Adventures in Boston

Nine photo shoots in three days. We are exhausted. But what a wonderful, productive, and inspiring three days it was! Of course it helped we got to run around one of our favorite cities: Boston. Thanks to interior designer and blogger Erin Gates of Elements of Style, we were able to line up career profile interviews with five of the female entrepreneurs who work in the same creative co-op, located in one of the coolest spaces we’ve set foot in (an open industrial warehouse painted white from floor to ceiling).

We had a 4:30 a.m. wake-up call on Tuesday to catch our early flight out. Didn’t want to waste a minute! Shortly after landing and dropping our bags off at the hotel, we headed over to the offices where we met up with photographer Sarah Winchester and designer Erin Gates, our two subjects for the day. A pleasant surprise was getting to meet the beloved Oliver and Baxter. Anyone who has ever read Elements of Style is familiar with Erin’s four-legged friends. It’s amazing the amount of personality these little guys have. How fantastic is Oliver’s fro?

Every corner of these bright, airy work spaces was filled with funky decor, beautiful splashes of color against white backdrops, and every tool a creative mind could want (think chalkboard paint, iMacs, fabric swatches, a photography studio, and pottery galore!). Considering how much fun we had shooting there for two days, we can’t imagine how inspiring it must be to work there full-time!

After a few hours, we swung by the Gates’ home to snap a few photos before venturing over to the South End hot spot, Sella for dinner with Erin and her hubby.  Three hours later… we left giddy and satiated, having tasted some of the most flavorful dishes we’d ever tried. Seriously. If you are in Boston or traveling there soon, make a reservation stat! It’s the perfect spot for date night, girls’ night, or a business dinner. And make sure to order the linguini. And the swordfish. And the bolognese.

10:30 pm. Finally. We returned to The Inn at St. Botolph, located in the South End, where we saw our room for the first time. It was so… so… homey. And perfectly relaxing considering we had about two hours of work to delve into. Not so easy considering we’d been up 18 hours and had just enjoyed a few cocktails at dinner. Alas, we persevered!

And woke up early the next day to do it all again! Fortunately, the Inn offered free breakfast, making our early start to the day a bit easier. Oh yeah. Did we mention the rooms have fireplaces? Happydance. We checked the site, got all gussied up, and headed off…

…back to the warehouse to photograph three more ladies: graphic designer Jessica Sutton, potter and homegoods designer extraordinaire Jill Rosenwald, and interior designer and home staging expert Stayci Fast. So many puppy friendships were made. This here was Oscar, Jess’ wheaton terrier. Again with the personality. He was practically smiling at us the whole time.

3pm: salvation in the form of lunch at The Buttery in the South End with Alison of Long Distance Loving. We inhaled our meals (chicken sandwich and vegetarian hummus sandwich: we’ll let you guess who got what) and begged our lattes to give us the much-needed energy boost…

…alas, we found ourselves napping on park benches shortly thereafter. Thanks for nothing, foamy espresso drinks. Thanks for nothing.

If you ever find yourself strolling around this area in the South End, be sure to pop into the shops along Union Park Street, just north of Washington. We especially loved Hudson, an interior goods store chalk-full of colorful goodies and one-of-a-kind finds. What a delight to the senses.

We were so happy we found a free hour to meet up with some Everygirls for a drink at The Gallows, a darling bar and restaurant just around the corner from Hudson and The Buttery and Stella (we’re telling you – this is the place to stay)! Thank you so much to the ladies who made it out: (from left) Sarah McManus, Lisa Sanchez, Heidi Dooley, Danielle and Alaina, Allison Whittemore, and Emily Sharp!

More food. If there is one thing we did right in Boston, it was the eating. The Franklin—a local favorite—came highly recommended by many of you and we completely understand why. This intimate setting (10 tables, give or take a couple) was the perfect respite after another long day. The food was delectable—Alaina’s favorite was a salmon cooked with radishes and tomatillos (mouth is watering just thinking about it) while Danielle savored the fried green tomatoes. Then there were the cocktails. Ask Joy, the bar manager, to whip you up something special. This woman knows what she is doing. We were particularly fond of the Cucumber Collins, a lime, soda and vodka drink perfect for summer.

End Wednesday.

Scene opens: it’s Thursday morning, sunny and beautiful. Alaina ventures to get the rental car while Danielle carefully snaps photos of the hotel and surrounding streets. Both girls meet up, lattes in hand, and embark on a road trip west, outside the city toward the offices of the one and only, Style Me Pretty.

What was it like spending the afternoon with the founder of one of the world’s largest wedding sites? Charming. Abby Larson, founder of Style Me Pretty, and her team were absolutely charming. They stocked their mini-fridge with pink lemonade and brought in pastries. They willingly let us rearrange their books, magazines, and piles of wedding goodies to style the perfect shots. And Abby so kindly offered us helpful tips on running a website (advice we lapped up like puppies). We cannot wait to invite all of you into their clean, feminine offices when we debut the career profile on Abby during Wedding Week. Keep your eyes out for this feature starting May 7!

3 p.m. on Thursday, the work is finally done. With our fancy rental car (read: Toyota Yaris), we swung by Cambridge to see the Harvard Campus then grabbed lunch at Border Cafe (Tex-Mex might just be these two editors’ favorite food).

And finally. Our last stop before heading to Logan Airport: Beacon Hill. The stuff dreams are made of. And the perfect way to end our whirlwind but very successful trip to Beantown.

Cheers, Boston. And thanks.

- Danielle and Alaina