Recap: The Weekend We Stayed Home
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Every once in a great while, I spend a weekend at home. The past few weeks have been a whirlwind of trips including Western Mass, Nashville, and Martha's Vineyard, so it was nice to spend the weekend in Boston; the city I love and call home. I wanted to keep it really low key, catch up on writing, shoot some product, and spend some time at home with Dave. We're always on the go, traveling, attending events and working, that sometimes we just need to stop for a moment, reflect and be thankful, and recharge our batteries.
On Saturday I headed to a fitting at Blanklabel, my go-to custom clothing shop in Boston. I recently ordered some custom chino's and brought them in for a final fitting and alteration. Heading out of there, my good friend Sara Steele-Rogers of bWell marketing, convinced me to heard to Somerville for Porchfest. We posted up at our buddy Dan Whalen's house where we watched Gin Daisy perform some stripped down, chill tunes. In true Dan fashion, the afternoon was complete with burgers on the grill, and beers in a cooler. It was a really fun way to spend a Saturday afternoon. For dinner, Dave and I headed to Assembly Row for a casual meal on the patio at Tony C's.
Sleeping in was my top priority on Sunday and I got a solid 10 hours. Damn that felt good. For brunch, Dave and I headed to the newest restaurant in the Nick Varano group, STRIP by Strega at the Boston Park Plaza. The restaurant was nice enough to host our brunch and we took full advantage of the menu ordering the massive cinnamon + vanilla bun, tuna tartare, smoked salmon eggs benedict, and the lump crap and asparagus omelette. The tuna tartar was perfectly prepared and was an excellent light start to the meal. Because I'm a sweets lover, the cinnamon + vanilla bun was a standout for me. Warm, sweet, and iced to perfect, I dolloped whipped butter on each and every bite and I'm not even sorry about it. Sure the lump crab omelette was good, but I'm a sucker for a great cinnamon bun. To top it all off, STRIP has a massive DIY bloody mary and mimosa bar. Dave and I opted for mimosas and concocted orange raspberry puree cocktails. Sitting just across the dining room from us was Joanna Roffo of Regan Communications celebrating her birthday among family and friends. It was wonderful to run into her and exchange hellos.
Staying in the neighborhood, we meandered across the street to Doretta Tavern to partake in Santorini Sunday on their patio. A vibrant crowd gathered to enjoy oysters, rose and beer which are basically my three major food groups. During Santorini Sunday, Doretta offers the "Brew Crew" which consists of six Island Creek oysters and 2 Lager of Sumer Cisco Brewers beers. Dave and I ordered 2 rounds of Brew Crews before we spotted Emily Weisberg of Sassy in Sequins & her husband Ronnie across the patio. They too ordered the Brew Crew and followed it up with the donuts with coffee caramel glaze and the drool worthy toasted bagel with marinated salmon that was dabbed with tzatziki. While we enjoyed brunch, Converse shoes and apparel were modeled throughout the restaurant. The weather couldn't have been better with full sunshine washing over the patio. Perfect rosé drinking weather.
We spent almost 3 hours on the Doretta patio before walking to the South End to check out the new SOWA Market at Ink Block. The market is expanded with much more room for vendors and guests. Food trucks lined the outside fence and smaller food vendors welcomed guests at the entrance. On my list this weekend was stopping by Whole Foods to take advantage of their 2 dozen roses for $12 sale. I'm a sucker for fresh flowers and even MORE of a sucker for a good deal. I picked up one dozen multi colored roses (which are sitting pretty in the kitchen) and one dozen of beautiful pink roses to don my desk. We also did some quick grocery shopping and had our fair share of food samples.
All in all, it was a relaxing, laid back weekend which was much needed. A hectic week is ahead with Sara and I attending the opening of Cirque du Soliel Kurios under the bigtop at Suffolk Downs. Heading into the weekend, my best friend Chelsea flys in and then we're off to Provincetown for Memorial Day weekend. We found a super cute Airbnb that I can't wait to show you all. Have a fantastic week and remember, life shouldn't be fancy, expensive, or difficult, it should just be YOUR best life.
-xo Matt
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