Wednesday was Tara’s 29th birthday, so this past weekend was her “birthday weekend” with our best friends. We had planned on going up to Julie and Dan’s house Friday night, spending Saturday in Boston and then coming home after breakfast on Sunday morning.
After I got home from work, we headed straight up to MA. Luckily, Tara had gotten out of work a little early that day so she had already packed the car. You would think we were going away for a week! I had good intentions going up there, packing workout clothes, stretching strap, yoga block, balance pad and extra sneakers. Well, those proved to be wasted intentions. I just couldn’t do it. Nobody wanted to go to the gym with me, which is bad enough to go to a strange gym by myself, but when everyone is having fun, staying up late and being goofy it makes it that much harder to go to bed early and get up early to get it out of the way.
What are we looking at…?
Oh nothing…just our feet!
We ended up staying up until almost 11pm on Friday I think – well past my normal 9pm bedtime. I think I was up around 7:45, then Julie got up around 8:30 and we gradually woke up Dan and Tara. We ended up all being able to get ready, eat breakfast and get out the door to the T station by 10:30 or so, which was pretty much what we’d been aiming for.
After we hopped on the T in Braintree, we headed to the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. We originally had thought we’d go there, then lunch, then maybe stop somewhere for cupcakes or something for Tara’s birthday. What we decided once we got there, though, was that lunch first was a better idea since it was around 12:30 or so when we arrived. We ended up walking down to The Squealing Pig for lunch. Tara and I had been there once before, on our last trip to the MFA, and it was delicious. It didn’t disappoint again!
Once we’d sufficiently fueled ourselves for walking around for a few hours, we walked back to the MFA and got our free tickets (thanks, Bank of America!).
“Is that a photobomber behind me?”
We decided to start on the second floor (don’t ask me why) and that was all we ended up seeing. Once we finished with the entire upper floor, we were exhausted and it was less than an hour until the museum closed. At least I got to see my favorite room, which has the majority of European artists I actually know (Van Gogh, Monet, Rodin, Degas). I always love visiting this room.
Once we left the MFA, we hopped back on the T and decided to hit up Faneuil Hall/Quincy Market. Originally we were just going to do a bakery hop and get a couple of things for Tara’s b-day, but it was around 5:00 so we decided to just have dinner there. We ended up walking all over looking for a place to eat (since we wanted to sit and eat, but there were no tables open for four in the Market). After walking all around the outside of the Market, we decided to just eat at Ned Devine’s Irish Pub. It was pretty good! We all got some drinks (some better than others) and then just ordered meals since it was a fairly pricey place for a pub. I got Kobe beef sliders that were pretty good, but it wasn’t until I was DONE eating that I realized the “spicy ketchup” that should have been on them was actually on the side. No wonder they didn’t have much flavor. All I could taste was the caramelized onions on the top.
Once we finished dinner, we headed down to check out the bakeries and decided on a few places. We all grabbed something and then headed back to the T to go home. Luckily, we were able to get a seat for the whole ride home on the Red Line. We were concerned we’d be heading home at the same time that the Bruins game let out (since we were riding into the city with a lot of Bruins fans in the morning), but we didn’t see anyone so it must have still been going on. It was on the TV at Ned Devine’s while we had dinner but we didn’t know what period it was.
“Is that photobomber behind me again??”
I stole Dan’s hat. I rocked the hell out of it.
We had such a fun day and did SO much walking around the city that Tara and I ended up falling asleep on the couch while we watched TV…before 9pm! Julie ended up waking us up so we could go to the guest room and go to bed (thanks, Jules! LOL).
Sunday morning we slept in a bit longer (8:45 I think) and Julie and Dan were already up when we got up. I had a cup of coffee, we got ready and then headed down to Kristin’s for breakfast. I knew I wanted pancakes going in there, but I wasn’t prepared for what they call a pancake! It was the size of my face! I only ordered 2, but could only finish ONE pancake. I got the coffee cake pancakes, Tara got the S’mores pancakes, Dan got Boston Creme Pie pancakes and Julie got coffee cake French Toast. It was all SO good! We’ll definitely visit there again.
It was such an awesome, fun weekend we decided we really need to go in to the city more. I do miss living just south of Boston and just hopping on the T to ride in and walk around Harvard Square or whatever we feel like doing. We’ll definitely be planning some more adventure dates soon!
Don't blink. Just run. 
It was a great time!
Ahhhh, I want to go to Boston so badly! Looks like a great weekend.. such a fun way to celebrate Tara’s birthday 🙂
It really was! You MUST go…it beckons you!
I’ve never been to Boston – my husband used to have business trips there before we met and says its a fun town. Glad you had fun!! (and I will skip the part about the carmelized onions – ew!) 😀
LOL @ the onions. I forgot your aversion to them! 😉
It’s very fun and I would highly recommend you visit if given the opportunity! I will gladly play tour guide.
Aww what an awesome weekend! It looks like you had so much fun for Tara’s weekend. (I would LOOOOVE to go to Boston one of these days!) Looks like so much fun!
I would totally play tour guide if you ever do!!
I would totes take you up on it too! 😀