Tomorrow, I’ll be breaking up with you after almost three years together. Its been a fun and crazy ride.

We’ve spent a lot of time on the T and it will be hard for me to get adjusted to driving, in a car, by MYSELF. There will be no green line dj, crazy folks and way too many students in the train car with me. I’m not sure if I’ll be able to comprehend grocery shopping with a car.

You’ve made a runner out of me here. You’ve allowed me to train for two marathons and countless races on your streets. I will miss running along the Charles River on hot, summer days. As for people who asked me, “Have you ever run the Boston Marathon?” I told them, “I run Boston every day.” Anyplace that makes Marathon Monday a holiday is my kinda town. I’ll be back to run Boston someday, I may be 80 by the time my qualifying time and speed meet, but I’ll be the rockin’ granny on the course.

Thank you for introducing me to my favorite American League MLB team and teaching me how to hate the Yankees. Its only fitting I spend my last night in Boston at Fenway and sing Sweet Caroline. Sorry I never jumped on board the Pats and Bruins train, but I bleed black and gold. I’m glad I found other Pittsburghers in town to to root for the home team with.

I’ll miss the Boston Common and the Public Garden, the crazy winters, the museums, Sundays spent playing kickball, the view I got of the city when I rode the red line from Park Street to Kendall Square every morning, the Dunkin Donuts and CVS on every corner, all the ice cream shops a girl could want, the diverse neighborhoods and the waterfront, your politics, rich history and culture.

I came to Boston a little unsure of what I was looking for and you helped shape me into the strong woman I’ve become today thanks to all the friends and experiences you’ve exposed me to.

I’ll be back to visit and I’ll always love that dirty water. Right now, Pittsburgh is calling.

Love,
Julianne

Yesterday was Restaurant Week dinner number two at  Sibling Rivalry. I’ve been wanting to try this place for a while and glad I had a chance to before I left Boston.

We arrived early and were seated 30 mins after our reservation. This annoyed me and probably would not have annoyed me if the hostess or waitress apologized for the delay. I know its RW and they are super busy, but a simple acknowledgement would have been nice.

Sibling Rivalry differs from the other restaurants in that the two chefs do their own take on the ingredients. So, one may use the sweet potato in an appetizer and the other in a main course. The menu was slightly confusing since it was color-coded for the courses and a bit dim.However, there were a TON of options and it was hard to choose. I wish we could have done it “Top Chef” style and compared the various dishes!

I had Chef Bob’s sauteed sweet Maine shrimp “scampi” style over creamy polenta with lemon, garlic and sweet potato. I didn’t realize the camera took this pic without the flash and had to brighten it in iPhoto.  This dish was a little too sweet for me, but it tasted good and the portion size was large.

For the main course, I had seared jumbo cape scallops, Anaheim chili relleno, black beans, tomatillo relish and salsa fresca by Chef David. I’ve only had scallops a few times in my life, but these were amazing. I also loved the chili relleno – it had the perfect amount of kick and complimented the scallops quite nicely.

Desert was butterscotch pudding with ginger cake, candied pecans and whipped cream. I heart ginger – I need to cook more with it.  I was happy with my meal and thought everything was delish. My dining companions were not as happy with their duck and lamb entries – they just seem a little inconsistent. I would definitely go back if I had the opportunity.

Yesterday I also got to try out another swag bag item, Peeled Snacks Pine-4-Pineapple. I am not too crazy about pineapple in general, but I liked this. Its a good snack to help crave my sweet tooth. I have some gift cards from the Summit, so I’m looking forward to trying some of their other varieties, perhaps one of their samplers.

Thank goodness I’ve been to the gym every day this week to work off these dinners. I also had to cancel my gym membership today : (, but I’m looking forward to the challenge of a new routine sans gym in Pittsburgh.

Hope everyone has a good weekend!

Today I finally jumped aboard the Barney Butter train from my HLS swag bag and it was fantastic. I am ordering some from Amazon, stat! It was part of my oatmeal with bananas for breakfast on one of the hottest summer days of the year, but I needed the fuel for my Body Pump class.

I was starving when I came home, so I pulled together a quick salad with , cherry tomatoes, cucumbers, olives and balsamic vinegar and a small slice of leftover whole-wheat Greek pizza (recipe coming soon).

I finally got my moving permits for my moving truck next week and deposited my last paycheck at the bank and had some Greek yogurt with blueberries to hold me till dinner.

This week is Boston Restaurant Week and I finally got to try Rialto and it did not disappoint! I started the meal off with a corn risotto, it was sweet and not too heavy, perfect for summer.

Second course was pork loin with figs, potatoes and herb sauce. A little salty and not as tender as I would have liked, but still good.

For the last course I chose the blueberry sorbet, which was quite refreshing and my friends had the chocolate torta and peach almond cake. All in all, this was a good RW experience. The fare was light in the sense that I didn’t walk out feeling I ate too much – you know how you must eat something and feel awful afterward? It would be interesting to see how the regular experience differs from the RW experience, but RW gives me a chance to try places I wouldn’t typically go to otherwise. RW dinner number two with the roomies is tomorrow!

We got home and watched Top Chef with happy bellies. Top Chef Masters wasn’t doing it for me. Its still too early for me to pick  my faves on Top Chef, but I’m glad its back along with Project Runway tomorrow. Good food and reality TV make me a happy girl.

Yesterday was the Healthy Living Summit here in Boston and it was a wonderful experience. I was a little bit intimidated going in, but I’m glad I signed up and went! I was afraid I’d be the only new blogger there – I’ve been reading some of the girls for a while, but there were lots of new bloggers and people that didn’t blog, but I hope they got motivated to start.

Friday night, things kicked off at the cocktail party at Rustic Kitchen.

Pizza and grilled veggies from Rustic Kitchen

The food was delish and the company even better. Terry, Nina, Amelia, Deirdre and I closed the place down!

The Summit started on Saturday with a great breakfast – yogurt and granola, fruit, and a veggie bagel. The speakers were amazing and I plan to blog about the stuff I learned in the coming days.The swag bags were full of healthy goodies I can’t wait to try.

You know you are with a bunch of bloggers when everyone takes pictures of everything! I really need to learn how to learn how to use the different settings on my camera since the majority of my pictures turned out like crap.

I missed the Saturday night activity, I came home for a quick change of clothes and nap, but slept too long, opps. Between a hectic last week of work and an early wake up call today, I just didn’t have the energy to go out tonight and make the 10 a.m. class at the gym today.

Thanks to Caitlin, Meghann, Kath, Jenna, Tina and Heather for putting on such an awesome event. I met so many women who were so nice, interesting,  inspiring and funny. And, I have new blogs to add to my blog roll. The event helped me solidify the “direction” I want to take my blog while making some positive changes in my life and I’m ready to get started! Stay tuned.

Summit Group Photo!

This post is a little scatter brained since that’s how I’m feeling at the moment…Anyhow, this weekend, two of my favorite people visited me in Boston, my old college roommates Jen and Erin. We kicked off the night with some sangria (recipe to come) on my deck before heading to the North End for an improv show.

On Saturday, we had breakfast at my favorite breakfast place in Brookline before heading to a Boston brewery for a tour. It was a gorgeous day, so we continued our drinking at an outdoor bar with a “Guppy Bowl.” We did some shopping and then took naps, because we are too old to be drinking in the middle of the day without naps. After our quick refresh, we went out for pizza and ice cream in the South End.

Today we decided to do something educational and toured the childhood home of JFK. I’ve always walked by this street, so it was nice to see a little slice of history in the neighborhood and think about how the family walked on the same streets I do today. The house was restored to look like it was when Jack was born. I saw some of the same details that were in all of the houses/apartments I lived in here in Boston and wish someone took better care of them. The woodwork, the staircases, the paneling. All of which are painted over and battered in the apartments I’ve lived in. I’d love to buy an old house and restore it to its former glory someday. And, I’ve even been looking at places to buy online. I’m hoping to buy once I get settled in back in Pittsburgh.

This week is my last week of work. Its very surreal. My replacement starts on Tuesday, so it will be odd teaching someone else how to do my job. I’ve been bookmarking a bunch of jobs to apply for and am ready to finally throw myself into the job hunt. Packing is another story. I did pack two boxes of books today. Once work finishes this week I think I’ll settle into a nice routine of sleeping, working out, packing and applying for jobs.

Hope everyone had a nice weekend and is ready to face the week!

Today I told my boss I was planning on moving out of Boston at the end of summer. Boston is a very transient place if you don’t have any strong ties to the city. A big leap, considering I don’t have a job lined up or a place to live that is not a relative’s house. This is a great chance to find the job that is right for me. I can take the the time to make sure that the new job is the right fit.

I’m looking forward to returning home to Pittsburgh. I’m looking forward to being close to the family, reconnecting with old friends and making new ones, finally starting on my MBA and rediscovering my hometown. Plus, I’ll be within 4 hours of some of my closest friends from college, bonus! So excited.

I’ll be sad to leave Boston, but know this is the right choice for me. I’m a Pittsburgh girl at heart and have had the opportunity to live in some amazing cities, but there is no place like home.