Arnold Arboretum

After having seen a few spots of Boston's Emerald Necklace, I decided that I wanted to see more. So, I headed to the southern most tip of it--to Harvard's Arnold Arboretum, designed by landscape architect great, Fredrick Law Olmstead (also the designer of Central Park). The day was cloudy and overcast, but a nice breeze was blowing and knocked the heat down a bit. When I hit the 265 acre park, I was greeted by an antiquated brick fence which enclosed a beutiful expanse of towering trees and fields of grass and plants of all sorts. I wandered inside, and casually paraded through the park, taking in the variety of flowers, vines, and trees. Within the park, I also visited the Bonsai Pavillion and the Vine Garden, two nicely designed outdoor spaces, perfect for meandering and strolling and pondering. I walked up to the top-most point of the arboretum, and on my climb back down, stopped mid-hill and took an hour nap in the middle of a grassy spot. Then, I slowly made my way out of the park, and back home...sleepy and dreamy and happy from an afternoon of botanical wonder.

Ooga booga! The sweater has arrived...

At last! After many months of on and off dedication, I have finished my first major knitting project. An experiment in fit and yarn choice on a large scale, by my judgement it has been a success! At times of doubt, when it seemed that the sweater might have been better suited for a cavewoman, I persevered and it looks as if I will indeed be able to sport this sweater for the upcoming fall out amongst the general public. I even got several compliments on it when I wore it to work the other day...and a few shocked faces when they learned that I was the coat's creator...

If anyone is interested in a sweater of their own, get on the waiting list now...you're lookin at a few years at the rate I'm goin now...best to take up the trade yourself!

!!!

I finished my sweater! Pictures to come, soon, verry soon!!

Let's Tour the City, Sissy

If you can recall, a couple of weeks ago I skipped down to our nation's trusty capitol city to hang out with my sister, Jennie. We just had a dandy old time, so this weekend, she skipped on up to Boston so that I could show her about the town.





Friday evening, I picked her up on the T and we hurriedly dropped her stuff off at my house, gave her the grand tour of the palace, picked up some falafel at Moody's Falafel Palace (great joint nearby) and headed downtown to catch Nickel Creek and Fiona Apple's performance on the harborside. The show, a part of Nickel Creek's Farewell Tour, was essentially two hours of them playing onstage, and a couple stretches of Fiona Apple singing various songs, some her own, some bluegrass, with their accompaniment. Man, Chris Thile can rock out on the mandolin and Fiona Apple can freak out on stage (she's got a great voice, but warning to all those near her while she is performing, stay away from her thrashing limbs and seizure-like dancing...eeks!). Nevertheless, the collaboration was awesome to hear and the venue, an open air tensile structure, allowed the breeze to blow and views of the harbor--a great setting for music.


Saturday, after a leisurely morning, Jennie and I visited Harvard Square to indulge in a couple of hours of book perusing and bubble tea. We also popped our heads into a very cool historic cigar shop, Leavitt & Price, on behalf of our Dad. The place was immaculate, and full of all things manly and old-timey, including chess boards, dice, poker chips, shaving soaps, ciagars, tobacco, pipes, and so on. The black and white checkerboard floor topped it off, too (or rather bottomed it?). We then continued through the city, hit up the shopping at Downtown Crossing, the parks at the Boston Commons (see photo at top), but turned around to my home pretty quickly after Jennie encountered a strange and stinging creepy crawler in the grass. After an hour or so of laziness, we jumped outside and ran along the Charles river for a "heavy" run. (;


Dinner! It had to be a feast and Boston's North End offered just that in the form of authentic Italian foods, from pasta to risotto to cannolis. From the overwhelming multitude of restaurants in the area, we chose a perfect little place and enjoyed a delicious meal in a quaint little Italian grotto (pictured). Then, we emerged out onto the streets, watched as the hot-blooded Italians paid their dues to Catholic churches late into the night, and joined the rest of the crowds in the long lines dangling out of every pastry shop in the area. Jennie and I treated ourselves to coffee and delicious cannoli's--my first ever!--full of vanilla cream and sweetened ricotta cheese. With our bellies full of Italian, we walked back home and slept soundly, tired from a wonderfully full day.

Oh, Maine!

The first office outing, and what an outing it was! Happy hours and christmas parties pale in comparison to the celebrations of Machado and Silvetti, for we celebrate with travel and lobster and beautiful countryside. Leave the indoors indoors, and the exploration of the northeast to us...



8:00 am this early morn, everyone wise enough to attend hopped into a caravan of cars and ventured northwards along the coast of Massachusetts and Maine. Met with a perfect day for a scenic drive, we drove for 2.5 hours until we met the town of Brunswick, Maine, the location of Bowdoin College and M&S's near-complete project--the renovation of Bowdoin's arts museum. Jorge Silvetti took the entire group on a tour of the building, and we witnessed the beautiful interiors, freshly outfitted for the art that is now currently being installed. Essentially, the main historic building was maintained, but the downstairs basement area was excavated and dropped a significant number of feet downwards which involved the dredging of the foundatin-not a simple task! Also, two new entrances were added onto the building and a lot of light was brought inside through the opening of doors and skylights.

Years in the making, it was wonderful to experience it first hand with its architect!

Photos: Top, Mid:Bowdoin Art Museum; Bottom: Machado & Silvetti in Bowdoin




Before everyone got sleepy again, the group headed northwards once again to enjoy the local foods. In about a half hour, we pulled up to Five Mile Lobster Shack on the coast of Maine, and as we watched live lobster being pulled from the ocean we were simultaneously served fresh steamed lobster and mussels. It is hard work to crack those things open, but after a bit of coaching, I was pulling lobster meat like a champ--even though I really don't like it all that much. Nevertheless, I just couldn't pass up the opportunity to eat fresh lobster on the coasts of Maine...




With stomaches full, most opted to head back to Boston--but not our car! We headed over to the Crimston Bridge, which is apparently the only one of its kind in existence. Built solely of granite hunks piled into a "cribwork" formation, it provides a pattern spaces to allow the tides to pass through. We skipped some rocks, walked across, enjoyed the sailboats, dreamed of living in Maine, and then, reluctantly, got back in the car and headed back to Boston. Photos: My great co-workers!



A glorious day...just my kind.

Redline to Carson

Thanks to Boston's Metro Neighborhood Guide, Sunday was a day to explore yet another beach offering in the city. Carson Beach, located in South Boston on the harbor, is a 3 mile stretch of sand (that they shipped in especially for the occasion) with some great views of the harborside. A couple of fellow archis and I made the trek to the shore to take in some uv rays on a particularly beautiful summer day. The beach wasn't much to write home about, but the views of the ocean, as well as the sailboats floating back and forth in the distance, were nice and well worth the redline journey. Plus, the setting was great for catching up with friends. A few hours of sunshine, a watermelon/blue vanilla slushi, and good company made for a lovely afternoon.

Photos: Carson Beach with Doug and Kelly, my fellow Bostonites

Public Gardens for all!

On my walk home from the ICA, I spotted a gate that opened onto a bright green space, and people were walking into it by the handfuls. I decided to stray from my course and wander inside to see what everyone was so hurriedly rushing off to. What I found was the Boston Public Gardens, a big green space with flowers, trees, a pond and plenty of people enjoying it all.

Amongst the trees were a plethora of children, families, dogs and lone strollers, all lounging about the park, taking in the beauty of the summer day. The famous golden ducks were a big crowd pleaser, upon which the children's book was based, but the willow trees were my favorite...

Boston's ICA

If you want to see architectural divinity, you must visit the newly opened and much anticipated Institute of Contemporary Arts on Boston's waterfront. Designed by Diller+Scofidio+Renfro, it is amazing and beautiful and full of thoughtful details. I finally made the trip this Saturday, a perfect day of sunshine, and spent the afternoon wandering about the building. My first impression was somewhat strange: the whole building is surrounded by tons of parking! I actually laughed as I approached, and for a split second thoguht I was back in Houston...




I paid little attention to the exhibits within, but couldn't get enough of the space itself. Room after room held something remarkable to take in, and I made sure to allow myself the time to do so. I also caught a "Making of the ICA" film in the theatre, which was a nice way to experience that space.

This was an excitingly small but beautiful moment of the building...

One of my favorite aspects of the design is the use of various materials, namely the wooden planks, cladding and flooring that form a continuous plane that wraps itself around each turn of the building. From the exterior shot, you can see how the wood forms the profile of the building.

After an extensive tour inside, I plopped down outside on the exterior plaza/deck and took a nap in the sun. Then, from there I walked back to Central Square, a good two hour walk which allowed me to view other unexplored parts of the city's interior...

Capitol Fun with the D.C. Fam

This weekend, instead of spending it in Beantown, I decided to get out of the city and head southward to D.C. to visit my sister, Jennie, her husband, Kevin, and their furry children, Luce, Piper and Diabla. Jennie graciously invited me to come celebrate her good friend, Laura's Bachelorette party on Saturday night and I couldn't pass up the offer.

I caught a quick morning flight to the capitol, arrived in to the city around 11:30 and spent the afternoon hanging out with my big sis, running errands and driving around town in Kevin's jeep--top down, wind in our hair and sun in our eyes--don't you know it! We also ran down to Union Station to say hello to Kevin in uniform, and let Jennie throw a pouty lip...but then we got ice cream cones at Mc Donalds and everyone was happier! Afterall, who can be sad holding a sugar cone?

Oh, and I got to spend time with my favorite nieces, two of which, Diabla and Luce, can be seen below.




The next day was Bachelorette party prep day. We woke up early and gave the house a lick and a promise, as my momma likes to say, for the night's party and set out all the party-ware. Then, after a good bit of work, we said it is time to relax--and by relax I mean indulge in utter pleasure and lavishness. Before the party, Jennie arranged for Laura, her and I to go to the Elizabeth Arden Spa for facials and massages. We arrived at 2:00 and slipped into comfy robes and slippers, sipped some cucumber water and prepared ourselves for a couple of hours of peace and calm. The massage came first, and was a one hour swedish treatment with aromatherapy and soothing music. Then, the facial followed with an hour of various masks and light massage. (The facial also included some "extractions" but both Jennie and I, avid pickers, were quite disappointed at the brevity of this section. But, don't get me wrong, it was still exquisite!)



And then we were kicked out. Well, not really, but we had to peel ourselves from the beds and comfort of the robes and returned to reality. We dropped Laura off for a nap and returned to Jennie's apartment to prepare for the party. I tended to the H'oeur D'eurves (?) and appetizers while Jennie arranged the apartment for the guests. And before we knew it, the party had begun! People quickly arrived, a good group of 9 total, and after a bit of conviviality, we hopped in a couple of cars and made our way to the main event: D.C's one and only Hangar Club.

Number one (because it's the only one) in male dancing, the Hangar Club was a host of treats, and mainly those of the male kind. Chaos ensued and I'm not quite sure what to say other than that it was a hell of a good time...oh and one name: Harry Thunder Thighs. Enough said. Sadly, the night came to an end, but what a night it was. Sunday caught up with a few of the best of em, myself not included because I served as DD to those unmentioned (;

But the weekend was great! I had a wonderful time, and that even includes the 8 hour train ride home today. Thanks to Kevin, I got a free ticket to ride and was able to devote almost all of the time to my knitting project.

One sleeve down, one more to go...


Thanks, Jennie and Kevin!

A trip to the campus...

So, after taking multiple trips to Harvard Square for my own purposes, my curiousity finally got to me and I said to myself, "Sarah, you should go take a look at Harvard, where all the smarties go." And I went. I suppose the area I wandered around is the Cambridge Side but I got a good look at the old campus areas, including the law school, science school, Memorial Hall, and the Graduate Schood of Design.

Let me tell you one thing: Rice University is an impeccable school that spends a loooot of time and money on primping the campus; Harvard is not. I suppose I compare the two because Rice is supposedly the "Harvard of the South," but the two schools, layout and feel wise, are vastly different. The main difference lies in the closed campus aspect of Rice. One loop, a grid of buildings and complete order. Harvard, on the other hand, is chaos! Buildings are scattered everywhere and main streets run over and through the center of campus. Plus, there are some teeerrrrribly ugly buildings, such as the School of Science and all of the strange contraptions that lie about it. However, memorial hall is quite beautiful and grand (see picture below), and the housing courtyards are nice and shady with towers of old trees blanketing the sky.

Nevertheless, their grass is dying and Rice would never (neeeevvveeeer) stand for that!



Also pictured, Graduate School of Design.