miss katie kaboom

For my twenty-fifth birthday I decided to go on a weekend trip to Boston.

My good ole buddy Calvin lives there and was gracious enough to host me.

I flew in on Friday, the day after my birthday actually. I got there in the early evening.

Calvin picked me up and we headed right into Chinatown.

We ate some delish dim sum.

As if playing tour guide for a weekend wasn't enough, Calvin got me a birthday present. Tickets to a play.

We walked down to Copley Square, where the stunning Trinity church is. Stocked up on purse snacks. And headed into the play.

One Man Two Guvners.

It was hilarious. Lots of improv, some slapstick humor, and of course musical numbers.

We walked back to the car through the Boston common.

Which is quite beautiful at night.

Lots of founding fathers around these parts.

The next morning we were up bright and early. Calvin needed to get in some churchball. So I watched that for a while. Woot. Afterwards we headed to his friend Jourdan's house.

He is a member of a writing club and I got to sit in on a session.

Very interesting. I only participated as the time keeper.

Here's a poem of Calvin's all noted up:

Next stop was Harvard Square where the whole gang saw a showing of the film Much Ado About Nothing. Which is fantastic.

Joss Whedon, who directed this adaptation, is a delight as always.

We then broke from the pack. Perused Harvard campus and stopped for a burger

All the burgers in this joint, just across the street from campus, have clever names.

Behold, the Mark Zuckerberg:

East coast school campuses are just pretty. Nearly all red brick buildings.

Here's the yard:

So this is the man Harvard. Supposedly its good luck\tradition to rub his shoe. Thus a crowd of Asian tourists waiting for their photog opportunity. Also supposedly, its tradition for frat house pledges to urinate on said foot. I did not partake in either tradition.

We chillaxed and three minute napped in the colorful yard chairs.

But then it was back to business. We walked nearly the entire freedom trail. It's ripe with America's historical sites. And it is a literal trail, almost all paved with brick:

We saw many a placard.

And graveyard.

This one housed THE Mother Goose.

And Paul Revere.

also, lots of statues.

And churches.

This is Faneuil Hall.

We ended our trail at the naval yard. The USS Constitution. Got to use my military ID.

Even though its open to the public. I still felt cool.

It's the oldest ship still afloat.

Pretty Boston.

This is the holocaust memorial. It was very touching. There were four, I believe, glass tours like this one. Each engraved with every id number of the six million victims recorded. Really puts things into perspective about the enormity of those affected.

After the trail we grabbed dinner at Quincy Market. We were both exhausted so we spent the rest of the night chilling at his house.

On Sunday we went to his ward for church. Which is held in this cute chapel close to Harvard square.

After Sunday naps and leftover lunch we headed out for a museum day.

First stop was the Isabella Stewart Gardner museum.

I fell in love instantly with it.

The museum and collection designed by Isabella herself is set up like a grand old house lined with all her favorite works of art. Not gallery style, not museum style.

Back in 1990, two guys posing as security guards went in and cut several paintings out of their frames. Straight up thieved them. None of which have ever been recovered. The frames still hang on the wall. Here is where the Rembrandts were taken from.

I thought it was so awesome they leave the frames up.

Also, look how gorgeous the open courtyard is.

Next we ventured down the street and around the corner of the Museum of Fine Art.

We got there with little time before closing, which means we got in free but also that we had to hurry.

On the way I saw this and thought it was funny and had to photograph. That lady is holding a cigarette.

All buildings should be this majestic.

We ventured through the American wing, where we saw a lot of portraits by Gilbert Stuart and manifest destiny landscapes.

We toured the impressionists wing, because one should never turn down van Gogh, Matisse, Degas or Monet.

And to cap off a lovely afternoon, we happened upon an entire gallery of John Singer Sargent. He is one of my favorites. I'm just a really big fan of portraits. The life and history of a person is so evident. Plus Sargent really knows how to paint a ball gown.

After swooning over that, we had dinner at a cute café and spent the rest of the evening in.

Calvin serenaded some, lesson planned some. I netflixed some, and read some.

My final day in Boston was also an early one. We were up and on our way to class basically as the sun was rising. Calvin is a professor at Wentworth Institute of Technology and at Boston University.

I tagged along with him to his first class at Wentworth.

Prof Olsen.

I sat in the back and watched Hulu, just like when I was in college.

Next, we went back down to Copley Square where we explored the Boston Public Library.

I did some light reading.

And marveled at the courtyard.

And saw what studying looks like.

Next we took a guided tour of the Trinity Church. Which was like an onsite art history lecture,

so I LOVED it.

I learned all about different styles on stained glass, including how the architects of this church were basically enemies of Tiffany and therefore there are zero Tiffany windows.

Also the entire inside, including the ceiling was all meticulously hand painted in grave detail.

And there was pretty carpet.

We then grabbed lunch from Pret, a favorite café of mine from London.

Calvin then had to teach two courses at BU. I wandered around that part of town on my own during the first class and then met back up for his last class of the day.

I actually paid attention in that class. I learned about Poe. It was fun to see Calvin in his element. Poetry.

After class it was back to the airport for me, and then back to Seattle.

The first weekend of being 25 was pretty great.