22 April 2008

James at 40

Our meandering weekend-long celebration of James' 40th involved much fanfare and an abundance of meat products. It began with what could become a mid-week tradition -- the Spontaneous Afterwork Sausage Invasion. Two simultaneous (and serendipitous) trips to the Smoke House in Norwell ended in a consolidation of cured meats, and the grilling of peppers and onions in my partially-destroyed cookware. Friends in the kitchen, sausages for the soul.

We headed to dinner at Abe & Louie’s with P and Maria the following night. When we lived in the city, we always avoided going into town on Patriot’s Day weekend because of the madness of crowds, the lines, the Marathon in town, etc. This year was even crazier with both the Sox and the Bruins playing, but for some reason, we couldn't wait to get in there. We decrepit suburbanites craved that collective mid-April energy shared by all who are excited just to be outside without mittens.

Shuffling down Boylston Street, we were stopped by a twentysomething man in a backwards baseball hat who asked us if we wanted to go see Lynard Skynard with him, then go streaking on the Common. Before we could respond, he started skipping down the street, yelling over his shoulder: “No sa! No sa! Welcome to Boston!” Ok. Then came the food. James had this Flintstonian Bone-in Prime Rib that caused rubbernecking from neighboring diners. We dug into our Abe & Louie’s salads, filet mignon and then a six layer piece of chocolate birthday cake that rivaled the PR in size. Wow. All told, I think we met WMD's goal of eating one's body weight in red meat.

We filed out with the entire place erupting all around us because the Bruins had just won and walked back down Boylston for a night cap at Excelsior. We had some really kind vodka that I’d never heard of over which the four of us planned a long weekend in Vegas, which will hopefully come to fruition, kind vodka notwithstanding. The next day, we received P and Maria's entire Vegas itinerary via email and tossed all the leftover meat into a steak and eggs scramble, wishing BG had been there to fix Bloody Marys. Then, the meat-eating tipping point -- some Lebanese lahm mishwe on the grill that afternoon. Jimmy and Kathy shall have to fast. And if you’re wondering what happened to the bone in the bone-in prime rib, look no further than right here.

Happy 40th, James!

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Wow - congratulations and many happy returns James! Maybe we'll run into each other in Vegas.

Bean Down Under said...

James - another one hits the big 4-0! I still remember us talking about U2 and Springsteen in class at Weymouth North. Can't believe that was over 20 years ago. You have aged well my friend. Congratulations and happy birthday! We will have to celebrate all of our 40th birthdays with a big dinner in Boston upon my return.

Unknown said...

Happy Birthday James. Thanks for blazing the trail to 40. I'll meet you there in December!

Anonymous said...

Jamie, you make 40 look gooooood. WMD would be proud that you celebrated with red meat. Ah, seems like only yesterday that we celebrated your 30th in the downstairs of some Boston pub that no longer exists. Looking forward to celebrating your 50th when all our kids can stay home without babysitters and we can rip it up. Happy Birthday, dear Jamie!

Anonymous said...

AY VITO!