The Sweet Life: @ Suffolk University

Boston by the Sea

Thu, 26 Apr 2012 16:48:41 -0400

Boston by the Sea

Fine Dining Occasionally I have the opportunity to enjoy fine...

Thu, 26 Apr 2012 15:03:00 -0400

Fine Dining

Occasionally I have the opportunity to enjoy fine dining outside of the pizza/pasta/pizza diet that most college kids enjoy. My favorite Aunt Jeanne, invited me to an Italian dinner Monday in Watertown after class. Sacrificing my allocated homework time (tough decision) I decided to spend a few hours in a nice authentic Italian restaurant.

The atmosphere that this special place provided was one to remember (definitely blog worthy & something you’d love). After spending an hour or so talking with a few of the people inside of the restaurant while waiting for our table, I learned that they were family members to the people who actually owned the place! They shared a few stories & aided in helping the time to pass quickly while we were waiting for our tables.

Once we were finally seated, we were brought fresh bread & olive oil that was naturally finished within five minutes. After finally deciding what to order, I was pleased with my lasagna dish. Since I’m posting this a little late, I can tell you that this single dish took me three days to eat. I’ve never been served such a large dish of pasta! No complaints, it was delicious :)

♥ Soleil B

Ben & Jerrys As a college student, funds can sometimes be...

Thu, 26 Apr 2012 14:21:53 -0400

Ben & Jerrys
As a college student, funds can sometimes be limited when it comes to treats like a new outfit, or a concert, often times something as simple as an ice cream cone can be deemed as a treat!

Apparently every year, Ben & Jerry’s ice cream chain store hosts a ‘Free Ice Cream Day’ where they simply give away free ice cream to anyone who walks in the store on that particular day during their hours of operation. Unlike a lot of other free ice cream events, there was no limitation to a certain type of ice cream available. The entire menu was up for grabs! Also, with three different locations in the Boston area, it’s quite a grand opportunity for a college student to take advantage of the free ice cream deal.

Luckily, I have two roommates that attend the NESAD branch of Suffolk & one that was available to snag free ice cream with me before I had to head over to Arlington Street for intern work. After waiting for only a surprising 20 minutes, I decided to indulge in a Chocolate Goldfish mystery type of ice cream cone, while my roommate played it safe with the Strawberry Shortcake flavor. After all, it was a really nice break to get an early taste of summer & all of the (hopefully) free ice cream cones that are to come!
♥ Soleil B

Life of an Intern: Bad Rabbits BandSeeing how I spend so much...

Thu, 12 Apr 2012 21:51:00 -0400

Life of an Intern: Bad Rabbits Band

Seeing how I spend so much time living the life of an intern, (doing intern-y things of course) I figured it would be unfair not to share all of the fun adventures I’ve been experiencing with you! This week was a super exciting one regardless of ‘Life of an Intern’ segment mentioned earlier. As someone that is still (yes, after a year) adjusting to the city, I am slowly learning how to be a local.

I had the special opportunity to assist a photo shoot with Bad Rabbits Band, hosted at Brighton Music Hall. As I was packing up my things to leave the office, excited to head home & spend a bit of time with my roommates, I was stopped on my way out with a “proposition”. Little did I know this proposition included a small field trip to Brighton. Trying to hail a cab on Boylston Street with a box full of merchandise that I was responsible for was like something you’d see in a current day Lauren Conrad film (or TV show I guess).

After all was said & done, meeting very lax people that happen to play really amazing music was a great proposition that I was glad to be a part of!

♥ Soleil B

Fuse opens for 16BitMy dearest friend Angela had the opportunity...

Thu, 05 Apr 2012 17:32:00 -0400

Fuse opens for 16Bit

My dearest friend Angela had the opportunity to open for internationally famous performers 16Bit last Friday at the Middle East in Cambridge, Mass. This not being the first time that I’ve seen her perform, every time is just as exciting as the first. This time was particularly exciting because I got a glimpse of what it will be like (im sure sometime soon) to see DJ Fuse headlining her own show!

After interning for about 8 hours, I stopped by the Middle East to catch the aftermath. Unfortunately I had missed her set, but was beyond excited to spend a few hours with her, enjoying the other performers that were on the line up. There was an excellent turn out & the crowd seemed to be very into the tunes that were being played.

If you find yourself with nothing to do, but are looking for an adventure or even just want to check out Dj Fuse, be sure to stop by Glow Boston! The event is hosted every Thursday at Think Tank, also located in Cambridge. Just a fair warning, the event usually sells out (emphasis on the amazing tunes Fuse & friends spin) , so you may want to get your tickets in advance. So extremely close to Suffolk University, its a great time if you want to have a night out on the town with friends.

♥ Soleil B

Zombie Night I’m sure many of you have heard of the famed...

Thu, 05 Apr 2012 16:27:00 -0400

Zombie Night

I’m sure many of you have heard of the famed AMC series, The Walking Dead by now. If you haven’t, no worries as of about a week ago I was right there with you! The show basically is set in present day time but the world has been hit by some zombie apocalypse & there are a handful of living normal people trying to survive amongst the walking dead. I’ve been wanting to get into the series for a while now, but as a fairly squeamish person, I get frightened very easily. Watching this alone for the first time was NOT an option.

My good friend Corey decided to come over & hang out for a few hours, I figured this was the perfect opportunity to get into the show (Corey was actually the one who initially told me about it). Luckily, the first season was available on Netflix & I also had Cape Cod chips handy. Cape Cod chips should be sold WORLDWIDE, as just a side note. I had never heard of the brand until moving to Boston, & haven’t been able to stay away since. Any way, the blood gushing/zombie growling & potato chips oddly complimented each other fairly well.

After finishing the hour long first episode to the first season, I think its fair to say that I am addicted. As i mentioned earlier in the post, I only began watching this series about a week ago & have already finished the entire first season, counting the days until Netflix posts the second. I constantly find myself covering my ears when people were mentioning the current happenings & the season finale to the third season. If you get the chance to gather all of your friends together in one place, with easy access to Netflix… MAKE THEM WATCH THIS SHOW. It has excellent writing & easily entertains, you’ll feel kind of like a zombie (wanting more of the Walking Dead) (okay that was cheesy, i’ll stop) (but seriously WATCH THIS SHOW.)

♥ Soleil B

The Sun is Calling For those of you who have been following my...

Thu, 05 Apr 2012 15:07:00 -0400

The Sun is Calling

For those of you who have been following my blog & Boston experience steadily since my first days hitting the streets of Boston, I have to sadly report that I haven’t had much time to go on any of my adventurous walks in the past few weeks. The fact the weather has been beautiful makes its even more disappointing. For those of you reading for the first time…. uh, Welcome!

I’m not sure what it was about today, but I made it a point to take a small walk & take a break from the days responsibilities. Charles Street is honestly one of Suffolk Universities hidden treasures. On a beautiful day just they way the sun hits the trees & small glimpses of the Charles River that you can see down the side streets can be really refreshing. Charles Street is also home to many small locally owned shops that sell a variety of things, from children’s clothing to tanning lotion, there is even a store that specializes in door knobs!

With finals VERY quickly approaching, if you find the need to take breather, you may want to take a stroll down Charles Street. Pick up a coffee or a tea (maybe an ice cream if you please) & take a nice little walk. After exploring Suffolk University & it’s surroundings, i’ve found Charles Street to be one of my favorites. So close to campus, with such a variety of different shops to visit & people to talk to. If you can find the time in your schedule in the upcoming weeks before the school year ends, stop by Charles Street & soak up the sun!

♥ Soleil B

Bar 10 Going on my third month living in my new apartment (i...

Thu, 05 Apr 2012 14:39:00 -0400

Bar 10

Going on my third month living in my new apartment (i guess it doesn’t qualify as new any longer seeing how it is going on three months now), I am steadily learning that I enjoy living with girls that are so very different from me. We all share different interest, come from different backgrounds, and lead very different lives. One of my dearest roommates currently works at Sephora, the makeup mogul & one of the go-to locations that woman all over the greater Boston area flock to when they are in need for a makeup fix.

Recently the store exceeded their sales goal, & if you can imagine made $1 million in that store alone within a single time span of a year. Not that its important or relevant to anyone outside of that business, but being the lucky girl that I am, I had the opportunity to attend their celebration party with my roommate! The event was hosted at the Westin Hotel’s Bar 10 & provided fancy snacks & drinks (Shirley Temple’s for me, seeing I was one of the 3 people at the event under the age of 21), and a few other exciting aspects that made for a memorable experience.

It is always fun to get dressed up & attend an event, where you don’t know anyone & have the opportunity to socialize. As a college student, getting free food (especially outside of the Pizza region) is always great too. If you have the opportunity to attend any event that calls for a semi-formal attire, please take advantage of the opportunity. Suffolk Spring Ball is just around the corner, Suffolk… your fancy is calling!

♥ Soleil B

Life of an Intern - Free Ice Cream edition As of about three...

Thu, 29 Mar 2012 10:54:56 -0400

Life of an Intern - Free Ice Cream edition

As of about three weeks ago, I am officialy living the life of an intern! I am currently now juggling life in school, at work, at my internship, & as of today back to my Suffolk blogging. I’ve missed sharing my stories with you these past few weeks, & look forward to keeping you updated for our final weeks of the school year.

My work as an intern consists mostly sitting at a desk doing lots of intern work, occasionally looking out the beautiful huge windows down onto Boylston Street at all of the lovely people passing by. My favorite are actually the ‘save the children’ or ‘donate to red cross’ people that try to catch people as they walk to their destinations. While working through the entire day, I couldn’t help but eye the ice cream truck that was parked on Boylston for most of the day. I let that be my incentive after leaving the office.

Working into the evening hours, myself & a fellow intern stopped by the ice cream truck as they were cleaning up only to find that the guys were super nice & gave us free ice creams! After learning we worked close by, they were more than happy to put this one on the house…. or truck i guess you could say.

After enjoying my ice cream with my new intern friends, we decided to head out for a night on the town. First grabbing dinner, then visiting Dj Fuse (my favorite friend Angela) after her performance at the Middle East to enjoy a bit of music. Still in my intern clothes, I had to create a makeshift outfit & pretend that my computer in my backpack was no big deal. It was quite the adventure & definitely a long lasting memory for the books!

♥ Soleil B

Glow Boston Glow Boston is a weekly event held at Think Tank in...

Wed, 29 Feb 2012 17:20:00 -0500

Glow Boston

Glow Boston is a weekly event held at Think Tank in Cambridge, MA that invites kids from all over town to dance & socialize every Thursday. For the past few weeks there has been a growing line to enter the venue & often times kids not being able to get in due to full capacity. This particular week, I decided to attend for the first time since the event moved to its now location (formally was held at the Middle East, also in Cambridge). My dear pal Angela happens to be one of the fantastic DJs/host to event, which made for an even better time.

I still am unsure whether or not it was ironic, but Nielle was chosen to be the VIP winner for the week! The package included free admission for Nielle & 9 friends, as well as a gift give away from the energy drink sponsor (we came home with 20+ cans of energy drinks). With the Mardi Gras themed night, the beads & the lighting made the night even more exciting. After dancing for a bit & making a few new friends, we decided to make a run for it in attempt to make the last call for the T.

If you & your buddies find yourself with nothing to do on a Thursday evening, have a night out & visit Glow Boston! It is honestly a ton of fun & always packed with Suffolk students. http://www.facebook.com/glowbostonlive

♥ Soleil B

Nielle’s 19th Birthday Today we celebrated our very first...

Wed, 29 Feb 2012 17:07:00 -0500

Nielle’s 19th Birthday

Today we celebrated our very first birthday in the apartment! My roommate Nielle turned 19 today. Unfortunately she spent her entire day in art class, then the remainder of her day & start to the evening at work. Although she had a great day, my roommates & I had planned to have a small birthday surprise for her when she returned home. After returning home from class, we decided to decorate the apartment with birthday decor, bake a few goodies (with pink frosting of course) & pick out one of Nielle’s favorite movies to watch to make for a perfect end to her evening!

After arriving home from work, our birthday girl was beyond excited to spend the evening with us & Jack & Rose (we couldn’t help but choose Titanic). After munching on our pink frosted cupcakes & enjoying a bit of time spent together, I’d definitely say our first birthday celebration was a great success!

♥ Soleil B

Harvard Crimson Today was a historical day that I looked...

Tue, 28 Feb 2012 23:33:00 -0500

Harvard Crimson

Today was a historical day that I looked forward to since I moved to Boston, my very first visit to HARVARD! One of my favorite bands from my high school years happen to be Harvard graduates & the Harvard campus is one of my favorite places to photograph. One of my fellow co-workers is a writer to the Crimson, Harvard’s weekly school newspaper & invited me to his school campus to read a few of the issues in his dorm room. One of my favorite parts about making new friends in the city of Boston, is how easy it can be to experience new things. Harvard University is a world famous ivory league school, visiting it for the very first time (on a newspaper related adventure) was a beyond exciting first visit to the campus. The evening before I ironically visited the MIT campus for the first time as well. An ironic ivory league set of days made me a very happy camper, I guess you could say :)

♥ Soleil B

Journal Night: the Aftermath Since my time here at Suffolk...

Tue, 28 Feb 2012 23:04:00 -0500

Journal Night: the Aftermath

Since my time here at Suffolk University, I have been a contributor to the Suffolk Journal. I first signed up for the Journal during orientation & started as a contributor, then moved to a staff member, & am now currently the assistant news editor.

After the entire fiasco with our small misprint in the journal (i’m sure you’ve heard), I was deemed standing news editor for a few weeks to come. We clocked in record breaking hours for this weeks issue of the journal (4pm-7am) mainly because it was my first week laying out. It’s exciting, so if you have the opportunity please do read the Suffolk Journal.

♥ Soleil B

Cris Cab This past Winter Vacation has definitely been my most...

Thu, 16 Feb 2012 14:03:00 -0500

Cris Cab

This past Winter Vacation has definitely been my most occupied to date! I moved into a new apartment, scored a new job, attended a few concerts, & of course spent some time with family that I don’t make time to see during the school year to celebrate the holidays. Essentially my favorite memory from the break was refreshed after watching a bit of footage from the artists tour & was very surprised to spot myself!

After a long day at work, I had promised my roommate I would accompany her to see Cris Cab at Brighton Music Hall. I arrived late to the show, missing the opening acts just in time to catch his set. I was surprised at how soulful & sincere the 18 year old artist from Miami, Florida actually was. Following the show, Cab mentioned he would be meeting people in the back of the venue a few minutes after he finished. After realizing most of the adults in attendance just happened to be at the venue (not actually there to see Cris Cab) didn’t care too much about meeting him after.

I was happy to see that we made the cut for the tour footage, because as someone who wasn’t a fan at the time to appreciate his music & actually be willing to show support, meant a ton to this up & coming artist. It always feels nice when you can do small things to make someone’s evening :)

pick a random ($20 or less) show, gather up your friends & check it out. Make an adventure out of it! Honestly, times like these make for the best memories.

♥ Soleil B

Black Beans and Brown Rice Spending time in my new apartment, I...

Thu, 16 Feb 2012 12:27:12 -0500

Black Beans and Brown Rice

Spending time in my new apartment, I have been trying to learn new things (when i have the free time) and apply it to my every day living. Growing up, my parents both would make unique & tasty dishes that I was never able to recreate. Feeling a little inspired and homesick, i decided to stop by Whole Foods and pick up a few items & attempt to cook a meal. My dad makes this delicious black bean & long brown rice dish that is to die for. While in the supermarket, I spent some time & picked out a few other items to last throughout the week. I was a bit proud of my smart shopping (only spending $25) & satisfied with the items i had purchased. As for my recreation of my dads rice & bean dish….. second time is always a charm right?

♥ Soleil B

Journal Night, treasure chest edition Every Tuesday night, I...

Wed, 15 Feb 2012 23:45:00 -0500

Journal Night, treasure chest edition

Every Tuesday night, I spend my evening with the Suffolk Journal staff producing the issue for the upcoming week. Although there is a lot of work put into the night, Tuesday evening is something I can always look forward to. Spending time (along with a few laughs) with our staff is always a great time & often leads to great memories.

Tonight was easily one of my favorites this semester. While taking on issues & enjoying our pizza dinner, (if you’ve noticed in every issue there is a “Journal takes on issues” portion where we add & subtract all the things that happened during the week) we noticed a small box in the corner of the room that was open just a tad. Naturally we had to take a peak inside the navy plastic box, only to discover a ton of Suffolk windbreakers! It was a random but pleasant break from the newsroom & all of its duties.

Be sure to pick up this weeks issue of this week’s Suffolk Journal! If you happen to see any of our staff members around campus, be sure to say hello!

♥ Soleil B

Making the most of Back Bay Today in between the end of my busy...

Wed, 15 Feb 2012 22:23:00 -0500

Making the most of Back Bay

Today in between the end of my busy afternoon school and my evening dinner plans, I decided to be a little productive with the few free hours that I had available. As a unique & indecisive college student, I am often really hard to buy gifts for unless I speak up & mention a thing or two to Santa. This year over the winter vacation, different members of my family played a safe bet in taking the route of gifting gift cards to different retail stores. Trader Joe’s, Forever 21, GAP, iTunes, and Best Buy were the ones I was able to put to good use. With my free afternoon, i decided to take a small visit to Trader Joe’s, Forever 21 and Best Buy, seeing how they were are conveniently located fairly close to one other right in Back Bay.

I stopped by Best Buy in search of a special cord that would allow me to connect my laptop to the television (so Netflix can be easily watched when we have movie nights!) After talking to a few different employee’s who explained to me how we could possibly make this happen (with our ancient, non-flat screen television) with a few different cords that I decided not to purchase. While browsing the three level story Best Buy, I was looking for merchandise I could possibly use. I ended up leaving with a few different notebooks, pens, he Tide laundry detergent, & a new Incase laptop carry case. paying a difference of roughly $10.

My next stop was Forever 21, where I found a few pieces of jewelry that occupied the amount on that gift card. The last stop on my small adventure was Trader Joe’s, located directly across the street from the Hynes Convention Center. Unlike the Trader Joe’s branches located back home in California, this particular one has an under ground feel to it due to the idea that customers take an escalator downstairs to find their groceries. While doing a bit of food shopping, I decided to pick up a small set of flowers (only $3.99 for those of you who enjoy fresh flowers) along with a few other things for the week.

So many things are within close distance to our city campus & I love learning to make the most of what I have. In this case scenario, penny pinching in avenues I never thought to take advantage of before hand…. in Back Bay none the less!

♥ Soleil B

Winter Involvement Fair The second best event of the year! Of...

Wed, 01 Feb 2012 01:26:00 -0500

Winter Involvement Fair

The second best event of the year! Of course after Temple Street Fair (only because it’s warm temperatures & hosted outside), Winter Involvement happens to be my one of the best Suffolk hosted events. Temple Street & Winter Involvement fairs are always a lot of fun because almost every student that goes to Suffolk stops by the fair at some point or another. Having friends that are interested in different things & involved in a variety of clubs is important & it can also be really rad to see what all of the clubs have to offer. There also happened to be an endless supply of hot chocolate & popcorn at this special event, which was hosted on the 9^th floor of 73 Tremont (with an amazing view if you got to take a peak). It was great stopping by different tables that the fraternity, sorority, entrepreneurs club, jazz club, business club, RHA, Black Student Union, & hearing what a few others had to say (& it was great to see friends at all of these tables as well, that was my main attraction I’ll be honest!). I spent the last hour of the fair at the Suffolk Journal table with Alex & Angela recruiting a few new writers. The free food, t-shirts, photo opportunities with Rammy, & all the other goodies offered at the fair made for a great afternoon.

p.s. this is a photo of Rammy from Suffolk University’s 1987 yearbook….. creepy?

♥ Soleil B

Sweet Cupcakes Working directly across from one of the ‘Sweet’...

Wed, 01 Feb 2012 01:11:00 -0500

Sweet Cupcakes

Working directly across from one of the ‘Sweet’ cupcakes franchise locations has never been a great temptation to me until this evening when my co-worker Leah explained all of the amazing flavors & variety that they had. While folding down the shop, she elaborated on the Boston crème cupcake, the birthday cake cupcake, & the mint chocolate chip cupcake. By the time it was time to clock out, we both were frantically making our way across the street with high hopes that the small specialty shop was still open. This being my second visit, I was surprised to learn of all the specialty & adorable cupcakes that they had decorated from the day’s fresh selection. After spending about an hour with the woman in the shop (sharing our funny new years stories & their awkwardly awesome encounters in New York City), we picked up our cupcakes that we were dreaming about during our entire closing shift & headed onto the train, happy as ever!

♥ Soleil B

Vapiano Tonight was the first time since we returned from winter...

Wed, 01 Feb 2012 01:10:00 -0500

Vapiano

Tonight was the first time since we returned from winter break that I got to spend with my favorite mentor/editor/classmate/friend Angela! Even though we have the opportunity to see each other Tuesdays during production night & twice a week during our Media Law course, it can be a bit difficult to make time to spend with the friends that are just as busy as you are.

Today after work I headed straight to Stewart St. (not too far from campus) to meet up with Angela to grab a late bite to eat at Vapiano, a fancy-pancy-Los Angeles-type-cafeteria style restaurant. Upon arrival, the place was filled with 20 something year olds having drinks & spending time with friends. The way this unique dining place works, is you simply receive a card upon arrival that you use to add your drinks & food on to as you’re spending throughout the evening. I ordered a plate of wheat pasta, with eggplant, arugula, & tons of cheese. Honestly, I can admit that it was the BEST plate of pasta I have had in a while & I’m sure countless attempts to try to recreate it in my kitchen will soon occur. Catching up with friends (especially after a long break) is something that you should make time for. If you want to splurge on a very LA-esque dining experience, stop by Vapiano!

♥ Soleil B