10 Tiny Stories

I don't have any exciting recent pictures or adventures to share this week so I'm going to share 10 random things today to let you in on what's going on in the super, ultra exciting life of Chuck and Rachel as of late. (Note sarcasm.)

1. We are obsessed with Breaking Bad. We like to binge watch TV shows and right now, BB is our show of choice. We don't want to do anything except watch Breaking Bad all the time. It's a problem. If you have Netflix and a lot of free time, I suggest watching it. It takes some time to get interested but by Season 3 you'll be totally hooked and it'll ruin your social life and your dreams. But it's worth it.

2. We have fruit flies and we can't get rid of them. We tried the bowl of apple cider vinegar and killed one or two, but the others are too smart and won't go near it. Does anyone know how to get rid of these pesky things?

3. I saw another famous person on the sidewalk last week. His name is Zach Woodlee and he's the choreographer for Glee (and several other popular things in the past) and only a true Glee/dance nerd like myself would probably recognize this man. But I did and I googled and discovered he was in fact in Boston that day so I know it was him. Apparently he's currently choreographing for the movie remake of Annie coming out next year, so is working in New York and Boston. (As if the world needs a remake of THAT movie... no offense, Annie lovers.)

4. I signed up for the MIT gym last week and the first time I went, I got totally lost in the building. I couldn't find the locker rooms or the workout facility. All I saw was the pool, the basketball courts, the ice rink, and a lot of hallways with a lot of doors. I almost left and asked for a membership refund but some nice lady eventually helped me find my way. It was a lot of work just to go do something I really dislike.

5. The Red Sox are in the World Series and we are really excited about it. Four wins away from a parade. Let's do this, Boston!

Read the story

6. We have a high school friend who was injured in the Boston Marathon bombing and a few weeks ago, she got engaged to her boyfriend who was also injured in the bombing. The story got really popular and I guess Ellen heard about it and on Monday, they were on Ellen! Watch their videos! So inspiring. Make sure you have kleenex nearby.

First watch this one:

Then this one:

7. This is midterm week at MIT and luckily Chuck only had one test and it was first thing Monday morning. I'm having a hard time wrapping my head around the fact that they are already at the halfway point in the semester.

8. I hate the US Postal Service. With a fiery passion. I think from now on I'll only use them for stamps. Long live UPS/Fedex!

9. This week it's not supposed to get warmer than 58 degrees. I think our nice 60-70 degree weather is probably leaving for good. Winter is coming. I'm scared.

10.  November is going to be a very busy, very fun month for us. We already have really fun plans every single weekend so I kind of want November to start RIGHT NOW. I know I shouldn't wish time away but, I can't help it. The blog will be very active in November.

Columbus Day Weekend

Columbus Day weekend was good.

Friday night we spent celebrating my friend Ana's birthday with friends. Ana hosted everyone in her and Jose's apartment and it was way too much fun, like most parties in their apartment tend to be. (See: last year's birthday party/pajama party and the Cambridge Blackout party for proof.) There were drinks, snacks, cakes (yes, multiple cakes), more drinks and music. We sang Happy Birthday twice- once in English and once in Spanish and even skyped in an LGO from South America for a little bit. At the end of the night, we trekked to Harvard Square where we unintentionally crashed a Harvard Rugby party and I got a lot of beer (not mine) spilled in my hair. It was a great night all around.

Saturday, we were up bright and early to head to Vermont. I really wanted to visit Vermont during peak leaf season and see Burlington, which we've heard from multiple sources is a gorgeous town. Well, it did not disappoint. 

Our friends Clayton and Christen joined us for the day trip and we arrived at our first stop, Shelburne Farms at noon. Shelburne Farms is a 1400 acre working farm right on Lake Champlain. We decided to walk the 4.5 mile loop around the farm and check out all the sights. The first stop was here. 

A bakery, a cheese-making factory, animals, picnic tables and probably a lot more that we missed. 

From there we got back on the trail and headed for the Lake. Once we hit the lake, the 4 of us climbed down some seriously steep stairs (how do you like that alliteration?) to the water where we spent about 30 minutes taking pictures, skipping rocks, and discussing how someday we will tell our future kids and grandkids about how people used to throw rocks into water for fun. 

Skipping little rocks wasn't enough of a challenge for Chuck and Clayton so eventually they started skipping ginormous rocks. Or, attempted to skip them, anyway.

Back on the loop trail we passed the Inn (where we all decided to someday come back and stay for a vacation), the dairy section of the farm and more beautiful scenery. We ended back at the Visitor's center where we stocked up on cheese, maple syrup and some other goodies made right there on the farm.

Next we headed into downtown Burlington just to drive through and see, and then we were on our way to the Ben & Jerry's Factory for some ice cream and a tour.  I couldn't get any pictures of the factory because they specifically ask you not to take any pictures and I didn't want to risk get kicked out of a place that gives you ice cream.

After the tour we headed back to Boston because it was a 3.5 hour drive and we were all pretty tired from the drive up and all the walking.

Sunday was a mashup of several activities including an Independent Film Festival and Oktoberfest in Harvard Square with friends for me, some relaxation and a little work at home for Chuck, and then an evening of bowling and watching the Red Sox playoff game for us both. I took pictures of none of the above but I promise they were all fun. 

We watched most of the Red Sox game at the bowling alley and then got home just in time to see David Ortiz hit a grand slam to tie the game in the 8th inning, followed by a couple of good hits in the 9th to lead the Red Sox to a huge, epic win. ****This is where I acknowledge that yes, we are bandwagon Red Sox fans, as we don't typically care about MLB at all, but the Red Sox are in the playoffs and we live in Boston therefore I think it's perfectly acceptable for us to keep up with them and cheer for them because we REALLY want to be in Boston if/when they win a World Series because we've heard there are all kinds of parades and other exciting events in the city because Red Sox fans are diehard and crazy and awesome. The end.****

Monday was a day off for both of us and we spent it eating pancakes, catching up on TV shows we missed last week, grocery shopping, walking to Starbucks for a special Fall drink, and watching Breaking Bad, our current Netflix show of choice.

'Twas a spectacular weekend all around. 

It's Fall Again

When Chuck found out he was going to do his internship "off-cycle" I was excited for a number of reasons. At the top of my list though was the weather. Moving to Seattle in February meant we would only have to endure one winter in Boston (coming up in a few months...) and would get to enjoy two Fall semesters. Last year I raved on the blog about all the fun things we did during the Fall semester and how amazing it was to be in the Northeast for the fall. Now a couple weeks into Fall 2013... well, it's time to start raving again. Here's what we've been up to this past week.

Apple Picking:

Before moving to New England I thought there were three types of apples: red, green and Honeycrisp. Nowadays, I find myself at the apple display at the grocery reading all the names of the apples and trying to remember if I like Fuji or Gala apples better. This is what apple picking has done to me. We went apple picking again this year but to a different farm than last year and with less people. But the experience was pretty much the same: cider donuts (my main reason for going...), apple picking, eating apples while picking, throwing apples, apple cider, and then going crazy in the farm store buying up all the pumpkin butter and other goodies they make right there on the farm.

The guys checking out how they make the donuts.

Apples: this way.

Chuckie was a huge help while picking apples, as you can see.

 The girls.

The view driving to the apple orchard.

Our goodies.

A trip to Southwick:

My Aunt and Uncle who live in Western Mass. recently moved out of their house into a new condo. We haven't seen them since before our move to Seattle so we decided to take a trip out to see them and their new place and spend the night. They now live in Southwick, a little town west of Springfield. We arrived late in the afternoon, right in time for cocktail hour. (Side story: Cocktail hour is really big in my family and I love it. I remember when I was little, we would go to my grandparent's house for dinner and there was always cocktail hour: adult drinks for the adults, soda for the kids, and snacks for all. I LOVED cocktail hour. I still do. And I'm so happy that my mom and all of her sisters seem to have carried on the cocktail hour tradition. Seriously. Cheese, apples, crackers, hummus, chips and wine? Before an amazing, home-cooked meal? Nothing better, I tell ya.) After a delicious meal my aunt cooked for us, we sat and watched the Notre Dame football game and then went to sleep.

The view of their deck and backyard. So relaxing. :)

In the morning, my aunt and I made an 8:30 am donut run to a popular donut place right down the street, Mrs. Murphy's.  Well Mrs. Murphy also happens to be my aunt's name so naturally I made her stand in the rain and take this picture.

 We love visiting my aunt and uncle because it's fun to see family and also fun to spend time in a real house with cozy couches and candles and other house things. We can't wait to go back!

My new job:

I got a job, finally. (Yes I know, I'm a professional job-getter. I told my cousin the key is to apply for like 50 jobs and then you'll get maybe 2 interviews and secure 1 of the jobs. Seems to work for me pretty well.) I am working at MIT again but in a totally different role this time. I'm working in the Communications and Development office in the School of Engineering. My office is in the big dome building now, so I walk to work instead of taking the train since the dome building is only a 12 minute walk from our apartment. The job is fun so far and the people I work with seem to be really great and fun people, which always makes working more enjoyable. Oh and I can take walks on my lunch break and look at things like this.

This upcoming weekend is a holiday weekend, so we have 3 days to do as many Fall-type activities as we can. We have some pretty fun things planned so I can't wait to share pictures after this weekend! I hope you are all enjoying Fall wherever you are! And if you're not, well, then go put on a scarf and get a pumpkin spiced latte from Starbucks! What are you waiting for?


(P.S. I just reread this post and realized almost the entire thing revolves around food. Whoops. I have a problem.)

Glass Pumpkins and Street Pianos

This past Saturday, my friend Ana and I decided to take advantage of the perfect Fall weather and spend our day outside. Our first stop was at the Glass Pumpkin Patch on MIT's campus. The Glass Pumpkin Patch was exactly what it sounds like- a small field of pumpkins made of glass, by MIT students, for sale to the public. Some of the pumpkins were really cool, but since most of them cost upwards of $100, we just looked and didn't buy. :)

After the pumpkins, we had ice cream and discussed our next move.  Boston has this really fun thing happening right now called "Play Me, I'm Yours." It's part of a worldwide art movement where these "Street Pianos," painted by local artists, are placed throughout a city- in parks, subway stations, popular street corners, etc. - and open for the general public to sit down and play.  There are 75 currently in Boston and Cambridge, and they're awesome. http://www.streetpianos.com/

We decided, after listening to someone play a street piano next to where we had our ice cream, to venture into downtown Boston to find more pianos. We found a map online of where they were all located and decided the one near the Berklee College of Music was probably getting a lot of action, so we headed there first.

From there, we wandered up Boylston Street, into Copley Square, then through the Public Gardens to the Common. I can't remember how many pianos we saw along the way- maybe 6 or 7? And at each one we saw at least 1-2 different people sit down to play. The one in the Common had a line of people waiting to play!

 Our favorite piano of the day. It wins for design and location.

Of course Ana and I had to play a little too, even though we are both ex-piano students who unfortunately don't have a lot to show for our years of lessons. :(

The pianos are only here until October 14th, so Boston peeps- you better get out and find some before they're gone!

The rest of the weekend was pretty much spent in the apartment. Chuck did homework all day Saturday and Sunday. I spent my Sunday doing laundry and going to the grocery 3 times to get ingredients for a Turkey Pumpkin Chili. We have a busy weekend coming up though to make up for the not-so-busy one we just had.

Happy Fall!