She Likes Purple

Some Great New York Eats

Weeks and weeks ago, I went to New York for a work trip, and it was one of my favorite trips there to date for all the professional networking I accomplished, yes, but also all the delicious food I ate. Seriously, an A+ food trip. (Which all trips should really strive to be, am I right?)

Here are the highlights. 

1. Roberta's

Adrienne, my friend and colleague, had heard good things about this Brooklyn pizza joint, so we took the subway to Bushwick our first night in town. We were told it'd be at least an hour wait, so we had drinks in the outdoor tiki bar. A table opened up no more than a half-hour later, which is my favorite kind of wait. One that's half as long as expected.

We decided to split the bee sting pizza, and I've wanted a slice of this amazing pizza approximately one million times since then.

(And look! The restaurant has a cookbook that I have now added to my Christmas list.) 

2. Frank

I haven't eaten a meal in Italy yet, but I like to think I know a thing or two about delicious food, especially delicious pasta. I have tried my fair share of delightful hole-in-the-wall gems and also pricey places with a ton of awards and this place had the best Italian food I've ever eaten. 

I feel confident saying that because I was with two colleagues and we each ordered a different pasta (the gnocchi, the pappardelle, and the ravioli) and each was absolutely delicious. We also split the burrata and that was also the best burrata I've ever had.

The extra teeny-tiny restaurant and the kind of aloof service couldn't keep this meal from being seriously perfect.

3. Ruby's 

We had burgers here one night, and it was another teeny place with a wait, but wow so worth it. One of the best burgers I've ever had. And, truly, a good burger is one of the reasons I stopped being a vegetarian. I LOVE A GOOD BURGER.

4. McSorley's Old Ale House

This is obviously not a great eat, but it was such a fun bar! You order just light or dark (and you get two small pints for something like $5) and you also get a dose of history as you sip because it's one of the oldest bars in NYC. 

5. The Wayfarer

We wanted breakfast our last morning and basically walked in circles until we found something slightly well-rated on Yelp. This was such a surprising find. The pancakes were incredible, and the Mediterranean scramble I had was really delicious too. 

(I've been to New York a dozen times. Here are a few favorites from previous trips: Sugar Sweet Sunshine, Locanda Verde, and a few more suggestions.)

What To Do in New Orleans: Eat Fancy & Then Eat Not-So Fancy

Mike and I celebrated my birthday in New Orleans two weekends ago, and it was one of my best birthdays to date. We usually stay put, throwing a party or going out to dinner. It was so much nicer to say an official goodbye to the holidays and a hello to a new age in a fun city with room service and naps, let me tell you. (Recommend it to everyone!) And it was Mike's first time in the French Quarter, so it was a blast to be somewhere we'd never been together. 

It was a quick trip. We got into town late Thursday night and left after breakfast on Sunday, but we crammed a lot of fun into those few days. 

We ate incredible food, too, and our two favorites happened to be one high-end joint and one low-end one, both so delicious that I have to recommendt them to you for your next Nola trip.

1. Fancy: John Besh's August

I don't mind splurging on meals every now and then. If a meal is outstanding, I'm okay dropping a few bucks on it. My least favorite thing, though, is when we splurge on a meal and it's just so-so or even totally underwhelming. August was recommended, but it's pricey (even for lunch, which is my usual cut-some-dollars-from-the-bill trick), so I was a little weary. And it was a birthday lunch! I wanted it to be fantastic.

Oh, but it was.

No pictures of food! Because I was too busy eating it all.

Mike and I split the gnocchi with blue crab and black truffle, and this may go down as one of the best dishes I've ever had. All other gnocchi is ruined! (Not really, I'll still eat you, gnocchi.) It was just amazing. 

Mike got trout and I got the filet, and they were both equally delicious. Everything was just all-around outstanding. We were stuffed and couldn't eat another bite or we would have tried a dessert. Mike did have his eye on the banana pudding, so another time. Maybe just for dessert and cocktails, another don't-spend-all-your-money trick.

After lunch we took naps. Also recommended.

2. Not-So Fancy: Johnny's Po Boys

We had an hour to kill between our swamp tour and our cocktail tour on Saturday, and we wanted somewhere to eat that would be fast, delicious, and a short walk from where both tours met. We used Yelp! and picked Johnny's.

(That's Mike in line! I made him wait in all the lines. Birthday perk.)

It took a while to get our food, so we had to have a couple beers. (Practically forced to!) I got the blackened chicken po boy, and it really was the best sandwich/po boy I've ever had. It was just so flavorful, the bread warm and buttery, and while it was huge, and I couldn't imagine finishing it when it arrived, I nearly did. 

It's a good thing that place isn't anywhere near me, or I'd be in some serious trouble. 

It might be our first stop when we return, though.

What to Do in New York City: Try a Sugar Sweet Sunshine cupcake

When I was in New York a few weeks ago, I made a point to get a cupcake. I make a point to get a cupcake even when I'm not in New York, but my goal was to bring some of my coworkers to my favorite cupcake place in the city--Butter Lane--but it was (heartbreakingly) closed for a private party. I collected myself and we Yelped the closest, high-rated one near us. 

Sugar Sweet Sunshine did not disappoint, and I wish I had one right this moment, I have to say. It's easily one of the best I've had to date, even making it onto this best of NYC list.

 

I got the Bob, a yellow cake with chocolate almond buttercream frosting. 

*Oh, my total number of New York cupcakes is now seven. I take my cupcakes seriously.

My Easter Brunch Menu

I've hosted an Easter brunch and egg hunt for the last three years and it's one of my favorite traditions. Fine, it's because I serve mimosas. Guilty! Anyway, here's what else is on my menu:

(From left to right, top to bottom: 1, 2, 3, 4)

We're also having deviled eggs, fruit, and bacon. Juice and coffee, too. 

What are you having? 

What To Do: Eat a Few Pretzels at Mellow Mushroom

This isn't exactly a super unique recommendation because there are Mellow Mushrooms all over the damn place but, let me tell you, if there is one near you, head there immediately and get a half order of the pretzels as your entree. Get the regular butter and kosher salt flavor and add a side of beer cheese.

One of the best things I've eaten in ages. 

Oh, and if you're me, you'd probably add a draft beer to the side of those pretzels. 

The Highs & Lows of Whole30

First things first, I want to disclaim I didn't do Whole30 perfectly. I don't eat meat, other than a little fish, so I used the Whole30 Vegetarian Shopping List as my guide, but that meant I ate beans and lentils and whole-fat organic yogurt throughout the 30 days. This worked for me because I didn't want to rely too much on fish (I don't eat a lot of it in my everyday life), but this was obviously a slight deviation from the traditional Whole30 plan.

I also slipped a few times. For example, Mike handed me a handful of almonds toward the beginning of the month and I ate them and, lo, they were delicious because they were covered in canola oil and sea salt. I didn't eat them again, sadly (they were so good), but I didn't start over either. I also assume that while I did my very best in restaurants (I want a trophy for how many bread baskets I passed on), I likely slipped here and there. You just can't be completely certain what's happening in the kitchen, and I accepted that.

Oh, I also made birthday plans with a friend at a local restaurant I'd been excited to try (John Tesar's Spoon Bar & Kitchen, for any Top Chef fans out there) and while, again, I did my best, I knew I wouldn't get back to the restaurant anytime soon, so I tried not to beat myself up over any butter that made its way onto my baked fish's plate.

So! With all that said, let's dive in to my (almost) post-program thoughts.

Here's where I want to start and what will be the main takeaway from the last (very hard, very long) 30 days: for the first time in a very long time, oh maybe even ever, I didn't think about how many calories I was eating. I didn't go hungry, but I didn't overeat. I just ate. When I would get hungry, I'd go through all the usual "I want" cravings, but I'd have to choose a Whole30 compliant meal, and after I ate it, all was fine. That was an incredibly enpowering feeling, to just not know or care or think about how many calories I was eating. It's a feeling I'd like to find more of in my daily diet. That means a lot more balance when I introduce delicious things like muffins and pasta and chocolate, for sure, but now I know what I'm aiming for. That was a gift, and I'm thankful for it.

My night cravings all but disappeared. I made a goal to stop eating around 9:30 each night, except in instances when I hadn't eaten dinner yet, and while I've stuck to that, I found myself not even thinking about late-night snacks after a few days. I'd eat dinner and that was it. That was it! That was such a good feeling. 

I incorporated some healthier habits over the last month, and I hope to keep them up. I brought a lot of fruit to work for mid-afternoon snacks. I had a grapefruit or apple or pear or blackberries (my new favorite fruit) most afternoons, and that is so much better than the old mid-afternoon snacks I was eating. I also drank a lot of black coffee, and I hope to keep that up, too. I used to pour a bunch of milk or creamer or sugar into my coffee, and now I know I can drink coffee just fine without all that stuff in it. I'm glad for that. Finally, I just became more aware of how addicted to food I had become, how often I would blindly eat without checking ingredient lists. Does my can of tuna really need 16 ingredients in it? Can I spend a few extra minutes making healthier mayonaise at home instead of buying a tub at the store? Just, more aware. That's always good.

All that said, it's a tough program, it really is. It requires a lot of cooking, a lot of prepping, a lot of grocery shopping, and my schedule often fought that. I had to work late a handful of times this month, unfortunately, and while I'd love to be the superhero that gets home at 8pm and makes a delicious meal (only for myself, since the boys had alredy eaten), I could sometimes only muster the energy to scramble some eggs. I was tired a lot of the month, and I don't know if that's because I wasn't eating nearly as many carbs or drinking as much caffeine or what, but I couldn't find the energy to get to the gym but a few times. I just couldn't. I'd get home, scramble those eggs, and collapse. 

The Whole30 program is designed very specifically, and I understand that. If you're trying to rid your system of a bunch of stuff, having even very limited amounts seem to defeat the purpose. But, I do have a hard time with an all-or-nothing program because I have a personality that defaults to self-criticism when there's any slip from perfection. I sometimes think it's the Capricorn in me, the desire to be perfect even though I know how ridiculous that desire is, but a program that makes you feel like you have to do something perfectly to do it at all can be overwhelming and, for someone like me, it can also feel like setting yourself up for failure. I saw a lot of benefits from the program by doing my very best (and that best wasn't perfect) and I hope that's a message that is useful to others considering it.

Ultimately, I am glad I did it. I am. For all the positive reasons above, but also because it's one of the hardest things I've done, in terms of diet (not diet as in weight-loss but diet as in the food I eat), and it feels good to tackle something like that and come out better for it. I have a lot of faith in myself at this moment, and that's something I had lost sometime in 2012. 

I'm happy to answer any questions, if you have them, but if you're reading this after Tuesday night, I'm likely answering them with a giant Diet Coke in one hand and a bowl of cereal in the other. 

Christmas (Week) Menu

Now that Thanksgiving is an entire DAY behind us, let's talk about Christmas food. I think that makes perfect sense.

So, again, my sister and her family are coming in for the week of Christmas, and since I can't actually remember the last Christmas I spent with her (maybe in 2000?), I am ridiculously excited about this year's festivities.

I'm planning some special menus.

Christmas Eve

She flies in Christmas Eve afternoon and I assumed no one would feel like cooking a big meal, but Mike got very sad about breaking our breakfast-for-dinner Christmas Eve tradition, so we'll cook.

Brown butter blueberry muffins

Pancakes (either red velvet or oatmeal cookie)

Mike's Scramble. (Mike is going to whip up scrambled eggs with onions, peppers, cheese, etc. He's requested we refer to this as "Mike's Scramble" for the duration of the holidays.)

Bloody Mary's. I might need to buy this mix (#47 from the Food Lush gift guide)

Christmas morning

Cheap cinnamon rolls from a tube. (Delicious, though!)

Mimosas

Coffee

Christmas Night

Steak (Mike's taking care of this)

Scallops in hazelnut browned butter (I've been eating a little fish for about a month now--just once every couple weeks or so--and I'll enjoy these on Christmas night.)

Whiskey glazed carrots

Green bean casserole

Twice baked new potatoes

Store-bought dinner rolls

French 75s

French silk pie, perhaps? (Haven't quite decided on dessert.)

Other

I think I'll try to whip up these cranberry & brie sandwiches at some point and maybe these old-fashioned chocolate donuts, too, because why not. It's Christmas.

One other dinner will also be this (oh-so-good) veggie lasagna or these spicy shrimp with yogurt

Have you thought about what you're having this year?

Thanksgiving Menu

We're spending Thanksgiving with Mike's parents and I'm in charge of a dessert and a bread dish. Mike is in charge of his killer mashed potatoes. I wish I could share his recipe, but he wants to keep it a family secret. (He'd be the worst food blogger.) I'll try to get him drunk over the holidays so I can earn his permission. They're incredible. Everyone deserves to have mashed potatoes that delicious at some point in their lives.

I've decided to make:

1. Jalapeno cheddar scones. I've made these many times before. They're not spicy, at all, for anyone coming to my Thanksgiving dinner who might not like heat. The jalapeno brings flavor without much kick.

2. My mom is bringing a pumpkin pie, so I thought I'd bring peanut butter chocolate chip bars. They don't exactly scream Thanksgiving but there's a total of six ingreidents, five of which I already have, and they look delicious, too. 

What are you making this Thanksgiving?

(You are probably wondering why on earth I'm posting this kind of thing. I mean, great, I'm making scones, is that really POST WORTHY? Yes, it is, when you are trying to post EVERY SINGLE DAY OF A MONTH. This kind of challenge should really happen in February.)

The Official Blathering Cocktails

I'm desperate to toss up a post tonight and call it because this posting every day thing is no easy feat. If I make it another fifteen days, I expect someone to arrange a parade to go down my street.

I thought I might share my two favorite cocktail recipes really quickly, two recipes I shared with most of the Blathering attendees last week. I was in charge of cocktails--a job I take quite seriously, you'll be shocked--and while I spent many hours "researching" champagne cocktails, I fell back on two tried-and-true favorites, simple drinks I think will be a big win at your next party if you're throwing a party and in the market for champagne cocktails, that is.

1. Kir Royale

1 part creme de cassis
3 parts champagne

Sugar the rim of a champagne flute. Pour 3/4 of a glass of champagne and 1/4 of creme de cassis. Stir.

2. French 75

1 part gin
3 parts champagne

Sugar the rim (or, hey!, use edible glitter) of a champagne flute. Pour 3/4 of a glass of champagne and 1/4 of gin. Squeeze a wedge of lemon into the glass. Stir.

These are my takes on these drinks, so if I have any of the amounts wrong, blame, uh, me. Delicious, though!

Both seemed to be well-received at the Blathering's Friday dinner. If they weren't, I just kept passing them out until people changed their minds. My rule in life: if you can't convince someone you're brilliant, give them a lot of drinks until they start to believe you.

Cheers!

February Menu

Let's all ignore today's date and pretend this isn't laughably late and maybe also pretend you're still interested in seeing my monthly menus. This month got away from me (probably partly because of my newly-formed Sons of Anarchy addiction) so a few of these I didn't get around to making but all the recipes look delicious, so I wanted to share/link to them anyway. 

Indian Spiced Vegan Chili; Whole Wheat Roasted Red Pepper + Fontina Pizza; Roasted Grape, Goat Cheese, and Honey Stuffed Sweet Potatoes; Easy Black Bean Soup; Black Bean and Sweet Potato Enchiladas; Mike's Pizza (which is this Buffalo Chicken Pizza); Meatless Muffalettas; Gnocchi Mac-and-Cheese; Goat Cheese & Honey Sandwich; Avocado & Black Bean Salad; Veggie Lasagna; Tomato Basil Soup; Hummus & Avocado Toasts; Veggie Burgers (probably just Morning Star)

(January's menu!)

Making/Made anything delicious this month?

What To Do In Las Vegas: Eat Breakfast on the Patio at Mon Ami Gabi

So, I went to Vegas and, other than a lengthy and emotion-filled half-marathon recap, barely mentioned the trip at all. Which is totally and completely Christmas' fault. Send complaint (or thank-you?) notes that direction. The holidays took over all my thoughts after we got back, but there was certainly some serious fun in addition to all the running.

One highlight was sitting on the patio of Mon Ami Gabi, eating a pre-race breakfast. This restaurant is on the ground floor of the Paris Hotel, which is directly across the street from the Bellagio, so you get a front-row seat of the fountains when you dine outside. 

Not only that but, holy cow, was the menu packed with deliciousness. 

I had tons of iced coffee, fresh bread, and split the nutella waffles. I also tasted some of my friend's French Onion soup, which was amazing. I normally don't care for this soup because the bites are either all cheese or all brothy onions, nothing in between, but each bite of this soup was so rich and thick, I kept meaning to go back and have some more. There was also a slow-braised beef eggs benedict dish that I still wish I had ordered. (Here's the full breakfast menu.)

I don't see the cocktail choices online, not sure why, but the Bloody Mary bar was so cool.

I was abstaining from Vegas cocktails that morning because I had 13.1 miles to run (although if I could have foreseen that I'd just be puking later that night anyway, I might have gone ahead and enjoyed). 

If you're in Vegas, and are looking for a (relatively affordable, all things considered) place for breakfast, check out this place. (I bet it's just as, if not more, awesome to eat dinner in front of the fountains.) We had to wait about a half hour for a table, but we had a big group. Calling ahead can't hurt, though. Finally, the service wasn't exceptional, but the food, drinks, and views kept us perfectly happy while we waited.

*** 

Here are some more "What To Do In" posts, something I started last year to spotlight awewsome local and travel finds.

Where I Ate in San Diego: The Highlights

I titled this "the highlights" because you probably don't care to know about the Starbucks iced coffee I had every morning or the convention center nachos I ate in our booth for lunch. Unless you do care and if you do, you're probably my mom. Hi, mom!

So, how about a top ten list of awesome? Yeah, sounds good.

Top Ten Delicious Things I Ate (& Drank) in San Diego

10. Dark chocolate gelato from Chocolat Cremerie. I had a rough day of set-up, so I treated myself to gelato. And, oh my, am I glad I did. This was as creamy and chocolatey as gelato comes. I got a tiny, tiny cup because it was before dinner, and I ate it in like 15 seconds.

9. Lagunitas beer from The Hopping Pig. I'd never had this beer before, and I got it, admittedly, because it's from a brewery in Petaluma, where my step-mom and brother live. It was amazing, though! I sipped it while people-watching and writing on the bar's patio, in the 70-degree weather. Blissful!

8. Gorgonzola mashed potatoes from Panevino. I don't think this needs further explanation, do you?

7. Norah's Pear-adise cocktail from R Gang Eatery. I don't usually like vodka cocktails because the actual taste of vodka is kind of throat-burny. But, this was delicious. Light, fruity, really good.

{Norah's Pear-adise}

6. Fried pickles from The Knotty Barrel. Yum.

5. Smoked gouda mac-and-cheese from R Gang Eatery. Oh man, was this delicious. It might be my favorite thing from the entire trip. Jen and I shared it, and I wanted to order three more servings.

4. Hummus with ground Kobe beef from Sammy's Woodfired Pizza. I love hummus, but I have never once thought about adding any other protein to it. I'M GLAD SOMEONE ELSE THOUGHT TO!

{Hummus with Kobe beef}

3. Deep-fried twinkies from The Knotty Barrel. We split these, as a table, and that was a silly idea. I could easily have devoured an order all my own.

2. Cheddar cheese fondue from The Melting Pot. Dipping carbs into melted cheese. Yeah, like this one needs further explanation.

1. Warm crispy mini-donuts from Sammy's Woodfired Pizza. Oooooooh, I am still thinking about these doughy delights. Dip half the donuts in chocolate and half in the raspberry sauce and thank me later.

And, now you can see why I'm spending an awful lot of time in the gym, post-trip. Anyway, if you're heading to San Diego soon (BlogHer, anyone?), you can't go wrong with any of these dishes. Or all of them. 

What To Do in Grapevine, TX: Try the Lemon Drop Pancakes at Old West Cafe

I don't really like pancakes. Now, I don't dislike them. Make me a batch and I'll eat them, swear it, but if I'm ordering breakfast, I'm very, very rarely going to choose pancakes over French toast or an omelet or anything else on the menu.

But, it was my dad's last morning in town on Saturday, so we took him to breakfast, and Mike picked a place he had been recently with some family, and I split a dish with my dad and let him pick what it was. We were in a crowded restaurant with lots of kitschy things on the wall and sticky tables. A family joint, you know? Where the food is never bad, but you don't expect your mind to be blown because it's cheap and loud and your kid can throw jelly packets on the floor without too many people glaring.

Except, this place? Kind of blew my mind with the one particular dish my dad picked.

The lemon drop pancakes, which no one would give me the recipe for, of course. I do know they were the size of my head and tasted like a buttery lemon pound cake with sweet syrup drizzled on top. Oh, they were just so good. I imagine this is why people love pancakes! Only took me nearly 30 years to figure that out.

I don't know why you'd ever be in Grapevine, TX (although that is where the DFW airport is located, so maybe on a long layover?), but if you ever are, give me a call first -- don't just come to town without calling! -- but also definitely try these pancakes.

What to Do in New York City: Eat at Locanda Verde

Last week, I was in New York for work and just like every other trip to every other city, I had to seek out my best blog friends to catch up with. I didn't feel like I had much free time, but I did manage a few really delicious meals after work was done each day and one such meal on one such day was with Metalia and Jen.

Metalia, the local of the group, sent us a couple restaurant choices ahead of time, and I suggested we go to the one she'd never been to, so we could all try something new.

The place was Locanda Verde.

It was incredible.

When you're in New York next, make your way to Tribeca (a 15-minute cab ride from Times Square, where we unfortunately stayed) and then send me a thank-you note in the form of any of the crostini options (the blue crab was my favorite but thoughts of the sheep's milk ricotta will carry me through my Vegan Summer).

I'd also suggest ordering the La Fantasia di Cioccolato for two (even if it's just you; we don't judge), which is just a fancy ice cream sundae that I could not stop eating even though I was well past the point of full.

The menu is kind of sophisticated, true, which is what drove us to our phones to Google half the terms on the menu to figure out what the heck we might be ordering, such as guanciale (turns out: bacon!), but the food wasn't overly sophisticated at all. It was simple and flavorful and ridiculously good.

Although, sure, it also helped that while we waited for our table, Justin Long walked through the restaurant. He totally asked for my number.

(Except that he didn't, at all.)

If I was a good food blogger, I'd now insert my many near-professional photos of everything I tasted.

Spoiler: I am not a good food blogger.

Regardless, it was such a tasty meal with good friends. You should trust me and go as soon as you possibly can. Here's an idea, take me with you when you do!

Forget Fancy, We Have Fast

We had our rehearsal dinner at the Reno In-N-Out Burger. I was sure it was going to be a big ole disaster. We couldn't rent out the entire place -- or at least we couldn't for $20, which is what I offered them -- and we sure as hell couldn't make In-N-Out unpopular on a Friday night, so we got smart and planned our rehearsal dinner for mid-afternoon, during what we hoped would be a lull in the burger crowds.

It worked. We had 40-or-so people in that In-N-Out, and we all sat more-or-less together and the entire thing cost $200. (Natalie even had seconds!)

(Everyone in this picture was with us.)

After dinner, we hit up Reno for drinks and gambling.

It was a pretty fantastic night, that night before our wedding, so last night, the night before our fourth anniversary, we drove about a half hour to the newest craze in North Texas:

The lines were insane and I would have laughed in the face of all that insanity any other night but last night, when I was full of nostalgia (and hunger). We waited about an hour, in a very well-orchestrated line, and we paid $16 for our anniversary dinner.

Kyle even approved.

(He approved right after he covered his arms in stickers. Obviously.)

What to Do in Dallas: Eat at The Commissary

I'm off to see Forks Over Knives tonight, a documentary about a plant-based diet and what consuming animal products means for your health and the environment. So, let me post about this delicious, mouth-watering burger now instead of later because later the thought of this burger might make me a wee bit nauseous and/or socially guilty.

THIS BURGER WAS SO GOOD.

(I ate half at lunch and half the next day for lunch, and it was delicious both sittings, which made me love it all the more.)

This burger is from new gourmet burger joint The Commissary, although the prices don't match the menu, which I love. (This burger was $7, which included the shoestring fries.)

I want to go back and try just about every other burger offering, eventually.

I won't go so far as to say it outranks Twisted Root for me, but it was really close.

Cherie's Too-Quick Visit and Small-Town Sushi

Cherie came to town for what felt like five minutes. I had to work (and so did she) so we really only had two nights to hang out. Two nights is not enough nights but we made the best of it. Both nights we walked from my house to my (small) town's Main Street and ate dinner.

This is us walking. You know, in case you couldn't visualize that yourself.

The first night, we had delicious pizza at Brix. The second ... sushi.

I know what you're thinking, "Why yes, small-town Texas is totally known for its delicious sushi!" Or maybe you're not thinking that at all. Hard to tell. Cherie was feeling brave, though, so sushi it was!

We were basically the only ones in the restaurant all night. That was the first sign.

Then, it took an hour to get our food. (Second sign.)

We had a sake bomb while we waited.

(I used to love these in college and having my college friend in town inspired me. I forgot you are supposed to chug them, though, so Cherie and I became the first people in the history of the world to order sake bombs and then sip them for the next half hour. Mom version of sake bombs!)

The third sign was our waiter, our crazy crazy waiter who's shirt read:

 

Clearly the dress code for this restaurant falls under the headline KLASSY.

So, the food and service was not top-notch.

But the company was.

(We convinced Kristie to tag along with us.)

Cherie's gone again, damn distance and geography. I hope to see her again soon. Until then, I'll go pout for a little while and then remind myself it's just a good thing I have these kinds of friends at all. Even if they live all the way over in TOO-FAR-FROM-ME-VILLE.

Where We Ate (and Ate and Ate) in Boston

As soon as I stepped into the airport last week, I took my healthy living and diet and exercise routines and promptly gave them the finger, kicked them to the curb, and forgot all about them. Which I was totally and fully okay with.

It's vacation! If there's ever a time to indulge and gorge on carbs and seafood and then wash it all down with a glass (or three) of something sparkling (but not sparkling water, no no no), it's vacation.

But what -- specifically -- did I eat while I was gone? I don't know if you genuinely care about this list, but I care about recording it, so I can look back fondly one day and remember how I inhaled a pound of lobster and a pound of cake back-to-back and enjoyed every delicious minute of it.

Boston: North End

This part of town, centered around Hanover Street, is primarily Italian. We literally just chose a restaurant out of the hundreds of Italian restaurants dotting the streets. The one we chose was Cantina Italiana and I got the pizzetta con pollo while Mike got the antipasto platter and the tortellini off the specials menu. We both got huge glasses of Peroni and then another glass to share because it was that tasty.

We ended the day with pastries from Mike's Pastry, and we got a huge assortment to share with Jonna and Adam when we arrived at their house later that day.

Boston: Quincy Market

I wasn't sure what to expect when we walked into Quincy Market, a sprawling building filled with food stands and carts (and a million people), but the vibe in this place was great. I just got a grilled chicken sandwich -- nothing too special -- because the lines were overwhelming me but Mike got a bowl of chowder, from Boston Chowda Co. that changed his life. From that moment on, he took it as his mission to try every bowl of chowder in New England. He nearly succeeded too.

(As you know if you follow him on Facebook.)

Boston: Seafood

We hit up two great spots for seafood in/around Boston and you should too, if you ever visit. First, Legal Sea Foods was our one "fancy" dinner, where we threw our budget out the window and ordered what we genuinely wanted. I got the seafood casserole with a side of jalapeno cheddar polenta and Mike got the cioppino, something he's still talking about. It was all delicious.

We also ate dinner at the Barking Crab, a laid back joint right on the water. The beers were cheap and the atmosphere was fun. You do have to squish together at a table with strangers, if your party's a weird size or the place is packed, but it wasn't a big deal. I got the lobster roll -- my first! -- and it was packed with fresh lobster. Felt like a great deal.

Salem

We ate at Victoria's Station, right on the water at Pickering Wharf, and Mike and I both ordered a sandwich of our own and then split it. He got the blue crab salad sandwich, and I got the roast prime rib au jus sandwich.

Cambridge

We had drinks and appetizers with my editor, Leah, who lives in Cambridge. (She's not my editor although I always say that. She's not editing my great American novel, but she's the editor to my marketer at my day job.) She took us to her local favorite, River Gods, and while the food was great (the table split the dip sampler and I got the warm brie and a seasonal pumpkin soup) and the house wine good, we pissed off our waitress right off the bat and she had me anxious too much of our time there. Still, it's an eclectic, different, fun place.

Portsmouth

We spent two days of our trip in Maine and drove down to Portsmouth one afternoon to try and get on a harbor cruise, which was canceled last minute because of low turn-out. Bummer. But we had about an hour to kill before seeing The Social Network, so we stopped in Portsmouth Brewery, a recommendation from TwoBusy. I wish we had saved this place for a full meal because the menu is fantastic and though we just had a couple beers and a salad/soup combo to share, I was so impressed. I got the caesar salad, one of my all-time favorite dishes, but a dish you can mess up super easily, but this was one of the best I've ever had.

I also loved the beer glasses and wish I had stopped in the adjoining store to pick up some.

Kennebunkport, Maine

We randomly picked this town, and I can't even recall our method of selection now, but it was picture-perfect. I was just so delighted with it and we want to take Kyle back one day, when it's warmer and we can whale watch and stroll on beaches without needing a coat.

We ate at Federal Jack's twice, which says a lot about how much we loved it since we were only in town two nights. The first, we split a three-lobster dinner that was a mere $20. I also had the most amazing dessert I can ever remember having -- a pumpkin apple spice cake with hot caramel sauce and cinnamon ice cream -- but it seems everything we got was off the specials menu, so you can't even see a picture or description. The second night, we just went for dessert, so I could get the cake again.

We also stopped in H&B Provisions to get champagne and beer for our cottage. If you're ever in town, I recommend doing the same!

***

My scale screamed at me for hours when we got back and I've been in the gym ever since because, as I said to Mike mid-way through the trip: "I feel jigglier than when we left." But? It was worth every bite.

It's the time of year for celebrating

I don't know how things worked out this way, but our friends and family have spread their birthdays out quite evenly through the year so we're always going to a birthday party or hosting a birthday party or scouring Amazon for The Best Gift Ever to give someone for their birthday.

September is no exception.

We celebrated two birthdays this past weekend and then we celebrated wine in between those two birthdays because this is just how we roll.

You shouldn't be surprised if you've ever met me.

So, early Saturday morning we got up and headed to the park to celebrate our nephew's fourth birthday and while four year olds do plenty of things I wouldn't list under Interests on Facebook -- get chased by "dinosaurs", get dirty in the sandbox, jump in a bounce house -- they do two other things I can certainly get behind: eat pizza and eat cake.

Kyle's also nearing the age where he can actually play with other kids. While he's "played" with kids before that usually means playing near them or fighting over a toy with them or running into walls beside them. Now he's using his imagination and mimicking his buddies and this is just adorable to see. He spent a good half hour spitting ice cubes into a cooler after he saw his cousin do it, and then they'd both uproariously laugh together about it.

I did point out to the rest of the party guests that they shouldn't drink the cooler water, if they were into that sort of thing because there are few things toddler spit enhances, am I right?

(I'd insert adorable pictures from the party here if I hadn't forgotten both my phone and camera at home.)

Then, Saturday evening, I left my anti-crowds husband at home with my has-an-early-bedtime son and went to Grapefest, a local wine festival, with a couple great friends.

We tasted wine, beer, champagne, and even olive oil. I'm not kidding about that last part!

See, a wall of different olive oils, and lots of sourdough bread to taste them with. Favorites: all.

Aren't all good wine festivals made complete by posing in front of a Jumbo Corndog stand?

Me, Kristie, Natalie.

Bubbly.

I got Yellowglen Yellow, and it was delicious.

After dinner, I poured myself into bed.

Sunday, the whole family took my mom to brunch to celebrate her birthday. Kyle's got a really great Nana, and she's worth celebrating.

She then treated me to a movie because I wasn't kidding about that great part.

We saw The Town, which was good. Really good. Almost-makes-you-forget-about-Jersey Girl good. But Gone Baby Gone is one of my top-five favorite movies of all time and it seems Ben set his directing bar pretty high for me, so I didn't find The Town as good as that, but you won't be disappointed if you fork over $10 to see the movie in a theater.

Also, Ben, good choice embracing the gray.

(Although I did leave the theater with a couple issues over the way the movie wrapped-up. Who would like to talk about those issues with me?)

It was a great weekend and I hope yours was too.

***

What did you celebrate this weekend?

August Recap

First, a question:

HOW THE HELL IS IT SEPTEMBER?

It's all a bit mind-boggling, that we have a mere four months left until a whole new year. That means Halloween is right around the corner, then Thanksgiving, then Christmas, THEN 2011, HOLY SHIT.

But, for now, August.

***

This past month I started regularly doing two things I haven't done in as long as I can recall: going to sleep at a reasonable hour and reading.

I've been offline in the evenings just as often as I've been on and let me tell you, as much as I love the internet, there's nothing quite as nice or as vital to one's peace of mind as a good book and an early bedtime.

(Unless that good book keeps you up until 1:30, I'M LOOKING AT YOU HUNGER GAMES.)

***

This month we also didn't eat out (for the most part) and, hey, we didn't die! We made a few exceptions, which I was fine with, but for the most part we ate all our meals from our own kitchen. It basically confirmed something I already knew: we spend entirely too much money on unnecessary meals. 

I'm going to try very, very hard to bring my lunch to work every day and to limit eating out to the weekends, for date nights or special family outings.

***

I've lost 31 pounds this year and have 17 more to go. It feels as if the weight is falling off ever-so slowly and that I'll never reach my goal. It's hard to keep perspective when you plateau, you know?

But, there's this: I enjoy food, I enjoy cooking (here's my September menu, if you care about that kind of thing), I enjoy running. Those are three brand-new things for me. It's hard to say I ever really enjoyed food before, not when there was so much fucked-up guilty aftermath that went along with it.

But, I no longer view food as a crutch or my particular form of self-medication. I feel I've done more for my family in terms of taking care of them and providing meals for them this year than all other years combined, and I feel I've done more for myself this year, as well.

I'm not there yet, no, and that's just frustrating, no way around it. To be close but not quite there.

But I'll get there.

When I do, drinks for everyone!

***

Style Lush continues to blow my mind. The content is just hands-down incredible. We consistently have great giveaways and fun features and the most talented DIYers I know.

Make no mistake, I am not one of them. I just organize all that talent in one place while contributing very little of it.

(Oh, and our one-year anniversary is in October. I'm lining up some great giveaways for that week. If you have a shop or store or hidden talent and want to contribute to a giveaway that week, let me know.) 

***

This month I also: saw Greenday in concert, had a fancy date night with my husband, threw a party, and went to BlogHer.

Phew. Maybe it was less of a low-key month than I thought.

***

Then there's Kyle.

Oh Kyle.

18 months has been, for us, just blissful. (Now 14-15 months was not.) He understands so much, and is so easy to talk to and get through to, and while he's doing all that BEING-A-REAL-PERSON shit, he's still a baby. There's chub, everywhere, and he's still toddling around in diapers and a little wobbly, and so soft and sweet. 

(Although 18 months did bring the toddler feet of doom. THEY SMELL OF DEATH AND ROT.)

He holds my hand, without me asking him to, and while the tantrums are brutal, they're also quick. 

He's talking more, he's laughing more, he's dancing more, he's just more, while still being so little.

He has a sense of humor and while it's a little, uh, strange -- he thinks it's HILARIOUS when we sneeze -- making him laugh has got to be the best thing on the planet. Sorry, boss, can I just quit my job and make my kid laugh for  a living because I appear to be awesome at it?

Every stage is so fleeting, so hard to remember without the help of a blog, so full of highs and lows that if you sit around think about it for very long, you can't help but cry. It's cruel, the way we are given these gifts only to have them morph into something else entirely so soon, but it's so beautiful that they're replaced with something even more amazing.

Missing who he was before is like missing a light while I live with the sun.

 

***

September holds: Kyle's first college football game, my first 10K (and lunch with Natalie), our nephew's birthday party, another birthday party, a handful of other birthdays, and the end of summer. NOT SUMMER TEMPERATURES, THOUGH, OH NO. Texas is an overachiever when it comes to being stupid.

What are you looking forward to this month?