Stumbling around Somerville & Onto Adventures

Sometimes I really don't understand Boston weather. I mean, I am aware that four different seasons are still a somewhat foreign concept for me (as Miami really only has hot, super hot, excruciatingly hot, and unbearably hot & humid), but having one weekend be in the 60's and the next weekend shoot up to the 90's is a phenomenon I might never grasp. Though simultaneously scrapping together summer linens to layer for that one chilly weekend that just passed and also crafting a daily ensemble that doesn't trap you in your own perspiration yet is demure enough for work is a feat, finding little adventures to fill the weekends seem to just fall in my lap. In trying to recount the past week or so of my summer in Somerville (apt neighborhood, right?), I've realized that I managed to beat the heat in ways that would probably end up on a Buzzfeed "Top 20 Picturesque, Summer Date Activities in Boston" - yet I am here to show you that all of those go to dates can be equally as enjoyable with friends instead. 

I'm thinking particularly of my weekend with Leila (my college best friend) and Ambika (her freshman year roommate) in which we probably did the most touristy, adorable, and silly dates any young Bostonian couple might embark on as well. We frolicked with swans in the Boston Public Garden (mind you my camera does not zoom, so getting a photo of this majestic bird this close was rather brave of me... need I remind you of the iguana incident?), peacefully rode the swan boat in the lake, and visited both the MFA & the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum (both of which have been thoroughly profiled on this blog so I will save the extensive imagery and just leave you with these select few shots to demonstrate that summer in Boston is even more beautiful than I could've pictured - literally and figuratively). 

While the work-week presented far less opportunities for day time dates with friends, the weekend swept in to fill my ache for adventure. Now I'm talking about the little carnival some friends and I stumbled upon. While the photos might not give it away, this carnival was in fact off the side of the road. Given that geographical fact, we realized we should probably only trust the bumper cars and the ferris wheel, and maybe the fried dough if we didn't lick the powdered sugar off of our fingers afterwards.

Though sometimes adventures can turn out dingier than one would like, it's the company of the people who endure the discomfort with you that make for the best times and the funniest of memories. 

Luckily, Sunday brunch proved to be far more trustworthy. After a second attempt at brunching at North St. Grille per the recommendation of a friend (last Sunday the wait was an hour and our grumbling stomach's were not having it), today my friend Cat, roommate-turned-friend Sara, and I managed to snag a booth at this gem of a restaurant. Granted, we did wait for 45 minutes, but our desire for adventure kept our first-meal-of-the-day hunger at bay. We proudly left our names on the waiting list and aimlessly strolled about the North End, dipping in side streets and following the direction of nothing but the harbor in the horizon. Hence finding the quaintest marina and ergonomic seating to pass the time. Cat, a fellow Miamian, noted how this area felt so much like Coconut Grove back home, and I couldn't have agreed more - especially after our outlandish brunch felt so much like a trip to Greenstreet. 

And, without further ado, please indulge me as I take a moment to fawn over this morning's feast. The fare ranged from your typical scrambled eggs coated in cheese (just me? Maybe...), corned beef pancakes, and juicy bacon, to a mocktailed "Raspberry Lime Ricky," nutella french toast (hi Greenstreet!), bourbon banana french toast, and crudité french toast. Let me repeat that. Crudité french toast: warm brie cheese oozing out of petite french toast slices, bathed in a maple glaze, and garnished with crisp apple slices. Better known as pure heaven.

Cat said it best, in this great city of Boston we are all aiming for "Life, liberty, and the pursuit of brunch." So, if I were you, I'd make a Sunday trip to North St. Grille and happily wait the hour or so for a table - because you can so perfectly use that time to simply bask in the beauty that is Boston.

And for adventures like those with friends like these, I am able to forget about the heat and be simply & truly happy.

Xx, Maia