2nd Annual Best Friend Getaway: BOSTON/SALEM

This year for our "bff weekend" we decided on Boston. Cristina has only breezed through the city once and I had been once on vacation and loved it, clearly it was the perfect choice. We are a friend duo that LOVES exploring, adventures and anything awesome to photograph along the way. I wouldn't consider myself a history buff, but I love old towns like Boston. All of the red brick, cobblestone streets and brownstone housing really makes me happy :) We got there on a Friday and departed late afternoon on a Sunday..here is how our weekend went in photos, enjoy!

• Pictured above are us at a park pit stop along the way. We decided to walk the "Freedom Trail", I highly recommend this to anyone wanting to see major points in Boston without getting lost. It's fool proof, you just follow the red brick lines through the town! Also above is "Samuel Adam's Tombstone". This was also a stop along the trail---all of the original signers of the declaration of independence from the area are buried here, it's quite interesting. **Fun fact for our beer connoisseurs out there: did you know that the man on the label of the famous "Samuel Adams Beer", is actually Paul Revere? Apparently he was better looking than Sam Adams and they thought it was better for business to place him on the label instead--who knew?! (our tour guide told us this, he also told us some other things that ended up being shams so don't hold me to this hahaha)

• Quincy Market is THE place to be it seems, well really the whole Faneuil Hall area. It is filled with shops, restaurants, nightlife etc. On the bottom left is a memorial for all of our veterans killed in Afghanistan and Iraq in the war. On the right is a shot from the train stop located just a block or so from our hotel. The Boston transit system is so visitor friendly and super easy to navigate, I truly appreciated this coming from an area with things like the crazy confusing NYC subway system.

• Massachusetts State House was absolutely gorgeous. Unfortunately I couldn't fit the entire photo into the frame of this collage but the dome atop the building was bright gold. Bottom Left: This is me pretending to get into a VERY small door on a Boston side-street. hahaha Then we have a photo of us along the Charles River.

• We ventured a little more north to Salem! I have always wanted to visit here so this was awesome timing. If you know me, you know I abhor scary things--more like situations where things pop out at me (haunted houses, hayrides etc), but I love a good witch story so Salem was perfect. I remember reading "The Crucible" in high school and being so interested in how the Salem Witch Trials actually happened. We visited a fun photography studio and had photos of us taken as witches--best part of my entire trip. I laughed so much because the entire thing was just so silly lol (photos below) Salem is also the place where "Bewitched" was filmed--hint as to why I'm posing with a statue of Samantha above :)

• How could we visit Boston and not end our trip with a lunch at the original "Cheers" bar?! I have been here once before but never had taken the opportunity to eat here so this was very exciting for me. The food is good, just typical bar food, but the atmosphere was pretty cool. Like my photo with Norman?! =D

Birthday Weekend Festivities: Concert, Dinner, Gifts and More!

For those of you who didn't already gather from my various photo posts on twitter and Instagram over the weekend, I am indeed, now, a 26 year old gal :) I must admit 26 feels way better than 25, odd as that may sound. 26 came with more ease and feels overall more fun, dare I say :) Below are some photos, most of which I also posted somewhere on one of my social media sites, of how my weekend went, enjoy :)

The day before my actual birthday I had one of my very good friends, my job and my boyfriend all surprise me with some awesome things :)

The actual night of my birthday I invited a group of my closest family and friends to a restaurant that I like for dinner. You can never go wrong with Mexican food right? Sombrero and all, I laughed the night away. I even had a shot, something that I haven't done in YEARS (you guys remember I don't drink right?)

Cake and a game night followed dinner and it was honestly the perfect ending. I am such a simple woman when it comes to things like this. I almost always have a game night on my birthday because board games are something I really, REALLY enjoy! Taboo games are always interesting with my crew and things can get a little crazy, I love it! :) As tradition follows, my pup helped me blow out my candles, love love love her :) Aren't my best friends beauties?!

The next day, my friend took me to see OneRepublic live as her birthday gift to me. I LOVE OneRepublic and this was honestly a highlight of my summer. They were AMAZING live, so much so that as awesome as they sound on their records, that doesn't even do them justice! I would definitely go see them again without a doubt.

I ended my birthday weekend with a picnic at the park with my pup and the mister. What a perfect way to wind down--the weather, food and company were bliss :) 

I hope you all enjoyed your weekend as I did mine :) 

Candles, Cake, Friends and Being 26, 

xox