Wednesday, October 21, 2009

Boston Trip... Part II


Okay... so I haven't yet written about the wedding.

The wedding ceremony itself was at the Boston Public Library, which by the way was the first large public library in the country. I've never been to a wedding in a library... it was really lovely... not amidst the stacks of books, but in a wood paneled room. It was interesting, however, that up high on the wall overlooking the beautiful chuppah (Jewish wedding canopy) was a big, red cross. Hmmm... who would be more offended? Jesus or Moses?

Oh... let's get a plug in for the appetizers that were served (as well as the hot spiced cider) prior to the ceremony. The butternut squash soup served in tiny little demitasse cups... Delish!

On to the reception... just caddy corner from the library at the Fairmont Copley Plaza Hotel. A lot of history in that elegant banquet room. Apparently Lena Horne sang there as well as many other well-known entertainers. It was quite the happening supper club in its heyday.

Once again, the appetizers were wonderful. Just not enough baked brie to serve the entire 100 guests. But the roasted peppers and peppered feta cheese was awesome. Yadda...yadda...yadda... typical wedding stuff. Toasts, dancing, wedding cake. I think this was the only wedding I've been to that was completely vegetarian. No meat... no fish... no protein! Yes, you do get hungry an hour after you eat. Unless of course you drink too much and don't feel anything at all.

And yes, what would a wedding be without the wedding crashers. I guess our party was just too much to resist. Suddenly, from behind our table, the door opened (the door that led to the lobby and Oak Room Bar across the hall) and who should glide in but two people who were clearly not dressed for a black tie wedding. Girl in mini skirt, tights and white winter parka... guy in jeans, blazer, button down shirt with no tie. They danced the night away while we watched with awe. Leave it to cousin Laura to make her way through the crowd and ask the uninvited guests if they had anything they would like to say to the happy couple? Hmmmm.... they didn't!

All in all it was a fun wedding considering we didn't even know the bride and groom. The bride's father was David's mother's first cousin.

Going to Boston was supposed to be a nice, autumn trip. Unfortunately it was freezing and while we did hold off on the rain for a few days, that nasty nor'easter came crashing through and we spent Sunday driving through the rain up to Portland, Maine. So why you ask did we drive through the rain to Maine? Ask Tracy, my sister-in-law. She just had to have a Maine lobster. And yes... it was a darn good lobster. Snow on the way back Sunday night... SNOW???? in October???? Crazy weather we're having ain't it?

And what is up with the Dunkin Donuts on every street corner throughout Massachusetts? There are more donut shops there than we have Starbucks here. I do have to say though that Dunkin Donuts makes the best hot chocolate I've had since I was a kid.

So... that's my Boston wedding tale. So happy I live in California. Cold and snow just ain't my thing.

Saturday, October 17, 2009

Here in Boston

Well, the plane ride was uneventful (thank goodness) and we arrived in Boston on time... to extremely cold temperatures and a light rain. Got to the hotel (20 miles out of Boston... what the hell?) and found we were paying way too much for a crappy little room that was way too far away from where we needed to be. Ugh!

Anyway... we ended up at Panera for breakfast here in Waltham, MA. Wow... so different than our Panera. They actually have lobster ciabatta sandwiches. How yummy! Egg souffles and hot chocolate were on the menu for us. Really good.

Next, we drove into Boston... the long, backroads drive that took us an hour but did take us through a lot of little towns as well as Cambridge. We finally got to the middle of Boston and met up with Marlon & Tracy (BIL & SIL) to have lunch with Cousin Sorel at Durgin Park. Durgin Park was fun... I think it's one of the oldest restaurants in Boston. We had amazing clam chowder and David and I split a chicken pot pie. I'm not a big fan of chicken pot pie but this was to die for.

Then... we walked along the Freedom Trail, shopped at Faneuil Hall and wrapped it up with dinner at Quincy Hall. Got some Boston Cream Pie to go and drove back to the hotel (another $6 in tolls) to eat it and go to sleep.

And we're up again to sun and loving it, considering it was supposed to pour all weekend. Heading into town again for breakfast at Mike's City Diner and then going to visit the student store at Boston College. For those of you who don't know my dear husband David, he makes it a point to visit every college and get t-shirts from all of them.

Wedding tonight... should be a lot of fun.




Friday, October 9, 2009

Gimme a Break!

Obama winning the Nobel Peace Prize? Has the world gone mad?

How can the committee who awards these prizes retain any respect after giving a $1.4 million prize to someone who has done absolutely nothing to deserve it? It was always my understanding that you receive honors and awards when you actually work hard to accomplish or achieve something special. Peace? Has Obama brought about peace? Sure, he's talked a lot about it, but haven't all of us talked about how great it would be to have a peaceful world? Were we all nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize? If so, I didn't get the memo.

Think what you want about our President, but honestly, can anyone say that he really deserved it? Even Obama doesn't think he deserved it. Which might be the one thing we can all agree on.

So now what? Now he has this Peace thing over his head for the rest of his presidency. What is he going to do to prove that he actually deserved this honor? He's got a lot of pressure now to produce something. It will be interesting to see how quickly this whole thing blows over. My guess is that by tomorrow, the media will have put it on the back burner. Wouldn't do anyone any good to keep talking about how wonderful our President is when he hasn't done a thing to bring about peace in the Senate and Congress much less peace in the world.

Friday, October 2, 2009

To Laugh or to Cry?

What possesses children to totally trash their own house? Seriously, I don't get it. Is there something innate in them that likes to live in their own mess? Clothes always end up on the floor when there is a hamper less than 6 inches away. Food wrappers and empty juice boxes end up under beds. There is ALWAYS gobs of toothpaste in the sink. They can trash a room in 4.3 seconds but it takes them a good 3 hours to clean it up (of course that's counting the 10 minutes actually spent cleaning and the other 2 hours and 50 minutes of complaining about it).

My wonderful, creative kids. They who take all their books off the shelf and build school desks for their American Girl Dolls. They who drape blankets and pillows and sheets to make intricate forts any architect would be proud of. They who can play dress up and manage to look like a movie star but then can't find a thing to wear on school mornings.

Where did my babies go? Tiny little angelic babies who didn't talk back, who didn't throw their belongings on the floor, who only wanted to be held and loved. Now I get called "bad Mom", "mean Mom", "unfair Mom", and my favorite, "the worst Mom in the world."

I look at them and I don't know whether to laugh or cry. I cry because I'm so tired all the time from punishing them, cleaning up after them, being emotionally abused by them. I laugh because I know that one day they'll have children of their own. Oh yes.... how I will laugh!