Tag Archives: restaurants

203 Wedding Weekend!

Last weekend I ventured back to the 203 area code of Connecticut for two important events – a visit to Kaitlin in Fairfield on Saturday, and the New Haven wedding of one of my friends from college, on Sunday!

I arrived in Fairfield at about 3PM on Saturday, and we immediately hit the road. Some friends of Kaitlin and her husband were having a BBQ, so I tagged along with them for a fun afternoon of beverages, burgers, and hot dogs.

I contributed a bottle of Earthshaker Wines Rose de Pinot Noir. Kaitlin and I had no trouble crushing it and I wished I’d brought another!

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Doubling Up on Barcelona

This month I’ve had the chance to visit both Barcelona Wine Bar locations in Boston! First I went to Brookline to attend a Tour of Galicia dinner (and take over the Barcelona Brookline Facebook to share my experience).

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My favorite bread of all time!

As usual there was no shortage of wine at this event…each course was paired with two different varietals!

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GNO at Foxwoods!

Part of my dinner as well as the tickets to the show mentioned in this post were provided free of charge by Foxwoods Casino. 

A couple of weeks ago, Emily mentioned to me that she had been asked by Foxwoods Restort Casino to come visit for the “ultimate girls night”, which obviously included male revue show Thunder Down Under. It had certainly been awhile since my last casino trip, and a night out with one of my favorite people sounded great, so I immediately said yes!

Matching MANhattans before going to watch a bunch of shirtless men. Source.

We got a room at a nearby hotel, Hilltop Inn & Suites, that was relatively affordable and offered a free shuttle to/from the casino. That way we could enjoy ourselves to the fullest and not have to worry about driving back to Boston at midnight. Despite some Friday traffic, we made it to the hotel just in time to freshen up, grab the 6:30 shuttle, and make it to our dinner reservation.

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Two Islands, One 4th

I hope you all had a great 4th of July weekend! I first want to start by thanking any readers who gave me positive feedback in response to my recent #TransformationTuesday Instagram. I’ve definitely been feeling some self doubt since getting back from four days in one of my favorite places – Newport, RI. But this summer has been so much fun so far and I’m glad that I’ve embraced every opportunity I’ve been given to enjoy myself…especially given the winter we had.

View from our timeshare deck!

My family has been going to Newport every summer since we moved to New England. And as of a few years ago, I’ve started taking my own trips with friends, because one Newport visit per summer is not enough. Here are some previous Newport posts from this blog:

Recently my parents got a timeshare for the 4th of July week, right in the city’s downtown. It’s awesome to be able to arrive, park the car, and not move it for the entirety of our stay! Newport is the largest city on Aquidneck Island in Narragansett Bay. And on Sunday, my family took the high-speed ferry to Block Island for the day. Hence the title of this post – two islands.

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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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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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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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Five Foodie Finds Friday

Before I get into today’s post, I’d like to announce the winner of my Redpack Tomatoes prize pack giveaway! The randomly generated winning entry number is entry #12, from Lisa! Congrats, lady – I’ll be reaching out to you about claiming your prize!

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Hello hello, it’s time for Five Things Friday. I am taking a half day at work today so that I can beat traffic when driving home to Connecticut. I can’t wait for an evening of friends, family, and my good friend the J. Gilbert’s barrel-aged Manhattan. He’s just so dependable. Anyway, this Five Things post ended up unintentionally becoming a post about foodie products and dishes that I’ve enjoyed as of late. So I figured I’d theme it around just that! Let’s get down to it.

Link up with Clare if you’re sharing five things today too!

1. It’s been a week of recipe wins! First that fantastic chickpea salad, and then Running with Spoons pumpkin chili Mexican scramble. This tasted great freshly made as well as leftover last night.

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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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