Anniversary Tea: Upstairs on the Square

In our of our first wedding anniversary (!) we headed across the river to Upstairs on the Square for afternoon tea. We have been to almost every afternoon tea offered in Boston, Upstairs completing our tour.

I have heard a lot of talk about Upstairs; it is a relatively long-standing establishment in Harvard Square and often classed with the fancy places in the student-heavy area. The building inside was a quirky reno of a classical old world mansion, complete with super high ceilings and a giant mantelpiece...and pink zebra hide.

 Our table seemed like an afterthought, shoved in between the sun room and a large couch-like booth seating area but we had good sunlight and a - very - attentive server.

The tea was high quality with plentiful hot water refills and the food assortment was original without being ridiculous. Upstairs definitely understands pastry from the choix puffs to the quiche shell, it was all delectable. Treats and tea and my lady friend always equal a good time!

Upstairs on the Square provided excellent food but may have overlooked the essence of Afternoon tea. Tea in the U.S. is a luxury, a treat, a way to celebrate  - wedding showers, baby showers, birthdays are all rather common tea events - and deserves ceremony. Our server was very nice and infinitely attentive, but otherwise she filled our water glasses and brought us our food. I like a little introduction to my food assortment, maybe my first cup of tea poured on my behalf, perhaps some fancy china. Tea for me is all about the details and there were a lot more that could have been fleshed out to turn a very nice tea into one for the record books.

Mini things: it'll get you every time

365 plus days of wedded bliss - what more could one ask for? Tea was lovely and I couldn't ask for a better companion to share it with. We finished off the day’s celebrations with a lovely bottle of champagne.

2012: A Year in Review Part II

Notre Dame, Montreal

 And the year in review continues...

July

July was a whirlwind kicked off by a slightly less successful honeymoon to Breezes Curacao...which had stopped being a Breezes resort a few weeks before we arrived, but failed to truly clarify that. (See my fruitless attempt for rumination here). But hey, it’s the Caribbean and we’ve been on more ridiculous trips together, so we had a great time. And I only got sunburned once.  

Of course, burn or no burn I came home to a new boss, but that is another story...

August

To continue with the run of nearly 30 weekends of booked activities, we went camping two weekends back to back, NYC, and then to a wedding. At a campground. Well actually, I should say a Maine wedding, but not the Martha Stewart variety. More the logger camp variety. After being un-invited to the rehearsal dinner and left to dogsit with my parents, we made our own fun and I got to marvel at how fat my ex-boyfriend had gotten...and how much taller my wife is than him :)  

September

I turned 27 in September and in honor of this late 20’s milestone, I actually got to spend time in Canada when it wasn't far side of the moon cold. I love Montreal and we've been as a couple several times, hotwire hotel hopping our way through every neighborhood of the gorgeous old city. We spent the long weekend with the McGill froshers and their parents, explored the Mile End neighborhood and the distant side of Mont Royal, ate true Montrealler bagels, and had afternoon tea in Birk’s Cafe.  Birk’s sits in the middle of a lovely baroque jewelry store often described as the “Tiffany’s of Canada”. In contrast to my times in Tiffany’s 5th Ave, Birk’s was quiet, refined, and the salespeople did not stalk you excessively.  Combined with a beautiful afternoon tea spread and excellent service, it was a perfect birthday event.

Antwerp, Central Square

October

I studied abroad in Amsterdam six years ago this January. It was a life-changing experience that brought me to myself, this career, and this lifestyle. I was unbelievably excited to return and even more so to show April every nook and cranny of a city that clings still to my heart. But I was anxious - anxious to see something I treasured as a memory as a living, breathing, changing organism. More so, I found so much of myself there, I was afraid to look again after several years of relatively settled being.

Going back was like having never been gone. I knew every street and canal, my grocery vocabulary was sufficiently impressive for my easily impressed wife, the rhythm of the city came back as if I had only been gone for the weekend. I still loved everything, beautiful and dingy.

We also spent a day in Antwerp, further insuring my belief that Belgium may be one of the nicest places on earth.

November

I am thankful for my wife, family, and friends, civil rights, the State of Massachusetts / the City of Boston, weekend brunch, BBC 4 documentaries on youtube, Top Gear, amazon prime shipping, and my electronic kettle. If you could see this thing, you'd understand.

December

Orlando, FL, Curacao, NYC, Montreal, Amsterdam, Antwerp, Minnesota: it’s been quite the trip both literally and figuratively and as I peek semi-anxiously over the edge into 2013, I do hope to have a few minutes to rest...but I guess I’ll do that when I’m older.

Red Light District at Rest

2012: A Year in Review Part I

2012 is a year that will live in infamy. Not only did I get married and Obama was re-elected, I also met Jeanette Winterson and visited the Wizarding World of Harry Potter. Momentous, if i do say so myself.  So for posterity and good cheer, here’s the year in review:

January
 

See?

It is a little known fact that Hogwarts is located a short distance from Jurassic Park, but I now am privy to this important geological knowledge. The Wizarding World of Harry Potter or affectionately “Harry Potter Land” is located in Orlando, Florida as consolation to all the Americans not lucky enough to actually be British. It is so cleverly appointed, right down to Moaning Mrytle’s incessant weeping and wailing in the girl’s bathroom. It is almost as fun to stand in line as it is to get on the Hogwart’s ride, as you snake through the school grounds, scoping out the greenhouse and Dumbledore's office. Two engaged, late twenty-somethings gallivanting around on the only 40 degree day in Florida to the sound of John William’s “Hedwig Theme” was purely romantic. And cold, but you have to suffer for the things you love.

February

I debate each year which month is worse: February or March. In New England, they are both piercingly cold, dark, mostly miserable time spans. Valentine’s candy typically pushes February ahead of March, but not this year.  I don’t remember anything of note.

March

I think I’ve traditionally disliked March more than other months since by then I am so deep in the SAD disorder, I want to sleep under a heat lamp and can only watch uncomplicated children’s movies without full on weeping. They lied when they quipped “March comes in like a lion and goes out like a lamb.” In the northeast, it normally just rains or snows or both, all month long.
 
But this March, I met Jeanette Winterson. British author of “The Powerbook”, “The Passion”, and her cover story / autobiography “Why be Happy when you could be Normal”, Winterson is one of my favorite contemporary writers.  And I met her. I said some silly things to her and she signed my copy of “The Powerbook.” Then I swooned all the way home and bought more of her books on Amazon. It was one of those inspiring experiences that made me simply happy to exist.

Oh you know, me and Jeanette.

 April

April 30th was our four year anniversary (and Queen’s Day in the Netherlands). This year was even more special as we would be getting married in two months, on another 30th. We had afternoon tea at the Four Seasons in Boston and semi-anxiously awaited the upcoming nuptials...by pretending nothing was happening at all.

May

About a month before my wedding, in the midst of a plethora of activity and events, I started this blog. I loved to write and wanted to do it more often, but I needed structure (and positive feedback). Thus “Tea and Circuses” was born and I finally stopped being a total creeper and actually started commenting on some of the blogs I had been reading for years.

June

On June 30, 2012, I married my best friend.  While many people make this cliche statement, I actually mean it.  April and I are madly in love and very compatible, but we spend more time playing silly games, reenacting chase scenes through the house, quoting “Shaun of the Dead” or "Austin Powers" and engaging in general ridiculousness than we do gazing into each others’ eyes and reciting poetry. Though I do sometimes read the sex columns and Jeremy Clarkson pieces out loud to her. She brings me tea every morning and rubs my perpetually sore muscles. I cook her favorite meals  and pack her lunches for work. We are the couple the photographer turns to, even when it’s not our wedding but I rarely notice, since I’m usually whispering to April to check out someone’s unfortunate dress choice.

 Part II to follow...