Earth Fest 2010

What's better than getting out to enjoy some sun, 90's tunes and getting a whole ton of free stuff all while enjoying some seriously good people watching? Okay well a lot of things are probably better than that but last weekend this was our best option, so we slathered on some sunscreen and headed out to Earth Fest 2010.

Earth Fest is a yearly event in Boston put on by Whole Foods to promote greener living. Every year they bring in bands to entertain the adults (this year we saw the Gin Blossoms and Collective Soul) as well as bands to entertain the kids.

I was blown away by these little kids below. Although I don't think they would take kindly to me saying so, they were about the cutes kids ever. I felt like I was watching the live version of School of Rock. I attached a video at the bottom so you can see just how good they really were.

I think my favorite part of the whole event was all the FREE stuff they handed out. We weren't sure what we were standing in line for half the time but we walked away with all kinds of great organic food and about 5 grocery bags to put them in. I now have more than enough cereal, humus, and granola bars to last me a long while and believe it or not, it actually tastes pretty good too.

Earth Fest 2010 . . . success!

NOT AGAIN!

So here we are again, I'm pulling another "let me update you quick on what's been going on" kind of blog post. I know there's no excuse but if there ever was a good reason, I feel like I've got a pretty good one.

The wedding is about 6 weeks away and I couldn't be more excited/nervous/stressed/excited! I made a mad dash home to Boise last month and we got a lot of it planned and taken care of. With the help of my amazing Mother and Sister we've been able to get almost everything done . . . Almost. :)

That being said, let me just update you a little on all the non wedding things that have been going on here in Boston.




We celebrated Matt's birthday on April 27th. He turned 32 which still baffles me. I swear sometimes I feel like he looks younger than I do.





Matt wanted Sushi for his birthday dinner so we went to Yoki. He opened some really fun gifts, including this pen with a remote control car in it, ate some really good shrimp tempura and finished off the night with some home made peach cobbler.


Matt and I also recently made our first run to Kimball Farms for the year. It was packed as usual but oh so good. We tried sharing a kiddie size this time because so much ice cream is given and it proved to be a good choice. We both had more than enough. I didn't even finish my half!



While at Kimball Farms we wondered into their arcade and dominated at the Deal or No Deal game. We played it a few times and won enough tickets for these awesome shades and an old school pixie stick.



Matt and I also ventured out to Rockport Massachusetts recently which is now one of my favorite places. It's this tiny coastal town full of shops, good food and beautiful views.

On a recommendation from my coworker we went to a little strudel shop there and had the best Almond strudel ever. Really, I wanted to buy up a whole box to take home with me. If you ever come to visit me in Boston we'll for sure make a stop in Rockport because I can't imagine anyone not loving it.

While we had a great time wandering around Rockport, the real reason for going was to take some engagement pictures. We got a lot of good ones and a lot of . . . well, let's just say you won't be seeing them in your invitation.

Look Who Came to Town !

It was just another normal Tuesday at 3:00 in the afternoon when I received a text from Mr. Jake VP. He was in town playing a show in Cambridge only a few miles from my house! Jake is my little brother Jonathan's best friend who has been touring with the band This Providence for the past few years. He's a musical genius and such a great guy. Matt and I were thrilled to be able to pick Jake up and spend a few hours with him before he had to perform.

Jake had never actually seen the city, so we did our best to show him what we could in the few hours we had. We walked through the common, walked through the financial district, told him some of the history and ended up in the North end for dinner.

We chowed down on some of the best pizza in town from Pizzeria Regina, and walked over to Mike's Pastry so Jake could experience his first cannoli.

The woman behind the counter at Mike's thought Jake was the cutest thing as you can tell from the picture below. It was too funny and we had a great time teasing Jake about it the rest of the night. :)

After eating we rushed Jake back to Cambridge with just enough time to spare before he had to go on. Matt and I stuck around to watch the show and . . . that's right, we were on the guest list!

The band went on at about 9:45 pm and even though I didn't know any of their songs, it was an absolute blast to be in the concert goers atmosphere again. It was even more exciting to see Jake up on stage and to hear the crowd go wild. I was totally proud and felt like I was watching my little brother up there.

Matt and I felt a little old surrounded by so many teenagers, I'm sure they all thought we were nuts, but we seriously had such a good time.

It was so good to see Jake, to show him around, to see him play and to catch up a bit. We can't wait until he comes back to Boston again.

Best Surprise EVER!

I bet you're wondering why I've posted a picture of Matty and I sleeping (or pretending to sleep, shhhh don't tell anyone) at the front of a post that says "Best Surprise EVER!" Well, it's because on Saturday morning at about 12:00 am Matty informed me that I better be ready to see him in 5 short hours because he was taking me to NEW YORK!!!

We've been talking about going for a long time now and I haven't been back in over a year, so I was super excited! We boarded our bus at 6:30 am, slept almost the whole way there and jumped off to explore the city that never sleeps. Here are some highlights and all the fun surprises that Matty had planned for me. (Get ready for a lot of pictures!)

It was absolutely beautiful outside, so our first stop was Central Park. It was full of people running, biking, sun bathing (what!) and participating in all other kinds of out door activities. Honestly, the day was absolutely beautiful and I probably could have spent it entirely in Central Park.

I really wanted to ride the carousel but was devastated to find that it was closed down for repairs. I wanted to cry . . . but don't worry, I didn't. :)

While in New York I was amazed to see a whole ton of small dogs being carried around. Really, it was kind of ridiculous. However, none of them were more ridiculous than this poor pooch (below). He had on shoes!

After doing a little shopping and sight seeing we were off to have lunch at one of the best hamburger places. The Shake Shack! We were both starving and I was absolutely not prepared for the line that lay in front of us.

Yes folks, all or at least most of those people are waiting in line to have lunch. As soon as I saw it I turned to Matt and said, "Um, let's find somewhere else to eat I'm starving!" He was adamant that they had the absolute best hamburgers and that we at least wait a little while to see how fast the line moved. So we stood there, and stood there, and stood there. We stood for probably a good 25 minutes. I was just about to complain yet again, when someone familiar came up behind me. Juliet!!!

(please excuse my cone shaped head here. I'm not sure what was going on.)

Juliet and I lived together when I first moved to Boston. She has since moved back to New York and I haven't seen her in such a long time. Matt took her number out of my phone without me knowing and planned to have her meet us for lunch. I was so happy to see her and felt kind of dumb for complaining about the line.

We waited in line for a good hour but it was absolutely worth it. It was so fun to catch up with Juliet and for Matty to finally meet her. Also, just look at that hamburger! It's perfect.

Another really fun surprise Matt had planned for me was to take me to the MOMA (Museum of Modern Art). I figured he knew that I liked modern art and that was why we were there but I was dead wrong (kind of). Matt didn't tell me until we got up to the counter to buy our tickets that we were really there to see the Tim Burton exhibit! I was thrilled and so excited about it. I absolutely love Tim Burton!

There were so many things crammed into such a small space but it was absolutely amazing. We got to see all kinds of things from original drawings, school essays, early home made films and poems to the original Batman costumes, Edward Scissor Hands costumes, and original clay figures used in his stop motion movies.

Above is a picture to the entrance of the exhibit which was so cool. We weren't allowed to take pictures once we were inside but Matty snuck one anyway. :)



Since we were already in the museum we decided to check out the other art work there and let me tell you, it did not disappoint. I had no idea Vincent Van Gogh's Starry Night was there. So cool!




After walking around all day we were really grateful to sit on some nice cushioned benches to ponder and observe the art work. It was so nice to get off our feet for a little while.

One person at the museum definitely did not feel the same way we did.



There was a performance artist at the museum who had the most ridiculous exhibit I've ever seen. She sat in a chair all day long and just stared at people. It was a participation type exhibit where they wanted people to take turns sitting across from her. You could do whatever you wanted which is why Matt and I died laughing as we watched people step up, sit down and just stare right back. We wanted to participate and make funny faces at her or sit on the table or something like that but people were so serious about it and would sit across from her forever! I don't think I'm cool enough or artsy enough to understand this. Seriously, when did laziness become art?



Another cool thing Matty and I discovered in MOMA was this VW bus that was extended by clothing. Someone sewed a bunch of clothing together to make the walls of this thing and I loved it. It was really unique.





After going to the museum Matt was so good to let me look around one of my favorite stores, Anthropologie. There is nothing for guys in that store, so he happily sat on their comfy couch and played games on his ipod. He was so cute and kept telling me not to worry about him and to take my time. He's amazing.



We finished off our trip with a slice of pizza and a walk to Times Square. I had so much fun with Matty in New York and I couldn't believe all the surprises he had up his sleeve. I felt so spoiled and couldn't believe that I didn't figure it out before hand.

It was a great weekend with my favorite person in the whole world. Thank you Matt, I love you. :)