#4 (A Nerdy Dream Come True)

I love Boston.  I always have and always will.  My love stems from my love of fun facts.  I collect them and Boston is full of them!  Did you know the Boston University Bridge is the only place a plane can fly over a car that is traveling next to a bike and over a train that is traveling over pedestrians that are walking or running over a boat?  Did you get all that?  Here’s a picture to help you out:

 

Photo by Kal Zabarsky

 

I proudly hold a somewhat useless degree in Literature.  So as you can imagine I love fun facts about books!  Recently I was on a walk and discovered Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s childhood home is just blocks from my office!  I almost peed my pants with excitement.  Yes I am a nerd.  Hence the title  of this blog.

 

You may not be able to tell but I'm losing my mind right now!  Longfellow LIVED HERE!!!!

 

So a decade ago I discovered a super fun fact.  There is a hotel in Boston. (not the fun fact)  In that hotel is a restaurant. (not the fun fact)  And in that restaurant literary greats used to hang out and talk books, politics, science, and anything else that insanely creative and smart people talk about. (THAT’S THE FUN FACT!!!!!)  They were called the Saturday Club because one Saturday night a month they would meet for dinner and conversation.  And by they I mean Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Charles Dickens (when he was in town), Oliver Wendell Holmes, Ralph Waldo Emerson and more!

 

Oh and Robert LOWELL.  nbd.

 

And this hotel/restaurant is still open and operating! (more fun facts: JFK proposed to Jackie O there, Malcolm X and Ho Chi Minh worked there and John Wilkes Booth also hung out there!).  And so I have wanted to go since the day I learned this fun fact.  But you know sometimes life happens and all of a sudden it’s 10 years later and you realized this amazing (and somewhat easy) bucket list item still has not been completed. 

 

They made it easy and gave me a fun fact display!

 

I lived less than 10 miles away for 8 years.  I went into the city countless times.  But never went to eat at the Parker House.  Why?!  Why do we sometimes neglect to do things that are completely attainable?  I’ve been thinking a ton about being intentional with time.  As I look back on the past year I realized I missed a lot of good life living time.  I went into survival mode because of how chaotic and unbalanced my life felt and forgot to enjoy the every day, good things around me.  This year I want to be different.  I want to drive 110 miles one way just to have dinner with a friend.  I want to go for walks and be surprised by what I see.  I want to buy plane tickets to visit far away friends and not worry about what I could be doing with the money because I know relationships are so much more important than anything else.  I want to look at the clouds and have my breath taken away by their sheer beauty and breadth! 

And so I have.  And it’s been amazing!  So when my birthday rolled around and the Best Friend asked what I wanted to do; I immediately responded with Saturday brunch at the Parker House!  (I know they met for dinner but I love breakfast foods way more than dinner)

 

That omlet was incredible!  And there I am thinking great literary thoughts, or what I was going to wear on a date. And finally all the hotels conference rooms are named for authors.  Clearly these people get me!

 

I honestly felt more intellectual, better read, and more capable the minute I walked in!  I immediately decided I could write a book.  The atmosphere, food, and company were perfect.  Though the Best Friend and I spent more time talking about men than books but I think that’s ok.  I’m sure they complained or told funny stories about their wives when they were being all geniousy.   The whole time we were there all I could think was, “Why did I wait so long to do this?!”  I was overwhelmingly thankful for the chance to slow down and enjoy life in a famous landmark with someone so special.  We didn’t rush.  We didn’t worry.  We just were.  It was awesome.

As we enter this crazy holiday time are you in survival mode or are you still able to stop and smell the…mistletoe? Are there tricks you have to slow yourself down and enjoy the true spirit of this time—thankfulness, joy, peace, love, and others? 

 

"Lives of great men all remind us, we can make our lives sublime, and, departing, leave behind us, footprints on the sands of time."

~Longfellow

(ok one more fun fact because I can!  Longfellow is accredited as the one who translated Dante’s Inferno into English AND most people believe the majority of that work happened with The Saturday Club!!!!  Isn’t that incredible!?!? Anyone, anyone?  Bueller?)

 

And if you are wondering about why this post starts with #4 click here.