A Weekend of Celebrating

For the first time since we got married, our anniversary fell on a Saturday.  We decided to take advantage by extending the celebrations throughout the entire weekend.

We had dinner on Friday night at Puritan and Company.  Everything is always so delicious here and the people are so, so nice!  Check out this super apple crumble dessert we had.

Dinner was followed by a performance by the Boston Symphony Orchestra.  We both agreed that we don't go to enough shows in the city.  The performance was great and there's really not a bad seat in the performance hall.

On Saturday we relived our wedding day by getting drinks at the Kendall Hotel and dinner at The Commander.  Our wedding coordinator even surprised us with a bottle of prosecco and cake!  Judy, at the Commander, is simply the best!  Our wedding was perfect and she was a big reason why.

The last five years have been fabulous!  It's fun to have this blog to look back on so many of our adventures!

Marliave

To celebrate the 10th anniversary of our first date, JO decided we should go out to dinner in Boston.  We planned this kind of late but were pleasantly surprised when there was a table available at Marliave.

I love everything about Marliave.  The location, on a side street, off of Tremont Street oozes old school Boston.  The restaurant is sophisticated, with whites, blacks, and browns adorning the tables and walls.  The downstairs has a cool 1920s vibe to it, while the upstairs dining room offers a quieter setting.  Marliave is my go to restaurant when people ask for restaurant suggestions in Boston.  It's just so dependable and delicious.

It was such a fun way to celebrate such a special day!

Boston Breakers Games

Did you know Boston is home to a women's professional soccer team?  The games are a lot of fun and super reasonably priced.  We try to go to the games whenever we can.  The Boston Breakers play at Harvard Stadium which is super convenient for us.  This year I got to see Carli Lloyd play and a former student of mine!

This team works so hard during the game and afterwards.  I watched as they stayed for over an hour signing autographs and taking pictures with every fan waiting in line.  These kids are so lucky to have women professional athletes to look up to.

A Fall Hike at Sunapee and a City Night in the Square

Even though it was a bit chilly we decided to take advantage of the sunny weather to hike Mt. Sunapee.  This was a fun hike, much easier than our last one, with spectacular lake views at the summit (my favorite views while hiking.)  We were a little early for leaf peeping, but I bet the views are majestic right now.

The traffic home cooperated and we were able to end the day in the Square with our friends.  We went to the Brattle to watch Rear Window, one of my favorite Hitchcock movies, and followed it up with dinner at John Harvard's.  I didn't do any school work that weekend and it was delightful!

The Red House

Patio nights in September are some of my favorite.  Since the season is nearing an end, they seem extra special, and the weather is usually just lovely- a little chill in the air and a good reason to wear a fleece.

After acquiring the dreaded fall cold, I decided I just wasn't going to give in.  On Friday night, I told JO we had to go out to Harvard Square and he suggested the patio at the Red House.  We were lucky to score one of the last patio tables.  We enjoyed the beautiful weather, the sights and sounds of Harvard Square, and planning our next hike.  The Red House is definitely an underrated restaurant, and one we need to visit more frequently, especially their adorable cottage bar that's perfect for winter nights.

Lucius at the House of Blues

When tickets when on sale last spring for the Lucius show a the House of Blues, I snapped them right up.  This show was pretty much what was getting me through the first few weeks of school.  I could feel a fall cold coming on but I demanded my body postpone the sore throat, fever, and aches one more day so I could enjoy this show!  Mind over matter!

You definitely know your in your late thirties when you pre-game for a concert at the House of Blues with cocktails on the patio of The Hawthorne!  My late thirties self really knows how to live it up!  It was a beautiful night for the patio and The Hawthorne makes great custom gin cocktails (well, really great cocktails in general but I really love the gin ones.)  We had fun relaxing and reminiscing about our road trip before heading over to the venue.

Lucius put on a great show and I felt my city meter cranking up!  I love city nights out on a school night :-)

Lincoln Lafayette Loop

After hiking over thirty miles in twelve days, on our road trip, we were in great hiking shape and wanted to take advantage.  JO suggested the Lincoln Lafayette Loop trail since it would be a real challenge.   At nine miles and 3,000 vertical feet it was certainly a challenge, but I thought I would be able to handle it.  What I didn't expect was the crazy trail conditions that involved a lot of scrambling over rocks...for pretty much the entire nine miles!  At times, I didn't think I would actually be able to finish, although that's not really an option.  I wasn't even that excited when we finished because I was so spent from flinging my body up and over rocks.  It wasn't until a few days later that I truly grasped the feat I had conquered.  At some point, I'll have to do this again so I can truly enjoy the views- because they were amazing.

P.S.~ If you check out my fitness stats for the day, that 9 mile hike ended up being about 14 miles with all of the maneuvering over rocks.