Issue 4: Five Days in Boston, a Dress, and Curtains
Issue 4: Five Days in Boston, a Dress, and Curtains
Hello, my darlings!
After a wonderful five days of eating our way through Boston, and visiting my sister, Seth and I are back in Raleigh. It’s been a minute since I’ve left for longer than a weekend, and I was a little surprised by how attached I felt to Raleigh as we were landing. Maybe it’s becoming more like home and less like the place we live…maybe.
Let’s be terribly honest here, I could also be talked into the pasta, history, coastal towns, and weather of Massachusetts. What a place. We had such a fun trip, and I have a few recommendations of things we absolutely loved! There is so much more that I’m hoping to explore and eat in the future, so this is barely scratching the surface of all the Boston area has to offer. You all shared some great suggestions on Instagram, so thank you! We’re already planning our next trip back!
Spend an afternoon at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum. As much as I love history and Art, I don’t usually love museums. But this one is could not be more different from your usual white-walled, stuffy experience. I won’t spend too many words on why this one is so wonderful because I’ll quickly get carried away (email me for thoughts because I’m all too happy to shared). But you must go. And prepare to deep dive into the still-unsolved art heist that happened here more than 30 years ago. There’s a Netflix mini-series and podcast that go into all the juicy details!
Eat at pasta at Carmelina’s in North End. We sat next to Carmelina loyalists who told us to order the Sunday Macaroni, and I’m already tracking flights to Boston so I can come back and eat it again. My word.
People have lots of opinions when it comes to the best cannoli in Boston. I’ll have to do a few more trips to make it through all the favorites, a sacrifice I’m all too willing to make, but at this moment I am prepared to side with the Florentine Cannoli at Bovas.
Explore via Bikes. Boston is easily bikeable with BlueBike stations all over the city. This continues to be my favorite way to see a new city! Biking along The Charles was especially wonderful.
Get coffee and a bagel to-go from Black Sheep. I could eat the Lox bagel every morning for the rest of my life, and Seth loved the Turkey avocado.
Walk around Beacon Hill and feel like your classiest self. This was my favorite neighborhood we explored in Boston and it was all too easy to picture what it would be like to live there. Would this ever be possible? No. Do I already have the home picked out? Absolutely. There are so many delightful antique shops, chocolatiers, and bookstores to pop into around the area. And there’s also a Tatte right on the corner (thank you, Bella, for this tip!).
Speaking of Tatte, this is my formal request for one to come to Raleigh. Order the Spinach, Corn, & Egg plate and the Honey Halva Latte. And be sure to have gum close by because the garlic breath is potentially lethal, but well worth it.
Spend the morning
(or a day, or maybe the rest of your life – I’m contemplating it) in Newburyport. Hop over to Plum Island for the beach. And don’t be dissuaded by the weather. It was chilly, drizzly, and nearly empty when we went, and we loved it.
If you have any more Boston favorites that we should all know about, let me know in the comments!
Next week, we are diving back into fashion & styling!
I’ll be talking about creating balance in outfits and why sometimes an outfit doesn’t feel quite right but it’s hard to pinpoint why (there’s usually a very simple solution)!
And I’ll also be answering a couple of styling questions. Newsletter readers also have priority and you can submit those here!
And now for this week’s links:
1. Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth passed this afternoon. I admire her so much and have been surprised by how sad I am. She has been a stable calming presence in the world for nearly a century and this truly feels like the end of an era. If you’d like to deep dive a bit into her legacy with a focus on how she used style to speak, I highly recommend this book by Elizabeth Holmes. It’s a favorite of mine and is currently on major sale.
2. While I’m looking forward to cooler temperatures, I’m not quite ready to say goodbye to summer food. And since tomatoes are still going strong in NC, this one-pan roasted feta, shrimp, and tomato recipe by one of my favorite accounts to follow on Instagram is the perfect thing to make this weekend.
3. It’s been three months since we moved into our house, and I have been dragging my feet on hanging curtains in our front room. We have a beautiful picture window and need an extra-long curtain rod. This one is a great price point, doesn’t bend in the middle, and looks fantastic. And yes, the curtains are finally hung! This space is so far from being finished so the above image is one that is heavily influencing how I want it to feel.
4. This cocktail dress is calling my name. I have nowhere to wear it to at the moment, but I’m wildly tempted. The pink! The hem! The shape!