Welcome to the Neighborhood: Casa Blanca

One of the best parts about settling into our new home is discovering our new neighborhood.  We've only been here for about four months but we already have a few spots that we like to dine at regularly.  Recently, we stopped in for an early dinner at one of our favorite neighborhood spots - Casa Blanca.

Casa Blanca has a few locations in the area but the one closest to our home (and my office) is located in downtown Andover.  In our experience, the service can be a little spotty but the food is always consistently solid.

We started the meal with a complimentary trio of salsas and a basked of tortilla chips that are so light, crispy and not greasy. 

I washed this down with a cold bottle of Pacifico.

For my meal, I perused the menu and finally settled on the pollo pepe.  This dish consisted of slow-cooked and grilled chicken breast marinated with guajillo peppers and Mexican spices.  This dish is served with warm corn tortillas, lettuce, pico de gallo and avocado.  You also get to choose two sides.  I went with the Mexican rice and the charro beans.

This was a ginormous piece of thinly pounded chicken breast and I could only manage to eat about half of it.  The chicken was moist and flavorful but lacked the spice I was anticipating.  This was my first time trying the charro beans and they were a little too salty for me.

Bret had the baja chimichanga with chicken and red enchilada sauce.  He opted for the Mexican rice and black beans.

Like usual, the service was a bit spotty.  It took awhile to get our beverages and my tortillas were definitely an afterthought.  Our server disappeared once our plates hit the table and didn't return until he brought the check.  Still, the food was solid and we thoroughly enjoyed our meal.  Casa Blanca remains in our local neighborhood restaurant roster.

Casa Blanca has several locations.  We dined at 10 Main Street, Andover, MA.

Fun and Fearless Changes

After my last discouraging blog post, I decided that maybe I should write about something a little more positive!  As many of you know, I've started a new job a little over a month ago outside of the city.  I've absolutely been loving the change.  I wake up feeling excited to go to work and I sometimes come home tired but always feeling really content.  With our new car, the commute hasn't been too bad but I'm still coming home a lot later than I'd like, especially since my hours aren't really regular.  Bret, on the other hand, works very regular hours and leaves work an hour later than me and comes home about two hours before me.  As the month went by, we realized that we were barely seeing each other except to eat dinner and go to sleep.  This was not what either of us wanted and it was time for a change to get our life balance back. 

We started looking at places in Andover that is close enough to both my office and the train station.  With Bret commuting into the city, he'll be coming home later and I'll be coming home earlier.  But still, we'll be coming home at the same time and have time to go to the gym, cook together and relax after work.  These are all of the things we've been missing lately.  I have to say that I'm so grateful that Bret is willing to do this (in fact, it was his idea) because it is definitely a huge sacrifice on his part. 

And for the good news....after some searching, we found our new home! 

Starting on August 1, we will be living in a fantastic townhouse in downtown Andover.  Although it is bittersweet to leave the city that I've called home for eight years, I'm really looking forward to having more space, a fantastic new kitchen...and best of all, a patio for grilling!

So, what does this mean for the blog?  I'm going to continue blogging when I can.  Some of you may have noticed that I am blogging less consistently lately.  I've made the decision to blog only when I really want to and not because I feel obligated to have new content every day.  But as long as I enjoy blogging, I'll continue writing.  And while it might not be in Boston, I'll still stay fun and fearless no matter the location!