Life Lately {September and October 2014}

It’s been a while since I’ve done a life update post, huh? It’s been since August, to be exact.

I don’t know about you, but I welcomed fall with wide open arms this year. Like I mentioned in my new newsletter that went out last week, I was happy to embrace the new season because it meant things were slowing down a bit from all the craziness that the summer brought. The first week of September was spent off from work. We spent the first half of the week celebrating my birthday, checking out potential wedding venues, and enjoying some time at home. We spent the second half of the week up north in one of our favorite places, Maine!

When we got home from our vacation, we immediately were back into wedding mode, as we needed to make a decision within a week about our wedding venue. We were really torn between Atlantica in Cohasset for an ocean front wedding and Zorvino’s in NH for a rustic winery wedding. The second weekend in September we actually did a second visit back up to Zorvino’s just to make sure we had all our questions answered, and the return visit really clinched it for us. So that’s that! Our wedding date is set for Sunday, September 20th of next year at Zorvino’s!

We are really excited about our venue, but I am just so relieved that the venue researching part of the process is over. Don’t get me wrong, I am really enjoying other parts of the planning, but the venue hunt simply wasn’t one of them. I feel guilty saying that because everyone and their mom and second cousin once removed felt the need to remind me about how AMAZING all of that should have been, but you know what? Trying to coordinate viewing a bunch of places all over the state between the hours of 8 and 4 during the week and keep it all straight actually wasn’t that amazing to me. I’m way more excited now that we have our venue and church selected and can think about more exciting things like who is going to lead the Greek dancing circles, what color I want my bridesmaids to wear, and what our signature drinks should be. Right?!

Other mentionable September happenings include apple picking,

attending the annual WWCMA conference for work,

going to a sweetgreen passport class called Barre & Bites with Liz,

and much more of THIS than I’ve been able to do in a really long time:

There were also a couple of nights out to dinner with friends. I saw Allison for dinner at Seasons 52 in Burlington one night, and I met up with Bridget, Slesh, and Trina at a restaurant called Forum downtown. However, I’d say one of the main highlights of September was one of my bestie’s weddings! Holy moly, talk about an amazing fun weekend in NYC celebrating Erica and Chris. One of the best weddings I’ve ever been to, and just for the record, Tim and I figured out we’ve been to 23 in 3 years. So I think we are pretty good wedding judgers!

October was here before we even knew it, and I kicked off the month by hosting my really fun event at Athleta. Another one is in the works, so make sure to sign up for my newsletter to get early bird signup privileges and sneak peek details!

Tim was away for a bachelor party the first weekend of the month, so I used the time to catch up with friends I hadn’t seen a long time. I did dinner with my friend Erin at Isabella Restaurant and was able to get together spontaneously with some of the gym girls at Solea for sangria and tapas too. After we did dinner that night, I hung with Ashley at her house for awhile just catching up and drinking cider.

The week Tim got back, I was supposed to go to the October New Balance Girls Night Out event, but since we were still sharing a car at this point, it was impossible to get downtown. I was bummed to miss it, but Tim did get a new Altima, and we didn’t go broke (or start hating each other) in the process.

Other beginning of October things included a date night to see The Lion King (my birthday present, with dinner at Harvard Gardens first),

Tim’s godson’s christening,

a random Tuesday night sleepover/gym friend get together at Ashley’s house when Jen was back in the states,

and wedding dress shopping! I went first to David’s Bridal in Danvers to get a better idea of what type of style I was going for. I had no clue going into it whether I wanted satin versus lace, strapless versus not, etc. so that really helped. I brought my mom, MOH (Slesh), and bridesmaid (and seamstress!) Shannon with me, and they were all awesome throughout the whole process.

I went dress shopping again the following week, this time with my mom and Shannon again, but my Uncle Chris came along too. This trip I found the gown! I can’t wait for you guys to see it, but I suppose you’ll have to wait a year, huh?

October’s last few weeks were spent celebrating our five year anniversary (dinner at Harvest in Harvard Square + drinks at Beat Hotel — HIGHLY recommend both),

spontaneously going to Harvest Fest 2014 in Somerville (SO many fun beers and food samples!),

running the Oak Square OAKtoberfest 5k and post race brunching,

getting my monthly deep tissue massage (I signed up for a wellness package),

celebrating my friend Jen’s birthday with the gym girls,

going to Tim’s cousin’s birthday party, my friend Johnny’s housewarming party, and Patrice and Brian’s beautiful wedding!

We rounded up the month by heading back up to Zorvino’s for our meet the vendors night, and finally, hosting Halloween! We were lame this year and didn’t require anyone to wear a costume. What we did require was everyone bring a seasonal craft beer so we could have a little tasting. It was fun!

Lots of good stuff going on outside of work lately!

–Let’s chat–
Tell me about the highlights of September and October? What stood out to you the most? I want to know what you’ve been up to! What are you looking forward to in November?

I am looking forward to a free Saturday and Sunday next weekend after we attend wedding #7 of 8 this year on Friday night! I am also excited for Thanksgiving. Slesh is hosting Friendsgiving again this year, AND Tim and I figured out how to spend the holiday with both of our families.

Have a great day, you guys!

Hopster’s Brews and Boards

For Tim’s birthday a couple of weeks ago, I got him a brewing session at Hopster’s Brew and Boards in Newton. For my Boston craft beer loving friends, this place is a must try.

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You can choose to brew your own beer, but you can also opt to just hang out and order food and drinks if you’re not feeling the whole brewing thing. They have a ton of craft beers available, and I have a funny feeling Hopster’s will become a go to place for us.

Here’s a rundown of how the brewing process works:

First, we chose what kind of beer we wanted to brew. The staff provided us with a recipe book that we read through. They have everything from stouts to pale ales to wheats to IPAs. This was a hard choice for Tim and I to make because our taste in beer can be pretty different, but eventually we decided on the Irish red ale. Depending on the type of beer you pick, the pricing comes in at either $150, $200, or $230. This might seem a little pricy, but the price includes your own concierge brew master to help you along the way, all the ingredients you will need, all your bottles, customized labels, and three cases of your own hand crafted beer. When you think about what you would spend on three cases of beer anyways, I don’t think the price is unreasonable since the experience, assistance, and supplies are all included as well.

Next we gathered our ingredients, which were listed on the recipe that they let us take right out of the recipe book. My favorite part about the ingredients was that they are all farm to table bottle. Love that! Tim and I took turns measuring everything out.

We then got to work with the help of our brew master to combine malt, hops, and specialty grains.

In the middle of the session, we had to wait for our combined mixture to boil. We hung around our kettle so we could keep an eye on it, but we were able to sit back and order food while we waited. Hopster’s menu highlights include ploughman’s boards (charcuterie meats served with jams, breads, etc.), cheese boards, and flatbreads. They have a few different snack items and sandwiches too.

I do wish the menu had a few healthier options to offer, but I’m never one to turn down cheese or a flatbread so it wasn’t a huge deal. Tim and I ended up ordering one of the cheese boards while we waited for our wort to boil.

Here’s us hanging around our brew:

After about an hour, we cooled the wort to room temperature in the heat exchanger and then added yeast. This started the fermentation process, and Hopster’s housed our brew in an air locked container for a couple of weeks until it was ready for bottling. We hung out for a little longer after we were done adding the yeast, and we ordered another beer and a flatbread. It was a great day!

Last night we went back for our bottling session. They had our beer ready for us, and when we got there they showed us how to do the bottling process. It was pretty easy, but we had a lot of bottles to go through (3 cases, remember?!). We ordered a beer and a pretzel to enjoy while bottling. I would say the bottling process took about 90 minutes, but it just depends on how fast or slow you decide you want to go.

Again, I recommend that my local readers check this place out or give a gift certificate to a beer lover in your life. I loved the hands on experience, beer selection, and atmosphere, so I think you guys will too. Plus, it makes for a great date day or night that’s different from your typical dinner and a movie.

–Let’s chat–
Have you ever heard of or been to Hopster’s before? Non Boston readers, do you have any places like this around you? Have you ever tried brewing your own beer? What’s your favorite kind of craft beer?

I’m a sucker for hefeweizens!

Catching Up On Eats

Since I haven’t been posting many Weekly Eats posts in the past month, I thought I would just do one giant post of the food I’ve been hoarding pictures of on my phone eating lately, holiday celebrations excluded. These are in no particular order, and this post is CERTAINLY not all-encompassing. It’s just the highlights. I may take this mass update approach to my food posts from now on instead of doing weekly recaps, but I know some of you prefer the weekly recaps to help you with meal planning.What do you guys think?

Catching Up On Eats

Winter butternut squash and barley salad

Cranberry and pecan quinoa (recipe via Fannetastic Food)

Colorful farro and edamame salad

Roasted red pepper chili (recipe via Peanut Butter Fingers)

Colorful roasted vegetables

Turkey meatloaf with tomatoes

Slow cooker turkey tacos with mole sauce

Homemade tzatziki dip

Plain Greek yogurt with pomegranates

Greens topped with butternut squash, tomatoes, mushrooms, pine nuts, zucchini, and pomegranates

Chicken stuffed with roasted red pepper, onion, and goat cheese… with farro on the side

Grilled chicken and pear salad with cranberries, almonds, and goat cheese

Zucchini, goat cheese, arugula, and hummus flatbread on a pita

Salmon apple burgers on a pita with a side of roasted sunchokes

Sesame chicken salad with kale, butternut squash, apple, and cucumber

Homemade chicken burrito pizza

Homemade shrimp pesto pizza

Mom’s birthday dinner out at Seasons 52

Date night at Park

Hibachi and sushi night at Saga in Patriots Place

And finally, my fav new winter beer

That brings me up to speed, and now I can go on a deleting spree too.

As always, I base what recipes I share on F&F off of what you guys ask for, so if you see something you want the recipe for… request away. 🙂

–Let’s chat–
What have been some go to meals and snacks for you lately? Do you prefer larger food recaps like this or seeing food shared in a Weekly Eats post style? Which dish above would you most want to try?

Have a great day!