Tag: cocktail hour

Five on Friday {9.9.16}

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Hi, friends! Happy freaking Friday 🙂 I hope you’ve all had a good week- mine started out roughhhh, but turned around a bit by the end of it. We leave for Italy in 9 days and work is absolutely crazy right now so I’m just trying to get through what I can so I can start my vacation without the stress of worrying about what I didn’t finish.

But, let’s talk about more fun things, shall we?

  • Moscow Mules- We received some beautiful monogrammed copper mugs for our wedding (thanks, Jean!), so last weekend we decided to put them to good use by whipping up some Moscow Mules. Neither of us had had one before, but we both enjoyed them! It was a really fun cocktail hour enjoyed on our back patio.

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  • Eating out vs. eating in- Most of the time, RM and I try to eat in the majority of the time. We shop on the weekends for the week, prep a bunch of food to have handy (I bring my lunch every day, too), but last week we kind of went on a eating out bender. Thursday we went to Buff’s (hadn’t been in SO long), Friday we went to Hopsters (again, hadn’t been in SO long) and Saturday we went to The Local in West Newton, because, well #saturdaydatenight. This is very unlike us to go so many days in a row eating out (unless we are on vacation), and while everything was delicious, we decided to eat IN on Saturday night. RM grilled up some veggie and shrimp skewers and I made a nice big salad. There’s something to be said about making your own meals- it felt really good to eat a nice meal like this!

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  • Love Grown Cereal- Confession: I LOVE cereal. I always have, but over the years I’ve tried to clean up my cereal choices (and I’ve gone from eating it daily to just a few times a week- baby steps). Most of the time I have Erewhon & Uncle Sam brands because they have such few ingredients, but they had a sample of Love Grown Power O’s at Whole Foods last weekend and I knew I had to try it out. They’re made out of different legumes, so they are wheat & corn free- something you don’t see often with cereal!

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  • Teaching- I’ve been loading up on classes leading up to our vacation since I know I’ll be going so long without teaching while we are away. While it can be tiresome (yesterday I did 6am and 5:30pm… and 9 hours of work in between), it’s really so rewarding. I love coming up with new workouts and playlists and helping people feel good and feel strong. I’m teaching tomorrow, Monday and Tuesday… and then I’m off for a longggg time, so catch me while you can!

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  • Biking- I can’t thank RM enough for suggesting that we get bikes. We have been having SO MUCH FUN with them. One day last week I rode it all around town to run errands and then Friday night I took it to meet my sister for a drink (RM rode with me which was nice) and then Sunday RM and I covered nearly 25 miles of biking. We rode all the way into the city, brought the bikes on the T to Eastie (RM had to check on one of the units in a building he owns) and then back to Watertown. Midway home, we stopped at Naco Taco in Central Square for a snack and a beer. I used to run by that place weekly and would always be so jealous of everyone there enjoying drinks and food outside so it was nice to get to check it out. We both highly suggest it if you want good tacos and guac- everything was fantastic, and reasonably priced. Oh, and the good part about biking places for drinks is it limits me to just one, since I don’t trust myself operating the bike after any more 😉 #lightweight

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I guess that does it! We have lots to get done this weekend in preparation for our honeymoon, so it’ll be a busy one! There is a Vegetarian Food Truck & Craft Beer Festival at the Arsenal Mall tomorrow which we might try to get to. It starts at 11am and is $10-$45 and guests can enjoy more than 30 craft beers and lots of vegetarian dishes. Sounds pretty cool!

I hope you have a great weekend with whatever you have planned 🙂

Questions for you: What was a good part of your week? What do you have planned this weekend? Do you prefer to bike, walk or drive places? Do you prefer to cook/eat in or eat out? What’s a guilty pleasure of yours?

Weekending: Drinks, Booty By Brabants Class, Christmas Partying & Home to Maine

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Good morning! Is it just me or are the weekends/December FLYING by?! This weekend was no different… except for the fact I’m in the office today instead of working from home 😦 Oh well- I’m traveling to South Carolina for a few days this week so it’s not a big deal! Let’s recap the weekend, though 🙂

Friday

After work on Friday, I went to the Legal C Bar at the M Street shops with a work friend. We had a blast chatting and sipping on some vino. Once we parted ways, I headed home and realized that RM would not be around for dinner. I was in no mood to stay in by myself- and we had no food- so I walked over to Social Restaurant for dinner and drinks… by myself! It was actually nice- I ordered a pizza, kale and bubbly. Always bubbly. And, since I posted a photo on Instagram, the manager gave me another free drink. I’ll take it!

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RM and his cousin ended up joining me and then our friends Bob and Kristen randomly popped in, too! Kristen and I have recently connected through blogging and it’s been so fun. She writes an awesome blog highlighting on restaurants and travel and her posts are so beautifully written and have really nice photos. You need to check it out!

Saturday

Rm and I took our time getting up and then puttered around the house and took a walk before I headed into the city for a Booty By Brabants class at the BFX Studio. I had heard so much about Kelly’s class and about the BFX studio so I was pumped to get invited to check both out! BFX is a beautiful studio with nice locker rooms and class space and Kelly’s class was FULL of energy, smiles, sexy dancing and sweat! Remember how I talked about getting out of your comfort zone and getting comfortable being uncomfortable? This class was a great example of doing this! I want to do a full review of the class in a separate post so I’ll leave it at that. Such a fun Saturday!

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After the class we had a chance to try out juices and smoothies from Nourish Your Soul and paleo meals from Paleo Life. The juices & smoothies were fantastic and I was so excited when the founder of Nourish Your Soul gave me a free smoothie to take home. It was the perfect post workout treat. I also really enjoyed the food items that I sampled from Paleo Life. If you’ve never heard of it, Paleo Life is a healthy meal planning & delivery service which is great for those who are “too busy” to eat healthy. They seem pretty affordable and deliver to all around Boston so if it’s something you’d be interested in, check them out!

After the event, I did some Christmas shopping and then baked a batch of the most delicious Hidden Avocado Brownies from Lexi’s Clean Kitchen to take to Jessi and Chuck’s party. It’s the second time I’ve made them and I’m totally obsessed. Not only are they easy, but they taste so rich & moist you’d never know there was an avocado in them!

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The party was a blast! It’s always so fun getting dressed up, laughing and chatting with friends, drinking wine & eating fun party food. Thanks for hosting such a fun party guys!

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Sunday

I woke up on Sunday and packed up to head to Maine for the day. I hadn’t been up there for a long time and was in need of a little quiet time with my parents. I stopped at Kittery for a little shopping before meeting my mom for lunch at the Springvale Publick House. I enjoyed a locally brewed beer and homemade turkey chili. Both were unbelievable!

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Once I got home, I helped my parents bring in and decorate the tree, squeezed in a workout and relaxed with some vino and blogging. It was such a nice Sunday!

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For dinner, we had Pork Tenderloin Medallions, baked sweet potatoes and roasted broccoli and everything was great!

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One last thing before I sign off for the day… my friend Kelly works for a company called Schoola which collects & resells gently used clothes to help provide schools with funds for various things. Right now, they have an incredible sale going on where you can buy BRAND NEW Athleta clothing for super discounted prices and the best part is that a huge portion of the proceeds go to the Mala Fund. I recently requested a bag so that I could send them some clothes I no longer wear. You can use that same link if you’re looking for a good place to donate your gently used clothes! And, if you want to shop some brand new Athleta clothes for a great discount, check out this link. I just bought the black sweater!

Questions for you: What was the best part of your weekend? Did you have any holiday parties? Have you ever grabbed dinner at a local bar by yourself?

Weekending & Preparing for the “Big Move”

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Good morning! It’s hard to believe we are entering into our LAST week of summer, huh? I mean, I know September generally bodes good weather, but it’s crazy to think that Labor Day Weekend is right around the corner. The Cape seemed to be a bit quieter than normal this past weekend, and I wonder if it’s because a lot of schools have already started so people don’t hang around as long on Sundays anymore? Whatever the reason, I’ll take it! Here are some pictures from the weekend- it was a good one!

Part of our dinner on Friday night- whipped up this delicious quinoa salad… hope to share it with you this week!

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RM had a bunch of stuff to do for one of the apartments he’s renting so after I taught I went to the beach in East Boston for a few hours.

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Ahhh, finally made it to the Cape just in time for cocktail hour 😉

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Have you guys tried these Spiked Seltzers? I loveeedd it and want to try more flavors!

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Soaking up the sun on a beautiful Sunday beach day. The water was the perfect temp and was so fun to play in!

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Traffic was on our side on the way home, too- love when that happens 🙂 What I don’t love, though? Is packing… it’s just the worst. I haven’t talked much about it on the blog, but RM and I have decided to move in together! We are moving into a house his family owns in Watertown/Newton Corner and while I’m sad to leave East Boston and the “city” life, it will be nice to have a bigger apartment… with a yard… and a big driveway, so even though we won’t be a few short T stops into the city anymore, it will be nice to have all of those things. Plus, I think it’s going to be a lot of fun living together and it is going to make my life so much easier because I won’t have to pack a bag and head to his place every night like I’ve been doing for the past year+.

While I’m a little nervous about moving in with a guy (this is a first for me!), I definitely feel like it’s the right time and something I really want to do. We spend so much time together anyway, that it will be nice to be able to do that in a place of our own, which is much different than doing it at his apartment, even though I feel super comfortable there. I’m sure there will be some adjustments that we will both have to make, but at the end of the day, I think our lives in terms of living will mesh really well together and I’m excited to have someone to come home to every night! I’m also excited to cook and shop together (even though we already do this all the time now) and have one “home base” to share so that no matter what our schedules are like, we know we will at least both be going to bed together every night.

So, I’m moving out of my place on Thursday and then we are both moving to Watertown officially on Tuesday the 8th. I know you’re probably going “why wouldn’t you just move in at the same date together?!”, and I get it… we are questioning the same thing! I think originally the plan was to have me moved out in early September so the new renters could move in. They are doing some renovations to the apartment we are moving into (new countertops, new sink, new dishwasher, new stove, putting in a washer and a dryer, etc.), so we were hoping to have that finished before officially moving in, which is why his move date is a few days out past mine. It’s going to be a little chaotic, but hopefully things will go smoothly!

I’m hoping to keep my blogging fairly regular over the next few weeks, but if I seem to go silent, at least you’ll know why 🙂

Questions for you: What was the best part of your weekend? Have you tried the spiked seltzers? Do you feel ready for summer to end? Any tips for moving in with your significant other?

 

San Francisco: Part 1 Recap

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Can I please go back to San Francisco? If you could plan out a perfect weekend getaway, it would be exactly the weekend I had with a few of my girlfriends while in San Francisco a few weekends ago. Everything from the travel itself to the weather to the company to the city was so awesome. Since I’ve got lots of pictures and things to recap, I’ll break them up so that the post isn’t ridiculously long- enjoy!

Thursday

I had an 8:30 flight and since I live a mile from the airport, I had time to get up and do a little workout before calling a cab. I did 20 minutes of random cardio moves and ended with a fun combo: 10 burpees, 1 hand release push-up… 9 burpees, 2 hand release push-ups… 8 burpees, 3 hand release push-ups… and so on until I did 1 burpee and 10 hand release push-ups. It was way more challenging than I thought and my arms were spent by the end!

I packed up my healthy snacks and got to the airport with ease.

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Continue reading →

Weekending: Barry’s Bootcamp Roof Deck Workout & A Maine Visit

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Good morning! I hope today’s off to a great start for all of you. The weather is supposed to be perfect all week, so for all of you who may be vacationing, I’m jealous! I was also very jealous listening to my mom and her friends plan out their week: beach day, pool day, lake day, baseball game. Retirement/summer vacation seems pretty awesome!

Last weekend was a blast! It was nice to have a night in Boston, but even nicer to escape the city for a night and head up to Maine.

Friday

My gym friend, Jen, somehow found out about a bootcamp that Barry’s Bootcamp was offering on the roof deck of the Revere Hotel and when I found out it was on a night I could go, I jumped at the chance! It was $20 which included the 60 minute workout and a cocktail… can’t really go wrong with that 😉

photo 3I wasn’t sure what to expect for the workout, but I was expecting hard since the last time I went to Barry’s I died a little. Mostly because of the treadmill runs, but still, it was tough! I knew there wouldn’t be treadmills for this workout, but I was expecting a lot of burpees and other cardio exercises, which sadly, we didn’t do!

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All in all, though, the workout was pretty tough! We just used resistant bands and our body weight and worked all the big muscles. The arm sections were by far the hardest part for me- SO. MANY. PUSH-UPS!!! It was good to feel challenged with that! The leg exercises were all things I’ve done before- actually, things I’ve posted videos of here, here, and here! That’s ok, though- still had my legs screaming because we did all of those exercises with booty bands around our ankles. Yikes!

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Once the workout was done, we enjoyed our free cocktail- love gym friends and workout get togethers!

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After, I met RM at City Landing for dinner and drinks. I thought I’d be able to find a shower, but no such luck. Nothing like a little baby-wipe “shower” and running water through the hair to try and look somewhat decent… and clean!

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City Landing has a whole gluten free menu- check out this pizza and Ahi Tuna! Delish!

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Saturday

We got up relatively early for a Saturday and hit the road to head north around 9am. I was afraid of traffic, but the roads were clear the entire time! Sadly, it wasn’t beach weather when we got to Ogunquit, so we grabbed a gluten free breakfast sandwich at Cafe Amore and then walked part of the Marginal Way, which is a gorgeous path along the “cliffs” in Ogunquit.

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So pretty! Once it reached a reasonable time to have our first cocktail, we headed to a favorite: Barnacle Billy’s. RM hadn’t ever been to Ogunquit or Perkins Cove so it was fun to show him around… and introduce him to his first Rum Punch, Billy’s signature cocktail. If you go to Ogunquit, you need to go to Barnacle Billy’s and have one!

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(yes, I realize I’m wearing the same thing as I did Friday night- I promise it was clean!)

The weather finally started to clear and our seats on their upper deck couldn’t have been more perfect! After a few cocktails, we ordered a lobster roll and steamers- holy.yum. Such a delicious lunch!

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On our way home, we stopped in at Shaw’s Ridge for an ice cream and to catch up with Mr. Shaw and Meredith (who, btw, just got engaged!!! So, so, so happy for you and Brandon, Mere!!) and grab an ice cream cone. Mr. Shaw wasn’t there, but it was good to see Mere!

We finally made it to my parents around 4:30… just in time to pick veggies from the garden for dinner (<— love doing that. nothing better!) and start on cocktail hour. We all were responsible for different things and the kitchen was quite busy!

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Dad wanted a lamb, so he did it on the rotisserie- I wasn’t sure I liked lamb but it was delicious! Even cooler? All of the veggies we ate were from our garden or a nearby farm (the corn). There’s just something to be said for the whole “farm to table” way of eating. So fresh and flavorful!

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We finished dad’s 65th bday celebration with a bond fire. It was the most perfect night for one! I think it’s safe to say he had a really great day!

Sunday

After breakfast and some reading, RM and I went on a nice 2 mile stroll. It helped clear my wine headache 😉 By the time we got back, it was getting late to make it to the beach, so we opted for going to our family friend’s pool instead. Poolside, wine in hand, family and friends- can’t get much better than that!

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All in all, it was a really awesome weekend… we were both so sad it had to end! Trips back to MA from ME are always the worst 😦 Luckily I’ll be home for a few nights this weekend!

Questions for you: What did you do this weekend? Have you been to Ogunquit and/or Barnacle Billy’s? Where is your favorite place to get drinks?