April Vacation!

April vacation started on Friday and with it came amazingly beautiful weather. A few years ago I declared Mission 5 so I wouldn't waste my vacation sitting on the couch. This vacation has been pretty similar to that one.

Friday night we headed over to Casa de Portugal for a delicious dinner. We started with the littleneck clams in a white wine and garlic sauce. They were so delicious I want to go back again to get them.

Saturday we woke up to absolutely beautiful weather. We headed into the Square. I was secretly hoping we would go to Daedalus and get a table at the roof deck so I was super happy when JO directed us in that direction. There is something so fabulous about the roof deck at Daedalus. It's so relaxing and the food is delicious. After lunch we wandered around the Square before stopping in front of the public library to sit in the sun and read a book.

Monday was Marathon Monday. Typically I head into Boston to watch the race but it was so hot I wanted nothing to do with the crowds. Instead I opted for an early morning walk to Harvard Square to sip coffee and read a book in Harvard Yard. My usual summer ritual started early this year! I even grabbed some Pink Berry since there wasn't a line... probably because it was 10:00 a.m. but I didn't care.

Monday night the temps had dropped a bit as we headed in Boston for a city night that had been delayed two weeks due to a nasty cold that took JO forever to get over. We started at the Last Hurrah, one of my favorite places in the city, for a champagne tasting. We each ordered a tasting and ended up having 10 glasses on the table. Usually it's pretty quite in the Last Hurrah but there was a lot of activity due to the marathon. There were a few runners at the table nearby and it was fun to eavesdrop on their postrace discussions. The tasting was really fun and a great bargain for what you get.

After drinks we walked through the Common and Public Gardens and up Comm Ave. to Deuxave. Last year we popped in here for drinks on our way home from a winter night out and we've been wanting to go back for dinner ever since. A good friend moved into a building nearby and she was nice enough to get us a gift card to the restaurant for our wedding.

We grabbed a table outside since it was so nice out. The outdoor seating is fabulous. You have great views of the Pru and Comm Ave. We started out with a spring salad and were so impressed with the flavors in a simple salad. The entire salad was inside a circular vessel created out of potato sticks. Everything was so fresh and delicate tasting. For dinner I got the chicken with crispy mushrooms, spring vegetables, artichoke hearts, and crepes filled with rillette. There were so many flavors and they were each delicious. JO got the Bolognese pasta and he loved it! This place definitely lived up to the hype and we are already thinking about when we can go back next. For dessert we got the creme brule and it was probably the best creme brule I have ever had. It was a fabulous way to spend an evening!

On Tuesday I spent another fabulous morning in the Square before meeting up with a friend at Area Four in Kendall Square. I really haven't walked around Kendall much since our wedding and it was fun to remember a great day. We only had coffee but I really liked the atmosphere of Area Four. I would love to go back again for lunch.

On Wednesday I met up with a friend at Nubar at the Sheraton Commander for lunch. I love visiting the Commander and the food at Nubar is always great. I got the beet and asparagus salad and was blown away. Beets, asparagus, frisee salad, and pickled shallots were dressed in a white wine vinaigrette. The flavors all worked so well together.

This morning I headed back to the Square for coffee and reading before going into Boston to do some shopping at the Prudential Center. While I was there I toured the Skywalk since I get free admission as a teacher. It was a beautiful day to get an arial view of the city.

This vacation has been super so far and just what I needed to make it through the end of the school year.

First Printer

About a year ago JO and I noticed a new restaurant in the works in Harvard Square. We watched the renovations and with each passing sighting we got more and more intrigued. Finally, First Printer opened in mid-March and we were fortunate enough to check it out with a good friend.

It was one of those unseasonably warm nights that we had at the end of March and of course that meant a trip to Harvard Square. After grabbing dinner at John Harvard's we met up with a good friend. Since you couldn't even get near an outdoor table any where in the square we decided to check out First Printer for drinks.

The restaurant is really spacious with high ceilings. There is a wrap around bar in the middle of the space and beautiful tile work on the floor. The walls are decorated with references to the "printing press" which the restaurant is named after. This place used to be Herrell's ice cream and a bank before that. The old bank vault, that Herrell's had used as seating, is still there. There are a couple of tables back there and it adds an interesting spin on private dining.

The drink menu has lots of options as does the food menu. We had a really fun time and the atmosphere was great. We'll definitely be going back again for dinner.

March Madness- Inman Style!

Once again I've been gone for a while. This is mostly due to my favorite time of the year, March Madness! For three weeks every March I get in the zone and watch as much basketball as humanly possible. As a result, I kind of withdraw from society for a while. Of course the tournament has been over for a few weeks now so it's time to get back to blogging.

One of my favorite parts of March Madness is the first day of games. At times there are four different games going on. The new broadcasting format is awesome in that all of the games can be viewed, but you need to be awfully good with the remote to keep on top of it all. Not a problem if you live in Inman Square though.

I happened to have had a doctor's appointment on the first day of games so I was able to head over to Parlor Sports for the opening tip of the tournament. Parlor Sports is the sports bar attached to Trina's Starlite Lounge. Earlier this year Trina's renovated their parlor room and turned it into a sports bar. They did a great job with the renovation and the eight tvs don't hurt either. Back in January JO and I went to Parlor Sports to watch the UConn vs. Notre Dame women's game. The bartender was really awesome about putting the game on one of the tvs and even consoled me when we lost in OT.

So I had no reservations about watching the tournament there. It was a great afternoon. Around 2:15 we hit the magical time when there were four games going on at once and it was great to have multiple tvs so we could watch all of the games without flipping back and forth. Once of the things I love about this place, and Trina's, is the neighborhood feel of the place. The staff really makes an effort to get to know their costumers.

JO and I went back three other times to watch March Madness games. A highlight was the last night when we went to watch the Final Four game and the bartender put our tab under "UConn." Big points in my book!

FYI- tomorrow they are opening early for the the 100th anniversary Red Sox game and serving pizza from All Star Pizza. If I didn't already have plans I would certainly be there.