Posts in Lifestyle
Friday, April 11 2008
Hidden Nature
Boston in the springtime is one of the most beautiful cities on the East Coast. With sprawling parks, numerous ponds and the Charles River, and brilliant gardens, you’d be hard-pressed not to find a quiet piece of green to center yourself in. With April going quickly and temperatures rising, the city is bustling with people enjoying the bits of nature between buildings. As a girl who grew up in the mountains, I’ve spent a lot of time investigating the best spots in Boston for escaping the hovering buildings and car exhaust. Here are a few favorites to get inspired for spring.
The Emerald Necklace: Boston hides it’s own jewels—at least if you’re looking from the sky. The Emerald Necklace is 1,100 acres of parks and gardens connected by water-and-walkways. This includes the ones right outside Emerson, the Common and Public Gardens, as well as the Fens and many others. They provide a quick and free escape from the rigors of city life and gray color palette of construction. They’re all worth visiting at least once to stake out your own special spot.
Getting there: Visit the park system’s website for more information and maps.
Click to Read More...Monday, March 3 2008
My Sister’s Guide to Living in Africa
This girl has never been to Africa.
I adore my sister. Some might say I even love her. Those people would be correct. She is a beautiful southern belle ballerina who often resembles a Disney romantic movie musical ingénue. I swear I have actually seen birds gently float onto her arms and join in her jovial singing. I was on the phone with her recently and I brought up the fact that I might join the Peace Corps after college. She, being the older and wiser one, decided to dispense some advice on how to deal with being in the Peace Corps in Africa.
1. Own a Brita water filter.
At first she told me to always have Fiji bottled water, but when I told her that one’s assignment lasted well over a year she suggested a Brita water filter. I thought this was remotely practical. Even if I was in the middle of a third world village, plagued with dysentery, at least I would have fresh clean water. Though, I don’t know if I want to be known as “that prissy white girl with a Brita.”
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Saturday, February 23 2008
The Wing-girl Seven Commandments
A lot of praise has been given these days, with the help of some congratulatory beer commercials, to the wing-man. He is a guy’s guy. A bro’s bro. He’s always there to buy a round, to build up a dude’s self-confidence, and to keep a fugly girl busy while his best bud macks on her damn-fine friend.
In the midst of all this manly high-fives and rough pats on the back, a very vital part of the dating scene has been overlooked. I am of course talking about the indispensable wing-girl. To bring this ignored art form to light, I will share with you the seven commandments of every good wing girl.
1. Thou shalt let thy girlfriend look hotter.
This might be one of the hardest commandments to follow. No girl wants to be the drab one but if you friend is truly feeling down about themselves, one night out on the town wearing “capris” and a scrunchy isn’t going to kill you. If anything, let her at least appear hotter to the guy she is scoping out, otherwise you missed the point of your job completely: setting your friend up with a grade-A hunk.
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Monday, February 18 2008
Always a Bridesmaid, Never a Bride
To the cutie walking across the street ;)
I started reading missed connections on craigslist out of curiosity after a friend greeted me with their ecstatic screaming of “I WAS MISS CONNECTED.” After said friend explained to me that missed connections is a section on craigslist.org that allows people to post a description of the pretty girl they saw walking down the street who they were too shy to talk to. They then cross their fingers hoping that this person will see it and reply. Love will then ideally blossom. Before this I only knew that craigslist was home to the junk that people are trying to give away and the apartments people need to sublet. So later that day I found myself browsing missed connections.
Since my first time at the site I have found myself addicted to reading the listings on a fairly regular basis, mostly for entertainment value. It’s usually the subject lines that draw me to click on the listing, “we danced, we drank, we kissed, you puked, I love you…” or, “Your Hair…awesome reminds me of a hotrod I had.” But as I frequent the site more I find myself seeing the subject line such as, “Tall brunette on green line at 11:00” and clicking on it because I am tall, have brown hair, and was on the green line at approximately 11:00. I come to find out that the tall brunette was wearing a green jacket, has long luscious locks, and it was the B line, not the D. Nothing is applicable. The disappointment of another day of being sans a missed connection passes relatively quickly.
I wonder how many missed connections are responded to and how many are correctly responded to. I for one probably wouldn’t respond. So, despite the creepy factor of missed connections, if for nothing better, it is a good way to let the hottie on the T know that you noticed them. A little self-esteem boost always does a person good.