boston mtgs

... mean that i get to hang out with my sis, jess !!! :) here we are sharing a slice of paul's delicious rhubarb custard tart, a hot chocolate, and a cafe creme!

a weekend in boston!

exactly one year from our last visit together, kevin and i are visiting boston again this weekend and staying with jess & ben in their new pad in south end. i've never spent much time in boston outside of client meetings, and have never been able to keep the different neighborhoods straight (south end, south boston, south side?), but looking forward to checking out their new home and neighborhood, and meeting our newest family member, princess.

we started the night off with thin-crust pizza pies and homemade ice cream at picco in south end, a nice 5-10 minute stroll from their place. jess and ben swear by their pizza and ice cream, so we had the alsatian, which has sauteed onions, shallots, garlic, creme fraiche, bacon, and gruyere (also the most popular item on the menu), and the corn and bacon pie with pickled chilies, ricotta salata, and cilantro. the first had a french flair and the latter had latin-inspired flavors. both delicious! we rounded out the meal with a roasted cauliflower gordita and summer salad, and two scoops of ice cream: dark chocolate and mint chip. 

both the ice creams were nicely churned and the flavors were very intense! i was asked to choose a favorite, but couldn't ... i like to double dip :p

after dinner, we took a nice stroll through some more parts of south end and back bay. it was a gorgeous night for a stroll ... except i stuffed myself with a little too much pizza and threw up slightly into a plant on tremont ave. LOL.

 

spring in boston

due to a highly-anticipated client meeting today, i spent the morning in boston and the city was truly magnificent. temperatures were in the 60s and the sun was shining brightly without a cloud to be seen (poor me). i only wish jess and ben were around to enjoy the gorgeous early days of spring here today, and for my  own selfish reason: to meet me for lunch :D

although i've been to hundreds of client meetings in my twelve years in the business, i still get a little stressed out when preparing for these meetings and feel a little nervous in the days leading up to them. as a research analyst, it's imperative that i have several relevant themes and talking points for each of my meetings. miraculously, clients have generally been happy and satisfied with the preparation and materials, and today was no different. and it's usually after the meeting that i breathe a huge sigh of relief. 

so if this is the case, almost every single time, why it is that i still feel the overwhelming sense of stress and nervousness each time? sigh.

here are a couple sites i passed on my way back to the airport: the boston fed reserve bank building and south station.

i finished off my three hours in boston with a cup of new england clam chowder at legal seafood! so tasty that it can't be good for you :)

in the evening, my first run for the week, a short 3.5 mile shake n bake with kev on the WSH before this weekend's brooklyn half!