Category Archives: Trade Em Up Tuesday

Trade Em Up Tuesday: Back from ACK

Just wanted to say a quick thank you for your support in response to recovery the Instagram I shared this morning. Your support helps me keep on keepin’ on!

Man, it’s good to be back in Boston. I had fun Friday and Saturday in Nantucket for the Nantucket Wine Festival, but when I woke up Sunday I was so happy that I had an early ferry booked. I wanted to get back home and back to reality! So as you can imagine, I have a few trades for Trade Em Up Tuesday.

I would AND wouldn’t trade…barely having any photos to share from the weekend. I did a lot of Snap story updating, but plain old pictures weren’t really something I was feeling. The would trade is the fact that I continue to have a lot of body image issues when it comes to photos. It probably doesn’t seem like it since I post what many consider to be a lot of pictures, but I probably delete about 10 for every 1 that I like. And taking that many photos would have been exhausting, so I just kind of gave up. I even posted one photo that bothered me so much after the fact that I ended up taking it down. It just wasn’t worth trying to “fake it” at that point.

Comfy roomy dress on point for day one.

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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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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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Trading into March

Remember to enter my Redpack Tomatoes prize pack giveaway – it ends tonight at 11:59PM EST!

I can hardly believe it’s March. It sure doesn’t feel like it! I can only hope that once I get back from the cruise my family and I are going on in a couple of weeks (my first cruise!), spring will have arrived in Boston. For now there is no sign of the weather warming up, which I’d certainly trade. But there are also a few things I wouldn’t trade, so I’m here to update you guys on life via Trade Em Up Tuesday.

I would not trade…a baller spin class last night. Just had to mention that one straight off. It felt great. Thank you Danielle Dee for starting my week off with a kick-ass workout.

I would trade…my free week at CorePower Yoga ending. I got in four classes – three Sculpt (heated with weights) and one Hot Power Fusion. I decided to purchase a Groupon for a month of unlimited classes, and am going to activate it once I’m back from the cruise. I seriously am so excited about how much I have enjoyed these classes. It’s been awhile since I found a workout that left me undoubtedly satisfied once completed. No question about whether or not I did enough, no consideration of going to the gym to do more. I just walk out feeling refreshed and strong. I can’t wait until I’ve returned to Boston for a full month so that I can get back to the mat!

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Weekend Trades

I haven’t been up for doing much writing lately, so I’ve been fairly absent recently – my bad. But if I’ve learned anything, it’s that forcing myself to write is a whole lot more frustrating than letting this blog go post-less for a week or so. Good has been happening lately, but a whole lot of bad on the emotional front as well. Sounds like a prime time for Trade Em Up Tuesday.

Seems I'm not alone!

Seems I’m not alone!

I would not trade…trying out a tasty new-to-me restaurant. Friday night I selected Marliave for a girls night with Jeannie and Allie. The menu looked super promising and I’m always down for starting my weekend with a good meal out. Despite some iffy service, we all really enjoyed our food and drinks! French restaurants do damn good French fries.

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I Would Trade WINTER.

I’m blogging two days in a row thanks to working from home. I refuse to thank the thing responsible for me working from home…snow. Winter. Freezing temps. Huge messes. That’s because I would rather work EXTRA than have winter stick around and keep acting the way it has. So I’ll start Trade Em Up Tuesday with that – I would absolutely trade winter.

I would not trade…this incredible tempeh and black bean casserole I had for dinner last night. There was not a lot leftover, despite my plans for it to last me 2-3 dinners this week. I’m so glad I chose to use corn tortillas instead of flour. So much more satisfying!

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New Year, New Trades

Hope you guys found yesterday’s sponsored post at least semi-relevant. Living in Boston means a tighter budget, and living in Boston in the winter means taking ALL of the Ubers. So bear with me while I try to fund said Ubers with some paid opportunities.

Also must continue to fund my cocktail habit…mine (on the left) is a bellini from Five Horses Tavern, made with Four Roses Bourbon and local balsamic! Don’t be fooled by the rock candy, this was not sweet.

And here I am today with a “real” post, in the form of Trade Em Up Tuesday. This isn’t about what I want to trade or not trade in the New Year. Rather, it’s just my first Trade Em Up Tuesday post of the New Year.

I would not trade…some successful recipes cooked at homeI’m continuing my quest to make some delicious dishes from my Pinterest boards and it’s mostly going great. A few hiccups here and there as I learn some cooking-related lessons, but that’s what living in my first apartment is all about.

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Trade Em Up Tuesday: Halloween Weekend

I look at Marvelous In My Monday as super positive and Trade Em Up Tuesday as more honest about the good and bad. I certainly did not feel super positive about my Halloween weekend (not due to lack of fun though, that’s for sure) so I decided to wait and participate in Trade Em Up instead. I’m just still really struggling with being okay with the changes in my lifestyle that have happened since I moved to Boston. This was a big weekend for me and I’ve been feeling pretty crappy about it, but also thankful for the fun I had with family and friends.

I would not trade…starting Halloween weekend early with the WeWork Boston Halloween party. OK, so this (free!) event was really awesome. Jeannie has a WeWork office space so she brought me has her guest, and then I found out Emily was going to attend too, so I was looking forward to this party allllll week. I found out last minute it was space-themed so I turned my pre-planned cat costume into a last-minute laser cat costume. (Has anyone seen that SNL skit?!)

Such a last minute costume that I was building my laser cat glasses on the way to the party. Note: crafting on the T makes you look like a crazy person.

Such a last minute costume that I was building my laser cat glasses on the way to the party. Note: crafting on the T makes you look like a crazy person.

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Trade Em Up Tuesday: Where Is Summer?

I would trade…how fast summer has gone by.  Is it really already past mid-August? The air is already starting to get crisp and on Friday night when I went out after work, I felt absolutely frigid. Noooo New England, I’m not ready for my summer to leave yet!

I would not trade…finally finding a dress for Kaitlin‘s wedding! That wasn’t close or anything. I am so so so pumped for the Labor Day weekend rehearsal/wedding festivities, and getting to bring Maria as my plus-one so that she, Kaitlin, and I can FINALLY hang out together (all three of us) in person. Kinda nuts that that hasn’t happened yet. And I have to give a big thank you to Tobi for having a 50% off sitewide sale! I’m not going to post a photo of the dress for the wedding but I will share a photo of another dress I couldn’t help but buy because I know it’ll come in handy come fall…

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