Just before Christmas, we took a little break from the holiday madness to spend a couple of nights in Boston, soaking up some holiday cheer. We spent two nights in Boston’s swanky new four-star Liberty Hotel, home to the former 19th century Charles Street Jail. We were welcomed to the reservation desk by a very nice young man pouring glasses of yummy pink champagne. The hotel’s gorgeous lobby was filled with lots of holiday makers hanging out near the hotel’s hip and aptly-named Clink restaurant. We considered sticking around the hotel, but decided, after checking in, to walk around the city. We ended up enjoying a quiet dinner at Bombay Cafe, overlooking Harvard Square. Nothing too fancy, but we’re suckers for Indian food, especially if we can watch the world walk by as we’re eating! The food was only fair, but the restaurant has large windows along two of its walls that overlook the square, which made for a really lovely setting.

After a restful night’s sleep, we spent the whole next day walking around Boston, (wish I had a pair of wellies like all the city girls…very cute and definitely a good idea when it’s slushy, which it was that weekend!). It was so fun riding the T again…I know that sounds weird if you’re a regular commuter, but its’ been a while since I did that and so it was an enjoyable novelty.

All day, we kept seeing people with these funky little boxes from a place called Johnny Cupcakes, so I had worked up quite a craving by the time we found the shop on Newbury Street. Needless to say, I was more than disappointed when we discovered that Johnny Cupcakes sold hip t-shirts and NOT cupcakes. Andy & I really didn’t get it and left saying we should open a gourmet cupcake shop across the street. We definitely felt silly wandering around looking at the bakery-style display cases filled with t-shirts and other knick knacks and muttering out loud, “Where are the cupcakes?” but we weren’t the only sad, unhip people scratching our heads. Seriously, I think a gourmet cupcake shop across the street would make a killing!

Anyway, after we got home, I decided to see what all the hubbub was about and it’s actually a pretty cool story. Johnny is this very smart young guy who seems to have a knack for turning a “What if?” idea into something profitable. Check the above link yourself if you’re not already hip to this guy. Go Johnny!!! (I still wish he made cupcakes!)

During our two days in the city, we also bumped into a couple of people from weddings this summer/fall - Mark, the brother of one of our brides, Molly, and Mary Kate, the bridesmaid of another bride, Tracy. So fun to see them both! Our second night concluded with a late dinner at the cozy Somerville restaurant and tapas bar, Dali. Good food; great atmosphere and the sangria is a must!

Our trip to Boston helped check some holiday shopping off of our list and it was definitely good to get away for a bit.

Here’s a couple photos from the Liberty Hotel:

Inside the very cool lobby…you’ll notice they kept a lot of the jailhouse feel to the space, with a large courtyard like lobby and railings that give a feeling of jail bars. And the lighting inside the lobby is very moody and dark.

The rooms don’t actually have bars for doors, but there is a strip of the original cell bars in a section on the first floor. The “cells” are accented with changing colored lights. Does Andy look like he could be an inmate or what? Wouldn’t want to mess with that tough guy…yeah right…tough guy with a middle as soft as a pillow.

A special thanks goes out to our amazing clients and friends, Erin & Patrick, who were incredibly generous and gave Andy & I some very cool gifts as a thank you for loving their wedding photos so much. Andy got a very cool overnight bag that we used on our trip and I got this total gorgeous clutch bag that I use everyday! Thanks guys…we love you! xoxo