Yesterday, Brianna and I drove to Boston to look for office furniture and gotta say I have lots of respect for the people who do that commute every day or on any kind of regular basis really. The trip there took almost 2 hours, keeping in mind we deliberately left later than we wanted because of all the traffic reports telling us that the highway was a parking lot nightmare. The drive back was worse - literally bumper to bumper. It reminded me of summer roadtrips to The Cape when I was a kid and sitting in traffic for what seemed like a solid year. It took over 2.5 hours. If you're doing the math, that's almost 5 hours in the car. Holy Mackerel!

Between the stress of being trapped in the car and feeling frustrated and furious (Do I have to remind you how aging stress is?), there's also the damage to your skin from the sunlight hitting you thru the windshield and those side windows too. Not to mention the squinting that goes along with, that will bring those little crinkle wrinkles around your eyes a lot sooner than you thought. Yup.

Maybe you never thought of that? Well, I'm always thinking about stuff like that. 

Don't despair though because I have solutions. First, get your hands on a good sunscreen. (Click here for my fav cult brand of affordable sunblock.) Next, make sure you have a fabulous pair of shades: I recommend OPTX in Johnston. Not only was one of the owners on a Bravo reality tv show last year (aka, Game Of Crowns...I am ready in case Bravo is looking for candidates for a Real Housewives of Rhode Island anytime soon btw.), but they also have a great selection of sunnies for everyone on your list - including YOU - who lives for stylish eyewear as well as protecting their eyes. (See mine in the photo above.) Lastly, and most importantly, treat yourself. Treat yourself to a regular massage: Your muscles are bound to be jacked up from sitting scrunched up and hunched over the steering wheel in your car for that many hours. Treat yourself to a subscription to SiriusXM radio. So much non-stop, commercial free music and more streaming. (It's life changing and I am now officially addicted - although I can't lie - I do miss hearing local news.) And remember to treat yourself to a nice post-commute dinner once in a while, at, say, Al Forno. That's what Brianna and I decided to do last night anyway. (She did the driving while I charged my phone and just tried to stay awake, but for the record, we were both completely wiped out by the time reached Providence.)

Al Forno, in case you don't know, is pretty much a RI institution. I mean it's one of the few restaurants that's jammed every night of the week, even on a Tuesday, aka, last night. (We tried to get a table last weekend and the wait was 1 hour and 45 minutes, but in retrospect that might have had something to do with the Brown Graduation.) You absolutely cannot go wrong with their oysters, any pasta and of course, any of their signature grilled pizzas. A cool chef I knew years ago - who rode a motorcycle and played the guitar (not that I was ever the type to be impressed by things like that) - spent time there back in the late 80's/early 90's, learning all about how to make grilled pizza (before opening his own restaurant out of state). 

Sometime after that, my all time favorite story about Al Forno occurred. It revolves around one of my brothers taking a call on his cell (back when people used their cells primarily for talking, instead of texting or updating their FB and IG accounts) right beneath a sign that said 'No Cell Phones Please' (or something like that) and getting a very stern talking to from either the maitre d' or mgr there at the time. Ha! The memory of that almost made me think twice about taking my I-Phone out during dinner last night. Almost. #Wink

Ciao for Now,

PattyJ

Photo Credits: All photos courtesy of PattyJ.com, except for the Al Forno sign, which is from their web site.