Boston

This past weekend Pat and I decided it was about time that we visited our friends, the Galbraiths, in Boston. The moved there last year so that Johnny could work on the Romney Campaign. I am so glad we planned the trip when we did because just a few days before we came, they decided to make the move to North Carolina in just a few weeks! Johnny and Joanna always have exciting lives and make major life choices within days. They are perfect examples of following your heart and living your dreams. 

I had been trying to figure out where Pat and I could go to "get away." I wanted to go to a beach but decided against it because as much as I love just relaxing and getting a tan ALL DAY, that is some what torturous for Pat. Pat needs action, activities, and more activities.  Boston was the perfect quick little get away. 

I had only been to Boston once when I was about 7 years old; however, as a little kid I didn't realize what a unique and wonderful city it was. All I remember is going to the Cheers Bar and a statue of a guy riding a horse on the Freedom Trail. The whole weekend Pat and I tried to characterize and compare the city with other places. 

Here are some of the comparisons and descriptions we made:

-It's like a movie set

-It's quite and clean like San Francisco

-It's so charming and quaint

-It's like taking all the best places in New York and putting them within a 3 mile radius

-It's very European

-It's a city with a small town feel

Here are some of the highlights from our trip, in no particular order:

-I LOVED LOVED LOVED how you could get everywhere you wanted to go by foot, and there was absolutely no need to use the subway. 

-The whole weekend we had amazing weather (low 70's) which was a GODSEND for me since being pregnant. We even had a few things planned that I ruled out because I just wanted to be outside all the time. 

-We walked pretty much all of the Freedom Trail, which was perfect for Pat, the history buff. 

Pat ran to the top of this monument at Bunker Hill which did his calves in for the rest of the trip

Site of the Boston Massacre 

-I loved all the architecture and quaint homes. 

-We saw tons of graveyards, which super old grave stones, including Paul's Reveres gravestone (the picture with the penny's). I think graveyards are so cool, especially when they are as old as the ones we saw in Boston. 

-On Sunday we attended the Old North Church, the same church the famous "One if by land, Two if by sea" signal was sent out" by Paul Reveres order to warn the patriots of Boston of the British Army's movements. The church had a unique design with these cool boxed in booths that different families purchased back in the day. On Sunday, we got a box all to ourselves. 

-When visiting a city, the good and bad thing is all the amazing food there is to eat. Boston is no exception this this rule as itt seemed there was not enough meals in the day to eat all the food we wanted. However, the food we did eat was spectacular. The best probably being the Butternut Squash Ravioloi at Giacomo's in the North End, where the Galbraith's live. But then again the Tuna Burger at Legal Seafood was to die for as well. I don't know! IT WAS ALL SO GOOD!

Joanna's all too true Fortune Cookie fortune:
"You will move to a wonderful new home within the year"

-I loved spending time just sitting in the parks with the amazing weather. I particularly loved "Frog Pond" where it was designed to be a shallow pond for kids to play in. Genius!

-We went to the Haymarket where they sell SUPER CHEAP produce. Joanna had mentioned this before, but I didn't realize exactly how cheap was cheap. Even though we didn't have enough time to eat all the fruit we bought, we just couldn't pass up the amazing deals!

-We took a fun little boat ride in the Public Garden. It was powered by a person pedaling a swan. It doesn't get much better than that!!!

-I loved the Harbor. It is always nice to be near water. BOSTON HAS IT ALL!

-But by far the best part of the whole trip was being with our buds, Johnny and Joanna. Staying at their place felt like home because they feel so much like family. 

I loved Boston so much. I wish I could go back every weekend. 

Weekend Wrap Up (aka Me Venting about NYC)

This weekend was a good and not so good weekend. Nothing great happened and nothing horrible happened except for the norm.

The Good:
- On Friday we had a surprise birthday party for our friend Amanda. She turned the ripe old age of 22 and was not too surprised by the surprise (I guess her husband needs to work on his surprising skills).
-We got a bunch of errands done of Saturday: grocery shopping, laundry, cleaning, and picking up a crib for the babes.
-Pat didn't have early morning church meetings.

The Not-So-Good:
By the end of Saturday I determined that it was a "I hate NYC day." I have these days every so often, sprinkled among the "I love NYC days". It was just one of those days where you are faced with the everyday challenges that NYC poses. Some of these challenges include:

Grocery Shopping: This task has never been fun for me, but grocery shopping in the city, is just pure torcher. Finding the items you need (Fairway, although large for NYC, ain't no Walmart), navigating the crowds and isles, swallowing the ridiculous city prices, and getting your bags home without a car are just some of the reasons why we never have food in our apartment.

Shipments: I bet if you never lived in the city you never thought about how difficult it is when you receive a large shipment to your home. I recently ordered a few ottomans online and my dear friend, Maribeth, was so nice to let me ship them to her doorman apartment. Even though her apartment is only 5 blocks away it's not exactly fun to lug two 20lbs awkward sized ottomans that far in 90 degree humid weather.

Laundry: I loathe laundromats. Even though we live above a laundromat, meaning I just have to walk downstairs to do my laundry, it's still the bane of my existence. First, out of the 30+ washing machines in "our" laundromat, only 4 work, while the others either are taped up with duct tape or have a sign that says "Not working." This means if there are two people doing their laundry all the washing machines are taken! Second, when you have to pay for you laundry every time you do it, you want to make sure your getting the most bang for your buck. That means I don't do small loads here and there throughout the week, but rather, doing laundry is an EVENT where I end up lugging 2 1/2 Ikea bags full of clothes up and down two flights of stars while pregnant.

Furniture Shopping: I found a great crib on Craigslist that I was able to get my hands on. The crib was located in Dumbo, Brooklyn, only about 8 miles away. However, 8 miles in the city is actually pretty far so in order to pick the crib up we had to schedule a ZipCar (A program that we have a yearly membership to for the several times it is needed) for an hour and half, which we sill knew would be cutting it close. Luckily, everything went smoothly and by the time we dropped the car back off we had 10 minutes to spare.

Space: With the soon to be arrival of Baby Koelling I have started my baby supplies shopping, hoping to get everything squared away and set up before the fatigue of the 3rd trimester sets in. The thought of this has been stressing me out as there is absolutely no room for anything new in our 450 sq/ft one bedroom apartment. Yet, I decided to embrace the organizational challenge and tried to not let it cause me anxiety. However, once I got our new crib the suppressed anxiety resurfaced as I realized that our apartment is going to feel a lot more cramp for the next year.

Of course living in NYC has its perks, but those perks usually don't come with the everyday tasks that need to be done. By the end of the weekend, I told Pat that next year we are moving back West.