Category Archives: Holidays

MIMM: Holiday Cheer!

The winner of my giveaway for a Blue Nile Sterling Silver Branch Necklace is actually the first person who submitted any entries – Shawna! I will be contacting you to get your shipping address. Congrats to all who entered and thank you for the enthusiastic participation!

I had plans this past weekend for not one but two holiday parties. Unfortunately Saturday’s snow resulted in one of them getting cancelled but I still managed to make my weekend full of plenty of marvelous holiday (and overall) cheer.

Be sure to link-up with Katie if you’re participating in Marvelous In My Monday today!

Marvelous is…visiting Kaitlin on Friday! She was kind enough to host me for the evening and showed me a wonderful time. We started with a gift exchange…she got me a set of champagne flutes and a bottle of Prosecco, not to be opened until I move out of my parents’ house and get my own place 😉 my kind of motivation! The booze theme proceeded to carry on throughout the evening.

We went to Total Wine in Norwalk (which only made me more pumped for FL this month because there’s one by our condo) and they were having not one but two wine tastings AND a vodka tasting. Thank you Friday night! I’m worse in liquor stores than most girls are in Target so I walked out with two bottles of late harvest dessert wines, a nip of coffee liqueur, and a really nice Cabernet to share with Kaitlin at the holiday party we planned to attend later. I also ran into a fantastic guy named Latif who overheard me asking an employee if Total Wine carried Cesca Vicent, my favorite red to order at Barcelona. We immediately bonded over our love for Cesca and Barcelona! It was classic.

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Hartford TheaterWorks “Christmas on the Rocks”

I received press tickets to a performance of this play for review purposes. All opinions are my own. This is not a sponsored post.

I worked with Hartford TheaterWorks to do a ticket giveaway promotion for their current production, Christmas on the Rocks. Thankfully I too received a pair of tickets so that I could check out the show myself and share my thoughts! This past Saturday I attended the 4PM matinee (I love the 4PM time…so easy to go out to dinner downtown after!) with my friend Howard.

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Blue Nile “Give One, Get One” Necklace Giveaway!

I received a complimentary necklace from Blue Nile for review purposes. All opinions are my own. This is not a sponsored post.

Seattle-based jewelry company Blue Nile has invited me to partake in a “Give One, Get One” holiday campaign. That’s great news for me AND you guys because not only did I receive the Sterling Silver Branch Necklace for review, but I am also going to give one away! The necklace is priced at $40 (unfortunately currently on back-order) and arrived promptly and beautifully packaged.

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One for me, one for one of you, and some Kisses too!

Blue Nile actually is the source of Kaitlin‘s beautiful engagement ring and her wedding band will come from them too! They currently offer free FedEx shipping on every order (shipping is ALWAYS my online shopping hangup) as well as an extended return policy for the holidays.

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Yelp Hartford Holiday Bazaar

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!

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Tote bags and name tags were provided.

Tote bags and name tags were provided.

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Fashion Black Friday 2013

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.

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Not-So-Typical Black Friday: A Wedding!

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.

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The sun poked out just in time for the ceremony – a good omen!

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The gazebo in the Bohling family’s backyard was decorated for the holidays and the perfect spot for a late November wedding.

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Thanksgiving 2013: Dining Out

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!

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.

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Thanksgiving Eve With Nana C!

I have so much to say about the long Thanksgiving weekend and it will take several (as in four) posts to do so, but that’s okay. You guys can just look forward (I hope) to a week of  fun-filled recaps, with a pinch of thought-provoking reflections. I’m going to start by announcing the winner of the Gymdoll giveaway though…congrats to Amy! I will be contacting you about getting you your Skulls & Barbells active tank!

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Last time my Nana Connie visited us (in June), I was bummed that I didn’t have time to take her to one of my special favorite restaurants. So I knew that for her Thanksgiving visit, I had to bring her with me to Barcelona West Hartford for Thanksgiving Eve. I spent the night before Thanksgiving there last year (with Molly) and it was so great! And who better to spend it with this year than Nana Connie?

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Pond House Grille Side Dish Cooking Class

I received complimentary admission to this event in exchange for a blog post about my experience. All opinions are my own.

This past Friday night I had the opportunity to attend my second cooking class (read about my first one here) at Pond House Grille in Glastonbury, CT. The restaurant has been doing one class per month, and with Thanksgiving coming up this one was appropriately themed “Spice Up Your Side Dishes”.

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This month’s class had enough participants to be held in a bigger room in the restaurant’s adjacent banquet facility.

All classes are taught by Executive Chef Jordan Stein but I wouldn’t exactly call it teaching…hosting is a more accurate word. Jordan is so great with his guests! I felt like I was in his home and he was letting us all help him make Thanksgiving dinner. He made sure every “student” got some hands-on cooking time in. He would demo each step and afterwards pass it off to a volunteer – or someone he chose. Some guests were hesitant to volunteer and Jordan did a wonderful job of encouraging them to do so.

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Positive Thoughts: Cold Weather

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.

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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!”

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Meet Caitlin

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!

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Design Credit

My header was originally designed by Mai Le and later tweaked by Chris Roggi to match this theme, which he helped me customize. He also moved me over to self-hosting! Both can be contacted through their sites for design & development work!

Disclaimer

I am not an RD and do not have any official training, certifications, or degrees in nutrition or fitness. This blog is a way to write about my life. Any views I express are mine alone, based on what works for me, and should never be taken as medical advice. Always talk to your doctor or a trained professional before starting a new diet or fitness plan. In addition, this blog and its content are in no way affiliated with Kate Gosselin, “Kate Plus 8”, TLC, or any related affiliates.

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