Close to Christmas

My recent blog-silence is due to a few different factors. The semester just wrapped up so I was busy working on my final projects and grading final exams for the class I assisted. Christmas shopping. Spending two days straight baking for a Christmas party (because the first day was a failure). Wrapping presents. Writing thank you cards. And watching Christmas movies.

I'm not complaining  though, it was all fun stuff. In two days, AJ and I will be taking a late train to Connecticut two spend two short days celebrating the holidays with our families before coming back up to Boston with a few family members in tow.

The city has been feel pretty festive lately. After a pad thai dinner on Boylston the other night, AJ and I walked home down Comm Ave. It's filled with lights and we spent the whole walk pointing out pretty Christmas decorations on the exteriors of buildings and noticing lit up trees in windows. We did the same in the North End last night, there are some beautiful wreaths along Hanover. And today, walking down Newbury among Christmas shoppers, it started to snow very lightly and carolers were singing in the distance. It couldn't feel more like Christmas if it tried.

Happy December!

I love this month. It's so festive and fun and spirited! Every day brings us closer to days dedicated to family and every single day is one to reflect on all the blessings we've had this year. 

This is my first year spending Christmastime in Boston and there are so many festive things to do! AJ and I have already attended two Christmas events, the Faneuil Hall Christmas Tree Lighting and the Tuba Concert in Faneuil Hall. And we have many more planned! If you live in the Boston area, or want to visit, consider putting these on your calendar!

Dec. 1 Commonwealth Avenue Mall Lighting

Dec 2. Copley Square Tree Lighting

Dec. 4 Boston Common Tree Lighting

Dec. 5 North End Holiday Shopping Stroll

Dec 11. Beacon Hill Holiday Stroll

Not to mention countless shows and performances to get you in the spirit! What are your plans for this month?

Christmas in Faneuil Hall

Now that Thanksgiving has passed, I'm ready to start sharing Christmas related posts! Last Saturday, AJ and I had a wonderfully fun evening with a big crowd of people getting into the Christmas spirit. The Faneuil Hall Christmas Tree Lighting is the first tree lighting of the season in Boston. It's a big, fun event and everyone crowds around the tree (which is bigger than Rockefeller's Center tree!) and the stage where performers and celebrities entertain until the tree lights up.

AJ and I started the night with mass at St. Leonard's and then walked over to Caffe Vittoria on Hanover Street to kill time before making our way to the tree. I had a cappuccino, AJ had an affogato, and we split a slice of tiramisu. The caffe was decorated beautifully with lights and garlands and we were lucky to find an open table!

From there, we walked to Faneuil Hall and stopped in a few stores, including Newbury Comics were I bought 7 Christmas movies that I can't wait to start watching! It was already getting really crowded so we made a quick trip through Gap before squeezing our way towards the stage. We stood in a good spot, we couldn't see the stage but we could see the screen and the tree perfectly. There were so many people! Families with little babies, high school students, young couples, everyone!

From 7-8, a band played pop music with some Christmas songs thrown in, and the real celebration started at 8. It was led by local radio DJs and they had performers from the Nutcracker, a Red Sox player, a taped performance by Meghan Trainor, and then Mayor Walsh read The Night Before Christmas.

When the tree lit up, it was amazing. The tree is so tall and so full and, in Faneuil Hall, there is always a light show. It happens from 4-10 every afternoon, every half hour. The lights on the tree and the lights around Faneuil Hall synchronize with Christmas music to put on a great Christmas, show.

Something Wicked This Way Comes

Macbeth has the best quotes for Halloween. Right now I'm eating an early lunch, listening to an Alice Munro Podcast, and waiting until it's time to go to my TA class. Last night I ventured outside of our apartment for the first time since getting out of the hospital to go to my fiction workshop. I'm feeling much better and I'm hoping I don't get tired today, then I'll know I'm on the mend.

I'm also thinking about tomorrow—HALLOWEEN! I love festivities and holidays but I feel like Halloween isn't that easy to celebrate when you're too old to trick-or-treat and you don't have kids to take trick-or-treating yet. Also, I doubt kids trick-or-treat in this building. So I came up with a fun idea that's kind of festive and halloweeny for AJ and me to do tomorrow.

AJ has to work Saturday so he got tomorrow off! First thing in the morning, we're going to bundle up (it'll be low 50s tomorrow) and head out to walk through and explore all of the old cemeteries near us in Boston. We'll start in the Boston Common at Central Burying Ground and then go to Tremont Street to Granary Burying Ground and Kings Chapel Burying Ground. Then we'll walk to the North End to do Copp's Hill Burying Ground. On the way home, we'll grab sandwiches at Bricco.

At night, I'll make kettle corn with Halloween M&Ms and we'll watch Dateline. Originally I wanted to get some Stephen King movies but AJ doesn't love sitting for movies and those movies are long so instead we'll watch Dateline, which is even better, and maybe some Halloween episodes of our favorite TV shows. And maybe I'll wear my pumpkin costume while we watch. Who knows?

I'm excited for Halloween this year and I hope everyone has a fun, festive night! What are your plans?

AJ Turns 24

AJ and I celebrated his birthday on Friday. He turned 24! He opened his card and gift in the morning while we ate blueberry pancakes and turkey bacon. 

Celebrations really started that night! We tried a different restaurant in the North End that we'd never heard of before called La Summa. It was quieter because it's off the main drag. The prices were good, even better than most restaurants in the area, the setting was romantic, and the service was just right!

Not to mention the food. The food was delicious! We were hoping our expectations would be met and they definitely were! We couldn't stop talking about it. We started with their bruschetta which was prepared in a way I've never seen before. The slices of bread were big and thick with large chunks of tomato and mozzarella melted on top. For our entrees, AJ got the house special which included chicken, veal, sausage, peppers, and mushrooms served with homemade tagliatelle. The sauce it was cooked in was the best part! We both cleaned in his plate quickly and soaked up the left over sauce with fresh bread.

 I ordered the pollo limone which was a thick slice of lemon chicken with mozzarella, served with artichokes, spinach, and homemade spinach tagliatelle. It was just as good and such a big portion that i still have some in the fridge! We were very impressed by the food and the portion size, especially for the great price! I'm so glad AJ enjoyed in his birthday dinner, it would have been a bummer if the food and experience were bad!

After stopping off to buy a little bottle of limoncello, we came home to eat the birthday cake I made him the day before. It wasn't really a cake, but AJ loves magic bars, so I baked them for him in a round pan and cut it up like a cake. Magic bars are like 7 layer bars; the bottom is a layer of crushed graham crackers (or corn flakes) mixed with butter, than chopped walnuts, chocolate chips, coconut, all covered with condensed milk. It's his favorite treat—my grandmother makes them the best—so I thought it would be perfect for his birthday, even though it's not really a cake.

Oh, and I could only find pink candles.

Boston Has Been Good To Us

 We've been here for a full week now and have enjoyed our time to the fullest. There's a lot to do every day and we're taking advantage of it! Here are a few perks from our time in Boston so far:

I had my orientation this past Thursday and had some down time between events so I wandered over to Brattle Book Shop, one of my favorite places in Boston and a book lover's heaven on earth. While browsing the outdoor shelves, I came across the above book which you may recognize from past posts about my love for Elena Ferrante (are you sick of it yet?). I don't know how that copy ended up there—it's not available in the US until September 2nd. I checked the copy, flipping through pages and looking for any signs that it might be an advanced proof and as far as I could tell, it's the real the deal! At the end of the day I came home, told AJ about it and where it was, and the next day it was sitting on the kitchen table with a new mug as well. I'm still reading Russian Winter (I'm over halfway through and loving it!) but as soon as I'm done, I will jump right into Those Who Leave and Those Who Stay. 

This is AJ in his element. He's a big Manchester United fan and it just so happens that the same year we move here, a bar on Beacon Street becomes the official bar for Manchester United watching in Boston. AJ was excited to have a fun place to watch the games and even though we're not bar people, I thought it would be an experience. However, because the games are played in England, the time difference means that many games are first thing in the morning. So, at 7 am yesterday morning we rolled out of bed and made our way down Beacon Street for a 7:45 game at the bar, Crossroads.

We had breakfast sandwiches, potatoes, and coffee while watching the game among other rowdy fans. The man who organized the game watching at Crossroads introduced himself to us and said he liked having a community of fans together for games. It wasn't too crowded and it was very laid back, probably because it was so early, and we had a great time! I'm sure we'll be back for more games. 

Last night we went to Mass in the North End at St. Leonard's church. This weekend, the North End is celebrating the feast of St. Anthony so we knew there would be a lot going on down there. After Mass, we headed down Prince Street to Thacher Street where the original Regina Pizzeria location had set up an outdoor patio for diners to eat al fresco and watch the people milling about the food stands that had been set up in the streets. Of course, there was a line but I really wanted to eat there and we decided it was worth the wait. While in line, the procession of St. Anthony made it's way down the crowded street. There were trumpets and drums and people pinning money to the ribbons around St. Anthony's likeness. 

Our wait in the line was probably 30 minutes long, seating was limited, but the line moved faster than I thought it would. We ordered a crostini appetizer that was delicious and split a small pizza that had chicken, mozzarella, and peppers. Regina's Pizzeria is well-known in Massachusetts and has been in business since 1926! Their crust recipe is 80 years old and is probably the best pizza crust—it's crispy but not too thin—and the mozzarella is the best I've ever tasted! We both agreed the pizza was perfect and we'll be going back for more soon!

We could've stopped eating after the pizza, but the streets were filled with tempting smells from all the food stands set up around us. The most tempting smell was fried calamari. AJ bought a plate of that while I opted to buy myself a dessert of fried dough bites, covered with melted butter, honey, cinnamon, and powdered sugar. They were delicious, but not as good as my mom's pizza fritta. We walked among the heard of people and listened to the music that a local band was performing—they sang old school Italian songs as well as current pop songs so it was a fun mix! 

The smell from the cigar stand added to the feel of the night. Pizza and pasta and fried seafood were available at most food stands and there were plenty of cannolis being eaten from Mike's Pastry's stand—not to mention the huge line that was at Mike's real location on Hanover. 

Our last stop was at a drink stand where already drunk vendors were selling mixed frozen drinks in keepsake mason jars. I got a banana daiquiri and AJ got the piña colada. The prices were steep, $12 each, but you got to keep the jar and get a free refill. We listened to a bit more music and I sang along as the band played Che La Luna before calling it a night and walking back home to Beacon Hill. 

It was a fun night and personified the fun times I had hoped for while living here, and it's still only our first week! And what a great weeks it's been. Soon I'll be starting school and AJ will start working his new job and real life will set in but I have a feeling that, while living in Boston, doing something we've hoped to do since we started dating, it will never really feel like real life.