Weekend in Cape Cod, sponsored by Bain & Company

After going 4 days without seeing Chris, I made my way to Brewster, MA (one of the many towns on Cape Cod) to the Ocean Edge Resort and Golf Club to spend the weekend with him. Chris flew to Boston on Wednesday and was in Cape Cod through Friday receiving training to prepare him for his summer with Bain. Needless to say, I was very excited to see Chris, even if it meant driving for two and a half hours.

Friday evening was the last night of the Bain festivities, which included a poolside cocktail hour followed by a clambake. Now, I am not a huge fan of seafood, but I definitely like the idea of a clambake. The highlight of the clambake was watching Chris trying to crack open the lobster. I believe he cut himself three times. Whoa, that is a little too much work for food.

A pic of the mansion at the Ocean Edge Resort...the rest of the resort lies down the hill behind the mansion.

We woke up Saturday morning bright and early, had breakfast and then made our way to Provincetown. As wikipedia tells it, "P-town", as it is often referred, is known for its beaches, harbor, artists, and tourist industry. I am glad that we visted P-town, but I am not sure if we will ever return. We walked down their mainstreet for a few hours and then had lunch overlooking the water. Below are a few pictures from our trip.

Beautiful windmill and flowers on the way to Provincetown.

View from the pier

View of downtown Provincetown

Chris was pretty scared of this thing on the sidewalk on Commercial Street.

View from the restaurant, WayDownTown, where we had lunch.

What I think about when I think of Cape Cod living.

One piece of historical information that we found out while in Provincetown is that the Pilgrims first landed in Provincetown and explored Cape Cod prior to sailing to Plymouth. Below is a picture of Pilgrim Monument that commemorates the Pilgrims first landing in the New World.

After visiting Provincetown, we drove through Chatham, MA, which is a town I am only familiar with because of the movie Summer Catch. This is one of the many towns in Cape Cod that has a baseball team where college age players from all over the country come to play for the summer. It was a very cute and quaint little town and probably one we should visit again.

We made our way back to our resort and spent a couple of hours on the beach before meeting up with some of Chris's sectionmates from HBS for dinner. We ate dinner for 3 and a half hours, not by choice, eek! It was painful, but the food was excellent.

We drove back to our place in Cambridge on Sunday morning so Chris could spend some time at home. It was so great to have him here! I dropped him off at the airport around 5:30 and we officially started our first two week stint of not seeing each other. Very sad! My mom will be in town on Thursday, so that should keep me occupied and not thinking about missing Chris. Chris should REALLY start doing some work today, so be thinking about him. I hope he enjoys it!

I will leave you with one of the funnier tidbits of information from the weekend. The below pic shows a sign of a town that we drove through on the way back from Cape Cod.

Yes, that does say Sandwich.

Summer Plans

My summer is starting to fill up with lots of fun things going on. In addition to Monday night dinners and Thursday night drinks with my Boston girls, I will be busy with visitors and traveling. It is going to be a great summer!

This weekend: Cape Cod – Bain & Company is footing the bill for a weekend in Cape Cod for all summer consultants and I am invited!

June 28-29 – My mom will be in town. We will spend Friday in Boston and then take the train to NYC on Saturday. Seeing Legally Blonde and sampling the frozen hot chocolate at Serendipity are sure to be the highlights of the trip.

July 4-6 – Chris will be flying to Boston to spend Independence Day in the state where our fight for independence began.

July 6 – 14 – While I will be working, Jo, Aunt Jean, Doris, and Joyce will be gallivanting around Boston. They will make their way to NYC in the middle of the week and then I will take the train down on Saturday to spend some time there with them before taking the train back to Boston on Sunday.

July 19 – 20 – FREE, so far.

July 26 – 27 – Heather and Mark are getting married! I will fly to Georgia for the wedding!

August - It's looking like a slow month so far, but I am sure that there will be tons of things going on.

And a month later...
Sept 6 - 7 - My best friend from high school, Billy Peppers, is getting married! So excited for him and Julie.

That is my summer of singledom in a nutshell!

Chris moved out....

Well, technically he only moved out for the summer, thank goodness! Chris packed up and moved to Atlanta last week, so that he could spend 10 weeks in Atlanta, GA working for Bain & Company. I know that Chris is looking forward to learning more about the business world and I am looking forward to being DINKs (Double income, no kids, although I wouldn’t mind adding the kids part) again. It is definitely going to be interesting to live in Boston without Chris for the next 10 weeks, but I know that we will both survive.

Prior to Chris starting work on June 16th, I flew to Atlanta to spend the weekend with Chris and our families. On Friday night, we made a 3 hour journey to Chattanooga from the Atlanta airport to attend the Riverbend Festival with my parents. We got to see Little Big Town and Rodney Atkins in concert. Both performances were really good! I especially enjoyed Little Big Town, because, little did I know, they are produced by Lindsey Buckingham, one of the members Fleetwood Mac. I grew up listening to Fleetwood Mac because my father loved them so much and I love them too!

Aren't we so cute?

I know, I know, I am hilarious!

My wonderful parents and me!

We spent Saturday hanging out at Chris’s parents’ house with two of our nephews, Griffin and Gavin. We drove to Rome in the afternoon to watch Karlie play fast pitch softball, since we are never around to watch her never-ending schedule of games.

Our thug nephews....not sure where they learned this, LOL!

Sunday was spent celebrating our Fathers and eating really good food. I got to eat lunch with my dad, mom, both sets of grandparents, and my brother, something I don’t get to do very often. I love when we am home and everyone gets together! I love my family and can’t wait until I can see them more than once every 3 months!

Maybe the Celtics Owe Us???

Adam Cowart probably thinks they do. Congrats to Boston Celtics on winning game 6 of the NBA finals last night in Boston to clench the NBA Championship title! I actually went to sleep well before the game was over, but I was awakened by "woohoos" and horns honking all around Cambridge. I love that I live in a city where you can literally feel and hear the joy of victory all around you when one of our teams wins. I got to have the same experience when the Red Sox won the World Series.

You may be wondering why Adam Cowart thinks that the Celtics owe us. Well, he seems to think that a so-called victory curse, that's what I will call it, follows us around. I cannot account for the victorious teams in Florida while we were there, but I believe there were some. And since we have been in Boston, the Red Sox won the World Series and now the Celtics have claimed the NBA Championship title that they haven't won in 22 years. Hmmm....does this have something to do with Chris and I living in the area? I am not sure, but I do know that Adam has his fingers crossed that we will bring luck to Georgia Tech when we return to Georgia!

So You Think You Can Dance

This is probably the best reality TV show, way better than American Idol! To commemorate the first episode with the Top 20 that aired tonight, I would like to share with you my favorite dance from all of the previous seasons. Below is a video of Allison and Ivan dancing to Annie Lenox's Why. It is a beautiful dance and it is one that Chris and I made sure to save on our DVR when we lived in Florida so that we could watch it whenever we wanted. They danced beautifully and you have to give it up for Ivan, himself a hip-hop dancer, for dancing so wonderfully with contemporary choreography. I am looking forward to this upcoming season....tonight showed some very promising couples that just might live up to Allison and Ivan.

My Favorite Song

This Year's Love by David Gray just might be my favorite song. There is just something about it that pulls me in and I can't get enough. Every now and then I am reminded of this song and for some reason I thought of it again the other day. I can never remember the name of the song so I had to use google to find it. Randomly, this evening, I was semi-watching Crazy/Beautiful and part of the movie is set to this song. I just really don't know how to describe the way I feel when I hear it...maybe one day I will find the words. Until then, enjoy.

Goodbye to the Tealens, for now!

After McDonald's and shopping, we spent the remainder of the weekend hanging out with Teal and Laren Carlock. They are otherwise known as the Tealens to us. After a discussion yesterday, we decided that Laren didn't really get as much of the nickname as she should have. Their nickname should have been the Tearens, but we didn't think hard enough about it before giving it to them so the Tealens it is.

We met Laren and Teal on our first day at HBS standing in line to get our pictures taken for our HBS IDs. Who knew that we would meet such great friends on our first day?!?!?! Teal and Chris studied together during analyticis and I was able to hang out with Laren while the boys were studying nonstop. We have had a great time getting to know the Carlocks throughout our first year at HBS. They are great friends and ones that we will most definitely keep in touch with after graduation.

Internships are taking Chris to Atlanta and Teal and Laren to Dallas. Teal will be working for Boston Consulting Group and Laren is a school teacher, so she gets the summer off to spend in the sun.

We spent our last weekend with the Tealens eating at two of our favorite restaurants. Saturday night we made our way out to Burlington, MA to eat at Chili's. Yes, that Chili's, not some fancy family owned restaurant in Boston. Chris and I have always loved Chili's and we found out that Teal and Laren share the same love, but we had not made it to Chili's the entire school year. We decided our last weekend together would be a great time to do that.

On Sunday, we continued our weekend tradition of attending church together at Hope Fellowship Church in Porter Square and then heading off to brunch. We had brunch at The Breakfast Club...probably one of the best breakfast places in Boston. It is really like heaven for me, because they have posters up from all the big 80s movies like Breakfast Club, hence the name. They also play lots of great 80s music, although they failed me in this arena this Sunday.

After brunch, we had to say goodbye to the Tealens. Teal flew to Dallas last night and Laren will be accompanying him in a few short weeks. I will get to spend some more time with Laren while she is finishing up school, so that is a good thing! It is going to be a long summer not having them to hang out with. We are definitely looking forward to spending more time with them in the fall when school starts back up!

We'll miss you Teal and Laren!

The Golden Arches

Or the Golden Arcs, as used in Coming to America.

Random story with 2 points.

1. McDonald's does have food for those trying to eat healthy.

2. Ronald McDonald does exist.

Chris and I made our way out to Natick on Saturday to do some last minute shopping for Father's Day, as well as to finish up shopping for work clothes for Chris. We didn't eat lunch before we left our place, so I was starving by the time we got to the mall. Starving? Why, you might ask. Well, after gaining a certain amount of weight, not to be disclosed, during the winter months of Boston, I decided it was time to get back into the skinny, happy to be me, get into all my clothes state of mind. I started a diet last Wednesday and I am doing well so far, but it becomes extremely difficult to fight off the hunger. So, we were on our way to Natick and the following conversation ensued.

Me: Are you hungry?

Chris: Not really, but I could eat. (His typical response.)

Me: Well, we need to eat before we go into the mall, because I will be famished if we wait. I can do McDonald's.

Chris: Isn't that the craziest statement ever? You are on a diet and you suggest that we eat at McDonald's.

So, we made our way to McDonald's where I had the Asian Grilled Chicken salad with low-fat Sesame Ginger dressing and it was actually pretty good. So, there. You can eat healthy at McDonald's. (If you were wondering, the salad has 300 calories, 10 fat grams, and the salad dressing has 90 calories and no fat grams. I opted to leave the almonds off, which saved me 6 grams of fat and 70 calories.) Chris opted for the not-so-healthy choice of a double cheeseburger, medium fries, and SWEET TEA (yes, they are serving this in MA now!). As exciting as this may seem, the excitement didn't end there......

As we entered McDonald's, I came face to face, for the first time ever, with a walking-talking Ronald McDonald. Honestly, as many birthday parties as I attended as a young child at McDonald's, I have never seen a person dressed up as Ronald McDonald. Anywho, I literally think I jumped as I rounded the corner and he stepped out. I think he might've gotten a good laugh out of it. Oh well. What can you expect if a large red and yellow person steps out from behind the drink machine? Below is a picture for proof.

The Barneses come to dinner....

I just had to write a post about The Barneses coming to dinner so that I could post a super cute picture of Alex. Chris and I kept Alex for an entire day in November when we he was about 4 months old. It was an adventure keeping such a young baby for the entire day and while we were exhausted, we had a great time!

Patrick, Patricia, and Alex will be in Boston this summer keeping me company while Chris is in Atlanta! Maybe we will even get to play Would You Rather?,the best game ever, that Patrick and Patricia introduced to us.

A fun-filled weekend with family and friends

Chris and I flew to Georgia last Wednesday, May 28th, to visit family and friends and attend the wedding of Laura Grosch and Robert Cross. We hadn't been to Georgia in almost three months, which an extremely long time for us to be away from our families. I can't wait until we see them on a more regular basis. Chris and I spent Thursday and Friday hanging out with both of our families while eating really good meals. There is nothing like a good home cooked meal or buffalo wings from Buffalo's. We spent Saturday at the pool with Jared, Karlie and Jake. It is so much fun to be around our niece and nephews. We really never get enough of them, because they are always changing. Our two youngest nephews, Griffin and Gavin, are changing the most, so it is always interesting to see what new habit they have started. We spent Saturday morning watching two baseball games in which Griffin and Gavin played. They are pretty good little ball players! The Jarretts are a family of ball players, but we didn't get to see Jared, Karlie and Jake play while we were home. Below are a fews pics of the kids.

Chris practicing his Guitar Hero skills.

Karlie does not like to have her picture taken.

Gavin....not too interested in the game, but oh so cute!

Griffin didn't mind posing for the camera either.

We spent Saturday evening in Atlanta for the Grosch-Cross wedding. Say that 5 times really fast, LOL! The bride was beautiful and the wedding and reception were a lot of fun! Chris and I were honored to be a part of their special day. Weddings have become somewhat of a reunion venue for Chris and I since we rarely get to visit our friends when we are in Georgia. It was so great to spend the evening with Elizabeth and Adam, Jess and Chris, as well as everyone else that we hardly ever see. I had a great time, of course, since I never attend a wedding that I don't enjoy. Congratulations to Mr. and Mrs. Robert Cross who are honeymooning in Hawaii as I type, so jealous!

First Dance!

Elizabeth and I

Me, Lauren, Casey, and Elizabeth (where are you Jess?)

I love to dance! Another reason why I love weddings!

Aren't we sweet?!?!

After 3 hours of sleep on Saturday night after the wedding, we headed to the airport to make our 7am flight to Boston. No, we don't usually take flights at the crack of dawn on a Sunday, but we had to get back to Boston for a few special visitors. Jan, Kristen, Bill, Kallan and Marin took a little trip up north to visit Boston as well as NYC and we were happy to have them in town for two days.

We showed them around HBS and the Harvard undergraduate campus prior to heading downtown to get on our duck boat. Chris and I had yet to take a Duck Tour and to our surprise, it was a lot of fun. We will definitely be recommending this tourist attraction to any visitors that we have in the future. After the duck tour, we made our way to the North End to eat at probably my favorite Italian restaurant in Boston, Dolce Vita. They have amazing manicotti with cream sauce! I had to work on Monday, so Chris and I met up with the fam on Monday night at the Union Oyster House where my favorite clam chowda lives. It was so great to see them and show them the city we call home! Below are a few pictures from their visit in Boston.

Kallan, Marin and Flat Kallan and Flat Marin on the steps of Harvard University's library.

Chris, Marin, and I on the duck boat.

View of Back Bay from the duck boat.

My New Favorite Website

There are days when I get bored at work and have to find some way of entertaining myself. That time is usually spent on Facebook or Myspace or People.com, but sometimes I even get bored with that. This boredom leads me to thinking about what Chris and I will name our children. Laugh all you want, but it does pass the time by. Yesterday, I stumbled across the following website when I typed in "What is a good middle name to go with Carson?" in google.

http://www.babynamegenie.com/

This website has a variety of options for naming your baby. No, we don't have a baby on the way, but doing stuff like this keeps me content until we have one of our own. I particularly like the middle names for.... and first names for.... links. They also generate a name based on the last name with the Baby Name Generator. I love it! I will have to save this to my favorites for when we do FINALLY have children!

Just in case you were wondering.......one of the middle names to go with Carson that I liked was Claire. Carson Claire Jarrett kind of has a nice ring to it!