Category Archives: Products

Latest Boston Eats & Sips

It’s been awhile since my last round-up of awesome food and drink I’ve had lately in Boston! But that doesn’t mean I’ve been short on items to share. In fact, I’ve just been short on time to do so because there has been so much to taste these days. My Restaurant To-Do List never ceases to grow, and neither does the list of spots I hit up regularly. Here are some eats and sips I’ve tried recently, at restaurants both old and new.

The Jesuit @ Ruka Restobar

Ruka Restobar, located inside the Godfrey Hotel in Downtown Crossing, is from the same folks behind Yvonne’s and Lolita. While the food hasn’t necessarily been calling my name (just not my type of cuisine), the creative drink menu is right up my alley. Upon visiting the bar area with some coworkers, I immediately noticed a beautiful drink being served in some of the coolest glassware I’d ever seen. I knew I had to try it.

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What I’m Loving Lately

I actually had to search my own blog to see if I’ve previously done a post with this title, because it sounded so familiar. But good news – I haven’t! So here’s a little round-up of a few things I’m loving lately, because I don’t want to write a whole blog post on each of them (and I don’t think that would be nearly as fun for you to read, either).

Blaze Pizza

I’ll start with full disclosure…Blaze sent me two free pizza vouchers, and those are what Jeff and I used the first time we tried this place. But we have also been talking non-stop about it, and have made plans to return on a couple of occasions. (Both plans were foiled for a variety of reasons, but that’s not important.)

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I describe Blaze Pizza as “Subway, but with pizza”. For a flat fee (thick crust is extra…and worth it), you go down the line and pick as many toppings as you want. Then the pizza is fast-fired at an extremely hot temperature, and ready for you in minutes. You can also add finishing touches after the pizza is done, like balsamic vinegar or – oh baby – ranch dressing. While I was happy with the creation I made above, I was very jealous of Jeff’s pizza, which escaped into his stomach before I could get a photo of it. Guess we’ll just have to go back so he can recreate it and I can get my picture! Blaze is a national chain so look for your closest location here.

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Venturing Out To Tempo Kitchen

The food and drinks in this post were provided by Tempo Kitchen. All opinions of the experience are my own. 

A couple of weeks ago, I had the chance to visit a restaurant that I probably would never have made it out to had I not been invited in – because I had to venture out to “the burbs” to get there. Not a typical move for me, since there are so many restaurants right in my backyard, easily accessible by foot or the T. But I wasn’t going to turn down a night out at Waltham’s recently renovated Tempo, especially when it involved spending time with friends!

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View from our table.

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Kelly, Dave, Matt, and I!

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Dr. Praeger’s Veggie Burger Zucchini Boats (GIVEAWAY!)

 

Thank you all for your awesome feedback on yesterday’s post! The advice I received definitely helped remind me last night at an event to stick to a couple of glasses of wine and just Go. Home. once I was done. As a result the event did not exhaust me and I’m also happy about the fact that I have no plans the next three nights! Maybe something will come up, maybe it won’t, but I know that tonight I’m staying in and making meatloaf. Party! And now, on to today’s post, and a necessary disclaimer…

I received veggie burgers free of charge from Dr. Praeger’s. This is not a compensated post and all opinions are my own.

I’m no vegetarian, but I love plant-based products, including veggie burgers! Dr. Praeger’s recently reached out to me to see if I’d like to try out their new Super Greens burgers, made with teff, hemp, collard greens, kale, swiss chard, and quinoa. Yes please! I love having veggie burgers on hand in the freezer to either use in recipes or eat by themselves.

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My New Makeup

The title of this post was inspired by that dumb YouTube video “My New Haircut”, which I never really got into. But, I saw it passed around plenty by my friends. Hopefully this post is even 1/8th as popular, and 800 times less annoying.

My younger sister Hannah (above left) is a makeup queen and has been slowly working on getting me to up my makeup game for awhile now. I am by no means anywhere close to her level of skill/obsession yet (and I don’t think I ever will be because I’m too damn impatient and cheap). BUT I have slowly started to adopt some Sephora products (and a Beauty Insider Card) that I love! So I wanted to share them with you guys.

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Trade Em Up Tuesday: Spring Has Sprung!

This past weekend was spent staying put here in Boston, and that’s much needed because next weekend is the first of about five in the next month that I’ll be spending on the road. I would definitely trade that, but I wouldn’t trade the reasons I’ll be travelling. More on that in future posts, though. Here’s today’s Trade Em Up Tuesday.

I would not trade…Friday’s rest day. That’s something I hadn’t let myself do in a couple of weeks and it felt GREAT. Of course it was the only morning last week that I woke up before my alarm, feeling well rested. Funny how that works. But that just meant I had time to write Friday morning’s post.

I also wouldn’t trade rocking my new JCrew Factory necklace on Friday!

I would not trade…one of Southie’s newest restaurants, Loco. I headed there after work Friday with some girlfriends. Everyone went with refreshing Mexican restaurant style beverages to start – except me. I stuck with the old standby, bourbon. Our bartender Moira used to work at Citizen so I knew she’d be able to whip up a tasty bourbon cocktail for me! After our cocktails we all shared a bottle of sparkling rose.

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Five Foodie Finds Friday

Before I get into today’s post, I’d like to announce the winner of my Redpack Tomatoes prize pack giveaway! The randomly generated winning entry number is entry #12, from Lisa! Congrats, lady – I’ll be reaching out to you about claiming your prize!

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Hello hello, it’s time for Five Things Friday. I am taking a half day at work today so that I can beat traffic when driving home to Connecticut. I can’t wait for an evening of friends, family, and my good friend the J. Gilbert’s barrel-aged Manhattan. He’s just so dependable. Anyway, this Five Things post ended up unintentionally becoming a post about foodie products and dishes that I’ve enjoyed as of late. So I figured I’d theme it around just that! Let’s get down to it.

Link up with Clare if you’re sharing five things today too!

1. It’s been a week of recipe wins! First that fantastic chickpea salad, and then Running with Spoons pumpkin chili Mexican scramble. This tasted great freshly made as well as leftover last night.

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You Say Tomato, I Say Giveaway!

I received Redpack Tomato products for use in this review/giveaway. This is not a sponsored post.

I know some of you don’t think my “product posts” are authentic, but I can assure you, I only accept products that I actually use. Perfect example – canned tomato products. This is my third post about my using – and also giving away – those very kitchen staples. And I could never run out of recipes in which to use them! Redpack asked me if I wanted to do yet another giveaway for one of their canned tomato product kits. Who doesn’t love free stuff? I said yes, jumping at the chance to a) get some dinner ingredients and b) give my readers another chance to win the same ingredients.

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Balance Bar Giveaway!

I received samples of Balance Bars for the purpose of reviewing them and posting this giveaway. All opinions are my own – this is not a sponsored post.

One of my favorite evening snacks (and it’s rare that I don’t have one) is a crumbled up bar stirred into my favorite sugar-free chemical-laden Jello pudding. I’m always up for trying new varieties! So I was very excited to be sent such an array of Balance Bars for review – and giveaway! – purposes.

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Eat Smart: Just Add Veggies


I applied for this Clever Girls campaign as soon as I saw that it had to do with SALAD. I love salads. I eat one for lunch every weekday, and love how they can be so much more than the rabbit food side salads you might find at a place like Chili’s. Salads can taste great and the best part of all? You can eat a lot of them.

My coworkers were a bit befuddled when a cooler full of salads showed up to the office!

My coworkers were a bit befuddled when a cooler full of salads showed up to the office!

Eat Smart has come out with Gourmet Salad and Stir Fry Kits to make it easier for folks to get their veggies in. And these aren’t your average bagged salads – we’re talking five to seven ingredients, including BRUSSELS SPROUTS. We’re talking kale. We’re also talking some pretty cool accompaniments to these salads, like roasted pumpkin seeds and feta.

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