La Summa

N and I got off work at the same time the other night, so we decided to go for a romantic dinner in the North End.

Although we had all day to think about it, we still hadn't decided where we wanted to go by the end of the day. We were both starving, and I really just wanted a cannoli. We ended up going to La Summa on Fleet Street, which had a much shorter line than all the restaurants on Hanover. We only had to wait about 15 minutes, and there was a bench to sit on! The hostess was very nice and gave us updates on the wait time as well.

The restaurant was pretty small, there was appropriate Italian music playing, white tablecloths, and candles. It was not too fancy though, there was a family near us with children and we ourselves were wearing dirty jeans [N: my jeans were NOT dirty!] and matching bike shops t-shirts.

The bread they gave us to start was ok. Nothing special, but we were hungry. Sadly, it was not warm. I ordered some sort of pasta in a cream sauce with sundried tomatoes. It was good, but I had hoped for more tomatoes. N got fettucchine alfredo with peas. She said it needed more peas (she is also oddly obsessed with peas). Price was reasonable for the area - we paid about $21 each.

Overall, it was a good experience. I would definitely recommend it. Would I go there again myself? Probably not, just because there are so many restaurants to try in the North End, and I really wish the bread had been warm...But the short wait and nice staff were a plus! And there were leftovers, which N added more peas to [N: Thanks for bringing them S!].

After dinner we swung by the shop and the crew was outside, just having closed. So we joined them and biked to the Sevens for a drink! My boss did not allow us to ride the tandem bicycle. We will have to work on convincing him to lend us one.

-S

Housewarming Party

N survived the ordeal of liquor gathering, and it was time to partyyyy!

We had invited everyone from work (we both work at a bike shop, more on that to come in a later post), and my boss let me out a little early to prepare for the party. When I got home, N was still gone getting her cart-o-liquor. So I made a grilled cheese sandwich and read the paper. Then I showered, threw on my YOLO t-shirt, and grabbed a cider. 

I had made jello shots the night before so I sliced them up when N got back. It was more like a giant pan of jello that I cubed and put in bowls. While we were doing this, the bike shop crew arrived. It was very weird to see my boss in my house. 

We sat on the back porch for a bit, until everyone else arrived. My friends all came in at once, and then things got crazy. N and I originally tried to have a contest to see who could have the most friends come. I think we tied. The hardest part was running around between groups of people, making introductions, and trying to join our different friend groups. The bike crew mostly stayed on the porch, my college friends gathered at the table, and N's peeps stood in the kitchen. 

Our other roommate stayed in the living room and watched sports with his friend. The fourth roommate made a brief appearance then somehow went to bed (she must be deaf). 

We had spent a few hours making the perfect playlist. I forgot to download it to my iPod, so we listened to another random playlist. People liked it, I assume. There was kitchen dancing. 

Despite the notable absence of some lame people (you know who you are), it was a wild success. There was widespread jello consumption, baking and devouring of a giant cookie cake, and N made a punch! No one drank it, but she put it in a tupperware and has been working on finishing it every day since the party. 

Details are foggy, but to my knowledge no one got sick and no one cried. I hear my boss got a bit upset because I kept introducing him as my boss, and not my friend, but he will get over it. I tend to get very excited when all of my friends are together in the same place, since it happens so rarely, so I was a little hyper. I assume N had a great time, but I actually didn't really see her at all during the party. 

The final guest count was about 35 people.  Success!

-S

Pre-Party Planning

It's time!  S and I were hosting our very first party!  Okay, technically I guess S, me and our other two roommates were really hosting, but we all know it was really our party.

I had the day off while S was at work so I got to work, cleaned my room, did some laundry, took the trash out, etc.  I was pretty pumped because this was the first party I'd ever hosted.  A week before we'd done the actual work, which consisted of making a facebook event and inviting everyone we even remotely knew.

At around 7pm I headed off to the liquor store to get the goods, with my roommate's grocery cart in tow.  S and I had each generously donated $20 into the liquor pot, and I had beer on my list.  I wandered into Blanchards and began poking around; PBR, Budweiser, Corona, too many options!

One thing that I think brings S and I together, yet draws us apart, is our indecision.  I've improved significantly in the past four years, but it can still be like pulling teeth to make me choose something.  And when there is pressure, like will my guests like my beer choices? then the indecision is worse.

So, after about 10 minutes I had a 24pk of Dos Equis and a 30pk of PBR in the cart and was heading back home.  I glanced at the receipt and saw they had undercharged me...score!  That left $10 still in our budget, so I went to Harvest Co-op, asked a nice cashier to watch the cart-o-liquor and went to get S some cider.

Another 10 minutes went by while S decided on what cider she wanted, and I was out the door again!  Pushing my cart like the badass granny alcoholic I am.  Party time!

-N

Painting 101

My room is pretty.  It's sky blue, wood floors and white molding.  And then there is a bare wood cheap-o closet door.  THAT DOES NOT GO WITH THE DECOR, dear landlady.

Never fear, we are reimbursed for paint!  Happy days.  This means I'm making that door a chalkboard.  But not with the black chalkboard paint sold in hardware stores, no no, instead I first checked out my girls at A Beautiful Mess, and finally the ultimate craft queen, Martha Stewart, and decided I could make my own chalkboard paint.

Off I went to the local ACE, and started comparing paint colors with my new bff, the ACE Hardware Man.  He doesn't know we are friends yet, but I have faith in him.  I told him my plan for chalkboard paint, made simple by mixing in dry tile grout, to which he gave me a doubtful look and said, "If you say so!"  See?  Friends!

One paint brush, one can of primer, a can of light grey and some tile grout later and I was laying down the start of my very own chalkboard door!  Primer went on no problem, but I don't think I mixed the grout+paint mixture enough, so while the chalk certainly shows up on my door, it's more like writing on a door...with chalk.  Nevertheless I have decorated it with this year's Bucket List, and have distant plans to give it another coat, with maybe a touch darker grey to really make the writing pop.

Next up was touching up my walls, which had somehow been spottily painted by past residents.  Lucky for me the extra paint was in the basement, and after a quick consultation with my dad and the internet I was ready to go.

This actually worked remarkably well, especially after the internet told me it would never match.  But take that internet, you can't even tell!

Finally was the chair that was mysteriously left in my room when I moved in.  Since I owned exactly one pink plastic 3-drawer piece of furniture when I moved in, I took this gift with open arms, but decided to make it my own.  Upon S's suggestion I painted the legs with some deep maroon/red paint I found in the basement, and it actually looks pretty good!  Despite the few spots that I missed.  Plans to touch those up are written down but not yet acted upon.  Also I might paint the seat white.  If that happens I'll let you know!

-N

Move In

Hello New Home!

Too bad I don't own any furniture.

Luckily a former occupant left almost all of hers, and S. is letting me use her bed since her room comes with a bed!

I really enjoy packing since it let's you evaluate almost everything you own and think about whether you still want it or not.  Packing for me is a great excuse for a purge of my belongings.  

And since I have moved quite frequently the last 4 years (10 one-way moves I can think of), I thought I had kept my belongings to a rather small, reasonable number.  But, having the space to actually get all my stuff spread out in the same room tells me no!  I need to keep purging.

I shall try my best.

-N

Welcome!

It was only four short years ago when I first met N. It was love at first sight. Actually, I don't think N even remembers it.

Regardless, we somehow became friends between wrangling our rebellious Girl Scout troop and attending awkward meetings of the vegetarian club. After graduation we faced the frightening prospect of finding an apartment for the first time. Because we are so organized, we immediately began a google doc with our housing requirements and began recruiting roommates.

Some of our original desires included a pet dog, an area to compost, and hot neighbors. We ended up with a pet mouse, a bag of compost in the freezer that we keep forgetting to secretly dump behind a restaurant, and neighbors we have only spied on from behind a cracked door. The jury is still out on their attractiveness.

Despite all this, our lives are amazing. We have started this blog to share our awesomeness with the world. Get ready for adventures in dumpster diving, home decorating, cooking, and themed parties!


                                          

-S