Boston: Day 3, Harvard University

We couldn't go to the Boston area without seeing Harvard. So we just walked around like tourists (but feeling very collegiate!). Honestly, Harvard has the most beautiful campus I have ever seen:

Harvard Yard

University Hall

A statue of John Harvard

Harry Elkins Widener Memorial Library

Memorial Church

Memorial Hall

Littauer Center

Langdell Hall

I was totally like, "There are some smarties in there right now inventing something totally mind-blowing. Like the next Facebook or some shit."

Yeah, that's why I didn't go to Harvard.

But we stopped by The Coop to buy some Harvard stuff (er, a hoodie and a coffee mug) to feel more collegiate (a.k.a. smarter) at home!

Side note: The iPhone takes pictures so much better in natural light.

Boston: Day 3, Bertucci's

We went to Bertucci's in Cambridge for lunch (right by Harvard Square), where I proceeded to consume some of the best pizza I've ever had (I know, right?). I ordered the Sofia, which is a thin-crust white pizza with mozzarella, roasted artichoke spread, sausage, and fresh thyme topped with shaved cheese. It wasn't one of those super-filling pizzas that make you feel sick and bloated afterwards, either, nor was it an obscene portion size. It was just awesome.

Boston: Day 3, Target

A trip to the States wouldn't be complete without Target. There is nothing I don't like about this store, except for the fact that they won't open in Canada. I bought a bunch of stuff that we can't get here or is much cheaper over there, like:

Bumble and Bumble Thickening Spray, Prep, and Styling Lotion, which we can only get at salons here, and at way more expensive prices.

Method Marine Naturals Refreshing Body Wash in Sea Minerals and Naturally Derived Hand Soap in Waterfall and Violet Bloom. I love Method, but we only carry a selected amount of their products in Canada, so I stocked up on stuff I haven't seen here.

Aveeno's new Positively Nourishing Body Moisturizers. I love Aveeno's body lotions because I have ridiculously dry skin and Aveeno is the only brand that effectively helps (especially in the winter), but I've never liked the smell of the colloidal oatmeal. So when they came out with these ones (in Vanilla & Chamomile, Grapefruit & Rosemary, and Blueberry & Goji Berry), I was all on that. Except we don't get it in Canada. Thusly, I had to stock up while at Target.

JK Jemma Kidd Eye Colour in 02 Modernist and 03 Vintage. This line is actually exclusive to Target, so we definitely don't get it in Canada. I wasn't really planning on buying any more make-up, but the eyeshadows are so soft and pigmented and smooth, I had to pick up a few. I would've grabbed more, but the location I was at was sold out of most of the nicer colours.

And, of course, I had to grab junk food. When in America, do as the Americans do, right?

Hostess Donettes. I know we have powdered mini donuts here, but these ones are sealed for freshness! I think the ones sold at our supermarkets are in those plastic boxes in the bakery sections, and they get stale in, like, two days.

Cereal! Cookie Crisp, Apple Jacks, Cap'n Crunch's Crunch Berries! So much sugar! So awesome!

Chocolate-covered pretzels! I remember we used to have them here, but I haven't seen them in a long time. So when I saw them at Target, I was like, "Sweet! Stocking up!"

Goobers! They're basically peanut Glosettes, but they are called Goobers.

M&M's Premiums in Chocolate Trio and Mint Thrill, which we don't get here for some reason. I don't see why not, though. They are so damn good. And they have a "new shimmering soft shell"!

Extra Dessert Delights gum in Mint Chocolate Chip and Key Lime Pie. I love how Americans can make even sugarfree gum seem fattening.

God, I love Target.

Boston: Day 2, The Cheesecake Factory

Went to The Cheesecake Factory in the Prudential Center for dinner. I had the Salisbury chopped steak with caramelized onions and gravy, mashed potatoes, and green beans. It was pretty damn delicious, but there is no picture because by the time we got a table after the half-hour wait, we were so hungry that we demolished our food as soon as it arrived to the table. (Or, at least, I did. The boyfriend is more graceful than this.) But for dessert, we shared the Fresh Banana Cream Cheesecake (banana cream cheesecake topped with Bavarian cream and fresh sliced bananas), and I think both of our tastebuds were simultaneously having orgasms. It was ridiculous.

This is why America is fat.

Why is The Cheesecake Factory not in Canada?

Boston: Day 2, Sephora (Prudential Center)

Stopped by the Shops at Prudential Center in the evening because the Sephora store there is the only one in all of Massachusetts that carries Illamasqua. And because Illamasqua isn't carried in Canada, I had to stock up. My final haul includes:

Illamasqua's Lipstick in Resist (matte deep rose pink) and Intense Lipgloss in Frenzy (bright hot pink). This is my first time trying Illamasqua's lip products, and they are both super-pigmented with completely opaque colour. The lipstick is incredibly smooth and moisturizing while being quite long-lasting. The gloss is non-sticky and fairly hydrating. It's almost like a liquid lipstick with high-gloss shine. I will need to pick up more shades next time I'm in the States.

Illamasqua's Nail Varnish in Grab (grape magenta cream), Phallic (shimmery midnight navy), Force (bright royal blue cream), Fern (shimmery bright sky blue), Viridian (dark teal with micro-shimmer), Muse (mid-tone teal cream), and Milf (vintage mint green cream). I'd have to say that these are my favourite nail polish formula, ever. And that's saying a lot, because I have a shit ton of nail polish. They go on smooth, even, and intensely pigmented. Seriously, one coat is actually enough for opaque coverage with no streaks.

Korres' Lip Butter in Pomegranate (sheer coral), Guava (clear), Jasmine (sheer neutral pink), and Quince (sheer rose pink). I love Pomegranate and Quince (as well as Plum, which I bought last week) for a nice flush of colour on the lips, and Jasmine for a natural look. And I use Guava all the time: in the morning, under lipstick, before bed. I love that you get so much of it in a jar, too. I swear, one of those will last me at least four months.

Fresh's Sugar Lychee Eau de Parfum Rollerball and Body Lotion set, Soy Face Cleanser (amazing for taking off face and eye make-up - super gentle, and no stinging at all), Soy Face Exfoliant (makes skin super smooth and glowy after one use), and Sugar Lip Treatment SPF 15. You can totally get all of this in Canada, but I wanted to take advantage of the strong Canadian dollar, the lower American retail price, and the lower sales tax rate in Massachusetts.

Sephora Beauty Insider redemption freebies: Josie Maran's Bear Naked Wipes. I don't usually like wipes to take off my make-up, but not gonna lie, these are pretty decent (even takes off mascara relatively well). And really quite handy when I'm super-tired at night and just want to sleep.

Yes, I'm well aware of my make-up addiction problem.

Boston: Day 2, City Exploring

The majority of our second day in Boston was spent walking around downtown, exploring the city and seeing parts of the Freedom Trail.

We started at Boston Common...

Passed by the Old South Meeting House and some creepy statues across the street from it...

Walked through the site of the Boston Massacre and saw the Old State House...

Stopped by Faneuil Hall and walked around the Marketplace there...

And bought some random stuff in the Faneuil Hall Marketplace, including a fantastically oversized charcoal grey BDG tartan tote bag and a hardcover copy of Alice's Adventures in Wonderlandillustrated by Camilla Rose Garcia (in the sale section for $2.90!). And then we went over to Starbucks for coffee and found caramel-flavoured ground coffee (I haven't seen this in Toronto and thusly, I had to have it) and also bought a super-touristy Boston coffee mug (because I'm a tourist who loves coffee and big coffee mugs).

Boston: Day 1, Uno Chicago Grill

Went for dinner at Uno Chicago Grill, 'cause it was right around the corner from the museum. I ordered the Numero Uno Deep Dish Pizza (when in Rome, right?), which includes sausage, pepperoni, onions, peppers, mushrooms and chunky tomato sauce, topped with mozzarella and grated Romano. Don't let the diameter of this pizza fool you, though, because it's about a million layers thick. For serious. I was getting ridiculously full after 3/4 of the thing, and it's at this point that I usually just eat the toppings I like the most. But the best part of this pizza was, of course, the crust. So for the first time, ever, I left the toppings on the plate (!) and ate the crust instead. Buttery and flaky and oh-so delicious. Totally worth the extra fat and carbs.

Boston: Day 1, Museum of Fine Arts

After a much-needed nap in the afternoon, we headed into downtown Boston to see the Museum of Fine Arts, where it's free admission every Wednesday evening from 4:00pm to 9:45pm. We checked out a bunch of the new exhibitions including:

Avedon Fashion 1944 - 2000

Kristin Baker: New Paintings

We also went through all of the European Art galleries, including Northern European and Italian Renaissance, Dutch, French, and Modernism, but I was most excited to see the Impressionists:

Claude Monet

Renoir's Dance at Bougival, 1883

Pierre-Auguste Renoir

Vincent van Gogh

Beautiful, surreal, stunning.

Boston: Day 1, Dunkin' Donuts

We arrived at our hotel in Brockton (about 25 minutes from downtown Boston) at around 9:30am, but check-in wasn't for another two hours so we went to the (fairly ghetto) local mall there to kill some time. We went to Dunkin' Donuts for breakfast, and I ordered the new Maple Cheddar Breakfast Sandwich (I don't actually like maple syrup with anything other than waffles or pancakes or French toast, but the one in the poster looked epic) and a cup of coffee.

Okay, I don't know how people are comparing Dunkin' Donuts to Tim Horton's. It might just be my Canadian bias, but... Okay, no, it's not that I'm biased because the coffee is, in a word, terrible, even by regular coffee standards. Dunkin' Donuts coffee isn't even on the same level as Tim Horton's. Gas station coffee, maybe (actually, come to think of it, I've totally had better coffee at gas stations). Also, Americans apparently don't know what a "double double" is. I totally ordered that, and the lady taking my order just looked at me all confused-like, so I clarified, "Um, two creams and two sugars?" And she just looked at me like I was an idiot (or a foreigner, whichever).

Moreover, the breakfast sandwich was equally as gross. The egg-like substance they put in it was reminiscent of styrofoam in texture (and the taste, too, come to think of it), and the "sausage" was thin and actually not meat-like at all (soy, maybe?). And because I don't complain about food, I just ate it. To be fair, at least the croissant tasted like a croissant. However, it was totally not worth the 720 calories and 49 grams of fat.I could've eaten a Big Mac instead.

Boston: Day 1, Duty Free

Road trip with the boyfriend: October 12 to 16. Destination: Boston, Massachusetts. Approximate distance one way: 550 km. Approximate hours of driving one way: 10 hours. Approximate hours of driving one way with my driving: 8.5 hours. Time of departure: 10:30pm, October 12.
First stop: Duty Free. Sweet!

I swear I actually didn't plan on buying any cosmetics, but I noticed they had Lancome's new Hypnose Precious Cells Mascara, which we don't have in Canada yet, so I picked up two tubes. And while I was at the Lancome section, I grabbed a tube of the Gel Eclat Clarifying Cleanser Pearly Foam (the American version of our Creme Radiance Cream Cleanser). I also grabbed a couple of things by H20+ 'cause they were pretty cheap: Oasis Mist Hydrating Water and Face Oasis Dual-Action Exfoliating Cleanser. Discounted prices and no tax! You just can't go wrong. And our dollar is almost on par with the American dollar. Shopping is going to be awesome.

I also bought a bottle of Jack Daniel's Single Barrel Select Tennessee Whiskey for Ben, and two cartons of cigarettes (one to bring home, one to split on our road trip - only $50 each carton, which means saving at least $5 per pack!). Conclusion: Duty Free makes me super happy.