Much Needed Night Out

After a couple hectic weeks after the holiday vacation JO and I decided we needed a not out in the city.  Friday night we headed over to one of our favorite restaurants, Teatro.  We discovered this place a few years ago and quickly became big fans.  I love the variety of dishes, and the fact that you can get half portions.  This allows you to try several items from the menu.  Our favorites include the truffled deviled eggs and the mushroom risotto.

We ended the evening with drinks at another one of our favorites, the Last Hurrah at the Omni Parker Hotel.  I can't recommend this place enough.  I love the historic feel of the hotel and no matter how crazy a day you've had you immediately feel relaxed upon entering the hotel.  The entire evening was a lovely way to start a weekend!

I'm really excited about some fun city adventures coming up soon- dinner at Deuxave, trying our hand at painting at the Urban Art Bar, and Casablanca at the Brattle Theater.

Happy New Year

Well, it's officially 2013!  I kind of can't believe it.  I feel like just yesterday I was getting off the plane from our epic West Coast road trip to start another school year.  How can it already be January?

In any event, we celebrated New Year's Eve with our friends at their apartment on Comm Ave.  I absolutely love their apartment, with it's high ceilings and fireplace...and of course their location.  I parked myself in "the best seat in the house" early on in the evening.  This would be the spot with the beautiful view of the Pru and Elliot Hotel.  As we ushered in 2013 I took some time to stare out the window and reflect on how in six short years my life has completely changed and I am forever grateful for that!

Catalyst vs. Area IV and Atasca Oh My!

We recently tried out two Kendall Square establishments- Catalyst and Area IV.

We went to Catalyst with a friend of ours a few days before Christmas.  I had been wanting to check out this place since I saw it on the walk home from the Kendall Hotel the day after our wedding.  (Side note- yes I walked home with a friend of mine since the car was so full.)  I'm so glad we checked this place out and I'm kicking myself for not having gone earlier.  The restaurant is really open and airy with the perfect balance of rustic and modern.  The bar is really huge and there's additional seating next to a gas fireplace.  We spent the majority of our evening with fireside seats and I loved every minute of it.

Our friend ordered a small plate of pasta with a ton of ingredients and it was pretty yummy!  I love that they do 1/2 portions of many of their dishes since the prices are a bit high.  Needless to say, JO is sitting next to me and when he saw the above picture he told me we have to go back asap!

A few nights ago we tried a new Portuguese place called Atasca.  There isn't really a reason to depart from our neighborhood Casa de Portugal but we felt like trying something new.  Atasca has a great, cozy atmosphere and very attentive servers.  There menu is slightly more expensive than Casa de Portugal but there are more options on their menu as well.  I loved the black olives we were served to accompany the bread and oil.  We got the clams in garlic and white wine and they were delicious.  I love the bolder flavors in Casa de Portugal's version of this dish but Atasca's was very good.  I got a great chicken dish with roasted peppers and artichoke hearts.  JO's fisherman's platter was one of the best I have ever had anywhere and had so much seafood it was ridiculous.  It even included huge chunks of fried salmon.  Atasca is really nice but I'm a Casa de Portugal girl at heart, although Atasca has an adorable outdoor patio so maybe Casa de Portugal will be our winter go to and Atasca will be our summer option.

After such a great dinner we wanted to continue to the evening.  I had heard really good things about Area IV so we headed over there for a drink.  Area IV has a rustic/retro vibe with modern touches.  The bar is butcher block with aluminum read and silver chairs.  I didn't care for the chairs but JO liked them.  They feature local breweries and a wide selection of wines.  It was fun but out the window we could see the fireplace in Catalyst across the courtyard and I think we both kind of wished we had gone there instead.  I have heard excellent things about Area IV's food so I definitely want to go there for dinner sometime.  In any event it was fun to explore some new places.  We've been so busy this fall and early winter with work and my dad's house and retirement that we really havent' had much time to explore new places so it felt really good to get out and about!

Brunch at the Grotto

A while back we tried to go to the Grotto for lunch only to find it closed.  That was fine because we had a really fun spontaneous Beacon Hill outing with lunch and cupcakes on Charles Street.  That being said we were both really craving The Grotto so we figured a pre-Christmas brunch might be fun.

We were right!  Not only did we have the place to ourselves but the food was phenomenal as always!  This dessert was especially beautiful and delicious.  I think this might need to become a holiday tradition for us!

P.S.- Have I said how much I love this place!

Christmas Vacation Begins!

I usually dread the day before Christmas vacation at school.  The kids are so hopped up on Christmas crazies and I'm so exhausted from the December madness that it can make for a long day.  This year was so different, maybe it was because a week before we all learned just how fragile life can be when the tragic school shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary.  I had a different perspective on the day.  Instead of being stressed by the day I looked forward to being lucky enough to spend the day with my class.  It didn't hurt that this group of kids is so amazingly special and their Christmas crazies are sweet and not annoying.  So when they thanked me for the fun day I had put together for them I felt like celebrating.

JO and I had both been so busy this December that we really hadn't had much of a chance to get in the holiday spirit.  At this point our tree was still not decorated and we hadn't really gone out to enjoy Christmas in the city so we decided to go to Nubar at the Sheraton Commander for dinner.  We had a delicious dinner while enjoying the festive decorations in the hotel lobby.  The Commander is such a special place for us and it seemed like the perfect place to kick of the Christmas vacation.


The next day we hit up the Prudential Center for some shopping and a tour of the Skywalk.  I was loving the sequin mega-ribbon on the trees at the Pru.

Unfortunately all of my pictures were deleted but I did have this one beautiful shot on my phone.  The Skywalk never gets old for me.

We decided to be spontaneous and stop at Brassiere Jo for a drink before coming home.  It was hard to resist the delicious smelling escargot that the people sitting next to us got so I have a feeling we'll be heading back soon.  We had fun using the "Smartphone bar lounger."

Casablanca's- We'll Always Have the Square

Back in the summer we heard the sad news that Casablanca's, an iconic restaurant in Harvard Square, would be closing.  We had never eaten there even though and felt a little weird going after we heard it would be closing.

A few weeks ago we were in the Square looking for a place to grab dinner before a friend's Christmas party.  We were a bit surprised when we saw that Casablanca's was still open.  We decided to give it a try.  I loved all of the murals from one of my favorite movies and the food was really delicious.  It's a shame to see such a cool place close but it will be interesting to see what takes it's place.

The Sinclair and Marriage Equality Rally

I was rather excited when my favorite singer chose The Sinclair, new music venue in Harvard Square for, his annual acoustic benefit show.  The space reminds me of a smaller House of Blues and is a really nice addition to the Square.  Chad Stokes put on a great show with a stellar playlist!

The next day we headed down to Boston Beerworks in the Fenway area for a Marriage Equality rally organized by Chad Stokes' nonprofit Calling all Crows.  We had gone to see Chad's band State Radio play back in November and learned about the 1138 federal benefits same sex married couples are denied.  It really hit home with me.  JO and I have access to all of these benefits just because we're not gay.  That doesn't seem right at all!  I was so inspired by what I learned at that concert that I jumped at the chance to support the ME Rally.  The chance to hear Chad Stokes in a super small setting was a nice bonus.

During the pre-rally gathering at Boston Beerworks I had the chance to talk to Sybil, yes the Sybil from the songs (aka Chad's significant other).  She was so nice and appreciative of our participation.  She was really impressed when I told her that I became a fan of State Radio after hearing them at play at May Fair back in 2005.

Equal Rights for All!

Tis the Season in Inman Square

As I said in an earlier post, one of the things we love the most about Inman Square is the sense of community.  We love the seasonal events that take place in our square and are put on by the Inman Square Business Association.  Inmanween was really fun this year and I was very much looking forward to Shop Inman by Moonlight.


During Inmanween we won some gift cards to neighborhood businesses when we won the pumpkin carving contest so when I heard there were prizes for the Shop Inman by Moonlight scavenger hunt I was all in.  I raced home from school and ran across the street to Dream On Futon to pick up my scavenger hunt sheet.  I had a great time racing around the neighborhood trying to find the hidden candy cane in each of the participating businesses.  I managed to complete the scavenger hunt just in time and even though I didn't win it was a lot of fun.

I waited patiently for JO to get home before enjoying the rest of the events.

There was a wine and cheese tasting at Boutique Fabulous and of course their beautiful window decorations.

A beautiful tree in the plaza.

Santa Mickey at Dream On.

And of course, Santa hanging out in the neighborhood.  (He even got a police escort into Bukowski's but I wasn't quick enough with my camera.)

After enjoying all the fun things our neighborhood had going on I grabbed dinner with a good friend at Trina's Starlite Lounge.  It had been a while since I had been in and I'm loving the changes to their menu.  The sausage and broccoli rabe pasta is absolutely scrumptious.  In keeping with the sense of neighborhood that night the bar tender waved to me from across the way and said long time no see.  That's why I love my neighborhood!

A week before we continued our tradition of walking down the street to Ricky's Flower Market and walking home with our Christmas tree.  We then got too busy to decorate the tree until the 23rd with the exception of one special decoration!