It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

Have you seen the lights all over town and the decorations on the rotary?  It sure is putting me in the holiday spirit!  If only we had a little snow...

Baja Fresh is not Moes

A few weeks ago, one of my friends and I went to Baja Fresh on Main St. in Stoneham.  We are both die-hard Moe's fans and hoping that I would find a Moe's replacement in this area.  We both ordered different items off the menu, and we were both sorely disappointed.  So here is my lists of the differences, both good and bad.  

Baja Fresh:

1. Cilantro (personal dislike)
2. Burritos were slender
3. Chips were odd
4. Service was slow
5. Close to Winchester

Moe's:

1. Great chips
2. Fast service
3. Burritos are stuffed to capacity
4. BOOZE!
5. Creative names on the menu
6. Food prep area is completely visible
7. Friendly greeting upon entering ("Welcome to Moe's!!!")
8. Did i mention the alcohol?
9. Far away from Winchester

As you can see, Moe's wins.  Only problem is, there is not one around Winchester.  Now I present a wonderful idea: a North Shore franchise.   I guarantee it would be a great investment.  Any takers?  

Winchester Public Library

Today I took a trip to the Winchester Public Library.  Though my the reason for my trip was to study, I sincerely wish it had been to browse the many books, DVDs and CDs they have.  The library was very nice inside, not your wide open floor plan with endless stacks.  Instead, the building was segmented with walls, completely separate rooms and loft like spaces.  There were at least two study/group meeting rooms, as well as a traditionally decorated reading room.  Comfortable chairs, and window seats fill out the decor.  AND... they have organic plants outside. :)

After my time there I have made a few resolutions.  First I am going to cancel my Netflix subscription.  The DVD collection was great!  And the library is open until 7pm on weekdays, 9:30am to 5:30pm on Saturdays, and 2pm to 5pm on Sundays.  Plenty of time for me to stop by after work or when running errands.  

Secondly, I am going to stop buying books.  While I love filling my bookshelf, it will eventually get full.  Also, getting books from the library is free and better for the environment.  Also, most library books are hardcover which I prefer to paperback in almost all situations.  

So if you live in Winchester, make use of the library!  If you don't, then check out your public library.  You could be surprised!!

Andrea's Pizza

Tonight, I decided to get a greek salad from Andrea's Pizza on the corner of Swanton St. and Main St.  I consider myself somewhat of an expert on greek salads.  They are consistently on my favorite foods list, and I must say that this wasn't my favorite.  Typically, restaurants count the number of olives they put on the salad (if you have ever looked at them at the grocery store, you would know they are kinda pricey).  So, I can tell you with confidence, that Andrea's puts 3 olives (with pits) on each salad.  This is pretty good; i feel like two is the norm.  Yet, I felt unsatisfied with the amount of feta.  My other qualm with the salad was that there were some brown pieces of lettuce.  This could be because they pre-make the salad, with the exception of the cheese, and store them in the front cooler.  Getting one on a sunday may not be the best idea.  Also, something to know if you are going to eat there: they serve Pepsi products.  Being a coke girl myself, I was disappointed.   

On the other hand, I must say that I saw a pizza in the making and the products on it (tomatoes, spinach, mozzarella) looked fresh and delicious.  

01890

I have made many trips to the post office in Winchester since I have lived here, but today I was astounded by the number of other people there.  When I arrived, there were 12 people in front of me in line.  The line was outside of the marked, twisting line, which I previously always thought was excessively long.  When I left, there were 15 people waiting.  One man hit the nail on the head when he said it was almost like christmas time.  I can't help but wonder why so many people were there this morning. 

Alicia Sacramone

The past two weeks, most of America has been consumed by the Olympics.  In Winchester, MA, residents have been closely following women's gymnastics, cheering on hometown athlete Alicia Sacramone.  Before the Olympics began a sign was hung in the center of town wishing Alicia good luck.  

Shortly after, hand made and printed signs wishing her luck started to pop up in store windows.   With elections in the near future, it was exciting to see the entire town united on one thing: pride in Alicia.  Alicia came home from the olympics with a silver medal and was welcomed back with a sign on the opposite side of the bridge.

There was also a parade in her honor including police cars/motorcycles, a marching bad, cheerleaders, young gymnasts (ankle braces and all) and more.  I wish I had gotten better pictures, but it was packed!  Everyone came out for the parade and were so enthusiastic and excited to welcome her home.  At the end of the day, not only was I proud of Alicia, I was proud of the way this town was so excited for her and went to such extents to show her (and show her off).  She really helped put us on the map this month!

Thank you Alicia for representing our nation and town! 

Jiffy Lube

(I am not sure how to turn that picture)

Since I have been living in Winchester, MA, I have been going to the Jiffy Lube on Main Street.  While, most people go every 3,000 miles or 3 months, I have been taking full advantage of the free top off policy since my steering fluid line in leaking.  I probably go to Jiffy Lube every 2 weeks or so.  

In the beginning, I LOVED this store.  It is very clean inside (spot less!) and it is in a very convenient location for me.  As I started to go more frequently, I have begun to but heads with one of the men on the staff.  I must say, that I do enjoy most of the other employees (well except for the one who didn't appear to know how to drive standard, but that was a skills problem, rather than personal).  Anyways, this older man who works at Jiffy Lube often tries to joke around with me.  I am good for one or two laughs, but sometimes the things he says are not funny.  My typical reaction to a lame attempt at a joke is to smile and laugh lightly or briefly out of politeness.  This is not good enough for this man.  If I am not laughing hard enough, he will try to make me laugh harder.  Really though, this only annoys me.  He will also say:

"You were right, you were really low on steering fluid" (Thinking: No shit!  That is why I drove in here and specifically asked you to fill up my steering fluid and not bother topping off any other fluids)

"Yes, I know.  That is why I came in."

"Ya know, you are probably leaking it."

"Yes, I know.  The line is rusted out."

"I had my guy look and see if he could see what's wrong, but he doesn't see anything.  You should really get that fixed." (Didn't you just hear me tell you what is wrong with it?!)

At this point I am annoyed because this conversation is tedious as it is, but we also had the same one 10 ten days ago.  This may be a sign of my insecurities in or defensiveness of my dying car, but part of it is also me taking offense to their assumptions of my knowledge on cars, or lack there of.  So I respond:

"Ya, I'm gonna get it fixed.  This is just to tide me over."  And then I thank him to end the conversation and rush out the door.  Thankfully, I have an appointment in a few days to get it fixed so hopefully I can reduce the frequency of my trips to Jiffy Lube and the tension between me and this man!