4 F’s?! FOUR?! I am on FIRE today baby. Wait, there’s a fifth F! Alliteration celebration!
It is flipping cold in Connecticut right now. I said a big fuck-it to the weather yesterday and wore a Lauren Conrad skirt (Black Friday buy) and Nononsense tights despite the fact that when I woke up it was 11 degrees, because a positive mindset is half the battle.
The work bathroom shot, an instant classic.
Thank you to all who entered my giveaway for a Mohegan Sun $50 gift card to use during their Restaurant Week, 1/6-1/11! The lucky winner is…
My $50 Mohegan Sun gift card giveaway in honor of their Restaurant Week ends tonight! Hurry and get your entries in!
My lovely lady blend and Florida resident Brittany of Go The Extra Mile was home for her winter break while I was visiting Florida last week, in the same general area. Um, hello meet-up! We knew we’d be in the same place around Christmas-time since we got to talking during the Chobani dinner at HLS in August, so we’ve been psyched for our December meetup for several months. And it did not disappoint.
Brittany and I were seatmates at the Chobani dinner!
Finally I have reached the point where I can start telling you about my trip to Florida – and I’ve already been in Florida for more than two full days! Funny how that happens when you’re busy having a good time!
While my dad and I were eating dinner in Boston, my sister texted me to tell me we’d be flying first class on the way to Florida. I hadn’t flown first class since I was an infant on my mom’s lap, so I was pretty pumped. Turns out they were trying to get us out of coach to make room for more people on the plane, and my dad has mucho reward points, so upgraded we were!
I don’t care if it’s obvious I haven’t flown first!
I recently wrote about Longhorn Steakhouse, but it certainly wasn’t my first visit. This is a post I drafted awhile back about another visit to the chain, last December. I ordered different food and drinks, and so did my dining partners, so please forgive me as I blog about this place again while life continues to be SOO busy!
Also, don’t forget to check out the Hartford Courant Websters award nominations for the best blogs in CT!
There are some chains I shun (number one of those being the Cheesecake Factory…don’t even get me started). But other chains are A-OK in my book, and one of those is Longhorn Steakhouse. My family has been a fan since I was in elementary school, back when we lived in Florida. In the last year, Longhorns have started popping up here in CT – including about 15 minutes from my house! We were excited to have one so close by, but by now visiting Longhorn has become a trip-to-Florida restaurant staple because we are so used to not having any around us in CT, just like with Carrabba’s. So during our December 2011 West Palm Beach vacation, we selected Longhorn Steakhouse as our dinner destination on our last night in town (yes, this is the last of the December Florida restaurant recaps that I have been trying to complete for the last three months – are you proud?)
Don’t you love my Grannan’s shoes?
Even though we called ahead, there was still a bit of a wait, so I passed the time hanging out with my awesome grandparents, Grannan and George, and sipping on a pineapple-infused vodka martini. I love martinis made with infused liquors as opposed to juices, because not only does the drink taste less sweet, but there is a lower sugar content, making these kinds of beverages a healthier choice! Since my visit, they have even come out with a skinny cocktail menu with a margarita, cosmo, and sangria!
Longhorn has some of my favorite restaurant bread ever. The brown, grainy loaf is soft and warm on the inside and crunchy on the outside. The butter is the perfect amount of saltiness every time. I didn’t have a pic of this on my last Longhorn post – not sure why!
My meal came with your average restaurant side salad – I asked for no cheese or croutons, so there was not much left after that, and the always-lame iceberg lettuce. Definitely more tomatoes than I was expecting though!
I got the Grilled Fresh Rainbow Trout with a baked potato and a side of pickles (duh). The portion of trout was very generous, and Longhorn’s baked potato was amazing as usual! Must be that perfectly salted butter again. Awesome pickles, too! See what I mean by healthy and delicious options?
Had to share Grannan’s pretty dish – the Filet Mignon Topped with Shrimp & Lobster and a side of broccoli. Doesn’t that lobster look great? She loved this meal.
Just a quick post to share one of my favorite chains with you all – and complete my December Florida recaps!
Which chain has the best bread? How about the best selection of light and tasty options?
Hey everyone! I am ridiculously swamped with life right now and have no time for an up-to-date post, which sucks because I have SO much on my mind and also many a fun experience to share, but for now I hope you’re satisfied with a better-late-than-never review of a restaurant I visited several months ago.
Also, I’m psyched to announce that CT’s largest newspaper (and the nation’s oldest), the Hartford Courant, is hosting blog awards this year called the Websters! The nomination form is here, and you don’t have to fill in every field, so even if you’re not from CT but enjoy my blog, you may want to check it out 😉
The answer to this post title’s question is ridiculous. This restaurant review from my Florida vacation in December 2011 is SO overdue, the restaurant is ABOUT TO CLOSE. #fail
EDIT: THE RESTAURANT IS NOT ABOUT TO CLOSE! My grandma is apparently a source of false information! But I’m keeping the title of this post because it doesn’t work otherwise…
Yeah, this will soon cease to exist.
I had always wanted to visit McCormick & Schmick’s for a full meal. They have a fantastic happy hour menu that I had the pleasure of sampling during my foodie road trip to DC with Jeff last May.
Cheesin’ it with fried alligator.
Double cheesin’ it.
I was pretty excited to be able to order a beverage and an item off the full menu. After checking it out online, I wasn’t sure how I’d be able to choose!
The menu at every McCormick & Schmick’s varies according to what food is the freshest available locally. I like how the menu listed out specifically what items were from the Florida area and where they came from.
I was impressed by the variety of cocktails offered and selected a drink called the Skinny Bootlegger. In case you can’t read the print above, it consisted of Prairie organic vodka, lemon/lime juices, agave, and mint. Definitely sounded promising, but unfortunately this drink spelled a bit of trouble in terms of service.
It certainly looked lovely, but the drink was way too juice-y. I felt as if (my parents both agreed) I was drinking straight lime and lemon juice with a little mint thrown in! I like my drinks strong and usually the “Skinny” options on restaurant menus use less juice/added sweeteners and are therefore enjoyable to me. This drink wasn’t though, so we asked our waiter for another shot of vodka that I could add to the drink. No, I am not an alcoholic, I just know how I like my drinks to taste!
At this point it became apparent to use that we did not have the speediest waiter in the world. He didn’t return for over 10 minutes, and other people in the table had yet to receive their drinks in the first place. Finally I sent the drink back altogether and just asked for a glass so that I could have some of the red wine my parents had ordered for themselves.
They had chosen 14 Hands Cabernet from Washington. I prefer other reds to Cabernets, but did enjoy this wine. Looks nice in the glass, right? 😉
It paired especially well with the sourdough bread, which tasted just like J. Gilbert’s bread to me.
For my meal, I ordered the Jamaican Grilled Mahi-Mahi, with some modifications. I asked for the vanilla rum sauce on the side, and for veggies instead of the sweet potato mash (I love sweet potato fries and sweet potatoes as co-ingredients, but do not like them enough to eat them mashed/baked/roasted by themselves). Obviously I stuck with the black beans – I’m obsessed, after all.
My food was delicious! The fish was cooked perfectly and the char-grilled beefsteak tomato was a welcome and pleasant surprise to find on my plate. It took a very long time for our food to come out (and for bread to be replenished in the mean time – our waiter really was quite sluggish, though polite) but this was worth the wait.
My dad started with the Maine Lobster Bisque with Sherry Butter, and was so excited and impressed by the presentation that he called me over to snap the above photo. The lump lobster meat in the center of the soup was certainly impressive!
Is anyone else having slightly dirty thoughts about this meal’s presentation?
My brother’s (awkward) meal of choice was the Petite Filet Mignon with veggies (for my mom and I) and two fried mashed potato balls. Yes, fried mashed potatoes – I had a bite of one, and it was AMAZING!!!
Despite the bad drink and waiter, I really liked my food! And they did take my drink off our bill – after my mom sternly prompted them to do so, of course.
Have you ever sent a drink back because you didn’t like it?
Have you ever been torn between liking and disliking a restaurant because some parts of the experience were good and some were bad?
Hi friends. Wow, where have I been, haven’t blogged since Friday! Glad you guys seemed to enjoy that post by the way. If you follow me on Twitter then you know that I’ve been moving at about a thousand MPH as per usual, attending many a delicious restaurant outing, getting in some good workouts, drinking lots of tasty coffee at Daybreak, and spending time with family and friends.
And it’s not anywhere close to ending – tomorrow night I’m going to be attending Taste of the Nation: New Haven with a new blend, Marissa of Style Cusp! I’ve honestly been dreaming of going to a Taste of the Nation event ever since I started reading blogs a few years ago and saw some of my favorite bloggers recap their local Taste of the Nation! Now I’m the blogger who will be attending and recapping – surreal!
A little something for ya today – this is the 5K treadmill workout and playlist that I used on my last day in Orlando almost two weeks ago (wow, time has flown!). The TV was unavailable in the hotel gym so I had to make do with a treadmill run with JUST music – THE HORROR! I varied my speeds to keep myself interested and put my iPhone on shuffle. This is the workout I ended up following, and the songs I chose to listen to.
You may end up completing the 5K sooner than 32 minutes (I did mine in 29:54 on this particular day I think) in which case you can cool down sooner, or just keep running to 32 minutes! I most certainly did NOT.
I wanted to use sunny colors since we have been so fortunate with the weather so far in CT this week! Give me 60’s or give me death! (Or 70’s…or 80’s…)
I like the idea of a pyramid workout because when I was running at 7.4MPH, panting my head off, I knew that in a couple minutes I’d be able to turn the speed down. I also added the burst of speed at the end because there’s nothing like reaching that 3.1 mile mark and feeling like you’re sprinting across a finish line!
Have you ever heard of Taste of the Nation events? Have you ever read about them on blogs or attended?
What’s your take on making a treadmill workout interesting – WITHOUT a TV available to you?
Do you recognize any of the songs above?
Time to recap the last full day of last week’s Orlando vacation (last Friday). I woke up and went to the hotel gym to do another treadmill 5K. This time I just kept the channel on Live with Kelly! the whole time. I love Kelly Ripa and have been a huge fan of Live since middle school. I remember the highlight of school breaks and summer morning was being able to watch! Of course, the version with Regis will always be my favorite.
I felt way more tired though and ran my 5K in a slower time than the day before. Still pretty good though – 29 minutes. I kept my 1% incline and Kelly and her guest host (I don’t even remember who it was) helped it go by at a pace that wasn’t too excruciatingly slow. Then I did about 30 minutes of upper body weights, one muscle group per song (chest, shoulders, bis, tris, and abs).
Took it easy by the pool the rest day of course, and wore one of my outlet purchases – a new bathing suit! I also brought a solo cup filled with cottage cheese and blueberries with me to the pool for a post-workout snack. I’m sure I got plenty of judgement because of my solo cup…little did people know I was NOT headed to the pool at 10AM with an alcoholic beverage in tow. Though I’m NOT opposed to that either.
After another fabulous poolside day, my parents and I got cleaned up and headed to happy hour! I love eating out on vacations but my parents wanted to stay in and grill since we had a kitchen in our room, so we made a deal – happy hour out, followed by seafood dinner in. Um, fine by me!
While waiting for my parents to get ready, I caught up on work and had a snack – two pieces of rye toast topped with turkey and salsa.
It wouldn’t be vacation without another fam photoshoot.
Another my-mom-is-way-shorter-than-me pic.
I rocked another Black Friday purchase from Kohl’s (and with pleats just like the last one – told you I’m obsessed). The top is by Elle.
For our happy hour destination, I used Yelp to find Emeril’s Tchoup Chop at the Loews Royal Pacific Resort at Universal Orlando. I wanted a place with deals that didn’t end too early (these ended at 8PM), where we could enjoy our last warm night in Florida (outdoor tiki bar!), and with unique drink options. Done, done, and done!
The tiki bar was empty so we took three seats front and center. I love sitting at the bar and chatting it up with the bartender and other patrons.
We lucked out with a fantastic bartender named Deanna. She was so kind and made amazing drinks!
I inquired about the cucumber vodka I saw behind the bar, and Deanna whipped up a Cucumber Cooler for me of cucumber vodka, cucumber liquer, and ginger beer. I LOVE ginger beer in drinks – another favorite is the Dark n Stormy, which has popped up a couple times on the blog.
No, that’s not water. Nor is that a Starbucks straw.
I removed the straw (tip: this slows you down when you’re drinking so that you can savor the beverage and also accurately assess how it is affecting you) and “dug in”. Wow, this drink was perfection. So smooth and perfect for an outdoor happy hour.
My mom got a house margarita and I tried a sip. Yum! Nice and strong, not too sour or sweet. She loved it.
There was a bar bites menu too, but I was waiting til dinner.
I asked Deanna about this Soho Lychee Liquer – I had never seen that before! She let me sample a small pour of the Lychee Martini it goes into. Very yummy, but the sample was enough for me because it was a bit sweet.
And thank goodness for Foursquare – I checked in and got a free Mai Tai – which I shared with my parents, because I was feeling a bit buzzed and was also getting pretty hungry! This beverage was delicious, one of the best Mai Tais I’ve ever had (the one at Drink wins because it was on FIRE).
Gorgeous, no?
Thanks Deanna for being so awesome and making our experience at Tchoup Chop so great! By the way readers, it’s pronounced “chop chop”.
By the time we got home I was hangry. My dad got the grill fired up pretty quickly and prepared the salmon and shrimp burgers I’d gotten the day before at Whole Foods.
Salmon/shrimp burgers with yellow mustard and Russian dressing for dipping. Baked potato skin and innards with salsa.
I was SO hungry, but got full SO fast! I couldn’t even finish any of the innards of my baked potato (on the right). Bummer.
What a great last full day in Orlando – and I still had one more pool day left before we had to hop on our plane in the evening, but with no restaurant and no new workout (just another 5K and abs), I don’t plan to write a full recap of that day.
Do you have a favorite spot to go to in the warm months to have a drink outside?
Have you ever tried a seafood burger?
Did you or do you watch Live with Regis and Kelly (or just Kelly)?
My fifth full day in Orlando (last Thursday) followed my gym-tan-eat-tan-drink-eat-sleep routine (and trust me, I wasn’t getting sick of it) – but with another Connecticut-infused twist.
I woke up still feeling blah in the stomach area, just nauseous, but I was SOOO ready to be back at the intense cardio and decided to run a 5K on the treadmill. I was psyched to see they each had a TV but then saw that neither treadmill had a working one – bah! There was a big TV in the overall gym though, and it was empty in there (I mean, it was about 8am…) so I grabbed the remote and flipped channels while I pounded out 3.1 miles in 27 minutes! Once I started running, my nausea actually disappeared and I felt fantastic and full of energy. I like setting a distance goal as opposed to time because it motivates me to run faster – so I can get off that dreadmill faster! Works every time.
What do you know, another Connecticut friend was in Orlando when I was – Kelly! Her family are big fans of the parks (unlike mine) so most days she was Disney and Universal-ing, but she did have one pool day (well, morning) and I headed over to her hotel to join her and her mom. It was so great to hang out!
After Kelly and her fam left the pool for Epcot, I went to a nearby Whole Foods to grab lunch. Even though I have a location in my town, I love checking out different Whole Foods for the regional differences in the food offered at the hot and cold salad bars in state to state.
Healthy foods photograph the prettiest!
Well OK, that mac n cheese looks pretty golden and beautiful too.
Amazingly fresh Florida seafood salads.
I was a cheap-o and didn’t purchase any of the above ($10.99/lb…) but the seafood lover in me was remorseful later – right Meg? 😉
Hello there!
OK, so we do NOT have fish like that in my Whole Foods. No sir. I was also on a mention for seafood or meat for the next night’s grill-out dinner (the joys of staying at a place with a kitchen and grills!) and found just what I was looking for in the Seafood Department, thanks to a very helpful employee – hello if you are reading! (I gave him my card).
Just what I was looking for! I took home two Spinach & Feta Salmon Burgers, one Wild Salmon Burger, and one Shrimp Burger. I was already looking forward to the meal, and I hadn’t even had THAT night’s dinner yet (or the day’s lunch, for that matter). Story of my life.
Um, Whole Foods has a bar?! Don’t mind if I do! This location is the only one in Florida with a bar that serves beer and wine. The wine section itself was amazing! Need proof?
I snuck in on a tasting of Concannon Conservancy Crimson & Clover, a red blend (included one of my favorites, petite sirah). This wine was AMAZING, one of the best reds I’ve tried in awhile, and I was shocked at its affordable price tag. Also a fun side note on this International Woman’s Day, Concannon Vineyards hired the first professional female winemaker in 1950!
I was poured the above glass and then some, which I did not finish since I wanted to make it home alive.
Words cannot describe how excited I was to be having dinner that night at Seasons 52, a “blogger hot-spot” that I have seen on Meghann, Gina, Caitlin, and Julie’s blogs. I was rockin’ a new dress from the occasion, a Black Friday purchase (I know, it’s bad news bears when you’re wearing things for the “first time” in March and bought them in November) from Kohl’s LC Lauren Conrad Collection. You can’t see them well, but it has one of my latest obsessions, pleats!
I was blown away by our view! I had no idea Seasons 52 (we were at the ORIGINAL location, by the way!) offered gorgeous outdoor lakeside seating. Pleasant surprise!
After our little photoshoot, we finally took our seats and checked out the drink menu. It was very dark out on the patio, and my mom had to borrow a light from our waiter to read the menu! Silly mom.
I ordered the Organic Sunshine Martini: orange-infused Prairie organic vodka and agave nectar. However, it was not what I was expecting.
I chose this martini because the description made it sound like it would just be vodka made with a bit of agave, but after it arrived I could see that it had also been made with some kind of orange juice, a bummer because anytime drinks are made with juices they taste too sweet for me. Sure enough, it was too sweet, but our amazing waiter Garrett was kind enough to take it off the bill without my even asking – thank you Garrett!
Ugh, flash.
Instead of a martini, I decided to go with red wine and helped my parents out with the bottle they’d already ordered, Gascon Malbec, which was actually quite excellent! I made a joke that Gascon was an appropriate wine to drink when in Orlando, home of the creators of Gaston.
Surprisingly, Garrett had NOT heard that awful pun before!
Thankfully I didn’t have a tough time deciding on a meal because that night, a special was being offered that was made for me.
Mahi? Mediterranean? Shrimp? Tzatziki? SOLD.
Aaaand I DIED. What a fantastic dish. I’m a chronic dish modifier at restaurants and this was made for me – I did not have to order with ANY modifications. The fish was perfect, the shrimp tabouleh was perfect, the tzatziki came on the side without me even asking, and a nice surprise was included that wasn’t mentioned on the menu, olives!
My mom got the same dish and she was a bit bummed that the olives weren’t called out on the menu because she HATES them, but she picked them out and I finished them off for her. Before her meal, she got the Organic Baby Spinach Salad: sliced pears, feta, and toasted pine nuts on spinach. She couldn’t stop raving about it! My dad loved his meal too – despite the fact that it came with lots of veggies. Eat up Dad, they’re good for you!
We were too full for dessert so I did not try any of the famous Mini Indulgences that everyone raves about, but next time I will have to! What a great last dinner out in Florida.
Have you ever been to Seasons 52? If not, have you already heard about it thanks to the “blog world”?
Do you run on treadmills for distance or for time?
What’s the coolest thing you’ve ever seen at a Whole Foods?
Another day of vacation (Wednesday), another trip to the hotel gym. The treadmills were full, and I was not a fan of those ellipticals (I prefer the Precor brand), so I got my cardio on with a series of dynamic lunges, squats, and ab moves in which I used a 10-lb dumbbell a lot like I would use a kettlebell. I was even called out by a nice fellow gym-goer as a “kettlebeller” – that made me feel good! We had a good conversation about workouts, running in Vibrams, and YouTube fitness gurus. I could have those kinds of conversations forever!
Puke-inducing pink ensemble #sorrynotsorry
I was feeling well enough to go for it at Starbucks and get my usual grande nonfat iced coffee with cinnamon powder. Mmm, not much different than the decaf Americano, but definitely an improvement.
Morning workouts are the best on vacation, because then I can proceed to move as little as possible alllllll day 😉
Unfortunately Grannan and George headed back home that afternoon, but that also meant a more unique dinner destination, and one the Greek-food-lover in me was SO excited for – Taverna Opa!
What a lively place! The Greeks know how to party, and I think it’s great. Belly dancers rotate throughout the restaurant, patrons dance on tables, and slips of white paper (traditionally, they would be dollar bills, but Taverna Opa can’t go giving away money!) fall from the ceiling.
I made sure to select a Greek wine. Our waiter assured me that any red I chose from that part of the menu would be very dry and full-bodied, so I chose the Agros Merlot, even though it was specificed as medium-bodied.
I wish I’d listened to the menu – the wine was a bit too light for me. It was pretty good, but not what I was hoping for. I was also disappointed when it came served in a regular glass – maybe this is how wine is served in Greece? If so, I respect the authenticity of the restaurant, but I really prefer to drink wine out of a wine glass, even if that seems like something silly.
My mom ordered half a carafe of a different red, and the carafes were certainly unique-looking too!
We received the freshest hummus I’ve ever tasted, ground right at our table, and freshly baked pita. Even my dad, who NEVER eats hummus, loved it!
My go-to order at any Greek restaurant, because I hate making decisions regarding all the amazing choices I’m always faced with, is an appetizer sampler platter (or two). I stuck to one that evening, the Cold Pikilia platter of tzatziki (yogurt dill dip), tarama (caviar dip), melitzanosalata (eggplant dip), dolmades (stuffed grape leaves), and olives.
I was so proud of my dad – I convinced him to try a stuffed grape leaf, and after a hesitant first bite, he immediately gobbled up the rest. Finally, my parents were seeing the reason why I’m in love with Greek food!
In an effort to get some veg into my day, I also ordered a side of tomato and cucumber slices for dipping. Perfect!
The padre continued trying different foods and ordered the Moussaka (I corrected his pronunciation before he ordered :D) and loved it! He called it the “Greek Shepherd’s Pie”. I had a bite and man, oh man, it was tasty. And HUGE! It’s impossible for me to leave a Greek place not-stuffed, and my parents experienced that same phenomenon. Half of the moussaka became his breakfast the next morning.
Another satisfactory meal in Orlando! This time I was definitely too full for dessert, so I went home and essentially passed out immediately. Wild and crazy 9:30PM vacation bed time for the win!
Have you ever tried an ethnic cuisine that you were nervous to sample? How did it turn out?
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!
