&Boston

2010 in Review

ampersandboston — Tue, 18 Jan 2011 14:04:32 +0000

The stats helper monkeys at WordPress.com mulled over how this blog did in 2010, and here’s a high level summary of its overall blog health:

The Blog-Health-o-Meter™ reads This blog is doing awesome!.

Crunchy numbers

The Leaning Tower of Pisa has 296 steps to reach the top. This blog was viewed about 1,100 times in 2010. If those were steps, it would have climbed the Leaning Tower of Pisa 4 times

In 2010, there were 12 new posts, not bad for the first year! There were 41 pictures uploaded, taking up a total of 106mb. That’s about 3 pictures per month.

The busiest day of the year was December 6th with 48 views. The most popular post that day was 4 O’Clock Beer.

Where did they come from?

The top referring sites in 2010 were facebook.com, bostonblogs.com, ampersandboston.com, twitter.com, and mail.live.com.

Some visitors came searching, mostly for fanny littmarck, ampersand boston fanny, ampersand boston south end sunday, ampersandboston south end sunday, and south end sunday ampersand boston.

Attractions in 2010

These are the posts and pages that got the most views in 2010.

4 O’Clock Beer October 2010

[out]&About October 2010

The South End Sunday October 2010
2 comments

&Media November 2010

Recipes[&such] October 2010

Happy Holidays from &Boston!

ampersandboston — Tue, 21 Dec 2010 18:46:48 +0000

I couldn’t pack my bags fast enough yesterday as Boston received the first snowfall of the season; it’s about time to trek across the globe to a country blessed with 80 degree weather. I’ll be MIA this Christmas, but for those of you who aren’t I’d like to thank you for following this blog and I hope you have a very jolly holiday with all the snow in the world! (I’m not kidding, I really don’t want it)

Feature: Gold Dust Orphans at The Machine

ampersandboston — Tue, 14 Dec 2010 13:39:21 +0000

By: Jeanette Littmarck, Guest Author

This amazing group was founded in 1995 by the performer/writer Ryan Landry. I had never heard of these guys before, when a girlfriend asked if I wanted to go and see it a couple of years ago. She had seen many performances earlier, and loved it. My first thought was “a drag show with songs and dances?”. Would I (mother of 3) be interested in that? I tell you what, these are the best shows I have seen and I am hooked for life!

Ryan Landry is a genius, humorous, warm hearted, creative person setting up stories based on earlier movies or shows, for instance “All about Christmas Eve”, “Phantom of the Oprah”, or “Willie Wanker and the Hershey Highway”. He and his amazing cast is incredible, and sing and dance like I have never seen before. Sometimes the songs bring me to tears, and the next minute an outrageous joke cracks me up. It is so refreshing and relieving because he has a great sense for mixing politics, stereotypes about homosexual people, daily life and taboo topics. The show is usually 2 hours long with a 15 minute intermission. After the show he takes most of his colorful costume off, and stands in a simple t-shirt talking to us on a personal level, thanking us for coming, telling us about his next upcoming show, and then gently asks for donations. This show is built up by support from audience and other donators. They make all their costumes themselves (in fact his husband Scott makes most of them). According to their website they were the Top 5 for Best Comedy Club in Boston this year! If you want to see an inappropriate show that takes you places you have never been before, you have to go see Gold Dust Orphans. Grab your girlfriend, boyfriend, husband, colleague, mother/father (maybe..) and have a ball!

The ongoing show now is “Mrs. Grinchley’s Christmas Carol” and is outstanding! You must see it! Go to http://calendar.boston.com/boston-ma/events/show/152376305-mrs-grinchleys-christmas-carol and get your ticket. The tickets are $35 and this one runs up until 12/19.

You can also find them on Facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/golddustorphans
& The Machine: http://www.theatermania.com/boston/theaters/gold-dust-orphans-at-theater-machine_1639/

Post by: Jeanette Littmarck

Holiday Shopping in Boston, Pt. 3 (Gift Wrapping)

ampersandboston — Wed, 08 Dec 2010 17:00:35 +0000

I’ve been writing with a heavy focus on the areas and neighborhoods to go to for holiday shopping, but there hasn’t really been much coverage on actual stores. That’s naturally because we all have different things on our wish lists and gift lists so it’s not exactly feasible to suggest individual stores. There is however one thing all gifts have in common: the gift box you deliver them in. Not one to hand over gifts without wrapping them first (and I’m not counting wrapping paper with the store’s logo on it here…) I usually don’t think much about the boxes stores give out this time of year. However, something has changed in that department; as stores are seemingly putting more effort into packaging I’ve found myself all of a sudden caring more about it too…

It all started with Anthropologie. The saleswoman asked if I needed a couple of boxes to go along with my purchases and upon accepting her offer, the Great Project of trying to fit them (unassembled mind you!) inside my bag began. After some effort and good humor everything was in its place, and I left the store on 799 Boylston Street. When I got to my apartment it was time to put these together and place the presents inside, and judging by the feat of getting them to fit in my bag it could have turned out pretty intense. Let me tell you, the gift boxes from Anthropologie are not only easy to construct they are also expertly cut out of heavy quality paper (there’s nothing flimsy about them!). This year I may be caught delivering these sans colorful wrapping paper and bows.

Anthropologie Gift Boxes

This marketing effort by one store brought the lack of it by another to my attention; my long-time favorite store J.Crew has decided not to up their ante for the holiday season. They are carrying the same line of grey bags and boxes as they have for the past year or so now, using the same material and unoriginal shapes. Wait a minute, “unoriginal” or “classic”? I do love their bags and the color scheme is still a fairly new update from their brown and forest green combo of last year. Then I noticed something else that is classic J.Crew: their outstanding customer service and attention to detail. The gift I had purchased (for obvious reasons I can’t be more specific) was neatly folded inside tissue paper and the gift receipt was tucked within the folds of the tissue. When I went to carefully cut the price tag off I discovered it had already been taken care of. This caused me to smile to myself as I assembled their classic & simple box.

J.Crew Gift Box

All photos by: Fanny Littmarck

Holiday Shopping in Boston, Pt. 2 (Beacon Hill)

ampersandboston — Wed, 08 Dec 2010 03:26:31 +0000

One evening last week I decided to go for a walk around the most festive neighborhood I could think of in order to really get into the holiday spirit. I hopped on the green line by the Boston Symphony and headed further inbound.

I got off at the Arlington stop and started walking down Arlington Street along the Boston Garden towards Beacon Street. I love all things shiny so my eyes feasted on the window displays at Burberry and Chanel, and I especially enjoy the lights and evergreen garlands the Taj Hotel put up this year. Having no real desire to stand around in a crowd waiting for the tree lighting to take place, I instead set course to Beacon Hill. Already freezing, my first stop was Starbucks (the one on the corner of Beacon and Charles). I like this particular one because of its intricate ceilings and large windows, and they also have some of the best baristas in my opinion. Gingerbread latte in hand, I steered my way down Charles Street in the crisp evening air.

Beacon Hill is the place for holiday shopping if you are looking for the full holiday experience while you’re searching for unique gifts for all those unique friends and relatives of yours. A single (and not overwhelmingly long or wide) street offers various antique shops, designer boutiques, toys, flowers, chocolatiers, jewelry… you name it, it’s most likely there.

Blackstone's of Beacon Hill

Antiques at 80 Charles (They're having 20% Off right now!)

All photos by: Fanny Littmarck

What’s Your Favorite Holiday Drink?

ampersandboston — Thu, 02 Dec 2010 04:38:21 +0000

Holiday Shopping in Boston, Pt. 1 (Faneuil Hall & Newbury)

ampersandboston — Wed, 01 Dec 2010 03:25:30 +0000

With Thanksgiving behind us we’re heading full steam into the holiday season and it’s high time to start thinking about buying gifts for family, friends, and coworkers. Holiday shopping can be disastrous and stressful; jam-packed malls and throngs of people everywhere, stores of picked-over merchandise, and not to mention the battle of finding a parking spot… At times shopping centers can be great for one-stop shopping, but when it comes to December gift hunting I’ve sworn off malls a long time ago. Why take something fun and cheerful and turn it into a horrible time when you don’t have to?

This season, even if you don’t live in Boston, come into Town for your holiday shopping. My favorite area by far for getting into the spirit of things is Faneuil Hall. There is something especially festive about the way the wreath-clad historic buildings mix with the lit-up trees, and the people milling about from shop to shop aren’t annoying when encountered outside in the fresh December air as opposed to in an overstuffed mall. Speaking of, some of my favorite stores here are Crate&Barrel, Gap, and Urban Outfitters. For a full list of stores check out http://www.faneuilhallboston.com/shopping.html (If you’re not familiar with the area, Faneuil Hall is conveniently located by the Government Center T-stop, on both the blue and the green line).

Quincy Market, Faneuil Hall

Your next stop for getting into holiday mode should be Newbury Street. I hardly need to elaborate on how cozy this street is, especially in the nighttime when the lights come on, like diamonds hanging from the trees. If your loved ones are asking for gifts of the pricier category, you’re likely to find those here.
There are of course also medium-priced stores, for instance I personally pay many visits to Madewell throughout the year. Although, oftentimes I’ll just come here for coffee (the Starbucks located near the Newbury-Dartmouth intersection is nicer than the one by Mass ave!). If you’re hungry, stop by Trident Booksellers & Cafe — they have a menu that accommodates omnivores and vegans alike, and the bookstore has a lot of interesting finds at a lower price point than Barnes & Noble.

Trident Booksellers & Cafe

These are both obvious holiday shopping spots in Boston, but they’re obvious because they’re classic and should therefore not be overlooked. More to come on this topic as I discover new and noteworthy places!

All photos by: Fanny Littmarck

An Evening at the Boston Opera House

ampersandboston — Thu, 18 Nov 2010 01:26:49 +0000

Last Thursday my stepmother took me to the Boston Opera House for an evening of ballet. The performance was set to start at 7:00 PM so I went straight home after work to change into a black, silk dress with straps braided together in a Grecian fashion. Waiting for the Orange line a woman started asking me questions about how to get to Downtown Crossing and excused herself for not having taken the “metro” in a long time. (Probably not since she lived in D.C. or wherever else they might call the T that). For all you non-Bostonians, the Boston Opera House is located about a minute away from the Chinatown stop, on 539 Washington Street. If you intend on driving there for your show, don’t make the same silly mistake as my stepmother and forget to enter the zip code in your GPS! (For the record, it’s 02111).

Anyway, the show of the evening was a magical Indian tale called “La Bayadere”. This ballet performance was incredible, and it never reached a single moment of dullness like ballet sometimes tends to do. If the only show you’ve been to is “The Nutcracker” and you’ve sworn off ballet since, think again. Better yet, pay another visit to the Opera House. The event lasted for three full hours with two intermissions (in other words two opportunities to fill up on champagne!) and the dancers were beyond talented. The costumes were a perfect balance of Indian garb and traditional dancewear, which I previously thought an impossible blend. At one point, the scene turned nearly black, with a deep emerald and sapphire backdrop. The stage had two ramps going across it; one from right to left leading to the second going from left to right until it reached the floor of the stage. Violins were playing ever so softly and the audience was quiet in anticipation. Then the first ballerina began to step out. Her tutu and leotard were glowing in the dark, and as she started stepping down the ramp another ballerina followed. Then one more, and another, and yet another. As the women were coming down the ramp in a slow motion, the backdrop grew gradually lighter. Eventually there were 17 ballerinas making their way down the ramp, like a beautiful strand of pearls. It was in that moment I decided I must see this performance again. It was truly magical.
Unfortunately, at the time of writing this, “La Bayadere” has stopped showing at the Boston Opera House, but I highly suggest checking out http://bostonoperahouseonline.com/Calendar.htm for upcoming events. I know I have my eyes and heart set on “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” in April.

4 O’Clock Beer

ampersandboston — Tue, 26 Oct 2010 00:18:41 +0000

Saturday I had plans to go check out the lanterns I helped put together for the Jamaica Pond Lantern Festival with Spontaneous Celebrations. Before heading over there though, two of my friends and I met up and went to the Sam Adams brewery (also located in Jamaica Plain). As it turned out the MBTA was conducting some type of service on the outbound Orange line, so we had to take one of the shuttles they provided (for free!).

Once we got to the brewery we had to wait about an hour and 40 minutes, which wasn’t a big deal because we were prepared for it. We hung around outside for a while, people watching (an activity I’ve always particularly enjoyed, made even better when the people in question are all buzzed) and spent a few minutes writing free postcards to friends and family. I quickly learned that Sam Adams is quite skilled at marketing. The postcards read “Sam Adams Brewery – Wish you were here!”, and they even provided free postage. The tour tickets were beer bottle labels, and they grouped the tours together by time and kept them separated by types of beer. We were in the unoriginal, but classic, “Boston Lager” group, but the two groups that went before us were “Octoberfest” and “Summer Ale”. The tour itself consisted of walking through the brewery with a witty guy in his 20′s as the appointed tour guide, smelling different kinds of malt, rubbing hops between the palms of our hands, learning about the brewing process, and cheering each time he mentioned alcohol (woot!). Then there was the beer tasting. We sat down in a room with long tables and were handed a tasting glass (for us to bring home after) and then three different kinds of beer were passed out (again, free). The first one was the lager, which we used to learn how to officially taste beer. The next two were “Octoberfest” and “Brick Red”. Of course it was all on tap, and of course it was all very delicious. Slightly buzzed, and with free glass in hand, the three of us decided that we were hungry and should probably walk over to “Doyle’s” for dinner. Since one of us had already been there before, he knew that if we ordered Sam Adams at the restaurant, we’d be able to bring that glass home too. We all ordered “Brick Red”, which is local to Boston by the way, and enjoyed some pretty upscale pub food. The place was the essence of your typical pub, but they offered sweet potato fries and garnished with such delicacies as orange slices and fresh kale. At one point during dinner, my friend announced that we had definitely missed the parade. Oh well. (I will add that I drove by the pond the following night and the way the lanterns lit up the dark October air was magical. Really good & [really] free beer is pretty magical as well).

All photos by: Fanny Littmarck

Boylston Street

ampersandboston — Sun, 24 Oct 2010 16:25:34 +0000

Starbucks. It’s more than just a coffee shop, anyone would agree to that. I mean, they’re all about the augmented product; it’s part of their business model. It’s a home away from home (who hasn’t traveled out of the country for a prolonged period of time and felt a rush of comfortable familiarity upon entering a Starbucks?), it’s an island in stressful times, and it’s always there when you need it the most. In essence it’s a rock. A warm, inviting, well-caffeinated rock. If such a rock ever existed, it would be Starbucks. Anyway, I’m rambling.

So, after my meeting with the Boston Rotaract Club I walked into the Starbucks on Boylston Street, the one near Lord & Taylor (or “Kids & Toys” as my dad once misread it…). Gold Member Sweet 15th Drink coupon in hand, I stumbled up to the counter ready to order a PSL. I was really tired so I also stumbled over my words ordering my Grande Soy Pumpkin Spice Latte. As I excused myself for being exhausted, the barista said “Do you want to make that 3 shots then, you might as well since it’s free?” I happily accepted and went on to ponder how much I love this company. Oh, by the way, the Boylston Street Starbucks has been under construction for a while and I must say it’s coming out well! It has a more modern feel, still cozy but work friendly. There are many tables optimized for laptop use, a large dining room table for those who like to bring their books and coursework, and of course they still offer comfortable seating by the windows. It’s nearly complete, but according to the sign they’re still waiting for some of the furniture to arrive.