...and I was in a hurry to finish school!

Due to Friday's ice storm, Worcester has no school for the rest of the week!

Can you imagine if you were in elementary school -- no school this week, and no school for December vacation next week and the following week? 

That's a whole lot of cartoons you could watch and games you could play!!! (Saved by the Bell reruns! Read: Huge crush on Zack Morris and his cellphone. So cool for 1992.) 

I'm a bit jealous!   I haven't had that much time on my hands since my bout with unemployment.  (...but that got me a chopped-up thumb, and is a story for another day.)

One morning without power was enough...

...but, apparently there are still 12,000  people without power in Worcester (yea, that's twelve THOUSAND, not a typo).

I "Rip van Winkle'd" it, and slept through this "ice storm" we had Thursday night and woke up Friday morning to the precious sound of my boss' voice, "RISE AND SHINE SWEETHEART! WE DONT HAVE POWER SO WE'RE GOING TO PLAY IT BY EAR...MAYBE YOU CAN WORK AT NOON. MAYBE NOT UNTIL THREE.  I JUST DON'T KNOW, LIZZY, EVERYTHINGS A MESS. I'LL KEEP YOU POSTED."  (yea, he really talks in all caps.)

(Whhhaat? No "power?" Thank God I straightened my hair the night before. First things first, right?)

Happy to get an extra hour to sleep, since I wasn't quite prepared to "Little House on the Prairie" it and begin studying by candlelight, I didn't realize how bad our precious city was until I went to Starbucks:  that little side street that connects Flagg and Pleasant was completely blocked off by an enormous tree...so much for my shortcut!  I had to navigate and weave in and out of fallen branches all along the West Side, careful to avoid fallen down power-lines.  (Must.Get.Espresso.)

For our out-of-city readers, here's a picture of the aftermath, courtesy of the Boston Globe:

Read the accompanying article, too, from December 13, "Ice Storm Paralyzes Parts of New England." 

The city is still being cleaned up and I was back to work bronzing Worcester's finest today.  Schools are closed again tomorrow:  Four day weekend for the kiddies (and Momma P)!

BYO Round-Up

Amidst the floudering economy, one of Worcester's most enduring qualities was reinforced for me this weekend: the BYOB restaurant. From some light online reesarch, it seems like it might be a bit difficult (and expsensive) to actually hold a full liquor license in the city. Therefore, many restaurants don't even bat an eye when you bring your own bottle of wine, a few beers, or in one case I heard of, the better part of a keg into a restaurant. Here are some of our favorites (some you may know of, some you should probably suprise a date with a 6-pack and check out!)

Tortilla Sams, Highland Ave - Our first experience with BYOB during our undergrad tenure. The mexican food is great, the service isn't so hot, and it's just a short walk to once you recover from the inflated prices of Highland Liquors. At least the staff has turned over enough there so that they didn't recognize me on Friday night.

West Side Steak & BBQ, Richmond Ave - Nothing says summer like friends, BBQ and Leinies & loitering at Tronic Square. See previous post for further descpription.

Corner Grille, Across the Street - I would stick with Yellow Tail or better, or else you'll just feel out of place at the trendiest pie company in town. Cabernet + Buffalo Chicken or Mad Russian is about the easiest way to this girl's heart!

Le Mirage, June Street - Even though I lived well within the stumble range for this small french restaurant for a year, this is still a must hit for me at some point sometime soon. From the looks of this place, I would also avoid Bud Light. Probably no boxed wine either.

Mac's Diner, Shrewsbury Street- I will assume the body of the restaurant did start out as a typical Worcester diner, however the rest of the facility is some sort of drunken architect's mishmash. Or maybe several architects. However, the food is great and definitely share-ablely portioned.

Lucky's, Grove Street - I've only ever been here for breakfast, and finding out it was BYOB opened up the possibility of Mimosas (or Screwdrivers if you're so inclined) on a Sunday morning. If you'd rather wait until noon, they do lunch (cute sandwiches!) 7 days a week, and dinner Fri & Sat.

Zia, Shrewsbury Street - Another one I haven't tried, but will definitely have to. I hear it's a mostly italian menu, with a few American items thrown in. LP? What are you doing this weekend?

Question of the Day

Question:  Is it a prerequisite to be a twenty-something guido to work at the Verizon kiosk in the mall?

I went to the Auburn Mall today and stopped in my hurried tracks when I saw it:  three guidos working the Verizon kiosk.  It's been a while (maybe a year?) since I've been to the Auburn Mall, I mean, why go there when in just a short ride there's the Mecca that is the Natick Mall Collection.  There, at the Collection, ok:  the North Shore Fist Pumpers can commute in to hustle at the kiosk, but in Auburn, really? 

You can't tell me you haven't noticed all the guys in their borrowed-from-Sonic-the-Hedgehog style blowouts and chinstraps working the Verizon kiosks at the mall, whistling at you as you walk by, "Honey! What cell phone do you have?" (Umm.. a razr and it sucks, thankyouverymuch. Please tell me you did not just come from shooting 100cc's of testosterone in your buddy's ass.)

 

But this observation brings me to my other questions:  Why aren't guidos employed for T-Mobile, AT&T, or Sprint? Do they guido discriminate? Does their orange skin clash with the AT&T logo?*

*Note:  In Jersey, which may or not be a little dirtier than the North Shore (it's debatable) who works at T-Mobile, AT&T, and Sprint? It might be time for a road trip to the Palisades Mall. 

Coming of Age in the City

Many moons ago, I came upon the age of 21. For the trendy WPI student, the rite of passage was some variation of the Boynton & Sole buckets, with the evening inevitably ending at Leitrums.

This post is a bit delayed, but recently my twin brothers came upon the sacred age. I didn't actually go out with them for the evening, as part of my present was to be on Emergency Room Duty (we agreed that this was the best decision for all of us, as I work and at least one of them was likely to need a lil' pump pump pump), but we did have a makeup date. I thought I would dictate what their coming of age would consist of:

Brew City- I feel like this place was introduced as a Boynton alternative. While I hear that it definitely had it's heyday, I am less and less impressed each time I go. Don't get me wrong, I love beer, but I need a little more than the Pomegranate Wheat they had on tap over the summer. Buffalo tenders were not that great, and I hate it when my hummus has a little pool of oil that says "hi, I'm ready to swim around on your thighs."

Jose Murphy's- Potentially the place that is most on the cusp of sketchy/not so much in the whole canal district. It's newer, and the downstairs isn't so bad, but it's a whole new game upstairs. Loud blaring music. The other problem? I don't think they realize T.I. has a new album out- I heard Bring 'Em Out in some form at least twice. When I couldn't take watching my little brother drunk grind any more girls, we left.

The Salty Dog- The walk TO the Salty Dog is potentially one of the scarier transitions in town-it was comforting to look left and right and be looking UP, regardless of how drunk either side was. I have been to the Salty Dog a few times since this evening, and it's an eclectic locale. A few points of interest:

1. They have a mechanical bull.
1a. I won a round on it early on in it's existence
2. After last call you can actually PAY MONEY to be AGGRESSIVELY PADDLED by a very cute bartender (the sound actually reverberates through the bar)
3. It's really well lit for a bar. This could go either way.
4. If you urinate on someone in the restroom, you will be asked to leave.

And with that, the evening ended.