Wedding Planning: Copley Chamber Players

Can you believe that today is exactly one year from our wedding day?  Bret and I got engaged in May of 2010 and we purposely chose a wedding date far in advance so that we would have plenty of time to plan our wedding without adding a lot of stress to our lives.  But time has flown by quickly and we have a lot of wedding planning to do!

We've knocked some major items off our "to do" list, including picking a venue (which includes the caterer), purchasing a wedding dress, and securing a photographer.  Just yesterday, we crossed another item off our list - our ceremony and cocktail hour music.  My future mother-in-law graciously had Copley Chamber Players send us over their demo CD for us to listen to.  Bret's sister used Copley Chamber Players at her wedding and her entire family loved them!  Bret and I listened to the CD on the way to Amherst a few weeks ago and we loved the violin, viola and cello arrangement.  Since I have been incredibly busy lately, I was very grateful when my future mother-in-law took care of all the details to book the Copley Chamber Players for our wedding!

Next, we're onto booking a DJ for the reception.  I'd love to hear your wedding DJ suggestions!

Wagamama at the Prudential Center

This past weekend, I was happy to make a return visit to Boston for my friend Emily's bridal shower and bachelorette party.  Since I've been working like crazy lately, Bret and I thought it would be a good idea to just get a hotel room in the city for the night so that I could unwind and not worry about heading home late at night.  This ended up being a good idea as I didn't get back to the Copley Marriott until the wee hours of the night. 

The next morning, I managed to do a little retail therapy, which made me work up quite the appetite.  Bret was also not feeling his best as he had a late night out with the guys and drank a questionable amount of beers.  We decided that the best remedy to both problems was to slurp up some noodles at Wagamama.

We started out by splitting a tiny side of Japanese pickles.  I could have snacked on five or six servings of these pickles!

For Bret's meal, he went with the chicken chili ramen.  This big bowl was filled with the most delicious spicy broth and copious amounts of ramen noodles.  This is usually one of my favorite dishes at Wagamama!

I went for the chicken chili men, which is a stir-fried soba noodle dish with a spicy tomato sauce.  I always call this an Asian version of primavera sauce!

Our meal fueled us to continue our retail therapy before finally heading home.  I have been to Wagamama countless times in both London and Boston.  I firmly believe that their spicy broth and perfectly cooked noodles can cure any ailment - a cold, a hangover, or even just a bad day.  It certainly did the trick on Sunday.

Wagamama is located in the Prudential Center at 800 Boylston Street, Boston, MA.

Smolak Farms: Apple Festival

Last Sunday, Bret and I finally had his sister and her family over to our place for lunch.  I was a little embarrassed that we've been living in Andover for about a month and a half and they still haven't seen the place!  We had a simple lunch of marinated, grilled chicken and salad.  We all ate light because we were making room for dessert - apple cider donuts at Smolak Farms!  You see, last weekend, Smolak Farms held their weekend Apple Festival.  It sounded like a super kid-friendly event so we thought it would be great for our nephew Noah.  There were lots of kid-friendly activities, including a hay-ride, and it was a wonderful way to spend a Sunday afternoon.

Here are some photos from last Sunday:

Smolak Farms is located at 315 South Bradford Street, North Andover, MA.

Home Sweet Home - Amherst, MA

There are few places that I love more than Amherst, Massachusetts.  I spent four wonderful years at the University of Massachusetts in Amherst.  In addition to getting a wonderful education at UMass,  my time in Amherst was the first time I really lived away from home and the place where I really became an adult.  During my years in Amherst, I met some of my best friends, fell in love, had my heart broken, became a vegetarian, stopped being a vegetarian, wrote my senior thesis, learned to handle my personal finances, participated in political protests, felt the world stop on 9/11, decided to go to law school...the list goes on and on.

Whenever I drive out to Amherst, I can't help but smile as I pass through the rolling hills and start spotting familiar sights.  Almost a decade has passed since I graduated but it always feels just like yesterday and it always feels like I'm coming home.  This is the reason why I have volunteered as a UMass alumna since my graduation, and this is the reason why I continue to give a lot of my time and energy to this wonderful community.

This past Saturday, I had to drive out for a Board of Directors meeting on campus.  Bret and I drove out together and he explored Amherst while I was in my meeting.  Afterwards, I showed him some of my favorite spots on campus and around town - including Bueno y Sano! 

While so much of the campus has changed, I was surprised at how much I still remembered of the campus. 

Returning to Amherst always feels like coming home.  Where is your home away from home?

Mann Orchards

A few weekends ago, after a small shopping excursion, Bret and I discovered the most adorable bakery and farm stand called Mann Orchards.  Located in Methuen, Mann Orchards grows seasonal fruits and vegetables that are sold in their store.  The store also sells some prepared foods that are both fresh and frozen, like chili, flatbread pizzas and chicken pot pies. 

We were going to have dinner with a dear childhood friend and her family that evening, so we picked up a crumbled apple pie for dessert.  After many glasses of wine, lots of yummy Thai food, and a dinner filled with laughter and music, we indulged in the apple pie.  Most of us were too lazy to heat up our slices but even at room temperature, the pie was delicious!

Here are some photos that I quickly snapped at Mann Orchards, which has me craving everything fall!

Mann Orchards is located at 27 Pleasant Valley Street, Methuen, MA.

Broccoli and Bok Choy in Curry Sauce

One of my co-workers has been gifting me with excess vegetables from her CSA.  Before Labor Day weekend, she gave me an eggplant, several zucchinis and heirloom tomatoes.  Last week, she gave me some fresh heads of broccoli and bunches of bok choy.  I was definitely happy to take those fresh veggies off of her hands!

I wanted to make a simple dish to incorporate these two ingredients, so I decided to simply cook them with a curry sauce using whatever ingredients I had on hand.  My ingredients were simple:

• 2 small heads of broccoli
• 2 bunches of bok choy
• 5-6 cloves of garlic, minced
• 2-3 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1 tablespoon red curry paste
• 1 can of light coconut milk
• Drizzle of honey, to taste
• Sesame seeds, to taste

First, I prepped the ingredients.  I washed the bok choy and roughly chopped both the stems and the leaves but separated the two in different bowls.  I also washed the broccoli and cut the stems off so that the florets were just remaining.

I then warmed up my Le Creuset French oven on the stove at medium-high heat with the vegetable oil.  I pressed the garlic into the pan and cooked the garlic in the oil for a minute.

I then added the bok choy stems to the pan and gave everything a stir.

I next added the broccoli and again mixed everything together.

Finally, I added the bok choy leaves to the pan.

I added the coconut milk, curry paste and honey to the vegetables and gave everything a stir. 

I put the lid on the French oven and lowered the heat to medium-low to let everything simmer while Bret finished up with the protein.  While I was preparing the vegetables, Bret had simply prepared grilled tilapia in tin foil packets with olive oil with toasted sesame ginger seasoning.  I served the vegetables with the fish and also added some extra curry sauce for the fish.  I sprinkled sesame seeds on top of the vegetables for a little extra crunch.

This dinner was so easy to make, ridiculously healthy but super flavorful.  I'm loving dishes like this that can easily come together with such little effort!

Scenes From Harold Parker State Park

One of the things that I miss most about living in Beacon Hill are my long walks along the Charles River.  I loved that this beautiful walking route was there whenever I wanted to get some fresh air, clear my head, or just enjoy our beautiful city.  Overall, living in Andover has been a pretty seamless adjustment.  We love our new place and all of the space we never had before.  I love my nonexistent commute to and from work.  I love the quiet and the privacy.  But walking along the Charles River is still something that I miss dearly.

This past weekend, Bret and I took a short drive to Harold Parker State Park which spans over four towns, including Andover.  There are a lot of hiking, biking and walking trails.  We took a nice walk through the woods, along ponds, streams and grassy fields. 

Here are some photos that Bret took along our walk:

While it can't completely replace my walks along the Charles, I was happy that we discovered this beautiful alternative.


Harold Parker State Park Headquarters is located at 305 Middleton Road, North Andover, MA.

Local Ingredients at Summer Winter Restaurant

Awhile back, my friend Robin told me about this fantastic restaurant in Burlington called Summer Winter Restaurant.  She told me about the restaurant's impressive greenhouse and use of local ingredients, and I made a mental note to give it a try.  However, truth be told, Summer Winter always ended up at the bottom of our list of restaurants to try because it is out of the city and seemed too much of a hassle.  But now that Bret and I have our adorable Honda Fit and actually live pretty close to Burlington, Summer Winter is a lot more feasible for us to try out. 

After hearing about this restaurant over a year ago, you can imagine my excitement when Bret made us reservations for dinner there this past weekend.  I was especially excited because Summer Winter Restaurant is owned by Chefs Mark Gaier and Clark Frasier.  Last year, Bret and I went to one of their other restaurants, Arrows in Ogunquit.  Our tasting menu at Arrows was probably the most amazing dining experience I've had to date and this only made me more excited to dine at Summer Winter!

After my last blog post, I was torn about whether or not to take photos of the meal for the blog.  But when the first dish came out, the presentation was so beautiful that I couldn't resist sharing, even if the pictures ended up a bit dark and blurry.

It has been a long time since Bret and I have been able to enjoy a nice date night meal, mostly due to my crazy schedule.  I was definitely in the mood to celebrate so I decided to indulge in some sparkling rose.  It was crisp and not too sweet.

For our meals, we started out by splitting two different dishes.  The first was one of their "small bites."  All of the small bites sounded interesting but we finally settled on the Sweet and Sour Roasted Cippollini's and Mushrooms with Arrows' Bacon.

I loved the roasted flavors of the onions and mushrooms contrasted with the sweet and sour sauce and the salty crispy bacon.

The other dish we shared was the Burmese Salad with Three Noodles, Fried Split Peas, Fried Shallots, Peanuts, Tea Leaves and a Creamy Chili Vinaigrette.  The kitchen kindly split this dish in two for us. 

There was a whole lot on this dish and at the chef's suggestion, we tossed all of the ingredients together before indulging.  Um, wow.  This was the best salad I've had in my life.  All of the flavor went really well together and I especially enjoyed the fresh slices of green and red tomatoes mixed in.  Our neighboring table took one look at our salad and whispered, "We want what they're having!"  It was that good.

For my entree, I was in the mood for seafood so I chose the MC Whole Fried Trout with Scallions and Black Beans.  The presentation was gorgeous.

The trout was so perfectly cooked with moist meat inside surrounded by a crispy fish skin dredged in sesame seeds.

Each entree comes with a starch and a sauce.  I chose the chickpea fries, which were a tad salty but tasted a lot like polenta fries.  I also chose the Numb and Hot sauce at our server's suggestion, which was a combination of ginger, garlic, chili paste and soy sauce.  I didn't really need it for the fish since it came with its own sauce but it was a nice dipping sauce with my fries.  I did wish, however, that the sauce had some real heat to it.

Bret ordered the Five Spice, Ginger and Garlic-Roasted Half Duck with a side of Mark's Mashed Potatoes.  His meal didn't get photographed because I was too engrossed in my own meal.  Whoops!  Our meals were so delicious and I was disappointed that we just didn't save enough room for dessert. 

Summer Winter was a wonderful dining experience.  It felt less formal than Arrows but I did love the attention to detail in each dishes' presentation and flavor.  We will definitely be returning here again!

Summer Winter Restaurant is located at 1 Mall Road, Burlington, MA.

To Blog or Not To Blog?

Confession:  It has been a week since I last blogged.  This is pretty unusual for me because over the past year or so, I got in the habit of regularly publishing a new blog post at least five days a week.  Even when I was on vacations, I still blogged while on vacation or had blog posts scheduled to be posted. 

But things have changed.  Recently, life has gotten really busy and I've slowly been blogging less and less.  With a new job and a new home, I've just been incredibly busy.  The spare time that I do have, I made the decision to spend it with my friends and family without painstakingly taking photos of everything I am doing.  For instance, Bret and I threw two barbecues over the long weekend.  I cooked and baked a boatload for these gatherings.  I had a blast catching up with my friends and family.  For the first time in a long time, I didn't take a single picture or feel obligated to write about it on this blog.

While I've certainly been enjoying life with less blogging, I can't deny that I've had serious mixed feelings.  Over the past few years, my blog has become such a creative outlet for me.  It was a place where I could feel satisfaction about what I was doing, especially when I wasn't feeling that same satisfaction in other areas of my life.  I felt motivated to write and take photos.  I've put a lot of blood, sweat and tears in this blog and it makes me sad to "neglect" it.  But lately, truth be told, I find that there are less things that motivate or inspire me to write here. 

What does this all mean?  I'm not entirely sure.  This isn't really meant as an apology or an excuse for my lack of activity on this blog.  It is a just a statement that Fun and Fearless in Beantown is going through some growing pains as I figure out what this blog means to me and where it fits into my life right now.  I'll continue to write when and if I feel inspired to do so and hope you all will stay patient with me as I figure it all out...

xo - Michelle

How Does Your Garden Grow?

I have been keeping very busy in Andover as I'm still settling into our new home.  In addition to my small collection of potted plants, I've recently started growing an indoor vegetable garden as well!

If you know me, you'll know that I don't really have a green thumb.  But when I recently won an indoor mushroom garden kit, I figured that this was a good a time as any to give indoor gardening a try!

I'm only in the first days of growing my oyster mushrooms.  Each kit can grow up to one and a half pounds of oyster mushrooms, so we'll see how I fare!

Do you do any indoor gardening?  Any tips for a newbie indoor gardener?