Lisa Johnson

Boston’s Hotel Alexandra for Sale Again

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Hotel Alexandra

Like that classic 90s jam by Portrait, here we go again. Boston’s Hotel Alexandra is up for sale.

As I mentioned in my post back in 2019, I’ve been following this property for decades. Whenever the lottery goes really high, I start having real estate fantasies about buying it if I won. With the Powerball jackpot now up to a billion dollars and Mega Millions not far behind, I’ve played a few times. Even won a few bucks! So I’m reinvesting my winnings and continue to try my luck.

Silence remains on the project website about construction starting on the most recent plan for development and I’m wishing for winning lottery numbers. So I started wondering what was going on. I searched and found an article from last month on The Boston Sun stating that Hotel Alexandra is now up for sale by Cushman & Wakefield. What?!?!

I emailed the Boston Planning & Development Agency project contact, Nick Carter, and asked if he knew anything. He replied, “I have not heard anything to that effect but I would also say that we often are not updated on things like this.”

Huh. So I dug a little deeper and found information on the Cushman & Wakefield website. It’s true! There is a post dated June 1, 2023, stating that they are marketing The Alexandra. See below.

Cushman & Wakefield’s Multi-Family Advisory Group is now marketing The Alexandra, a former luxury hotel primed for redevelopment in Boston’s thriving South End neighborhood. Approved plans for the redevelopment include a 70-unit condominium project with a gym, bike storage, rooftop terrace with adjoining amenity room and ground floor retail. The property is within minutes of some of the city’s top dining destinations including Toro, Flour Bakery & Café, and Barcelona Wine Bar.

Further information about the sale states, “The Alexandra is offered on an ‘as-is’ basis and without a formal asking price. Upon receipt of a signed confidentiality agreement, qualified investors will be provided with access to the offering memorandum and due diligence materials. Once investors have had an opportunity to review the offering materials and tour the property, C&W will schedule a ‘Call for Offers’.”

This is so very interesting! Now would I really go through with buying it if I won? I don’t know.

Toying with the idea is different than the reality of what this would mean day to day in taking on such a massive construction project. Especially one that seems doomed to fail. But then again, maybe Hotel Alexandra just hasn’t found the right owner yet. And I can’t help but dream.

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Photo Credit: Nina LaNegra

Massachusetts Paid Medical Leave & Life Recently

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herbs and marigolds balcony garden

How to even begin writing here? I’m not sure how to do it except to just do it.

Well, my balcony garden is mostly looking good. The basil and rosemary are loving all the rain. The marigolds too. I’d prefer a little more sun, but there’s been enough to keep us all alive. Speaking of which. Things got dicey for a bit.

So a little over three weeks ago, out of the blue, I got really sick. The pain in my stomach was so brutal I couldn’t sit or lay still. I had chills and kept vomiting, which I never do. I spoke to my aunt about my symptoms and she said it sounded like gallstones. I looked online and saw several articles stating that if symptoms last more than a few hours to seek immediate medical attention. Because there could be an infection spreading to other organs and be fatal. I had already waited close to 24 hours. Gulp. I called 911.

Long story short, my gallbladder was acutely infected and I ended up having emergency surgery to remove it. I was in the hospital for a few days and have been recovering at home since. I’m feeling much better and plan to return to working next week. I’m so glad that Massachusetts now has paid medical leave and I was able to get it. What a relief.  Paid medical leave needs to be available at the federal level, so that everyone can have it when needed. Because life sure can change in an instant.

Because of the surgery, I still am not allowed to lift more than a gallon of milk for another week, and have needed help with basic things at home. Luckily family and friends have been there for me in a big way.

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This year has been a trip. Well, the last several years really. Most of last year was devoted to helping my mom sell her house and move her closer to me. That was done just days before Christmas last year. I was so happy that we were able to make it happen and had planned to write about the process of helping to sell a parent’s home — the downsizing involved, etc. Life was just too much though. I was extremely exhausted and stressed from everything and just couldn’t do it. I fell behind with a lot of things. And I’m still behind.

But I decided that my priority had to be my well-being. My focus this year is to relax, enjoy life and take care of myself.

I was able to do a bunch of fun things though. I finally saw Hamilton! My mom and I did a paint night! I saw Jill Scott in concert! I visited with family in Maryland and saw the cherry blossoms in DC! I got a Wordle in one! And just a week and a half before I got sick, I went with a friend to the Kripalu Center for Yoga and Health in the beautiful Berkshires. We participated in the RISE program to help with stress management and resilience. The program was amazing! I learned so much and was probably better able to handle everything recently based on that experience. I guess the universe decided that I still had not rested enough!

So now the year is more than half over. I’m sure that I have no idea what the rest holds. But regardless of what life throws at me, I’ll give it my best.

17 Years Blogging

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17 years blogging and word for the year is dates

I’ve been blogging for 17 years to the day! This past year has been a lot. My blogging definitely dropped off. And in January, I decided to retire Free Yoga Boston. I did FYB for ten years. It felt like its season came to a natural end. I’m not quite sure how this space will continue.

In general, video seems to have taken over what blogging used to be. I love watching YouTube and have thought about the medium. In the past, I made some videos too. But in general, video isn’t just about filming. From what I can tell, the heart of it seems to be editing. Which at this point, has not proven to be something that I love. Maybe I just haven’t found the right editing tools? Not sure. But for now, writing is my first love, so I’ll keep on with blogging.

And keeping with my annual tradition, today is the day that I choose my word for the year. Here are some obvious hints!

My plan is take myself out for an Artist Date on a regular basis. I had fun with my mom at a paint night, for a mother daughter date. I recently wrote about the surprising due date for federal student loans. A favorite snack is yogurt with my homemade trail mix, which usually includes dates. So sweet and healthy too! I’d also like to meet a nice guy and go on some dates.

The word resonating for this year is DATE!

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Links to posts for past years are below. Thank you for being here!

Federal Student Loan Due Date?

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federal student loan

Talk of the pandemic emergency measures soon ending has grown louder lately. As someone with federal student loans, I have not been looking forward to the end of the student loan payment pause with glee.

So last week when I received an email from Nelnet stating that my student loans were transferred to them from Great Lakes, I was not amused. And rather agitated to be quite honest. This signaled the beginning of the end.

When I registered my account and looked at the inbox, I assumed there would be a letter stating that payments would resume within the next few months. But that was not the case.

From what I saw on my account and pictured above, no payments are due until September 20, 2024. At first I thought it said September 2023. I was happy to have a few months more than I thought to start the payment process again. Then I looked again and saw that it said 2024 not 2023. Huh? 2024?

I must have read the date about twenty times before I believed it. Actually, I’m still not sure I believe it. There must be some very interesting conversations happening behind the scenes for this to be the correct date. Or someone made a very large typo.

Right now, President Biden’s student debt relief plan is still in the hands of the Supreme Court. If the Court strikes down his current plan, then based on the payment due date, maybe he will go in another direction. All I can do is speculate, but that later than expected due date gives me a bit of hope.

If you have a federal student loan, do you have the same payment due date?

An Artist Date at Italian Cafe Gelato

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If you’re a writer, then you’re probably familiar with Julia Cameron’s book The Artist’s Way and the idea of Morning Pages. I’m not a morning person. So writing first thing was never something that appealed to me. But the Artist Date. Now that’s something that I can get with. And so I did.

An Artist Date is supposed to become a weekly habit. Weekly may not happen. But I can try. Visiting cafes is one of my favorite things, so it’s definitely an easy way to get that date in. I’ve also ventured out a lot more since the pandemic, so I’m getting used to or maybe creating a new way of being out in the world again. I still wear a mask indoors at many public places. But I’m also eating out now, obviously without a mask. It feels a bit strange, but it also felt a bit strange when I first started wearing a mask. Doing the reverse will take an adjustment period too.

Last week the weather was more like July than April. So one night after work, I decided to take myself out for a gelato at Italian Cafe Gelato here in Quincy. They have so many delicious flavors to choose from. I taste tested a few and settled on the lemon ricotta. It was so good! Sweeter than I expected, and so creamy and cold. Just perfect.

One thing to be aware of if you go. Most places you can get a cover and take your gelato to go. You cannot get a cover to go unless you buy a pint. Rather odd. Oh well.

So I sat inside, and savored my gelato while looking outside the window at the pretty lights in the alley.

It was such a lovely night out, so I took my time heading back to my car and looked around the area. Over the past several years, I’ve noticed so many places going out of business. Noticed trees being cut down. The landscape of cities and towns changes every few decades. The stores that you see and go to everyday probably won’t be around in 25 years. It made me think that I should have taken more pictures of the ordinary 25 years ago.

Since I don’t have the option of time travel at this point, I figured I’d start taking those ordinary pictures now. Future me will be glad that I did.

This Sully’s sign is from a bygone era and probably won’t be around for too long. According to Eater Boston, the bar opened soon after Prohibition ended and closed in June 2018. I love these old signs, so I’ll try and capture them when I can.

A little past the Sully’s sign is Sergeant George Montilio Square. As someone with a huge sweet tooth, I immediately though of George Montilio of Montilio’s Bakery. But it seemed that he would be way too young to have served in World War II. Maybe it was his father?

So after taking this picture, I did some research. George, the famous baker, just recently turned 70, so that definitely was not him. His father started the bakery 76 years ago, but his name was Ernest Montilio. The Square is named after an Army Sergeant who “died of wounds” on April 17, 1945. Well, that’s odd. Just realized that today is April 17th as well!

The Hall of Valor Project website states that Sergeant George Montilio received the Distinguished Service Cross, “[F]or extraordinary heroism in connection with military operations against an armed enemy while serving with Company H, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division, in action against enemy forces on 6 June 1944, in France. As a volunteer scout, Corporal Montilio carried out an assault on a footbridge under intense machine gun and small arms fire. Though the bridge was held by a superior number of the enemy, his daring and aggressiveness forced them to withdraw and thereby permitted his unit to organize and hold their objective.”

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When I decided to go out for gelato, I didn’t realize that I was doing an Artist Date until afterwards and I thought about it. This type of practice really does bring about creativity and some learning along the way.

Since George Montilio is not a very common name, I wonder if he was part of the same family. Considering he was from this area, it seems likely that he could have been a relative. Maybe the current George was named after him? I guess it’s family history that he probably knows.

Rest in peace, Sergeant Montilio, and thank you for your service.