headed for boston, ended up in seattle

(ok, so those of you who know that i went to boston in october, stop laughing. i am very busy these days and yes, i used the date editing function. at least you're getting something to read, so stop complaining.)

our trip to boston was a comedy of errors. we left on friday, october 14 it was sunny-ish in toronto. we got to the airport early (of course, since the husband prefers to be there early. he missed a plane long ago and it scarred him for life.) so we decided to have a snack at the airport bar and ordered some chicken wings and beer.

i knew the trip was starting off well when i ran to the ladies room, tears streaming down my face from the hot chicken wing sauce that shot into my eye when the husband took his first bite. (don't worry, no eyeballs were harmed in the making of this vacation.)

eyemakeup completely off, i returned to the restaurant and reassured concerned husband that we were still good to go.

well, air canada wasn't. of course, the plane was late.

once it finally got there, i settled into my comfy business class seat (courtesy of frequent flying). even though i knew our original lunch plans needed to be scrapped, i declined the questionable "hot" snack. the flight was fairly uneventful and i got some quality magazine reading in.

once there, our crazed taxi driver hurled us towards our hotel in the pouring rain. not a good sign. but hotel nine zero was very cool, in a small roomed boutique hotel kind of way. glad we weren't paying (husband's work trip).

so we scrapped our original plans for lunch and siteseeing. went to the hotel bar to reformulate a plan and sample local brews. when the rain settled down a bit, we looked at a few freedom trail sites -- the cemetary across the street from the hotel -- then decided to find some warm, dry shopping. luckily all the major shopping was literally behind the hotel and filenes was having a huge sale. the husband bought shoes. i bought a purse.

scrapped our original dinner plans to go to a trendy restaurant and went to durgin park in touristy faniuel hall (the first of many visits during the weekend) and had a new england clam bake complete with clam chowda and lobsta.

saturday we were up early hopeful for a dry day. no dice. it was pouring when we got to the lobby. so much for starbucks -- we headed back for the room and ordered room service and read all the free papers the hotel would give us.

still raining 3 hours later, we decided that we had to go somewhere dry, like macy's. the husband bought more shoes. we went back to the hotel to drop off the packages and then headed back to fanueil hall for more clam chowda and lobster rolls. these were accompanied by some acapella singing groups from harvard. still raining. had to go shopping at ann taylor loft to stay dry. finally i bought something -- shirts, cords, pjs. it was a good day.

we tried to go to a nearby pub called the black rose – it was too packed with football fans. but we'd be back, we just didn't know it then.

still raining, so we drop off the bags. yes, bags. then go to the bar next door to the hotel called beantown pub. have some nachos and harpoon ipa, watch some football.

that night we meet up with the husband's friends, greg and adam. greg lives there so he tries to take us sightseeing on the freedom trail. it's still raining. adam's from nyc so greg takes the tourists to probably the worst meal in the whole city at cheers. guess where it is -- yep, fanueil hall.

the evening gets better when we go to the rack, excellent people watching for me, pool for the boys. finally, we go to little italy and get dessert at mike's pastry – boston cream pie and canollis, the things the place is famous for. after greg suggests that we go to a real irish pub. guess where we go -- yep, the black rose. good people watching. the bostonians love their alcohol.

we try to go to the smallest bar, which by the way, we walked past every time we went shopping, and end up back at the beantown pub, with about 250 franz fernand fans (show was next door and ff were staying at our hotel) and a bunch of wedding guests, who had obviously had enough of a very boring wedding. we stayed out way too late.

sunday, it was still raining. so we sleep in, have room service coffee and read whole Sunday boston globe. rain stops (finally) so we decided to walk around boston common, beacon hill, newberry street, back bay to go to the polkadog bakery so we can get the bulldog a new cute leash. the leash we wanted was sold out in the right length.

so we go to 647 tremont, the restaurant we were supposed to have dinner at on the first night, for their pajama brunch. nice atmosphere and good food, but i'm glad we went to brunch not dinner.

we walk off our brunch through chinatown and then hang out in the room until i have to go to the airport. the hotel puts us in a chauffered suburban!

business class lounge sucked – united - it was stuffed and boring so decided to people watch in the terminal instead. much funnier. the flight was ok – of course, the food sucked (pizza).

after landing in toronto, i drove to the in-laws to pick up the bulldog, who obviously didn't want to leave the 24-7 buffet and ball playing and come home with boring me. we were both in bed by 1, bulldog snoring loudly.

thanks for a day off

yes, it's monday morning around 11:45 and i'm still in my jammies. sweet! i may stay in them all day long.

i went to bed last night around 9:30 and slept in unti 8:30 -- the most and highest quality rest i've gotten in weeks. i feel much, much better than i have. maybe i kicked that cold/flu thing with rest.

i am thankful today is a national holiday.

it's thanksgiving weekend here in canada. the husband and i have had a busy one. friday i was supposed to get out of work @ 1 -- ha! and as it is on most fridays, traffic was horrible too. when i finally did get home, i found a thanksgiving card from a friend with a wonderful quote:

let us be grateful to people who make us happy;
they are the charming gardners who make our souls blossom.
-marcel proust

i am thankful to have such a considerate and wonderful friend. that card erased my long day and grumpiness from my mind.

that night i had to go to a wedding rehersal -- i was doing the reading for the wedding, so i provided 12 choices to the bride and groom. they took the first one: on marriage from kahlil gibran! so as a wedding gift, i took the quote and framed it as a momento of their special day. the minister was hillarious – he is a former ad man turned protestant minister. i guess it goes to show those of us in the business that it really does train you to do a wide variety of things!

saturday during the day we ran around gathering up the materials for a thanksgiving feast for 10. i am thankful that i am a good planner, don't get too stressed out doing big dinners and that having my inlaws around is fun. it was good to get some of the prep work out of the way.

we started by taking the bulldog to the farmers market -- usually it's too hot for her to go. i am thankful that here in toronto we are experiencing full on fall so it was cool enough for her.

she didn't really want to eat any of the things the vendors were offering her -- even the cheese curds. she was too busy looking around and smelling stuff.

saturday night we went to a wedding. it was nice although like many events when you know you've got something big to do the next day, it wasn't that relaxing. still, the bride and groom looked great, it was nice to see lots of people i rarely see anymore and the husband and i could have a quiet drink on the patio together and enjoy the crisp fall air. i am thankful for all of those things.

we were at the pregnancy table however and while it was nice to see the moms-to-be, i really didn't have much to offer by way of conversation. oh well. the girls were really happy and looking forward to the babies. the husbands really seemed ambivilent about the whole thing. it was like they weren't really affected by it one way or the other. strange.

sunday was pretty crazy. non-stop food prep from the time we woke up until the time everyone left. it was a lot of work but i think everyone enjoyed it, especially the bulldog who filled up on turkey handouts and pumpkin pie samples. i think it's safe to say she's feeling a little sick today, well, at least really tired from all the ball playing. she keeps looking for comfortable places to sleep as she follows us around the house.

we foisted a couple of "weird" things upon the inlaws: salt and pepper kettle chips and a baked brie with a fig sauce on top for appetizers and cranberry sauce laced with orange liquor. the rest of the meal was strictly old school thanksgiving with all the stuff they're used to: turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, gravy, plain veggies (peas and green beans), pumpkin pie. everyone seemed to like the food ok and were happy to receive to-go bags of leftovers and a jar of cranberry jam.

so that leaves today. a day of rest -- ha! so i cleaned up the remainer of the mess from the feast and now i'm roasting a butternut squash for soup while i write. i am totally procrastinating since i have work to do so i think i'll take care of some home tasks that i keep putting off.

what i really feel like doing is napping all day or at least lying on the couch watching tv. how lazy is that? better save that for later tonight.

i am also thankful it's a super short week this week -- i'm only working tuesday, wednesday and thursday. but i am thankful that i get to do something i enjoy everyday, that i get paid to do it, i work with fun, nice people (mostly) in a nice office. so i better get to that work now...

back to what appears to be normal

the husband's back from his week long business trip. the bulldog is snoring. i just finished working. so it's really back to normal.

i've had a really inconvenient headache for the past week. it's funny headaches have been part of my life ever since i can remember. when i was in elementary school i used to get in trouble with my parents for claiming i had a headache and going to the school nurse. later they found out i needed glasses. i wonder if they ever put two and two together...

ironically i am the sign that is ruled by the head -- aries. of course, it is a the sign that is prone to headaches. what a surprise.

i'm not sure why i am suffering so, but i do know if it keeps up for another day or so i'm going to the doctor. there's a reason i pay so much in taxes and i'll be damned if i don't get my head checked out if it hurts. i thought i had the flu or something a couple of days ago.

tomorrow i have to have breakfast with the president of my company. weird. hopefully the coffee is good :)