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!