Last week I went back to Boston for Thanksgiving, and forced my husband to experience the phenomenon known as Black Friday. So for the uninitiated, what is this vaguely sinister sounding event? Not to be confused with Black Monday, the crash of the stock market, Black Friday is traditionally the kick off to the Christmas shopping season. The story goes than alarmingly large number of Americans head to the malls while the sane people stay home and munch on leftover turkey and pecan pie. As I only had a limited time in Boston- and had plenty of shopping to do- we braved the queues and headed to Boston to do some serious shopping. To make life easier, and prevent my husband from having a meltdown, we stuck to two malls, Copley Place at the Shops at the Prudential Center. I was surprised to see how upscale Copley mall has become; it now has a Jimmy Choo, Louis Vuitton and a Barneys outpost. After we finished up in the mall (or mwall) we ventured outside for some fresh air and to check out Newbury Street. I also popped into the new and improved Filene's Basement. Unlike the original one in Dowtown Crossing, this new glossy one isn't located in a basement and doesn't have giant clumps of dust blowing like tumbleweed across the floor. It was a bit crowded but I spotted racks of Tory Burch, Dolce & Gabbana and Yves St Laurent. Go Filene's!

Photo courtesy Greater Boston Convention & Visitors Bureau