Tag Archives: events

Fashion Friday: Bishop’s Corner Giveaway!

The experiences detailed in this post were provided to me free of charge (with the exception of my overzealous purchasing at 2 out of 3 stops). The opinions are my own.

A couple Sundays ago I had my second-ever experience at West Hartford’s Bishop’s Corner shopping center. My first was eons ago at the plaza’s Sakura Garden, but on this visit I hit three different spots and got to do so with blends. Winning! And you guys can do some winning too, just stay tuned til the end of the post…

The ladies in attendance – Julie, Latanya, Alana (of Eden’s, the company who put on the event), me, and Maria! Source.

I showed up in workout clothes (obviously) fresh out of a gym session and ready for lunch. To be honest I was super-wary when I found out the dining destination would be Noodles & Company. I’m not big into pasta or rice or any kind of noodle! A scroll through the menu had me calling this place “Panera for Pasta”.

Continue reading →

2013 A Taste in Simsbury

I received complimentary entry into this event to cover it for this blog. All opinions of my experience are my own!

I’d call this past Thursday’s A Taste in Simsbury the best value tasting event I have ever encountered! For just $50, attendees got to taste food, beer, wine, and cocktails from at least 25 restaurants and vendors. Sponsored by Simsbury Bank, the Simsbury Main Street Partnership fundraiser pulled in money to help them continue to support downtown Simsbury’s social environment.

8-29-13-simsbury1

I arrived right at 5:30PM, and already a line of people had formed.

8-29-13-simsbury2

I snagged a wine glass and embarked on a tasting adventure that would end up lasting almost three hours. Thankfully tables and high-tops were set up throughout The Riverview‘s ballroom so that attendees would have spots to stop, take a seat, and have a place to rest plates and glasses.

Continue reading →

Hot Summer Night at Pond House Grille

Pond House Grille provided me complimentary admission to this cooking class. This is not a sponsored post, and all opinions on my experience are my own.

Pond House Grille has revitalized not just its appearance (examples: shiny website, tablet menu format) but also its food. Executive Chef Jordan Stein is placing a huge emphasis on seasonally appropriate and creative cuisine which makes heavy use of local ingredients. I had the privilege of receiving a chef’s tasting there not long ago, and was truly blown away by the dishes this talented and humble guy served up.

Love his signature fedora!

Love his signature fedora!

Continue reading →

TGIF in Simsbury

A single post would have to be way too long to recap all the fun I had this past weekend, so I thought I’d spread the love between two posts, beginning with today’s retelling of this past Friday night. I spent time with people I love, and also spent $0. Gotta love it when that happens. Before the day I drove into Simsbury to have the interview for the job I currently hold, I don’t think I’d ever stepped foot (or tire?) in the town. And while a lot of the time it is very quiet and…well…a bit boring…the town sure delivered on this particular evening.

7-26-13-concert29

Get your groove on!

Let me rewind back to the beginning. After a quick-and-dirty post-work gym trip (25 minutes on the StairMaster followed by upper body weights and abs) I met my parents at Millwright’s for a cocktail before the evening’s main plans. I debated whether or not I wanted to make this pre-event visit because I was nervous to order a cocktail before attending a shindig where I knew I’d be drinking wine. However, I really wanted to introduce my mom to my friends (my dad had recently done just that) at this very special restaurant…and Chris Parrot‘s cocktails are no ordinary cocktails. So I took a leap and brought my parents down to the Millwright’s Tavern!

Continue reading →

Proving Myself to…Myself

I sure hope someone catches the “Austin Powers” reference in the title…

I have the best readers in the world – thanks for your comments on yesterday’s post! I was already feeling a lot better when I published it Monday morning but I still had lingering feelings of regret that were holding on tightly. Like I wrote yesterday, time has been a huge part of making me feel better but your kind words help too. The way I spent my Saturday and Sunday evenings, post-Friday-evening-debacle, also gave myself the PROOF my mind needed to see that drinking all the drinks and spending all the dollars (I hope you caught that Alex) will not become habit and is not something I’ll keep wanting to do.

Saturday Night at Krust

Friends are the best medicine!

Friends are the best medicine!

Saturday night I had plans to attend the birthday dinner of Kelly‘s hubby Nick. I’d recommended to them one of my fave restaurants around, Krust Pizza Bar in Middletown. I have to be honest…I considered cancelling. I wanted to sit in my house and eat a salad and drink water, to punish myself for overdoing it on the alcohol the previous night. But I also knew that surrounding myself with loved ones and being a part of celebrating Nick’s special day would mean a lot to both me AND Kelly and Nick. Plus, staying in would have been letting the regret win. So I showered, put on a cute outfit, and headed out!

Continue reading →

Marvelously Wiped From The Weekend

In case you missed it, I published my latest Taste of New Haven food tour recap on Friday!

Holyyyy moly. What a weekend. It absolutely wiped me out. To be honest, it was mostly Sunday that wiped me out, because the rest was not that out of the ordinary. Morning workouts and coffee…restaurant dinners…a salad beast…yup, sounds pretty typical. But throw in an all-day pool party at a casino and you have one exhausted me – for all the right, marvelous reasons!

Marvelous is…Katie, this movement’s creator, giving birth to a healthy baby boy! I couldn’t do a MIMM post without mentioning little Rocco…cute name, for a cute baby!

Continue reading →

Taste of New Haven: On 9 Tour

I just adore the Taste of New Haven food tours! So much so in fact, that I have now been on three of their currently offered tours, as well as one that is no longer offered. You can read my past recaps below:

Keep your eyes peeled on daily deal sites like Groupon or ChariDeal, because Taste of New Haven deals often pop up there – in fact, I have funded all four of the tours I’ve been on with a daily deal! Tickets are normally $55/person (plus tax) or one can become a member and get, among other perks, 20% off of an unlimited amount of tours. I may have used a daily deal for each tour I’ve been on, but I wholeheartedly believe and tell people often that the $55 price is MORE than worth it for the amount of food and drinks each person receives on a tour! The owner, head tour guide, and author Colin Caplan will even try to get substitutions for folks with dietary modifications (within reason).

Colin doin’ his tour guide thang.

Continue reading →

Max A Mia Italian Wine Dinner

I continued last Monday 6/17 to check each Max Restaurant Group location off my list of restaurants-to-visit, and got to attend a five-course wine dinner at the same time. Two birds (one a quail…) were killed with one stone with my participation in the Marchesi di Barolo Italian Wine Dinner at Max A Mia, the restaurant group’s location in Avon, CT.

6-17-13-din6

Packed house!

Though originally scheduled for the patio, the dinner was moved inside after both an overwhelming amount of people wanting to attend (I’m sure partially due to the very reasonable $68 price tag) and a storm that rolled through shortly before the 6:30PM start time. I was disappointed to arrive and find I would not be dining outside since the weather cleared right up after the storm, but unlike most restaurants, Max A Mia’s interior was not frigid and actually delightfully warm. I attended the event with my good friend Jeff and we were seated with two super-nice business partners and friends, Bob and Tim. I told them about this blog and gave them my card so in case they are reading this, hello Bob and Tim!

Continue reading →

Glastonbury LobsterFest 2013!

I can’t miss Glastonbury’s best event of the summer, our Rotary Club’s LobsterFest. So when my mom told me she and my dad were entertaining the idea of NOT going this year, I did not stand for it. All it took was some reminders of all the fun we’ve had under the big white tent in year’s past, and my dad was on my side and my mom outnumbered. We put out the call to some of our close family friends from Florida, I invited my good friend Jeff, and we were all ready to go with a table.

6-8-13-lobsterfest11

Thankfully the weather improved drastically for Saturday and the sun was even out of most of the morning and afternoon to dry out the field after Friday’s monsoon. The hard-working Rotary Club volunteers were out all day in the rain on Friday setting up and getting the tent erected to keep the ground underneath as dry as possible.

Continue reading →

All the Catalunya at Barcelona

Barcelona West Hartford had an Argentina wine dinner in March and a Foods of Galicia dinner in April. May’s dinner was all about the food of Catalunya – with wine pairings! This was my weeknight out last week and it was great fun!

5-15-13-barcelona1

I attended the dinner with my good friend Kat and her sister Helen. My sister was supposed to come too but alas, she had to work. It was my first time meeting Helen and she is the woman – I can’t get over how similar her dynamic with Kat is to my dynamic with Hannah!

Continue reading →

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!

Social

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.

Privacy Policy

I allow third party companies to serve ads and/or collect certain anonymous information when you visit this blog. These companies may use non-personally identifiable information (e.g. click stream information, browser type, time and date, subject of advertisements clicked or scrolled over) during your visits to this and other Web sites in order to provide advertisements about goods and services likely to be of greater interest to you. These companies typically use a cookie or third party web beacon to collect this information. To learn more about this behavioral advertising practice visit the NAI at http://www.networkadvertising.org. To opt-out of this type of advertising, you can visit http://www.aboutads.info/choices.