For my last few birthdays, the tradition has been for my parents to come up into the city and treat me to dinner at one of the great Boston restaurants. In my first year of graduate school I scored with an amazing meal at Blue Ginger while last year we went to the highly recommended Oleana. Unfortunately, schedules made a third dinner this year a little inconvenient so my parents requested asked if there were any gifts I might want instead.
My first thoughts immediately went to expanding my bar with some of the more specialized liqueurs I had been exposed to while drinking at Boston's finest bars. Assembling a list is easy enough, but finding bottles readily accessible outside of the city is a much harder task. The last time I was back home I was actually surprised at a few decently stocked liquor stores, but the selection didn't feature anything I didn't already have (at least by the time my visit was over!).
Surreptitiously, my dad was in the city today and when he called to offer a ride I had actually been awake long enough to be presentable to the outside world. Gifts were secured at the hipster liquor store in Davis, and a few additional items were picked up when we accidentally ran into the Cheese and Wine Cask and Savenor's on the way back.
Needless to say, I have some drinks to make.
