A Wonderful Weekend

I just got back from Boston, from Claire and Michael's wedding weekend. It was wonderful, and I will post a few things about it in the next few days.

Some of the weekend highlights include:
*Getting to hang out with Claire on Friday, including some relaxed chatting amidst pedicures, an amazing lunch at Henrietta's Table, and some last-minutes errands around Harvard Square where Sarah and I marveled over a fun 40s-esque black felted hat that neither us had reason to ever wear.

*Unrelated to the wedding, but tied to being in Boston: I ran into (or rather he saw me and called my name several times before I figured out what was happening) one of my former advisees who is now at Harvard Medical School (I have nothing to do with this; he was brilliant without my advice). Unexpected run-ins are so gratifying.

*The best Kabbalat Shabbat I have been at in a while. The room was packed, voices were loud and clear, emotions were high (in a good way!), the group turned the end of Lecha Dodi into 10-15 minutes of dancing around Claire and Michael. It was amazing, one of the few truly spiritual moments I have felt in many years. The last great Kabbalat Shabbat I can recall took place in my living room in CA -- one of the various times the minyan met at my house, and I was sitting on the stairwell as there was no other space, and looked around with some awe about what we had created. And this is quite relevant to the wedding as I'm sure Claire, Torie, Sivan, and Igor were all there that night and we all celebrated together this weekend.

More on the actual wedding to come. As a sneak peek, here is a close-up of the beautiful chuppah that Claire's mom made for the wedding (using applique and embroidery):