Category Archives: Restaurants

Where Have I Been?

Lately I have been hearing the same proclamation a seemingly endless amount of times: “You’ve been everywhere!” And I can’t say I’m surprised to hear that. Despite the fact that hearing this proclamation immediately triggers my brain to think, “You’ve been going out and drinking and eating too much and slacking on the gym!”, I’ve been practicing fighting that thought and feeling thankful for all I have been able to do so far this summer.

I’ve been to Knoxville, Tennessee to see my little sister graduate from college…

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Nantucket (with work) for the Wine Fest…

Connecticut for my dad’s birthday and a wedding…

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Wordless Wedding Weekend Wednesday

I haven’t had much time lately to write and during my free time, I haven’t wanted to write. So I’m here today on a four W-word alliteration bender to share some photos, mostly from the Memorial Day weekend, which involved me going back to Connecticut to see my good friend Kristen marry the love of her life!

They're a couple of pretty people, that's for sure.

Kristen and her husband Greg met when he fell into her at a bar, spilled her drink, and offered to buy her a new one. How’s that for a rom-com romance?

I brought my favorite Boston blogger and friend Emily as my date, of course! (This is her photo.)

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Wines of Caitalunya at Barcelona Wine Bar

I received complimentary admission to this event, but I have paid for and would continue to pay for Barcelona Wine Bar events in the future – they are always more than worth the money!!!

I sound like a broken record to long-time readers, but I just ADORE Barcelona Wine Bar and feel very fortunate that I moved from one area with several locations to another! I used to blog about Barcelona West Hartford‘s events all the time, and though I’ve visted the Brookline location a few times since moving to Boston, I had yet to attend a formal, structured event here in Boston. That is, until last Wednesday!

And not only did I get to attend the Barcelona South End Wines of Catalunya dinner (or Caitalunya, as my sister so cleverly came up with), but I also got to share my experience during a live takeover of Barcelona’s Instagram, @barcelonawinebar! Fun fact: I have attended a Wines of Catalunya dinner at the West Hartford location as well…read that recap here!

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Last Boston Trades

OK so this is not the last “Boston-based” Trade Em Up Tuesday EVER, but these posts always end up being weekend recaps and I won’t be spending a weekend here again until mid-June. So get ready to hear a lot about Connecticut, Tennessee, Nantucket, Newport, and Mexico. Yup, I’ll be hitting up all those spots between now and mid-June. Now you can see why I’m looking at this as a last Boston-focused weekend recap.

I would not trade…a weekend of fairly solid workouts. Any morning that I can wake up and find the willpower to do 30 minutes on the Stair Master before work, especially if it’s a Friday, is a morning I feel proud of. You already know about my SoulCycle class on Saturday, and Sunday I managed to get in more stairs and weights at the gym. I didn’t feel too hot during Sunday’s gym trip (going to brunch beforehand probably had something to do with it) but I got it done, and patted myself on the back for that.

I would not trade…finally getting to Liquid Art HouseBefore Friday night’s Boston Wine Riot I met up there with my friend Jay (he was also going to be working the event) of Gerard Bertrand, for snacks and a drink somewhere near the venue. I suggested Liquid Art House because I’ve heard great things about the food, drinks, and ambiance. I selected The Ponte – rye cognac, vermouth, benedictine, and bitters. It was fantastic and just what I was craving before having to go into that crazy event.

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Marathon Monday 2015!

This past Monday was the most special day of the year in Boston – Marathon Monday! And despite crappy weather, this was undoubtedly the best one I’ve experienced (though it was only my second – read about my first here).

I got a half day at work and met up with my friends Nicole and Eric to hop the T to Kenmore, where I also spectated last year. It’s a great spot because that’s mile 25.2, and seeing the runners as they enter their last mile is so exciting. I saw some pick up the pace, I saw some just do their best to keep up a jog, but what I saw most of were smiles and faces full of excitement and anticipation to cross that finish line. It almost made me want to run a marathon! Almost.

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Fun watching with Eric and Nicole!

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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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Trade Em Up Tuesday: Quickie

Not much time to write but I’m in the writing mood (funny how that happens…Sunday I had plenty of time to write but wasn’t in the mood). So let’s do a quick Trade ‘Em Up Tuesday – written last night between Mad Men viewing. Which, by the way, I would not trade.

Including an appearance from the ever-evil DAN SCOTT!

I also would not trade…the wonderful dinner I made myself last night. I made Julie’s Kale & Turkey Sausage Breakfast Casserole to have on hand for the week. It wasn’t very pretty but it was delicious and really quite easy to put together. The only difficult part was waiting for it to finish cooking! Big ups to Julie for this one.

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Weekends Are For…

…statement necklaces and red lipstick.

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…egg breakfasts and iced coffee.

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There’s a pile o’home fries under there.

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A Kind 26th Birthday

I’m glad you guys seem to be enjoying my cruise recap! I neglected to mention the super-cool way I got to the airport – via a new-to-me car service called Blacklane! They approached me asking if I’d be interested in trying them out and sharing my experience (so full disclosure, yes it was free). For what would have been $50-something, a black Mercedes came to pick me up super-early Friday morning to take me to Logan. The driver was polite, on-time (early, in fact), and kind enough to offer me travel snacks! The car was pretty baller, and extremely clean. I don’t think Blacklane is for me if I want to just get somewhere for something everyday (or night). But if I was trying to show up somewhere in style, it would be a great affordable alternative to your typical towncar service!

If you're interested in trying it out, use code KS5HMBGQ for $10 off your first ride.

If you’re interested in trying it out, use my code KS5HMBGQ for $10 off your first ride. Look at those snacks! 😀

So I would consider my 26th birthday celebrations to have begun on Saturday 3/21, the day before my actual birthday on the 22nd. I was supposed to come back to Florida on Friday the 20th, but I woke up that morning knowing I wasn’t ready quiiiite yet to go back to the still-frigid Boston temps. So I got my flight switched to the next day, and ended up travelling back on Saturday.

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#CruisingWithTheCroswells

I’m back, and I don’t just mean back to this blog (sorry about that inadvertent hiatus, guys!), but also back from an amazing vacation with my family. I’m lucky to have parents that love going on fun trips; we went to Mexico last year during my brother’s and sister’s spring breaks (which thankfully fall on the same week). This year we went to Mexico again, but also to Belize, and also to sea…we took our first family cruise!

How did it go? Well, spoiler alert…

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