We Went to Boston

And All I got was this Lousy T-Shirt.

Just kidding. I didn't buy or get a t-shirt there.  BUT I did find my dream restaurant. For some reason I had in my head that I was going to eat at a vegetarian restaurant there.  When we travel we don't really seek out veggie restaurants, we can eat something anywhere we go, but I knew I had to find one in Boston.  We met up with our friend Robin who just moved there and we sat around the hotel room looking on yelp and google for a vegetarian restaurant.  All that kept coming up was Indian Food or Mexican. Been there done that. So we said lets just get in the car and head to our other friend's house and find a place on the way.  We were driving through Cambridge and I glanced up and read the words "Organic Oasis". I said: "OH! Stop the car, we just passed a place!!"  We found a parking spot and walked back to the restaurant. It was called "Life Alive".  It was perfect.  It was everything I ever wanted in a restaurant and definitely everything I wanted Saturday night for dinner.  All VEGETARIAN, ORGANIC, FRESH, DELICIOUS and reasonably priced food.  I was practically jumping up and down.  PLUS, one of my favorite things in the world is "Something delicious to drink".  Most of the time when I crave something it is "Something delicious to drink".  I'll say: "you know what I really want right now? Something delicious to drink."  Well, that can be anything. Sometimes it's fresh lemonade from a street fair, other times it is carrot juice, water, flavored water, chocolate milk - the list goes on and on. Anyway, they serve fresh juices and smoothies and I am pretty sure I had the best smoothie of my life, so far, there.

Josh had the The Kiddie Quesadilla, Robin had The Sufi Poet and I ordered The Fool (it was not foolish - it was delicious).  I asked the lady working there what was the best smoothie and she recommended the Vibrance Alive.  I love her for it.  Then this conversation happened:
Lady:  Do you want to eat upstairs or Downstairs?
Me: Hmmm... Doesn't matter, which is better for a 1 1/2 year old.
Lady:  Doesn't matter, both are good.  BUT downstairs has a play area.
Me: Oh. Then downstairs.


Did you catch that?!  A play area in a restaurant that isn't Chuck E. Cheese.


I am not getting paid for this by the way.  But if you are ever in the Boston area and want something healthy, you should eat there. Kids are welcome.


Here are some pictures:

Other Boston highlights included stumbling upon the Anime Convention. That was a cultural experience.  Eating at The Paramount and walking around Boston Commons. All in all I give Boston Two very enthusiastic thumbs up. Fine holiday fun.

Sometimes it's just too much

 Every time I look at these pictures, my heart almost explodes with love. He is so silly. and cute.

He commandeered this scooter at the park a couple weeks ago.  He's got it down.

He also loves to climb and slide. Repeat.

Photosaurus

Our living room is often converted into a photo studio and on one recent occasion before the models arrived, we had an impromptu photo shoot with a dinosaur. All photos by josh.

"Hey come on, let's go play in the room"

Sooooo tired

Behind the scenes

Catching Up

Remember when I used to post more regularly?  I have good intentions, but little time.  Josh took some good pictures of the babe last week - which i hope to post this week.  In the meantime- I love NYC.

Saturday's are my favorite. It is rare that the three of of leave the house before 3 in the afternoon, but when we do leave- the adventures begin. Subway rides have gotten pretty easy with Sonny. He likes to sit in his own seat or hold the center poles (prefers to do this with no help) and this weekend, he started to practice pull-ups on the top hand rail. He can hang on by himself for a couple seconds which is pretty impressive for a not-quite-yet-year-and-a-half-year-old. He is very much a NYC Boy (cue Pet Shop Boys) - Strap Hanging, Pizza & Ice-cream Eating (he calls Pizza: "Peeta Peeta Peeta"), Pigeon & Squirrel Chasing, Dancing, People & Street Performer Watching NYC Boy - one man let him help him play the bongos this weekend  (i know all of the above can happen in any city, but especially NYC.)

Spring is here and Summer is just around the corner, I look forward to many many NYC adventures within the next few months.

 

Whitney Houston

Coming back from Long Island errands Saturday night, we were informed by the Throgs Neck Bridge Toll Booth Lady that Whitney Houston had died.  As she handed Josh a receipt, she said "Did you hear about Whitney Houston?" after saying no and shaking our heads, she said "She died!" and then we drove off.  I was keeping the boy entertained in the back seat the rest of the way home, so I didn't think about the news that much. When I got home and settled, I started thinking about Whitney and her place in my life.

When Michael Jackson died, I was indifferent.  I think I was a tad too young to really appreciate the height of his career.  I had the BAD cassette and listened to it on occasion but to me he was just a weird guy who was incredibly talented and wounded.  Whitney's death is a little different.

Her death has not personally effected me, and my heart and prayers go out to her family and friends who may be sad and grieving at this time. Her death has made me look back on my life as a little girl and realize that her voice will forever be part of the sound track of my life.

Whitney Houston was BIG in the 80's. She was beautiful, talented, could dance and HAD CURLY HAIR!  I loved her.  I loved wearing leggings with leg warmers and a headband in my hair and dancing around the living room to her voice.  Those days in my living room, I was this:

Between the ages of 6 - 10 there wasn't a slumber party or gather of girls where we didn't sing and dance our heart out to Whitney Houston songs.  Hairbrushes, remote controls and pens were our loyal microphones and friends and stuffed animals were our audience.  We rocked out to Whitney Houston.

When I was 11 and more mature, the Bodyguard movie came out and I had to watch it. I loved it. I was a member of BMG (12 tapes/cd's for $0.1) and bought the soundtrack on cassette as soon as possible. I would listen to the tape front and back and then rewind it and listen again. When I was feeling sad from a playground break-up, I would play I Will Always Love You and cry.  I remember the tape and the cracks the case had from taking it everywhere with me.

When her personal affairs and problems were made public and her private battles were national news, I felt bad for her. My days of singing and dancing to her were long gone (unless driving in the car when a song of hers would come on), but I still felt bad for her and wished she would recover.

So when I heard she had passed away, I reflected on my childhood and smiled thanking her for the countless hours of song and dance and for being a part of my life.

Duh.

I had three very brain dead things happen to me recently that I'd like to share.


1) I have been doing a photo challenge on Instagram where you post a photo a day. I started it in January and on the blog where this originated, it said to tag it #janphotoaday... So for all my January postings, I did this thinking her name was Jan. It wasn't until the February challenge was published and it said to tag them #febphotoaday that I realized this wasn't the case.


2)  Every Saturday morning Josh makes us pancakes for breakfast.  Sometimes they take a lot of time so he decided he would make HUGE ones that fill up the whole pan.  He said they were "Man Cakes".  I said "OH! you should call them...PAN CAKES!" As soon as it left my mouth, I shook my head.

3)  We were at Ikea yesterday and as we were leaving Josh went and bought us one of the $1 ice-cream cones.  I had it in my hand as I was getting my coat on.  I looked down at my left hand and saw my arm was already through my coat sleeve AND that I was holding the ice-cream cone in that same hand. Time stood still for a second, and I thought I was definitely magical for putting my coat sleeve on while holding an ice-cream without messing either up! But then, I realized I must have just switched hands. DOH!

A Few things to Share

this has nothing to do with this post. just like this picture.

You probably already know how important I think natural/organic/safe products are.  Here are some quick tips I feel like sharing.


Plastics - I try to avoid buying plastics when possible, but I am not ready to live a plastic free life. If you do use plastics, pay attention to the numbers found on the bottom of the plastic item. #2, #4, and #5 are considered the safer options because they are least toxic and can be recycled easier.  Never microwave plastics and avoid storing fatty or acidic foods in plastic containers.

Food- Eat less meat and more whole grains. Obviously eat more homemade food and avoid canned food **especially canned tomato products - even organic**  they can be lined with BPA.  If you can afford to buy some organic produce, aim for celery, spinach (ALL leafy greens), ALL BERRIES, peaches, nectarines, apples, potatoes and grapes. Be careful of the fish you eat. Try to AVOID: Tuna (bigeye and Ahi), Shark, Mackerel, Orange Roughy, Tilefish and Marlin.
Look at labels!  Avoid the following ingredients: Artificial Colors - anything beginning with FD&C, Chemical Preservatives: BHA, sodium nitrate, sodium benzoate. Artificial Sweeteners: aspartame, acesulfame-k, saccharin. Added Sugars: High frustose corn syrup, dextrose, etc)

Gemetically Modified fruit and veggies are all over the place.  It is hard to avoid them these days (heck, i even read that they may be releasing GM mosquitoes in the keys soon) but here are some tips to avoid them: Buy Organic, Look for Non-GMO certified seals, Avoid at-risk ingredients including
soybeans, canola, cottonseed, corn, and sugar from sugarbeets, Get a Non-GMO shopping app on your smart phone. I have this one: Shop No GMO and The Non GMO Project.  Both are free and easy to use.

I have a lot of other tips to pass your way next week. In the meantime, watch this funny video.  I know they are a little played out, but this one - It's like they were following me. :)