Dinner and Divergent in Boston (definitely not in Salem)

Last night Derek and I wanted to keep it low key. I had to get up early today to bring Bosco to the vet so a dinner and movie night seemed like a good idea.

We had dinner at Rock Bottom where a woman asked me if she was in Salem. I told her that no, she was in Boston. I think she may have been a bit intoxicated. Salem and Boston are nowhere near each other.

Rock Bottom brews their own beer in-house and it's pretty good. I usually go for the White Ale which tastes similar to a Blue Moon.

 Derek had no idea I snapped this photo. I'm sneaky like that.

I loved the window decals. The W Hotel right across the street is a great place to grab a cocktail.

After dinner we still had time to kill before Divergent so we had a drink at Intermission Tavern.

photo from Intermission Tavern website.

Intermission is small but usually not too crowded. We had no problem finding a seat at the bar. We starting talking to two engineers who were in town from California for a convention. Derek and I somehow always end up talking to people visiting from out of town. I like to think that they tell people back home how friendly people in Boston are.

Intermission also has a leg lamp.

Divergent was good. The movie was very close to the book so I was happy about that. Derek said it started out as a good Sci-fi but the parts between Four and Tris were a little too much for him, which is understandable. It was a bit sappy. He hasn't read the book so I was interested to see what he thought.

Kate Winslet was great as Jeanine.

I'm lucky my boyfriend let's me drag him to YA movies.

Speaking of Derek, today is his birthday so we're heading to one of our favorite places for dinner and drinks tonight. I can't wait!

Finally feels like spring!

Spring has finally arrived in Boston and I couldn't be happier to be out in warmer weather.

Boston Common was full of people yesterday and the food carts were out. So tempted but I was heading to dinner.

Derek and I had a little date night at Yard House. They always have my favorite beer on tap - Raspberry UFO. If you ever see it you have to try it. Just save some for me.

If the waiter asks you if you want truffle fries for a dollar more the answer is always YES.

Holiday party at Top of the Hub

Today I had some good chicken and possibly some carrots at Top of the Hub.

White and purple carrots are a new thing to me. They taste like normal carrots, it's just hard to wrap my head around a purple carrot.

I had the fruit tart for desert. It was really good.

My secret Santa gift was wrapped very nicely. I got a cute Coach coin purse.

The view from Top of the Hub is amazing. You can see pretty much all of Boston. I highly recommend a visit if you happen to be in Boston.

After our holiday lunch a couple of us went to Whiskeys and had margaritas. The night progressed on from there. We bar hopped a bit and discovered a drink called and Everlasting Gobstopper at Kings. If your drink has a cool name I will probably order it.

Now it's bed time. One more day of work before weekend freedom!

21 year olds are now a foreign species to me

I'm not going to name names but someone may have partied a little to hard last night. Ok, well I partied hard for a 29 year old.

Derek and I met up with Charlie, Todd, Kristen and Katie for dinner and drinks. We went to Fanieul Hall around 6 p.m. thinking that would be early enough to get dinner and drinks at The Point. We were way wrong. Apparently there was a Bruins game, Haymarket was open and there was some Christmas themed bar crawl. We did see Jesus which was pretty great. Maybe the bar crawl was his early birthday celebration. Derek and I got there early so we walked around Fanieul Hall trying to find a place that was not packed. We had no luck. We walked back to The Point to meet up with the rest of the group and find a place to go. We ended up getting a table at Anthem. Their fried pickles are awesome by the way. I was tempted to get french fries but I did not! This is going to be a long 30 days with no french fries and no chips.

After Anthem we went to Durgin Park to continue the drinking. Apparently they were out of half of their beers. Around 10:30 everyone else was heading home and Derek and I decided to go to T's Pub. Apparently I was very under dressed. No one told me I had to dress like I was going to a club to go to T's. Great people watching though. I kept sending Melissa snap chats of people dancing or of their awful outfits. Florescent pink seems to be the cool color to wear when you're 21. I also saw a guy that looked like a hipster version of Duck Dynasty and a guy wearing a button down shirt with cats on it (amazing!!). Derek and I were drinking pitchers of Bud Light and now we're at this morning where we both feel like death.

So if anyone wants to bring me a giant cheesy calzone I will love you.

I'm texting with my cousin Alexis who went out to some Spanish club last night and also feels like death due to everyone doing shots at the club. I think she might be feeling worse than me.

Time to take some milk thistle and think about cheese.

25th Floor Drinking Team at the Salty Pig

Every once in a while all the businesses that reside on the 25th floor meetup after work for some food and drinks (mostly drinks). We complain about the companies that work on the other floors and try to guess the names of the other people who work on our floor but don't make it out.

Last night we met up at The Salty Pig. When we first walked in the place was empty. We were put into a corner as we were told there was going to be a large party arriving later that would take up half of the small restaurant. It is the season for work parties and the like so there's not much you can do about that.

Here's a picture of the very empty restaurant when we first arrived.

I've never eaten at the Salty Pig due to it's unusual menu (at least to me) of "salty pig parts". This is not a vegetarian's ideal restaurant. I'm not a vegetarian but reading the words "salty pig parts" makes me a little queasy. Elizabeth took charge and ordered us some good sampler platters and a yummy white pizza.

Fried egg on a pizza? Weird but not bad.

The meats were actually very good and not gross at all. I don't know what I was expecting really but I was pleasantly surprised and full of salty pork and beer by the end of the night.

I think my favorite thing at the Salty Pig is the little notebook that comes with your check. Customers just write or draw whatever they feel like and I spent at least 10 minutes flipping through and laughing.

Pretty good Simpsons drawing if you ask me. A bit like the early era Simpsons.

Sad times my piggy friend. I'm sorry for eating pork! :(

Our contribution (mostly, my contribution with Justin adding the belly button to the pig).

The bathrooms of the Salty Pig were covered with comics. I LOVED it. Who doesn't want to read some comics when you're sitting down for a wee.

Here is your favorite Boston blogger taking the all important bathroom selfie.

I'm lucky to have such fun people that work on my floor. We don't actually work together and yet we see one another everyday in the halls, elevators and bathroom so it's nice to actually meetup and hang out. We're thinking of planning a floor party in January in one of the offices.

Today is going to be a long day my friends, but at least I know I do not suffer alone.

My new hobby is watching the cats play with catnip toys

Derek and I went to Mass Ave Tavern last night for dinner and drinks. I got a burger a sweet potato fries. Two days in a row that I've had a burger for dinner. I think I need to get some leafy greens in my life today. My sweet potato fries were bland but Derek's waffle fries were awesome so I stole a few off his plate.

Mass Ave Tavern has a ton of board games you can play. They had Jenga which I don't think is a good game to play at a small table in a bar. They also had Clue! I haven't played Clue in a long time. I kick ass at Clue. Most people don't keep track of who says they don't have something when it's not their turn. I do and mark it down. That's how I narrow it down faster. Now you know my Clue secret and I can never play with you.

We went home earlier than we usually would on a Friday night. I've been really tired this week which I'm sure is due to my lovely stomach. I bought the cats some new toys at the super market on the way home (I needed cat food too). Bosco went nuts.

Get a few beers in you and watch a cat freak out over catnip toys. Good times. He flings it up in the air and carries it around in his mouth like a dog. How can you not be amused by that?

After watching Bosco I went back into the bedroom and found a little box on my pillow. I opened it up and there were some earrings inside. When I first saw the box my I was like "why did I leave a box on my pillow, that's weird. Wait a second I didn't leave a box on my pillow!" I was tired ok! I have a very sneaky but very thoughtful boyfriend.

Time to catch up on American Horror Story. I missed this weeks episode.

The Burt Reynolds shot and some good news

Derek and I went to Elephant & Castle last night for dinner. After days of very plain food due to my stomach I was looking forward to eating something good. I got a burger and fries and luckily I felt find.

Apparently there's a "Burt Reynolds" shot.

For some reason I found this very amusing. I imagine taking the Burt Reynolds shot and growing an amazing stache. Sadly I did not order one despite being curious. I don't like shots and I'm certainly not going to do shots on a work night. I'm sure my stomach was grateful as well.

I've noticed that every time Derek and I go to Elephant & Castle someone at the bar is buying other patrons drinks. Last night a guy wanted to buy everyone a round of shots. We've had men on business trips buy us drinks, couples buys us drinks, bartenders buy us drinks - you can see why we like it there. Everyone is really nice and we've met some really entertaining people. Of course we buy people drinks too (just not the whole bar...)

I had some good news today. I had my review at work and I got a raise! I plan on putting the extra money into my savings for future car repairs, cat teeth and my own teeth. Is it weird that I'm excited about building up my savings? Well I am. Now that I'm almost 30 I'm really trying to focus on building up my savings and paying off my credit cards.

Besides the raise I've also been getting lots of complements on my work outfit today. I'd say it's a pretty good Friday.

Fried chicken and sushi. Trust me it works.

Sounds like a weird combo but it's delicious. Sorry KFC but Bonchon has the best fried chicken of all time! I'm getting hungry posting this.

Perks of being an adult

Our plans for Germana's birthday last night got switched up at the last minute due to a crowded restaurant so we ended up at Sunset Grill and Tap for dinner and drinks. I was not complaining because that meant NACHOS FOR DINNER!

I'm a huge supporter of the nacho dinner. Sunset has the best nachos, hands down.

Sunset has 112 beers on tap not to mention the massive amount of bottled beer.

We scarfed down our food and had some drinks before we headed over to Nile Lounge for Andy and Germana's first hookah experience.

We put our name in and went to Shabu Zen near by for some drinks. Photos were taken, boyfriends were photo bombing.

We were waiting for over an hour but we were determined. Nile Lounge is 18+ so there were a lot of college students there. I wanted to pull age rank. "Listen punks, I'm 29, practically your mother's age, now let the old lady have you spot."

When we finally got a table we ordered the Lotus which is a blend of strawberry, white peach and guava. Our fruit bowl choice was mango but we got Sponge Bob's house instead. Sorry Sponge Bob, your home works well with hookah.

The best part of a hookah lounge vs a cigar bar is that everyone is just smoking hookah. Hookah has a much sweeter scent and does not cling to you. I hate leaving a cigar bar reeking of cigars and cigarettes. I don't smoke cigarettes or cigars but I do enjoy some hookah once in a while (at a lounge of course).

Date night at Pour House

Derek and I like to have a mid week date night. It's been a tradition since we first started dating and it's stuck. This week we ended up at Pour House. I love Pour House because it has cheap food and drinks (for Boston) and the food is actually pretty good.

I got the New York Pour Boy which is a double cheese burger with sauteed onions and bacon. The burgers are fairly small at Pour House so I usually get a double burger. If you visit the Pour House on Saturday night they have half priced burgers. It's a steal considering their food is already pretty cheap.

The decor in Pour House is a bit eclectic.

Naked lady painting? Sure, why not. I decided to spare you a photo of the creepy clown thing that was staring at me near our table.

The Pour House can get pretty packed on the weekend so I prefer a week night visit.