Skies were blue, and beautyberries abounded for our inaugural Friendsgiving weekend in Boston. Kira joined me for this experiment – which was more or less an average weekend with a friend that we simply named ‘Friendsgiving’ to give it some additional import. It worked – names are important – and the weekend was our kick-off to the holiday season proper. Having both been knocked about a bit in the last few months, Kira and I found comfort in reuniting under happier circumstances. The holidays are recompense for the onslaught of winter about to begin.
We made a few traditional stops during out time together – Copley and Downtown Crossing – and I’d done some walking and shopping on Newbury before Kira arrived. The weather was too nice to stay inside on that first day. There would be cold coming soon enough, and a cozy dinner of a chicken pasta casserole that I made for our first evening. (I also brought a bunch of these Mexican Wedding cookies, because nos casamos!)
Saturday morning dawned chilly and bright, and we headed downtown to make a dent on holiday shopping. Mostly we ended up with condo decorations for the upcoming Boston Children’s Holiday Hour (more on that later) and a few charcuterie items from Eataly for our siesta.
As the afternoon wore happily on, we assembled a few holiday additions, put on the first collection of holiday music to play this year, and kicked it all off officially. There was no going back.
In the strange and secluded little wet bar section of the condo, now cordoned off by a big-ass curtain, I put in a bunch of silver ornamentation to reflect candlelight and expand the space with some mirror-like surfaces. Some sparkle, especially in the darkest time of the year, is always welcome.
Our dinner out (because I can’t be expected to cook every single thing for a Friendsgiving) was at Ruth’s Chris Steak House. For years I’ve avoided the steakhouse chain, mostly for its awkward name, but also because, well, steakhouse chain. This time I gave in because I just wanted to see what the Old City Hall in Boston looked like from the inside. The meal was perfectly fine too, so ignore my prior snobbishness – everybody else does. Outside the weather had turned winter-like. Cutting winds and freezing temps made for a rushed walk home, where hot tea and cookies awaited assembly and serving.
Sunday morning was originally meant for some holiday shopping in Cambridge, but we’d heard that something was going on with the Red Line, and when I checked to confirm (because I was NOT doing a shuttle bus again) it proved true. A change of plans was discussed over a quick breakfast at Charlie’s. We would drive to the Wrentham Outlets, which was close to Kira’s house, and do some shopping there. I knocked out the majority of my list, and more than the majority of what my credit card budget allowed, and we closed out this opening holiday weekend in exhausted but happy style. We will see each other again next month for our 8thor 9thHoliday Stroll. Some traditions deserve to be kept.
