The Joys of June

Where on earth did the month of June go?! I feel like I blinked and it was over! Despite its fleeting presence, I somehow managed to pack a lot in. Here's a round up of the things I ate / saw / made / did this month to kick off summer in the city that didn't get a post all their own.

Not that they each didn't deserve one.

Ice Cream Sundae @ Emack & Bolio's

Nothing embraces hot summer evenings (hey, there has been a select few) like a trip for ice cream sundaes. It's always all about gelato where I live in Little Italy, but when I crave actual ice cream I head just outside the neighborhood confines to Emack & Bolio's at Long Wharf. A scoop of ice cream or three hits the spot. Their batches are fresh made weekly with the highest quality ingredients and extracts. My go-to flavor is the Grasshopper Pie which contains creme de menthe liquor with Oreo chunks and chocolate flakes. Top it with warm gooey hot fudge, fresh whipped cream and thick chunks of peanuts and pecans and you've got a treat that says summer like nothing else.

Paul Simon Concert at The House of Blues.

Located on Lansdowne Street across from Fenway Park, The House of Blues is always a fun venue for live music and dancing. My whole life I've been wanting to see Paul Simon in concert. I grew up to the tunes of Graceland, it still ranks up there as one of my favorite albums of all time. He played a number of songs off that album and many more of the classic tunes I know and love him for. It was a truly memorable evening and I hope he comes back to Boston soon!

Layered Taco Salad - recipe courtesy of Chelsee @ We Are Not Martha.

See, I do cook sometimes. If you consider browning beef and prepping ingredients for a salad cooking. Actually, I should give myself a little more credit since the recipe calls for making your own taco seasoning and mixing dressing from scratch.
This salad was so good and yielded an insane amount of leftovers. I ate it every day for lunch the entire week after I made it. Thanks so much to Chelsee for the recipe inspiration.

Boating in Essex, MA

My sister's boyfriend grew up nearby, and some of his friends were nice enough to invite us out on their boats for the day. This picturesque coastal New England town on the North Shore of Massachusetts is home to beaches and waterways perfect for boating, relaxing, drinking, grilling, swimming and fishing.Which is just what we did on Saturday, June 18th. Gorgeous and sunny, with no rain in sight until the final boatride home, where we experienced a heavy downpour followed by a rainbow spanning its full arch across the marsh. It was a rare breathtaking sight - my camera was packed safely away from the rain. Hopefully the rest of the landscape views suffice. We drank vodka raspberry lemonades and grilled some marinated shrimp, along with burgers and chicken. This is what summer days are made for! I felt incredibly blessed for this day since I am usually mulling about the city.

Belgian Poutine ($8) @ Saus

One of my favorite spots to open this year is Belgian street food haven turned city household name, Saus. If you're local, you've probably been. Or should I say, hopefully you've been. If you haven't you'll definitely want to check it out, stat! The team at Saus perfects the art of fusing traditional Belgian frites into this infamous dish native to Canada and the very Northern parts of Maine and New Hampshire. Hand cut potatoes are deep fried and piled with heaping helpings of dense haphazardly shaped cheddar cheese curds, then slathered with rich, made-from-scratch savory brown gravy. The cheese curds are mildly salty with a unique springy texture that makes them rather fun to eat. Thick and silky, the gravy coats the crispy fries without overwhelming their texture.

I crave this dish on a fairly regular basis!

Chicken Stir Fry w/ Edamame Slaw

This ones all my own. It combines frozen edamame, shredded carrots, shredded cabbage and cilantro with chicken in a ginger-soy-terriyaki sauce. It was a delicious quick and easy creation. Did the month of June fly by for anyone else?! What are you looking forward to in July?

Let The Drummer Kick

Eclectic beats backed by bear-it-all lyrics; deeply personal and intensely powerful references to grief, love, American culture and never giving up. A tough to categorize mix of hip-hop, blues and folk music, sung with passion and conviction, Citizen Cope barely opens his mouth but that soothing raspy voice and his relaxed stage presence have the crowd mesmerized. Concert goers sway to the beat and attempt to remember the words, while fantasizing about smoking a j with him backstage. (What?! the man exhaled a puff as he entered stage right!) Citizen Cope is one of my favorite singer/songwriters who a friend turned me onto with a mixed CD back in college. My sister and I saw him acoustic two years ago at the Orpheum Theater (front row, hanging onto every word) and last night backed by his band at The House of Blues. His music is versatile in the sense that the same song can be comforting and mellow or one to let loose and (sway) jam out to. I could listen to him on repeat, day after day and never tire. (In fact, I do.) I don't have a particularly vast repertoire of artists I listen to and I am by no means knowledgeable on the new music scene. But to cling to certain songs and grow accustomed to the repeat button is truly a beautiful thing. A night of dancing to them live with a beer in hand next to someone who loves them just as much as you is even better.

I realize Citizen Cope is not mainstream music, (fans are gasping, but it is true, a lot of people don't know the man) so for those of you mumbling to yourselves Citizen who? And those of you with an open mind, I'll leave you with some videos of my favorites. Pick and choose, skip them all together (though I wouldn't recommend it) or get hooked. My apologies in advance for the bumpy ride and the fuzzy views. It's the sound that counts!

Bullet And A Target

Let The Drummer Kick

Penitentiary
I had a video of Sideways in the encore performance, but it didn't want to upload. Other favorites include: If There's Love, Son's Gonna Rise, Hurricane Waters, Pablo Picasso (ah heck, they're all favorites.)
This was my first time attending a concert at this venue since it was re-named The House of Blues (formerly The Avalon / Axis Nightclub) though the atmosphere retained in my memory, from a past concerts is pretty much the same! Security is tight so don't be surprised when they check your ID and tickets multiple times at various checkpoints on the street and as you enter (true story) and then proceed to split you up, guys line, girls line, and thoroughly search you. The whole nine, I'm talking the pat down to she literally opened every zipper pocket in my purse and searched in my wallet. We look sketchy, I know.The House of Blues sits on Lansdowne Street across from Fenway Park. There is a restaurant on the premises, although we didn't check it out. They offer a full bar (and will steal your nips at the door if you try to sneak any in.) The majority of the venue is standing room with a few seats located on the upper levels.Be prepared for a crowd. But this is a concert, so you knew that. The doors for this show opened at 7:00. We arrived around 8:30 and they went on at about 9:30. You don't need to get there super early to get a good spot, unless you are legit looking for front row. We meandered around the bar and probably stood in our location (shot above) from about 9:00 on.
We ran into a few high school friends from Cape Cod at the show! We had ourselves a blast and felt sorry for whoever has to clean this mess.

Post concert we made our way to The Lower Depths (which you will find a more in depth review of here, pun intended) for some grub at the bar.I drank a Cisco Pumple Drumkin ($6). I thought until just now that the menu read "Pumpkin Drumkin". It is a pumpkin beer and comes very highly recommended by the bartender, who is a super nice guy. I know we've met before and I can't seem so remember his name....but he was friendly and chatted with us as we attempted to sober up with Cheese Quesadillas ($7). Insanely good homemade salsa and guacamole accompanies; Leah and I devoured these and paid the tab as we realized it was 12:30 and we needed to catch the last Green Line train home.

In December Drinking Horchata...

It's not December. I'm not drinking Horchata. I've got the lyrics from Horchata the debut song on Vampire Weekend's sophomore album Contra ringing through my head, among other songs. This past Sunday night Vampire Weekend performed at Boston's Bank of America Pavilion. The last time I saw VW in concert was in December of 2008 at The Orpheum Theater, one of Boston's smaller concert venues. They were seemingly less popular, performing songs off of their self-titled debut album. (Album pictures x2 credit)They put on a kick-ass show then and I've been pretty infatuated with their music ever since. One album and a bigger venue later, I was thrilled for their return to Boston. What was once appropriately named the Harbor Light's Pavilion, this outdoor amphitheater with a seating capacity of approximately 5,000 is one of my favorite summer concert venues. Opening sets included The Beach House and The Dum Dum Girls. I'm not familiar with either band, and I'm pretty sure we arrived as the second set was playing. The girls and I grabbed some extra large beers and took not our assigned seats but seats at the tables surrounding the outskirts of the tent.
It's a fun spot to hang out and take in the scene. We stuffed our faces with chicken fingers and french fries (thanks Ash!)Not gonna lie I was pretty tired after adventures in Vermont. The girls showed up at my place around 5:30 with 6 packs a plenty so we had a good pre-game session before cabbing over to the Pavilion. Before we knew it, we claimed our seats and the headlining act was on.
They opened with Holiday.Their encore performance was Mansard Roof and a grand finale of Walcott. And everything in between was absolutely incredible. There is not one song they could play that would disappoint or leave me thinking "No wait, play that one instead." Every song is a favorite, every song invigorates my spirit. Many of the concert-goers would agree with me.
(No really, what is that picture?)Vampire Weekends stage presence is simple consisting of four males; 2 guitarists, a drummer and a keyboard player. Their music on the other hand is anything but.
Although influenced by a wide variety of sound and aesthetics, they resembles nothing so much as themselves. That is an odd sentence, but to let it sink in and state what I really mean - I can't even describe, compare or categorize their music. Their sound is unmistakable, infectious and alive. The lyrics are breezy and powerful all at the same time.From Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa (yes they sing about Cape Cod! and no, they are not from there), to White Sky, to A-Punk, to I Think UR A Contra, to One (Blake's Got A New Face) - the crowd goes crazy for Blake, to Cousins, to Giving Up The Gun, to why don't I stop listing the songs because they played them all. They rocked the stage.Our seats were pretty great, too! But honestly, there isn't a bad seat at this venue.
I know I haven't gotten a chance to focus on Boston restaurants lately, but the music scene in this city thrives and it would not be right to omit such experiences from the blog. Plus, have I ever steered you guys wrong before?! If you thought Vampire Weekend was just another crazy Twilight-esque / True Blood / what the heck is this Vampire fad? / type of deal you were sorely mistaken! Download some tunes and thank me later. Or proclaim your love for them in the comments and it becomes just one more thing we have in common!!