Lauren and Gary in Winter

Yesterday we went to Walden Pond. Lauren had never been there, and I wanted to get a sense of what it must have been like to live there, as Thoreau did. It was very quiet. The ground was covered in fresh snow and the pond is still completely frozen over. In the warmer months, either leaves or pine needles shuffle around as you walk, there is a sway to the foliage and the water ripples. In the winter, nothing moves. The trees are heavy with snow and there is only a slight compacting sound as you walk. On a bright sunny day like it was yesterday, I can imagine Henry would have been feeling warm and content in his little alcove and cabin. But as the sun goes down and the light becomes so unsaturated and the temperature drops sharply off, it would be trying and intimidating, facing each night all alone.
We walked to the reserve, checked out the pond and cabin site, walked back, got pizza which tasted a lot like Steak & Shake, and rode back to the city. The other pictures in the slide show are from the other snowy days.

A few weekends ago, my parents, Pop, and Pat came up to visit. In the above photo they are at the Haymarket and standing by fish. We walked around the city, and went to Quincy Market, the Somerville Theater to see "Charlie Wilson's War", Whole Foods, the library at Copley, L'Osteria in the North End, Kim's House, and a few places on Charles Street for pizza and breakfast, respectively. My mom writes about the experience more on her blog. Everybody stayed in the city on Friday night. Lauren and my mom cuddled in her twin bed over at BU and the other four of us camped around my room. A good time was had by all. Here is a slideshow. I also threw in some old Childrens' Museum and BU Guitar Hero pics.

Gary turns 21!

This post is a little late, but better late than never...

Gary turned 21 one day after the groundhog decided that winter would be 6 six weeks longer! :( Not a sad face to the monumental 21st, but rather to the groundhog who has been right, oh so very right.

To celebrate the weekend Gary Sr., Kelly, Pop Doug, and Pat came to Boston! Friday morning was a mess! We set out toward Faneuil Hall from the far end of the Boston Common on foot. Normally a great walk, a view of the state house, some rather large squirrels and a glimpse at Gare's old dorm. This particular day, was perhaps the worst day to see these sights. For one it was raining, no pouring! And to top it off it was windy, not freezing cold at first but once you walk for so long drenched to the bone you'll feel cold regardless. Kelly's lined pants were soaked through, and probably pretty heavy! Pop's umbrella didn't hold up very well to the wind. And big Gary was running from building to building for shelter, but still managed to fully drench himself. Gare and I are just plain tough, so it didn't faze us at all! (ha!)

We ate at Quincy Market for about 4.5 hours until we throughly dried off. Pat bought some "gifties", Pop bought some food, and the rest of us just enjoyed the warm and dry. A fireplace would have been oh so nice.

The six of us took the T to a movie in Somerville, "Charlie Wilson's War." I highly recommend it, it has nudity, love, and some history lessons- a perfect selection for our crowd. The popcorn was superb, I think it was with real butter! (Nothing like that cheap butter powder!)

Friday night we stayed in the city with the Garys, Pop, and Pat at Gare's apartment and Kelly and I in my dorm room. Both places seemed to have lively parties going on so no one missed out on any dancing fun.

Saturday was spent shopping for Gare's awesome new Camper shoes, a lovely tour of Newbury street sans RAIN!!! :) And then a delicious dinner at La Osteria with the four Huangs. We were all pretty tired from the previous days' excitement but managed to stick it out.

On Sunday we ate lunch at a pizza place near Gare's room, then watched the game. Life went on as usual. No drunken runnings through the common or public displays of drunkeness to be had on this 21st. Thank goodness, he doesn't have a roommate to clean up the mess!


Gare opening a present from my parents, a coffee table book with pictures about Syracusa (where we lived in Sicily).


Pat and Pop at Kim's for birthday cake and gifts.