More family comes to Boston!

As many of you know I have been lucky enough to see a few of cousin Stephanie's Bostonians Concerts since I have been in Boston. Sadly, I will miss her final Bostonian Concert as I will be in Oregon for Megan's Bachelorette Party, but I was lucky enough to hang out with the Asbury Family for a quick dinner before I headed out of town. Thanks to Aunt Gail for a wonderful meal at Lineage. Below the picture of (clockwise) Aunt Gail, myself, Aunt Janis, and Carolyn.

7 miles and our first BBQ- what a weekend!

The weather is nice, I am staying healthy, and enjoying friends and family. It's a great time to be me. This weekend Shane and I got to have dinner and lunch with his parents. Dinner on Friday night at one of our favorite spots, the Navy Yard Bistro and lunch on Saturday at the Parish Cafe, a really fun lunch place that is well worth the wait. And Saturday afternoon we had our first real BBQ at our place in Charlestown. Our little place takes on a whole new area when you can be on the deck, and that's exactly what we did. We had Danny, Amanda, Michelle, Nate, Pat, Karlene, and Jill over for an impromptu grill session that turned into another fun round of Apples to Apples! Shane did an excellent job on the grill as usual, making burgers, chicken, and dogs. We were all stuffed and happy by the time the sun went down. On Sunday Shane and I took our time leaving the house, I think both of us were dreading the fated 7 mile run that the training calendar called for. We decided to do a different route along the Charles River. We did the Mass Ave bridge to the Elliot Bridge loop along the Charles. We did it in about 1:08, not too bad...It think according to the map it was 7.2 miles, so we are happy with the pace. The worst part was the Mass Ave bridge at the very end. It was WINDY, and full of lame tourists that don't understand the value of moving out of the way for runners. I think I am going to have to find a way to never cross the Mass Ave bridge again... not sure how I can swing it, but I am going to have to find a way, because ugh! it was painful!

Land of skinny runners

Monday is Patriots Day and the 112th running of the Boston Marathon. For those of you that don't know the Boston Marathon, it is the oldest Marathon in the US. Typically offices will shut down for Patriots Day and people will take the day to either watch the Marathon or hit up the day time Red Sox game. It's just another sports day in Boston. This weekend we were down by Copley Square on Saturday and saw tons of people who were registering for the race. And omigoodness these people are skinny! A strong wind could easily knock these people over. As you all know, I am training for a 1/2 marathon, and I know it's a little crazy, but a full marathon, especially Boston takes a special type of crazy... For more information on the race please check out the BAA link here: http://www.bostonmarathon.org/

Even the Freedom Trail needs a paint job

It's finally sunny here in Boston. It was a balmy 50 degrees today, and that fact combined with the fact that I had to move my car for street cleaning this morning, in order to avoid it being towed, meant that I walked into work instead of taking the bus. On my way across the Charlestown bridge, I realized I am not the only one who realized it's spring. There are more boats in the marina, the birds were out, and to top it off, they were re-painting the Freedom Trail... I think it's a sure sign that spring is here when even the freedom trail gets a fresh coat of red paint, just in time for tourist season...

Apples to Apples with the Charlestown family

Early Friday there were rumblings about a pot luck/game night in Charlestown. Having not been here for a few weekends I was torn between chilling on the couch or going out and seeing everyone... But the prospect of Apples to Apples came up, and I couldn't resist! I headed to the mall right after work, picked up the game and we headed to P&H's where we and about 10 other Charlestown yuppies played a rousing game of Apples to Apples where things like Vietnam, 1969 was considered "dirty." I don't think we finished the game, between breaks and food arriving, it's hard to keep the game on track with that many people. I am also not sure I technically followed all the rules, one of which being the last one to put a card down is automatically out of that round...

But, a lot of fun was had! We followed Friday up with a trip to Tavern on the Water on a beautiful Saturday. It was probably around 70 for about 4 hours on Saturday and we took in some great views of Boston from the Charlestown harbor...

The wine made it back to Boston

So, for those of you that take for granted the ease at which you can ship wine to and from your home state. Please be advised this post will open your eyes to a world/state in which it is not possible to ship wine whenever/wherever you want. On Tuesday after the show was over I met Kendra and then headed to Office Depot where I bought $30 worth of bubble wrap in order to attempt to get these 10 bottles of wine home... Knowing full well that these bottles were not going to fit in my suitcase with all of my clothes, I was also forced (completely self inflicted)to purchase another suitcase ($35)... After 60 minutes of wrapping up bottles of wine, in a ridiculous amount of bubble wrap, forcing those bottles into a suit case and then trying to maneuver my way out the door of my hotel room with two suit cases and a laptop bag, you can imagine the site. Never mind the leftover roll of bubble wrap and tape that were left on the floor. Goodness knows what the maids thought... 10 bottles of wine.................$110- thanks to the lovely industry discounts from Liz Bubble Wrap........................ $30 Extra bright red suitcase... $35 Enjoying a bottle of Bouchaine Pinot on my deck in Boston... priceless For all the folks that love to go to Napa and buy their wine and just have it shipped home, I do hope you enjoy that because for the rest of us are paying the price for your ease and comfort!

San Francisco Continued!

So I headed back into San Francisco and set up for my show and was able to see Gio and Tracy during my lunch break. They are both doing well- Gio at Intuit and Tracy at ask.com. It was such fun to catch up with my former Actuate employees and they both are such amazing women, I am lucky to call them my friends.

On Tuesday afternoon, after packing up all of our boxes we headed to see Kendra at the Thirsty Bear where she was setting up for a customer event. It was sooo good to see her, and she seems so happy with the new job and her impending nuptials.

And then on Tuesday night I was able to drive up to San Rafael with Tracy to see her new condo, and I got to meet Phil, her fiance! And they are the cutest couple. I am sooo happy for them and I can't wait to share in their big day next Memorial Day weekend! Congrats!