Six Pack Shuffle I

Since we first heard of the concept of a 6 pack shuffle we have wanted to do one. The idea is everyone gets a six pack, then you think of 6 places to bike to. At each place you drink a beer. You try not to die. 

We left right after work and headed to the Zakim. 

M. and D. met us there. 

'

After that we went to a park in Cambridge. After which Q. ditched to go home, but we continued on and played on the playground!

 Then went up to the roof of a parking garage. The view was great and biking through the garage was awesome. G. met us up there after much difficulty getting in - evidently they lock the doors around 11.

 I seem to recall we played ninja warrior, then N. tried to crush a can by blowing on it.

Of course we went to New York Pizza.

Then we stopped in one of the Northeastern building to go to the bathroom. Where we took this picture for some reason.

 And found a cart with wheels on it.

And we all made it home alive!

We didn't actually make 6 beer stops, but it was a good first effort! Stay tuned for more.

Lexington

N.'s dad found this wind-powered motor thing on craigslist or something that some guy was giving away for free and he wanted it for his boat. N's dad lives in Florida; the thing was in Lexington...

Time for a roomie adventure! 

I actually really didn't want to go because it was early Saturday morning and I am lazy, but I did it. The weather was beautiful and to get in the spirit we made up a song as we were biking. It went:

"We're going to Lex-ing-ton

It's going to be a ton. of. fun. 

There will be no rain

Only sun

It's going to be a ton. of. fun. 

Who is going?

Two, not one

It's going to be a ton. of. fun. "

There is no tune. Thankfully we didn't pass many people on our way to Cambridge. 

We arrived in Cambridge looking pretty cool. 

We then met our manager/friend Q. who let us borrow his car. N. can drive!

But not park.

The motor thing was wayyy smaller than expected. 

So we had a lot of room in the trunk. We went to Trader Joe's and DSW and JoAnn's. There I found this awesome Duct tape while N. was busy looking for fabric and fancy needles. 

Not gonna lie, this trip kinda made me want to move to the suburbs. Everything is so big and clean there and it's easy to get around! It was nice to be back in the city though. 

We ended the day successfully with a full car! 

Later that day, we biked to a BBQ in West Roxbury. Who knew West Roxbury was so nice? I would totally move there. Lots of hills though. We even had to walk our bikes up one (don't tell anyone).

We arrived home to this lovely couch in our yard. Our landlord was moving some stuff and left it. We relaxed on it for a bit until he came back, at which point N. literally jumped up, ran away, and tried to hide in the basement. I played it cool.

A wonderful summer day :)

Midnight Marathon

I convinced some people to do the Midnight Marathon with me!  Despite a few initial road bumps like failing to obtain a Midnight Marathon Train Ticket (Q. missed the sale by only a few minutes!) and missing the first charter bus, thanks to Facebook and a stranger named Jed Jeng I was able to get all 8 of us onto the 2nd charter bus!  Woohoo!

As the night approached (Sunday April 14th in case you are wondering), I got a little nervous and decided to do a trial run on my day off.  I carefully mapped out a route on google, copied directions down and headed out on my bike.

Per usual I missed my turn and ended up in Milton.  Then Roslindale and finally Dorchester to where I was actually heading...Target!  At the end of the day I was confident that I could ride the route and had managed all of my errands as well.

This was actually my second year doing the ride and I was a bit concerned that since losing my bike naivety I couldn't go out on this ride unprepared.  Last year we had hopped on the trail with only our bikes, a few snacks and some water but had miraculously finished unscathed.  This time I was certain I'd get a flat and remain the laughing stock of my work.

So I decided to make a flat kit!  Initially I was working on a fanny pack but then decided to just make a bag that connects to the bike, large enough to hold a tube, tire levers, multi-tool, 15mm wrench and a banana!  I researched a few models online and got to work.

Half a day later with the help of V.'s sewing machine I was set!  Reflective details and all.

Sunday rolled around and one guy dropped out of our group!  I also worked all day.  D. and Z. met me after work and along with DD we rode over to South Station where I had to continue work by handing out coupons and stickers.

Tons of cyclists mulled around with excitement in their eyes and shiny new stickers in their fists.  Q., C., and F. met us at the station and I managed to sell the extra ticket.  We stuffed our bikes under the bus (except for Z. who put his in a UHaul) and set off for Hopkington!

One hour 51 minutes and 56 seconds after we unloaded our bikes at the start line and took off we made it to Copley Square, somehow losing D. in the mix.  Along the way we'd chatted up new friends, raced old ones and couldn't figure out which measly hill was supposed to be a Heartbreaker.

3/13 De Facto Roommate Day

Another Wednesday off for me and S.!  We agreed to go for a lovely walk to Franklin Park rather than go to yoga.  Save $10 and get Vitamin D?  Sign me up.

From our studies of Google Maps we knew that Franklin Park was not far from our house, yet despite this knowledge we'd never gone there!  Today was a day of change.

On the walk we saw two abandoned shoes and a cool looking tree covered with crocheted mushrooms.  Once in the park we randomly chose a path, started walking and ended up stumbling upon a seemingly abandoned stone building.  Here we practiced our Parkour, did some sun salutations, talked about life and climbed a boulder.

We also 'muploaded' a few pics.  A new term that S. learned from her friend, supposedly it is short-hand for 'mobile upload.'  I have my doubts that it will catch on but nevertheless instagramed the following of S.

After we returned home S. made some of the best waffles ever and we headed off to Harvard Square.  There we visited a shoe store and Follow the Honey, a cute honey store on Mass Ave!  The kind lady there gave us samples from all over the world including a white honey from Hawaii that was amazing.  If I wanted to spend $32 on a small jar of honey that would be my choice.

A beautiful bike ride across the Mass Ave. bridge back into Boston completed our wonderful day!

3/6 De Facto Roommate Night

S. and I are now both off on Wednesdays!  I really love having a weekday off because I can do things that require normal business hours, plus it breaks up my work week.

We both woke up pretty early and did some computer work/reading before heading to yoga at the Blissful Monkey for their $10 lunchtime yoga.  Now it has been about 9 months since I last did yoga and I was fairly nervous to fall from downward dog or something, but it ended up being just fine!

Next I dragged S. with me to the library and then Polka Dog Bakery for a cat treat.  I love that I can complete all my errands by walking here in JP!

After eating lunch we headed out by bike to Trader Joe's.  Unfortunately it decided to start raining midway but luckily it was more of a refreshing sprinkle rather than a drenching downpour.  We parked, picked up our ceramic creations and then commenced grocery shopping!

The 'quiche pan' that I painted at the Clayroom!

If you have ever been shopping with S. and I you know it is a fairly long process, and when the wealth of Trader Joe's is in front of us it is even longer.  Plus you have to figure in we are carrying everything by bicycle.  Thus we made a couple rounds in the store, picking things up and dropping them off, contemplating organic or not and in general figuring what we need to live off of for the next week.  Eventually we checked out and departed!

Unfortunately S. had gotten a flat tire somewhere on our journey and with no tools on us we decided to walk our bikes to Landry's and get it fixed.  Everyone there was really nice and we were soon on our way, with a new ladybug bell for S.'s bike Francine!

I also downloaded the app Runtastic Roadbike in an effort to track my cycling journeys!  I actually haven't biked since Wednesday due to the snow, but I was pretty impressed by how well it worked on our return journey!

Despite our plans for a lazy night due to such a productive day, Z. managed to convince us to join him for dinner.  We ate at the Miami Restaurant in Hyde Square.  S. and I weren't really hungry so she got fried plantains and I had rice and beans.  Z. got goat stew which came with fried green plantains, rice and beans.  So much food!  The rice and beans was really good and I'm sad we forgot the leftovers!

Convincing us to leave the house took some work.

Mmmmm plantains!  (Maduros)

Z. enjoyed his goat tremendously.

This may look bad but it was delicious.
So delicious I have a suspicion that chicken
broth was used in the rice...