Romance in the City

The weekend of Presidents' Day was also my birthday and Valentine's Day. So, my valentine took me into the city to celebrate! We left Friday and stayed until Sunday. Although it was a 3 day weekend for us, we wanted to have a day to spend at home, too. On Thursday of that week, I worked from home. While I was working, the doorbell rang and there was a delivery from Winston Florist! Amy and Matt sent me the most beautiful and unique floral arrangement for my birthday. I put them on the dining room table - they were really striking.

There were roses and lilies in the arrangement. The vase is part of what made the arrangement so unique. It was slightly tinted a rose-color but was transparent enough to see the stems of each flower extending from the blossom in the fresh water. It had a very unique shape too. Looking at it from the front, it was about 10" wide at the top and slopped down to about 4" at the base.

But it was very narrow - only about 3" deep which made it very interesting. When you looked at it from the side it had a very sleek, slim appearance. Depending on which direction you were looking at the flowers from, your eyes were drawn to beautiful, soft red roses....

or graceful pink lilies.

As I said, it was a really beautiful and unique arrangment. It caught our eyes every time we looked into the dining room. Thank you again, Matt and Amy! It was an amazing choice and I really enjoyed them.

On Friday, we left for our weekend in Boston a little bit after noon. Neal had made reservations at the Fairmont Copley Plaza Hotel.

It has such an elegant lobby.

Neal is member of the "President's Club" at the Fairmont and for this weekend they gave him a wonderful room on the top floor of the hotel on St. James Street. Of course the Fairmont is a very old building (1912) so the 'top floor' is the 6th floor! Our room was in the center section that sort of 'bulged out', for lack of a better description.

The room was pretty big - more than comfortable to spend a weekend in. Here I am checking out the snack list in the room.

It even had a fireplace in it. I don't think it worked though we never tried it.

Because the room was in the center of the hotel, it squarely faced Copley Plaza and gave us wonderful views from the window. Being winter, the fountains on the plaza weren't turned on but the "Turtle and the Hare" were out and about between the park benches.

The Trinity Church had a special event that weekend, too.

We had  a great view of the Old South Church across the plaza.

Because we are sometimes creatures of habit, on Friday night we headed over to Legal Seafoods in the theater district for supper.

We were planning a big dinner on Saturday night, so we decided to sit at the bar at Legals and have  a light supper on Friday.

It was Opening Ceremonies for the 2010 Olympic Games, so we got to watch them while we enjoyed our fish 'n chips. Here are the Russians marching in.

We saw Team USA march proudly into the arena.

Vice President Joe Biden applauded team USA's arrival.

We didn't know Shaun White (aka Red Zeppelin or Tomato Top) at the Opening Cermonies - but we'll certainly know who he is at the Closing Ceremonies.

On Saturday  morning, we got up and headed over to Starbucks. Neal got us our lattes.

And I found us a spot by the glass walkway to sit and enjoy them. It's a great people-watching spot!

After our morning (mid-day?) coffee, we decided to do a little shopping. After all, it was my birthday and Valentines Day so I figured I'd go for it. Our first stop was at L'Occitane. Then we headed over to Lord & Taylor where I did some serious damage...

What I like about shopping at Lord & Taylor is that they have the 'husbands seats' strategically placed throughout the store which allows the wives to shop.

Next stop -  Talbots though we didn't find anything there this trip.

Whew - by this time we were exhausted. Must be time for a little lunch! Like I said, we are sometimes creatures of habit. We really enjoy the fish stew at Atlantic Fish Company on Boylston Street.

After lunch we started to make our way back to the hotel. Since we had dinner reservations at Morton's for our valentine/birthday dinner, we stopped by on the way back to to the hotel to check it out.

I wanted to do a little bit more shopping, but this one was quickly vetoed!

Once back at the hotel, we took a quick nap and a shower, then got dressed for our 8:30 pm dinner reservations.

When Neal called Morton's to make the reservation, he told them it was a special occasion as well as Valentine's Day. So they set aside a wonderful table for us. And, because it was Valentine's weekend, Morton's was taking pictures of each table and giving a copy to each guest. Neal scanned ours so I could put it in the blog.

The whole evening was just perfect. When we finished our dinner, we took a walk around the city in the cold, clear night. It was really nice. When we got back to the hotel, we stopped for a nightcap in the Oak Bar before we headed back to our room.

The next morning was beautiful and sunny. So we got our lattes and went for a walk. The city was just starting to come to life and the crowds were starting to spill out onto Newbury Street.

The vendors were out selling fresh fruits and veggies on the corner on Newbury and Berkeley.

The Beantown Trolley's were in full swing. It reminded us of Amy and Matt's wedding last summer. Wasn't that a wonderful June weekend!!

And the Westin - it has such a grand presence in the Back Bay.

The sun was so bright and the day so clear that the original Hancock Building had a crystal clear reflection in the glass windows of the Hancock Tower.

After our walk, it was time to head back home.  I had a really wonderful birthday and valentine's weekend!

Liv Does Lynnfield

On Super Bowl Weekend, Andrea and Drew had plans to drive to NJ to visit their friends Emily and Mike. Liv was coming to stay with us. However, because a major recordbreaking snow storm was forecast for the weekend, they decided not to travel. But, Liv came and spent the weekend with us anyway and we had a great time. Liv arrived on Friday night. After some dinner and a bath, she put on her favorite pj's - Buzz Lightyear.

After we played for a while, it was time for bed. Liv loves to read her books before she goes to sleep. So on Friday night, she climbed up onto her bed and read stories to Mr. Saks before getting tucked in for the night.

Early Saturday morning (pre-dawn if you ask me!), she was up and ready for her breakfast. Nonno lets Liv pick which cup she wants juice in each morning - pink, yellow or purple. Yellow was the color of choice for this Saturday morning juice.

Pretty soon she started to wonder "What's taking breakfast so long, anyway?"

After breakfast, it was time for a little playtime downstairs in Nonno and Nonna's playroom. Like her Nonno, there was some dancing...

and then some bike riding...

and some coloring.

By this time, the sun was up so it was time to put the shades up. When Liv sleeps at Nonno's house, each morning she and Nonno walk around the house and put up each shade together. It's nice to watch them go through this little ritual.

Once the shades were up, it was time to get dressed and do some more playing. As Andrea mentioned in her blog, Liv likes to line all her friends up for a nap.

But there was to be no napping for the Liv.

After all, there were too many cars and trucks just waiting to be played with to waste time on a nap.

It had been a busy morning and we needed some refueling to hold us over until lunch. So, we stopped playing and had a little mid-morning snack. Yellow was the cup of choice once again.

Let me remind you that at this point, it probably only about 10:30 in the morning....Normally we are just drinking our lattes and watching TV Diner with Billy Costa. So, Neal made us lattes while Liv had her snack. (Thank you again, Neal!!)

Once we all finished our morning snacks, Liv was ready to go. She climbed into Nonno's boots and wanted to head out!

So, we brushed our teeth and headed out to do a few errands at Target.

When we went to Target, we told Liv she could choose 1 toy. As you can see, she chose "Snow White and the Five Cars". (That's 1 toy, right?)

Nonno helped get Snow White ("White", to Liv) and the matchbox cars out of their boxes so Liv could play with them.

Nonno, Liv and "White" played together with the cars in the dining room.

"White" quickly became the favorite toy and got preferred seating on Liv's bike,

By now, it was lunch time (yes, we did all of that before noon!). "White" got to sit right up there with Liv while she ate her lunch.

After lunch, we decided to set up the couch and put "Toy Story" on theTV in hopes that Liv would take a little nap. This is her favorite movie and Andrea said it's good for quiet time. She loves Buzz the most. She even has special Buzz pj's!

She likes Woody, too.

We watched the movie a couple of times. But there was no napping in the cards for Liv - but I think Nonno would have enjoyed one!

Yes, a Vienna Finger cookie while I watch the movie is just fine, thank you very much!

On Sunday morning after helping Nonno put up all the shades, Liv and her new best friend "White" climbed into the shoe basket to have a look outside to see what was going on.

It was a nice Sunday morning. So after helping Nonno put up the shades, we got dressed and Liv helped Nonno take care of his birds. They filled up the birdfeeders together.

And hung them back out in the trees so the birds could have some food, too.

With the birds all fed, Liv took "White" for a bike ride down the street.

After such a busy morning, it was refueling time again so we stopped for a little mid-morning snack.

Nonno likes it when Liv comes because he gets to have morning snack-time, too! Here he is dunking his graham crackers into his milk!

When snack-time was over, we all headed to the mall. It was Nonno and Nonna and Liv - with "White" in hand because we go nowhere without "White".

But something happened at the mall.... we found Buzz Lightyear and Woody dolls at the Disney Store. Liv grinned from ear-to-ear every time she stopped and looked inside the Disney Store bag. She couldn't believe she had Buzz and Woody dolls.

It's great to be the Liv. She's got Buzz, Woody and Nonno! It doesn't get any better than this!

When we got back home, it was time for lunch. Purple cup this time. But what's this? Has "White" been replaced????

I'm afraid that may be the case..."what used to be's don't count anymore, they just lay on the floor 'til you sweep them away".

After lunch, Buzz and Woody in hand, we headed downstairs to watch "Toy Story" again. There is a cute little song that plays while the credits roll at the end of the movie that Liv likes! She danced with Buzz and Woody at first but then put them down so she could let loose!

After the movie, Nonna and Liv did some more coloring.

On Monday, Andrea and Drew came by to get Liv. When they arrived, Andrea had made me an amazing birthday cake. Check this cake out - it was absolutely perfect. She said it was a fondant.

She made a 'ribbon' and shaped it into an amazing and intricate bow for the top of the cake.

The ends of the bow flowed delicately down both sides of the cake.

She made a small, round pearl shaped edging all around the base of the entire cake. It was highly detailed and added a very elegent look to the cake.

But, it was cake after all and meant to be eaten. And it was chocolate......! So Neal and I cut it and ate it. Not only did this cake look fantastic, it was delicious, too!

Thanks for such a special birthday cake! I won't forget this one!

As you can tell, we had a really wonderful time with Liv and hope she'll come back and stay with us again soon!