playing catchup

I'm thinking I should probably catch up on the goings on before another very busy weekend comes along and I get too far behind. I know it's only Wednesday, but it's the 4th and we have the day off. And I took tomorrow and Friday off, so I'm feeling like this is another weekend.

Last week was fabulous. It was almost like work was what happened between real life happening. Usually it's the opposite. Monday was normal, but Tuesday I got to hang out with Tori and Moira and little Vincent. We were waiting for Tori's niece to get into town, so we hung out for several hours, walking along the Charles and catching up. So nice to just hang out with people and not feel like there's a time limit or an end to the festivities. We were at the Cambridgeside Galleria, so when we were almost done hanging out we perused some stores. I decided that the not-so-new style of shirts that are kind of tight on top but flowing under the waistline might actually be more comfortable that almost any other shirt I've yet seen and probably quite flattering. I decided that I should get some with my next non-rent paycheck.

Wednesday was hanging with the Brandeis ladies- always a good time (and good food!) with them. Part of the fun of the Brandeis ladies is that as a group we either love to cook or love to eat or some combination of the two. The menu at these gatherings is always interesting and yummy. Since it was so hot we had a nice big salmon salad (Tori, I know you might not like this, but it was quite good), several different kinds of drinks (two people were in charge of drinks this time) three different kinds of spreads including edamame spread (so good) and a da da version of strawberry shortcake. It looks like we might be able to go to the Boston harbor islands sometime soon, which would be fun. I haven't seen them yet.

Thursday was Tori's birthday (happy birthday, Tori!). Below is a picture of all of us celebrating her Greatness. We went out to dinner at Central Kitchen. It seems to be one of THE places to be, so we were feeling a little more cool and hip than normal.

Friday was just Friday. A day of rest.

And then on Saturday I went to Newport, RI with Tori and her niece. I guess it was a Tori-rich week, which is always a treat. We went on two mansion tours- again something I haven't done yet. We saw the Breakers, which is what everyone sees if they do a mansion tour. It was the "house" of one arm of the Vanderbilt's at the turn of the (last) century and it was amazingly large, lavish and somewhat overwhelming. We've all heard the "society stories" and saw movies and what not, but this really put it into perspective. We also saw Isaac Bell's house. It was a little more what they called Middle Class, but it was very impressive. This was more of a tour of early American architecture, but we spent over an hour in this house and I still felt like I could stay there for much longer. It was very beautiful, too, and the level of details the architect created was so amazing.

Then on Sunday, again, a day of rest. Sigh. And now after two days of work I am having a weekend. It's just perfect. I've been doing laundry, finishing some cd mixes I've been working on, and generally being a lazy bum. Except for the gym going. And the walks with Deb. They've been so wonderful. But more on that later.

Today I'm meeting Tori and some folks down at the Esplanade. Folks really do know how to celebrate the 4th here in Boston. I swear, it's like democracy was invented here or something. Something about being the home of the American Revolution. All that kind of thing.

As promised, here is a picture of Tori's bday dinner. Some folks had to leave early, so we're not really all there. No pun intended.