Allston Christmas and Sulmona Again!

Candy corn on the shelves, trash on the streets, and parking bans posted around the neighborhood can mean only one thing, it's Allston Christmas!

This year we had the distinct pleasure of participating in Allston Christmas because we had to help my dad move to a new apartment.  My dad was so excited about getting to leave things out for Allston Christmas which was really rather cute!  Now that the novelty has worn off, he doesn't understand why there's still so much trash on the streets around him (he lives in a town with lots of college kids who move in on September 1st.)

It was a long day of moving, unpacking, and cleaning (a lot of horrible, disgusting cleaning) and JO and I didn't get home until almost 9:00 pm.  I was starving but I didn't want to go any where.  My entire body hurt and I had a lovely layer of filth on me that I really was embarrassed about.  It took a lot of prodding, but JO convinced me to go to Sulmona dressed in my finest sweatpants and a fleece (side note~ why did it get so cold so fast, I'm not ready!)

The place was pretty empty so I felt less embarrassed about my attire as we took two seats at the bar.  Everyone should go to this restaurant right now!  Drop everything and go.  You don't want to cook, you don't want to do dishes, let someone else do it!  I can't say enough good things about this place!

Excellent cocktails ✅
Great wines ✅
Bubbly prosecco ✅
Delicious food ✅
Super friendly waitstaff ✅

(Can you tell that I recently discovered the emoji tool on this blog?)

I was so spent after such a long day that I'm really glad we went out, even if we looked disgusting and the bartender was probably frightened of us.

Lady Gaga at Fenway

Really the only thing that got me through the first week of school was knowing I had tickets to see Lady Gaga at Fenway on Friday night!  The minute this show was announced in January I knew I had to go!

The show was absolutely amazing!  Gaga's set list was great.  She balanced her new Joanne stuff with her pop hits perfectly and managed to pull off ten outfit changes without too much downtime between songs and played five different instruments.  Plus, her voice sounded amazing and that never happens at Fenway.

 

One Last Summer Day!

Typically, it's hot and humid to end August, and as a result, fun outdoors isn't so accessible unless you want to drip sweat and get cranky (I hate humidity...does anyone really like it?)  This year though, the weather has been so strange.  I feel like we dove feet first into fall and fleece weather.  Although I don't love the chilly nights, I love being able to do stuff during the day without fear of passing out.

For my last day of vacation I decided I wanted to ride a bike.  I'm not sure where this sudden urge came from but I become hyper focused on riding bikes so we did!  We decided to rent some Hubways and ride down Memorial Drive.  I love that the Memorial Drive is closed to cars from April through November and we definitely do not take advantage of this enough!  It was so fun and the river is just so peaceful!

After our bike ride we headed over to Charlie's Kitchen for some fun!  We grabbed two seats in their beer garden and enjoyed the beautiful weather.  We both agreed we don't come here enough.  Seriously, their prices are awesome and you can't compete with their outdoor space!

After dinner, we decided to continue the night with one more patio so we headed over to Noir.  I love Noir and their patio.  It can be tough to decided between Legal's Outdoor Bar and Noir but the options are better at Noir.  I loved their new patio furniture (I'm all about a couch on a patio!)  We ordered our drinks and it was getting a little chilly, but I was determined to stay on the patio.  I had a fleece and a pair or pants I could change into but JO, in typical boy fashion, had a flimsy long sleeve and no pants (well, he was wearing shorts so he did have pants but you know what I mean!)  He got chilly so we ended up moving inside but it was still super fun and the Old Cubans were perfection!

Sulmona~ Again

Sulmona, in Kendall, is quickly becoming one our favorite restaurants.  I can't say enough good things about this place.  This past Saturday was a perfect end of summer night.  The weather was great and I really wanted to eat dinner on a patio.  JO was on the Cape, along with lots of my friends, so I decided to dine solo.  I really don't mind lunch or dinners alone (it's better than doing dishes, right) and I kind of think that's a great perk of city living.  I decided to give Sulmona's patio a try because I was pretty sure I would be able to get a table, I love their burrata dish, and they have afagato on their desert menu.

Once again Sulmona was a great experience.  Their patio is great.  I love that they have planters around the perimeter.  It's a nice touch.  Sulmona is on Main Street but it's never too busy.  There's just enough street noise to give the patio some personality.  It's also a great place for dining solo.  The waitstaff were really attentive (I've been to some places where they kind of blow you off if you're alone) and the food was delicious.  This burrata dish is phenomenal.

Sulmona is doing a cocktail fundraiser for Hurricane Harvey and JO and I will be stopping by this weekend to participate.  Maybe we can become regulars there too!

City Girl Cafe

JO and I had quite possibly the smoothest day of travel on our return to home after our trip.  We did have to get up at 3:45 am but other than that it was a great day.  Our flights were on time, we only had a 15 minute stop over in Detroit, and we were on the ground in Boston by 2:00 pm.  After a ridiculous debacle with our mail (who knew when you put a hold on your mail the post office doesn't actually have to do it) we had a lot of time to kill before picking up the Bittens.  JO's parents were cat sitting and they live off of 95S and we weren't about to get stuck in crazy traffic so we decided to grab dinner in Inman before heading out.    

We went to City Girl Cafe, one of our favorite neighborhood places.  I do not rave about this place enough.  First, the restaurant is super cozy.  I think maybe 20 people could fit inside.  Second, the food is delicious and third, the staff is super friendly (when we walked in the waitress asked us where we had been and wanted us to tell her all about our trip.)  We're pretty much regulars there and almost always order the same thing so when we changed up our order our waitress even commented on it.  We decided to check out the Kale Caesar Salad and the summer pizza with corn, blue cheese, bacon, and tomatoes.  Oh man, we have seriously missing out by not ordering the caesar salad.  We've both been hesitant about ordering it in the past because of the kale.  Why does kale seem so scary?  Let me tell you, that salad made me write this post.  The salad is delicious and the kale is the perfect match to City Girl's caesar dressing.  The pizza was also quite delicious and I'm sad we found it at the end of it's run on the menu (City Girl does some seasonal menu items and this was one of them.)  I love corn on pizza.  I love corn in general but on pizzas it's really quite tasty.

Anyways, City Girl Cafe is awesome and I don't say it enough!

A Day in the Seaport

My dad turned 70 this past August (Happy Birthday Dad) and he really wanted to go to the Seaport to celebrate.  My dad has this fascination with the Seaport.  He's always asking me about it.  I think it's because he remembers what that part of the city used to look like and so the transformation is kind of mind boggling for him.

We decided to go to the No Name on the Fish Pier for lunch.  I know there are so many choices in the Seaport but the No Name is a special place for my family.  We have been going to the No Name since the early 80s.  When I was young, going to the No Name was like a seriously awesome event and it still is.  I know it's not as fancy as Legal Harborside or Strega's on the Waterfront but for me it's such a special place.  The seafood is going to be fresh, it's not going to be smothered in sauces and spices, and it's going to be yummy!  We had a great lunch and my dad loved that we picked this spot.

After lunch we wanted to get dessert so we grabbed a table on the patio at 75 on the Liberty Wharf.  I have been wanting to try this place for years so when I saw the table I knew it would be perfect.  The views are great and the patio is very relaxed.  We got drinks and cheesecakes and had fun celebrating. I think my dad really enjoyed his day.  I hope he did because he is awesome and deserved a great day!

The End of Summer

JO and I almost always go on a road trip in at the end of August.  As a result, our city summer ends before the official end of the summer.  This year's trip was AMAZING (and I'm hoping to post about it at some point, but school has started so I'm sure it will be delayed.)  Before we left for our trip I squeezed in a few more fun city outings!

Grafton Street

I met up with a good friend, who I hadn't seen since June because of our crazy schedules, for dinner in Harvard Square.  We decided to go Grafton Street.  There are so many great choices in Harvard Square so it's always difficult to decide where to go.  I always forget how good the Grafton is.  I love the atmosphere inside.  The lighting is soft, the dining space is quite large so you're not on top of other patrons.  The bar is great and the food is quite good too.  I ended up getting a pizza and it was delicious!  They also have a great patio but it was pouring rain so we missed out on that.  It was great to catch up with my friend and then we realized our schedules were so crazy we wouldn't see each other again until September.

The Hourly

JO and I went to The Hourly to check it out for drinks one night after a soccer game.  The Hourly opened in the space that used to house First Printer and Kennedy's.  It's kind of a doomed restaurant space.  First Printer and Kennedy's both didn't fare very well.  The space itself is awesome.  It has high ceilings, large windows, and a huge three sided bar in the middle.  I'm not in love with the renovations The Hourly did.  They hung a bunch of old sailing and fishing pictures all over the place but they don't seem to belong.  They kept the bar and the seating pretty much the same as before and I'm happy about that.  I loved that they served their bubbles in coups and the bartenders were very nice.  I'm glad we tried it, and I really wanted to like this place, but it was just kind of ok.  We didn't hate it but we didn't love it.  With so many choices in Harvard Square we barely have time to go back to our favorites so I'm not sure if we'll make it back here.

Bisq

Bisq is in Inman and we visited when it first opened a few years ago.  We loved it but never went back.  On our last Saturday night in the city before our trip I really wanted oysters and bubbles and JO really wanted to go see the Big Sick.  We decided to go to Bisq for their $1.00 oysters before heading over to Kendall for the movie.  We got there right when it opened so we were able to get two seats at the bar.  The bar at Bisq is quite small, maybe six seats and two tables that seat four so getting a spot is tough.  The oysters were delicious and I loved my bubbles!  Bisq does a lot of small plates that are really well crafted, but on the pricey side (not super expensive, I don't want to scare anyone away but more than we tend to spend on dinner.)  But they also do great things like dollar oysters, fried chicken Sundays, and a monthly brunch that's usually created around a theme so there are so very affordable ways to access Bisq outside of special meals.