Dough-C-Dough-Nut-Shoppe
Grab your partner one of these. 438 Main St., Woburn, MA .
Silver Restaurant Supply and Equipment Company
This is no joke. China for 99 cents a pound. Limit: one ton per customer. 92-100 Pearl St., Chelsea, MA .
Mo Khan at the Harvard Club
Friendly, and a member of one of sport's greatest families, the squash-playing Khans of Pakistan. 374 Commonwealth Ave., Boston, MA .
Louis
Of course, no one can afford anything here, but it's nice to aspire to. The Mall at Chestnut Hill, Newton Highlands, MA .
The Boston Symphony Orchestra's one-hundredth-anniversary concert. Music to remember.
Custom Shop Shirtmakers
Manager Aaron Walisever will do anything to make a customer smile in one of his perfectly fitted shirts. 352 Boylston St., Boston, MA .
A Nubian Notion
A great selection of books, including ones you can't find anywhere else. You'll be pleasantly surprised. 41-47 Warren Street, Roxbury, MA .
<em>The Little Shop of Horrors</em>
In a lean year for big-time musicals, it was the only one with man-eating plants and lots of originality.
Julien, Hotel Meridien
The kitchen's kinks are worked out. And the lobster ravioli is one of the city's grand new dishes. 250 Franklin St., Boston, MA .
Rox Diner
A recent expansion of this gem has shortened wait times, bringing your little ones that much closer to pancakes shaped with Mickey Mouse ears (upon request); your bloody mary and Irish Bennies will be close behind. 1881 Centre St., West Roxbury, MA .
Figment Boston
Other festivals may showcase art, but they probably don’t turn you into the one making it. Come July, the local edition of this global arts event lets you sculpt, jam, act, and more. boston.figmentproject.org.
The Garment District
The perfect fake mustache, Darth Vader suit, and leather bomber jacket under one roof? It's a reality at the Garm. Brave the by-the-pound area to rummage elbow-deep through discarded treasures, or win Halloween with a rental costume. 200 Broadway, Cambridge, MA 02139, garmentdistrict.com.
Oberon
Only in the People's Republic will you find a venue where a donkey show—or rather, The Donkey Show—is a weekly staple. But this is no one-trick donkey, er, pony, tapping the local arts scene to pack its calendar with events. 2 Arrow St., Cambridge, MA 02138, americanrepertorytheater.org/oberon.
The Burgundy Foulard Silk Tie from Brooks Brothers
Store rep Bill Orlandi says it's the only tie you'll ever need. The standard three-and-one-half-inch width will never go out of fashion.
Dance Umbrella
The Cambridge-based dance-presenting organization long ago secured the devotion of Mark Morris, who now rewards us all by performing here regularly. Morris is just one talent among many sheltered by this bumbershoot.