BostonZest

Dot by Dot: Recent Work by Artist Bob Oppenheim

Tonight, a show of recent work by our friend, Bob Oppenheim opens at the Trustman Art Gallery at Simmons College. This is a great opportuntiy to not only see some of Bob's work but also to add another venue for exploring art to your leisure time list. The gallery exhibits the work of professional artists and has a yearly exhibition of student work.

Dot by Dot

April 30-June1, 2012

Monday through Friday 10 a.m. - 4:30 p.m

Gallery reception, Tuesday May 1, 5pm-7pm

Closed May 18th

Trustman Art Gallery
Main College Building, Fourth Floor
300 The Fenway, Boston, MA 02115-5898 (map)

What's on your Mother's Day shopping list? Remember to click over to Amazon from here to support this site!

Details:

Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino
Photography: © 2012 Penny & Ed Cherubino

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Sunday Dog, Ginger Has a New Home!

Ginger is a very lucky Sheltie, she’s found a new home in Boston. Actually, this four year old beauty told us that the finding part was done by her new person with the help of New England Sheltie Rescue. Ginger admitted, “I never made it to the available page [of the website] ... I had a perfect applicant waiting for me!”

As soon as we saw this pair, it was obvious they were a match that was meant to be.

Ginger had only been in town for a week (when these photos were taken), but already seemed comfortable with the neighborhood. She came right up to us to say hello and get pats. Her new pal told us, “She goes up to every dog, no matter how big, and they don’t growl at her. She’s not afraid. She’s so friendly.”

More formally known as a Shetland Sheepdog this Scottish breed is extremely loyal, loves to please, and is very good at taking direction. In fact, when it comes to brain power, Shelties are ranked sixth in Stanley Coren’s “The Intelligence of Dogs.” 

After spending some quality time together, we left Ginger to keep an eye out for more new friends. She’ll undoubtedly develop a big following. I wonder if she has a facebook page, yet? See ya, girl.

Get to know all of our Sunday Dogs at Boston Dogs.

Would you like to adopt a beautiful companion like Ginger? There are some resources to help you make your decision and get your life together off to a great start. This book from PetFinder, Petfinder.com The Adopted Dog Bible: Your One-Stop Resource for Choosing, Training, and Caring for Your Sheltered or Rescued Dog is one of our favorites.

 
Details:
Words: Ed Cherubino
Photography: © 2012 Penny Cherubino  

Note on Comments: We monitor comments constantly and anything that is pure spam, inappropriate, or nasty is swept away. In addition to readers comments, we welcome hearing from the people, places, and services we cover. Often those add a great insights for our readers. As long as it doesn’t become a pure ad, we’d love to hear from you. We do reserve the right to edit ads out of comments.

 

Completed and Stunning: The Provincetown Library

After watching the progress of its renewal for years, it was a great pleasure to see the Provincetown Library completed and totally beautiful on a recent visit. 

Here's a bit about the history of the library and the building.

Related Posts:

Clams Card, Don't Go To Cape Cod Without it!

Our Provincetown Post Collection: We just love this place!

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Details:
Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino
Photography: © 2012 Penny & Ed Cherubino  

Note on Comments: We monitor comments constantly and anything that is pure spam, inappropriate, or nasty is swept away. In addition to readers comments, we welcome hearing from the people, places, and services we cover. Often those add a great insights for our readers. As long as it doesn’t become a pure ad, we’d love to hear from you.

Jazz Week 2012, April 27 to May 6: Our Friday Link

The sound of Jazz will be in the air around Greater Boston for the next ten days as we celebrate Jazz Week 2012. In addition to many ticketed events, you'll find lots of opportunites to enjoy free or low cost events.

Boston resident and Jazz musican David Bond on sax (above) says, “Boston is such a vibrant community because of the students, and because of the concerts, and Jazz Week is a perfect way of promoting it."

JazzBoston says, "In observance of UNESCO's November 10 decision to proclaim April 30 of each year as International Jazz Day, JazzBoston has adopted an international theme for its 6th annual presentation of Jazz Week throughout the Greater Boston area this spring. For 10 days from April 27 to May 6, Jazz Week '12 International will put the spotlight on the cultural diversity that gives the Greater Boston jazz scene its unique flavor. Hundreds of talented musicians, both home grown and from around the world, will perform in over 90 venues in and around the city, and special cross-cultural collaborations will highlight the power of jazz to create unity from diversity."

What's on your Jazz shopping list? Remember to click over to Amazon from here to support this site!

Details:

Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino
Photo: courtesy of David Bond
Screen Shot: courtesy of JazzBoston

Note on Comments: We monitor comments constantly and anything that is pure spam, inappropriate, or nasty is swept away. In addition to readers comments, we welcome hearing from the people, places, and services we cover. Often those add a great insights for our readers. As long as it doesn’t become a pure ad, we’d love to hear from you.

Mother's Day Dining in Boston 2012

Time to make reservations, if you plan to treat Mom to a meal out on Mother's Day, May 13, 2012.

This is an outdated post, click here for our Mother's Day Dining 2014, Reserve Now for May 11th

Keep in mind that in Boston, this "treat Mom to a great meal day" falls at the beginning of graduation season in Boston with Emmanuel College, Boston Conservatory, Fisher College, Emerson College, and Berklee College of Music holding commencements that weekend. (Here's the full list of Spring 2012 Commencement Dates for planning purposes.)

If your budget is tight, take Mom out for breakfast or treat her to breakfast in bed!

For Mother's Day dining ideas, here are three excellent lists of restaurants with special menus and hours for May 13, 2012.

Don't be surprised if some places require a credit card to secure the reservation. This is the type of holiday when people may book multiple restaurants and decide where to go at the last moment. That can make the restaurant turn away other potential customers, so a guarantee may be needed to reserve.

OpenTable always does a great job guiding you to the right reservation. What's more, you can just click through and reserve from this list. 

Boston Chefs has a list of specials for the day from list from their members.

Gayot lists favorite brunches.

Our picks

With a gathering of family members with different food preferences, it's great to know about a place like Eastern Standard where they can please the cocktail lover, the meat and taters brother, and the family epicure.

Sometimes, family meals can use a bit of entertainment mixed in with the food. The Top of the Hub is perfect for this. They'll have prix fixe, 4-course brunch and dinner menus on Mother's Day with live jazz in the lounge for both meals. You'll also receive complementary passes to the Skywalk Observatory above the restaurant on the 50th floor. That will give part of your day a 360 degree view of Boston and the surrounding area. 

If Mom is a seafood lover, call now to secure a table at Island Creek Oyster Bar. This Kenmore Square restaurant has established itself as the best fine dining seafood restaurant in Boston. Your family will enjoy the best in seafood, in a big comfortable room, with reservations, and service that will make Mom feel spoiled. 

And, for the best gift, let her choose something from her wish list. Get an Amazon gift card! You can send it by email or print it out to tuck into a greeting card.



Details:
Writers: Penny & Ed Cherubino
Photo: istockphoto.com

Note on Comments: We monitor comments constantly and anything that is pure spam, inappropriate, or nasty is swept away. In addition to readers comments, we welcome hearing from the people, places, and services we cover. Often those add a great insights for our readers. As long as it doesn’t become a pure ad, we’d love to hear from you.

Artu's Roasted Lamb & Eggplant Sandwich: A Boston Essential

The "Agnello Arrosto" or rotisserie leg of lamb with marinated eggplant sandwich at Artu in the North End and on Beacon Hill is one of those menu items that you really should try if you want to understand the range of Boston food options. 

"Agnello Arrosto" or rotisserie leg of lamb with marinated eggplant sandwich at Artu

After some sandwich chatter on Chowhound, we stopped by the bar at Artu on Prince Street and ordered this Boston classic. It's one of those old favorites that slipped off our mental menu list.

This side of the sandwich showed the lamb better.

This experience gave us the idea of changing our Food: Best Bites category to Food: Best Bites & Boston Essentials. We'll be covering more area classics, like this, in the months ahead. It will give us a perfect excuse to forgo the new and visit old favorites. 

If you are new to Artu, you should know that they have a reputation for making customers happy by letting them customize their food when possible. The Chowhounds have added things like provolone, roasted pepper, and broccoli rabe to their Artu selections.

What you get if you go for the straight-off-the-menu version is a soft grinder-style roll, filled with a pile of thinly sliced lamb off the rotisserie, moistened with a bit of au jus, and covered with strips of slightly spicy, marinated eggplant. 

Add a nice big pour of a Primitivo or Chianti and you have a great meal.

Related posts: More of our Food: Best Bites & Boston Essentials.

What's on your Amazon shopping list? Remember to click over to Amazon from here to support this site!

 

Details:

Artu (North End)

6 Prince Street, Boston, MA 02113 (map & reviews)

(617) 742-4336

Artu (Beacon Hill)

89 Charles Street, Boston, MA 02114 (map & reviews)

(617) 227-9023

Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino
Photography: © 2012 Penny  Cherubino  

Note on Comments: We monitor comments constantly and anything that is pure spam, inappropriate, or nasty is swept away. In addition to readers comments, we welcome hearing from the people, places, and services we cover. Often those add a great insights for our readers. As long as it doesn’t become a pure ad, we’d love to hear from you. We reserve the right to edit ads out of comments.

Don't Wait for Lilac Sunday, Plan an Arboretum Visit This Week

Walking around the city last weekend, we noticed the scent of lilacs in the air. We enjoyed seeing some wonderful, old bushes at Titus Sparrow Park. And, a recent post by A Proper Bostonian also featured lilacs.

If you look forward to Lilac Sunday at the Arnold Arboretum each year, we suggest you schedule two visits this spring. One this week or weekend to see the lilacs, and one on May 13th to enjoy the events planned for Lilac Sunday– also the only day of the year when you can have a picnic at the Arboretum.

Related Posts:

Lilac Sunday- So Many Good Reasons for An Arboretum Visit

Lilac Weekend at the Arboretum

Here's a link to a book on Boston's Gardens and Greenspaces from one of our favorite publishers, Union Park Press. Plus, The First Fifty Years of the Arnold Arboretum.

   

Details:
Arnold Arboretum

125 Arborway, Boston, MA‎ (map & reviews)

617-524-1718‎

www.arboretum.harvard.edu

Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino
Photos: © 2010 Penny Cherubino

Note on Comments: We monitor comments constantly and anything that is pure spam, inappropriate, or nasty is swept away. In addition to readers comments, we welcome hearing from the people, places, and services we cover. Often those add a great insights for our readers. As long as it doesn’t become a pure ad, we’d love to hear from you. We do reserve the right to edit ads and links out of comments.