Rock Shic: Boston

Boston

02/12/2015

#626 Walking in a Winter Wonderland

Last night, I went back to my old Alma Mater to catch up with an old friend of mine (whose baby boy is just a year younger than Nuke baby!). Over dinner, my girlfriend, who’s a current professor at Harvard, told me that the university has literally shut down three times now since the start of the 2015 – which is quite staggering, considering it only closed three times during the entirety of the past 20^th century (THREE TIMES in ONE HUNDRED YEARS! Talk about intense…).

What can I say, times are different now… though walking around on campus last night, I was still taken aback by the staggering beauty of the surrounding architecture and landscape, particularly in the snow. As I looked around, I couldn’t help but wonder, “was it always this beautiful, and I was the one who simply wasn’t paying attention?”

It’s amazing the things you learn and appreciate as you age.

While I’m at it, I have to give a shout-out to my girlfriend’s new book, Shanghai Homes: Palimpsests of Private Life. I’m super happy for her, and find it oh-so-inspiring! All of this, plus she has to take her 5 months old to the office everyday while she preps for her lectures, talk about multi-tasking!

Posted on 02/12/2015 at 02:36 PM in Boston | Permalink | Comments (0)

02/10/2015

#625 Boston – Flying into a Snowstorm

Heading back to Boston! Last time I was back was Summer of 2013, when I was 7 months preggers.

Fun little gifts at <a href="http://boston.langhamhotels.com/" target="_blank" data-mce-href="http://boston.langhamhotels.com/">the Langham Boston</a>! My home away from home for the next couple of days.  #jetsetstyle #londonlegacy

Bonjour (and soon to be goodnight!) from Boston. Yours truly made it in, quite miraculously and without a hitch today from NYC. In full disclosure, I’m here for non-negotiable work. Trust me, when you want to demonstrate that you’re fully and unequivocally dedicated, you pack up your suitcase and get on that plane, even if it’s straight into a snowstorm.

I won’t lie, after the snowstorm that never was à la Juno – I find it eerily refreshing to be in the real land of snow, mountains of it – as tall as street-side buildings. “So this is what Winter looks like,” I thought to myself. Rest assured, this odd sense of novelty and excitement will dissipate in no-time.

All things said, at the end of the day I will always have a soft spot for Boston (see my last musing on Boston post the tragic marathon bombing). It’s a place where so many memories had been built, a tribute to my formative years, and a land that gave birth to so many of my dreams. Now, if only it were just 30 degrees warmer, I’d be a much happier camper! But hey… you take what you can get.

For more updates of my adventures in Boston, you can follow me on Instagram (@Rockshic)!

Posted on 02/10/2015 at 08:56 PM in Boston | Permalink | Comments (0)

06/04/2013

#366 Elegant Expecting – Week 29 – Cambridge Reunion

This past weekend, hubby and I drove up to Boston for my 10 year college reunion. I wasn’t able to make it to my 5-year, as that coincided with wedding planning and other work-related stress (2008 was a killer for the banking industry as you might recall – Bear and Lehman oh my!). As a result, I consciously made an effort to come to my 10 year.

Was it worth it you ask? Yes! I am definitely happy I went. It was truly remarkable to see how some things have changed amongst my classmates (one of them is now a Dean?! Whoa...), and how some things, invariably, remain the same. My weekend long interaction was not at all what I had expected it to be (but then again, I think my expectations might have been fanciful at best), but the experience certainly taught me and inspired me all the same.

These photos were taken on a hot Saturday afternoon, as we headed to the afternoon clam bake in Radcliffe Yard. The entire weekend was BAKINGLY HOT, but this mamma survived! (Just barely…).

Currently obsessed with Snake accessories! I got this snake bracelet from the Met store during my recent viewing of "Impressionism, Fashion, and Modernity."

With some of my girlfriends at reunion. You may recognize the one on the left from here, of Anarkh, and the one on the right here and here, from our excursion last September to Montauk!

Posted on 06/04/2013 at 02:48 PM in Belted Maternity, Boston, Elegant Expecting, Seven Months, Third Trimester, Travel Inspirations | Permalink | Comments (0)

06/03/2013

#365 Craigie on Main – Exquisite Tasting in Boston

Hubby and I visited Boston (more accurately Cambridge) this weekend for my reunion – more on this later. It was a bit of a whirlwind trip, leaving me exhausted just thinking about it! Having lived in Cambridge for six plus years, I am always game to try new places that I haven’t been to before. By pure happenstance (we were actually en route to Dali, one of my favorite tapas restos in the area), we stumbled upon Craigie on Main. Even more miraculously, we were able to be seated at the chef’s table! The only conclusion I could draw? It was absolutely kismet.

If and when we do return, I definitely will opt for the chef’s table again – where else can you witness all of the busy action? It reminded me a bit of my dining experience at Atera, but on a bigger scale. Tony Maws (named one of Food and Wine’s Hall of Fame Best New Chefs) and team really do a spectacular job with both the execution of the dishes and their fresh ingredients. Never have crispy friend pig tails tasted so heavenly!!! With a full belly, I was quite the happy preggy girl, and ready to spend the rest of the evening at my Casablanca-themed reunion soirée.

Crispy fried pig's tails, with pickled peanuts, nuoc cham, & cilantro

Crispy fried Essex Clams, with preserved lemon, dried black olives, pickled pepper, & squid ink anchoiade

At the center of the kitchen action

Vermont pork cooked three ways, we may have gone a bit long on the pig angle :)

Grassfed Sirloin À La Poêle

Trio of sorbet prettiness

Affogato heaven

Posted on 06/03/2013 at 06:46 PM in Boston, Eat Drink Love | Permalink | Comments (0)

04/16/2013

#335 Thoughts on Boston

Although I don’t live in Boston now… there was a considerable period of my life (six years plus some), where I did call the city home. The tragedy that happened yesterday is something which has been on my mind all day. How could it not be? Here in NYC, you can also feel the very palpable difference in the atmosphere… heightened security, the ever growing presence of uniforms all around – and just a general sense of impending unease and chaos.

We process things differently, I think, when we have a personal connection to a global affair – for better or worse. I still recall this time in 2002 (eleven years ago!), when I met up with my then boyfriend post the Boston Marathon, bringing him Gatorade and snacks to feast upon post run (he had trained forever and I felt obliged to demonstrate my support as a good girlfriend). Afterwards, he could barely make it up the steep climb in Beacon Hill to get home, and later on threw up in the shower. Why I recall this particular moment, I don’t know – but it somehow humanized the entire experience and makes me feel more connected to what is currently happening in the city.

Boston was also where I was when the planes struck the Twin Towers in 2001 (for more thoughts see my retrospective on September 11^th). Isn’t it our own personal affiliation with somewhere (be it via memories, a person, a shared establishment even), that makes us somehow more aware, and more impacted when a heartbreaking incident such as this happens?

From a girlfriend who lives but three blocks away from the incident... when I wrote to her last night:

“It was quiet... with a lot of helicopters and police. The hospitals were busy. But things are ok now. I am good.”

I wish nothing but the best for the families impacted, as I cannot even begin to imagine. Hubby works on post-conflict situations in war zones across the world, and in a way, you almost expect such things to occur there. Perhaps it is this absence of expectation, the implicit notion of peace which we take for granted here, that strikes us all the more to the core when something like this happens in our own backyard.

Hubby and I visting Boston. At the Langham Hotel, Boston. March, 2009

A quiet stroll through my old neck of the woods in Cambridge.

Goofing around in Harvard Square, Oct 2010

Posted on 04/16/2013 at 02:34 PM in Boston | Permalink | Comments (0)

10/26/2012

#210 Dress for Success

While in Boston, I was invited to be the guest speaker at a career panel back at my alma mater. While I don’t always embrace the suit-and-jacket look (my personal preference is to mix and match bespoke pieces for the office), I did believe that I needed to look every bit the part for my panel presentation. That is to say, I wanted to bring forth the image of the confident and in-charge career woman.

A tailored jacket and well-fitted A-Line dress is my signature go-to-style for the office. I like to convey power, but at the same time feel feminine and pretty (which likely explains my general penchant for dresses over slacks!).

Here, I brought a little bit of New York to Boston… with my monochromatic color scheme. The punch that I wanted to convey rested in the smaller accents (i.e., the leather detailing of the dress, the whimsical touches of my vintage shoes (I love them!!), topped off with some statement accessories). In dress, as it is in life, you seize your opportunities for individualism where you can get them!

Posted on 10/26/2012 at 03:03 PM in Boston, My Wardrobe Aesthetic, Office Chic | Permalink | Comments (0)

#209 Beacon Hill Sophistication

As luck would have it, I spent part of my last day in Boston in Beacon Hill, one of my favorite spots in the city. An old boyfriend from college used to live on Mount Vernon street, so this is a part of town that I am actually familiar with, which makes it really nice to feel that sense of home-bound comfort!

I’ve always thought of Beacon Hill as somewhat possessive of that old-money conservative vibe (Senator John Kerry actually lives around the corner!), though there is no denying of its ever-present beauty and charm. My darling friend (who also takes credit for the photography here) and I took in the picturesque foliage, before heading over to Newbery street for some retail therapy (for me anyway).

This two-toned Nicole Miller dress is a new addition to my closet. I like it for its comfort, form-flattering nature, as well as the full coverage it provides, which makes the dress a great seasonal piece suitable for the office! The boots are adorable, and again, wholly Fall appropriate – though I am still learning to break them in (they can be a bit tricky on those sloped, cobble stone hills!). The leopard soles are an added bonus – I just love the thoughtful and subtle details in life!

Love my Ronni Kappos earrings! Handmade from vintage German glass. I got these during my visit to the Boston Institute of Contemporary Art

Posted on 10/26/2012 at 09:29 AM in Boston, My Wardrobe Aesthetic, Office Chic | Permalink | Comments (0)

10/25/2012

#207 Brazil Art takes Boston

Hello Boston! I haven’t been here since last Winter, and I must say – nothing rivals Boston in the Fall (certainly not the sweltering heat in the Summer!).

Having spent more than six years as a professional student in Cambridge, I am always fond of a trip up to the Bean Town. This time, however, I uncharacteristically stayed near the Boston Harbor, a part of the city I’m not at all familiar with. Of course, part of the fun of staying somewhere new is that it forces you to explore and find new treasures. Case in point? I had the opportunity to check out the lovely Institute of Contemporary Art, which has been around the waterfront since 2006.

As Boston’s only exclusively-modern museum, the ICA showcases both a permanent collection of modern art, as well as periodic special features of up-and-coming artists. This time, I was fortunate to catch the current exhibition featuring the Brazilian artists known as Os Gemeos – who are identical twin brothers (Gustavo and Otavio Pandolfo) from Cambuci, Sao Paulo.

I loved their unique blend of street style art (Os Gemeos are vocal advocates for public art in Brazil and abroad), vibrant colors, and mixed mediums (much of their work combines an innovative usage of house paint and traditional spray paint). This is the brothers’ first solo exhibit in a U.S. museum, and it was a true pleasure for me to see it – particularly given my personal fondness for Brazil!