Another fabulous weekend...

...is off to a good start.

This week was pretty stressful with work and after-work events, so I was really looking forward to Friday. I had an all day conference, which meant that I got to sleep in since I didn't have to be there until 9 AM. I woke up with a tulip tickling my face and I was so confused, except that when I rolled over, B had set a vase of tulips by our bed. He always sends me flowers for special occasions but since I wouldn't be in the office, he set it up for me while I was sleeping for our anniversary.

I headed to my MCLE and randomly ran into an old "friend" who I also ran into at Foxwoods for S' birthday. Awkward, but I realized that when you are in a happy committed relationship, running into exes doesn't need to be uncomfortable. There is a certain grace period where you realize that you're two people that just didn't work out...and that's okay without feeling forced to be friends.

Afterwards, I headed back to the office and then a few of us headed to the Hong Kong for K's annual scorpion bowl and karaoke birthday festivities. While it was the actual night of B and my one year anniversary, we chose to hang out with our friends instead and celebrate K's birthday. After four hours of beers, karaoke and scorpion bowl, B, KV, and I headed to McD's and loaded up on gross foods to satisfy our drunkenness.

Today is a quiet day. We're getting our photos delivered by R and I can't wait to see them in person. And then we're off to our uber romantic dinner - which I know I'll post about tomorrow.

xoxo

Burgers and beers can heal anything...

...including a broken heart. Yesterday I got an email from my best guy friend D that he had broken up with his girlfriend this past weekend and he needed to talk. We decided to meet at Kingston Station after work - one of my fave restaurants generally but also a fave lunch spot for the two of us. After a few beers and splitting a Station burger (if you haven't tried it, get yourself to Kingston Station immediately) and fries we talked as old friends could - honestly, sincerely and with hope. I give shout outs to my ladies all the time but I often forget how important my male friendships can be. And I know that the next time one of us needs the other, there is nothing a beer and a burger can't do to help get us through it.

Playing with Noah

Here are pictures from Saturday when B and I spent the day with his family...

B, Noah, the lamb and the bear puppet....

B playing in Noah's tunnel...

Noah cooking us lunch....or playing with the oven mitt...

xoxo

Sundays are so sad...

I was so looking forward to the weekend, and already its Sunday morning and the weekend is drawing to a close. I still have a pile of work-related things to do that I promised I'd deal with on Sunday and its probably the last thing I want to do.

On Friday, after a morning at court, I was glad to leave work early at 5:20 and head home. B and I had planned a date night as we realized that we haven't done that in a long time between all of the holidays, special occasion dinners, and parties. So we headed to a 6:35 showing of Milk at Kendall Square. To be honest, I didn't know that much about Harvey Milk or how there was a nation-wide movement to discriminate against homosexuals. The movie was incredibly inspiring and it made me realize that I have a lot to learn about a part of American history that is not often discussed.

Afterwards, B and I headed to Hungry Mother for a late dinner (http://www.hungrymothercambridge.com/). This is one of our favorite restaurants and reservations were limited when we tried to make them a week in advance, hence the late night dinner. When we got there, it was packed and they weren't taking any walk in diners. We were lucky enough to check out Hungry Mother when they first opened up (before the buzz) and I was excited to check out their winter menu. As always, the food and the service was amazing. We started out with cocktails - the #53 for B and the # 52 for me. We had the special appetizer of the night - pork terrine pan fried on one side and breaded with cornmeal on the other with home made pickles and candied walnuts. For our meal, B had their catfish, which I had on our previous visit. I chose two small appetizers as my entree - the catfish cakes and the fried Chesapeake oysters. The oysters were spicy and perfectly breaded. We finished the meal by splitting the moon pie.

On Saturday, I woke up and worked out. B and I made scrambled eggs with cheddar, gorgonzola, bacon, onions, and garlic. We went to Red Wagon to pick up a small gift for B's nephew N. We ended up picking up this adorable book (http://shop.oldnorth.com/istar.asp?a=6&id=975850245GOOD!BRYA&csurl=%2Fistar.asp%3Fa%3D3%26dept%3DB%26). B's parents picked us up and we headed to Derry to hang out with the rest of B's family. B's sister lives in the most scenic, rustic (in the good way), gorgeous house and the snow made it only more beautiful. We hung out, played with N, ate yummy veggie soup and homemade pizza, key lime cake, and even took a nap.

Afterwards we came back home and got ready for J's 30th birthday party. We headed to KK's place first and had one (or four) bottles of wine and yummy cheese and crackers. I think we drank too much wine because our appearance to Max & Dylan's (http://www.maxanddylans.com/) was brief.

We woke up early this morning and headed to Whole Foods to get the ingredients for a whole chicken roast in the crock pot. The crock pot is cooking...I'm watching Be Kind, Rewind...and I'm ready to get the day going.

xoxo

What a weekend...

I couldn't wait for this past weekend to begin. After a long and cold work week, I wanted to start my birthday weekend off right, with an amazing massage at Elizabeth Grady after work on Friday. It felt absolutely amazing and put me in the right frame of mind for the weekend. I headed home and B and I ordered yummy food from Billy Tse's and snuggled up on the couch to watch Wall-E.

I woke up early Saturday morning to Wii Fit and to get ready for our cleaning lady to come over. I've got to admit that this is probably the most luxurious thing I've ever done, but as B and I discussed, there's no point in both of us working hard without being able to afford something that makes our lives easier. She came over before the move-in to get rid of the dirt that the old roomie (and her cat) left behind. She did such a phenomenal job that it just seemed like a good idea for her to come at least once a month. Anyway, despite this luxury, I never seem completely comfortable so B and I cleared the apartment. We went to the Paramount and got delicious Belgium waffles with fresh fruit (yum!) and then hung out at Starbucks drinking chai and reading magazines. We came to a clean apartment and then started to get ready for the festivities - picking up some wine, beer, and cheese and crackers. I headed to Pottery Barn to pick up a few things and then got my hair done by my amazing stylist. She did a phenomenal job and my hair looked ridiculously awesome (if I do say so myself). I threw on my new Rory Beca dress (thanks Crush!) and my hot new suede shoes...

A few of my nearest and dearest came over for some drinks and appetizers (thanks ladies for taking care of the apps) and then we headed to 6B. B had reserved the entire back of the bar (including a few other tables) and it was 80s night there. I had a blast (from what I remember) and I was so incredibly appreciative to see myself surrounded by over forty people who wanted to have a good time and who I am lucky to call my friends. Eventually B took me home....and I was feeling less than wonderful the next day but I had lots of ginger ale, gatorade, leftover appetizers and Chinese food to get me through the day. I headed to bed early but was woken up at 2:30 AM to snowblowing and shovelling which didn't stop until 6 AM. Needless to say, this was a day that I was going to work from home....

Tomorrow I'm heading back to work (sort of) and will be in a learning conference all day. Thanks again to everyone for the love...some of my favorite pictures below...

xoxo

My hot sex shoes...

Some of my favorite girls....

Birthday celebration? Yes, please!

Yesterday I celebrated the 27th anniversary of my birth.  I think birthdays become more and more uneventful as we get older, unless the age ends with a zero or a five.  

After a long day at work with a not-so-pleasant office meeting and gym session on Tuesday night, I was exhausted.  I begged and ple

aded with B to let me open one birthday gift early.   He got me the Wall-E DVD, which I can't wait to watch when I get a free chance.  I absolutely loved that movie when I saw a preview screening of it with M courtesy of M's marketing connections.

I woke up the next morning, on my actual birthday, and I was happy to have the day begin only because I was looking forward to my birthday dinner.  I had my birthday lunch with a co-worker and also had my office birthday cake (strawber

ry shortcake from Pace's - yum!).  And then I got a surprise delivery of the most beautiful flowers from B.  It was totally unexpected and such a nice present since I've been so stressed at work these days.  

After work, B came to pick me up and we headed home to have a few glasses of wine before we headed off to dinner.  We finished up our last bottle of wine from Lake Placid and I got to open my gifts - a blackberry case (yes I'm a dork), the Olsen twins' fashion book "Influence" (don't judge me), and a beautiful ring from Tiffany's!  I absolutely love all of my birthday gifts.  We headed to Grill 23 and proceeded to eat the most delicious meal - iceberg salad, aged NY strip, sauteed mushrooms, blue mashed potatoes, and coconut cream pie....all washed down with a bottle of malbec wine.  Yum-o.  I have never been to Grill 23 before and the steak was probably better than Abe & Louie's but the ambience was very loud.  At the end of the day, my steak house ranking still falls as: (1) Abe & Louie's, (2) Grill 23, (3) Ruth's Chris, and (4) Smith & Wollensky.

I got a ton of birthday love via email, text, phone, and Facebook.  Thank you everyone for making my day so special and I can't wait to celebrate with you all this weekend!

On a sidenote, my blog is back to public.  Now that all financial loose ends have been tied up with the cyber-stalker, I think I am safe to publicly blog again about what is going on in my life.  I can try to protect my privacy with certain precautions, but the truth is that if bored people want to find out what is going on in my life, there's only so much I can do....

xoxo

A weekend of detox....

...does a body good.  

This past week seemed particularly long to me.  I think all of the hours at work are starting to take its toll on me and I'm wondering if it will be a good idea to take a few days off for just some personal time.  After a week of working out at the gym after work (I'm trying to get back into the schedule), it was nice to have Friday night off.  I met E at Downtown Crossing, and we hit up H&M and Macy's to find a cute outfit for my birthday party.  Everything I tried on was either boring or just didn't fit right (this gives me additional motivation to keep hitting the gym), so I went home feeling slightly dejected.  Luckily, B and I relaxed with a nice Upper Crust salad and pizza, and I crashed early.  

Saturday I woke up and decided to Wii Fit for the first time.  I've done it drunkenly at S' place before, but I really wanted to give it a try.  I gave B strict instructions that he couldn't watch me Wii Fit and locked myself in the living room.  It was a lot of fun and tougher than I thought.  My goal is to Wii Fit on the weekends to give myself a break from the gym.  Afterwards, I headed to get a pedicure and to visit the ladies at Crush who helped me pick out a fabulous dress for my birthday party.  It is definitely different but I figure that if there is one night to stand out, it is my birthday!  Afterwards, B and I hit up Whole Foods to get some groceries for some of the yummy dinners we had planned.  It was absolute chaos at Whole Foods because people were "stocking up" for the storm.  Craziness.  I couldn't wait to get out of there.  We headed home and started making dinner.  It was a whole meal that we took from the Food Network show, "Cooking for Real," and consisted of apple cider chicken, brussel sprouts with bacon and an upside down cornbread cake.  It was pretty delicious.  Afterwards, M and B came over and we just hung out for awhile chatting.  After they left, B and I watched Pineapple Express.  Hysterical until 2:30 AM and we fell asleep to the soothing sounds of CVS employees snowblowing.

I woke up early the next morning and started Wii-Fitting again.  Its tough and I felt sore but in the good workout kind of way.  Wii Fit is all about balance and strengthening your core, which is the stuff that I really need work on because my cardio and weight training really isn't helping me with that.   Afterwards, I got started on my first adventure with my new crockpot and put together an easy recipe for a roast.  I got ready and met the ladies at Fajitas n Ritas.  We alway eat there before we head to the movies and this was no different -  we went to watch Bride Wars.  It was pretty cute and a light and fluffy chick flick.  Half of the ladies went for a double feature to seek Milk, but I headed home in the gorgeous snowy Common.  Sometimes I forget how lucky we are to live in such a pretty city.  B added some carrots to the roast and we made mashed cauliflower, which is a close and carb-free substitute to mashed potatoes.  It was delicious.  The crock pot slow cooked the beef to be so tender and juicy.  I was in heaven.  Plus, the clean up was so quick and easy.  There was no better way to end the night than to watch two hours of 24.  

Everyone needs a weekend to detox and this was the perfect weekend for me....

If the first weekend of 2009 is any indication...

...then this is going to be an amazing year!

On Friday, I came home from work and made B a yummy Korean dinner consisting of rice, spicy pork, and seaweed. I don't pretend to be a gourmet cook or anything, but I do enjoy cooking, especially when I have someone to cook for and with. Afterwards a few people came over - E and her modelesque height friend J, T, B and A. We had a blast drinking lots of leftover NYE beer (or a bottle of wine for me) and everyone really loved how the place looks. Afterwards we headed to Paddy O's to hear Bearfight. Everything got a bit muddled after that - with a shot and many pints of cider later, B managed to get me in a cab. I convinced him to stop for a slice of pizza but the last-minute order of a calzone proved to be dangerous as I prayed to the porcelian gods later that night.

The next morning I was not feeling my best but I napped, packed and headed to Foxwoods to celebrate S' dirty thirty. Luckily C and B chatted in the front while I napped all the way down. S planned a great party for her hubby - renting out a "party" room in the hotel, getting catered food, and plenty of booze. We headed to MGM Grand for a night of too much drinking and too much gambling, but I won $500 on the slots so I was thrilled. The next morning, remorseful from the booze and gambling we headed for an amazing brunch and then headed back home.

We spent the rest of Sunday just napping and I made some more yummy Korean food for B.

While the rest of the world grumbled about going back to work today, I've been working non-stop through the holidays so it was just like any day. I'm finally getting used to the Blackberry, although its more a pain in the butt than a help. After work I headed to the gym and it wasn't too crowded with the overly-optimistic resolute people. That being said, I am definitely getting rid of the relationship weight and heading back to the gym five times a week. I came home and B made a delicious grilled chicken salad for dinner.

I've had my fill of girly TV tonight and I am going to crack into the new Top Chef cookbook I just bought for 40% off at Borders!

xoxo