Trips to MA #3 and #4

In June, I had two more (great) reasons to visit Massachusetts.

First, trip #3. David and I went to Kate and Chris's wedding on June 18. Kate was my "little sister" in the BMB program at Penn, and we have been good friends ever since. It was a beautiful wedding, and we had a lot of fun. As bride and grooms tend to be, Kate and Chris were both stunning. As you can see in the above photo, Kate wore a fabulous feather fascinator attached to her veil.

Kate and Chris were the most giddy bride and groom I have ever seen, and I couldn't be happier for the two of them. Here is a photo of them grinning from ear to ear during their wedding dance (taken before Chris dropped Kate on the ground while a little too successfully trying to dip her).

Kate and Chris got married in Amherst, which was conveniently an hour or so away from Ken and Carol's new house in Lenox. We stayed with them for the weekend, along with Brian and Jane. It was really fun to visit with everyone, and David and Brian did their duties as men by helping Ken accomplish many tasks around the house. Ken and Carol's new house is heavily under construction, but I know the finished product will be as beautiful as the parts that have already been redone. The best part of the house in my opinion is their backyard / pool area, which looks like it has been landscaped for a magazine photo shoot! Here is a photo of me resting on the hammock by the pool (my new favorite reading spot at their house).

Trip #4 to Boston was a week after Trip #3. I attended a crystallography workshop at Harvard Medical School on June 24 (which was very useful), but stayed in town for the weekend to catch up with my college friends and my favorite city. Above is a view of some of the flowers in bloom at the Public Garden in Boston Common. It was a beautiful weekend to walk around the city and do all of the things I so miss doing. (I am such a nostalgic sap!) I stayed at the Best Western in Washington Square (Allston/Brookline) so that I could walk down Beacon Street into the city each day. (I walked this route to Kenmore Square every morning when I was doing summer research in the Elliott laboratory, always stopping at Brueggers to meet Alison for an early morning bagel.) After the conference ended, I went shopping at the Prudential Center and at the shops around Coolidge Corner, and ended the evening by seeing Conan O'Brien Can't Stop at the Coolidge Corner movie theater.

Saturday afternoon, I rode the swan boats at Boston Common. On my way to the T, I ran into this street performer (I think this picture really speaks for itself.)

But mostly, I ate a lot of food and spent time with many fantastic people while I was in town! Katinka and I had dinner at Brown Sugar Cafe, Jessie and I ate at the Uno's at Kenmore (for nostalgia's sake), and Ainsley and I went to Border Cafe in Harvard Square and had Mike's Pastry for dessert. I also had an Ana's burrito for dinner after the conference, and JP Licks for dessert. (No wonder I exercised so much more as an undergraduate...)

It was sad to leave Boston knowing that it would be my last visit for a little while, but it is exciting to think about David and I moving back there in a year or so! (During my walk into the city, I even picked out a few possible brownstones on Beacon Street that we could live in...)