P: Race in NH, Joe & Maria visiting Boston and Good Eats

Wow, what a weekend! This was pretty much the first weekend in a long time that I let myself have some time off. Like, I pretty much reclaimed the weekend, doing the kinds of outings and day trips and lounging about that I haven't really done since I left NY. Annie, last wknd you had a publishing couple come to visit; this past weekend my friend Joe from Random House and his now fiance Maria came up to Beantown for some good eats and craft beer.

Friday night we met at Cambridge Brewing Company in Kendall Square. Basically, the area's kind of deserted save for some MIT admin buildings and a bunch of biotech company offices. Then you have this little pocket of 4 bars (Tommy Doyle's, Flat Top Johnny's, and something else I forgot) that are kind of tucked away in this office plaza. I got there at eight; Joe, Maria, and Maria's friend Nicky/Nikki were there since 5:30pm. Joe was dorking out with a little scrap of paper a pen, taking notes on the different brews he was sampling. He refused to drink any of the IPAs presented at the table, for fear they would be too hoppy and would itnerfere with his barley wine. I started off with the Spring Training IPA, which seemed to have a popcorn kernel finish, and Joe scribbled that in his notes.

Anyway, we were joined by Joe's best friend Phil, a lawyer at Skadden. (Yay, Annie--your general peoples!) Apparently the company was offering these options for young associates to "take buyouts" and work in the nonprofit sector at like, 1/6 of their pay, but then they forgive your loans and stuff. Have you heard of a lot of firms doing this? It kind of seems like an appealing incentive for those who don't want to be stuck in corporate law forever.

I didn't stay for too much longer-- I left by 11 because Iwas running a 5k race in NH that morning. Which meant I needed to leave my house by 6am. Which meant I ended up getting 2.5 hours of sleep, because I was so paranoid that I would oversleep my alarm! Being up by 3:58am after having had 3 pints of Spring Training (I held back on ordering a 4th), then nachos, then pizza, then fried calamari, and then a turkey sandwich when I got home...I kept worrying about my bathroom strategy. Oh, so part of the reason why I couldn't go to sleep was because I kept getting worried about not being able to go to the bathroom! I didn't want to havea repeat of the Brooklyn half-marathon (where I had consumed 2 pints of beer, a burger and fries, and pasta the night before, and had to go to the bathroom--in a bad way--during the race, and there were no portopotties, so at mile 4 i had to run int oa jewish synagogue and drop off a load). So I kept worrying about it. And I kept trying to make myself go to the bathroom, but NOTHING WOULD HAPPEN!

Finally, on the car ride to Dover, NH, we stopped in a rest stop and the gods were only partly on my side. But as my friend Amy and her friend Tessa pointed out, a 5K would be over quickly enough that hopefully I wouldn't need to go at all!

The race was a benefit for the Children's museum in Portsmouth. It was a run through suburban Dover, and there were some gradual hills here and there. But my legs felt like 100 pounds of lead--each! Like every race, I wanted to stop running during the first mile. And there were no mile markers, so I thought the first mile went on forever, so naturally I slowed down. Finally I saw a Mile 2 marker, but I always get confused--does that mean you're about to enter the start of mile 2 (after having only finished 1 mile) or does it mean you just finished 2 miles? So I kept thinking about that, and how cramped up and sore my legs and arches were (I think I'm due for new sneakers, is the problem). And I was getting pissed at myself because all I wanted to do was run each mile sub-8 (under an eight minute mile pace). I finished the 5k in 25min, 20 sec, or an 8min, 10 sec mile. I ran that 5 miler a few weeks ago at a FASTER pace than that--wtf?

Also, they were giving out free clam CHOWDAH! after the race. THe last thing I wanted to do was coat my esophagus with a cream-based hot stew, but I was like, Hell, I'm in New England!! and I had some. Then the whole day became all about celebrating New England, and doing all of these American things before I LEAVE THE COUNTRY FOREVER!! Boo hoo.

Anyway, Amy, Tessa, and I went to the town of Portsmouth, which is so so cute. We had brunch at a place called The Friendly Toast, which was this totally kitsch place. (photo courtesy of yelp)

And my poached eggs came out overcooked (more than 10 bucks for eggs, sausage, toast, and home fries! for shame). And we walked around the town, and Tessa bought these shoes called Toms, which looked something like dock/boat shoes, but kind of hip, and there was this bookstore called Gulliver's Travels, and it was all picturesque and the perfect kind of New England town.

Then...OUTLET MALL SHOPPING! We stopped off at the Tangier outlets in Maine (hitting up 3 New England states in 1 day), and...I went a little nutso at J Crew. I bought a navy blue pinstriped suit with a skirt and pants. AND a pair of jeans. And a sweater/cardigan. And a white button down . AND a pair of flip flops. When the heck am I going to need to wear a suit? Amy and Tessa pointed out I'd need to have it handy in case I wanted to go on interviews once I got back.

I was then dropped off in Davis Sq, at Diesel Cafe, where I kind of tried to do 1.5 hours of writing/revising on my laptop. To say nothing of the 12 students' final portfolios I need to grade before I leave for NY on Wed.

Back to SAT NIGHT:
Joe and Maria, Maria's bro and wife, Phil (his girlfriend was absent because she's in finals mode), and Phil's law school friend were all at Roadhouse. I showed up after a harrowingly annoying T ride (I am starting t oHATE the T). Got there, had a WHale Tail Pale Ale, and just...enjoyed great company. It was one of those nights where a bunch of people were meeting for the first time, and because good people are friends with good people, everyone got along, and was outgoing! I thanked everybody for funding my year abroad (I swear, it could just be me, but this joke never gets old), and then we talked about how too much choice is a bad thing, referring to the beer menu--re the paradox of choice. It was a fun night, and there were numerous craft brew pints ordered and sampled, and then I made it to bed by 2:30am, after consuming half a package of ramen noodles.

SUN:
Met the gang for brunch on Sunday in Harvard Sq at this place called Arrow St Bakery and Creperie. It was tres excellent, except...are crepes suppposed to be ten + bucks? I know they're savoury and all, and huge, but I was balking a bit at some of these prices, esp as the place was pretty low-key and serve-yourself. But that being said, I had a dynamite Californian crepe (it was like a cobb salad inside a crepe), Joe had thebraised leg of lamb crepe, Maria had a sweet crepe with granola and yogurt. Phil ordered the "proletariat," which was nothing more than chicken, red peppers, tomatoes, cheese, and I made some corny joke about how it had yet to live up to its name. "If a crepe is called the Proletariat, I'd expect some kind of subordinated ingredient to really come to light and shine." And his friend--also a small liberal arts college major--then upped the joke saying, "Yeah, there should be like Cheez-Whiz on top, conquering all" which took me a second to get, but then it dawned on me and I thought it was pretty genius.

Anyway, we all walked around Harvard Sq for their Mayfair fest, which was an extended street fair. Then Joe and I ran into Peter Olson, the former CEO of Random House. His exit from RH was somewhat controversial (he was essentially asked to resign), but Joe and I both had something like platonic crushes on him...or maybe, it's better to say we really admired him and what he did for the company. Like, he would often hold small breakfasts with all the new hires, and he alwayus seemed really approachable. So we flagged him down and said hello. And yes it was a little awkward, but hopefully he got that we were big supporters of him.

Next we headed back to Phil's apt, then a trip to Whole Foods (or, the store that shall not be named) because Joe wanted to cook us this elaborate mussels in belgian ale dinner. with an antipasto plate of marinated olives, smoked gouda and smoked jarlsberg, roasted red peppers, kale and bacon, and Maria made parsley frites, and there was cannellini bean and bruschetta topping, and toasted sesame bread, and then a blueberry pie with ice cream from Toscanini's. Phil's friend had to leave before the feast began, which was too bad, because there was a TON of food. Can we say food coma? The meal took like 3 hours to make, and my arteries were throbbing this morning when I woke up. But you could say it was worth it. There are no friends like old friends and new friends! Good people. But they made me miss Brooklyn. Maybe I'll be back sooner than later after all.