Birthday Dinner At Burtons - Year 2

Today is Jen's birthday (she's a fellow Virgo) but we actually celebrated the big occasion on Saturday at Burtons Grill in Boston (you may recall that we did the same last year).  With the same cast of characters (Birthday girl Jen, her brother Bryan, Amy (our college roommate), Andrew and myself), we also had some new additions in the form of Bryan's girlfriend Leigh, Jen's friend Nate, one of our college friends Rosie and Aline.

It was clear that the birthday girl was having a good time, whether it was due to good company like Amy to her left, Nate to her right or me facing her (ha!), or I suspect, Burtons strong and delicious drinks like the spiked lemonade martini she was enjoying. I had a delicious mixed berry mojito, but alas, sucked it down too quickly without getting a picture.

I hadn't seen Bryan in ages, and the kid always manage to switch up his look (hair length and facial hair) each time I see him. He and Leigh made a cute couple and were both very knowledgeable about espresso, having met at work at Peet's Coffee & Tea.

Aline wasn't quite in the picture taking mood so I ended up getting an "I'm not in the mood for paparazzi" shot instead.

Two and a half hours flew by and I highly recommend Burtons for a good time with friends (and delicious drinks) as long as the Red Sox are out of town, since it's within spitting distance of Fenway.  And best of all, located next to a BerryLine location!

Birthday Dinner at Burtons

Happy Birthday to a dear friend - it feels like only yesterday that we were celebrating our 20th birthdays in school and now, let's just say we're celebrating all the milestones together.

Birthday girl Jen mugs with her brother Bryan at her birthday dinner at Burtons (talk about alliteration):

I also have to give out to the birthday girl's shoes - the flash obscures all the fun details (it looked like news print with a pin-up girl - Jen, I'm counting on you to fill in the details):

This just shows that nothing changes in a decade, since Jen was the fashionista in our group of friends way back when.

Happy Birthday to a "classy broad"!

*Since this is a birthday post, I chose to focus on the friend rather than the food. But the food (and desserts) were pretty good!

Happy Birthday Jen!

Last night, we headed into Boston to celebrate a very important occasion - Jen's birthday! The birthday girl selected Charley's for dinner, which is always a good time.

Here's a shot of the roommates, Amy on the left and the birthday girl on the right:


One of the main reasons Jen chose Charley's was because they have banana chocolate chip cake on the menu, her favorite! Here's Jen getting surprised with a birthday slice of cake and I have to mention that the one of the waitors singing had a surprising tenor voice that caught the attention of the whole restaurant - everyone was quiet during the singing and then applauded for Jen:


Jen smiles for the camera although they actually ended up bringing her a slice of chocolate cake instead (I'm not going to complain since it was free!) Luckily, Andrew ordered the banana chocolate chip cake so Jen could swap him and taste both:

Phu wanted to point out that he wore his periodic table shirt especially for Jen's birthday:

Next, we headed over to Bar Lola for their lethal martinis - the flash seems extra strong in this pic, showing off our matching pale coloring and puffed sleeve shirts:

After we left the bar, we were greeted by this scene:

I don't know what was happening on Comm Ave., but there were around six fire trucks and tons of police cars blocking off the intersection - you can't tell from the picture how bright the lights were. I prefer to think of this a light show to end Jen's special night.

Longing for the Beach

This gorgeous shot is courtesy of Underoo Elf's recent volunteering trip to Mississippi.

I wish we were having another warm weekend here in Boston that would allow me to go to the beach.

Dinner Anniversary with Jen

Tonight marked a year's worth of Thursday night dinners. As Jen and I reflected on the dinners when we met last month, we were proud of the fact that we had stuck with our commitment to meet once a month for dinner. Of course, there were a few postponements along the way but we only skipped one dinner (due to my crazy week in December where I was mobbed at work and prepping to go to Japan).

Initially, we started out trying different places in Newton, which took us to the New England Soup Factory, O'Haras, Jamjuli, Union Street and Bill's Pizzeria, where we went tonight.

We've also tried Deluxe Town Diner in Watertown, the British Beer Company in Framingham and the Friendly's in Needham - obviously we have distinguished palates!

It's a nice way to unwind, catch up on each other's lives, gossip about everyone we know, laugh and stuff our faces - skills we first perfected in college.

This year, I think we're going to make an effort to try new ethnic cuisines, although I'm trying to convince her to forget Polish cuisine in the South End!

Monthly Dinners With Jen

For almost a year, Jen and I have made a point of getting together every first Thursday of the month to have dinner together.

Tonight's choice was a favorite with both of us, the New England Soup Factory on Needham Street (which I call Highland Ave.). I think the original one is in Brookline, since I can see it from the D line but the only one I've ever eaten at is the one in Newton. They've got a nice selection of soups (duh), salads and sandwiches that make you feel as though you're eating reasonably healthy. Apparently, they have delicious chilled fruit soups during the summer, which I never have tried since I don't think of the Soup Factory as a place to go for dinner during warm weather. So tonight, Jen and I tried a sample of their Spicy Chickpea and Squash soup. It actually was pretty good, but like the name states, very spicy and almost Indian in flavor. We opted out of getting a full bowl of the soup and instead, I got the Hearty Italian Beef Stew and Jen went the Chicken Vegetable soup.

As we spent an hour eating and chatting, this is the Jen that I faced (admittedly, I caught her mid-hair flip):



But this is how she posed when I told her I needed a picture of her for my blog:



...to out her as a new owner of Ugg boots. I told her I wouldn't judge her (too much) about succumbing to this trend. Jen readily agreed that she referred to them as "fuglies" but told me that they were so comfortable, they felt like putting your feet into two halves of a teddy bear. At least, I think that's how she described them because I was still too busy staring at them!



All kidding aside, since Jen is forced to stand in crappy Boston weather each morning to ride the T to work, and then again to catch a bus, I'm all for her wearing anything that keeps her warm and dry. I'll just be watching to make sure they don't appear with a skirt anytime during the summer. That's when I'll know she'll have crossed over to the dark side and all gloves will be off in terms of teasing!