Whats up, Boston?

Exciting game. Not going to lie, I feel a tad guilty for watching Tori & Dean: Home Sweet Hollywood for a couple minutes in between... okay- it was the entire 3rd quarter.

[image courtesy of boston.com]

A Bevy of Boston Bloggahs

[not pictured: yours truly.. someone has to take the pic!]

Last night I met up with some fabulous Boston Bloggers at The Pour House on Boylston St. It was great to meet everyone and I'm psyched to have a few new blogs to check out! Next time we'll definitely have to find a place with some big tables for everyone to sit at. Plus there are a few more bloggers I am determined to meet at the next one! You know who you are ;)

The attendees:
Susie from Everybody Loves a Boston Girl
Chelsea from We Are Not Martha (another Susie blog as well!)
Sara from ComfortSource
Amanda from In Development
Pam from Cave Cibum
Susan from Transient Travels

Sara brought some AMAZING cupcakes from Sweet on Mass Ave. Glad I got a picture after most of them were already eaten! lol

After a couple of beers, everyone went out their separate ways.. Lauren, Gus, Henry & I took advantage of Boylston St and crashed a couple of hotel bars and what not.. obviously ended up at Deep Ellum in Allston for a nightcap. Fun times! [L-lo and I pictured at the Lenox Hotel below]

Tourists & the City

So on Saturday I had my first blogger meetup EVER!! I met up with WeezerMonkey in Boston since she and her husband flew in from the west coast for her college reunion. OMG its so much fun meeting a blogger in person! Because you're all like.. is this going to be weird? Considering i've never talked to her before. but NO.. it was totally awesome! More like.. we'd be a force to reckon with if we lived in the same city!!

gotta love Alicia Keys 'wannabe' cousin belting out "No One" during Pride Day at Fanuel Hall!WeeMo learned that I turn into quite the tourist every time I walk around downtown Boston. And I have poor driving skills when it comes to navigating around the city streets! Plus it was awesome her hubs came out to lunch with us- and turned into a semi- paparazzi when asked to take some candid/posed shots of us! lol.

WeeMo & her Hubs meet some of the local fans that flock to me everytime I go out...

hhmmmm LA would totally be like a Graceland-esque place to visit! Just need to accrue some more vaca time. i heart blogger bffs!!

Beat LA! Beat LA! Beat LA!

Bring it on!! Celtics vs Lakers for the NBA Finals tonite in Beantown. Mayer Tom Menino urged true Celtics fans to support our Eastern Conference Champions by wearing green on game days. He's just lucky that green is MY color. Ohh and my deepest sympathy goes out to all the SoCal bloggers that I love and adore...

A new edition to the fam!! (LOL not what you think)

Meet Lexie! The newest edition to the family.. She's a 1 1/2 year old Bassett hound/rottweiler mix just like her new big brother Rocco. We met her this weekend at an animal shelter close by and KNEW she was our dog. She's a lot smaller than Rocco, and is a very sweet girl. She comes home on Thursday!! And I'm already planning out all the girly collars and leashes I get to finally purchase! (Rocco wasn't a fan when I tried them on him). Roc & Lex met each other this afternoon and are going to be the best of friends!
Click here for the rest of the million pics I've taken while visiting her at the Adoption center!

Am I the ultimate fighting champion?

me and UFC fighter Jorge Rivera (I love how his fist is practically the size of my head!)

WHAT a weekend! Saturday night Gus, Ali, and I went to watch Joe (one of Gus' groomsmen) in his first professional fight. The event was called 'Untamed 21' sponsored by Full Force TV and it was held in Plymouth -about an hour away. As you can see on the Fight Card, Joe kicked some butt and knocked his opponent out in 2 minutes! The Octogon girls were very impressive as well. I tried to take some good pics but the lighting in there was not made for my Canon Powershoot. Boo. I did grab a picture with a UFC fighter and coach at Gus' gym, Jorge Rivera, pictured above. He's fighting on the next pay per view fight next wknd!

Here are a couple more pix..julie and ali, Octagon girls in training!!

1st Annual Boston Bloggah Happy Hour!!

As I mentioned before, Susie from Everybody Loves a Boston Girl, and I have been working on getting all the Boston Bloggers out there together for a Happy Hour! I know June is a busy month for everyone, but it'd be great to meet some of you! And, for anyone who enjoys a great road trip, what a fabulous weekend to come visit!

We'll be in Downtown Boston on Saturday June 14th, while the Red Sox are playing on TV (its an away game in the 'Cleve)

If you are interested in hearing the location and getting an Evite, email me at jqmancini @ gmail-dot-com and we'll send it your way. Just make sure to include a link to your website.

Currently

• watching my favorite episodes of TBS 'My Boys'. They sent me an awesome Pajamagram with dvds of My Boys and The Closer. Enough to get me by until it comes back on June 12th!! watch online if you haven't seen it..
  
• googling info on "what to do when your dog gets in a scuffle with a porcupine". NOT as bad as I thought it would be- because only got a couple of quills (is that the word?!) in his paw. Rocco is in good spirits, but he'll be making a trip to the vet tomorrow to make sure everything is clean and clear.
• talking with Susie to put together a Boston Blogger party! Details coming soon :)
• planning a business trip to SF & Chicago in June! Can you tell I'm not use to traveling for work?! Yeah, I'm that girl.
• applauding Boston for setting up Kate Hudson and Lance Armstrong. Sources say they met while Lance was in town running the Boston Marathon and Kate was filming her movie!!
• wondering why ANY Hogan is allowed to drive a car?!?

Just like a 5K.. only twice

When my company sent out an email saying they were sponsoring a team for the Falmouth Road Race, a popular 7 mile race on the coast of Cape Cod in August, I thought, good for them! I'd totally go hand out water and cheer on the runners. It wasn't until I told the hubs about it that evening, and he says "Why don't you run it?" Um... cos its 7 miles, and all I've ever run is a 5K.. that's why. Then for some crazy reason, the next morning I emailed the girl saying that I'm in. Did I feel like I had lost 5 lbs as soon as I sent that email? Totally.. Now I have to start training for this marathon (minus 19.2 miles). Yesterday I started with 2.5 miles, and let me tell you..

Its going to be a long summer.

Cinco de Mayo!!

There are a bunch of yummy Mexican restaurants/bars near our house so Saturday we set out with some friends to go celebrate the Mexican victory over the French in the Battle of Puebla (thanks wikipedia!).

Debbie Q even made an appearance to have a mother daughter mojito!!!

Some highs and lows..

High: winning $50 on the Kentucky Derby on Big Brown
Low: tearing up over my frozen strawberry marguarita when a horse was euthanized shortly after the race. I still want to cry and watch Seabiscuit.. and get sad just typing it out.
High: Having an excuse to play with maracas at a bar
Low: Losing a bet over who sang "Achy Breaky Heart". I thought it was for sure Garth Brooks, but Gus knew it was Billy Ray Cyrus. If I had won- I would've made him go to the opening night of SATC movie, where we would get Cosmo's before and after the film! But since I lost, I got dragged to go see Iron Man.
High: Iron Man turned out being AWESOME! If you're going to get forced to see a comic book movie- this one was hilarious and action packed.. go Robert Downey Jr!
High: cooking a yummy Rice and Chicken salad before we went out so we'd have something to munch on instead of ordering pizza. Everyone came over after the bars and chowed down, I was very proud.
Low: Waking up to a sink with a broken bowl and a broken glass. And having NO CLUE how it happened!
High: no drunk dialing the Pizza Guy!!
And on a super high note..

we got MARIO KART for wii!!!!! It has little steering wheels for each player and as soon as we get enough practice in- you can go online and play against anyone you want! You may send me your stats and apply to challenge gus and julie...

Its Good to have Goals

Recently the Rochester Boston Coalition embarked on an impromptu bar crawl. And by that I mean I like to call it a bar crawl even though it consisted of two places.. SoHo recently got changed to the Brighton Beer Garden, which is a great call on their part because SoHo was turning a little too club-ish for my liking.. After some yummy lunch, beers/sangria, we headed over to my favorite bar, Deep Ellum.

Six of us, still in detox from vacation earlier this month, came up with the brilliant idea of making a Deep Ellum Draft. What's that you ask? Welp, Deep Ellum in Allston has the most delicious cocktails ever, so we decided to hold a draft (much like the NFL one I'm sure most of your boys were glued to to the tv this weekend watching) where we each pick a cocktail on the menu (24 total= 6 of us = 4 drinks each = factor in most of the girls settling for 2).

The "Neva have I Eva drank every drink on The Deep Ellum menu"* event will probably be taking place in the near future. That also gives us a little time to work out some sponsorships, like free pretzel and beer cheese appetizers from their menu?!

Its good to have goals!

And sorry, I don't have an iPhone so my camera phone pics look like they came straight from 2002!

*Name subject to change.

Currently..

• chucking all my sweaters and jackets down to the basement.. 80 degrees yesterday! When I sat outside by the Charles River for lunch, I told my coworker this was NICER than Mexico cos there was no humidity!!
• trying to justify why I spent $32 on 2 small pads of stationery (pictured above from their website). Boatman Geller has THE CUTEST designs, and c'mon.. pink and green alligators with my very own name on it? Could be the coolest damn thing ever.. very preppy. At least I found a 10% promotion code online so the $8 ground shipping didn't made me that angry. Maybe Boatman Geller will feature me on their blog that talks about celebrity clientele?
  
• wondering what to use as my defense when my mom reads the last bullet and immediately calls me to tell me why I shouldn't be buying $32 on 150 small sheets of paper..
• questioning why I still watch the hills.. there I said it. The show is horrible. Brody Jenner hasn't been on lately. Lauren and Heidi make me cringe. They should get rid of those two and let Audrina, Whitney, Justin Bobby, and Stephanie Pratt hang out. OH and bring back Elodie. Obvi.... Lauren looks/acts like she's been defeated by life, she's in defense, angry scorned lover mode 24/7 and is just reaching out for followers to live by her Laurenisms.. And Heidi and Spencer? Great acting, they almost pass for people who don't date and aren't living together! um.... nope
• counting down the hours to NEW LOST TONITE! Plus The Office! lkjasdkjldasf
  
• Getting super excited for the new job that starts Monday!!!!!!!!!!!! I wonder if my alligator stationery will get delivered by then?! If that doesn't say business woman.. I dont know what will!

Happy Marathon Monday!

BTW.. I decided to run my 26.2 miles last night, because I dont really like attention too much..
mwhahaha i crack myself up.

a deep google chat with Lauren, considering we were only the few people working today in Ma! Prequel: L-lo's office is right by the Boston Marathon finish line
Congrats to my friend Emily who kicked ass today and ran for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society!!! (with an awesome time of 3:49!) I think I could do a 2K in about 3:49 at the moment, cos i'm still in vacation mode.

The Dog Mumblerer

FINALLY, Boston saw some sun this weekend! We decided to make a playdate for the dogs along side the Charles River, by Harvard Yard (pronounced however you like). Mikey, Jenny & Neal's Boston Terrier joined Mr. Rocco for a nice hour long by the water.. and after 4 years, Rocco STILL doesn't understand that walking on a leash does not mean he should be pulling us the entire time!!

And I'm still interested to see what would've happened between the dogs and the duck had leashes not been involved! Just kidding- Rocco is a lover, not a fighter

Wicked Puppets make for a Great Night

Avenue Q was SUCH an amazing time! It's just like Sesame Street for adults... that have a good sense of humor for sure. Avenue Q reassures someone whose going through a Quarter Life Crisis or even a Mid Life crisis that everything will only be crappy.. for now! I totally recommend to go see it when it roles into your city. Funny, hilarious, and very true.. don't want to give too much away, but here's the wikipedia page for a little more info. All I'm going to say is the Bad Idea Bears are ridiculously awesome.. and I've had a few too many encounters with them before.

We ended up having great seats in the Orchestra section (right in front!) and I got to sneak in a few pictures before the show started. Plus I saw my friend from work,Caroline, and she surprised me with a complimentary Diet Coke during intermission because [go figure] we forgot to bring cash with us to the play, thanks!! :)Dinner date at Maggiano's before. Mmmmm Italian goodness

my cute date

Also- earlier on Saturday we stopped by Gus' cousin's house to meet the newest little baby named Will! I'm afraid to send this picture of Gus with the baby to my M-I-L because she'll probably get WAY too excited and wonder when we are having kids... yep not for a few more years! Will is a cool guy, pretty much drank his bottle, and stuck his hand in his mouth trying to figure out what those tiny little fingers were. *NOTE: Yes , I did get Gus to shave before the play, as you can notice the distinct difference between my husband in both pictures!!

Beer & Politics

Gus: I want to watch John Adams on HBO.. it got awesome reviews today on Howard Stern
Me: ugh, but the new Bachelor starts tonite and he's from England!
Gus: Yeah- but you can just tvo it and watch it later
Me: Fine.. but is his brother the beer brewer going to be in it?
Gus: Wait.. what?
Me: Yeah- Sam Adams, wasn't that his brother?
Gus: Julie.. Sam Adams did not brew Sam Adams beer. It was started in 1985 by Jim Koch
Me: Hmm. interesting- but the show is still based in Boston though, right?
Gus: Just go watch your Bachelor, b/c that will refresh your history skills

McConaughey chillin' around Beantown.. & working

Alright alright alright! M-cay hanging out and filming in Boston this month. On Tuesday he was filming in Needham (my hometown!) and the rest of the week he'll be on Newbury Street while shooting scenes for the flick "Ghosts of Girlfriends Past". Jennifer Garner, Lacey Chapert and Michael Douglas are all in the movie (according to imdb) Click here for the interview 7news did yesterday.

He was looking very incognito! The only way I would've recognized him is if he was walking around shirtless with his dirty blond shaggy hair/eightpak, and doing situps in 20 degree weather outside of Urban Outfitters on Newbury...

Lauren is 25 and Neal is 128!

With a couple birthdays to celebrate last night, the RBC took in a dueling piano show at Jake Ivory's in Boston (right next to Fenway Park). Awesome time! But I'm surprised I had my voice this morning, because our table was the loudest one there. The pianists sang a lot of fun songs, and even got some Rap ones in there (Flo-rida!!). I blame lots of Champagne and raspberry stolis for waking me up at 6am and not letting me fall back asleep this morning. Oh well, SO worth it. The title of this post is what the teleprompter at the bar said in honor of the two birthdays, not sure how they got the 1 before the 28, but nonetheless our table cracked up every time it popped up. Neal, you don't look a day over 95! UPDATE: picture is posted!Neal with his great granddaughter Jenny!The Birthday Girl!Not sure why my eyes look batshit crazy in this picture! But I love it..

Fellow RIT'er in a Super Bowl Commercial!

What many of you may not know is that the National Technical Institute for the Deaf is located at RIT.. so I was psyched to see an Alumni Email blast this week mentioning that an alumni is featured in a Pepsi commercial airing during the superbowl tonite! I watched it on Youtube, and absolutely LOVED IT! He is the guy who is seated in the passengers seat and his name is Darren Therriault. Check it out. Oh. and GO PATS! asdljkfadsljkadsflkjasdflkjsfda

update: commercial was played during the pregame show. And we lost, so please feel free to kick a bostonian when they are down and comment away. Congrats to the Giants. One love.

UFC Winner in the house!

The hub's MMA coach, Jorge Rivera, knocked out his opponent within 70 seconds of the first round, during this weekend's UFC 80 hosted in London. Congrats Jorge!! This will definitely mean he's fighting again in another pay per view match in the near future.. Its cool to know that New England is representing in the fabulous world of UFC!