Denise's 60th Birthday ….

I have known Denise for 40 years, so I couldn't miss her 60th birthday celebration in Boston!

Denise and I lived together at the end of college, she was my Maid Of Honor, and although we live in different states, we have always stayed close. 

We could write a best selling novel - but then you would know all of our little secrets!

I flew into Boston, arriving early Friday, and shopped at Copley Place and Newbury Street for a few hours.  I treated myself to a Tory Burch purse, bought a wedding gift at Tiffany's, peeked at the MacKenzie-Childs at Neiman Marcus and walked over to Anthropologie.  

That evening about 12 of us stayed at the Embassy Suites, called out for pizza and salads, and had a "Paint Party":

We had a few paintings to choose from: wine glasses, a tree, or Queen Anne's lace flowers:

We had cocktails and wine…and got creative….

...and with high hopes, we began to paint...

Denise dove right in...

We tried not to dip our brushes into the cocktails...

…all chose different background colors...

…and we all got very quiet for a short time...

…the creative juices were flowing...

…so were the drinks...

…and our paintings were looking fabulous...

…and if anyone didn't like theirs, they just poured another drink….

…and miracles happened...

...the paintings were "beautiful"...

…lots of color...

…and lots of smiles...

Denise was a match for Jason Pollack:

…and Georgia O'Keefe!

We ate and drank some more and slowly, one by one, returned to our rooms!

The next morning, after breakfast, we took the "T" over to Faneuil Hall:

We shopped some of the boutiques and kiosks and enjoyed a little "hair of the dog"...

...A few drinks and appetizers in Faneuil Hall, and a few more friends joined us:

And then we walked over to the Frost Ice Bar:

There were ice chandeliers...

…cocktails served in "ice glasses":

…ice curtains...

…ice swans...

Here are the "wayback girls" sitting on the "ice benches"….

The whole group - "Club 82 Girls", "Cape Cod Girls", "Wayback Girls" and "sisters":

 Later that evening 18 of us had dinner at Smith and Wolensky:

The tenderloin trio was superb, my favorite was the au poivre:

Our sides were delicious: roasted asparagus, baked home fries, macaroni and cheese and wild mushrooms!

Here are the "Wayback Girls": Patti, Mary, Robin, Deb and Kathy

(we decided to form the Wayback CLUB!!)

Note the Photo Bombers in the background:

A few more joined us for dinner.

Here's the whole group:

After dinner we returned to the hotel for more drinks and laughter - and none of us can figure out why the 3 taxi fares differed in their prices!!

Sunday morning we all had breakfast and many of us said our good byes to each other - promising we will all cruise from Boston to Bermuda in 5 years!

Gail arranged a limo….

...to bring 7 of us back to Cape Cod...

We enjoyed drinks...

…and more laughter!

And then we all said our good byes!

 I spent the next 3 days with Denise at her home on Snake Pond.  My "room with a view" is as pretty in the snow as it is in the summer:

Monday and Tuesday I went to the beach and a few of my favorite shops while Denise worked….we had dinner at  Flynn's Irish Pub in Sandwich one night!

And Wednesday I flew home to Syracuse!

To all of my "new friends" and the "old" ones, you can copy or "pin" any of these photos from this blog, or I can email you specific ones, if you like!  It was a fun weekend and we all look forward to Denise turning 65!