, we were surrounded by the screams of people on the ride, as well and the flames that flew up from the ground as they went by.

My initial thought, when the ride started was, "WHAT AM I DOING?" I often do this just as we start the climb to our big decent. I freak out completely in the beginning, laugh and enjoy it all during, and then die laughing after wishing that it had lasted just a little bit longer. This ride was no different.

It had everything a good roller coaster should. There were speakers in the seats, flames coming out of the ground, fog tunnels and plenty of speed! I loved it and was so glad I didn't come off looking like this little girl. (This was not our roller coaster, I found this online and couldn't stop laughing. Poor thing.)

The only down side to the whole day were the lines. It was such a beautiful/Hot Summer day that the park was packed. Once the water park closed down (around 7:00pm) and those people flooded into the main park, it just made matters worse. The longest we stood in line was probably 1 1/2 hours (if not more).

We were HOT, I was tired (I accidentally took a full dose of Dramamine), and the line seemed never ending. Once we got off this particular ride called Mind Eraser, we thought to ourselves, "REALLY, WE WAITED IN LINE FOR THAT!"

Don't worry though, a trip on the carousel and one more ride on Bizzaro and we were happy again. Seriously, I would have waited up to an hour and a half for Bizzaro with no complaints, it's that good! Luckily, we never had to.

(For the record, I did not need that Dramamine and never once felt sick!)