Boston

In case you haven’t gotten enough o f my random travel lately, I spent this past weekend in Boston. I had all sorts of expectations of what I thought this city would be like, and not only were those expectations met, they were exceeded.

Boston is different than any other city I've been to before. Unlike most big cities (especially my dear ol Atlanta) Boston is very much a walk-friendly place. Of course to get some places, it is better to take a taxi or "The T" but for the most part you can do a lot of walking.

I stayed on the North End, the part of town basically covered in Italian restaurants and bakeries. I feel like each part of town has a designated race of people who generally take over, which I think is so fun.

I got my grand tour on Saturday. Saw the water, saw all of Boston from a restaurant called Top of the Hub, walked through parks, saw Frog Pond/ice-skating rink, did a little shopping and just enjoyed the time I had in the city. I feel like every time I saw something different I began to like the city more and more. If only Boston existed in the south with nice warm weather, it could be the perfect place. The weather was pretty cooperative on Saturday and I wasn’t too cold, well, until we went out on Saturday night. Cocktail dresses and heels are not very Boston winter friendly and I was so cold, but I didn’t complain (much).

We went to a party (I wish I remember the area we were in) and I met a lot of new people. We then walked over a few blocks to a bar in Liberty Hotel. Liberty Hotel is absolutely gorgeous. Definitely a great end to a great day.

Sunday brought more walking except this time, it was SO COLD. Boston was definitely giving me the full Boston winter experience. I hate the cold, I hate snow (thankfully there wasn’t any), but being in Boston and just being excited to see everything made it all much more bearable.

Definitely a city I would recommend visiting, I will definitely be back, hopefully sooner rather than later. Unfortunately, I was there when the Bruins werent playing at home, so no hockey fix for me. I will plan better next time! :)

New York, New York

Can I tell you how much I adore New York? It is by far one of my favorite cities I have visited so far. Last week I spent Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday in New York enjoying everything it had to offer (well let's be serious, not everything). Wednesday we arrived and went and found a bar (duh) and enjoyed some time with our dear friend and some of the musicians we had brought along for one of the events we attended.

Wednesday night we had dinner at Gotham Bar and Grill. The food was so freaking good I can't even describe it. I was in heaven. Travel took the day out of me, so I ended up in bed way before the others, but they all had a great night out.

Thursday Kate, Al and I spent most of the day running around Times Square. We got pictures at all the fun Christmas stuff they have decorating the town. We strolled down the diamond district practically drooling over every ring, necklace, bracelet and pair of earrings we saw. Holy cow, I swear we both picked out like 50 different things that we just have to have.





Thursday afternoon took us to 21 Club for lunch. 21 Club is one of the first prohibition bars and the atmosphere is so fun. Lunch was ok, but the company was great. I had such a good time getting to know a few more faces and making some new friends. I ended up leaving a littler early to meet a new friend of mine so that I could continue to tour the city. He and I went to see the tree at Rockefeller Center (something I have always wanted to see). It is just as awesome as I expected it to be. We then made our way to Central Park and other places throughout the city before having to go back to our hotels to get ready for the formal party.



Thursday night the crew met at Marquee Night Club for drinks, dinner, some great music, and more socializing. Marquee is really pretty and we had the whole thing to ourselves so it was nice to have lots of space. Kate and I wore our long formal dresses which we LOVE. After Marquee we headed over to PJ Clarkes for another drink and to meet with more people who we know/met in New York. By far my favorite night in New York this trip.




Friday was the day we had to leave, but not before we had lunch at Le Cirque. The food here was so good. I havent laughed so much in so long. We met some man who offered to fly us back up to NYC andput us up in a nice hotel for New Years... tempting, but dont worry, we are not going.



Our flight was at 7 and we had still not left the restaurant by 5. We were convinced we would miss our flight considering we still had to get our bags from the hotel. We found the best cab driver ever who raced us through the city and got us to the airport by 6. It was amazing. We even made it in time to enjoy some champagne and icecream in the airport. A great end to a great trip.

My thoughts on moving there are still there so dont be shocked if one day Im telling you I'm moving up north.

New York will always have a piece of my heart and I hope that this time around it isnt a year between visits. Until next time New York City.

Christmas on my own, Part 2

As promised I have pictures of my Christmas decor (or at least the really fun stuff)

Wreaths in my kitchen. There are 3 of them and they all light up (the lights obviously look better when the flash doesnt go off) I love them.






My Tree! It's the perfect little tree for me. I also added the reindeer that were made a while ago (I think by my Dad) and the present boxes I bought last year. Soon enough this tree will have lots of Christmas presents under it.





My outside:

Full view (sorry this is a bad picture)



My Reindeer close up



Mat and Snowmen



My pinterest wreath, which I love, love, love!

Christmas on my own

For the first year, well ever for that matter, I am living in my own place for Christmas which made it really easy to decorate just the way I wanted and man did I decorate. I will have to post pictures later next week (as I'm dumb and cant get photos from my phone to the computer and my camera is at the house), but I promise to post some.

I collected a lot of my own new stuff last year on sale at Pier One as well as Walmart and other places around Auburn. I also collected a few things this year as well. Items include reindeer and snowmen outside, wreaths I customized in my kitchen, a handmade pinterest ornament wreath outside, a precious Christmas mat, my own precious REAL tree filled with ornaments I have collected throughout my life (Mom bought us ornaments every year since we were babies).

Last weekend, when I was home for Thanksgiving Mom gave me some more stuff. Things she was either going to throw out or let the rest of the family have... Most sad realization ever. She was getting rid of so many things that I grew up with at Christmas time every year! Unacceptable. Needless to say, I have a lot of stuff randomly adorning my house (some of which I don't exactly have space for yet). Either way I have it all and one day I will have a house big enough to house it all.

I love Christmas and Christmas decorating. And the fact that it is allowing me to combine my obsession with pinterest makes me love it even more.

Next week I'm off to enjoy some more Christmas spirit in one of my favorite cities to visit, NEW YORK CITY! Since I have never been at Christmas time, I plan to be the obnoxious tourist who wants to see everything. On the agenda I have Rockefeller Center Christmas tree, Central Park (surely they do something Christmasy too), and FOA Schwarz (where I fully intend to pretend like I am a child). If you have other Christmasy suggestions let me know!