June 2016 Archives
Posted June 24, 2016
I’m home! It’s been a week and a half, but I still feel like I’m getting back on my feet after a month of traveling – Puerto Rico (for fun), Ohio (for work), and Philadelphia (for school). Most recently, I was in Philly for the Special Libraries Association 2016 Conference. My boyfriend and I took advantage of the location to also stay with family outside the city, and we got to meet their new (four months old is new, right?) baby! We drove to Philly on Friday (June 10) night after work and arrived in the suburbs at about 11:30pm. On Saturday we took a bus tour of the city with Rob’s cousins and had a nice dinner with them – there was a lot of chilling out because it was so hot and muggy! On Sunday, after lunch, Rob headed home to Boston and I went to the conference downtown. Because of my stipend from SLA New England, I was able to get a rental car, which allowed me to drive in and out…
Posted June 17, 2016
I went to the beach this week. Word of advice? Make sure you apply as much sunscreen as humanly possible; and always re-apply it after swimming. My back could make Taylor Swift’s lipstick jealous, though I put on sunscreen pretty often. We went to Revere Beach, which holds the distinction of being the first public beach in the nation, having been established in 1896. The ride out to Revere isn’t bad–if you’re like me, you catch the C or the D and ride to Government Center, then hop on the Blue Line to Wonderland (which, by the way, is actually closer to the beach than the Revere Beach stop. New England…what can you do?)–and the ride home is pretty relaxing too, if you time it right to avoid Red Sox traffic. Revere Beach is pretty quality for a non-ocean beach. Depending on where you set up, the sand is pretty clear of debris and rock, the water is full of seaweed but not super murky, the downside is that the water is absolutely freezing, because…
Posted June 10, 2016
June is one of my favorite months of the year. In the past, it used to signify the official end of the academic year. Since moving to Boston, June has come to mark the beginning of farmer’s market season! As a lover of all things related to food, farmer’s markets are like catnip to me. I absolutely love wandering through markets like SoWa, the Boston Copley Farmers Market, and the Haymarket Square Farmer’s Market and talking with the vendors about their produce. The fact that you can buy an amazing amount of fruits and vegetables for just $10 doesn’t hurt either. Whether it is your first spring in Boston or not, you definitely should check out a few of these farmers markets while you can. This past week I’ve been nose deep in books that discuss the history of New England cuisine. At the same time, I’ve been spending my Tuesdays and Wednesdays at the Schlesinger Library reading through the letters of Arthur Nichols, as a means of learning about the late nineteenth and…
Posted June 6, 2016
I’ve had a short break since my spring term, and now I’m getting ready for my online summer class, ‘Competitive Intelligence.’ In the last few weeks I have been busy with work, but I did fit in a quick vacation to Puerto Rico! Enjoying a coconut on the beach Zip-lining in the rainforest with kittens Based on what I’ve seen of the syllabus, Competitive Intelligence going to be intense. There’s a lot of reading, plus we will have weekly virtual meetings on Monday nights. On those evenings, I plan to stay at work late and call in from my office, since I won’t make it home for our 6pm start time. This week, I’m getting ready for another trip, to the Special Libraries Association’s Summer 2016 Conference in Philadelphia! We are lucky enough to have family in the area, so we will stay with them. Our plan (for Rob and me) is to drive down Friday after work; he is driving home Sunday, and I will fly home Tuesday. The conference is only from Sunday…
Posted June 2, 2016
Since the spring semester ended, I started a new job, Boston got hit by a heat wave, and I’ve been bouncing back and forth from Boston to CT to handle a few things, like getting an air conditioner and getting my dog vaccinated. However, because it is finally summertime, I’ve been doing my best to walk around Boston and just get to know more of the city. Recently, I’ve been wandering aimlessly and stumbling into some of Boston’s cultivated green spaces. For example: (On the top is the Rose Garden near Simmons, and the bottom is in the financial area near Downtown Crossing) My undergraduate degree in American Studies focused heavily on the history of the environment and environmentalist movements of New England, so I’m always fascinated by these green spaces. A pretty amazing book that discusses Boston’s green spaces in particular is Michael Rawson’s Eden on the Charles. Rawson takes a serious look at green spaces like the Boston Common and this economic, socio-cultural and historical influences which shaped it from an area for cows…
