My friend, Jesse is a bit of a computer nerd and switched up his iPhone so Siri is a bit sassy. I have to admit, I might like Siri more if she responded like this.
Previous Silly Siri responses: Santa lives on Fire Island and Lavern & Shirley.
The Boston Globe reported earlier this week that Restoration Hardware is opening its RH Historic Gallery on March 7 in the Back Bay space formerly occupied by Louis Boston.
The 40,000-square-foot landmark building has been completely restored and will feature the home furnishing chain’s largest full-line design gallery. This new flagship store will focus on selling luxury home goods, but more importantly will bring life to a building that has stood empty since Louis Boston moved to the Seaport District in 2010.
Perhaps you’ve seen this already on Facebook. For those not familiar with the Boston accent, this is actually quite accurate. And for the record, yes, once upon a time I spoke just like this. For the price of a martini I can trot out the accent with surprising ease.
Victory Programs (A.K.A. The Living Center) is holding their annual Dinnerfest fundraiser later this month on Sunday, February 24th from 3-6PM at The Brahmin Restaurant in Boston in the South End. Proceeds will go to help their clients, many of whom are HIV+.
This fundraiser has been going on in Boston for years and helps this organization provide critical services to our community. With more than 100 packages from Boston’s best restaurants it provides you with an opportunity to feel good about donating to a worthy charity and getting a chance to bid on dining packages from some of the best restaurants in Boston.
Mark the date in your calendar, and buy your tickets to the event here.
Last week when we were at the W in Vieques, we stepped off the property to have dinner in the island town of Isabella 2. Before hopping in a taxi back to the the resort, we stopped at the local grocery store to pick up some nutritious snacks. I could not help but notice the placement and similarity of GIROs.
Strictly for test marketing purposes we picked up a package o GIROs (which sold for about $2 less than Oreos) to sample these cookies. After eating an entire package, I determined that GIROs are the Puerto Rican version of Hydrox cookies. Similar in look and taste but not quite the real thing.
It was pointed out by a reader that I had not posted an Asian man in a long time for my weekly Temptation Tuesday posts so I wanted to rectify that with this handsome man in a tiny yellow swimsuit. This week’s post is for you Andrew.
This can be all yours courtesy of Sky Mall for $24.95
I have not ridiculed Sky Mall shoppers yet this year, so with a 7 hour flight (you read that correctly) from Boston to San Francisco last week I found myself with ample time to peruse the Early Spring 2013 catalog. While there were many items that left me scratching my head wondering “Who buys this crap?“, none had me more baffled than the Mounted Squirrel Head. The write up in the catalog is even more laughable…”Ok, so you didn’t bag this bad boy in person.But you know you would if you could, so we did it for you…“
Sold on the Sky Mall catalog for only $499
I should mention that I felt the Mademoiselle Haute Couture Floor Lamp Statue should receive an honorable mention as well.
I assume the buyer of this product probably purchased the A Christmas Story leg lamp which they sold in their 2012 holiday edition catalog.
For those who also follow me on Twitter, you would have received intermittent commentary and images that included everything from the spectacular ocean views to the equally spectacular men who caught my eye. To be fair, most guests did not bear any resemblance to my two favorites — appropriately referred to on Twitter as #SexyMarriedGuy (top left) and #HandsomeStraightGuy (top right), but that was fine because I would’ve developed a complex faster than a 13 year old can recite lyrics to Justin Bieber’s song As long as you love me if everyone there looked like this.
Which are you partial to – #SexyMarriedGuy or #HandsomeStraightGuy?
Steve Annear a reporter for BostInno posted this photo on Twitter last month. Clearly this local CVS understands the value in cross-marketing. With Valentine’s Day later this week, I thought the photo more than appropriate.
Source: Newspix
Like this baby koala in Brisbane, I need my morning drink to start my day too.
While staying at the W Spa and Resort in Vieques, we primarily dined at the restaurant and during the day – poolside at the bar. While one can grab a sandwich or burger from the bar menu, dinners are only served at Sorce. The hotel restaurant prices are similar to what you would pay at a nice restaurant in Boston with cocktails costing ~ $15 and main dishes ranging from $22 to $38. Although the food was mostly quite good, I preferred their breakfast menu. Sadly two of our favorite items, the pancakes and the huevos rancheros I failed to photograph, partly because they were inhaled so quickly. 
Our favorite meal came at the suggestion of one of the locals who told us about Sabores, a restaurant in Isabel II (a town 15 minutes away by car) or approximately $10 cab fare from the W. From the oustide, Sabores looks to be nothing special, but the inside is brightly decorated and the food is delicious. 
I started our dinner with the two large crab cakes shown above ($12), which were the best I’ve had in recent memory and something I would suggest to anyone who asked. After the shared appetizer was cleared, I had Mofongo ($19). For those unfamiliar with Mofongo, it is a fried plantain-based dish from Puerto Rico that is served with meat in a tomato and chicken broth sauce. The savory meal is both hearty and addicting and I’m embarrassed to admit I ate the entire meal – barely giving Sergio the chance to get a few bites in edgewise. All told, our dinner at Sabores came to $70 with tax and tip included.
If you are visiting Vieques and are curious to check out the restaurant note that Sabores is open Wednesday to Sunday from 6 – 10pm. Call ahead to make reservations at, (787) 741-7000
If you do visit Vieques, nearly everyone will tell you to book the bioluminescent tour in mosquito bay. Unfortunately we were not able to capture by photo the tour experience other than the one of me goofing around before the tour started (see below) so I’ve swiped this image which doesn’t exactly resemble the kayaks we used but is close enough to give you an idea of what this is like.
We arranged our tour at the W Hotel and the cost, which included transport to and from the hotel, was $50 per person. We were picked up and dropped off about 20 minutes away from the hotel in a large field with our friendly guide who was preoccupied with getting the group assembled (there were 7 of us total). He then invited us into what he referred to as his “Shaggy” – think Scooby Doo – van; for the record it actually had shag carpeting inside. Our guide drove us through a narrow bumpy path to mosquito bay where we hopped into kayaks and spent the next 45 minutes exploring the bay. Our guide was both humorous and knowledgeable. We really enjoyed the entire experience and loved kayaking out under the stars.
Suggestions / Comments: We took the 6PM tour with kayaks and this gave us the opportunity to return to our hotel by 8:30pm to grab a dinner and talk about the experience. While I believe some still snorkel or swim in Mosquito Bay, it is strongly discouraged as it is disturbing and disrupting the ecosystem. The company we used and, which I’d recommend is called Bieque Eco Trips.
The W Hotel in Vieques includes a spa, which was directly behind our room and which I passed each day when I would go to use the property’s gym. I promised myself if I worked out each day while visiting, I would treat myself to a massage before leaving so on our final day I arranged to have a one hour massage. My masseur was a youngish looking man named Marcos. After meeting in the spa’s lobby, he escorted me to one of the private rooms. While Marcos was more than competent and worked out a surprising number of knots in my back, the experience was worthwhile because of the setting. The grounds, the private room and of course the fantastic, private outdoor shower, which I used after the massage made the experience even more relaxing and peaceful. I have to admit the rest of the day I felt fantastic and slept like a baby that night. If you are curious about visiting the property and using the spa, you can see a full range of their services by visiting their website here. 
I recently returned from my stay at the W Spa and Resort in Vieques, Puerto Rico, and I wanted to share my thoughts about this property. The grounds are immaculately maintained and the property is beautiful, but if you are to book here, I would strongly recommend the rooms that overlook Whisper Beach in buildings 100, 200, or 300 — they not only have spectacular views, but are much more private. 
Our room (221) was on the second floor and although you cannot see it in the photos above, the balcony is quite large and fairly private. This sense of seclusion was only enhanced by the fact that the property was mostly empty while we were visiting which was more than fine with me.
Sergio spent most of his time laying out by the two beautiful pools. I spent more time relaxing in one of the many hammocks or sitting by the poolside bar, although I did make sure to spend some time each afternoon at Whisper Beach / Cove, which our room overlooked. The water was warm and shimmered with those blue-green colors you associate with the Caribbean.
The property is quite expensive, but I was able to use my Starwood Points to ensure that all we had to pay for was nominal fees and whatever we ate and drank. In spite of the cost, I still am glad to have visited this property and thought spending 4-nights was the perfect amount of time. If I’d spent more time, I would have wanted to get off of the property to explore the island more. If that would be your intent, then I would suggest renting a house rather than incurring the costs associated with staying at a resort.
Getting There: We were able to fly non-stop from Boston to San Juan Puerto Rico then connect with Cape Air to the island. The W actually has a sleek lounge for guests waiting to leave or to be picked up and driven to the property which is about 1 mile away, making the entire trip really easy. The W can also easily arrange transport off the property; depending on where you go and how often you want to leave the property, renting one of the many jeeps (also available at the property) might be a better decision. For our two jaunts off the property arranging taxi transport ($10 each way for the two of us) was more sensible.
More To Come: We really did have a fantastic trip and I plan on writing a bit more about the food, the spa at the W and of course the island of Vieques, Puerto Rico.
Carnaval celebrations in Brazil start tonight and will conclude on Tuesday. Nowhere is the party more impressive than in Rio de Janeiro where according to Wikipedia, the festival brings out more than 2 million people everyday.
Bom Carnaval
BosGuy 