I knew it was going to be a good weekend when I hit absolutely zero traffic on the 90-mile trip. Granted, it was well before rush hour but usually there is some amount of traffic on either the Mass Pike or 95. Not this time! I arrived in record time and had a few hours to kill before we headed into the city for the Celtics game.
We found a rare metered parking spot across the street from the Garden (Gahden for you Southern folk), and so I just assumed metered was good and free. Well, until a certain time, meters need quarters to remain happy and I totally blame Julia, but we ended up with a $25 ticket - what it would've cost to park in a lot or garage. Oh well! We had dinner and drinks at The North Star, which so happens to be the official game-viewing location of the New England Gator Club (UF alumni living in the Boston area). I've never made it out to Boston for a game this year, but now that we know we're playing in a BCS bowl on Jan. 2, I might.
The game was great. The Celtics won, I enjoyed my first-ever NBA game (I really don't like professional basketball but I'll always cheer for my Boston teams), and I had a great time with friends.
When we woke up on Saturday morning there was a dusting of snow on the ground and more still falling. It was so pretty, but cold. We decided to bundle up and take Julia and Donny's dog Buster for a trail walk around a lake in Andover. It was such a gorgeous place with the snow and I took a ton of photos.
*Note: You can click on the photos to view the larger versions, and use your arrow keys to scroll through. I don't know why the formatting is messed up - get over it.
After our walk, we went out to lunch and went shopping. I got a few steals in the form of dresses for all my upcoming holiday parties. Later on, we eventually got cleaned up. Julia, her friend Laura, and I went out for a girls night at a bar where one of our friends works. The whole evening was totally comped, which saved us a crapload of money. We still gave her a good tip because we're awesome, but it's definitely the type of place I couldn't normally afford.
I planned to leave when I woke up on Sunday morning like I always do. I missed Rags and have a rule about being lazy but at home on Sundays. Instead, I slept in later than I have in months. I'm sure the five drinks Saturday night had something to do with it, as did their insanely comfortable guest bed and down comforter, but I think my body was telling me something so I just went with it. I ended up staying until dark (which is now 4 p.m.) after the Patriots game, and was blessed again to not have any traffic on the drive home.
I'm already counting down the days until I go back in two weeks for their holiday cocktail party, and since I get a week-and-a-half off for Christmas and New Years (thank you, Catholics!), I'll probably go back up again then, but this time possibly with Rags in tow. The first time he met Buster, he also met Julia's parent's dog, Teddy, and they really hit it off. Buster barked a lot and was disrupting Rags and Teddy's love affair, and Rags tried to tell Buster to back off in the form of a nasty bite to the ear. Now that Buster's ear has healed from the Mike Tyson incident, we think the dogs will do better with just each other in Buster's home. He's the nicest, most mild-mannered dog I've ever met and Rags could learn a thing or two from him.
By the way, all the snow melted the following morning. It is currently 55 degrees and I wish it was cold and snowy, only because it's December 3 and all of Advent should be cold and snowy.
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