Comella's of the Boston area is a local chain famous for their "messes". That is, they have a secret (vegetarian based) sauce they call a "mess" and on top of that they add all different type of ingredients: veggies, shrimp, sausage, chicken, meatball, eggplant or some combination thereof.
You can order just a plain mess (with penne pasta) or eggplant parm or stuffed shelled (my fav). There's also the old standbys like fettucine, chicken parm, etc. They have a great ravolio selection and I think next time around I'm going to try the spinach gnocchi.
And did I mention it's cheap and fast? It is. Plus the portions are generous. Yum! Especially when you don't feel like cooking because you've been cleaning your house and working on writing all day!
Showing posts with label West Roxbury. Show all posts
Showing posts with label West Roxbury. Show all posts
A Walk Through the Neighborhood
Rene, Maddie and I went for a walk around the neighborhood today. A funny thing happened on Centre St. We found this weird plastic doll, a hipsterish looking chick with one green car and one blue one for her shoes. Isn't that something?Then Rene found a remote control 
at the Corey Street intersection. When we walked passed the post office, I saw a little red box that looks like a bag that had a Guess? logo on the front. Worried that someone had left something valuable behind, I went in to check it out. Nothing inside.
at the Corey Street intersection. When we walked passed the post office, I saw a little red box that looks like a bag that had a Guess? logo on the front. Worried that someone had left something valuable behind, I went in to check it out. Nothing inside. We started to think it was on purpose. Perhaps a live installation by a local artist and there were little cameras around filming people's reactions. Like that Lite Brite terrorist scare a few years ago.
There was even a freaking tiny plastic pink baby seal with white hearts all over it on Maple St. That with the silver hoop earring left on our porch and the green canteen in the yard confirmed it for us.
Widen' My Biwke to Millennium Park, West Roxbury
I went for another bike ride today. This time to Millennium Park in West Roxbury. (Not to be confused with the bigger, more landmark-ish Millennium Park of Chicago, which I still have to do my photo blog of...maybe tonight. We'll see.) Millennium Park of West Roxbury is an old landfill area converted into a huge park. It's right on the Charles River. There's a Nature Conservancy area. It links to the famous Brook Farm, of Transcendentalist fame. And from the top, there's a funny view of the Boston city skyline. You can see the top half of the Hancock (see way below for a ground level photo of the Boston Hancock Tower) and the Prudential. 
I rode down the VFW parkway (about 3 mi) then walked around the park (about 2 mi) then took all side rodes back home (about 3 mi). My thighs are on fire and it hurts to stand up. It the hills that kill me. When I started this bike riding thing, I started in Martha's Vineyard on the bike trails. There's about 2 hills there. Here? A bigillion.
Millennium Park is great, though. 
People were flying kites, walking their dogs, playing soccer and -- the strangest but coolest thing -- shooting off Mr Wizard style rocket. This dad and his kids were shooting off science experiment type rockets off the top of the park. One went all the way up up up to over the Charles, then came back down almost where it was shot off from. Also, there were dozens of grasshoppers jumping across the back of the path. It was the weirdest but neatest thing to see.
The place was jumpin' too. I think we all realized that this would be the last nice leisurely day and soon mean old Novemebr would rear its cold, gray head so we had to skip watching the rest of the Pat's game (won! yay!) and get out in the open air for a bit.
People were flying kites, walking their dogs, playing soccer and -- the strangest but coolest thing -- shooting off Mr Wizard style rocket. This dad and his kids were shooting off science experiment type rockets off the top of the park. One went all the way up up up to over the Charles, then came back down almost where it was shot off from. Also, there were dozens of grasshoppers jumping across the back of the path. It was the weirdest but neatest thing to see.Wonder of Wonder
Miracle of Miracles, again (it's going around these days): today I...finally woke up in my own bed.
It was like a dream. And you were there, giant fan that blows on my whole body and not just my left arm, and you were there, Ikea duvet cover in comfy, soft cotton in orange and purple, and you were there, my beloved books of random, varied and interesting topics, like The Adventures of Robin Hood and Writings by Agnes Martin.
Now I've gone mixed up my musical metaphors, starting with Fiddler and ending with Rainbow. I guess I'm just excited. After all this time it seemed like I would never wake up on something that wasn't a) someone's couch or b) a plastic mattress in a dorm room. It seemed I was dreaming the impossible dream for other circumstances.
Der.
Anyway, it's great to be back! I slept in again because I had a bit of a buzz from driving home at 9 PM, so I didn't sleep until 4. Now I'm poppoing down to get a coffee, then I'm coming back to take my little blanket monster for a w-a-l-k. I sure did miss her and I still can't wait to see my pretty Daisy, either.
Laters.
It was like a dream. And you were there, giant fan that blows on my whole body and not just my left arm, and you were there, Ikea duvet cover in comfy, soft cotton in orange and purple, and you were there, my beloved books of random, varied and interesting topics, like The Adventures of Robin Hood and Writings by Agnes Martin.
Now I've gone mixed up my musical metaphors, starting with Fiddler and ending with Rainbow. I guess I'm just excited. After all this time it seemed like I would never wake up on something that wasn't a) someone's couch or b) a plastic mattress in a dorm room. It seemed I was dreaming the impossible dream for other circumstances.
Der.
Anyway, it's great to be back! I slept in again because I had a bit of a buzz from driving home at 9 PM, so I didn't sleep until 4. Now I'm poppoing down to get a coffee, then I'm coming back to take my little blanket monster for a w-a-l-k. I sure did miss her and I still can't wait to see my pretty Daisy, either.
Laters.
The Answer Is...
Well, last night while I picked up a few cold ones I got the answer to the question that's been haunting me for weeks. I was able to ask the older man who was working behind the counter at Macy's Liquors what the mural was. The story is FANTASTIC and Kara's guess was actually pretty close.
The owners took a snapshot of one of the vineyards of the wines they carry at the store. Then the Mayor (Mayor "Mumbles" Menino) hired this group of Boston Public Schools high school art students to paint it as part of some program. So all the high school art kids looked at the picture and created the giant mural from it.
Isn't that a great story?
I think they should have a plaque ont he wall explaining it, too.
Thus ends the mystery of the mural.
The owners took a snapshot of one of the vineyards of the wines they carry at the store. Then the Mayor (Mayor "Mumbles" Menino) hired this group of Boston Public Schools high school art students to paint it as part of some program. So all the high school art kids looked at the picture and created the giant mural from it.
Isn't that a great story?
I think they should have a plaque ont he wall explaining it, too.
Thus ends the mystery of the mural.
See what I'm talking about?
Here's a photo of that mural on the side of Eliot Macy's Liquors on Centre St that I was talking about a few weeks ago.
If you don't know what I'm talking about, you can go to the post. Still don't know why it's there.
If you don't know what I'm talking about, you can go to the post. Still don't know why it's there.
Alright, I'll Admit It--I'm in Love
I know, I know. It's so early to declare, but after the crab rangoons & water-cress laden veg fried rice I bought at 11:15 last night, which I walked to go pick up, I am ready to declare: I love West Roxbury. Not only was the Chinese food tasty, close by and available late, it only cost $7 and made an excellent dinner then lunch (hence the mid-day, after lunch blog). Now, I know it's early. And I'm sure they'll be plenty I don't like the longer I'm there; there's always something. And it's not Maine, which is Maine and therefore, by nature, better. But people, think about it--I'm moving from Weymouth. There's no way I'm going to sit in my room and think: "I wish I were closer to the Pleasant Shoppes!" Or "I miss the 8000 Dunkin Donuts of Weymouth."
I'm thinking about it here in the middle of the work day because I have to go to Weymouth tonight. Mom and I leave early to get to Bangor for "Prairie Home Companion" tomorrow with the Lewiston clan. [Note: friends in the area, I will only be there for the show and dinner then heading back south. But I will be visiting once this crazy month of May is over. I always liked it a little thinned out up there anyway. May Term was always the funnest time...]
Anyway, I'm trying to figure out how much time I can spend at the apartment before heading to lousy Weymouth.
Alrighty, back to work.
I'm thinking about it here in the middle of the work day because I have to go to Weymouth tonight. Mom and I leave early to get to Bangor for "Prairie Home Companion" tomorrow with the Lewiston clan. [Note: friends in the area, I will only be there for the show and dinner then heading back south. But I will be visiting once this crazy month of May is over. I always liked it a little thinned out up there anyway. May Term was always the funnest time...]
Anyway, I'm trying to figure out how much time I can spend at the apartment before heading to lousy Weymouth.
Alrighty, back to work.
Oh Yeah, One More Thing-The Story of Mural on the Liquor Store
As I was walking from the grocery store back home, I noticed that the side of Macy's Liquors (one of the many liquor stores on Centre St, not the department store chain) has a mural of a farm. Without context, it seems so anathematic. Why on earth would a liquor store have a mural of a farm on it in the city of Boston?
I can't be positive about why, but after a little investigating, here's my guess:
The neighborhood was home to an experimental transcendentalist Utopia community called Brook Farm, which attracted notable figures like Margaret Fuller and Nathaniel Hawthorne whose 1852 novel A Blithedale Romance, is based on his stay there.
I got that from Wikipedia, and then checked the sources (AS EVERYONE MUST DO WHEN IT COMES TO READING THINGS ON WIKIPEDIA) with the U S Register of National Historic Places, American Utopia listing. So, I think that that mural is a nod to the history of the neighborhood. I'm going to the library on Monday. Maybe they'll know.
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