Tag Archives: Boston

Rest Up, Party Up

I’ve spoken previously about experiencing guilt over not putting the gym first when my schedule gets packed. This past weekend was yet another example of how much I have changed in terms of my priorities. Except this time my schedule was not packed – it was my nose. OK wait, that’s gross, but let me explain.

Firstly, a spontaneous Thursday night dinner at a spot I really enjoy, The Merchant, turned into a Thursday night out at Highball Lounge. Not a huge deal – I took the T home (I only took one Uber this entire weekend and it was just $8 – hooray!) and did not overdo it on food or drink.

Highball is a super cool spot. I would go back in a second, and once again order sparkling rose with a garnish of RUBBER DUCKY.

However I woke up on Friday morning with a stuffy nose and by the time noon hit, it was a full-on cold. I had already decided it was a rest day, since I hadn’t taken a 100% rest day since Christmas (oops…). So missing the gym on Friday wasn’t such a big deal to me. I still went out for a low key dinner and then had a couple of glasses of wine after at one of my favorite bars, Oak Long Bar + Kitchen in the Fairmont Copley Plaza hotel. Jen was kind enough to join me and it was a great quiet Friday. And also involved lots of bread, which I crave when I have a cold. And in the moment, quenching my craving to make myself feel better was more important to me than counting carbs.

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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 home! I’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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drybar at Chestnut Hill Square

I received discounted blow drys for myself and my friends for review purposes. All opinions are my own and this is not a compensated post.

Real quick – the winners of my Lightlife veggie products giveaway are Katie, Amy, and Amanda! I will be emailing you about claiming your prize!

A couple of weeks ago I decided to attend Thirst Boston‘s opening night gala, The Thing, on Friday 11/7. My friends Jeannie and Allie agreed to join, and we knew we wanted to make it a big night out. That included getting dolled up in black dresses and looking our best. Thankfully, drybar in Chestnut Hill Square was willing to help us out with that part.

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“The Mind Project” was playing – so appropriate.

I just love drybar’s decor and overall branding! Even the products used during each blow dry have adorable names.

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Five Days Friday

I’ve done the whole using Five Things Friday to talk about my week thing before. But that’s OK as long as I give the post a different title, right? Today I’m breaking down my Monday through Friday – five things, five days!

Link up with Clare if you’re joining the Five Things Friday trend today!

Monday

I was so so so ready on Monday to stay in after my favorite spin class with Danielle Dee at the BSC. But work had other plans, and by the time I got to the gym (ten minutes late), all the bikes were full. It’s getting to be that time of year again! But there are a couple of bikes outside the classroom so I hopped on one of those for thirty minutes and pushed as hard as I could, followed by some abs and my latest round of PT exercises. Oh and another thing – I woke up Monday with a cold coming on. So by the time I got home post-gym – at almost 8PM – I was exhausted and SO glad I had meal prepped the day before!

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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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Ch-Ch-Changes

Usually reflecting on how you and your life have changed is something that’s reserved for special occasions, like a birthday or the start of a new year. But I’ve been feeling pretty reflective lately. I’ve spent the last few weekend mornings waking up and laying in bed for awhile, thinking (often OVER thinking). I’ve been noticing how different my life is now than it was a year ago, and am having a hard time digesting, accepting, and being OK with it. I can’t even figure out if I SHOULD be accepting or OK with it. Maybe these changes need to be changed. Maybe not. My mind certainly spends enough time telling me they need to be.

Source

For example…going out. I love going out. Since moving to Boston there has barely been a Friday or Saturday that I stayed in. I did start going out more back when I was still living in CT, but now I stay out later and have more beverages because I don’t have to drive, and the city is just so alive. I attribute much of the weight I’ve gained since moving here to my love for going out. Alcohol has calories – a fact I know all too well. I go out more now, I weigh more now. So naturally my mind constantly berates me for how I spend my Fridays and Saturdays. I wake up most Saturday and Sunday mornings with anxiety and terrible body image. I’ve had a few really rough ones lately. I’ve woken up and wanted to do nothing but curl into a ball and lay in bed hating myself all day. Thankfully texts to friends and family have motivated me to get out of bed and go on with my life. The “easy” solution is to just, well, not go out. But…that’s not fun. That’s not what I WANT to do. This whole recovery thing has been about letting myself do what I want to do. But when does that stop being OK?

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Wine (On the Wharf) Wednesday

I received admission to this event free of charge, in exchange for promotion via my blog and its social media channels. All opinions are my own and this is not a sponsored post.

I’ve talked about Gerard Bertrand wines on this blog – both before AND after I moved to Boston to work for 90+ Cellars! And through various 90+ Cellars-related events like Nantucket Wine Fest and Wine Riot I’ve connected with Jay, who handles all things Gerard Bertrand here in Boston. After I expressed interest in his Wines on the Wharf event, which took place this past Friday, he was more than willing to offer my friend Leigh and I tickets to come check out the scene at the beautiful Fairmont Battery Wharf!

Fairmont Battery Wharf happens to be home to some of the coolest bathrooms in Boston.

Fairmont Battery Wharf happens to be home to one of the coolest bathrooms in Boston.

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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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Seaport Secret: Sam’s at Louis

I received the food and drink in this post free of charge. All opinions of the experience are my own; this is not a sponsored post.

The title of this post is a bit misleading because there are already plenty of Sam’s at Louis fans out there. The patio is hoppin’ in the summertime and the restaurant is located on the water right along Boston’s Harborwalk. But unless you’re looking for it, you’re not likely to drive by. And if you call an Uber from there, you’re likely going to have to go meet your driver out on Seaport Boulevard if you want a chance of him or her finding you. So I’m going to go out on a limb and call Sam’s a bit of a secret – location-wise at least.

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But now that I know where it is, and how WONDERFUL the food and drink are, I’ll absolutely be back. Jeannie and I had dinner there on Tuesday night, and she’s had nothing but great things to say about Sam’s at Louis for awhile now. The food and drink of the Sam’s Instagram feed have been torturing me and I’m so happy I finally was able to go and experience it for myself.

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Trade Em Up Tuesday: Slowing Down

Another longer-than-a-week gap between posts – ugh! I honestly had time this past Sunday night to blog, but opted to sit in bed and color (something I haven’t done in awhile) while listening to NPR instead. I’m getting ahead of myself though. Let’s get rolling with a Trade Em Up Tuesday that’ll tell you what’s been up with me in the last week-ish.

Oreos and beer were involved.

Oreos and beer were involved.

I would trade…FOMO. I’ve had a serious case of it lately and it’s resulted in me wearing myself out. I need to take a step back and slow down. Is there an event coming up? I feel like I have to go to make sure I don’t miss anything. Someone’s having  a party? Well I can’t possibly miss it, it’ll be so much fun! The thing is, a lot of the time it’s not even worth it, so I need to take a step back and put on the brakes. I was sick this past weekend and spent all day Saturday contemplating whether or not I should still go to my co-worker’s party. In reality it should have been a no-brainer – NO. Stay home and REST.

NO. That's not resting.

NO. That’s not resting.

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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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