Boston Weeks 3-5

Whoops, I got quite a bit behind in giving you a tour of Boston. I've been busy! So here's a not-so-quick round up of a few things.


Boston Tea Party

I think I was more impressed with the fact that those tiny little boats went across the ocean than I was with the people throwing tea overboard...

I love the contrast of the tiny boat in front of the giant looming city.


While out walking one day I stumbled on to a reenactment of the Boston Massacre.

I was super impressed with the costumes, and chuckled at a group of young men discussing methods of binding buttonholes. That's probably not something you hear burly men talking about at the bar...


Did you know that the massacre was only five people? I was expecting like half the town was wiped out. Nope. Five people. Who were haggling a British guard...

They used the incident to fan the flames of the revolution. So, ok, it was an important incident... but seriously, should we be calling it a massacre?


I'm going to share the St. Patrick's Day parade separately so I can post more photos. Boston started celebrating St. Paddy's Day like a week in advance. No exaggeration. By the time March 17th actually got here everyone was all pooped out!


The best part of the celebration was CELTICS!!!

We scored some free tickets to the Celtics game through work. They were the very last row at the very top of the balcony, but it was a lot of fun. It was my first time at an NBA game.

It was perfect timing. Celtics, St. Patrick's Day, everything Irish... Including Irish Step Dancing at half time! Where else (besides Ireland) would this have been more perfect?!

And they won, so that made it even more fun!


Last thing for today - The Boston Museum of Fine Arts.
I should really do a post just on the museum, but I don't have enough photos to do a whole post, so it would just be me rambling about the amazing experience I had...

So I'll narrow it down for you. It's awesome. If you ever have a chance, go.

Mummies!
I spent two hours in the Ancient Art wing alone. Just wow.

Ganesh.
Then I probably spent another two hours in the Asian/Middle Eastern wing. Incredible stuff. They have a Buddist temple set up inside the museum! It was just an amazing experience.

I practically ran through the regular art sections. I didn't linger in modern art very long. There was a Modrian, but it was a teeny tiny one. They have a collection of Rothschild family heirlooms that I took the time to look at, but didn't photograph. They have a Monet/Degas/Van Gogh/Renoir room that I did spend some time in. And of course Matisse and Picasso - my favorites. They had a visiting Klimt piece - Adam and Eve. It was pretty spectacular, but there were way too many people trying to look at it. And talking so loud! I guess it's not a library... but still.


I usually tell people I'm not into art museums, but what I learned in this museum is that it's a specific kind of art that I'm not interested in. Mainly Italian rennaissance. And Greek stuff. I just find it off putting. I'm not sure if it's the sex or the gore... It's just not my taste. Now - they do have a Da Vinci exhibit coming up and I would be totally into that. But even then I'm more interested in his inventions than his paintings...


I was about one hour from closing time and had seen every religious artifact from every continent on the planet and then stopped suddenly and realized I had not seen Jesus. Not once! Where was Jesus? So I went hunting. I found him - in Italian rennaisance! No wonder I hadn't seen him - he was in the art I dont' like! Hahahaha! Poor guy. But I had to go find him since I had given respect to everyone else's gods.


Ok, I bet that was pretty boring if you aren't into art, since I don't have photos. I took my camera, but I just felt disrepectful every time I got it out, even though it was allowed. So if you want to see really good photos of what I saw please visit their website. Museum of Fine Arts


Ok, next up I'll share some highlights from the parade. And then I'm almost finished with Boston. I only have three weeks left here!

Boston Week 2

The reason I'm in Massachussetts is because I signed up for a developmental program where you go somewhere and learn something different. I'm not going to keep the job after this is over, I'm just learning to learn. Well, I got assigned Cemetery Operations. WHAT? That's a thing? Sure nuff! I had no idea what I was getting into, and jokes abounded. "What are you going to do, the flower arranging?" It turns out there was a big to-do a few years back at Arlington National Cemetery and the whole military cemetery system got an overhaul. (You can read about it here.) So my job is going through and checking records for accuracy and correcting stuff.


SO... my second week they sent me to SAN ANTONIO to get training. Leave all this snow?? Eat Mexican food every day?? Um, yes.

So here's a little comparison. This is the cemetery in San Antonio where I did the training.

 And this is my cemetery in Massachussetts. Needless to say, I won't be photographing headstones.

I was not the only "intern" assigned to this base. My supervisor got another person for a different office. So we team up to do the touristy things together. He is from Uganda, originally, and does NOT like the snow. He mentions it about ten times a day.


Well, to be fair, it does look like this right now:

Last weekend we went and did the obligatory tour bus around Boston. I'm pretty embarrassed by the quality of the photos since we almost didn't get out of the bus at all. Partly because it was freezing @$$ cold and partly because the bus driver was awesome and I just wanted to listen to him speak in Bostonian and drive me around.


OK, so Harvard.

It's just kind of there! Kind of everywhere... In the Harvard area you basically spin in a circle and everything belongs to Harvard - where the kids are wicked shmaaaart.


We also did a drive by through the MIT campus, which just looks like giant office buildings. Seriously - you can't even tell it's a school. AND they are surrounded by all these bio-tech firms and stuff. Kids literally graduate and then walk across the street into a job. Yeah, I don't think I'm smart enough to live in this city... OH, almost forgot, they operate their own nuclear power plant at MIT. I bet 18 year old MIT kids are better at it than Homer Simpson.


Moving on! Shiny! (It's the State House if you're interested, but I really was just attracted to the shiny gold dome.)

 I did make it to the original Cheers for a beer. (Technically a hard apple cider, but we'll call it a beer)

This cool old building had a Curious George store. But more curious than that was what's in the upper floor window. Can you see it?

It's the Law Offices of Dewey, Cheetham and Howe!! I laughed so hard!

Boston Harbour is slightly frozen.

I was completely alone on the warf (no one else got off the bus) and the seagulls were out singing. It was really peaceful!


They call this the Long Warf because the water used to go up into the city, and the pier was like two miles long or something crazy. I think they said it would dock something like 80 ships... Can you imagine the poor kids who had to unload the boat that got stuck at the end of the pier?

Below, see that tiny little building where the arrow is?  That's the Old State House. That used to be at the water's edge. Everything between that building and where I was standing is artificial land. They used wooden palettes, of all things, to fill in the water and create the artifical shore. So clearly Boston is where the DIY obsession with reusing palettes started!

Speaking of old wood - this is the oldest wooden house in Boston. Guess who lived there...

Paul Revere.  

(They didn't allow photos inside.)

The British are coming! The British are coming!

Hey, that's ok, we've got Old Ironsides!

This is the USS Constitution, or "Old Ironsides." Wikipedia can tell you all about it if you are interested. But just briefly - it's from 1797. That's not a typo. It's the oldest Navy vessel still floating, and it was made right there in Boston.

Last for this installment - you have to drive across this bridge everytime you enter and leave Boston. (At least from the direction I have to travel) See the little blue streak of light in the bottom right corner? It changes color depending on which sports team is playing! It was Bruins (hockey) night.

Well, I hope my little virtual tour of Boston is a little interesting. I wish I could have Blogger read it to you with a Boston accent!

Boston Round 1

I'm here in MA for some training, and I'll be here for two months. Boston is about a 40 minute drive from where I'm staying, so I plan to visit as often as possible to see as much as I can. It's a little challenging right now since everything is buried under 6 feet of snow.


This is my favorite meme right now!

One day I'm going to park in somebody's driveway and take pictures of the residential areas. It's insane. I saw an icicle that went from the top of a two story house to about a foot from the ground. No joke. That house is on a road where I can't stop and take a picture...


I know for the people who live here it's a big hassle, but for me it's more like "lookit all da snow!"
This is Quincy Market in the heart of downtown.

Pretty!

I have had chowda (clam chowder) almost every day. I've tried it at several different restaurants. It tastes different and wonderful every time! I got it in the bread bowl and seriously had an emotional moment over my soup today. This place also had lobster mac n cheese, but I was too full to try it. Next time...

In the seating area there were rotating musicians. This young lady was only 17 and pretty darn good. You can look her up on youtube if you are interested.

This family of musicians was really great, and fun to watch! They were hard to photograph because they moved so much while they were playing. The girl on the right was so animated!

Cheers! Not the real cheers, but close enough! (That's coffee in my hand - no drinking and driving!)

This outing was very brief because it started snowing. But the sun went down early enough to snap this pretty photo of Faneuil Hall. (Don't ask me how to pronounce that... I have no idea.)

Ok, so one week of my trip is now over. Seven more to go!

Philly

So I'm in Massachussetts right now, but it was quite an adventure to get here. You may have heard, the Snow-pocalypse hit New England. Well, because of that I got stuck in Philadelphia for two days.

The first day I didn't leave the airport. The USO in the airport had rooms where you could stay overnight for free, and even had food all day, free wifi, showers, and everything. It was pretty cool!


But the second day I met a couple who was also stuck at the USO, heading to Boston. The wife had lived in Philly for awhile and they were going to leave the airport for the day. So I tagged along!

Cheesesteak. Oh.my.goodness. I've never cared for it. But I had never had it in Philly. I'm a convert! The photo above is Geno's but across the street was Pat's. We got steak at both and shared them to do taste testing. Apparently in the summer the customers stand out on the street and shout at each other over who's steak is better! Pat's was better. Like, lick the cheese off the paper better.


It was cold like I've never felt cold before. So our adventure out didn't last very long. We went very quickly through the "liberty" area. Liberty Hall was like the State Capitol building way back when. Or something like that. Anyway, here is where they signed the Declaration of Independence.

And here's the Liberty Bell. Which is broken because they had to use so many different kinds of metal to make it that it was fragile. But it was used to call the representatives to meetings and stuff. So it was special to them and they kept it.

See that man in the background on the left? That's Mike. Him and his wife Suzie were on their way back from their honeymoon in Aruba? Cancun? I forgot... somewhere VERY warm. They are super sweet and I'm glad to have met them!


So, that was my little Philadelphia excursion!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Happy Valentine's Day!

I finished up another round of Wilton Cake Decorating classes and this was the cake I made at the end of the Fondant class to demonstrate the techniques we learned.

I'm travelling today, heading to America for a business trip. Since I had to leave on Valentine's Day this cake was Rob and the kids.

Inspiration cake was found on Pinterest.

Winter's Lane Quilt

This is another project I started more than a year ago and FINALLY finished this year. I made the quilt top in just a few hours, but then had the genius idea that I should hand quilt it! I don't know why I do these things to myself... But it turned out really pretty and I'm glad I did it.

Here's a closeup of the stitching. I used embriodery floss so it would really stand out.

Have you snuggled under a hand quilted quilt? They are just so much more comfy than machine quilted. If it didn't take me like a year to get one quilted I would probably hand quilt everything!

Fabric: Moda's Winter's Lane
Pattern: I just kind of made it up... I think I've seen a pattern like this before, but I can't remember a name. 

Sewaholic Shirts

I got a few items of clothing made so far this year, but only have two of them photographed so far. 

Both of these tops are from Sewaholic Patterns. 

Renfrow Shirt

It was really cold outside, so my face is kind of funny in this photo! But the shirt is warm and snuggly. I used some ribbed knit from Fabric.com and it is very soft. This is my favorite knit shirt that I have made so far! I made a size 14 and it fits perfectly. I really like the long sleeves, but some people might think they are a little too long. I did alter the hem to have the curved shirt tail look. Oh my goodness, that hem seam is crazy! I really need a cover stitch machine for nice hems. I didn't have green thread on hand so I thought I could get away with white. Not with those crazy uneven stitches!

Granville Shirt

Next up is Granville, Sewaholic's newest release. I downloaded the PDF pattern almost the second she posted that it was available. You guys, this is a NICE shirt pattern! I made a size 14 with no alterations. I thought it might be a little snug around the waist, but it's not. I think I could have taken it in a little at the hips, but I really like the flair. It makes a nice shape on the sides!

The fabric on this one is a dot pattern from Robert Kaufman. Funny story - those dots started out white. I washed the fabric with a piece of black twill for some pants for Rob. Not a smart move. But the good news is that I like the fabric better with the muted dots. The bright white dots made me dizzy! So tradegy avoided, but just barely!