Mount Mansfield + the Winooski River

During the July fourth weekend, I visited idyllic Vermont. 

On July 2nd, my boyfriend and I climbed Mount Mansfield, which is the tallest mountain in the state. It was my second mountain and it was by no means a walk in the park. Last month I started working full-time in an office-they say sitting is the new smoking- and it had been nine months since I completed my first mountain. As we were nearing the top, I actually broke down crying. I truthfully believe hiking is more of a spiritual experience than anything else. There's no better activity to learn mind over matter than climbing a mountain, and though my boyfriend gave me the option to turn around, I couldn't be happier I didn't.  

We climbed Sunset Ridge Trail, which is 3.3 miles. The amazing perk of this route is you get to see above the tree-line half of the way. Another fun fact about Mount Mansfield is it has 200 acres of rare Arctic Tundra. The first mountain I climbed, Camel's Hump (read about my experience there), has a few acres of Arctic Tundra as well. 

The next day, July 3rd, my boyfriend and I rested our sore muscles by tubbing down the Winooski River.  This watershed drains 1,080 square miles in central Vermont, encompasses multiple counties,  is the largest tributary to Lake Champlain, and is approximately 10% of the land area in the Green Mountain State. 

It was my first time tubbing and I didn't know something so relaxing and fun existed. 
For the special occasion, we got a lounger that fits four, has a place to dip your feet, and two coolers, which were perfect for the delectable Vermont craft beer and cider we bought. Here's where you can purchase it! 

 Even though my boyfriend and I ended up spending the fourth of July indoors applying aloe, chugging water, and popping Ibuprofen because we got sun poisoned from four hours of tubbing, I still had the time of my life. Because when you start full adult-ing, any moment you get to be in the place you love is always ideal.  

PEM's Native American Fashion Show + Intersections

When I was attending Salem' So Sweet Chocolate & Ice Festival last Saturday, I also hit up the Peabody Essex Museum to check out two of its' exhibits- the Native American Fashion Show and Intersections.  

The Peabody Essex Museum is considered one of the oldest continuously operating museums in America with its' roots dating back to 1799 with the founding of the East India Marine Society. 

The Native American Fashion Show included fashion spanning the last 50 years of both Native American designers as well as non-Native American designers, who have been inspired by the culture.

I heard about this exhibition last year. I knew it was well recieved, but I still had no idea what to expect when I walked through the PEM's brick and glass exterior. Once in the exhibit, I was left speechless. 

This dress was my favorite. I love the fiery water colors and the head piece. Now if only Cher wore this to the 1988 Oscars.

I don't wear slippers but if I could wear these ones I would! 

The exhibit also displayed street style for us common folks. 

Following that, I went to the newest exhibition at the PEM, which actually opened that day . It's called "Intersections" and it was designed by Pakistani-American artist, 

Anila Quayyum Agha. The significance of the suspended figure, which reflects shadows on the all four walls, is that we are all the same. 

Salem's Oh So Sweet

This weekend Salem, Massachusetts hosted its fourteenth annual, Salem's So Sweet Chocolate and Ice Festival! Though I loathe the winter, seeing the pristine blanket of snow  made all the festivities I saw on Friday and Saturday magical. 

My favorite part was seeing all the ice sculptures. 

Happy Superbowl Sunday, Everyone! 

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The Celtics Vs. The Magic

I’ve completed my first full week of spring classes and on Tuesday I started feeling not so well mentally and physically.  It hit me that I’m graduating in May and that I have much to accomplish within the next fifteen weeks. Additionally, I started experiencing random pelvic pain. Whenever Friday rolls around, it’s always a great thing, but this past one was especially so as I felt it helped me recover from earlier this week. 

The existence of Web MD and Google has made us all become unofficial doctors, and I was happy when I left a medical center on mid-day Friday that what I had wasn’t any of the horrible conditions I found on the scariest depths of the Web. After the appointment, I went to the Celtics Game with my boyfriend, my best friend, and her boyfriend. The Celtics played the Orlando Magic and we got the tickets for a discounted price through our college, Salem State University. 

The Celtics won 113-94. We thought it was going to be a close game, with no shot for a Gino, but in the third quarter the Celtics pushed the lead all the way up to twenty seven points, marking their fifth win in a row! The Celtics are currently in fifth place for the NBA Eastern Conference and hopefully we will see them in the playoffs, which start in April. I will be seeing them again on February 25th when they face the Milwaukee Bucks, who are in thirteenth place for the Eastern Conference, a place behind the Magic. 

Another aspect that made Friday’s night game awesome was it was Isaiah Thomas’ first game since being named an All-Star. Every year, the NBA has an All-Star Game, which is a game played between the best players on the Eastern Conference and the best players on the Western Conference. Thomas is the first Celtics All-Star in three years. It’s a big deal he was selected as many people told him he could never be a professional player because he’s 5’9." 

Source: NBA.com 

It’s not going to be  easy these next four months, but as I take this Sunday to prep for my next week of school, I keep the Celtics on my mind to help me stay motivated and positive. My boyfriend credits his favorite sport team as the reason he returned to college a few years ago and this month we celebrated him earning his bachelors degree! May it be a successful spring for the two of us and the Celtics! 

Read my first blog post about the Celtics here: http://wickedblogger20.blogspot.com/2016/01/first-celtics-game.html

TD Garden 
100 Legends Ways 
Boston, MA 02114 
#617-624-1050 

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Missing Burlington

Today my boyfriend texted me a picture of Church Street in Burlington, Vermont that he took on Christmas Eve. Sometimes when he takes pictures on his phone they look like paintings.  This gem was too pretty not to share here. 

Stay tune for another post tomorrow. Hope you're all having a wonderful weekend! 

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Life Alive

After much deliberation, my boyfriend switched his minor not only to graduate early but to set his trajectory towards the right career path for him. Though I knew right away I would miss doing homework with him on Sundays and talking about classes, I was over the moon. In celebration of his academic achievement, we got lunch at Life Alive in Downtown Salem. 

Life Alive was packed that day with the lunchtime rush. Every time somebody came through the entrance, the cashier had to ask them to file at the back of the line. 

We both got the Sufi Poet- red lentil humus, cranberries, raw cashews, cucumbers, granny apples, shredded carrots, sun-sprouts, spring greens, and Balsamic Vinaigrette. Eating pure, clean ingredients always makes my body feel new. 

What I love about smoothies is they're cool and refreshing whilst being a meal in itself. This right here is the Lust Alive Smoothie- strawberries, bananas, candied ginger, cinnamon, raw cacao, ice cream and rice milk. 

Life Alive is the perfect place to go if your resolution is to take better care of yourself or you are about to start a new chapter of your life. Though my boyfriend and I are still figuring out our futures, I know with the assistance of feel good food from Life Alive we won't be as overwhelmed. 

What's your favorite stress-release food? Have a great weekend! 

Life Alive 

281 Essex Street 

Salem, MA 01970 

#978-594-4644

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First Celtics Game!

If there's one thing people from Massachusetts collectively love it's sports. In fact, if I were to personify the Bay State as a person in a bar, they would be bragging about their  prestigious teams. On Friday January 15th, I went to my first ever Celtics Game and I couldn't have asked for a better time! 

Basketball was actually invented in Springfield, Massachusetts in 1891 by Dr. James Naismith, but the NBA wasn't founded until 1946. The Celtics have the most NBA titles with seventeen championships; they won in 1957, 1959,1960,1961,1962, 1963, 1964, 1965, 1966, 1968,1969, 1974, 1976, 1981, 1984, 1986, and 2008. The Celtics banners are proudly displayed up by the rafters and they always have one pristine banner blank to motivate the team. 

The home of the Celtics is the TD Garden. It opened in 1995 and it puts on about two hundred events per year, including games and concerts. It was second time at the Garden this past Friday having seen Katy Perry there in 2014. 

The Celtics were facing the Phoenix Suns that day. I purchased the tickets as a Christmas present for my boyfriend, a massive fanboy of both the sport and the team. There wasn't any particular reason why I had us go to this match other than I thought it would be fun for us to see a game before heading back to college. After my boyfriend gave me a historical background on the team, I was happy with my choice. The Celtics and Suns faced each other in the 1976 NBA Championship and many basketball enthusiasts consider Game 5 to be the greatest game ever because there ended up being three overtimes! Additionally, fan-fave Isaiah Thomas played for the Suns just last year.

The Celtics won 117 to 103! They acted fast and never allowed the Suns to get ahead. Guard Marcu Smarts made his first triple double of his career at this game, which was the first Celtics triple double to come from a non starter since January 16, 1971! A triple double is when a player makes a double digit number in three of the five statistical categories- points, rebounds, assists, steals, and blocked shots. Smarts earned ten points, eleven rebounds, and ten assists as well as making two steals and two blocks.

Whenever the Celtics win by a landslide, the TD Garden plays a clip from Dick Clark's American Bandstand where a group of people are dancing to the Bee Gees' "You Should Be Dancing." Fans go nuts when when this dancer clad in a Gino Vannelli t-shirt comes on. This tradition is known as "Gino Time" and it is not uncommon to find people wearing the shirt at games. 

My goals that night were to appear on the jumbotron and win a t-shirt  thrown into the crowds by one of the cheerleaders and they both happened! 

I'd say this January's theme has been that of love and  basketball. Not only have I started watching the Celtics for the first time in my life, my boyfriend and I have started playing together. 

Another reason that made that the game special was seeing mentoring programs being recognized as my boyfriend is a mentor himself for a behavioral service. There was a mentoring program doing a 50-50 raffle and a women was honored for her work with high risk teenagers. 

Attending the game, I discovered a person can learn a lot about happiness and perseverance by taking a page from a Celtics fan's book. They have literally seen basketball giants come and go and consecutive championships followed by decades with no titles, yet their passionate for the team is unwavering. 

Have you ever been to a Celtics game? What was it like? 

TD Garden 
100 Legends Ways 
Boston, MA 02114 
#617-624-1050 

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