Saturday Activities

Hello all!

Goodness! Time passes quickly. Just yesterday, it was January, freezing outside, and I had so much to do. Now it's April, freezing outside, and I have so much to do!

I am getting so excited to see all of you in a couple weeks. We're going to have a great time at the wedding itself, but I'm also excited to tell you what we've got going on for Saturday during the day. Keep your fingers crossed for nice weather.

I've arranged for us to take a walking tour of the Freedom Trail, complete with a guide dressed in Colonial garb. Now, honestly, in other situations I might josh a bit at participating in something so touristy, but this will be a great way to take a nice walk through the city, see some good sights, and get to know a little bit about the history. We'll be looking at the Boston Common, New State House, Park Street Church, Granary Burying Ground, King’s Chapel, Site of the first Public School, Old Corner Bookstore, Old South Meeting House, Old State House, Site of the Boston Massacre, and Faneuil Hall. And if you feel like a canoli, we can take a little jaunt down to the North End and see Paul Revere's house and the Old North Church.

We'll meet at 11:30 in the Boston Public Garden, which is located in the Back Bay/Downtown between Charles and Arlington Streets. I will leave directions and T-stop information for you at your hotels.

If you feel like looking, here's the website for the tours. www.thefreedomtrail.org

YEA!!!!!

Also, big news to report in a day or two!!!! YIKES! So much happening this spring!

Love,
Haley

Some More Information

This is a joke, but I think that after you visit for a couple days, you will understand why sometimes, I feel like Boston is on a different planet. :)

Information on Boston and the surrounding area:
There's no school on School Street, no court on Court Street, no dock on Dock Square, and no water on Water Street.

Back Bay streets are in alphabetical 'oddah': Arlington, Berkeley, Clarendon, Dartmouth, etc. So are South Boston streets: A, B, C, D, etc. If the streets are named after trees (e.g. Walnut, Chestnut, Cedar), you're on Beacon Hill. If they're named after poets, you're in Wellesley.

Massachusetts Ave is Mass Ave; Commonwealth Ave is Comm Ave. South Boston is Southie. The South End is the South End. East Boston is Eastie. The North End is east of the former West End. The West End and Scollay Square are no more; a guy named Rappaport got rid of them one night. Roxbury is The Burry, Jamaica Plain is J.P.

How to say these Massachusetts city names correctly:
Worcester: Wuhsta (or Wistah)
Gloucester: Glawsta
Leicester: Lesta
Woburn: Wooban
Dedham: Dedim (like denim w/ a D in the N pace)
Revere: Re-vee-ah
Quincy: Quinzee
Tewksbury: Tooks berry
Leominster: Lemon-sta
Peabody: Peabuddy
Waltham: Walth-ham
Chatham: Chattum

Definitions:
Frappes have ice cream, milkshakes don't.
If it is fizzy and flavored, it's tonic.
Soda is CLUB SODA.
'Pop' is Dad.
When we want Tonic WATER, we will ask for Tonic WATER.
The smallest beer is a pint.
Scrod is whatever they tell you it is, usually fish.
If you paid more than $6/pound, you got scrod.
It's not a water fountain; it's a bubblah.
It's not a trashcan; it's a barrel.
It's not a spucky; it's a sub.
It's not a shopping cart; it's a carriage.
It's not a purse; it's a pockabook.
They're not franks; they're haht dahgs. Franks are money in France.
Police don't drive patrol units or black and whites they drive a 'crooza'. If you take the bus, you're on the 'looza crooza'.
It's not a rubber band, it's an elastic.
It's not a traffic circle, it's a rotary.
'Going to the islands' means Martha's Vineyard & Nantucket.
If something's good, it's 'pissa'. If something's really good, it's 'wicked pissa'.

Things not to do:
Don't pahk your cah in Hahvid Yahd .. they'll tow it to Meffa (Medford) or Slumaville (Somerville).
Don't sleep in the Common. (Boston Common)
Don't wear Orange in Southie on St. Patrick's Day.

Things you should know:
There are two State Houses, two City Halls, two courthouses, three Hancock buildings (one old, one not so old,one new.)
The colored lights on top the not so old Hancock tell the wetha:
'Solid blue, clear view....'
'Flashing blue, clouds due....'
'Solid red, rain ahead....'
'Flashing red, snow instead....'(except in summer; flashing red means the Red Sox game was rained out)
Route 128 is also I-95 south. It's also I-93 north.
The underground train is not a subway. It's the 'T', and it doesn't run all night.
Order the 'cold tea' in China Town after 2:00 am you'll get a kettle full of beer.

So, please, my wonderful friends, use this information judiciously, PLEASE don't go to Chinatown after 2:00 in the morning, and practice up on your "wicked pissahs." I use it all the time, and in no way is that weird.

Menu

Hello!!!

I am so excited to post this. We've been waiting forever for the restaurant to come up with the spring menu, and finally, we have it.

First Course

Caesar Salad
Hearts of Romaine Tossed in our House Made Caesar Dressing
With Toasted Focaccia & Pecorino Romano Cheese

Second Course

Herb Crusted Misty Knoll Statler Chicken
Served with Potato Pave, Asparagus & Madera Jus

Tournedos of Beef Tenderloin
Marinated In Garlic & Fresh Herbs, Grilled & Served Over Rillon Potato Hash & Haricot Vert.

Fresh Rosemary Pasta
Accompanied with Grilled Asparagus, Shiitake Mushrooms & Olive Oil Poached Tomatoes. Served with a Smoked Melted Gouda Cheese.

Perfect Ending

White Chocolate Crème Brulee
With Fresh Berries & a Sugar Cookie.

I've had the tournedos. They're divine.

Love,
Haley

Registry, Menu, etc.

Hi all!

My mom suggested last night that I let people know where we've registered...

Target: www.target.com
Crate and Barrel: www.crateandbarrel.com
Macys: www.macys.com

Registries are under Haley Glover and Eric Matson.
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The restaurant hasn't yet created the spring menu, so we weren't able to include that information in the invitations. That should be ready around April 1. What I thought I'd do is get in touch with you via email or phone and let you know what the choices will be. If I don't have your email address, could you send it to me? haley_glover@yahoo.com I'm very excited to see what they'll come up with. The food there is very interesting and VERY delicious.

We're not going to have a cake, mainly because I don't really like cake all that much. The Grille makes a mean creme brulee, which is our favorite, so that will definitely be on the dessert list. The picture to the right is me enjoying said creme brulee. WICKED delicious. I also like the idea of little desserts, like chocolate strawberries or truffles. Still thinking on that.
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We're enjoying a short period of down-time before things pick up again. Eric's classes are pretty slow, so he's been catching up on some homework and trying to work ahead. I'm just loving having two whole days off a week.

Love,
Haley

Maid of Honor

Because the wedding will be nice and small, and because there's no way I could imagine getting married without her up there with me, my sister Abby will be my maid of honor. And I have the distinct pleasure of being HER maid of honor in August when she gets married to her lovely fiance John.

For those of you who know her, I'm sure you'll agree that Abby is one of the most adventurous and interesting people you'd ever want to meet. She and John, for instance, spent a good 6 months touring the world. And not touring the world the way I would probably tour the world, hopping between hotels and museums--she washed elephants in Thailand, got pissed off by Maoists in China, swam in the Dead Sea, and saw John through surgery in an Indian hospital. And each time they posted an update on their blog, my jaw dropped a little further, because how did my little sister end up on the other side of the world washing an elephant???

Abs and I lived together for about a year when I moved out to Santa Fe. I had been there for about 9 months when she found a job working at the Santa Fe Rafting Company as a guide on the Rio Grande. That summer... such memories... Anyway, it was about a month before we coordinated a trip out on the river for some friends, with Abby as the guide. The first trip down the river was great--the water was nice and high, the rapids were fast, and importantly, no one fell out of the raft.

The second trip did not go so well. This time, we took the trip farther north and went through the Taos Box, which is a considerably harder run. My transmission went out about a mile out of Santa Fe, too, and we had to coast the car back into town. It was a bad start. Anyway, we were having a great time--Abby as guide, me and 4 friends, and some dude who was a jerk. And then we entered the Rock Garden. We maneuvered through all of the rocks, and then we started to get hung up... The back of our raft swung around, and Abby, the jerk, one of my friends, and the cooler got flung out of the raft, while four us of were left hanging on the now-perpendicular-to-the-water raft. For two hours.

Finally, I ended up getting dragged into shore by a tow-rope (which was held by a guy who, in normal circumstances, I wouldn't have trusted to hold my purse!), and the boat dislodged itself. It was awesome, and the entire event was captured on videotape, and is set to music from The Matrix. It nearly gave my mother a heart attack when she watched it...

Anyway, the reason I tell this story is because I think there is a turning point in the lives of siblings where they cease to view each other as merely a sister. And I guess it was then that I started admiring her not just as my sister, but as a friend and a competent adult. Abby has spent her entire adult life surprising me. She follows her dreams in a way that very few people have the confidence to do, and that just blows my mind. She's hilarious, kind, and just a totally awesome person. Yes, we have many many differences, but there is no one in this world who I trust more than Abby, and there's no one who I admire more than her. Maid of Honor, indeed.

My Face Hurts

Because the braces are installed. And they are accompanied by the headaches, sore mouth, and spit overproduction that are their calling cards. It's awesome to be re-entering adolescence at the age of 28.

Actually, aside from the tender face, they're quite awesome. You can't see them, they only marginally affect the way that I talk (my Ses are now sibilate... Yeth... Yeth, they are...), and I can take them out when the urge to do so strikes me.

So, on to business. I know you're breathlessly awaiting news on the shoe hunt.

Friday, I left work early (and still worked 50 hours that week, if that gives you any indication of how much we've been working), and headed over to the mall for some retail therapy. I bought two pairs of shoes. The first was a relatively simple pair of sandals, and the second was a major high-heel, gold, glitz, etc investment. I loved them. I took them both home, and tried them on with the dress, and.... they were both too high. My entire foot stuck out the bottom of my dress, and made me look like a sasquatch in satin.

So, I took them back and found a cute, comfortable, and extremely practical pair of flats. I am happy.

Love,
Haley

What I wanted vs. What I got

Got My Life Back

The budget came out on Wednesday, and after sitting through a four-hour hearing yesterday that made me even more convinced that we should re-write the Constitution to remove the legislature completely from government, we are FINISHED. Thank goodness. We basically condensed about 8 weeks of work into 4, and in addition, put the whole thing online with a bunch of extra information. So, if you're interested in looking at it, it's at www.mass.gov/governor. I'll tell ya, it's FASCINATING.

This hearing... I can't get over it. Not only was it, as I mentioned before, FOUR HOURS, it was about 90 degrees in the hearing room, which was last refurbished in 1966 with chairs that weren't all that comfortable even back then. Then we got lectured by people who's sole mission in state government is to get the Merry-go-Round in Holyoke included in the budget, because, you know, people across the state will definitely go to Holyoke to ride on the merry-go-round, and it'll be a big boost to the local economy... Bridge to Nowhere, indeed. Uf. It's frustrating. But it's over. And with that, I will move on to things that are more interesting and fun for me. Like our wedding.

I have been absolutely overwhelmed by the positive responses we've been receiving. I can't believe how many people are coming from out of town! I was never expecting that, and it really makes me so happy that all of these great people will be there with us.

Eric and I picked out our bands last weekend, which was a lot of fun. If you know Eric at all, he's definitely not the jewelry wearing type. He didn't even have an earring in the mid-90s. Oddly enough, he picked out a pretty blingy band. I suppose next will be the thick gold chain with a dubloon on it or something...

Next on my agenda is shoes. Now, I have to admit that my tastes have gotten considerably more sophisticated since my move to Boston (it's a crying shame that my bank account hasn't followed suit). It's tempting looking at all of these glorious pairs of shoes and thinking, "Oh, you only get married once, go ahead and buy those $400 shoes. Think of all the places you'll wear them." Thankfully, my practical side knows that with $400, I could do a whole heck of a lot of cool stuff AND get a good pair of shoes, and that clearly, I would wear a pair of $400 shoes exactly once because I would be too paranoid that I'd wreck them. So, I'm on the hunt. Last weekend was what shall be known as the Undergarment Incident of 2007. Seriously. I won't go into details, but let's just say that squeezing myself into nude-colored spandex implements of torture did not make for the best Saturday afternoon of my life.

But I look fabulous in my dress. Which is nice.

Love,
Haley