Ifferjenn Independent

This weekend, I wanted an adventure, so John and I decided to take a tent we found on Craigslist for $10, strap the bikes to the car, and drive up to New Hampshire for some bike riding and camping. After our 9 mile ride (which was actually much easier than 9 miles here in Worcester), we realized how close we were to Portsmouth, and decided to check out The Friendly Toast, as it had been recommended by a friend.

Wow.

The decor is very…interesting. I would expect as much, as it is in Portsmouth, but I liked looking around and seeing some interesting things from my childhood, both toys and bowling alley memorabilia. Our waitress was very friendly and helpful, as was the menu. Kudos to whoever decided to include “to add to coffee, cocoa, & frappes” to their list of liquers. I started off with chocolate frappe with Bailey’s, and nothing could have made me happier at that moment. Not only could you taste the Bailey’s, you could smell it as well. Truly a drink I would have made for myself.

For dinner, we started with cheesy fries: fries with a mix of provolone and bleu cheese with a side of strawberry-habenero dip. I was quite happy with the fries and provolone (for me, the strawberry in the dip lulled my taste buds into a false sense of security, so they were unprepared for the habanero), but John went so far to say they were the best cheese fries he’s ever had. John followed up with a breakfast burrito (a flour tortilla filled with scrambled eggs, black beans, salsa, the house avacado-lime sauce, cheddar, & a fresh cilantro spread), which he was also quite happy with. I continued with King Cakes: two pancakes with bananas & chocolate chips inside & peanut butter in between, with real whipped cream on top, encircled by a side of (vegetarian) bacon.

One word for this dish: WOW.

In the past, I’ve been a bit conservative in trying out new restaurants, and while I liked everything on the list for this dish, I wasn’t sure how they would all be together. Truly, they are completely decadent and rich beyond comprehension. As the serving sizes on everything were enormous, I took home about 2/3 of the King Cakes, which I sat down to eat this afternoon. I got through another 1/3, happy to find they might have been even better cold, then found they would be rich enough for dessert. I didn’t get a chance to try that; John finished them up for dinner.

After eating here, I wished more than I have in the past three years that I still lived in New Hampshire. But, happy day! They have another location at Kendall Square in Cambridge! Now I have another must-see stop when I come into Boston.

Overall, two entrees, one side, two beers, and a frappe with Baileys came in just under $50. All this food easily lasted two and a half meals, though, so I wouldn’t worry too much about saving up for a trip. Next time, though, I shall be trying the Granny Melt.

The Friendly Toast is located at 121 Congress Street in Portsmouth NH, and at 1 Kendall Square, Building 300 in Cambridge MA.

On the Thursday Threesome, I’ll choose a theme and describe three things that have to do with that theme. In case you haven’t noticed, I tend to live a lot of my life online. I’ve actually been online since…oh…middle school sometime. Back in the good old days of 56K modems, Prodigy, and ASCII art. Since I’ve been around a while, and I’ve also done my share of editing and grading people on their writing, I’m extremely sensitive about internet carelessness. Here are a few big ones for me, mainly focused around social networking sites:

1. The mini-update: Twitter aside, most of the time, you have a fairly unlimited space for daily updates. That being said, please use this space. If you don’t have a 140-character constraint, take the time to spell out your words. It will help others understand what you’re actually trying to say. On the flip side, there’s no need to go on and on and on; say what you need to and move on.
2. The long and winding profile: First, I’ll raise my hand and say that I’m a little guilty of getting out of date with my online profiles. It’s taken me a while to learn to keep them fairly generic, so I don’t have to keep updating them. But I do try to make sure that my profile is a concise snapshot of me. And I’ll stress the concise part. If I’m reading a profile online, and I have to scroll more than twice, you’ll have to be a fantastic writer (or really cute) to keep me reading.
3. Your English teacher had some good points: Grammar, spelling, and punctuation take a little practice, but can be great tools for you. Particularly if you’re trying to impress someone, as on a dating site. Unless you’re in a chat room, take an extra second to read over your writing for clarity. To make things even easier, many browsers come with automatic spellcheckers, and many blogging programs have a spellcheck feature. And if you’re really trying to impress someone, a good vocabulary never hurts. Just make sure you’re using that $5 word properly. I’m sure I’m not the only one who finds eloquence sexy.

Have an idea for a Thursday Threesome? Leave a comment, and I’ll see what I can do!

Boston MA

For this picture, I was amazed at how blue the sky was behind the ship. So I cut out everything that wasn’t sky, made it black and white, and faded it to 50% over the background. So really, more of a color study than a picture of the ship.

Sail Boston, Boston MA

I can’t tell you how long I tortured Ethan by stopping to take pictures of these little flowers. (Mayflowers, I think…) But really, do you know how long it takes the camera to auto focus on something so small?? You might then say, “Why didn’t you use the manual focus, Jenn?” At which point, I’d probably say something along the lines of, “Shut up.”

Worcester MA

The Formidable from Sail Boston 2009

Edited to add: I didn’t realize, but this marks post #100!

Green Line, Boston MA

On the Thursday Threesome, I’ll choose a theme and describe three things that have to do with that theme. This is a grumpy post, full of grump. Because really, that just about sums up my mood right now. With a great big HARRUMPH. Today I present you with three things that suck when you get rear ended by an older twit.

1. Fighting the insurance company: I will say that I generally really love Progressive, my insurance. They’re great at getting the car fixed. The person, however…not so much. I called them to check about getting her insurance to pay for me to go to the doctor, but they were all focused on the car. I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve said, “I don’t care about the car, what about my neck??” But at least her insurance company appraised my bumper higher, so there may be good from that.
2. Going to the ER: Initially, I was quite pleased with UMass Memorial. Aside from the pay parking, which was just weird. (Hi, my arm is gushing blood, but I’ll stop and get your little parking ticket. And try not to lose it as a fade in and out of consciousness.) Okay, I wasn’t gushing blood or anything, but I did go wicked fast through the vital stats and registration. Then I waited to get into my room. Then I waited for the doctor. Then I waited over an hour to go to x-ray and get some motrin.
3. The whiplash: Yep…I have whiplash. And the nurse was nice enough to break this news to me by saying, “You’re going to feel soooo much worse tomorrow.” What a ray of sunshine! I had to leave work early yesterday since I was getting dizzy, but I made it through today okay. The big thing that’s killing me is the super drugs they gave me. I have Generalized Anxiety Disorder, and I’m having a couple stressful days. BUT, my anxiety meds react quite violently with things like muscle relaxers and such. Though I don’t suppose putting me to sleep for the weekend would be really violent, though. Anyway. Tonight I had to choose the anxiety meds over the pain meds. Hopefully I made the right choice!

Have an idea for a Thursday Threesome? Leave a comment, and I’ll see what I can do!

Friday at Ethan’s school was Crazy Hair Day. Being a girl, I don’t know quite what to do with a boy’s hair that’s “crazy,” so a purple mohawk was the best I could think of. Ethan was quite taken with it, so when we went into Boston this weekend, Ethan got it refreshed. And I finally took a picture.

Of course, for a 5-year-old, the ride from Riverside to Government Center takes forever…

I don’t usually do LOLcats, but sometimes, they just scream out to you…