It's Holiday Time

I love this time of year because there are so many fun city traditions to partake in. Our first stop of the holiday season is the Charles Hotel tree lighting in Harvard Square. I love this tree lighting because it's not too crowded and they have a band that plays holiday songs prior to the lighting. The hotel also gives out free hot chocolate which just adds to the spirit.




We always follow up the tree lighting with a toast at one of the restaurants in the Square. Last night we stopped into Trata after the tree lighting. I really love the atmosphere in this small restaurant and it never seems to be too crowded.

I also love this time of year because Husky basketball is in full swing!!!

I would wear this sweatshirt every day if I could!

Back to Back National Champions!

Thanksgiving and Days Off

The past few days have been quite busy! Last weekend we hosted our annual Thanksgiving for our good friends. Since moving to the area, and becoming friends with this group of people, Thanksgiving has become one of my favorite traditions of the year. This year was extra special since there was a lot to celebrate in our group. Personally, it was also a nice opportunity to thank everyone for their love and support earlier this year. Having such an amazing group of people in my life certainly made the difficult times a little bit easier.



I love the fact that our city apartment has enough room for 16 people to sit at one long table. Last year we fit 23. We often joke that if we were on House Hunters the part where you talk about what you don't like about your current residence would be a joke. Other than the fact that we don't have a buzzer and we have finicky doors that sometimes lock you inside of rooms there is nothing we don't like about our apartment.

Thanksgiving was a smashing success! Thanks to our local Trader Joe's we had lots of fresh flowers :-)

This week was a short week at school since we had today off. I absolutely love having this day off. It's so nice and relaxing. On Monday night we decided to check off one of the local restaurants from our "to-do" list by having dinner at Ole. We both agreed that it was pretty dumb of us not hit up this great Mexican restaurant earlier in our life in Inman. Delicious is pretty much the only word that fits. I especially loved the guacamole made right at our table. I ate so much that I'm surprised I didn't turn green. The drink menu, and their new tapas menu, are both very intriguing. We'll definitely be going back.

Last night we joined our friends at The Thirsty Scholar and today we hit up Mr. Bartley's Burgers in the Square before seeing the Social Network. You might think we visited these places on purpose, since they are prominently featured in the movie but it was just dumb luck.

I've never been to Bartley's Burgers and I have to say putting grilled sauerkraut on a burger is sheer genius! I did find it quite annoying that 18 people, all of whom were seated ten minutes after us, got their food a good 20 minutes before we did. But, I totally get the fact that service isn't the selling point of Bartley's.

In between all of these fun events and outings we picked our wedding venue and date. The countdown is on... September 24, 2011 at Gunstock Mountain Resort.

One of Those Weekends

This weekend was one of those glorious weekends when each day was filled with something fun! It's the kind of weekend that puts you in a good mood going into Monday!

Friday night we headed into Boston for a long overdue city date. We had been wanting to go to dinner in Boston for a while but it always seemed liked we were too busy. We finally had an entire evening with nothing to do so we took advantage. We hopped on the train and in no time found ourselves at Teatro on Tremont Street. This was our first time at this restaurant and I'm sure it won't be our last.

Upon entering Teatro you are greeted with a beautiful arched ceiling lit up in a soft blue tone. There are no windows inside the restaurant, but that really didn't bother me. The tables are close together but it didn't seem to be a problem either. The atmosphere is sophisticated but bustling. You can have a conversation without feeling like everyone can hear you. The menu consists of tapas style dishes, some you can order in a full portion. We ended up ordering lots of tapas dishes including: the white bean puree, calamari, squash soup, pasta carbonara, wild mushroom risotto, and the rib eye steak. The food was delicious. The only so-so dish was the carbonara which definitely needed more salt. The wild mushroom risotto might just be the best risotto I have ever had. It was so creamy and had a deep roasted garlic flavor which I just loved. The rib eye was also delicious. I really want to go back and get the risotto :-) I haven't been able to stop thinking about it. After dinner we headed over to Top of the Hub.

On our way we noticed that people were dining outside. It was quite chilly and we coined the phrase "Seasonal Outdoor Dining Disorder" or SODsquared. Little did we know we would fall victims to the SODsquared the very next day.

It was super crowded in the Top of the Hub but somehow we were able to score a couple of seats. We spent the rest of the evening reminiscing about all of our fun city adventures last winter and making a winter list for this year.

On Saturday we woke up to a beautiful Indian Summer day in November. The sun was shining as we drove up to Gunstock Mountain Resort in Guilford, NH to check out their lodge as a possible wedding venue.






It was so pretty up there and the weather was so nice that we decided to grab lunch in Meredith, NH near Lake Winnipesaukee. We ended up grabbing lunch at Giuseppe's Showtime Pizzeria in the Mills Falls building. I've eaten here several times with my parents so it was a bit of de-ja-vu for me :-) I couldn't resist getting a couple of pictures of the lake on our way out




Later that night we met up with good friends and went to dinner at Daedalus in the Square. They had never been there and we were raving about the roof deck. Come to find out it was still open so we out there after dinner. It wasn't too chilly with our jackets and gloves on and it was so much fun! I still can't get over that we were on the roof deck in November :-) We hit up The Grafton before heading home for the night.


Today we headed into the Square to grab lunch. We tried Flat Patties and once again found ourselves dining outside in November :-)

I'm rather excited to know that the Outdoor Dining Season seems to be expanding!

An Inman Gem

Short weeks at school always seem super long. I think it's because we try to cram everything we would normally do in five days into four. That being said, on Friday all I wanted to do was go out for dinner and unwind... but I didn't have the energy to leave the neighborhood.

Lucky for me I live in Inman Square where there are a multitude of great restaurants at my doorstep. JO and I opted to visit Casa de Portugal. I hesitated writing about this restaurant for fear I may never be able to get a table there again when people find out what a great place it is.

The atmosphere is reminiscent of a restaurant in the North End. It's cozy and small and there is almost always a short wait for a table. It's a slice of fine dining right in our Square, which I love. The food is delicious and not overly complicated. I got the garlic shrimp with rice and Portuguese potato chips. JO got the steak with mushrooms and wine sauce. Both meals were delicious and very reasonably priced. We also are big fans of their affordable, and delicious, wine list.

After a delightfully delicious dinner at this neighborhood noshing nook (my 4th graders are currently working on alliteration) we decided that Casa de Portugal will definitely be inserted into the restaurant rotation more often.