This past Saturday I had the pleasure of attending my first holiday-themed event of the season – Yelp’s Holiday Bazaar at the New Britain Museum of American Art. Emily Cahill, Senior Community Manager for Yelp Hartford, did an amazing job coordinating so many vendors and even entertainment. What an awesome turnout!
Tote bags and name tags were provided.
I woke up this morning with the urge to write this post so what I had planned for today will be up tomorrow. Now “hate” is a strong word. And I know that pants, especially given the fact that it’s sleeting outside in CT right now, are necessary at times. But I have to say, pants are my least favorite article of clothing. Pants have the power (or I give them the power) to completely change my mood. Pants give me a number that my mind can grasp upon and use to beat me up. Pants are a form of measurement, and when the measuring consists of noticing that you absolutely don’t need a belt with pants you used to need one with, it’s really enough to make you want to throw the pants in a heap and live in yoga pants.
Maxis are nice too.
Bikinis get a bad rap as being the dreaded article of clothing for those with body image issues. But I beg to differ. At least when I wear a bikini, I can put something on over it to cover it up and feel fine. Bikinis have stretchy waists that are sometimes even adjustable. Though I’ve been experiencing anxiety about wearing a bathing suit in Florida at the end of this month, it isn’t comparable to the anxiety I feel each morning I wake up and have to put on a pair of jeans that have just been washed.
Hey CT residents! Visit Cait Plus Ate on Facebook for your last chance to enter my giveaway for a pair of tickets to a weeknight showing of Hartford TheaterWorks “Christmas on the Rocks“. I’ll be attending tomorrow’s matinee and can’t wait to share my review next week!
Firstly, let me just say that I have been “going out” on Black Friday for as long as I can remember, and I was not a fan of how many places opened this year on Thanksgiving night. But not because of the whole don’t-make-people-work on Thanksgiving controversy that you may have heard about. I actually used to work on Thanksgiving (at a local bagel shop) and liked it because I was paid twice my normal hourly rate and I often find myself bored on holidays – I can only sit around the house and chat for so long. So I’m not surprised if some people welcomed the chance to work on Thanksgiving Day! In fact during college breaks I was employed part-time at my local Victoria’s Secret and working on Black Friday itself was the kicker because a) it sucked and b) you were paid your normal rate since it’s not a “real” holiday.
Fabulous idea.
No, my beef with stores opening on Thanksgiving night is because it takes away the “hardcore” from Black Friday! Any chump can stay up and hit the stores at 8PM. But setting the alarm on a day off from work takes a little bit more dedication. So call me a snob, but I do not consider those who went out Thursday night to be Black Friday shoppers.
As per tradition, I woke up early (well not super early this year, but any alarm set on a day off from work is worth noting) for Black Friday shopping with my sister and Nana Connie. But after our (all too successful) trips to Kohl’s, Old Navy, and the Westfarms Mall (don’t worry I will be recapping tomorrow for Fashion Friday!) I had some not-so-typical Black Friday plans…a wedding! My good friend from high school Andrea was married to her longtime boyfriend Zack in a quick but intimate ceremony at his beautiful home.
The sun poked out just in time for the ceremony – a good omen!
The gazebo in the Bohling family’s backyard was decorated for the holidays and the perfect spot for a late November wedding.
In recent years my family has spent Thanksgiving at the home of our friends, the Gerbers. Unfortunately this year they moved to Texas and we decided instead of finding another group to join or having Thanksgiving at home, we would go out! Obviously this was my idea and of course we selected J. Gilbert’s, my favorite restaurant, as the spot. Thankfully (ha get it?!) we were smart enough to call a couple of months in advance and lock down a 6:30PM reservation for our party of six. We received a call the day before Thanksgiving letting us know that a 4PM slot had become available, and my parents jumped on it. This was not fun for me because the earlier the reservation the more time I was going to have between finishing dinner and going to bed to think about what I’d ate. But I was the only one in that camp, so I had to deal!
The Croswell Fam!
I felt ridiculously hungover on Thanksgiving morning thanks to the previous evening’s festivities (Jager, never again) but made it to the gym for 30 minutes of StepMill intervals and an upper body workout. I sure am glad I went because I felt a lot better afterward, but man it was torturous during! I rushed home to shower and get cozy with coffee and the Black Friday circulars…a tradition! I felt very tempted to restrict after the gym and just not eat until dinner so that I would ensure I’d have plenty of room for the amount of food I was “bound to consume”. I texted my girl Brittany for support and she gave me the reality check I needed to push forward and fuel my body post-workout.
I received a tank top free of charge from Gymdoll. All opinions are my own. This is not a sponsored post.
I’ve mentioned Gymdoll previously, in my HealthyChic review. But that’s because I happened to choose this cute tank when I was picking out something to purchase during my try-out of the website.
Moar selfies plz.
This time around Gymdoll has contacted me separately to host a giveaway, and try out another tank. I was hooked by Chris’s rhyming subject line in his email to me…”Cait Plus Ate + Gymdoll = GREAT”. How could I say no to that?! He offered me the Skulls & Barbell Active Tank, perfectly suited for a lady like me who is passionate about her gym‘s Group Power class. (Even though the first time I wore it, I was taking Group Kick…oh well.)
The winner of the Ellovi Body Butter giveaway is Mahdi! Congratulations and look for an email from me about getting you your free jar of raw six-ingredient body butter. Remember if you didn’t win you can get 15% off (click here to purchase a jar) by entering offer code “caitplusate”.
I went into the weekend wary of how I would handle my plans to visit my good friend/former neighbor Molly in Boston on Saturday night. I still wasn’t feeling good about myself after Wednesday night’s dinner out and was doing a lot of future-tripping over the guilt I would surely feel after a day and night of restaurant hopping in Beantown. For that reason I made sure to keep Friday night low-key and stayed in my hometown. Of course everything turned out marvelous in the end, as it often does. I’ve got another weekend of excellent memories and moments I’d re-live again in an instant, even if they also came with some not-so-kind thoughts toward myself.
Share your marvelous via Katie’s link-up!
Marvelous are…my tolerant, flexible parents. I was a bit of a mess when I got home Friday night. I’d been sitting in traffic, stewing with too much time to think about our evening dinner plans. We would have to fight that same traffic again to get over to our planned destination (Rizzuto’s in West Hartford) and it didn’t seem worth it. But if we didn’t go there, where would we go? I’d already mentally prepared myself for one restaurant and I know it sounds silly, but I do not handle plan changes well when it comes to food. Hello, control freak. My parents calmed me down when I got home and let me choose a new restaurant destination that I was comfortable with and that also wouldn’t take us on a highway. Speaking of which…
Check out yesterday’s post to see a review, discount code, and GIVEAWAY for Ellovi Butter, a raw six-ingredient body butter created by my friend from high school!
I’ve done Five Things Friday (or some variation) posts in the past but this is the first one I’ve done since Clare started her link-up! And I have several different things to say today so it’s very appropriate timing. I love these kinds of posts because I don’t have to focus on one topic. I can just bop around and share different news/insights/etc. And what do you know…Clare featured one of my posts in her Five Things Friday today! Thank you Clare!
1. I got really full on Wednesday night. I felt anxious all day at work because not only did I do a morning (which means shorter than usual) workout, but I had dinner plans with Kat to eat in the Millwright’s Tavern. The staff at Millwright’s have a tendency to spoil me 😉 and I found myself future-tripping all day about whether or not that would happen. Well it did – Chef Tyler sent out some amazing appetizers after we’d ordered our (first) drinks and entrees.
Kale with 6-minute egg, tomatillos, blue cheese, bacon, &sweet onion vinaigrette.
Remember to enter my giveaway for locally made natural & organic beauty products by Bristol Bliss!
Most people who know me at all (not even well) know I hate cold weather. I don’t make any secret of it. When I moved here (from Florida) in 7th grade, I was so excited to experience fall and winter. And I still really enjoy fall. But as the years have passed I’ve come to the point where I can’t stand cold, I can’t stand snow and how it’s always ruining my plans (yes I’m a control freak), and I can’t stand the dark days of winter.
Linz wrote a post yesterday called “What I Love About Cold Weather” and as soon as I read the title, my eyes rolled. I try to ignore those happy go lucky winter lovers (just being honest) because sometimes I just want to bitch and moan about the cold. Don’t get me started on the excited Facebook updates that seem to flood my feed when we get our first real snow. But then I read these words in her post: “And truthfully, I don’t love cold weather at all. But instead of focusing on the negative, I’m going to make a list of what I love about cold weather!”
Be sure to check out Friday’s blog post about New Britain Museum of American Art events, and head to their Facebook page to like them and enter the giveaway for a pair of tickets to this Friday’s Scotch vs Bourbon tasting! I’ll be there!
I feel like it’s been awhile since I did a Marvelous In My Monday (MIMM) post! Not that my weekends haven’t been marvelous, but I’ve just been busy with real-life work and blog posts I’d previously committed to publishing. I promised myself I’d start this week off with a post about one of my marvelous weekends.
Be sure to join Katie’s weekly linkup!
Marvelous is…kicking off the weekend with a podcast feature! Awhile back I recorded a podcast with the Bate brothers of The Lifestyle Accountability Show. It went live this past Friday! Click here to listen and if you have a chance after doing so, please head to iTunes and submit a review. I had a nice time connecting and chatting with these gents!
I’m a 28 year old full-time working girl living in Boston (previously lived in Connecticut). I’m passionate about food/drink, restaurants, self-love, fitness, and the ever-present search for balance. I write about that journey on this blog – I hope you enjoy!
