This Is Framingham

 
I know, pizza twice in one week but, this afternoon Ethan and I were on our way home and felt like getting pizza.  I forget which pizza place I wanted to try next but I knew Famous Pizza was on the list and I like their sign so we decided to Pinefield Plaza in Saxonville and try it out. ??? ?? ?????   I didn’t know what to expect since I’ve never really heard anyone talk about this place that should be “famous”.

We got a half-plain, half-eggplant, I guess this is what you’d call “Greek Style” because it was greasy, I’m not sure if that is the definition though.  I’m sure there is someone out there who can define it better than I did, so if you know the difference, feel free to comment.

We really liked it.  I even ate the crust, which I don’t usually do, because it was nice and crispy on the outside and fluffy on the inside.  The sauce was good, a little sweeter than I’m used to but combined with the cheese, eggplant and dough it was really good.

Also, when we were picking out drinks at the fridge I saw this Godiva “Dark Chocolate Mocha” thing and being a dark chocolate fan, felt compelled to try it.   It was goo-ood! I know Famous pizza doesn’t make these but they are the only place that I’ve seen these so whoever decides on what drinks they’ll sell made a good decision.

Like the guy on the sign says, “M-M-M-M It’s delicious!”

Tonight my uncle and I went to La Cantina because he said they have good pizza.  I’ve always got a pasta dishes or chicken marsala there before but never pizza so I thought I’d add this to the quest.
We got a meatball and onion:

I really liked this pizza because of the crust, it was soft on the inside but crispy on the outside (I love the crispy!).
I tried to take a close up of the crust but the flash was a little too much, maybe you can still see what I mean from the photo.

My uncle said you can ask for them to make a thin crust pizza which is even crispier so I will definitely try that next time.
We also got salad, which I forgot to take a picture of, but you really have to taste the dressing to appreciate it anyway.  Although they sell it in bottles, I always think it tatses better there in the restaurant for some reason.

I have nothing else to say except that I’m stuffed right now.  That’s a good pizza pie!

There’s a new Chinese restaurant on route 9 called Ginseng and so far I had heard good things about from people on framcom so we checked it out.

It’s where the old Pacific Buffet used to be.  Personally, I didn’t really like Pacific Buffet. I was only there once but it was just ok and the whole buffet area was circus-like and chaotic when I went.  Ginseng did a great job remodeling, it has a much more calm and soothing feel inside. 

We just wanted to get take out so we looked through the menu and picked out chicken with vegetables, Kung Pao chicken and brown fried rice (kudos for them having brown fried rice).  We ordered something called fried shrimp balls but they were out of them.  We were disappointed but that won’t stop us from going back and trying again since the food was good.  Sorry this picture doesn’t do the food justice, the chicken was actually not glowing (as it looks below) and the fried rice and Kung Pao chicken looked a lot better than what you see. (I’m saving for a decent camera!)
You can taste the quality of the ingredients and the skill of the cooking in their food, it’s not the usual greasy dishes (although sometimes I’m in the mood for that) you get at most Chinese places.
The rice was moist and not over seasoned with soy sauce and the chicken with vegetables (comes with soft noodles) had a ginger-soy sauce on the side went well with it.  I’m not much for spicy but Ethan said the Kung Pao was really good too.

The people at the host/takeout desk were really nice (and well dressed) too.  Next time, I want to sit down and eat there to get the full experince and try those fried shrimp balls. It’s nice to have some quality food in the sea of mediocre chain restaurants on route 9.

Next to my gym is a big ugly building (the Bancroft Building) that contains, among other things, artists’ studios.  Bein a weekend artist myself, I thought it was great that this kind of stuff goes on in such an unsuspecting area.
I went to check out a few artists studios and see what their work is like. 

Anne Walker was my first visit.  Her studio was so inspiring to me, it had so much going on and she showed us some of her past work and work in progress and answered any questions I had about her work.  Besides being one of the nicest people in the world, her work is really great too. ivermectin treat seborrheic dermatitis  

After spending some time with Anne, she brought Ethan and I upstairs to see William, of Paul Alexander Gallery.  William showed us a piece he was working on and we had a really great conversation about art and Framingham, we could have talked all day. 

My favorite piece was a little charmer called “Alt Blu” he just taped to the wall. William then brought us to the showroom of restored/conserved furniture he and his partner present to clients.  They do amazing work and have done such a great job remodeling the space, they really put a lot into their work and presentation.

The third artist I visited was Kate Gasser, another super-nice person who somehow keeps a very clean studio and has a gentle vibe to her work.

She said she really likes Framingham and the buildings downtown.  Here’s a couple she did of scenes nearby.
(Click to see larger picture)
  
She also does fantastic line drawings that I forgot to take pictures of while we were talking away.

When I was leaving the studios, there was a guy walking around the building playing the saxophone with his dog. does ibuprofen have an effect on tablets of ivermectin taken orally   I forget how, but we started talking and I asked him if he was in a band here in the building and he said no he just plays the sax, he does have space in the building but he just “jams”. ivermectin sq  

I could hang around this building all day, I’m so glad I went and met these great people and saw what goes on in here. 

In April, they will have open studios for the public to come and view the studios and works of the resident artists. 

 
Bakeries that make bagels around in Framingham are kind of limited so it’s really between Breugger’s or Cafe Fresh Bagel. I used to think it was called “Cafe Bagel” but I guess it’s “Cafe Fresh Bagel”.
Since I like to support small business I go to Cafe Fresh Bagel.  It’s no H&H but they but they make a good bagel and have a good assortment of cream cheeses.

I usually get an egg bagel with lox spread and Ethan gets an everything bagel with plain cream cheese, which is step up for him.  He used to get a plain bagel with plain cream cheese and my family thought that was weird (no lox? no onion? just plain?), so this is progress : )  My little sister in NH really likes these bagels and asks me to bring some up when I visit her.

Of course I can’t go in here without missing Herbie’s Ice cream (that used to occupy the space with penguins painted all over the walls) and it’s too bad they went out of business but we can always use a bagel place around here so it’s alright.  I hope Herbie and the penguins are doing well somehwhere 🙂

I went to Monnick Supply (on rt. 135) last week to get some glass cut for a window.
The guys there really know their stuff and actually seemed happy to answer questions. ????? ???? ????? ?????? 2022   A very nice guy (who looks like “Uncle Jessie” from Dukes of Hazzard) helped me and cut the glass cut to the measurments I asked for.  I said hopefully this will fit but he may see me the next day because this is a first window-replacing attempt.

Of course the next day I had to go back because we mis-measured and the glass was just a little too big for the window.  I went in there and the guy who had helped me last time, smiled when he saw me holding the piece of glass I bought the day before and said “You’re back!”.
I told him I wasn’t sure if they can cut such a small amount off but I need 5/8 of an inch off this piece. ???? ????????? ??? ?????   He said “Sure, no problem!” and took the piece out back.

Another guy at the service desk saw my  cell phone and asked me how I like it and we compared phones and service providers until Uncle Jesse came back out with my resized glass. 
I asked him how much that would be and he said “Nothing, glad to do it!”
It was such a refreshingly pleasant experience compared to what I have gone through at Home Depot, where sometimes the parking lot alone is enough to keep me from going there.
They also have popcorn for customers 🙂

I was so happy to see my bank, DCU open up in Framingham a year or two ago.  It’s only 2.5 miles from my house, even though I may have to battle route 9 sometimes but it’s just on the other side of Fun and Games so the location has it’s pros and cons 🙂

I really like DCU though.  2 years ago I bought my first new car, it’s nothing fancy at all but I wanted to finally have something I knew would start up and wouldn’t have to wonder “Will TODAY be the day the axle falls off?”.
Buying this car was one of the worst experiences in my life. Being a novice I didn’t ask the right questions or make the right demands and since the owner of the dealership was my father’s, wife’s, brother-in-law (although that alone sounds like trouble) I was told not to worry and that he’d “take care” of me.  To make a long story short, my car payment was more than I thought it should be but I thought I just had to live with it. 
Every time I got into my car I’d remember how I was treated that day and get angry that I was so stupid and let that happen.  I even wondered if I could just give the stupid car back to the dealership, I didn’t even want it any more. I just wanted an 89 Honda Prelude again.

But over this past summer I went down to DCU with whatever paperwork I could find and asked if I could refinance my current auto-loan.  The guy there sat down with me and went over my options.  He was really nice even though I didn’t have some information that he needed and had to call some places to get it.
In the end he got my payments to go from $220 to $138 a month.  I was so happy and now I don’t have this surge of anger when I get in my car.

Thanks DCU!