Breezy Picnic Grounds

I took a vacation day today and went to Breezy Picnic Grounds with my brother and his family. Second day hanging by the water. I could get used to this.

I would like to post a mini PSA. If your child is young enough to be wearing arm floaties, please do not leave them unattended in the water. You're going to give me a heart attack.

Shrimp Boil

My Uncle Scott had a shrimp boil at his house today. He lives on a cute little pond. My niece spit up on me so I guess I am officially christened "auntie".

My brother and nephew out in the boat.

I ate a lot.....

Beautiful Sunset

Saw this beautiful sunset last night while exploring new places in the city. Mission Hill is actually very hilly and I am not in very good shape apparently.

I'm sensing a theme here

Ladies night was fun last night.

Deep Ellum

Enjoying one of Allston's finest hipster watering holes. Who can resist a patio in the summer?

Enjoy your Alagash White by candle light.

Weekday Summer Torture

When the Colonnade Hotel roof top pool is the view from your office :(

Sunbathers in the city

In the courtyard at the Prudential Center

McMenamy's Seafood

Delicious seafood in Brockton, which is nowhere near the ocean. Try saying the name three times fast.

Being a woman on the internet is FUN

Things are starting to get a bit weird around here.

I got a message on the facbook page for my blog. I got very excited because no one really messages me on there. I should have known better. Here is the conversation. 

I was tempted to ask if he was in jail but decided to leave it alone. If you're wondering how much you'd have to pay me to take a picture in tights for you my fee is one million dollars.

Looney Toons nightmare

Staying in tonight and not blow drying my hair. It feels good! Maybe that's just the fried mushrooms talking.

I got some very annoying car stuff done today. Replaced my mirror and got my inspection sticker. BAM. Car stuff is about as fun as going to the dentist. Talked to my mother a few times and I'm going to visit Tony in the hospice tomorrow.

I took a nap and dreamed about getting a horrible tattoo. I woke up freaking out. At least it wasn't Tweety Bird this time. Looney Toons tattoos freak me out.

Highball lounge and a View-Master

I had plans to go to Maine this weekend but I had to stay in Boston to be nearby for my family. All I'll say is cancer sucks.

Derek and I went out for dinner at Beantown Pub and then met up with some friends for drinks. We ended up at the Highball Lounge which I believe is fairly new. The drinks were good and there were games to play. I haven't played Jenga in years. We had a good time and it was nice to take my mind of things. My back has been tense for days probably due to stress.

I couldn't remember what that name of the toy is that I'm holding in the last picture. Apparently it's called a View-Master. I remember having one as a kid with Howard the Duck slides. That was a very weird movie. I really want a View-Master again.

The theme is random animals and ugly paintings

Here are a few quotes said while packing up our office to be painted and have new carpet installed.

"Anyone need a horse. I have a lovely one right here."

"Tea time. Would you like a cuppa tea?"

"Can you help me move the Pepto Bismol painting?"

"I think that painting needs to have an accident if you know what I mean."

"Can you make my desk have an accident too? Like one that would require me to get a new one?"

"Oh yes this is a painting of my favorite war...the um Mexican one?"

"G is leaving, let's rifle through her stuff and take the good things."

"If I ever leave I'm taking those lion statues with me."

Our decor makes absolutely no sense but we have a lot of statues of animals and very ugly paintings.

Left Alone With a Sex Offender, a Teacher Is Raped and sadly this is not an Onion headline

Sometimes I wonder if we're actually living in that movie Idiocracy.

I was reading this article about a teacher in an Arizona prison who was raped by a sex offender after administering a high school equivalency test. There were no guards near by, just a radio for her to summon for help. Oh and that radio was set to the wrong channel.

One would think state prison officials would say that they will do everything they can to increase security. Well you would be wrong. This is what the prison officials had to say about the incident.

"State prison officials, however, dismiss the concerns. They say the assault at the prison about 60 miles southeast of Phoenix is a risk that comes with the job of overseeing violent prison inmates."

No big deal guys she knew what she was getting into. Are you kidding me? Yes there is a risk but I would at least expect basic security measures to help keep a civilian worker safe.

"Department of Corrections spokesman Doug Nick said classrooms at prisons across the state are having cameras installed. But he said no administrative investigation was launched because there was no need, and no one was disciplined. He said all prisons are dangerous places and staff are trained accordingly."

No administrative investigation after a woman was raped? If you had one guard there this never would have happened. Why would the classroom not have cameras? You're in a prison! Shouldn't you have cameras everywhere the inmates are?

Someone please restore my faith in humanity.

Someone fix me or buy me a sippy cup

I have broken three items of glass in the past three weeks. I need to learn how to control my arms or buy items that are not glass.

If you were wondering if you get smarter with age, no you do not. You just become more stubborn.

After breaking glass item number 3 in the bathroom I started cleaning up the glass with no shoes. Can you see where this is going? Glass right in the foot. So I sit on the toilet and dig the glass out with tweezers. I hobble out of the bathroom to find a band-aid leaving a trail of blood. The cats are trying to get into the bathroom where the broken glass is. 

I sweep, I mop I take a lint roller and start rolling it on the floor to pick up microscopic bits of glass. Derek comes into the bedroom and tells me there's still bits of glass. I give up and I am just going to wear shoes all the time. I'll make kitten mittens for the cats and call it a day.

So long Mary Poppins bag

I love big bags. I like being able to have everything I need with me at all times. Who knows when you might need a Pepto or some hand sanitizer? I like to be prepared.

I recently hurt my back while exercising. I think this is a sign that I'm not meant to exercise. It's like that time I burnt my mouth on a Lean Cuisine, I totally should have had a burger. I can't even pin point a specific moment where I hurt my back, I just woke up the next morning after lifting weights with a horrible pain in my upper back between my shoulders. It's been 8 days and I'm still in pain.

If my back is going to heal I need to rest it and not put extra stress on it. My purse weighs a ton. I'm pretty sure if anyone tried to steal it they would fall over with the unexpected weight. I have come to terms with that fact that I need to lighten my bag load. No more Mary Poppins bag. Go see someone else if you need a coat rack or a plant.

I just have to interject and state that I was totally Michael Banks and could not snap as a child. I can sort of snap now but it's still pretty pathetic. I would totally get stuck in the closet with doors opening and closing.

It's been a little bit of an adjustment not having all the things with me but I will admit it has been helping my back. Those coat racks are heavy.

I think this means that I have to do some shopping for cute little wristlets right?

Dooney & Bourke Chevron large slim wristlet 

It's for my health! I should start a kickstarter "money for cute wristlets to save Ginny's back."

Walker Stalker Con Boston

Today I went to Walker Stalker Con.

I was disappointed that Norman Reedus (Daryl) backed out but I still got to see a few of my other favorites from the Walking Dead.

We viewed from afar though as I'm not paying $75.00 for a photo with a celebrity. They were pretty strict about taking photos from far away but Melissa and I got a few in.

Here's Brighton Sharbino who played Lizzie.

They had a vase of yellow flowers on the table which I thought was pretty great. "Just look at the flowers."

We walked around the convention a bit and took some photos. I'm really bad at posing.

Here I am turning into a zombie.

We ended the day at Bon Chon for fried chicken and sushi. I was being cranky so I took a nap when I got home and now I don't know how I'm going to sleep well tonight. Good job me.

Massachusetts liquor license laws make no sense

I don't know about other states but Massachusetts liquor license laws make no sense.

I went out with some co-workers and floor mates last night to the Salty Pig. Apparently you need a reservation to sit anywhere in the place but they allowed us to sit at a table until a party arrived at 6:30. We vacate that table at 6:30 and decide to go sit outside on the little patio area. The second we sit down someone comes over to tell us that we have to order food if we are drinking outside.

Um what? This is a new one. We could drink with no food inside but once we go outside we have to order food to drink? We asked if we could sit for two minutes to finish our drinks and were told no. We must have had this look on our faces because she quickly said "it's just the law, sorry." We had a plan though. We would look at the menu and then bail once we finished our drinks.

Two minutes later the hostess comes over (a different woman) and tells us that we couldn't sit outside and drink without food. We told her we were waiting for menus. She was a bit snippy with us but went off to get menus since the other woman hadn't returned yet.

I've encountered places that serve beer but you have to order food with it. I've also encountered places that only have a beer and wine license. Bottle service and happy hour are things of the past in Massachusetts. This is the first time though that the rules change when you're in the same restaurant.

We think the reason is that the patio area is in pedestrian walkway owned by the city. They must have made some type of deal to set up the patio in the summer and this was the result. Can businesses just start putting up signs letting us know what they can and can't serve and if you have to order food and if the rules change because you stepped onto a patio?

I won't even get into the racket that is selling liquor licenses. People sell them for insane amounts of money because the city severely limits the amount of licenses available. Someone who buys a restaurant might not open when it's ready because they are waiting on a liquor license. I've heard that they might be lifting the cap on the number of liquor licenses which I think is needed. Ok I guess I did get into it...

In case you're wondering we did carefully look at our menus and then bailed once we finished our drinks. (Don't worry the drinks were already paid for). I felt kind of bad because I am a goody two-shoes. I got over it very quickly though. I'm a rebel

Training the cat to open my mail

Go Bosco go!

Hey we're not done here!

Well that's it, you are no longer in charge of the mail.

I swear they taste good

They look nothing like beans and in fact do not involve beans at all. Boston Baked Beans are basically peanuts with a sugar coating. They are delicious and not very easy to find, even in Boston.

I like the cartoon peanut that's basically like "this guy".

Little basil babies

I have a bit of a black thumb and two cats who eat and/or knock things over. I hope my little basil sprouts make it. I have delicious basil plans in my future.

I don't need your "for her" prdocuts I need products that work

Jezebel has an article about how women's razors are a total racket and they absolutely are. The article got me thinking about products marketed towards women and how they stand up to the men's version.

First of all I don't need a pink razor with sparkles. I need a razor that works and the fact is that men's razors work better. Don't our legs deserve a close shave? Do I need to smell like a vanilla ocean breeze after shaving? No one is sniffing my legs (that I'm aware of).

Let's move onto deodorant. Men's deodorant works better than women's. Are our armpits too delicate for stronger deodorant? I don't normally wear men's deodorant because I can't be distracting myself smelling like a sexy dude. It does works better though.

Bic decided that women needed their own pens.

Thank God because I was sick and tired of those manly pens that my delicate lady fingers could barely hold. If only the ink was in glitter I'd be truly happy with my lady pen.

Now since I haven't tried a "for her" pen I can't say if they are better or worse than old fashioned manly pens.

All I want is a basic product that works and doesn't smell like a Yankee Candle store explosion. Is that too much to ask? If you're going to make a "pretty" pink razor then at least make sure it works as well as the men's version.

How about we don't shame people's reading choices

I finished reading The Fault in Our Stars and as predicted there were many tears involved. I don't even know if I can handle the movie. I might need a little time to recover before I attempt to watch it on the big screen. It was a very good book though and I enjoyed it immensely. It gave me all the feels.

Speaking of YA novels I've seen quite a bit of discussion going on regarding this article on Slate. The headline reads "Yes Adults Should be Embarrassed to Read Young Adult Books." What a load of crap. I read YA novels because I enjoy them and no I'm not embarrassed. No this is not taking me away from reading "adult books" as I read those as well. There are good YA novels and bad YA novels just there are good and bad books in every genre.

"But if they are substituting maudlin teen dramas for the complexity of great adult literature, then they are missing something."

So there is no value in reading something I enjoy? I have to read complex adult literature or be ashamed? I can't appreciate a good story or writing because it's a YA novel? Bullcrap!

I could go on but I think you get the point.

Read what you want people, just read something! I don't care if it's fantasy, YA, romance, sci-fi or a "classic". Don't be embarrassed for liking a certain genre, be embarrassed for the writer of this article who is shaming people's reading choices.

This is more depressing than a Tori Amos cover band

I went to pick up my car yesterday and was having a little chat with the mechanic and quickly realized that he was hitting one me. He was talking about his house on the Cape (Cape Cod) and his boat and mentioned he was single multiple times. I got to see a photo of the house and boat. He asked what my plans were for the weekend. Just hanging out with my boyfriend who I live with.

I told my mom this story and she said "it seems like a lot of mechanics are lonely". She quickly followed that up with "I don't mean that you're not a pretty girl, you are!" Thanks mom.

Someone may have had too many peach bellinis last night. I'm not going to name names but I'll let you guess who it was.

Oh man it was good. The peach and the champagne combo is not so good for the head in the morning. Anthem in Fanieul Hall makes some great drinks.

I'm recovering on the couch today watching Season 2 of Orange is the New Black. I love this show.

I also love Tori Amos and this quote.

I'm loving the new character Vee. It's interesting seeing how she manipulates people. I'm only on episode 4 so don't spoil anything for me.

Ok time to try to take a nap when there's construction happening outside my house. Fun!

You don't want to know what songs your mother is trying to download

I checked on my geese on the way to work yesterday. They were gone for a little while but now they are back with more friends. The little babies are growing up fast. I keep telling them that they could probably find a nicer place to raise their little ones but they think a grassy underpass near stagnant water in the city is a great location.

My car is back in the shop again. Lucky me! Another repair that will cost me a couple hundred dollars. I didn't even know there was a "service engine soon light", I thought there was just a "check engine light"! I don't know much about cars as you can see. Any other get your car checked out soon lights I should know about?

Moving onto other frustrating things, my mother called me last night asking me for help downloading songs from itunes. I couldn't figure out what was wrong so I asked her to text me a picture of her screen and got this via text.

My mom is trying to download Wrecking Ball by Miley Cyrus. I don't really have anything else to say.

It's just a box guys

The cats are currently battling over a cardboard box. I put an Amazon box in the hall closet and Bosco has been sleeping on it for the past couple of weeks. I left the box there because he seemed to really enjoy it. I am a cat mom who caves easily. Suddenly Mr. Binx has decided that he now wants to sleep on the box. The battle has been going on every morning for the past couple of days. Mr. Binx sneaks in there when Bosco comes out to eat and then gets mad when Bosco tries to reclaim the spot. Sibling rivalry at it's finest.

Last night I met up with my friend Melissa for dinner at our favorite burrito place, Boloco. We had ourselves a mini feast of burritos, chips and shakes. I was beyond stuffed but it was so good.

There seems to be a bit of a guacamole discrepancy at different Bolocos. Whoever makes the guacamole at the Boloco near my work puts a ton of jalapenos in their guac. This is not good for someone who gets heartburn just looking at spicy food. I decided to order my burrito with guacamole at a different location and it was perfectly fine. No burning! I guess I'll have to forgo the guac at my work location. Sad times for this guacamole fan.

I recently finished Cress by Marissa Meyer which is the third book in the Luna Chronicles.

This series is quickly becoming a favorite. The world building and characters are fantastic. Marissa Meyer breathes new life into classic fairy tales. Cress is a hacker that has been imprisoned on a satellite for seven years. Cinder the cyborg (who was the star of the fist book in the series) is still one of my favorite characters but Captain Throne probably has the best lines in the book.

art by lostie815 on deviantart

I can't wait for Winter which is the fourth book in the series. Unfortunately Winter will not be available until 2015. I can tell this will be a series that I'll go back and re-read in the future.

Food battle 2014

Derek and I have an ongoing food battle. We both think that the other has worse food habits. Derek claims my love of pasta is worse than his love of energy drinks and vitamin water (lots and lots of vitamin water).

Of course as he's shaming me for my love of pasta in the super market he tosses a bag of BBQ potato chips into the basket.

Here is wear I turn to the internets for the Ginny and Derek food battle of 2014.

Which is worse for you, pasta or energy drinks? I will admit to putting some sort of cheese on my pasta but I usually have veggies in there too.

Chose wisely.

Through the memories of others

"You know you father loved to do crossword puzzles." My mother says to me as we're working on a puzzle (of the non crossword variety).

"Really I had no idea?"

"Oh yes, we would do them together on vacation. He really liked doing them."

It hit me that I really don't know much about who my father was as a person. I was sixteen when he died and although I saw him regularly I still couldn't tell you what his favorite food was. I certainly didn't know he liked to do crosswords. It makes me sad that I don't remember him before his alcoholism consumed him.

I do have good memories of my father but they are memories of a child. There are things I would love to talk to him about now that I wouldn't have thought to talk about at sixteen.

I love when my my family tells me little stories about my father. My uncle Paul told me that he loved to run and was the nicest guy to everyone he met. My uncle Franny told me that he would sleepwalk and use the shade from the window as a blanket. My Aunt Maggie told me how my father stood up to her ex-husband who wouldn't leave her alone. My mother has shared quite a few good memories of my father, too many to list here.

Through the memories of others I feel like I continue to learn about my father even though he's gone.

My father's painting

Finally hung in the living room. Painted in 1979 and still in the original frame.

Saturday night in Slumerville

Somerville has changed drastically over the years. What used to be known as a sketchy place to live is now they place to live. They didn't call it Slumerville for nothing.

I moved to Somerville in my early 20s because it was cheaper than living in Boston but still very accessible by T. At that point in time Somerville was considered much safer than it used to be but it was still fairly affordable. I had discovered the perfect city to live in.

It didn't take long for everyone to realize that Somerville was a great place to live. Now the rents have skyrocketed and I probably couldn't afford to live there anymore, that is if someone would even be willing to give up their apartment. Davis Square is the new hipster mecca.

I swear I have a point to this story. Not all of Somerville has been converted to hipster paradise. There are still some parts away from Davis Square that remind me of how Somerville must have been like before it was this new up and coming city.

The Twin Lobsters sign was in the window of a really sketchy looking bar/restaurant. I stopped to take a photo and this guy walks by and says to me "those twin lobstahs are real good fuck'n deal". Well then. We did not partake in the twin lobsters deal but made our way to the East End Grille which is very much like the new Somerville.

It's interesting seeing how a city changes over time.