Dang, That's One Big Beer Glass

My best friend has been living in Northampton, Massachusetts, for the last two years, and this week I finally got out there to see her for the first time. Her cute apartment really is located right over a coffee house (jealous!), where all the baristas are cute and blonde and wear high-waisted jeans with leather boots under their black barista aprons. My friend and I enjoyed a few brief days together in various cafes and bookstores, my favorite of which was the Montague Book Mill whose tucked away writing desks actually made me want to exhume my thesis for rewriting.

She got through many a long snowy winter's night at this great bar, The Moan and Dove in Amherst, where you can drink your way into OWNING a hefty beer mug with your named etched into it. When we walked in, she picked her beer, and the bartender (pictured) poured directly into her personalised mug. I drank my stout from a lowly anonymous pint glass. We ate peanuts and chicken wings, which I would usually avoid... but nothing tastes better when you're sharing it with your best friend.

Jason at the Moan & Dove, Amherst, Massachusetts