Little Wonders

I don't know if my blog really fits it's name anymore. Here I am going onto my 4th year in Boston, and no longer do I feel brand new.

I have been sleeping, waking up in the eastern sun, strolling through days and living my life, sometimes running through it...

I've put my life and heart in hands besides mine, always trying to regain control of what I know, what I need, and what I've always wanted. Sometimes I feel so far away, in a different world, surrounded by strangers. I miss my family, I miss my old friends, and I miss the innocence of myself before I came here. Looking back though, I know these last 3 years have taken me on a tumultuous ride filled with new friends, new love, new laughter and tears, while searching and learning new things. I came and did what I set out to do here, but I've gained so much in the process.

From driving across the country wide-eyed, to feeling almost completely helpless between these tall city buildings, I remember wondering why I did it and if I could actually pull through to accomplish my goals. Not really knowing what would come out of going to school here, I knew one thing...that I needed to finish. Last year I did, and I was completely proud of myself for getting there. Now, I'm just here and I've been so anxious thinking, what next? I get nervous when I'm still.

What I'm learning though, is it's okay to be still. I need to stop and appreciate where I've been, how I got there and who has listened to my frustrations, wiped my tears, and also laughed in light of my ever changing questions of life. I've laughed and smiled with those close to me, and have loved every opportunity I've had to enjoy the friends and awesome places that surround me.

I hope all my memories of being in Boston for the last 3 years will stay with me forever. It truly has been a life changing experience. It's funny how this thought comes up...it's usually when I'm driving down Memorial Drive, into the sunset and looking to my left at this city that's been my home. I live in Massachusetts. Who would've thought?! Certainly not me...

Oh So Hipster

People always say that it’s such a small world. You go to a city that has 18,976,45 people in it, and at any given moment you will run into practically any of those people. How does it happen that when you’re in Queens New York, at the “Maker Faire”, you happen to run into an old Boston colleague on the science playground, as well as get a text message from your aunt and uncle who happen to be in front of Dean & Deluca in Times Square, NYC? Mind you, your aunt and uncle are from Salt Lake City, Utah…

What a crazy and random weekend I just had. It started on Friday, as I was schmoozing with some New Art Center socialite artists for our fall exhibition opening. Waiting for the time to go on, I busted out of work and quickly drove home to throw some clothes into a backpack and drive with George to Brooklyn, where Doug was patiently waiting for us. As we drove the 4 hours from Boston to NYC, we talked about all the fun fall activities we should do, like corn mazes and apple picking, and what we should be for Halloween. I’m thinking fierce female movie character, while George is thinking Caterpillar. :)

As soon as we got to Brooklyn, and after the rush of traffic in the city (yikes!) we finally made it to Doug and Morgen’s simple, yet awesomely quaint one bedroom apartment on Oxford Street. It’s on the 3^rd floor of an old Brooklyn brownstone and has a tiny-ass kitchen. Typical, but what it does have is a friggin’ solarium! Yes, one of a kind I am sure. We got to drink beer, sleep on the fold out couch, and eat breakfast underneath the East Coast sky. It was fantastic and I’m so jealous.

The next day, we headed out for a full day of City. First it was down the street to the Brooklyn Flea Market where George got a new colorful belt, of course. Then it was through the tunnels of the Metro to the Museum of Modern Art where we saw Yoko Ono photographs of bums, unique kitchen gadgets and Matisse’s naked ladies! We made wishes on the Wishing Tree and then headed out to get burgers at the Burger Joint, located in the fancy, Le Parker Meridien Hotel. By no means was this a fancy joint however, it is a secret spot that is now not so secret…

After some grub, we met up with George and Doug’s college friend Dave who lives in Chelsea. Then we headed to the “meat-packing district” (I just learned these terms…) where we spent the evening in a pretty awesome and crowded Biergarten! Packed with tables and enormous pretzels, we enjoyed eachother's company as we drank some German bier and watched the frat boys play ping pong and hit on some cougar ladies. I even got in on some of the action by being hit by one of the ping pong balls in my eye! Yeah, gross. I was so startled that I jumped, knocked over my glass and it shattered in front of my eyes. Bummer indeed. We all decided that the dude should buy me another and what does he say to me?

“Ummm, yeah well I totally should. But, I just spent all my money and I can’t buy you another one…here…I’ll give you some of mine!”

He was so impressed and proud of himself for thinking of that idea for compensation. Funny that his shirt said “Boston College”. Hmmmm….

Anyway, afterward we hit up some water and rest before we went back out to Brooklyn for a swanky loft party. It’s always so funny these Brooklyn parties. Same vibe, ladies and gents who are into fashion and design, wearing plaid and sneakers, with their hair styled to perfection and their lips a perfect shade of red. A perfectly laid out shabby chic. Music, vintage, and bicycles…that’s what I always find when I happen upon those Brooklyn swingers.

It was fun, we danced, we had wine and cheese, and as we were walking back to Doug’s we learned that it’s always good to have tools on you in case you find a lone bike that has a valuable bell on it. Good thing Doug is always prepared.

The next day we woke up, sort of refreshed and made some delicious French Toast. George even cooked up some smoky bacon in his smokin’ outfit of boxers and an apron. Yep, just that. I’ll let you imagine away. :)

After a quick jaunt in the city traffic again, we headed out to Queens, where we would take a big yellow school bus to the Maker Faire! I felt I was back in 3rd grade again as I sat in the musty smelly brown seats. I never remembered buses having seat belts…I guess times have changed. We pulled up and all I could see as we were walking in was fire…jet-propelled fire that is! This place was amazing. From a picking locks lesson to giant pendulum swings and sensor controlled bustiers (imagine me saying that with a French accent…); there was anything anyone could imagine! In order for you to imagine, let me compare it to the World’s Fair in 1889, where the Eiffel Tower was introduced. Just think, whatever was radical or crazy back then…the Eiffel Tower must surely have been on the list. Here, you could say these people are those who are inventors, DIYers, or they just take the technology of today and put it to new and creative use. It was quite an amazing sight. If you want to check out something really amazing and one of the things we saw here, check out the guys of ArcAttack:

http://www.arcattack.com/video/vid5.php

Right before we saw these guys, I had the 2 very random and coincidental things happen to me which I mentioned at the beginning of this story. My uncle Rhett texted me with a picture of my aunt Becky standing in front of Dean & Deluca saying, “Guess where Beck is and who she wants to be?”

I was immediately shocked because obviously she was in NYC, unless of course she was at a really good replication of a DD in Vegas or something. I called right away and said the valley girl response, “Shut up! You’re totally in NY!” Indeed they were. Thanks to buddy passes, which by the way…why don’t I have any friends who want to give away buddy passes?!

Unfortunately we couldn’t see them since we were in Queens and on our way out of the city back to Boston. It would have been hell trying to drive back into Manhattan at that time of the day/weekend ending. But I really am glad that I got to be there when I got that happy little text. PS. Becky and Rhett, or anyone in my family/friend circle: Let me know if you’re ever on the East Coast...I just may be anywhere too!

On the science playground is where we saw an old co-worker of mine, who now works and lives in Queens doing art and exhibition design. What a small world indeed. It was good to see him, and I think he was happy that we showed him and his girlfriend the way to the ArcAttack dudes. He said, “I think I may pee my pants, that was so cool..”

The weekend came to an end when George and I battled NYC traffic and long one-lane bridges, stopped in New Haven Connecticut, home of Yale, to have a bomb-ass burrito at Bulldog Burritos. We even got to watch the Hispanic version of Dancing with the Stars! Bueno, bueno. After a long drive home, we passed out watching the rain come sweeping through Boston. It was a completely awesome fall weekend, busy as always, but so much fun.

Hopefully these next few weekends will be just as great. We’ll be headed to the Topsfield Fair, which has become a yearly tradition. Gotta love that fried dough!

Racin' & Boilin'

Well, well folks! So sadly the Celtics lost last night…

I’m not devastated, but I’m not happy that it was to the Lakers. Uggh. Those last few 3’s were pretty amazing though, putting my ‘sighs’ and ‘ahs!’ through a 5 second rollercoaster, sheesh!

So I’ve been meaning to update you with certain things, like the Harpoon 5 Miler race that I did a few weekends ago! I did better than I thought with a finish of 46:20! Damn Gina!

Race Results:

Jessica Alexander, 25F, Brookline MA
Place out of 3000: 1224
Group Place out of 638: 292
Time: 46:20
Pace: 9:16

George did pretty well too!

George Pechmann, 26M, Brookline MA
Place out of 3000: 390
Group Place out of 381: 108
Time: 38:56
Pace: 7:48

I’ve got good news for you all in Salt Lake...George and I will be gracing you with our presence for Labor Day weekend! After taking September 1st, to move everything into a new apartment down the street, we’ll be flying out early on the 2nd to hang out with all you Utahns. Get ready!

We’ll also be headed up to the Mountain Man Rendezvous on Saturday for some good grizzled fun, dancing jigs and cannonballs! Afterward, we’ll head back East on Tuesday the 7th. So keep your calendars open my friends!

And now I’ll leave you with a few pictures of what we’ve been up to the last few weeks. Yes, that is a lobster we bought live and boiled ourselves! We’re becoming regular ‘ol New Englanders!

Racin' & Boilin'

Well, well folks! So sadly the Celtics lost last night…

I’m not devastated, but I’m not happy that it was to the Lakers. Uggh. Those last few 3’s were pretty amazing though, putting my ‘sighs’ and ‘ahs!’ through a 5 second rollercoaster, sheesh!

So I’ve been meaning to update you with certain things, like the Harpoon 5 Miler race that I did a few weekends ago! I did better than I thought with a finish of 46:20! Damn Gina!

Jessica Alexander 25 F, Brookline MA

Place:1224 (out of 3000)

Place in age group: 292/638

Time:46:20

Pace: 9:16

George did pretty well too!

George Pechmann  26 M, Brookline MA 

Place: 390 

Place in age group: 108/381

Time:38:56   

Pace: 7:48         

Nothing like runnin’ 5 miles then getting 3 beers afterward. Good incentive eh? 

I’ve got good news for you all in Salt Lake...George and I will be gracing you with our presence

for Labor Day weekend! After taking September 1st, to move everything into a new apartment

down the street, we’ll be flying out early on the 2nd to hang out with all you Utahns. Get ready!

We’ll also be headed up to the Mountain Man Rendezvous on Saturday for some good grizzled fun, dancing jigs and cannonballs! Afterward, we’ll head back East on Tuesday the 7th. So keep your calendars open my friends!

And now I’ll leave you with a few pictures of what we’ve been up to the last few weeks.

Yes, that is a lobster we bought live and boiled ourselves! We’re becoming regular ‘ol New Englanders!

It's a RACE!

Welcome back from the official kick-off to summer! Is it hot yet in your neck of the woods yet?

So there was one thing that I've always wanted to do: Beach Camping. Now, I had in mind something like plopping a tent in the sand, next to the crashing waves....but enough to miss high tide... Then I could fall asleep to crashing waves and wake up to brilliant sunshine lapping on the ocean waters. Yeah I know, sounds awesome!


Well it wasn't quite like that, but it was indeed as close as we could get... here in New England. For Memorial Day Weekend, George and I headed with friends, Greg and Amy, down to Horseneck Beach for some good ol camping! The campsite wasn't on the sand, and acutally, I'm kinda glad it wasn't...that stuff get's everywhere! But it was rather, smack dab in the middle of an RV haven!


The beach was rocky in parts, and the generators drove me nuts as they came on a 7 am...but I did take the little moments to enjoy the sun, sand and kite-flying! We got a few awesome kites, an osprey and a parrot, to fake out our fellow seagulls at the beach, and did an intense scavenger hunt that had us digging into the sand for hours! Thanks Amy.... :)


So, I take a toast to the first camping trip of the summer season and can't wait until we visit Acadia in a few weeks!


Up next? A RACE! Yes, I'm running a 5 mile race for the Harpoon Brewery on Saturday. In fact, George, myself and a bunch of other friends are as well. It's gonna be fun on the bun...well when I get done at least. :) A cold beer for a run well done sounds delectable.

Wish me luck!

One More Fist Pump

Good morning!

What to talk about today? We can talk about how hot it's going to be super hot today here in Boston, getting up to 90 degrees, or perhaps how it snowed yesterday in Salt Lake City...Odd how wonderful our spring has been this year. I'm definitely not complaining, and also holding my breath since I know the sticky humidity is well on its way...

Or we could talk about how I had a fast paced weekend, filled with a Spring Gala Fundraiser where George and I schmoozed with the rich folk of Newton while also feeding them dry martinis to open their checkbooks...or how we got a dose of culture while seeing the musical RENT at a local theater in Auburndale.

OR maybe LOST? Anyone watch the grand total of 3 1/2 hours of all things LOST? Well I did. Funny thing about LOST, I started watching back in the day like everyone else... it was Andrea who introduced me. Andrea actually introduced me to many things, awesome things such as ALIAS and dressing up in sheets, trying to look like Greek Goddesses while watching Disney movies. Ahhh...college.

But somewhere along the way, I lost track of LOST and fell away from all the hubaloo until I came to Boston and George was all into it...I said OK, you're going to have to catch me up though...

So I managed to get past all the beginnings of smoke monsters and polar bears and crazy French women, and finally started watching last season. I thoroughly enjoyed the latter half of the series, and although the finale wasn't as sad to me as say ALIAS was...I will still miss the Tuesday night Fish/Lost bonanzas!

I guess we'll just have to start watching Jersey Shore...

Ahh the fist pumping!!

Just Boil It!

Ok, so in the midst of worldwide catastrophes, Boston finally hit it's own mark, though not to the extreme extent of oil spills and volcanic ash. Some might consider otherwise however, especially those who ran out to the nearest convenient store and purchased entire racks of bottled water Saturday afternoon. A main water line had cracked, and now most of Boston's drinking water has flooded the banks of Weston, a small town outside of Boston.

You'd think it was end of the world, people looking to stock up for their fallout shelters! After our governor had declared a city-wide boil order, people started going nuts. Loaded cars, with cases of bottled water, Whole Foods fights between suburban moms in velour sweatsuits, and hand-written scribbled sharpies saying, "sold out of water".

So what do we do? Just boil it.

Seriously, just boil it people! I mean yeah, an extra minute of boiling the water just to make sure the bacteria is gone, is not going to kill you. I'm so glad I was brought up going on camping trips and taking baths in rivers and lakes, and boiling water for dirty dishes and such...

It's actually kind of fun. George and I have got a system. Boil, cool, put in a pitcher in the fridge, and drink. Voila! Perfectly delicious. And, I do think it's funny that we are getting the water from the very lake we ran around on Sunday. Ah, life.

So enough about the water crisis here in Boston! Let me show you pictures from right before the water freakout!We had a perfectly great morning, making eggs, toast, avocado, and BACON! Orange juice to finish it off as well. Then we headed out to Lewis Wharf for a bit of gentleman's sailing! This was our 3rd trip of free sailing, which happens every spring. This day was glorious, maybe a little too glorious for only May in Boston. But, it was 80 degrees and a bit humid...but when that salty wind breezed past you on the sailboat, it was indeed glorious!

So we sailed, spoke of vacationing in the Hamptons and the Cape, and drank a lot of free wine in the lounge. Haha, ok the wine was boxed and the lounge was actually a barge, but whatever! We had a great time. I wore my best nautical outfit and hit the high seas!

Afterward, we hit up the North End (Little Italy of Boston) and ordered a big fat Italian sub. You walk into this little shop, I believe it's called "Mercato del Mar", and you pick out your baguette. You then hand your baguette to the deli person behind the counter and say, "everything please!"

You end up with one of the best subs you've had in your life, and it's huge!

We ate on the greenway, as we rested in the sun. At this point, a little drunk off boxed wine and full of delicious Italian-ness, we find out about the water situation. Suddenly we're all thirsty as hell! And, with a good right to be, since we were probably all very dehydrated from the wine and the sunshine.

After that, we were home bound, getting ready to heat up the stove. It was a pretty intense weekend, but just what I would've wanted on a summer-like spring day. :)