Happy Monday!

I cannot stop smiling today because I just had one of the most relaxing weekends in a long time.  My weekend involved my firm holiday party, picking out and decorating our Christmas tree, cooking and baking up a storm, entertaining with lots of vino, lazy football Sunday, and lots of laughter.  I've got a lot of great blog posts to come this week (once I get all of the photos uploaded) but in the meantime, I have to share a photo of our Christmas tree!

How was your weekend?

Weekend Re-cap: Boothbay, Maine

This past weekend, Bret and I headed up to Boothbay, Maine for Bret's mini-college reunion.  Bret and his friends graduated from Connecticut College ten years ago.  None of them made it to the official reunion this past June so they organized a weekend in Boothbay to celebrate.

This summer has flown by with a new job, packing, moving and lots of working!  I didn't realize how much I needed to get away until we were finally up in Maine.  We indulged in lots of beverages, enjoyed a vast amount of food, and spent an afternoon in Boothbay Harbor.  I also managed to squeeze in a massage for an hour that was seriously needed!

I stuck to my point and shoot camera this weekend while Bret took more serious photos.  Here are just a few photos of a wonderful weekend away!

Boothbay Harbor

McSeagull's

Cruising on the Harbor Princess

Connecticut College...Class of 2001!

Thanks to Alan and Tonya for doing a lot of the organizing and for putting us up at Fisherman's Wharf Inn!  We had a fantastic time and this past weekend was just what I needed!

Max's Oyster Bar

I spent most of this past weekend out of town.  After a Board of Directors retreat in western Massachusetts, I headed down to Connecticut for a quick overnight stay with my friend Alicia.  Alicia has been living in West Hartford for over six months and I was long overdue for a visit.

Alicia took me on a little tour of her new neighborhood and we decided to stop in at Max's Oyster Bar, one of her favorite restaurants, for a cocktail and a small bite.  Even though there was plenty of outdoor seating available, we decided to stay cool indoors and grabbed a high top table by the windows in the bar.  There were plenty of cocktails to choose from but I decided on one of my favorite drinks - the Pimm's Cup (Pimm's No. 1, citrus bubble, cucumber, lemon).  When I was in college, I studied abroad at Oxford University and drank one of these cocktails just about every day.  I was happy to relive in the memories this past weekend.

Alicia's cocktail, the D.B.T., came in an adorable mason jar!

Unlike Boston, West Hartford permit happy hour specials and we were more than happy to indulge.  We split an order of four Atlantic oysters for a whopping four dollars!

The oysters were briney and so delicious!  We also put in an order of blackened fish tacos.  While the fish tacos tasted fresh, I was missing heat from the mango-jalapeno relish.
 

Alicia and I both finished our meal with a glass of Domaine St. Michelle sparkling wine.  After all, what is a happy hour without some bubbly?

Max's Oyster Bar is located 964 Farmington Avenue, West Hartford, Connecticut.

Fun and Fearless Weekend Re-Cap

Happy Monday!  As I mentioned yesterday, I was down in Hoboken this past weekend to visit my best friend Samantha.  In addition to asking her to be my Maid of Honor, we had a blast eating and shopping our weekend away!  I only took two photos the entire weekend and here they are:

Saturday night at Willie McBride's

Brunch at Amanda's

When I got back to Boston early Sunday evening, I got to have a belated birthday dinner with my friend Alex.  Some of you may remember that we visited Alex in Washington, D.C. last month and she is another one of my closest friends.  Alex was up in Vermont skiing this weekend and she needed a place to crash before her flight this morning.  My home is always open to friends and guests so it was great to see her for the night!

This is a short blog post today since I have a lot on my plate that I need to catch up on but I have an exciting announcement coming up tomorrow and a pretty cool giveaway!  In the meantime, here are some thoughts I'd like to share on Monday morning:

1.  I will never ever think it is okay to wear real fur.  Perhaps I am a hypocrite because I am a total carnivore and have countless leather/suede shoes, purses, belts, and wallets, but I cringe every time I see a person wearing real fur.  It is just not okay in my book.

2.  Even though I love when Bret does sweet gestures like buying my flowers, nothing warms my heart more than when I come home and he has unexpectedly done tons of laundry, tidied up the apartment, dropped off the drycleaning and sent packages at the post office.  I'm not sure what it says about me when housekeeping and errands warm up my heart.

3.  As some of you know, I've been eating very low carb and sugar meals since January 1st.  I've also kicked up my exercise regimen to almost every day.  I weighed myself this morning and was happy to discover that I've lost ten pounds this month!  While I don't intend to keep this low carb lifestyle forever, this month has been really awakening for me to discover that I can make smarter decisions to eat less and still feel full without sacrificing flavor or taste.  I've also realized that between the close proximity of the gym to my office and home, and the addition of an indoor bike at our place, I have no excuse to not get exercise in at least five days a week.

Tell me, what has you smiling this Monday?

Weekend Re-Cap: Martha's Vineyard...and the CSN Stores Giveaway Winner!

On Friday, Bret and I headed down to Wood's Hole to catch the ferry to Martha's Vineyard.  My friend Kara lives down in Oak Bluffs year-round and owns the most beautiful gingerbread cottage house.  She invited Bret and I to come down there for the weekend and we had a blast with lots of laughter, beer, barbecues and sun (maybe too much sun).  It was the perfect weekend and I feel so relaxed today, which is good because I'll need the energy to tackle this work week!  Here are a few photos of my weekend in MV:

Thanks again to Kara and Matt for hosting us! Its been awhile since I've been down there but you can never have a bad weekend in Martha's Vineyard!

Also, thanks to everyone for entering my CSN Stores giveaway!  Using Random.org, the winner is Ashley of Ashley's Cooking Adventures!

What was everyone up to this weekend?