Iron or Sugar ?

Filed under Life, Real Food, Restaurants, Travel by on 28 December 2010 at 5:57 pm {2 comments}

The traditional gifts for wedding anniversary number six are iron or sugar. Hmmm. . . well I didn’t know this until I looked it up today which means we didn’t give or get each other either of those things.

Yesterday, Jeremy and I celebrated anniversary #6. Compared to last year’s blow out celebration,  this year was peaceful and laid back. It was great!

After leaving Rhode Island, we headed straight to meet Uncle Sam, Sam Adams that is. Even though we’ve been to Boston tons of times, we’ve never toured the Sam Adams’ brewery. IMG_6635 IMG_6616 IMG_6619 IMG_6633 The California plate is my favorite “Hava Sam”. I have been on numerous brewery tours, and this one was short and sweet.  Our tour guide, Audrey, was bubbly and funny without being obnoxious. She also informed the group that we could head down the street a bit to Doyle’s and get a free Sam’s glass with a beer.

IMG_6644 IMG_6639 IMG_6641I think 75% of the people on the tour ended up there; who can say no to a free, scientifically designed for your beer enjoyment glass. The food was simple and perfect for a blustery day.  I had grilled cheese and the best garlic French fries ever.

After a late lunch, we headed to our hotel for the night, The Westin Waterfront. I thought it might be crowded because of the blizzard, but it wasn’t which was great. We relaxed, took a nap, and eventually went down to the hotel restaurant and had a snack. It was really nice to walk indoors not out in the wind. We kicked back watching MNF at M. J. Oconnors. The appetizers we had were good but were overshadowed by the fact that it was freezing.

To cap off our day, we tried the new Infinium.

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I was excited to try this champagne like beer. Sadly, I really did not like it. I found the scent and flavor overly floral.

After a great night’s rest and catching a pretty sunrise (well I caught it Jeremy of course was still sleeping), we hit up a local diner I found on Yelp.

IMG_6651 IMG_6654 IMG_6656My Diner was a great way to end our trip. If you live in Boston, go to the A Street My Diner. The food was fast, affordable, and oh so good. Butter, real butter, slathered on my French toast nearly brought a tear to my eye.

After a quick stop at Trader Joe’s and Sonic, we are home and trying to stay warm. Jeremy is preparing for his big conference in a few weeks, and I am avoiding any real work by reading and writing blogs.

Let’s hope this year is as good as all the rest.

A Happy Birthday Weekend

Filed under Food, Restaurants, Travel by on 29 March 2010 at 8:56 pm {2 comments}

Saturday was my 27th birthday.  Jeremy decided to treat me to a night in Boston. If there is one thing, I love it’s hotels. We Hotwired a hotel and took the train down. We ended up at The Langham off Congress Street; gotta love 4.5 stars. This hotel was great, although I was surprised by the age of the TV. From the second we walked in the service was impeccable; they even upgraded our room. It didn’t hurt that the man who was checking us in had a British accent. 

 Langham

After checking in and looking around, Jeremy and I headed out to do a little shopping. I found a cute cotton summer dress at T.J. Maxx, which will be nice if it ever gets warm here. After shopping, we went back and to get ready for dinner. Jeremy talked to the concierge  and found a place to eat in the North End.  While it was beautiful in New England last week, it was pretty chilly this weekend. We walked over to Panza a little after 7 for our 7:30 reservation.   

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Panza is a little cramped, but the food was great. We ordered a bottle of Dragani and split the bruschetta. Next I had a the Chicken Panza and Jeremy had the Rigatoni and Sausage with Goat Cheese.

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This food tasted very authentic and both of our sauces were very light.

When we finished eating, we started strolling back to the hotel. There was, no surprise, a huge line outside of Mike’s Pastry (I’ve never eaten here because of the constant line). We decided we could live without dessert. We were strolling when we came upon two pedi cab drivers. They were loud and funny, so we decided to take a ride. I’ve never taken a pedi cab ride before but he was fast. It is certainly cheaper and more green than an actual taxi ride.

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After getting back to the hotel, we popped into Bond, the lounge at the hotel. It was so pretty inside. I loved the chandeliers.

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We lounged for a little bit and then headed upstairs to the extremely comfortable pillows and bed. It was a great birthday, but I wish every night when I go to bed there could be a chocolate there for me with slippers by my bed.

slippers

BFF Weekend – The Paramount Boston

Filed under Food, Restaurants by on 23 March 2010 at 7:46 pm {one comment}

After walking the Freedom Trail and seeing Fenway, Kristen and I realized there was no 6:45 train. This meant we’d have to stay in Boston until 11:00.  At first I was a bit distraught, I am a planner.  But after making a few phone calls to people in the know, we decided to head over to Charles Street. It was still around 55 degrees outside, so we had a lovely stroll though Boston Common. Then we meandered down Charles Street looking in the windows of all the little shops  and talking. We can seriously talk for hours.

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After meandering for awhile, we settled on The Paramount. We couldn’t have made a better choice. This restaurant is what you might call cozy i.e. tiny. It is long and narrow and had maybe 12 – 15 tables.  We knew that we had a lot of time, so we drew out our dining experience in true European fashion. First they served us bread with an avocado dipping sauce. The sauce was a surprising change from the typical olive oil. We both really liked the cool creamy sauce. Next, we spent some time looking at the menu. I decided on the black bean burger with a half Caesar salad. Kristen had the Greek salad.

When our order came,  I noticed that my black bean burger was white. I very politely told our server that I hadn’t ordered chicken. She whisked my food away. The service here was really some of the best I’ve had. She brought back my salad which was nice of her. My burger, once it arrived, had some great flavors and was accompanied with a salsa to put on top. While it was different then what I usually make at home (I like it spicy), it really held together well.

After we both finished eating, we ordered tea and dessert. 100_0512

If you can go to The Paramount, order the fried dough with the raspberry dipping sauce and vanilla ice cream.  Initially, we said we didn’t want our ice cream, because I thought it would be melting all over the fried dough. Our server assured us that there would be no melting and that we had to have the ice cream. It came with a pineapple sauce. This dessert was everything you love about a fair, taken to the next level.  We had enough to have dessert for  Saturday night too. Our awesome server comped our dessert, because she felt bad about my burger mix up. It wasn’t necessary, but a very nice gesture. I really want to return to The Paramount at some point.

Kristen and I had such a great night relaxing over a wonderful meal.  Our walk back to North Station was brisk. We both fell asleep on the way home.  We slept in to get ready for Saturday another great day.

BFF Weekend – Fenway & the Freedom Trail

Filed under Life, Sports by on 22 March 2010 at 7:27 pm {no comments}

Before I launch into this post a moment to vent.

If my Blackberry had a face, I would punch it. I got Error 522 today and with the exception of the pictures on my phone I lost everything. It’s been a colossal pain in the arse to get everything all set back up. Grrr. . .

On to brighter and better things.

Kristen flew in on Thursday. It made my work day go by quickly knowing that she was coming, and that I didn’t have to work on Friday. We spent the first night baby sitting, watching March Madness and talking. 

On Friday, we got up relatively late for both of us 7:30 and headed to Boston. We took the Downeaster, which is always such a nice ride. Kristen had never been to Boston, so I got to play tour guide. It was a beautiful day in Boston. Warm. Sunny. Springy.

First was Fenway. *Disclaimer – I am a life long, die hard, YANKEES fan.* Fenway is one of the last of the original MLB stadiums. If you love baseball, this is definitely a park you have to see. The tour was great. We got to see the press box and go on the Green Monster.  Our tour guide was entertaining but not obnoxious. 

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After the train ride and the tour, we were hungry.   We found a place to quell our hunger. Uburger on Kenmore. This was the first time I’d eaten at Uburger. The food was great.  I had the  Phat Chick (bbq sauce, bacon, and cheddar) on a grilled chicken breast. Kristen had the UCheeseburger. They grind their own burger everyday. The burger looked like something you’d make at your own house not something that’s been frozen for a year.

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Once we were all fueled up, we took the subway to Park Street and started on The Freedom Trail. Besides being historical, the Freedom Trail is a great way to see Boston.  We trooped right along stopping where we wanted and there was of course Starbucks and gelato(not nearly on par with  the gelato in Italy).  We didn’t make it to the USS Constitution in time, which was a bummer, but we still had a great time.

When we got to North Station to catch our 6:45 train, I looked at the arrival sign. The sign seemed to have an error. It said the next train wasn’t arriving until 10:35pm. I checked our tickets to see that I had purchased return tickets for Saturday not Friday. So now we ended up having an extra four hours to kill. 

In tomorrow’s post what to do with four hours in Boston.

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