Boston

This past weekend was fabulous on so many levels that I just have to tell you about it!

Day 1

It all started around crack-hour on Saturday morning when I had to wake up, pack, and drive to the airport to catch an 8:45am flight to Boston. In the back of my mind, I had been looking forward to the trip for quite some time. The main purpose was to attend a big conference at the Harvard Business School on Sunday, but I figured I would make a full weekend of it.

Harvard Square

I got to Boston within an hour and grabbed a cab directly to Harvard Square. My hotel was in Cambridge and I figured I would walk around a bit and then go check into the hotel before meeting my girl Dana for dinner. I had only packed my trusted backpack and, to the horror of my sister had left my computer at home. I figured 2 full days without looking at a computer screen could only add to my sanity. Just being back in Boston was nice and it also helped that the weather was lovely (yes, I'll take 35 degrees and sunny in February in M.A. as 'lovely'). I only had one day in Boston and in the days leading up to the trip, I hadn't had time to really think about how best to spend that one day. I hadn't been to Cambridge/Harvard Square in yeeaaarrrs so for me it was a good starting point.

After a few minutes of walking around, I found Crema Cafe bustling with students, and had a quite breakfast while having a great conversation with a friend. In between eating and chatting, I found myself taking pictures, enjoying the beautiful morning light coming through the sun roof and just observing the view change and one party left and another rushed to grab the available tables. Within an hour, I was again ready to charge forth and proceeded to walk all around the Square. I was a little disappointed because it seems the neighborhood had caught some hard times and a lot of the stores had shut down. I still found several cute boutiques such as Mint Julep where I had to have a serious "STEP AWAY FROM THE KIM WHITE HANDBAG" moment. As a handbag addict, these moments come fast and furious so it's always a struggle to step away. Luckily the cold crisp air calmed my nerves the minute I stepped out of the store, relieved that I had survived the attack....

Boston "T"

By lunchtime I had seen everything I could see and decided to jump on the T to Newbury Street. This was another part of Boston that I hadn't seen since 2001 when I still lived in Boston. It was nice to cruise the streets again and see new stores and ones that have remained since my college days. In another sign of the times, I was a little surprised by how ridiculous the sales were. You could tell that store owners were doing just about everything they could to get rid of inventory! Luckily I didn't quite loose my mind and only walked away with a DVF dress that was 75% off - STEAL (although my friend's husband reaction was "where's the rest of it!!!").

Newbury Street

My Newbury Street experience ended perfectly with a quick stop at Trident Booksellers and Cafe. This is one of my favorite bookstores because it's overflowing in character. It's been on the "wrong end" of Newbury street since the early 1980s and just keeps getting better with time. When I walked in after a LONG afternoon of walking around with my backpack (I had never gone to the hotel), it was such a nice and cosy place to take a break before jumping back on the T to meet Dana for dinner at her favorite Thai restaurant.


I'm not going to launch into the nostalgia caused by being on the B Line which was the train that leads directly to my undergrad years; the exhaustion of waiting for over 30 mins for a table even if the meal was the bomb; the hilarity of some silly college girl walking around in short sleeves despite the psycho drop in temperature; or the utter relief I felt crawling under the sheets of the hotel for bed. Maybe the next time I have a free day in Boston I'll venture off the beaten path and very less known areas. Hopefully it will be summer and I can just lay in the park for a bit. Either way, it was a GREAT day and reminded me of what a great city Boston I was in.

More tomorrow about the rest of my trip....