I am a Honey Bee

All about my adventures with cooking, crafts, and travel

boston

Sticky with Champagne (at The Urban Grape)

This past Sunday night, I went to a Champagne, Port and Oyster Tasting at The Urban Grape. They hosted the event for 100 customers. I was so excited to RSVP in time for this fun event.

  • NV Gaston Chiquet Blanc de Blancs D’Ay, Grand Cru
  • NV Guy Larmandier Blanc de Blancs, Grand Cru
  • NV Pierre Gimonnet & Fils Blanc de Blancs, 1er Cru
  • NV Marc Hebrart “Cuvee de Reserve,” 1er Cru
  • NV H. Goutorbe Rose, Grand Cru
  • NV Louis Roederer “Carte Blanche” Extra-Dry
  • Warre’s “Otima” 10 Year Tawny Port
  • Warre’s 2000 Late Bottle Vintage Port

I enjoyed the tasting and hearing about each champagne from owner, TJ Douglas. Of course I loved the pricest champagne ($66)… I have expensive taste like that. But really, if you are going to have champagne get something good and that you enjoy… Korbel is not Champagne, nuff said.

There was an Oyster Bar from Neptune Oyster, located in the North End of Boston. I’m not a fan of oysters, so that just ment there were more to go around to the people who love them.

The Urban Grape is a wine store located in Chestnut Hill, MA that approached wine in a creative way, by taste. They organize their wines by flavor and body, instead of region. This helps people expand their pallets and find new wines by finding a starting point they like. I like this system much more than other stores because a Chardonnay is not just Chardonnay, there can be light ones or ones that have a bit more bite, so this helps you pick a wine that you are more likely going to enjoy. Wine can be intimidating but they make the process of getting something new easily. Love them for it.

The Urban Grape
7 Boylston Street
Chestnut Hill, MA 02467

617.232.4831

Birthday Dinner

Yesterday was my friend Emily‘s birthday. We went out to celebrate with food and drinks at Post 390. This place always impresses us with their amazing service, fantastic food, and tasty drinks. Those drinks go down just so easily! Esp when your best friend is yelling at you to drink another one because it’s her birthday and that means you have to do what she says.

The Hedgehog Ornament, one of the gifts I got for Emily, was getting cozy with the butter, and confusing all the servers. It’s not a porcupine people! The hedgehog started to off having plenty of room but soon he lost out on real estate when all our appetizers and sides came. It is perfectly reasonable to make a meal out of appetizers and sides.

We had a great time catching up. Yes, we live live 3 miles away, email each other every day, Price and her work together… but we still need long dinners like this to really catch up on the shit storms that are our lives. Oh, the hilarious insanity.

Happy Birthday Emily… may this year bring you happiness and success. But really… let it bring more (controlled) backyard/kitchen fires, drunken nights playing Trivial Purist, overnights sleeping on the Cos, and adventures driving to random towns.

Almost legal

Last night Price and I went to The Rattlesnake‘s 20th Anniversary Party. We had a blast celebrating this occasion at one of our favorite places in Boston. Oh you wonder how did we get on the list? Well I’ll tell you… I WON THE MARGARITA CONTEST!!!!!! w00t w00t!!! I won the contest with the Cranberry Ginger Margarita recipe that I previously posted about. I was so excited to get the email saying that I won. The best part was that part of the contest prize was that a donation would be put in your name to the Dana Faber Cancer Institute. But I asked Chef Brian Poe if it could be made in my mom’s name since she survived breast cancer and he agreed.

We enjoyed the food that included some of our favorite things on the menu, like Grilled Corn Bread, Prosciutto-Wrapped Blackened Tuna, Hudson Valley Duck Tacos, and Horseradish & Red Wine Braised Beef Short Rib Tacos. The beef short rib tacos are only on the menu for a short period of time so I know I will have to get them again before my luck runs out. What I really appreciate about the food there is how well it all comes together, like I would never think a lavender oil would make sense with a lobster stuffed grilled avocado but it really does.

Besides the food, they had an open bar! Since I had a coughing fit the minute we walked in, I stuck with some water at the start of the night. While we were seated and enjoying the food a waitress came up to us asking if we wanted any drinks. I was planning on going with a Raspberry Margarita, one of their “Pink” drinks that was featured. BUT THEN… she went on to tell us about “another margarita that’s really good. A Cranberry Ginger Margarita.” So she is rattling on about the margarita and how it is made with a gingered sugar rim, all while I am trying to tell her that it’s ‘mine’. When she was explaining about the contest I was able to shout over the party’s noise to let her know that I was the winner. So at that point I had to get it. It was really exciting to try it there esp since I didn’t think it was going to be there since the contest said it would be on the menu from 10/20-11/20. Surprises are always good.

Chef Brian Poe and myself, while getting photographed by Stuff Magazine and Price at about the same time

Before leaving I got to chat with Chef Brian Poe for a few minutes about the contest, margarita, and how much I love The Rattlesnake. No, I was not a complete kiss ass. We had a real conversation about how the place has really improved since he started there in 2009. For example, I have tweeted and FB msg’d Poe in the past and he has msg’d me through FB and yelp about different ‘issues’. One being that they had shitastic neon paper menus and I told him how that did not properly represent the good quality of his food (he remembered that!). We also discussed the new uniforms for the waitresses there. Yay! No more tight mini black skirts!!!! In general I loved how he actaully remembered the feedback I, and others, have given him and how he has evaluated those things  in order to improve The Rattlesnake. How can you not like a place that is constantly striving to get better?

So that is why Price and I had a great night and why we will continue to go back to the Rattlesnake.

If you are in Boston stop by there, and try the Cranberry Ginger Margarita before 11/20!!!!

Weekend Recap

I would have to say this weekend was a sucess. I had a great time with pricer before he left for another week. Plus I got do a bunch of fun things.

Starting with Friday night… We originally talked about going to see The American but the movie times didn’t work for is since we planned on making calzones for dinner. (I got up early on Friday morning to make the dough. It was the first time ever and I’ll be doing it again and again now. I could see the difference from the store bought kinds.) So we stayed in to have calzones and watch Date Night. I cracked up throughout the whole movie.

Then we took a walk into Coolidge Corner for frozen yogurt. I got my usual, mango/plain swirl with blackberries, kiwi, starwberries, but this time I got some mango too. Price got banana/chocolate swirl with some chocolate toppings.

On Saturday morning I went to Brimfield with Emily. This was our second time so we knew what to look out for, and yet this were things that still shocked us. I went to get a brouch for Halloween, Pyrex, and blue ball jars. It was a successful trip there!

  

I took a nap before Price and I met a new BAC masters student for dinner to give him some pointers on surviving that school, like who are the important people to know, time management, and who are the people you’ll see by the BAC, like Louie.

Price and I watched NASCAR when we got home.

Sunday was much more relaxed with ‘sleeping in’ until 9:30, reading the paper and watching the news and food network. We then headed out to try a sandwich place before seeing the noon showing of The American. Both the sandwich place and the movie were great.

 

Then a trip to Home Depot and Target, a nap, and Price was gone again. 🙁

  

Camping by Numbers

1 weekend camping on Lovell Island

23 total campers

our group of 4 had a TON of to lug on/off a ferry

2 coolers of food

25 pounds of ice

5 gallons of jungle juice

15 minutes until price lost his contacts in the water

2 boys looking for us. Price and Jason walked all around the island looking for us. We were just on the other beach.

2 bathing suits

4 gallons of water- 1 gallon per person per day

1,000. Number of times Natalie yelled at me to get in the water.

0. Number of times I went in the water.

2 Frisbees

1 brand new flip cam

74 photos

1 hookah. Yes, our friend Essa brought that, along with its peach tobacco, tin foil, and charcoal. We thank him for it.

spf 12 for my body (oops forgot my back!)

spf 45 for my face

75 pumps of hand sanitizer

1 avocado. yes it is necessary to bring 1 camping

0 paper towels

1 bottle of rum to go with Dr Pepper and Coke

1 headband. Price’s hair is so long that it is always in his face. Natalie was kind enough to gift her headband to him.

8? refills of sangria and wine in brightly colored cups.

12 seconds between fog horn bellows. Price counted, I slept.

3 hour nap once we got home

PS- totally stole this #’s thing from Emily Frame’s blog- Ruffling Feathers

‘Hometown’ tourists

It’s funny that in almost 7 years here in Boston neither Price or I had really walked the Freedom Trail. Well, I had done portions on class outings but never a real outing to walk it. I mean, I walk by/on it every workday to get to my office from the T stop, but never count that. So we decided that we would make a point of doing it, along with other touristy things, this summer. It was also sooo annoying to be in class when a teacher would be shocked that I had never been to various local museums, gardens, cemetaries, and other landmarks. How am I supposed to see a new exhibit when you just assigned me 6 hours of homework for the week? Now we have a summer completely free of classes and school prep we are making the most of it here.

This past Saturday we stayed in Boston and took our turn at the Freedom Trail. I thought out recent trip to DC was hot and humid to sightseeing- well this was so much worse. We knew a storm was going to pass through in the afternoon, which made it soooo oppressive. So we did the trail pretty quickly, having seen some of the places already and trying to beat out the storm.

 

I was happy to reach the North End around (late) lunch time. We stopped in some place to split a calzone and salad. Of course lunch was not timed properly/long enough for the rain to start while we were there. No, it had to start about 3 minutes after we left. So we ran down the street with my teeny tiny umbrella into a local bar to wait out the rain. It came down in buckets, resulting in some pretty severe flash flooding in Somerville, a neighboring town. Visibility was reduced to 100 feet or so. Luckily* the rain passed within an hour and we were out again to finish the rest of the trail.

 

We walked over some bridge to head into Charlestown to see the USS Constitution and Bunker Hill Monument over there. In the end we decided to skip the monument since it is just a mini Washington Monument and we just saw that. One obelisk is like another. We got the last tour of ‘Old Ironsides’ which was nice since there was little wait time. So glad I was not a sailor on there since I learned that they got 1 gallon a water a day to do with water they wanted- which generally was drinking. Man on stinky, cramped boat.

 

*I’m having some pretty big issues with rain this year. First the flood in March and now this intense storm trampled my newly planted tomatoes and my flower squash. There goes half my veggies this summer. 🙁




Wind- it’s pretty amazing

Last night Price and I went sailing for the first time. One of my coworker’s sent around an email in the morning asking if people would want to go sailing that night. I jumped at the opportunity since we had never been sailing before. In fact, one of our goals was to going sailing on the Charles this summer. When I’ll meet that and raise you sailing in Boston Harbor. Goal set, and clearly surpassed.

So we met Larry at the launch to take us to the sail boats on the moorings for boats in the Boston Harbor Sailing Club. He explained the parts of the 27-foot boat. Like the keel- which will keep you from capsizing since it displaces around 2,000lbs. Loving that.

Price took one and side and I took another to handle the jib sail while Larry took the back to go from side to side as we tacked from side to side. We crisscrossed the harbor as we watched a group of sail boats race. It was unbeliebale how fast they were going and how far over they were leaning. It was such a beautiful night.

The ride was amazing since it was pretty windy. So windy that when my side was closer to the water a wave came across the bow and got me soaked. I thought it was the funniest thing ever. So I loved it even more when Price got his turn and got wet. Mauhahaha!

Thanks again, Larry!





Graduation: Boston Architectural College Commencement Part 1

Incase you missed it in a previous post, facebook, twitter, or in person… I GRADUATED!!! 

Holy hell, I never thought that day would come. No, I never really planned on dropping out but when you enter college directly from high school and you are facing a 7 year program, the end seems far away. The days drag on when you are working full time and going to school for 3 to 6 hours for a few nights a week. Also, when I entered the median age was somewhere around 35. Plus the graduation rate is 8%. So the fact that I, along with the other 121 students, graduated this year is pretty damn impressive. Round of applause for us!!!

I was so excited to be done but I had an issue with something. And that something was this GD lame beret that we all had to wear. Sure it honors one of the long-standing past presidents of the college. But why? Why can’t I have my tassel to flip over when I am officially done? Plus have you seen people in Berets… come on! I grumbled but finally put it on at the last-minute.

 We, the students, grouped up outside of the school to take a class photo. I wonder if I ever get a copy? Then we lined up to walk a few blocks down to Old South Church, where the commencement was being held. Leading us on our trek was a Dixieland band. It was pretty funny to see people staring at the gaggle of us marching down Newbury Street  with a band in front.

 

Since the Bachelor of Architecture Degree has a handful of graduates Price and I got to sit next to each other in the second row. The benefit of having alphabetically close last names. 🙂

The graduation ceremony ran a bit over 2 hours. There were a series of awards, honorary degrees, and speeches that were for us and for the architecture community. One of the things mentioned was how active our school is with activities and outreach, one of which is the semster down in Biloxi for post Katrina building… which Pricer did!!!

 Mayor Thomas M. Menino was our graduation speaker. He received and honorary degree for Doctor in Sustainable Communities for his involvement in transforming the city into a Green city. It was pretty cool to have him speak at the graduation. I can’t really tell you what he was talking about since I was so distracted from being so hot from 1) several hundred people stuffed into a church 2) no AC 3) robe 4) wool beret. I just remember about him saying how he has just made a bunch of people mad after he said we must remember the scale of Boston and we can’t have any big skyscrapers…. which is what he was trying to pass just a few years ago.

 After Menino spoke the handing out of fake diplomas began….

Happy Memorial Day

Happy Memorial Day

The World War II memorial in Boston.

The list of the men and women from Boston who lost their lives during WWII

On Sunday morning Price, his Mom, and I went out in search of the apartment where her grandmother lived. She had the address and remembered being their as a kid so we had to swing by and check it out. Across the street was the part of the Emerald Necklace that had the Memorials for World War II and the Korean and Vietnam Wars. It seemed very fitting that we discovered it this weekend.

I hope everyone had a great 3 day weekend and took a moment today to reflect on what Memorial Day is really for.

A Glimpse into the Past: a Dairy Cow on Boston Common

 

Yesterday morning when I walked out of Park Street station a woman handed me a  flyer about a demonstration and hearing about raw milk. I flipped it over and skimmed the flyer. Typically these flyers mean nothing to me since they are often regarding some weird causes, very religious with a focus on the end of the world, or for things occuring while I am at work. Well, hold the phone! There is going to be a dairy cow on the common from 9am-2pm. Holy hell I need to see the cow! So I planned on going during my lunch to see this magical cow.

 

They sang ‘ Oh Susanna’ to the cow

For one thing I have a childlike excitement when it comes to livestock. Chickens- to clucky and happy! Goats- aww look at their little horns! Cows- OMG they mooooo! Whenever Price and I go back to upstate NY I gleefully yell every time we drive past a field of cows cow. And we see a lot of cows. (How does he deal with me??) So I had to see this cow up close and personal.
 

And it was soo cool that there was cow on the Common. When Boston settled in 1625 it was a very different place than what it is looks like today. Boston was settled on Shawmut peninsula, a much smaller area than what is existing today (Boston filled in several areas to create more land, including the Back Bay neighborhood). William Blaxton was the first settler to the area, so in 1634 the other settlers in the ares purchased the land for Boston Common from him. The 44 acres parcel was purchased for 30 pounds by the community, each homeowner paid 6 shillings, from Blaxton. Originally it was known as “Common Land” because of it’s joint purchase and use for livestock grazing. Overtime the use for the land changed as the city changed; for example it was a Revolutionary War camp during the revolution. Glazing officially ended in 1830 when the land began to change its role into a park. 

 

I really think they need to bring the cows and other live stock back occasionally. It def makes the Common so much cooler.

PS-The organization that brought the cow was Organic Consumers.

Happy Mother’s Day

Happy Mother’s Day!!

Spring has sprung so it’s the time of year to honor mom with some flowers. Well I did that last year. I got her a clematis and have been updated it is doing really well! yay! Well instead of giving her a flower I thought it would be better to take her to the flowers. I have always wanted to go to the Lilac Festival at Arnold Arboretum so we decided a Boston visit was in order and we would go there.

My Mom and Nanny came up for the weekend!!! They came up on Saturday afternoon to our place so we could catch up awhile it rained nd Nanny could see our apartment. We enjoyed some reminiscing about movies, vacations, and my grandpa. Nanny has a crazy cat (really crazy) so liked the calm rabbits, esp when Jack would come out for raisins. The four of us then went out to a place called Bamboo for some Thai food. Price and I took my mom here a few years ago and she thought that Nanny would like it so we went back. This is one of our favorite places here since the food is so good and the service is always on point. We ordered chicken satays and fresh spring rolls for appetizers. It was so cute that Nanny said she would have to tell her friends that she tried Thai food.  Next I have to get her on the T 🙂

Today we went to the Lilac Festival at Arnold Arboretum. We saw their beautiful collection of blooming lilacs. It was nice to walk in the arboretum while enjoying the flowering and watching the musical and dancing performances. Poor Nanny had her allergies flare up so she left sneezing.

I’m so glad that my Mom got to come up with her mom for the weekend. It was nice to take mom to a place that she liked and give Nanny a new type of food to try. Walking through the arboretum to so much fun was we talked about Boston, how the dogs would love it up here, and taking photos of all the lilacs. I’ll see them again next weekend for a day trip down to CT and then just 2 more weeks until graduation. Can’t wait!!

I Love That Dirty Water

Because I love that dirty water
Oh, oh, Boston, you’re my home (oh, yeah)

Water surged from the ground at the site of the leak in Weston.

As soon as I heard there was a boil water order in effect I thought of the Dave Mathew’s Song “Don’t Drink the Water” but then I thought of the Dropkick Murphy’s cover of the song “Dirty Water.” That seemed so much more appropriate since Dropkick Murphy’s is a Boston band singing about Boston.

This map of shows the Massachusetts communities currently under the boil-water order.

On my way home from CKC Manchester on Saturday my friend called her hubs to let her know when we would be back. Hearing half the conversation of “we can’t use the water!?” seemed puzzling to me. Instantly, I think about a drought. How the hell could there be a drought when it rained so much that our apartment flooded last month?

A worker installed a pipe with compressed air on Sunday to blow out the water inside the section of pipe they were welding.

I found out the a 10′ water main ‘broke’. News flash… don’t drink the water!!! 30 communities are effected with this ‘boil water order’. So 2 million people or so in the metro Boston area have been effected.  Since the system is down they are now supplementing with reservoir water.  This means that water needs to be boiled for at least a min before it can be used; otherwise you run the risk of getting a bacterial infection or a parasite. You need to use bottled water or boiled water for drinking, brushing teeth, washing dishes, etc. ‘Luckily’ you can still use the water to shower.

Tunnel workers weld the broken water main

I have walked around the reservoir that they have hooked up to and the only thing I could think of while showering yesterday was ‘BIRD POOP WATER!’ When I had my dog up in Boston a few years ago I used to walk her around the reservoir and she would run to the edge and bark at the swans. So call I could think of was bathing in swan poo water. Last month I was showering with sump pump hoses in the tub and now I showered with ‘lake’ water!!!

So when you can’t use water normally you rush out to the store since the first reports say that things might not be fixed for more than a week. Well, let me tell you, the store was chaotic on Saturday afternoon. I got some of the last water at the store down the road. At first the Governor declared a State of Emergency to get things in order, including water distribution centers in towns going. President Obama declared a State of Emergency this afternoon, which will help cover the costs associated with the water crisis.

Water flowed from the leak at 8 million gallons of water an hour. It flowed down some hill into the Charles River, which rose 8″ in some spots. Crazy! Well, once they got the water turned off they figured out that some rubber seam under a collar that was supposed to last 50 years failed at 7 years. So they fixed the leak and are testing pressure and water quality. They estimate water to be back to normal within 48 hours.

Just when I think Boston is boring…

(all photos, with the exception of the store photo, are from Boston.com)