Greetings! Things have been absolutely insane in my corner of the universe lately. This past week I turned 24, which is kind of a boring birthday. It’s the official entrance into the “mid-20s”, I suppose, but I still can’t rent a car in every state, so it’s underwhelming at best.

The night before my birthday, my work sponsored an outing to Muse Paintbar at Patriot Place. The concept: an artist gives you a step-by-step tutorial and you paint a masterpiece while sipping drinks. We of course didn’t drink, because it was a professional excursion, but the experience was an absolute blast! I didn’t think I could paint to save my life but my painting actually came out pretty cool! The owner of my store even asked me if I was an artist…oh, the flattery!

The above is the only known photo of my painting. It’s in my house now, but it feels vain and strange to take a pic of a painting that I did just to share on social media. Perhaps when it’s hung and our walls are painted, I’ll sneak it into a picture. I was glad that my coworker (above right) was able to make it to the event, so we could have an unofficial department photo taken. These are my favorite ladies. It was so great to kick off my birthday week with such a creative, interactive experience. I will definitely be doing my Bachelorette party there!

On the night of my birthday, my dad showed up at my place with a guitar! I now officially own a guitar! I grew up surrounded by them, and learned at a young age, but never had one to call my own. Best present EVER.

Since my birthday fell on a Wednesday this year, I didn’t get to celebrate until Friday. I spent the morning on a shopping spree with my mother, so I basically have an entirely new fall wardrobe. I’m pretty excited about it. I had made plans to go into Boston with my best friend, but since the timing and weather were iffy, we opted to drive into JP and coffeeshop/bar-hop. Yes, yes, yes, I know my last post was about quitting drinking, and as a rule, that has been the case. But it was my BIRTHDAY. The resolutions I made to myself about drinking guided me throughout my celebration, and responsible fun was had.

We kicked things off at 7 Pond, a relatively new and gorgeous coffee bar on (you guessed it!) Pond street in JP. The coffee was amazing, the décor was sparse and totally on point, and the barista working was cute as hell and very sweet. I’ll definitely be back.

Next we went to Brendan Behan Pub, which has been around for years and which everyone just calls “The Behan”. It’s a pretty standard Irish pub, but it’s got great beers on tap and the bartender had a freaking tattoo of JFK on his hand. I was sold. Apparently, it’s also a huge grad student haunt, which is how my friend knew about it. She just submitted her thesis—she was always the smarter one. I got a Downeast Cider, and then the cool bartender made me a cocktail involving tequila and grapefruit bitters. It was a revelation.

We were meeting my father, his girlfriend, and my fiancé for dinner at Acapulco, but were running early, so we stopped at Canary Square for a drink and a snack. I adored Canary Square. With the exception of the seafood smell (which some might find appealing, but I find revolting), it was the perfect spot for drinks. I had the house-made chips & dip and a Vida Loca, which is mezcal, aperol, triple sec, lemon, and grapefruit bitters. I can’t wait to go back to try their weekend brunch!

Finally, we capped off the night by eating way too many mole enchiladas at Acapulco. I’d say it was a very successful, low-key birthday.

The rest of the past week has been a haze of work, redecorating, and preparing for school. My birthday always heralds transition: summer ends, school begins, the humidity eventually (finally) goes away. I’m glad I got to have one last hurrah before I turn into a zombie 6 days a week.

Until next time,

DellaBites