Black Friday in Harvard Square

Friday was absolutely gorgeous.  Temps were in the mid 60s, the sun was shining, and the Square was calling.  JO and I headed in around noon, grabbed some burritos at Felipe's, and sat on the roof deck eating lunch and thinking about how lucky we were to be outside!

After lunch we roamed around doing some holiday shopping.  Not having to go to the mall in December is really awesome!

ThanksgivingFest

We hosted another successful ThanksgivingFest!  It was my 10th ThanksgivingFest and I am always amazed that I stumbled into such a special group of people.  I also love that my city kitchen fits so many people at one long table!

No chance of running out of bubbles

Thunder Road Music Club and Rock 'n Roll Bistro

Towards the end of the summer JO and I were walking home from the rock gym through Union Square and we stumbled upon a new music venue under construction.  I remember trying to file it away in my mental city spots rolodex but with the craziness of school it got deleted until I got an email from Freezepop, one of JO's favorite groups, announcing a show at that very venue.

We got two tickets for the show and it didn't disappoint.  The venue is on the smaller size, maybe the size of Bukowski's in Inman.  There's a dining area that's raised up a bit and a bar along one wall.  Although it was small, and there were a fair amount of people there, it didn't feel crowded.  The bar featured a good beer selection and the food I saw coming out of the kitchen looked decent.

The concert itself was really fun!  I would definitely consider hitting up Thunder Road again.

Alex Honnold at Central Rock Gym

Alex Honnold is a world renowned rock climber who is well known in the climbing world for his free climbing (climbing without any ropes)  of routes like El Cap in Yosemite.   I don't really like this kind of climbing, because of how crazy dangerous it is, but I do think Alex is a really unique individual.  When I heard he would be giving a talk at Central Rock Gym in Watertown I quickly snapped up two tickets for JO and I.

The talk was really great since it focused more on his climbing and hiking adventures and less on the free climbing.  It was really neat to hang out with the rock climbing community and hear some really inspirational stories.

Central Rock Gym seems like a really great rock gym.  Unlike Brooklyn Boulders, they have real rock walls instead of wooden walls.

Inman Hoedown 2015

The Inman Square Business Association put on another great event with the 2015 edition of the Inman Hoedown.  The weather was fantastic and the restaurants did a great job with small bites featuring the secret ingredient of cranberries.  It was so nice to be out and about celebrating our neighborhood!

Parsnip and Noir

Ever since Upstairs on the Square closed we've been watching the construction in the historic building unfold.  Upstairs was such a special part of the Square and nothing could replace it.  In fact, my guess is that the new restaurant taking over the space, Parsnip, will be held to an even higher bar than most new restaurants because of the closing of the beloved Upstairs on the Square.  I certainly did when we went to check out Parsnip when it opened just a few weeks ago.  I wasn't that interested in the place until I saw an article on the decor.  It reminded me of the art deco stuff that we saw in Palm Spring so we decided to take a look.

Parsnip has an extremely limited, and rather pricey, menu.  I'm sure the food is amazing, judging from the service and the decor but I can't imagine eating there.  The prices are just way too high and if I'm going to pay those prices I'm going to eat at Puritan, Harvest, or Rialto.

We decided to check out the upstairs lounge area for drinks.  The lounge has a bar against one wall and lounge seating with a few tables.  The iconic round windows are still there although the low, lounge seating doesn't take advantage of what could be stellar views from the windows.  The decor is totally retro- 50s-70s inspired.  I have to say, Parsnip nailed the look, even down to the glasses.  The dining room looks like it came out of Alfred Hitchcock's North by Northwest.

I ordered the Breeze Through the Trees- gin, bubbles, grapefruit juice, pine liquor, fresh lemon, and rosemary.  It was delicious!  My only criticism is that it is served over ice, with a straw which brings down the sophistication a bit for a $15 cocktail.  The lounge snack menu looked more reasonably priced and if we go back I'd love to sample the fried artichokes.

Love the glass!

 After Parsnip, we decided to linger in the Square.  It was one of those random 70 degree nights in November and we felt like we had to take advantage.  We ended up at Noir and grabbed a drink on the patio.  It was so nice to be outside this late in the fall.  Also, I might have a slight affinity for Noir's Old Cuban drink with it's perfectly balanced blend of mint syrup, rum, and bubbles!

Halloween- Parlor Sports Style

I'm not usually one to want to go to a Halloween party, especially in a costume, but when we heard Parlor Sports would be hosting a Halloween party we couldn't resist.  Parlor Sports is such a great place and we knew they would pull out all the stops.

We of course needed to bring it with our costumes.  JO dressed up as Marty McFly since it was the year of Back to the Future and I dressed up as the scariest thing I could think of- a Tennessee fan.  The whole crew loved my costume which made it even better!  The manager even asked me, "Is that shirt making your skin burn?" Why yes it is!

Our favorite bartender!

Inmanween 2015

I love all of the traditions our neighborhood has.  It's one of the many reasons I love living here in Inman Square.

This year, we were determined to recapture our Inmanween Pumpkin Carving Title.  JO and I both entered pumpkins and I thought for sure that JO's pumpkin would win, because Ghostbusters come on!

It all starts with pumpkins from Ricky's Flower Market

My owl pumpkin- a work in progress

The final product- who wouldn't love that!

I loved JO's pumpkin

Our pumpkins on the judging table

The competition was tough!

 When all of the votes were tallied I came out the winner and excitedly reclaimed the title for us!

In between dropping of our pumpkins and waiting for the results we stopped in Hops N Scotch for a toast to the neighborhood and grabbed dinner at Trina's Starlite Lounge!

It was so fun to "visit" our pumpkins in Boutique Fabulous and to see our neighborhood so full of happy people.

Showing off my City

My cousins, one from Seattle and one from Pittsburgh (and who has a son going to Harvard) decided to visit last weekend.  It was one of those awesome, spontaneous things that just works out.  I was free, the weather cooperated, and it was the Regatta!

On Saturday, after fueling up on some totally New England Dunkin Donuts, we headed into Harvard Square to watch the Regatta.  We were really thrilled to be invited to watch from the Newell Boat House dock.  I've never seen the Regatta from this view and it was so neat to have a behind the scenes look at the race.

 Once we had our fill of the race, we toured the Harvard Square campus (again with some great behind the scenes vantage points), had the most delicious sandwiches at Al's (how have I never eaten here before), and did a little site seeing in Cambridge before getting dinner at Tanjore.  I'm not usually a big fan of Indian food, but Tanjore was really good and really well priced.

My college dorm was not this pretty!

After dinner I took my cousins to State Park for drinks. This was the perfect place.  The campy, "middle of nowhere" feel of the bar, is so different than a lot of the places in the city.  It was perfect for catching up and having not had a cocktail here before, they were delicious!  The Old Cuban is my new favorite drink- dark rum, simple syrup, lime, mint, and bubbles!

On Sunday we headed into Boston.  We visited the Skywalk, had lunch at Piattini, saw some snowflakes (gasp), and had dinner at Bukowski's before watching the Patriots game.

It was a crazy weekend filled with lots of love and laughter!  I was so happy to be able to show off my city to my cousins!  I love playing tour guide!