The Last C-Function: USA! USA!

I've written about C-Functions on the blog before but in case you forgot- these are the "Cultural Functions" held on Thursdays throughout the school year for Sloan students by Sloan students. A different club or group hosts each one and picks the theme (Korean, Brazilian, Chinese, etc) and then plans entertainment, food, music, etc. for the evening. We've been to some pretty great C-Functions in the past 2 years, but last week's was BY FAR the best. It was USA themed and hosted by the one and only LGO!

The LGOs did an amazing job with the night. The food, the decorations, the entertainment, and the music were all perfect. Everyone dressed in their best patriotic outfits and wore their MIT USA swag that was sold throughout the week.... We ate, we drank, we danced, and then we went out for an after party and closed down a bar even though many of us had to be at work the next morning or some, on an airplane at 7am, because... YOLO?

My favorite part of the evening was when the Rolling Sloans performed a few songs. The band was SO good and I'm not just saying that because my husband happened to be the bass player... :) 

Here are the pictures. They mostly speak for themselves.

Ana takes themes very seriously.

Our hosts for the evening- Andrew and JS

At one point there was a push up contest- first the women and then the men. It should be noted that the man in the French Fries costume won the men's competition. And yes, he did his push-ups while wearing the costume.

MIT's undergrad breakdancing club performed.

The band!

My dude.

I took a selfie with him. While he was playing.

LGO FOREVER

Chuck and Captain America AKA Dan at the after party.

If you couldn't tell... a good time was had by all.

Boston Marathon 2014

On the Monday Pat was here visiting, Chuck and I both had off from work/school because it was Marathon Monday. For my Kentucky friends: imagine Oaks Day in Louisville. That is kind of like Marathon Monday here. Schools are closed, most people have off work (and if they don't, they're probably "sick" that day) and everyone is out doing SOMETHING, whether they are at the main event or not.

Boston's weather hasn't really gotten nice yet, but on Marathon Monday this year, it was perfect. High 60s and sunny all day. As you'll see from my pictures in a second, Boston was really showing off. We couldn't have wished for better weather to be outside in all day. Chuckie, Pat and I got up early and walked from our apartment over the bridge into Boston to find a spot on the race route. We tried to time it so we would get to the route before the elite runners ran past, and we timed it perfectly. We found a not-so-busy spot on the route right at the "1K to go!" point.

We saw all of the elite runners come past except for the wheelchair leaders who had already passed. First were the women.

Rita Jeptoo- who set the course record for women with her win!

Meb Keflezighi (yes I had to  look up that last name)- the winner of the men's race and also the first American to win since 1983! USA! USA!

 

We stuck around a little while longer, tried to find some friends we knew were nearby but failed, and then decided to walk towards the finish line. Once we got through the checkpoint to get on Newbury Street (the road parallel to Boylston/Finish Line), we found that the area around the Finish Line had reached capacity, so they weren't letting anyone else in that area. So we walked Newbury Street, got a cupcake at Georgetown Cupcake, and then continued all the way to the Boston Public Garden to start the search for a lunch spot.

We cut through the Common which we found was also runner headquarters. Hundreds of runners who had finished the race at that point were all over the grass in the Common. They all looked exhausted and most of them had their shoes and socks off, just letting their feet breathe. I wanted to congratulate every single one of them but then we never would have had lunch, so I resisted.

We walked and walked and walked, and eventually ended up at the Hard Rock Cafe near Faneuil Hall because there was no wait and we could sit outside.

It was so awesome to see thousands of people limping all over the city throughout the day with their medals hanging proudly from their necks. I seriously admire anyone who can run a marathon, or even a mini marathon for that matter. I can barely run 1 mile, so to run 26.2 and still be out walking around, eating lunch, shopping... well that's just amazing to me.

The Marathon was basically perfect this year which is what I think everyone needed and hoped for after last year. It was awesome to get to be a part of it and witness something that is such a big part of Boston's history and culture!

We Heart Vermont

Last weekend, Chuck's mom, Pat, came up to visit us in Boston. Like my parents, she had come to see us in Seattle but hadn't spent much time with us exploring Boston/the Northeast. She arrived on Friday and we did the typical North End dinner and pastries that we always do with our visitors.

Saturday morning we started a weekend road trip- beginning with Salem, MA and ending up in Burlington, VT.

In Salem, we explored the town, took a history tour (which became a private tour when we were the only people signed up for it), and ate lunch on the water. It was cool to hear the history of Salem and learn new things about the town, but he didn't really talk about witches enough for our taste. We wanted to hear the juicy stories! Oh well. We saw a lot of cool landmarks, including the hall where they filmed a major scene from everyone's favorite Halloween movie, Hocus Pocus. We saw real historical landmarks too of course, like one of the oldest remaining houses in the U.S. and the second oldest cemetery.

Hocus Pocus shooting location- where Bette Midler sings "I Put a Spell On You"

I want this house.

View from lunch

After Salem, we drove to Vermont towards Burlington and took a little scenic detour along the way. Vermont is famous for it's old covered bridges, so we looked on a map and tried to find some that weren't too far off the beaten path. While searching, we also found there was a place called Quechee Gorge, aka Vermont's Little Grand Canyon. So obviously we decided we had to see it.

The best way to see it is from a bridge, and we found it was pretty freezing when we stood out on the bridge. So we snapped a couple pictures and ran back to the car. Picture Clark Griswold at the Grand Canyon. That was us.

Then we found some of the covered bridges. This red one was my favorite.

Finally we made it to our hotel outside Burlington, and after checking in we decided to drive into town to find Church Street. First we stopped at Lake Champlain to snap some pictures because the sun was setting and it looked really pretty.

It reminded me a lot of Puget Sound in Seattle and for a second I missed living in Seattle and also thought about moving to Vermont.

After the lake, we walked around Church Street for a little while but most places were closing and it was kind of chilly, so after about an hour we left. We found a Texas Roadhouse right by our hotel, so of course we had to eat there. :) It was great, as always.

Sunday was Easter, so we headed into Burlington again for an Easter Brunch at a place called the Bluebird Tavern. It was delicious.

After brunch we walked Church Street again and got some truffles from the famous Lake Champlain Chocolates.

We then decided to go on another scenic drive, this time to a little island in the middle of Lake Champlain. We found a state park and got some pictures of the lake from a campsite within the park.

Before heading back to Boston, we made one last stop- at the Magic Hat Brewery just south of Burlington. Our tour guide asked why the 7-8 of us on the tour were touring a brewery and drinking beer on Easter, to which we responded "why not?" The tour was short and sweet and at the end we got to do a free tasting. Magic Hat isn't my favorite beer but we all found one or two that we liked.

And with that we ended our trip and headed south to Boston! We love Vermont a lot and I wish we had explored more of the state in our time here. I guess we will just have to come back someday for a vacation!

Parents' visit and the Party Trolley

Things are getting crazy around here. Between school, work, dinner dates, bridal showers, birthday parties, karaoke, seeing a friends' play, staying out drinking margaritas on a Wednesday night until 1 am because "soon we won't be able to see each other," etc etc- we've been non-stop busy lately. So, I'm a bit behind on posting about my parents' visit to Boston but, better late than never, right?

Two weekends ago, my parents came to see us! They visited us in Seattle last year and are coming up for Chuck's graduation (just for a couple of days) in June, but they haven't had a chance to just see our place and life in Boston and explore the city. They figured they better come see us before we leave Boston, which is less than two months from now. (Cue: mixed feelings of sadness and joy.)

They arrived on a Wednesday afternoon and while I was at work, Chuck took them to explore Harvard and HBS. My mom wanted to see my Grandpa's dorm where he lived as an HBS student back in the 1930s/40s. I met them after work at our old stand-by, Border Cafe. We had some margaritas, dinner and then just made our way home to relax the rest of the night.

On Thursday they drove to Western Mass to visit my aunt and uncle all day and that night we had sushi at Thelonius Monkfish in Central Square. I have walked past this restaurant for almost 2 years and never gone inside and found now that was a huge mistake. We've been missing out on amazing sushi less than 2 blocks from our apartment. Booooo.

We taught my parents how to play Pandemic. We're obsessed.

Friday my parents and I explored the city and walked about 50 miles. Not really but it felt like it. We walked down Newbury Street, Boylston Street, bought lunch at a food truck parked right next to the Boston Marathon Finish Line, wandered into an old church and happened upon an organ concert which we proceeded to sit and listen to, walked through the Boston Public Garden, Beacon Hill, found Acorn Street- the most photographed street in America, and watched opening ceremonies of the first Red Sox home game at the Beantown Pub while we enjoy Sam Adams and pretzels. And that was all before 4pm.

That night we made our way to the North End for Italian food and Mike's Pastry. Late that night, my parents went to bed and Chuckie and I walked next door to the infamous "3 Class Party" at Fort Awesome. It is the only time every year where all 3 LGO classes (the 2nd and 1st years, as well as the incoming class who is in town for Open House weekend) are in town at the same time. So obviously, they throw a huge party. And obviously they have a flip cup tournament between the classes to determine who is the best class and OBVIOUSLY the LGO '14s won because they're the best. And obviously I'm biased. Sorry!

Saturday morning we woke up bright and early (my parents, well rested, Chuck and I- not so much) and headed for the Sam Adams Brewery tour in South Boston. This was definitely the highlight of my parents' trip and of my life. Just kidding, kind of. The tour is free, and pretty short, and at the end they do a tasting and teach you about the different beers. Our tour guide was hilarious and kind of a smart ass, which made the tour a lot more fun. During the tasting, someone asked him how many beers he drinks a day to which he replied "That's rude. I don't come to YOUR work and ask you how many beers YOU drink a day." Our guide then advised us to take the "Party Trolley" to Doyle's for lunch. My friend Ana had told me that the party trolley was a must, so we decided to go for it. And I'm SO glad we did. Let me set the scene for you: a party trolley with flashing lights, a disco ball and loud pop music, being driven by a possible ex-convict who has the best legit Boston accent you've ever heard who also happens to be hilarious. It was seriously the best 10 minutes of my parents' trip. And then he dropped us at Doyle's where we had the most delicious onion rings I've ever tasted and a tasty lunch and of course, more Sam Adams.

I'm starting to feel like I could have written a much shorter blog post about their visit in just two sentences: "My parents came to see us in Boston. We drank."

After our amazing, life-changing morning, we went to Fenway to walk around and take pictures and observe the atmosphere of Fenway right before a game. Then, we were tired. So we went home, made a Trader Joe's run, and then spent the evening at home watching the Final Four games and stuffing ourselves with cheese and grapes and chips and salsa and WATER.

This guy tried to be nice and duck under the camera so he wasn't in our picture.

 I feel like my parents had a great trip and got a very accurate view of life in Boston: lots of walking, lots of eating, lots of Boston accents, and lots of drinking. Yep. That's pretty much what it's like here.