Weekending: Baby snuggles, Dry Bar, a Wedding & Lots of Errands

Hi there! How are you doing today? This past weekend was a good one- just what I needed after a stressful week.

After work on Friday, I headed to my friend Jess’s apartment in the North End to hang out with her, some other SMC friends and Jess’s sweet little baby girl, Nora. Jess had Nora in August, but because of everyone’s crazy schedules, we hadn’t had a chance to meet her yet. Snuggles with her was the perfect way to relax me 🙂

The rest of the night was spent passing the babe around, drinking wine, eating pizza and just hanging out. They’ve got an awesome little deck off the living room so we bundled up and headed out there to finish the night.

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After teaching on Saturday, I headed to Chestnut Hill to cash in my Groupon for a blow out at drybar in Chestnut Hill. Have you guys ever heard of drybar or been there? If you haven’t, it’s a salon that only washes, dries and styles your hair. Their slogan, “no cuts. no colors. just blowouts.”, is a perfect way to describe their services. What I loved about the place is that it’s such a girly-girl activity! They charge $40 for a blowout which also includes a cocktail… because cocktails make everything more fun, right? I couldn’t help but have a glass of champagne during my 12pm appointment. I literally did burpees and then had bubbly… so fitting 😉

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I was given a “menu” which had all of the styles listed out. The names were names of cocktails and I went with the Cosmopolitan as it was a loose, wavy style.

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Never mind the blowout, I could have had my hair washed for an hour- the scalp massage was so wonderful! From start to finish it was the most relaxing hour, and such a fun way to treat myself to some pampering! Unfortunately, the weather sucked and therefore my hair did not keep the look I got at the salon, but oh well. Nothing you can do!

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Later in the day, RM and I headed to Beverly to attend his cousin’s wedding. While it was freezing during the outdoor ceremony, it was very thoughtful and heartfelt… I just wish I could’ve had a glass of wine to help numb the cold temps! I didn’t take many photos during the night because I was meeting so many people and didn’t want to be that girl taking a million photos, but I’ll say it was a super fun wedding. His family likes to have a good time and we danced all night!

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We slept in until almost 10am on Sunday, which is a very rare occurrence for me. After breakfast we went for a nice walk to soak up some of the nice weather.

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After our walk, we split ways and I headed out to do some major errands. I’m having a party in a few weeks and wanted to get festive decorations so I headed back to Assembly Place with my first stop being Christmas Tree Shops. I love going there to get decorations as they are super cheap!

From there, I did a little shopping at the stores and scored with a great dress at Banana for $12 and new sneakers at Reebok for $50! My last stop was TJ Maxx where I finally was able to find something for the wall above my mantle. What do you think?

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I also decorated the hall area- I love how festive it’s starting to look!

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After decorating and cleaning, I finally made dinner. I sautéed a bunch of veggies and cooked some chicken and made a very tasty chicken and veggie stirfry.

And that sums it up! I could’ve used another 4 hours on Sunday to get everything done, but that’s ok. Although this week is busy, I’m going to do my best to stay calm and focus on one thing at a time. I have so many blog posts I want to write, but I’m going to try to not stress about getting those done if I’m tired and not getting home and sitting down until 9pm each night. I need to give myself more time to unwind at night!

Questions for you: What did you do this weekend? Have you been to drybar? Have you decorated for the fall or Halloween?

A Beautiful Cape Cod Wedding

A few weeks ago, I spent the weekend on the Cape celebrating a fantastic friend. If you read my post about her Nantucket bachelorette weekend, I’m sure you won’t be surprised to hear that her wedding weekend was nothing short of amazing. Whenever my college girlfriends and I get together, it’s ALWAYS a good time, so when you throw a wedding in the mix for one of the most fun girls out of the group, it’s sure to carry on that torch. Not only was Sheila an absolutely beautiful bride, she thought of every single detail to make the day go off without a hitch.

Upon arriving on the Cape on Friday, we had lunch and then got to work putting together the flower arrangements. For all of you DIYers… props to you! Although it’s nice to know you did all of the details and decorations, it’s very time consuming both in the execution and planning. However, everything we helped Sheila with came out absolutely beautiful and her vision was perfect!

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While they were at the rehearsal dinner, some of us had dinner at the house we rented. Our friend Amy is fantastic at finding houses and this one did not disappoint! it was .1 miles from Sheila’s house and had plenty of room to entertain.

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Later that night, we headed to Shuckers for pre-wedding festivities. This bar was right on the water and with the temps and humidity very high, it was a perfect way to cool off. That, and huge goblets of wine also do the trick 😉

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I woke up on Saturday morning bummed to a. feel the intense humidity and b. notice the tremendously overcast weather. I always feel sad when the weather isn’t perfect for outdoor weddings, but I assure you it didn’t rain on her parade (literally and figuratively). After a 4 mile run, Lauren and I headed to the church to set up the flowers. It looked absolutely beautiful and there is something just so peaceful about being in a church when no one is there.

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We held a little cocktail/snack hour before the ceremony and before we knew it, it was time to head to the church.

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To say it was hot and humid both inside and outside of the church is and understatement, but you couldn’t tell by looking at Sheila. She was an absolutely stunning bride and the service was very heart-felt. On top of that, the church was adorable and quaint and just perfect for her beach-themed wedding.

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The reception was held at her parent’s Inn (Seashell Inn, if you’re wondering) which has a great yard area that was perfect for the wedding tent.

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Not only that, but it has private beach access across the street! Cocktail hour on the beach? #dontmindifido

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We had a blast drinking and chatting and taking pictures on the beach. The sun came out for a bit and even though it went back away, the rain held off the entire night! Sheila had flipflops at the beach for all of us to wear since heels are not sand-conducive.

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The passed apps were out of this world amazing. Seriously- the best I’ve ever had! I had oysters, steak with a gorgonzola cream sauce, a cranberry goat cheese thing, lamb and quinoa meatballs served on cucumbers, coconut shrimp, shrimp and kilbasa kabobs… and there were so many other things that I didn’t even get to try! By the time dinner came around, it’s no surprise that none of us were that hungry 😉

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We were ushered into the tent around 6pm for the dinner portion of the night. The tent, tables and decorations were beautiful!

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Dinner was just as delicious as the appetizers. It was the most organized, delicious buffet food I’ve ever had at a wedding. The main entrees were salmon, wrapped in sole with a scallop in a lobster butter sauce (ummm hello, delicious) and steak. Both were absolutely incredible. Best wedding food I’ve ever had!

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It was so nice watching Sheila and her dad dance, and I think he had everyone in attendance shedding tears during his speech. It was so thoughtful and funny and sweet- Sheila will definitely always be his little girl.

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Sheila’s brothers stood in as her “Men of Honor” which is probably the cutest thing I’ve ever seen! Her oldest brother kept fixing her dress throughout the ceremony and their speech was not only hilarious, but also very loving! I love watching the relationship between brothers and sisters.

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Sheila surprised Bryan with a very, special guest appearance. She had Rene Rancourt come to their wedding to sing the National Anthem!! It was seriously the best surprise ever!

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(Press play, then pause, then play again and it won’t be skewed. Not sure what’s going on with my Vimeo videos!)

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The rest of the night was spent dancing, laughing, drinking, and more dancing. The band was phenomenal and played all the best songs to dance to. Here’s a glimpse into what that looked like 😉

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Once the band was done for the night, we all ventured back over to their private beach and went skinny dipping (haven’t done that in YEARS!!!) and then chatted and hung out around the fire.

Sunday morning, we all gathered at a local waterfront restaurant for a wonderful goodbye brunch. It was exactly what all of us needed 😉 Catching up with the girls after nights like that is one of my favorite things to do! I’m so blessed to have such a wonderful group of girlfriends.

The weekend was such an incredible time. Sheila and her mom’s hard work, time and energy going into planning and executing the wedding did not go unnoticed- all of it was perfect! And I know I’m not alone when I say this: Sheila, can you and Bryan get re-married every year?? Cheers to a wonderful lifetime of happiness, laughter and love!

 

 

Weekending: Red Sox, Massages & Parties

Hi there! How’s the week? Mine has been good so far- changing up the workouts and taking it a bit easier with them. I know it’s a little late for my weekend recap, but the past one was super fun… and extra long, so let’s recap 😉

Thursday

My company often gives away Red Sox tickets and I was not only available to go to the game on Thursday night, but won the tickets so I COULD go- it was such a fun treat! On top of that, no one else wanted the other 2 tickets so I grabbed those and invited RM’s brother and sister-in-law. They left their son with Nona (RM’s mom) and joined us for the game- so fun! The seats were REALLY good and it couldn’t have been a more perfect night for a game.

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Friday

RM and I bought a Guilt deal for massages at Exhale Spa (my favorite place everrr) so we cashed them in on Friday night.

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If you’re looking for a good place to get a massage, I highly suggest Exhale- everything about the experience is perfect! From the locker rooms, to the waiting areas, to the steam room/sauna to the massage itself (and warm lavender tea bags for your eyes!)… it never disappoints!

We had plans for a BBQ picnic after our massages, but the weather didn’t cooperate so we grabbed a drink at the Living Room before heading home to make turkey burgers…inside… womp.

Saturday

After teaching my kickboxing class, I ran errands and then picked up RM to head north. My friends Nikia and Kyle had their engagement party at their beautiful home in New Hampshire- I always love going up there! The whole afternoon/evening was SO fun. We drank, we ate (a lot of food- her mom is an amazing cook!!), we played games, I went on the 4-wheeler… solid day/party!

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Sunday

Sunday started off with a healthy smoothie before getting some Sunday things done (grocery shopping, picking up, puttering etc.).

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We had RM’s nephew’s 1st birthday party in the afternoon so before I knew it we were heading to Watertown. I made this caprese orzo salad and was quickly reminded of how easy and tasty the dish is. I should’ve made it more often this summer 😦

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The party was really fun! The food was amazing (wouldn’t expect anything less), the company was great and the birthday boy was adorable!

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Sadly, I got a really bad stomach ache by the end of the party, which was likely brought on by all the different kinds of food I ate and the fact that I had 2 parties in one weekend. Party food is great, but too much of it can make me feel icky.

All in all, though- it was a really great weekend!

Questions for you: Have you been to a Red Sox game this summer? Where do you get massages? Do you over-indulge at parties?

Weekending: Red Lantern, BBQ, Grocery Shopping Fail and Festa Italiana

Good morning! How are you doing today? I slept terribly on Sunday night because of a weird stomach ache, so I feel like I’m still catching up on sleep. This past weekend was perfect in so many ways. Even though the weather was not great and ended up causing us to cancel a Cape trip, we still found lots of fun things to do. I have to admit, after having been on the road for the past number of weekends, it was nice to stick around Boston for a bit!

Friday Night

After work on Friday, I ran some errands (including trip to Lens Crafters where they replaced my glasses for $25!! So happy I bought the protection plan. Best thing ever!) and then came home and sat on my back patio for a while. It was nice- I haven’t had a chance to do that enough this summer. And, my dad told me to “watch my garden” for 10 minutes a day… does watching it for a half hour count for 3 days worth of watching? It is coming along quite well!.

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Later, RM and I went to Red Lantern for dinner. I had bought a Living Social deal a while back that was due to expire soon, so it was the perfect time to use it! Although the prices are rather high for both drinks and food, everything we had was delicious and I would definitely go back. Even better? They have a whole Gluten Free sushi menu which is awesome.

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Saturday

After teaching a very sweaty kickboxing class, I went to get a pedicure at Queen Bee Nails- my favorite place to get them! Between my nails and new toe color, I’m going a little bright with my colors this summer. It’s a fun change!

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In the afternoon, RM and I headed to my friend Amy’s apartment for a drink with a few other friends before going to a summer BBQ at Rachel and Dan’s apartment. We had lots of good food and about a million good laughs while playing Cards Against Humanity. That game gets funnier every time I play it!

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The best part about Saturday afternoon parties? You still get home early… I am so old!

Sunday

I woke up and did some yoga and core work while RM made us some delicious Pumpkin Walnut Banana Protein Paleo pancakes. I’m not a big pancake person but these are amazing because they actually keep me full for a long time!

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Once we were digested, we headed out for a long power walk. I think we covered about 3.5 miles before calling it quits to *attempt* grocery shopping. Have you heard about all the Market Basket drama?? We hadn’t, so you can imagine our faces when we walked in and were faced with this scene:

IMG_8135 IMG_8136It was the craziest thing ever- we literally couldn’t even shop because there was NOTHING to choose from. So frustrating. I hope everything gets settled and back to normal asap!

We headed to RM’s mom’s house for a late afternoon lunch/early dinner. She is from Italy and makes the most amazing food, which yesterday included Eggplant parmesan with home grown eggplants. Wow. It was SO good and I’m so happy she gave me leftovers to eat this week!

Later in the evening, we met up with some of his friends/family at the Festa Italiana, which is an Italian Festival/Fair in Newton. There was live music, beer/wine, lots of fair food and rides. I love stuff like this so I was in my element!

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In addition to some delicious Carlo Rossi (I can’t say that with a straight face…), we had some oysters and an ice cream cone. No wonder why I was up all Sunday night with a stomach ache- those are dumb things to mix in one night!

All in all, though, it was a really great weekend… the only thing missing was hanging out with my family 😦 I miss them!

Questions for you: Have you been to Red Lantern? What’s your favorite Sushi roll? Where do you get your pedicures? Have you been to any BBQ’s this summer?

Off to ACK!

This weekend is all about celebrating one of my college girlfriends, Sheila. Sheila is one of the funniest and fun friends and I, along with our other SMC girlfriends cannot wait to shower her with an awesome bachelorette weekend on Nantucket! Here’s a glimpse of all of us throughout the years… enjoy 😉

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What are you up to this weekend? Doing anything fun? Going anywhere?