Beantown!

Yay, Boston! It is always fun to visit the town where I spent my fond college years. My college friend, Ky, was getting married, so it was going to be a mini college reunion. My cousin currently attends my alma mater, and one of my old colleagues was back from her stint abroad in London, so yet another impossibly huge reunion was in store for me.

I arrived at Logan with an ear to ear grin on my face - I couldn't recall the last time I flew into Boston, as usually I take the train. I know it had to be senior year, because my friend had just accepted a position at the company we now both work for, and I recall smiling proudly when I saw said company's advertisement in one of the terminals. Well, that advertisement was still there, in a slightly different format, so I couldn't help but crack a smile.


Once I dropped my bags off, I decided I would pop in to Quincy Market as soon as I checked in to the hotel. Except, it closed at 9pm, and I arrived at 9:06pm. Oops. I walked around and see what else was available, worst case, I'd just have a liquid dinner. Ohhhh emmmm geee, how could I forget: Wagamama! Flash back to London 2005, when I was studying abroad. I LOVED this place, and then it opened up in Boston in 2006 or 2007. If you recall, there was one in Tivoli Gardens in Copenhagen, but I did not have time to stop in because I was too busy eating smorgas.

I ordered the chili ramen with beef - be forewarned, this is actually really spicy. I can't tolerate much spice, and I thought it would the Americanized version of spicy, but they actually just dump in a heap of red chilis into the bowl. Still delicious. Is it the best ramen I've ever had? No. Ippudo takes the cake on that one. But considering it was all that was open on a Friday night at 9:15pm, in the area, and that there was some sentimental value there, I couldn't resist. Since I was dining alone, I decided to figure out how to use my cinemegram. I didn't quite figure it out - so I'll spare you the weird wiggly photos from Wagamama's.

After dinner, my college friend Lisa met me and took me to a fun bar named Drink. Here, you can tell the bartenders what you like, and they mix up something for you. I had some rendition of a French 75.

{I should make a Jyoti siganture French 75. It would be 

pink with a sparkly rimmed glass}

The next morning, Val and I rented a car and drove out to somewhere in Massachusetts that was about 40 minutes out of Boston, for the wedding ceremony. I reeeeaaaalllly wanted coffee, and finally, I saw a cute pink cafe on a street corner and brought the car to a screeching halt (if I could add audio to these blogs, I'd replicate the noise I made to Val any time I saw something stop worthy). Marylous! Pink! EVERYTHING IS PINK!

{Overjoyed by pink!}

While dropping off the car back in Boston, we saw an Emack & Bolios. A snack for later, perhaps? Well, one iPhone case and a stroll down Newbury Street later, we were back on Charles Street and found ourselves staring at the extensive menu at Emack & Bolios.

Here, I ordered a mixed ice cream, in which you can pick a flavor of ice cream, and a mix in, and they blend it up for you. Ooooh!

{Espresso ice cream with oreos}

Val ordered an ice cream with a rice crispie cone. Yum!

Erin, my "big sis" lives in Boston, we met at my very first job out of college. She was my "ambassador" and it turned out we had a lot of things in common - spin class, brussels sprouts, home baked treats. We have kept in touch over the years, and I was happy to have the chance to see her again! I decided to grab a coffee before meeting up with Erin.

I found a new app named Alfred. You can type into Alfred types of restaurants, bars, and cafes you like, and he will suggest alternate places based on the location you are in. Alfred suggested I visit the Thinking Cup for my morning coffee. Done! Thinking Cup had delicious treats such as blondies with sea salt and caramel, brioche and breakfast pastries.

I ordered the hazelnut latte and a chocolate croissant. This was a perfect croissant. Lightly flaky, crispy, and not soggy in any capacity. In other words, what a croissant SHOULD be like. Now, for the hazelnut latte - um there was actual hazelnut paste, not a sugary syurup poured in. I'm amazed. A thing of perfection, really. Totally worth the splurge. I wanted to eat more of the pastries, but, I was also meeting my cousin for brunch later on so I decided to restrain myself.

After meeting with Erin for a nice walk on the esplanade and the "mall", I decided to walk down Newbury Street towards campus. And what did I find but Sweet Cupcakes! I knew my little cousin would help me sample some, so I picked out the Caramel Brownie cupcake and the S'mores cupcake.

{Best ferris wheel of all time!}

My cousin and I had brunch at Eastern Standard, at the Hotel Commonwealth. #nostalgia. I celebrated my 21st birthday at a bar in the basement of the Hotel Commonwealth. Aw!

We selected fairly standard (ha) brunch fare. We started with some local oysters from Duxbury and Pleasant Bay.

Ajay ordered the eggs benedict, and I ordered a burger with fries. Medium rare, of course.

My burger was great - on brioche, so everything was buttery, and topped with gruyere. Oh, and those fries. I kept looking over at my cupcake bag to remind myself that I had a nice dessert afterwards and to stop eating.

Post lunch, my cousin and I walked around the BU campus a little bit and I visited my old school building. Awwww. Then we decided it was time to break into those cupcakes.

{Voila!}

{Caramel brownie cupcake!}

{S'mores cupcakes, with a graham 

cracker crust}

{Hom nom nom!}

My weekend in Boston was coming to an end. Guess what I found at the airport? Sbarros! My usual terminal in EWR only has Famous Famigilia pizza...which isn't quite the same. Maybe next time I will try a salad. 

{Don't judge}

Bye bye Boston!