Italy Recap Part 2: Pienza {including stops in Montepulciano & Siena}

June 12, 2015June 12, 20158 Comments

In case you missed my Rome recap, you can find it here: Rome. Today i want to share the second portion of our trip, which was spent in Pienza. Grab a coffee (or a glass of vino), and settle in- it’s a long, picture-filled recap!

On Monday, we packed up and headed out in this bad boy:

Poor RM- he was the only one who felt comfortable enough to drive this beast on the windy roads of the Tuscany region (and he knew how to drive a standard!). It wasn’t the most ideal vehicle to have due to the size of it vs. the size of the roads, but we made it work! He handled it very well, too, so that helped.

Anyway, before this trip I thought Tuscany was a specific place to visit like Rome or Florence, but in fact it’s a region to visit and you go there to visit all the little towns within the region. We absolutely loved Pienza as it had a super cute city center and was relatively close to other charming/picturesque towns. It was about 2.5 hours from Rome.

We stayed at Tenuta Santo Pietro, which was about 6KM from the city center, for our 4 night Pienza part of the trip. I loved the B&B for so many reasons! Here’s a bit about it from their site:

Nestled in the heart of the rolling Tuscan countryside, Tenuta Santo Pietro
is a tranquil oasis comprised of a twelve bedroom inn that dates back to the 13th century, and a 72 acre working farm. Vineyards and olive trees spread through rolling hills rising to a small valley. A stay at Santo Pietro is one of the best ways to enjoy all that Tuscany has to offer.

They serve wine from their vineyard, olive oil from their trees and vegetables from their garden- pretty awesome, right?! The service was impeccable and we all felt really at home while we were their. The rooms, grounds, food, wine, pool, etc. made for such a great stay!

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Crustless Veggie & Goat Cheese Quiche

April 30, 2015April 30, 20154 Comments

Would you look at that- I’ve posted for FOUR days in a ROW this week! I know, I’m just as surprised as you. I’m so happy that I had time to post this recipe for you, though, because boy oh boy is it tasty! Not only that, but it was super easy to put together: chop & sautee some veggies, whisk some eggs, bake and voila! You don’t even have to deal with making or rolling out a crust, which not only saves you time, but saves you some calories, too! What you end up with is a healthy, nutritious and yummy dish to eat for breakfast, lunch and/or dinner.

That’s the beauty of quiches, right? They’re so versatile since you can literally eat them for any meal of the day. And, if you add veggies you’re getting an even better bang for your buck. I don’t like to add TOO many veggies, though, because they get in the way of the egg consistency that I love about quiches. This one ended up coming out super fluffy, which I think may be due to how much I whisked the eggs and milk- my arm was burning by the time I finally stopped!

Crustless Veggie & Goat Cheese Quiche

Ingredients

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Eats as of Late {Part II}

April 28, 2015April 28, 20156 Comments

It’s been a hot minute since I shared my eats with you, huh? In case you missed part one, you can find it here.

I feel like RM and I have been eating out a bit more than we really want to be eating out, but now that the weather is warming up a bit (well, sometimes!), it’s just so much more fun to go out and get drinks, which usually leads to us grabbing dinner out. We leave for Italy in about 3 weeks, so I’m hoping to cut back on eating out until then. For now, here’s what we’ve been eating- enjoy!

Coconut Crusted Healthified Chicken Tenders {gluten free & dairy free}– RM came up with this recipe and he’s used it on chicken and fish and it’s quickly become a staple for us!

Italian Meatloaf– I came across this meatloaf from PaleOMG and I’ve probably made it 5 times at this point. Every part of it is so delicious and it’s been a great lunch meal.

In January, RM was doing the Whole30, so we were more limited with our meal options. Insert lettuce tacos! So good and so healthy.

Curry dishes have also frequented our meal rotations. We love this dish because it’s easy and healthy and just so darn tasty! We’ve made the dish with chicken and with shrimp and have decided we like shrimp the best.

These Smashed Sweet Potato Guacamole Bites from Running to the Kitchen were a HUGE hit at the Super Bowl party I went to.

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My 30th Birthday Celebrations

April 23, 2015April 22, 201512 Comments

Well, it’s official: I have the best friends, family and boyfriend around! Everyone made my entire birthday week SO special- I wish there was a better way to show my gratitude, but hopefully this post will help.

As I mentioned last week, my birthday celebrations started the weekend before my birthday with the Wine Fest. From there, my birthday was an amazing day from start to finish! Finally getting a chance to check out SoulCycle was such a fun thing, and doing it beside my sister and Jess was even better 🙂

After our workout, we walked over to Seasons 52 for lunch. Have you guys ever been there or heard of it? I’m not one for big box chain restaurants, but since this one was so close and since I had heard such great things about it, we decided to check it out. I’m so glad we did because it was awesome! Everything was so light and fresh. We talked to the waitress and although everything on the menu is currently under 475 calories, they are shifting towards removing the calorie count since they are starting to incorporate more super foods that generally have higher calorie counts. Think: avocados, nuts, etc. I think this is awesome because it’s true- just basing your meal on calories isn’t going to be the healthiest option (but that’s another post for another time!). Anyway- I got the fish tacos (surprise, surprise) and a glass of rose and my sister got a flatbread which came with a wine flight AND a glass of wine for $15- amazing deal.

Later in the evening, I got dressed up and met RM in the city and we grabbed a drink at Rumba (the bar in the Intercontinental) before heading to dinner.

He took me to Cinquecento, which is an Italian restaurant in the South End. We were supposed to go there for Valentine’s Day, but due to the weather, we ended up staying local, so it was a nice surprise that he chose that restaurant for my birthday. I sipped on the most delicious glass of bubbly rose and then enjoyed my Tagliatelle alla Bolognese. RM got his favorite dish, the Branzino con Scarola Brasata e Funghi, which was also delicious. I was SO impressed with both dishes- I’m suddenly hungry as I start thinking back to the meal!

Lastly, RM surprised me with a molten chocolate lava cake and ice cream which was to die for!

And… now for the party recap! I told RM that I didn’t care about a surprise party, I just didn’t want to be the one to plan it. With that said, he reached out to my sister and my friends in various groups in my life and planned one hell of a party. I had no idea where we were going or who would be there or what to expect, so I did what any other 30 year old would do: wear pleather pants, new heels and my reddest lipstick 😉

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Weekending Through Pictures

April 13, 2015April 12, 20159 Comments

What a weekend we had in Boston, right?! The weather was long awaited and it was so great to feel warmth and sunshine and be able to be outside without a jacket on! On top of that, it was part 1 of my birthday weekends and between massages on Friday and a hair cut and mani/pedi on Sunday, I was fully pampered! Enjoy the highlights:)

Friday night we had massages at Exhale Spa and then dinner at Ward 8 with my friend Jessi and her boyfriend.
Saturday I wore my new top from Lulu and taught a super sweaty kickboxing class.