Category: Dining Out

Weekending! Harpoon Fest, Sushi, Sonsie, Friends

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Before I get to my post scheduled for today, I wanted to take a minute to say how much Oklahoma is on my mind. Seeing the images on the news that the tornadoes caused makes me speechless. My thoughts and prayers go out to all of those who have been impacted by these tornadoes. Absolutely heartbreaking.

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Hi there! How is everyone doing?! I had a super busy weekend, but it was really, really fun! My friend, JP, was in town for the weekend (he is my former coworker/BFF and is moving to Chicago at the end of the month), so it was fun to get to hang out with him, as well as some SMC ladies.

Friday

I was pretty busy with work on Friday, but I was able to make some Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Banana Bread during my lunch break. I don’t know where I got the recipe (definitely from a blog, but no idea which one), but mmm it came out so tasty!

001I talked to my college girlfriends and realized that it was Harpoon Fest, so some of us decided to go. Although it was a little chilly on Friday evening, it was still a fun night!

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(Do you follow me on Instagram, yet?)

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Saturday definitely would have been the better day, weather wise, but I’m still glad we were able to go! Around 9pm, we all decided we were all pretty chilly and decided to head out. We joined JP and some of his friends for another drink at Dillon’s.

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Knowing that I had to teach kickboxing at 10am the next day, I kept myself in good control and even drank a plain club soda while at Dillon’s… shocking, I know! But well worth it. There are some classes I could teach while being tired and a little hung over, but kickboxing is certainly not one of those!

Saturday

Kickboxing was a blast! There were not as many people as usual, but I blame that on the weather. Saturday was absolutely beautiful and had I not been teaching, I would have gone for a nice run outside!

When I got home from kickboxing, I worked in my garden a little bit. I had a few more things I wanted to plant and my dad was nice enough to give me 3 more bags of soil, so it felt good to knock that off of my “to-do” list, while still working on my tan 😉 And, the sun went in just as I was ready to eat lunch. Perfect timing! I sautéed some broccoli and summer squash and then added in an egg, scrambled it up, topped it with goat cheese and served it as a wrap. Easy, healthy, yummy.

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Perfect fuel to clean the apartment, actually. Danielle was around to help, so we split up the different areas of the house to clean and got to work! By the time we were finished, I was exhausted, so you know what I ended up doing? NAPPING. If you know me, you know that I NEVER nap, so this was pretty crazy. I passed out for a solid 45 minutes and only woke up because I was drooling everywhere my sister told me it was time to shower. Luckily, I wasn’t groggy or anything, because that is the worst, and part of the reason why I don’t nap.

After we were ready, we headed to Joshua Tree in Somerville for a cocktail and snack before meeting up with my friend, Lauren, for sushi. Davis square was hoppin’! There was some sort of sidewalk/porch band festival thing, too, which seemed pretty cool. I love how the spring weather makes people venture out and about.  I got a Sangria, but it was awful so I didn’t finish it. Boo 😦

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For dinner, we went to Fuji in Kendall Square since I had a Groupon that was just days from expiring.

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While we perused the menu, we enjoyed some edamame and Sauvignon Blanc. $26 for the bottle. Ummm amazing.

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I ordered a Spicy Tuna Roll, which was only OK. It seemed like it had tempura mixed in and I wasn’t a fan of that. Everything else was delicious, though, especially the company and free valet parking 🙂

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After dinner, Danielle and I went to Sonsie to grab a drink with JP since it might be the last time that we see him before he moves to Chicago 😦 The city was very much alive and I loved it! Sometimes it’s nice to have a reminder of how wonderful it is to be able to live in Boston. I think I take it for granted far too often, so last night was nice to soak it all in.

All in all, it was a great weekend. I went out and had fun with friends, had some great adult bevvies, and was able to enjoy Boston. Sunday was the icing on the cake as I was totally in my element at the Wellness By The Water retreat. I’ll do a full post dedicated to my experience there later this week, but I’ll say that it was awesome.

Questions for you: What was the best part of your weekend? Did you go to Harpoon Fest? Did you go out dancing (mom, I know you did!)? Drink any fun, summer-ish cocktails?

Greetings from Maine!

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Hey everyone! Greetings from Maine! I drove up to Maine after teaching my kickboxing class last night. I had to get a sub for my SHRED class since I had a late conference call:( I’ll be honest, though, as much as I missed my SHRED class (always love the chance to get some extra strength training in), it was nice going into my kickboxing class with full energy, perhaps too much energy. It was funny- as I was leaving the gym, I thought about my Wednesday and Thursday classes that I taught this week and I actually said to myself “wow. those were really hard classes. Why do I do that to myself?” Low and behold, I wasn’t the only one feeling that way:

hard class noteDon’t get me wrong, I love teaching a hard class, but sometimes I actually question myself while sucking air and trying to yell at everyone (for some reason, YELLING was my theme this week), “What was I thinking when I created this workout?!”.

In Wednesday’s UXF class, we did weighted burpees, weighted jump squats, monkey curls, crab walks and planks w/triceps extensions, just to name a few. Yes, you read that correctly: weighted burpees and weighted jump squats. They are not fun, I’ll be the first one to say it! (I thought I might have been dying from my treadmill run before class, but after overhearing some convos in the locker room, it definitely wasn’t just me!)

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Needless to say, dinner at Life Alive was a well deserved reward for my hard work this week! Plus, I had a leftover balance on the gift card that my sister got me for Christmas, so it was a no brainer to swing by there before making the trek north!

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011The ride north was fairly smooth, except for the massive amounts of fog as I reached Maine. Luckily, I made it! Mom was even waiting up for me when I got home and had made my bed and turned the sheets down for me- I’m a lucky girl!

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As for today, I am working from Maine and then my mom asked me to go meet her in town for a walk before the teachers weekly Friday night drink gathering at the Back Street Grill. I seriously love meeting up with my mom and her friends on Fridays at the BSG- they are a super fun crowd and the wines are only $3. That’s basically stealing, in my eyes! I was also happy to hear that dad is going to cook his “fish night” for me tonight, too… can’t wait to see what he picks up this week!

Being home is such a treat, especially when my sister isn’t with me;) I like being spoiled!

Questions for you! Have you taken any REALLY hard classes this week? Have you ever been to Life Alive? What do you order if you have been there? What’s your favorite thing about being home?

More Weekend Catch-Up

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Hi! How’s everyone doing? Did you survive Monday? I always feel a little better once Monday is over!

Since I didn’t do much weekend recapping except for Sara’s shower, I wanted to fill you in now! Everyone left our place by 6pm on Saturday and at that point, my sister and I were ready to get out of the house. I had a $20 OpenTable gift certificate and she had a $10 UBER credit, so we decided to take advantage of both and go grab dinner somewhere. Most restaurants were pretty busy, but one of our go-to favorite restaurants just happened to have some availability! I stumbled upon Anthem Restaurant in Faneuil Hall a few winters ago when I was planning Rachel’s bachelorette party and we have been in love with it ever since! I’ve taken my parents there, work friends there, college friends there… Pretty much any time we don’t know where to go, but want good atmosphere and good food, we go there.

Anyway! Since we were not too hungry, we ordered some wine and chatted before placing our meal order.

042Once our stomachs began to rumble a little, we placed an order of their Boston Bibb salad and Margarita Pizza. Nothing too heavy, but enough to satisfy us!

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045Yum! The salad looks boring, but the dressing they use is what makes it so good!

My friend and former co-worker, JP, met us out, which is always a good time. He and my sister can be bad news sometimes, though, because they egg each other on in drinking competitions and whatnot. Youngin’s, I tell ya!

046JP was also able to catch this on camera. I have to say that she did a much better job carrying me this time. I blame it on my heels!

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I woke up Sunday feeling much better than I thought I would, which is always a nice surprise. After blogging and eating breakfast, I decided to take advantage of the gorgeous weather and go for a walk. Danielle joined me so it was nice to have someone to talk to! We covered just about 2 miles and then I worked to get my garden ready for planting. Let me tell you, raking and tilling and pulling weeds is a great upper body workout!

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050Even though I could have stayed out in the sun and warm weather all day, I had to go in and shower and get ready for my friend Christy’s bridal shower. It was at the Daily Catch in the Seaport and it was absolutely lovely. I had never been to that location, but it was so much nicer than I had imagined. Plus, the view of the harbor on a gorgeous sunny day didn’t hurt, either. It was great to get to catch up with a bunch of my college girlfriends and be a part of Christy’s special day. It was a surprise bridal shower and it seemed like Christy was 100% surprised!

I didn’t get many pictures, but I did grab some of the adorable center pieces that my friend, Amy, made, as well as a delicious mimosa and the menu.

058It was a 3-course meal and everything that I tried was really good! I got the caprese salad to start, fish n chips for my meal (everyone deserves a splurge day or meal!) and obviously didn’t turn down a piece of cake (I am a sucker for all things dessert, especially when it involves frosting.).

After the bridal shower ended, I picked up Danielle and we hit up the grocery store. I had all intentions of making a nice Sunday dinner, but when I looked in the fridge and saw how many leftovers we had from the shower on Saturday, I decided to postpone my meal for tonight (only night I don’t teach, so I actually have time to make a nice dinner after work!). This was a big move for me… I ALWAYS make a “Sunday Dinner,” so when I don’t, something feels so off!

And, I think that about sums it up! Weekends being surrounded by best friends and family are the best, in my book, and nice weather is just icing on the cake (pun intended!).

Questions for you: What was the best part of your weekend? Do you like to garden? Do you try to make a nice meal on Sunday nights or do you prefer to cook during the week?

Scenes from NYC

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Hey everyone! Over the past weekend, I had the pleasure of going to NYC for a little birthday getaway weekend.  I’ve been to NYC on work many times, but, if you can believe it, this was my first time going for fun! I know, it’s crazy! I’m going to let my pictures do most of the talking… hope you enjoy!

Walking around Chelsea Market

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Times Square-

008(Outside of the Renaissance Hotel, which was right in the heart of Times Square- Love those Marriott points!. For a first time visitor to NYC, I was totally in heaven! One of the bars in the hotel had walls of windows overlooking the square. So many people. So many signs. So many things to see.)

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Dinner at Maialino

My friend Jess’s sister was so helpful in suggesting good, non-touristy restaurants in the city. And, even more helpful with securing a reservation at Maialino which was in the Gramercy Park Hotel. The food was absolutely delicious and it was pretty cool to have the Chef send out so many complimentary tastings! The best part of the night, though? The fact that Katie Couric walked in and literally sat at the table next to us. Yes, you read that correctly. Katie Couric was there. She was so pretty! I didn’t have the chance to get a picture or talk to her, but just seeing her was cool enough!

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(Fried artichokes and bread topped with whipped potatoes and cod)

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(Pasta dishes)

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(chocolate croissant bread pudding with hazelnut gelato. I died. So good.)

Jogging through Central Park

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(The coolest part about this run was that there was a race going on that was dedicated to BostonStrong. Very emotional feeling jogging with a bunch of New Yorkers all wearing BostonStrong shirts.)

Well, that about sums it up, or at least what I had pictures of, haha Sometimes I forget to take pictures or think it’s not worth taking a picture of another glass of wine or another plate of food or another scenery photo, but when I go to write up a post, I kick myself because I really wish I had taken those pictures!  I know some people would rather blog through words, but I tend to be someone who enjoys looking at pictures, so that is why I like to put a lot in my posts. Rant is over.

Questions for you:Are you a NYC fan? What is your favorite restaurant in NYC? How was your weekend? Any good eats or drinks to share?