What a weekend!

I’ll have to admit…most of the time my weekends are pretty boring. I usually spend my weekends cleaning, cooking, lounging (most of the year there’s some kind of professional sport on TV that we’ll end up watching) and either working out at the gym or going for a walk or run around the Charles River. I don’t normally go out and I rarely have friends over….mainly because we live in an annoying part of town that makes it, well, annoying for people to come over and vise versa.

But this weekend was packed to the brim with stuff going on and gorgeous weather. Who can complain about that??

It started on Thursday when I met my friend Amanda for a walk around the Charles. I never get to walk around at night but I was feeling an evening stroll and I knew Amanda would protect join me.
We walked about 4 or 5 miles on Thursday night and of course I forgot my camera so I couldn’t take pictures of the skyline (it was beautiful.) It all goes in part of my love/hate relationship with this town.

Then early Friday afternoon, Dennis’ mother and sister Chris drove in from upstate NY so we spent Friday afternoon walking around. We started with lunch at the Purple Shamrock, but unfortunately I found that a chicken Cesar salad with no dressing was not the right choice for a lunch that needed to hold me over for 6 hours. We spent the next 2 hours walking around the city and I was ready to gnaw my arm off while waiting for our dinner!
Dennis made some kick ass lasagna but it wasn’t ready until 8:30. I ate our dinner so fast that I had no time to take a picture…it was THAT good. As hungry as I was, I have to admit it was worth the wait. (I’m not a huge lasagna person but I love his recipe.)
I love how much Dennis likes to cook. (He’s the cook and I’m the baker although I can put together some mean dinners myself)

Saturday morning I took Chris to see some more of the city. We spent about 2.5 hours just walking around and catching up on all things life. We started out on the Cambridge side of the Charles (by Trader Joe’s! My favorite spot!) and walked all the way around to Fenway Park so Chris could see where her favorite Red Sux Sox play. (Sorry Chris, I couldn’t resist)
The infamous Citgo sign.is.Fenway.

I’m not a Sox fan but I love baseball and I more than appreciate this historical venue. And I appreciate the rivalry. It’s what makes baseball baseball.

After our 5 or more mile walk, we bid farewell to the family and I got ready to meet up with the Healthy Living Blog Summit girls!

One thing about Boston is that it is really touristy in the warmer months. There is so much history here and people come in droves….like the summit ladies. So when 40+ of us met up at the Radisson Hotel in the theater district to walk across town to the North End to go to the Fisherman’s Feast Italian Festival, I should have known it was going to be chaos. But we still found a way to have a good time.

We walked another 2 miles or so to get to the North End (after taking a detour) and after about 10 minutes realized there was no way we could walk in this group of people. It was PACKED. And the streets in the North End are so small that you could barely move (or breathe.) So we broke out of our group to find a place to eat with the intention of meeting back up at a beer tent to move on.
That didn’t happen.
Instead, I walked off with two lovely ladies, Jessica and Catherine, and we found a hole in the wall type bar/restaurant with AC (yay!) to grab a bite.

Jessica on the left is a Registered Dietitian who shares so many of the same opinions as I do about food and trying to get kids to understand nutrition at an early age. She also works with kids in the public school system (!!) She’s a local girl (western Mass) so we will definitely be meeting up again. *Side note…Jessica said she won’t hate on me for being a Yankees fan. AND she got to meet Eddie House. Hoorraaaay for Jessica!!!*

Catherine is from the Baltimore area and was very kind enough to share her amazing stories with us as well. She doesn’t have a blog at the moment but she’s thinking of starting one up very soon! I hope she does!

Although I was sad not to have met back up with the other ladies, I was very glad I was able to meet and hang out with Jessica and Catherine. They were really friendly and surprise!! They liked to talk just like ME! It was a fun time and I’m sure we’ll be in touch.

(BTW, my boobs aren't really this big. Thank Victoria's Secret and their Ipex body shaping seven-way bra. One of the first things to shrink since my most recent 15 pound weight loss was in my breasts, where I lost an entire cup size. This bra has helped me tremendously and I didn't notice it until I saw this picture. Thanks VS!)

Who goes out to hang out with a bunch of people they’ve never met before? We do. (yeah we’re all weirdos and a bunch of nerds but if you’re reading, you are too!!)

Today is another beautiful day. I’ve walked about 15 miles this weekend already but I don’t think I can let this day slip by me without another stroll around the rivah. However, since my foot was swollen last night by the time I got done with my day, maybe I’ll keep the stroll to a minimum and bring a book to read instead.

Cheers!!!