The Pink Shoe Diaries

Holiday Brain!

sarah.stewart@gmail.com (Sarah) — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 17:39:00 +0000

I have holiday brain.

Every year around this time of year two things happen: Work gets INSANE and most of my mental energy goes towards that. And what little mental energy I have leftover gets so pre-occupied with the holiday season and parties and cooking and decorating that my brain cannot handle other essential non-holiday and non-work tasks. This is including but not limited to making and remembering plans (Hey why don't I invite you to a party as my guest, then not even go to the party and not tell you I'm not going!), turning the stove off when not using it (Sorry I burned the place down, Adam but I found THE perfect wrapping paper today!)and more recently, not letting my car battery die.

Let me back up: my coworker had texted me Saturday night while I was at dinner, frantic that she forgot the power cord for her laptop and wanted to borrow mine. Sure I said! So she said she would be there first thing in the morning on Sunday. Fine. Happy to help.

I awake bright and early on Sunday (and by bright and early I mean bleary and hungover) and search for the cord. Once located, I begin making tea when my phone buzzes "I'm here", she says.

I make my way downstairs and out back and notice, lo, the trunk of my car is open. Hmmmm. I know I had unloaded our Best Buy purchases last night before coming in so I guess I just didn't close it all the way. Stupid, but it was empty so it's not like anyone could have taken anything. Unless they wanted 3 or 4 windshield fluid bottles that had about a 1/4 cup of the fluid each in them. Whenever I get windshield fluid, I am not able to pour it all in at once so I save the little bit left over in my trunk and think "Next time I will remember to use this when I run out" And I never do and so, yeah. Though that is neither here nor there I suppose.

ANYWAY My coworker saw me close my trunk and said "You should make sure your car will start, having the roof open can kill your battery". Nah it's fine I said, SEE? As I clicked my keyless entry button and the headlights flashed. The battery must be okay because the headlights flashed. Heaven forbid I actually get in my car and turn it on to check.

Cue to this morning, at 6:30AM I am making my way to my car to leave for work and I click the keyless entry button and....nothing. No lights flashing. No click of my car unlocking. Hmmmm. I press it again and again with the futility known by people who think pressing an elevator button will make it come faster. But of course, nothing. Then I manually locked it and put the actual key in the ignition to start it and of course it was DEAD. Of course. Had I bothered to check it yesterday I would have known that and called AAA then and not been late for work.

So the morale of the story is I have holiday brain and am a forgotten appointment away from wearing a tag on my jacket that has my name, address and emergency contact number on it for if I am found wandering the streets.

Ain't No Sporty Spice

sarah.stewart@gmail.com (Sarah) — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 23:49:00 +0000

It is well established that I am not exactly a professional sports fanatic. I mean I am not trying to be all "I don't know nothin' about nothin' about sports? I need a strong man to teach me!" nor do I begrudge others their mania, it's more like, watching hockey is boring to me. I don't find baseball at all entertaining. Football is passable because of the butt factor but other than that, don't really care for it.

Of course I am not saying a night of malternatives and fenway franks with good friends can't be a really good time! Or that sipping Sutter Home from a plastic cup while checking out the Bruins from the nosebleed seats can't take the sting out of a Monday night. Please note that both of these circumstances involve alcohol. But that is neither here nor there.

People sometimes assume, because Adam is such a huge hockey fan, that I am as well. This is REALLY not the case. But I respect his passion for the Bruins and I am happy to send him off to the Fleet Center* weekly with various friends to watch the games and have a good time and hoot and holler et cetera. (Well until recently of course).

But despite my lack of interest, when it comes to the sport, there are pretty basic things that I don't know.

A classic example of my lack of knowledge occurred today in a conversation with a coworker

Him: Are you going to the game tonight?
Me: God no.
Him: Oh right, Adam's leg. Did he manage to sell them
Me: He did!
Him: Oh good it's going to be an awesome game
Me: I know, against the Pirates right?
Him: starts to crack up
Other female coworker: I think that's a baseball team
Me: OHHHH right. Dur. The Penguins then.
Him: No..that was Monday's nights game
Me: Oh well I know it starts with P
Him: Think of something that lives in the rain forest
Me: Parrot?
Him Why would a hockey team be named after parrots?
Me: What else do you expect me to say when you say "starts with P" and "lives in the rain forest"!
Him. Uh, how about the PANTHERS
Me: Panthers don't live in the Rain Forest!
Him: Don't they?
Other female coworker: What about Bagheera?
Me and Him in Unison: OH THE JUNGLE BOOK
Me: You know I don't think the jungle and the rain forest are the same thing.

end scene

What was a casual question, turned into a source of great delight to the coworkers who overheard this exchange. And to me who was psyched that all of us about to be or well into our thirties still recall who Bagheera is!

So maybe I don't know a ton about the NHL, at least I know the Bare Necessities.

Nurse Kevorkian

sarah.stewart@gmail.com (Sarah) — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 19:11:00 +0000

Well I think it is safe to say I have failed at NaBloPoMo but hey, I gave it the old college try! Things like broken bones and vomiting marathons tend to get in the way of such things.

Things are going ok Chez Broken Leg. I brought Adam home on Saturday and he was in great spirits! We stopped at CVS to pick up his prescriptions (Percoset and Valium, what what) and even stopped by Starbucks for a Venti Iced Caramel Macchiato. Is it sad that this is becoming a ritual when one of us breaks a bone? The day you come home you get one of these delicious concoctions from Starbucks. It takes the sting out of a bonecrushing injury, if you ask me!

Anyway Saturday he mostly dozed and Sunday was much of the same. I did my duty as his private nurse: pling him with ginger ale and crackers, dosing out the pain killers ever 3 hours, the Valium every 4 hours, the Extra Strength Tylenol every 6 hours, and an Aspirin once a day.

And also what turned out to be an overdose of laxatives. Oops.

Sunday night he started feeling pretty sick, couldn't really eat dinner. Felt "gross". And that "pretty sick" became "really very sick" from Sunday night and all day Monday. He couldn't keep anything down. Kept telling me how dizzy he felt. And it was weird since the 2 days after his surgery he felt so good. I was perturbed. Had my kickass nursing skills failed?

I went into the bathroom cabinet to re-read the restrictions on his meds to see if there was some kind of bad interaction happening. It was then that I noticed that I had somehow switched my muscle relaxers (from my car accident over the summer) on the bottom shelf with his pain killers on the top shelf.

Oh crap!!!

Can you imagine? If instead of giving him 3 pain killers I gave him 3 muscle relaxers? No wonder he was dizzy!

But no, as it turns out I wasn't quite THAT dumb, as a quick pill count revealed that there was only 1 pill missing from the bottle muscle relaxers and that was the 1 pill I took when they were prescribed. Phew.

Then what is it?

Adam's contention is that I overdosed him with laxatives. As you may know, they usually advise picking up some laxatives after a surgery since pain meds can have an undesired effect, colonically speaking (how is that for a euphemism?). And you may take one or two each day after your surgery. And I took this to mean, lets give him 3 maximum doses over two days and see what happens.

What happens, as it turns out, is violent illness.

Yikes. Not what one wants to go through when one is laid up with a broken leg. A sprint to the bathroom is somewhat hampered by crutches.

TMI? Perhaps. But suffice it to say after a very blue Monday, he is feeling much much better today and the sooner we put my poisoning attempt behind us the better! In the meantime maybe it's better that he doles out his own meds.

Ready to go Again?

sarah.stewart@gmail.com (Sarah) — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 01:26:00 +0000

There are many things in life worth repeating: weekend trips to a favorite B&B, a cherished recipe, a mistake that is too fun to learn from, a bone breaking hockey accident.

Wait, what?

The call came late last night, as all calls carrying bad news do.

As a rule, Adam calls me after his hockey games, when he is on the highway heading home. I may not always answer as sometimes these calls come quite late on weeknights but I hear the phone and know it means he is on his way home. So last night when the phone rang and startled me from being half asleep I thought "Oh it's Adam on his way home" and turned over to get back to sleep. But my eye caught the clock and the time struck me as odd. 11:20PM. His game started at 10:45PM so there is no way it's over and he is already on the highway. And he never calls me DURING a game. Unless.....

Oh hell no.

As the phone started buzzing again I knew before I even answered. "Whats wrong" I asked immediately. "Don't freak out" he said "But I think I broke my leg. I am on my way to Newton Wellesley Hospital".

And my gut reaction was probably not the response most people would want to hear from their loved ones in a time of need. "Are you F-ing kidding me!?".

Seriously though. Are. You. F-ing. Kidding. Me.

If you are new to this blog you may think "My god what a beast". But if you are not new you will recall two years ago the EXACT SAME THING HAPPENING . Feet first into the boards during a hockey game, shattered his ankle, snapped his tibia and fibula in one of the worst breaks the surgeon had ever seen which led to weeks in an external fixator and visiting nurses and me getting a crash course in "pin care" and pain management and him being in the worst pain of his life.

Not cute!

This time it was pretty much the same exact thing, hooked by a stick, went feet first into the boards. Only this time he broke his OTHER leg. Same bones as the previous accident, just higher up and luckily not as severe. No accolades from the orthopedists this time for having an impressive injury, which I am thankful for. But still, a broken leg is no one's idea of a good time.

So I spent the day at the hospital with my favorite patient and he was in surprisingly good spirits given his pain and then I read an entire Danielle Steel novel during his surgery and the man now has more titanium in him than the Bionic man. The surgery was a success and there is every indication he can come home tomorrow.

And you know, after the last accident I was very very against Adam returning to hockey. But he was insistent and boys will be boys. I distinctly remember when he was packing up his equipment to hit the rink for his first practice after the shattering of bones I was vocally angry about it. Eventually that anger cooled to tolerance laced with mild hatred. But now? Holy hell. Let's just say when we were in pre-op a nurse remarked "Oh you're a hockey player? My son plays hockey too!" and I turned to her and said "You better break him of that habit NOW! Please! If you want him to be without metal rods and plates in his legs later in life, tell him to find another sport NOW". She giggled like I was kidding.

If only she knew!

10-10-10

sarah.stewart@gmail.com (Sarah) — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 02:43:00 +0000

My experience at the Chamber of Commerce breakfast yesterday made a big impression on me. I am not speaking of my kickass burn (the blister of which has doubled in size and is quite awe inspiring and hypo that I am I revel in it), but of Suzy Welch's speech. Much of which was based on her new book 10-10-10 which is kind of handbook of self awareness and decision making wherin before making decisions you ask yourself, how will this choice affect me in 10 minutes, 10 months, 10 years? It sounds cheesy I know but as someone who has scoffed that self awareness is for hippies, it made an impact on me.

As part of her speech Suzy had three questions she asked of us, questions that everyone should ask themselves and they were
1) On your 70th birthday what would make you look back on your life and cry with regret?
2) When you are not in the room, what do you want people to say about you.
3) What is something you loved about your childhood and something you hated.

I think these are really thought provoking questions. I shared them with some of my friends last night and was surprised that others were equally introspective about them. Maybe I am not becoming a hippie after all.

The first one really made me think long and hard and I am still not sure I have an answer. But even knowing that as of now I don't have an answer to that question feels like an answer in and of itself. I at some point am going to have to figure out what I really want out of life. Besides a decent blow out and a well made martini.

So I wonder of others out there, do you have immediate answers to those questions? You dont have to share what those answers are but I wonder if other people find those questions difficult to answer!

A Hot Mess. Literally.

sarah.stewart@gmail.com (Sarah) — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 18:07:00 +0000

The fact is and always will be: You really can’t take me anywhere.

I got up early today to get ready for an event at the Fairmont Copley I was attending with some coworkers. Suzy Welch was speaking at a networking breakfast for the Boston Chamber of Commerce and we were all really excited to attend. So, early I awoke and did my hair and face and picked out a professional but whimsical outfit and off I was to the city.

I am such a fail though.

For one thing, I always go the same way to work which is Quincy Shore Drive, to Morrisey Blvd, to the Expressway via Columbia Road, to The Pike, to Newton! So a reasonable person would think, well I will still go that exact way but instead of heading to the Pike I will head to South Station and make my way over to Copley.

But I first of all had it in my head that I COULD NOT BE LATE. I had visions of Suzy speaking, everyone listening in rapt attention, and me stumbling in 20 minutes late clutching my phone and bag, red faced from the run from the parking garage, probably tripping on my way in. Charming. So I decided getting on the highway in Milton made more sense. If you live around here you know that I am sincerely an idiot.

So there was traffic for days and I was running behind. Another thing you should know is even when I know where I am going, I like having the GPS on for backup. A comforting voice to re-affirm that yes, I do know where I am going. But Jane (as I call my cool British voiced GPS), was anything but comforting. She kept telling me to get off the highway and turn around. Turn around and go where! Boston is straight ahead! Jane what are you talking about! And she was getting increasingly pissed that I wouldn’t turn around. So pissed that when I refused to get off at exit 16, she stopped talking altogether.

What a beast!

But without her, I still made it to the Fairmont but then the question of parking arose. I thought there was a garage right next to it and there is, but from where I was I couldn’t get to it without going the wrong way down a one way. So I decided to go around the block and ended up almost accidentally getting on the Pike. Twice. At this point it is five minutes from the time I am supposed to be at the Fairmont sipping a coffee and listening to Suzy. So I bang down Boylston going what feels like 90 and eventually get myself to the Clarendon garage where I steam ahead to the third floor, throw my car in a spot and run over to the hotel. I arrive only 4 minutes late and people are still in the lobby getting nametags.

PHEW!

So I get my nametag and schmooze and other people are later than me and other people were clueless about parking (People who work in Newton forget that you cant just park anywhere you feel like it in the city) so I feel much better. We are seated and the event begins. Suzy is an incredible speaker, totally charming and really entertaining. People are listening intently and laughing and enjoying themselves. I am smiling and casually reach for the silver coffee pot to pour myself a cup…

…and burn the everloving F out of my hand. Of course! Because it’s me and if there is a hot surface within a 20 foot radius of me I will find a way to burn myself on it.

The searing pain makes me catch my breath but I get ahold of myself and smile it off. I put my bedeviled hand in my lap and focused on Suzy. But sweet jesus it HURT. Deep breaths. Calm cool collection. Ok I am fine.

Once the breakfast portion of the event was over it was time to make our way around and network. Which incurs hand shaking. Yowza! I did not cringe or wince outwardly because such a a thing is generally not done when making introductions, BUT with every squeeze of my hand It felt like burning my hand all over again. I powered through though! I met a lot of great people including Suzy herself who was such a delight and just a really inspirational woman.

Then again the fact that I powered through a networking breakfast with this bad boy makes me pretty inspirational too!

(Disclaimer: as with all burns (and I am speaking as an authority on the matter) the blister did not appear until a few hours later so it is not like I was shaking people's hand with this pus filled sac on my hand. Just clearing that up. Enjoy the image!)

Gilt Wins!!

sarah.stewart@gmail.com (Sarah) — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 17:31:00 +0000

(Macy's)

(Gilt)

NaBloPoMo In the House!

sarah.stewart@gmail.com (Sarah) — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 17:19:00 +0000

Starting off NaBloPoMo on a good foot - by totally forgetting to blog yesterday, November 1st.

D'oh!

I am still going to participate though because as you may know, I do what I want. Maybe if I double up one day it will even out, right?

Right!

Anywho the weekend was a bit of a blur and in the midst of the blur was one of my favorite holidays: Halloween! This year I revisted a costume I did a few years ago but totally sassed it up. Do I have a picture of this sassiness? Of course not. But here is what I did

1) Cut the sleeves off of my Ann Bolyen dress from last year, which gave me a dark green and gold tunic looking dress.

2) Used my long brown wig from last year.

3) Piled the wig on top of my head and wove bright green rubber snakes in and around it. Stuck a huge rubber snake around my neck. Painted my eyes green and was ready to go! Medusa in the house! Gorgon it up!

Adam word a fierce mullet wig, bandana, Trans Am t shirt and dirtbag mustache. I believe his costume was "a creep". And creepy it certainly was!!

We met up with Andy and his lovely roommates for some pre-party festivities and then joined the masses at Ashmont Grill's annual costume party which was a BLAST! I am telling you, when you see a large man dressed up as Marie Antoinette walking into a place, you know you are at the right party! Nearly everyone was costumed to the hilt and the bartenders did a great job keeping us all sauced. We danced to hits of the late 70s and hung out on the "haunted patio". All in all a splendid time.

Of course I was the deadbeatingest of all deadbeats yesterday. The majority of my day was spent trying to get into "Hell's Kitchen" but I just do not like it. I wish I did. But Top Chef still takes the cake followed closely by The Next Iron Chef (which in many ways is basically the same thing although Alton Brown is way more palatable than that Tom Collichio if you ask me).

And so here we are on Monday and I am actually looking forward to this week. Things at work are insane but the good kind of insane that keeps you busy and makes you feel like you're actually good at what you do. Love it.

Stay tuned for more inanity every single day this month. Work!

Two for the Price of One

sarah.stewart@gmail.com (Sarah) — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 13:04:00 +0000

Picture it: Southeastern Expressway 6PM, Wednesday, somewhere near exit 12.

My cell phone rings and it's my brother. Wait, first some background info:

Adam and I and my brother are kind of tag team taking care of the dog while my parents are in South Africa for a few weeks. So on Mondays and Wednesdays Adam goes to my parents' after work to walk and feed him, on Tuesdays and Thursdays I do, and on Fridays/the weekend Peter usually handles it.

Ok so back to the story. The phone rings and it's Peter

"What time did Adam walk the dog today?" he asks

"Uh, not sure. Probably around 4ish?"

"Do you know if when he walked the dog, there was a car in the backyard?"

"What!? A car"

"Yeah there's a car parked in the backyard"

"What!?"

Now this is not an every day occurance at our house. IN fact it has never happened. So we were both a little disturbed.

"What do you think its doing there?" I asked, knowing the obvious answer (Hello, dead body in the trunk. I watch Law and Order. I know what goes on).

"I don't know a stolen car someone ditched?"

"Why would they ditch the car in someones backYARD? I thought you would ditch a car some place it wouldnt be seen right away".

While we debated the finer points of thieves/murderers logic, I decided to call Adam and see if by chance he had seen anything when he was there feeding the dog. When I called him he informed me that while there was not a car in the backyard, there had been tire tracks leading from the front yard to the back yard and the yard was all kinds of ripped up. But no car. And furthermore if I ever checked my voicemail I would know this (true).

So I call my brother back, at this point heading over there instead of back to my apartment and relay to him this new info. Not only was a car parked there now but it had been making trips for some reason to and from the back yard. Curiouser and curiouser!

At this point a diagram might be helpful.

As you may recal Wednesday was really rainy and gross and as such this car and it's several trips had ripped up the side yard and much of the backyard. Peter told me he had called the police and they were going to send someone down but they weren't that surprised or concerned about it.

Clearly they don't watch Law and Order as much as I do.

In any case I told Peter that whoever's car that was had been back and forth a few times and Adam had seen the tracks. Nothing was missing from the house though. What the heck is going on?

We ended the conversation and I continued my drive to my parents' house. When I was almost there Peter called me "A tow truck just came and I called the police back and told them not to come...it was the PAINTER'S CAR".

My parents are having the house painted while they are gone and apparently he decided that because it was raining he didnt want to carry his paint buckets to the back yard, he wanted to drive them there by driving through the side yard and backyard instead of down the driveway (???)

I don't know how a mind works that decides that driving and tearing up the lawn of someone you work for is a good idea.

So apparently the whole abandoned car thing happened because on one of his trips out back the car got STUCK in the lawn and he attempted to dig it out with a shovel several times before leaving to call a tow truck.

Again. ???????

It doesn't make any sense to me at all. And yet to him it made perfect sense. I find this both amusing and a little scary. He did go back and sod over the ruined lawn and I am sure come spring it will be fine but in the meantime it makes a good story!

Not Five Things

sarah.stewart@gmail.com (Sarah) — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 16:13:00 +0000

Inspired by Jenny. And by inspired I mean totally ripped off from her. Thanks woman!

1) Samurai Chai Mate from Teavana: All of the caffeine of coffee plus "strong spices, invigorating herbs and revitalizing citrus". Delicious!!

2) Snakeskin Accessories. This obsession/mission began a few months ago at, where else, the Talbouts Outlet. I found the most amazing snakeskin bag. Roomy. Slouchy. Snakeskin. Braided Straps. Perfection! However at over $100 it was a bit out of my price range so I decided to wait for a price break, since there were so many of them I figured what the hey? Next thing I know they go down to $36 but are sold out! WAH!! This bag haunts my dream and I am on the hunt for it's twin. I just really love the edginess of snakeskin in a really nice leather. Sigh.

3) Finding the perfect "Fall" nail color. Right now it's Siberian Nights from OPI but I am getting bored with it. Have you tried the new matte color line? That might be next on the list althuogh my nails are so short I am accustomed to the pizazz of shiny nail polish.

4) Solutions AM/PM Face Cream. Its about time I got myself into a day AND night facial care regime and this fits the bill. I need a lot more moistureizer as the seasons change and the AM cream is nice and light but still makes my skin feel great. The night is a bit heavier but not greasy. Just enough so you feel like it's going to do good things for you while you sleep. And it does. Not to mention you really can't beat the price.

5) The fact that I have had this brower open ALL DAY and could not come up with a fifth thing. I am apparently only into four (4) things currently. That's all I can handle! Just four. A fifth thing would throw me totally off balance.

The Day of 1,000 Drinks

sarah.stewart@gmail.com (Sarah) — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 23:22:00 +0000

Saturday started off innocently enough. I woke up at 8AM with the kind of energy reserved shoppers the day after Thanksgiving. Not for any particular reason though. And it's unfortunate that I wake up during the week feeling like the walking dead but on the weekend when I can sleep in, I can't. Ho Hum.

So to expend this energy I did what anyone would do: I went food shopping. It was long overdue and I have to say that the supermarket pre-9AM on a Saturday is just as good as my old favorite time, pre-9AM on a Thursday. Seriously. Tons of carts. No lines. No screaming kids. Just me, and everyone else who felt compelled to leave the house in their PJS taking our time and doing our shopping. So nice. I didn't even mind that when I got home it turns out my pants were on inside out.

After relaxing a bit at home Adam and I decided to head out for lunch. Some of my coworkers have been raving about Abby Park, the newish restaurant in East Milton Square, so we decided to check that out. Designed by the same architect who did Davio downtown, the space is gorgeous! Nice large bar area, modern and inviting decor, super friendly bar staff (that = key) and a varied menu. Since it was only lunch we decided to get salads (Caprese for me, Cobb for him) and alcohol (nice crisp Albarino for me, Sam Adams for him). While we decided we will definitely go back for dinner sometime soon (they had me at this dandy addition to the menu), the salads were substantial and delicious and our drinks were great! Just the hearty fare we needed for our sojourn up the street to Lower Mills to check out the Dorchester Open Studios.

We bounced to The Baker Lofts where we checked out some vibrant abstracts and adorable ceramics

Then it was off to The Boston Home, where the art of some of the residents was showcased and we were blown away by the talent. I fell in love with a little water color of the harbor/gas tank but it was "Not For Sale". Sad!!! Still, it was lovely to see all the fantastic paintings and the Boston Home's art program is on my list of Awesome Things.

And then we went off to the First Parish church and visited my friend Paul who was showcasing his brilliant photography. There were loads of other artists in the space including jewlers, multimedia, glass blowers and (my fave) stained glass! The stained glass artist Raine Newman doesn't have a website but he does make beautiful stained glass pieces and I picked up a few brooches from him. Makes me feel like a church when I wear them!

So all in all the Dorchester Open Studios was a success! I wish more of the studios had been open at the Baker Lofts but such is life, maybe next year. In any case after all of that art-viewing we were in dire need of a drink. So where to? The Ashmont Grill of course.

Our favorite bartender whom we love TARA was working, thank god, and she set us straight with a pumpkin martini (me) and a large beer (him). We split the bluefish pate (I love this. So far only Andy loves it as well so if you go PLEASE try it if they have it and tell me you love it too.) and what the hell I had another cocktail, the cranberry ginger which was also divine. I am 90% sure we will be attending their Halloween party this Saturday. Who doesn't love a costume party and a haunted patio?

And who doesn't love having a week to throw together a costume? I will pull it out though, don't you worry.

After a brief stop at Esprit du Vin, we arrived at a party for our dear friend and Andy's mom. His family is so much fun and so great to hang out with, we always have a blast with them. Not to mention his mother is one of our favorite people ever, so of course we wanted to celebrate her day with her. We noshed on a delicious buffet and then over champagne and cake we toasted to her and then later had a Fleetwood Mac singalong in the kitchen. All in a night's work.

We sojourned back to Andy's after the party for a nightcap and then it was back to Quincy for bed. It was a busy day but a great day nonetheless.

Maybe see you tomorrow at Trick or Tweet?

Blogtoberfest Recap!

sarah.stewart@gmail.com (Sarah) — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 12:07:00 +0000

Last night was the third Boston Blogtoberfest planned by and hosted by the lovely Ms Jenny!

I headed into the South End after work, threw my car in the Ateilier 505 garage (I find as I get older the appeal of searching for street parking for an hour has waned. The bloom is way off that rose), and walked down the street to Stephi's to meet Peter for Pre-Fest dinner and drinks. I arrived first, ordered us an appetizer to split and a delicious "Winter White Martini".

hello lover.

Once Peter arrived we set to gabbing over delicious entree salads (Yellowfin Tuna for me, Roast Turkey Cobb for him). Stephi's meets all my requirements for a lovely dinner out on the town: ample bar seating, delicious and varied cocktail menu, reasonably priced entrees and super friendly staff. We both agreed it was divine and we would certainly be back. But for now we had somthing else to take care of - Boston Blogtoberfest!

It was held this year at 28 degrees and it was as usual a lovely space for the event. We put on our nametags and set to mingling and exchaning cards with Boston Blogerati, including new friends Julie, Rebecca, Pam, Jaclyn, Kristen and Angela and as always it was nice to see John Wall and run into the Dorchester peeps Albert and Rakeisha. There were a lot of other fabulous people I met but alas I left my cards at home and these are who I could conjure up on the fly. Suffice it to say it was a fantastic event and it's always nice to hob knob with new and interesting people. Great job, Jenny!

Peter and I Blogtobering (hijacked from the fabulous JQ Lounge)

I'm attending another event next week at one of my fave restaurants Tavolo. So if you are a local blogger/tweeter/social person come check it out!

(click for deets)

And on another note thank the LORD it's Friday! Two points of interest for the weekend (both of which Adam and I will be checking out).

Tomorrow and Sunday is the Dorchester Open Studios, where my coworker Paul will be showcasing his gorgeous photography among many other local and talented artists! Its important to support the arts in your community and this is an easy way to do so. Meander around. Check out some great art. Maybe even purchase something fabulous for your home.

On Sunday we head to Braintree for Bin End's Wine Flea Market for Charity. There will be over 75 delicious wines to taste and enjoy and BUY if you are so moved for up to 50% off. There will also be a raffle of local gift certificates and more wine all in support of Hugs for Healing, a local charity that provides comfort for patients undergoing treatment for cancer. Combining drinking with charity work? Sign me up!

Whatever you do, enjoy the weekend!

Will I Be Seeing You?

sarah.stewart@gmail.com (Sarah) — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 11:53:00 +0000

I'll be there! Wooooot!

A Carnival in Your Mouth

sarah.stewart@gmail.com (Sarah) — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 11:57:00 +0000

I love risotto.

Seriously. It is such a great go-to meal. It can be impressive or casual. You can dress it up or dress it down. It can be a long involved process or it can be easy-peasy. I appreciate it's versatility and affordability!

Last night I had a hankering for my favorite grain but I was unimpressed with the usual recipes I had been using. Spicy Turkey Sausage and Spinach? Done that. Pumpkin? Done that too. Shrimp and Pea? Over it.

So I hopped on Epicurious.com and hunted around until I found a risotto recipe that caught my fancy.

Cauliflower? Interesting.
Almonds? Love!
Brie? Yes please.

And so it was settled: Cauliflower Risotto with Brie and Almonds was to be our dinner!

I headed over to Russo's to pick up the ingredients and made the untimely mistake of going between noon and 1PM.

Now, Russo's is divinity on earth. Heaps of fresh and delicious and hard to find produce that rivals if not exceeds Whole Paycheck but at half the cost. A to die for cheese section. A delectable bakery. Nothing about this place can be beat....unless you go during the lunch hour and then the heaps of produce and sumptuous cheeses are obscured by masses of people clamoring to get their lunch or squeeze in their shopping on a lunch break.

I don't begrudge them. I mean, I am doing the same thing but I normally go later in the afternoon to avoid the rush and not end up clutching my scallions to my chest hyperventilating as swarms of people clamor for the last Jerusalem Artichoke.

In any case since it was so crowded I stuck to the edges of the store to work my way around. It was there that I found the cauliflower and noted there were two kinds. The regular white kind and a funky PURPLE kind.

Woah!

As the old adage goes, when faced with buying something regular or something freaky it is always wise to choose the freakier option. And I thought the purple would be more visually appealing in the risotto anyway!

Once I was home later that night I followed the recipe to a tee. I simmered broth and water and fresh thyme. I crisped up the cauliflower with olive oil and more fresh thyme. And I made extra sure not to overcook the rice (something I am smashing at!).

The result? Delicious, gooey risotto swarming with brie and studded with crispy cauliflower and toasty almonds.

So. Freaking. Good. Even Adam, who and I quote "doesn't really care for cauliflower" loved it. So if you are in the market for a new risotto recipe to try out. I highly recommend this one.

Print the recipe here

Time for a Diatribe

sarah.stewart@gmail.com (Sarah) — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 11:21:00 +0000

The saga begins a few weeks ago.

In an effort to save some money I had been going over our monthly bills to see where we could make some adjustments. Our biggest monthly bill by FAR, aside from rent, is our Comcast bill. We had been in a bundle for the past few years (for those lucky enough not to be involved with Comcast, it is usually cheaper to bundle your phone, internet and cable service into one package than it is to pay seperately for each). As a result of this bundle timing out, our monthly bill leapt to about $250 a month (up from about $160).

Now, I know there are adjustments we could make at home to drop this bill down. We get the movie channels, the NHL Package (sigh), have two DVRs, plus high speed internet. And we like having these things. So I am not expecting to pay small money, neccesarily.

But I am also not expecting to be reamed.

I casually twittered about our Comcast bill a few weeks ago and within minutes @ComcastBill contacted me with an email address of someone at Comcast who could help me. That was helpful. Thanks Comcast Bill! So I sent off an email about what we had and what we were paying and what can you do for us? Within a few hours a woman named Nancy called me, cited my Tweet and told me she wanted to help me lower my monthly bill. What a doll!

"Ain't technology grand?", I thought.

So I talked on the phone with Nancy for about twenty minutes and while she was nice and helpful, I deduced almost immediately that she was also clearly a Company Gal. Someone who was not as much interested in helping me save money as she was in helping her company get the most money out of me. She would give me pricing info but it was vague. She would answer my questions about induvidual pricing but always steer me back to bundles.

And every bundle she tried to sell me came in a THREE YEAR CONRACT that costs $275 to get out of if you try to before your three years are up. I am not at all interested in committing myself to a cable package for three years. Especially one that increases by $20 a month every year you are in it. Are you serious?

I told Nancy that I would be moving in the Spring and could not guarantee that I would be sticking with Comcast when I moved. Perhaps this was not smart to say but I wanted her to understand how little sense it made for me to lock myself into a 3 year contract that comes wth a $275 early termination fee when I knew I would be moving (and if at all possible leaving Comcast) in LESS than a year.

So after some hemming and hawing she told me I could lock in a somewhat reasonable price for the next six months, that included all of our channels and the internet (but not AS high speed) and I would return the DVR in the bedroom (sob!) to save an extra $25 a month. I would have to call after the six months was up and see what new pricing was availabke but I am willing to do that. Easy peasy.

A few days later I realized that I may have been misled about keeping all of our channale since some had dissapeared (TMC and Turner Classic Movies). Now, I don't watch these channels every day and it's not the biggest of deals. But I found it a little suspect that I had been told I could keep all of my movie channels and I clearly could not.

I had it on my list to call Comcats back and find out what had happened when a surprise came to me in my mailbox. And what was it? AW! A two year contract from Comcast. That included none of the things I had spoken to Nancy about. How lovely. Especially after I told her I wasn't interested in signing a contract. She shouldn't have!

Really, she shouldn't have.

I called Comcast with the contract in hand and spoke to another woman about my confusion. Hadn't I just spoken to Nancy and she quoted me a price for a six month contract with no early termination fee? And she also told me I didn't have to bundle in a phone since we don't have one and dont use one. Oh no, this rep assured me. Nancy was dead wrong. In fact there was no record on Comcast's end of Nancy making ANY changes to our current contract. This is fishy to me since

1) Why did two of my channels suddenly dissapear
2) What prompted me getting this bullsh*t contract in the mail?

I expressed my dismay to this rep who assured me "IF" Nancy had told me those things, she was incorrect. I loved the "if" casually thrown in there to let me know that she doesn't entirely believe me. Then I was informed that it is impossible to bundle your services for anything less than a two year contract but at least the two year contract only comes with a $75 early termination fee. But still! Why do they need thatmoney? Why can't the accomodate a normal person who doesn't know what their living situtation will be in a year and doesn't want to have to pay a fee for being in this situation. I mean I love a money hungry monopoly as much as the next person but really?

If you are thinking I should just not bundle my services then I am right back to paying over $200 a month because that is what our cable package and internet cost together without a bundle.

So after going back and forth with the rep I excercised my right to t ake 30 days to sign this wretched contract and in the mean time weigh my options. Within the 30 days I will continue to pay what I have been paying and recieve all of the services. Fine. Whatever.

The next morning I was treated to another surprise, Comcast style! I opened up a web browser on my laptop and lo! The comcast homepage comes up asking me to log in and confirm my infofmation and accept their terms and conditions.

How curious!

I opened up another web browser and lo! The same thing. Internet Explorer. Firefox. All with this comcast homepage beseeching me to log in and create an account and confirm my contract information. Or else I can't get on the internet

WTF?

Once again I hopped on the phone and called my very good friends at Comcast. They were TOTALLY surprised. "We don't see the comcast homepage showing up on your computer on our end". Really? How interesting. How interesting that the day after I tell you I don't want to sign my contract you basically make it so I have to sign my contract before I use the internet in my own home even though it says right on the contract that I have 30 days to decide.

So after almost an hour and a half on the phone during which I was led to disable my router and my modem and then Adam had to swoop in and save me from breaking everything, we finally were able to get online without signing our souls over to Concast.

But the clock is a ticking. I now have 23 days left to make a decision. And what stinks the most is we probably WILL have to sign that contract because doing so and paying the early termination fee is still cheaper than not being in a contract at all because Comcast makes it so that is the case.

So enjoy my $75 when you get it in April. It is worth it to finally cut ties with the devil.

It's Like That and It's LIke This

sarah.stewart@gmail.com (Sarah) — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 12:09:00 +0000

This weekend was entirely too short, don't you agree?

Saturday was quite the busy day for us. We got up early (well, early for a Saturday) and were out the door by 9AM. Our first stop? French Memories in Cohasset for almond croissants and coffee. We make it a point to have breakfast there at least once a month. For one thing the ride is incredibly scenic and for another those almond croissants? TO DIE FOR. We drove along the ocean on the way back and holy hell was it crazy.

We pulled over a few times to get a better look at the enormous angry waves (and to narrate faux snootily a la the show Clash of the Gods "Poseidon's wrath could not be contained, ho ho ho". In any case it was breathtaking! Maybe it is my inner bitchy Pisces but I love an angry ocean.

Moving on, we arrived at the Talbots Outlet in Hingham, which luckily is located next to an EMS so Adam could keep himself entertained while I hit the sales HARD. I would have to say the deal of the day was scoring a fabulous blood red wool pea coat for $31,99. Marked down from $279. And the ticket said $89 which is what I thought I would be paying. What what!

The trick about the Talbots Outlet is definitely go early and go hard. We got there about a 1/2 hour after it opened and it was still pretty empty which is KEY. So you can hunt for deals at your leisure and at this place more than any other I would say ALWAYS try things on. You may think something won't look great on you but it does. Or you may think something will make you look incredibly elegant but it turns out it makes you look like a swollen disco ball. Not cute! But in any case seriously if you live in the area and can spare an hour to pop in and look around you will not leave disappointed. This is my dead horse and I will continue to beat it until everyone I know has shopped there.

After running some more errands we later met up with Andy and his roommates at the Eire Pub for "afternoon beers". Every bit as classy as "Afternoon tea" if you ask me. We had a grand time recounting our weeks over afternoon beers (or in my case, afternoon G&Ts) and then it was off to Burlington for our friend Sarah and Tony's for Tony's 30th birthday party.

As always the party was a great time and it is fun to get a chance to catch up with people I pretty much only see at Tony& Sarah parties. Plus I have to say a party that starts in the late afternoon is my new favorite thing. Because by the time it's over and you're like "oh it's so late" its really only 8PM. Of course we tried to take advantage by going out after the party but lasted only one drink before packing it in and heading home. I blame the afternoon G&Ts.

Yesterday was a bit of an abomination. I woke up SUPER sinusy and with an earache (something that has been happening a lot lately and that I am really not into) but I powered through and went to my parents house to hang out with my man, Bodhi, make some Beef Bourguignon (which came out DIVINELY. Simmered it for 4 hours on the stove!) and do scads of laundry. I am proud to say there is now not one item of dirty laundry in my apartment. I dont even rememeber the last time I could say that. Not a bad way to spend a SNOWY (yes, I said snowy. and yes it's freaking October) Sunday.

And now it's Monday and I am frankly, not having it.

Two Autumn-y Recipes

sarah.stewart@gmail.com (Sarah) — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 17:01:00 +0000

It was quite the fall weekend up in here, was it not?

The pumpkin lasagna I posted about in the previous entry was a HUGE success. So seasonally delicious. And, though a tad time consuming, pretty easy to make as well. It is, as most decadently tasty things are, not that good for you. But that is why Giving Away The Leftovers was invented. right? Also, though it says the chard is optional I would definitely use it. It adds a nice flavor and texture that I think you would miss.

Real Simple's Pumpkin Lasagna

2 tbsp olive oil
1 large yellow onion, finely chopped
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
2 bunches Swiss chard, stems removed and leaves roughly chopped (optional)
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 teaspoon black pepper
2 tablespoons chopped fresh sage
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
2 15-ounce cans pure pumpkin (not pumpkin pie filling)
2 cups (1 pint) heavy cream
1 1/2 cups (6 ounces) grated Parmesan
1 1/2 18- to 24-ounce packages refrigerated cheese ravioli

Heat oven to 400° F.

In a large pan over medium heat, add the oil and onion and cook for 5 minutes. Add the garlic and chard (if using) and increase heat to medium-high.

Cook, stirring frequently about 5 minutes.

Season with 1 teaspoon of the salt, 1/2 teaspoon of the pepper, the sage, and the nutmeg.

In a large bowl, combine the pumpkin, cream, 1 cup of the Parmesan, and the remaining salt and pepper.

Place a layer of ravioli in a buttered 9-by-13-inch baking dish. Top with half the onion mixture and almost half the pumpkin mixture. Top with another layer of ravioli. Repeat with the remaining onion mixture and all but 1 cup of the pumpkin mixture.

Top with the remaining ravioli, pumpkin mixture, and Parmesan. Cover and bake for 20 minutes. Uncover and bake for 15 minutes more.

You can also make this ahead (like I did). Just assemble everything, cover and refrigerate for up to 24 hours. Then just add 20 minutes to the baking time! Easy peasy.

So that was Friday night dinner.

Sunday, we had big plans to go apple picking. We got up relatively early, got ready to go out and then sat down at the computer to look up orchards. And did you know that all the orchards around here are over an hour away? I just wanted to like zip out for 20 minutes, have the whole "apple picking experience" and be on my way. So in true Adam and Sarah fashion, instead we went out to lunch and then stopped at the supermarket for a bag of apples. Deadbeats, I know!

In an effort to celebrate our deadbeattery - I decided to make an apple-themed menu for the night. I had some boneless country style pork ribs in the fridge, a jar of apple-cranberry chutney and some red cabbage. With that an idea was born. With a few more items from the supermarket we were in business for

Cider Simmered Pork Ribs with Apple Slaw

2 lbs country style boneless pork ribs
1 liter of apple cider
1 tbsp olive oil
1/4 cup apple cranberry chutney (I got mine from Trader Joes)
1/2 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup ketchup
1/2 cup chopped and peeled apple
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
salt and pepper to taste

Put the ribs in a large pot. Cover with cider and bring to boil over medium -high heat. When lightly bubbling, switch to low heat and simmer for 30 minutes. Then remove from cider and pat dry.

In a pan, cook onion and apple in oil over medium heat until softened, about 10 minutes.

Add the rest of the ingredients to the apple/onion mixture and stir until well mixed.

Place ribs in large 13x9 casserole dish. Pour mixture over ribs and cover tightly with aluminum foil. Bake for 40 minutes then remove foil and cook for 30 more minutes.

Serve with Apple Slaw

1 package shredded red cabbage (about 2 cups)
1 julienned apple
1/43 cup mayonnaise
1 tbsp honey
1/4 cup sliced onions
1/4 cup golden raisins.

Combine and let sit in fridge for at least 15 minutes before servings.

Delish!

I used the rest of the apples today making a ginourmous apple pie that came out pretty f'd up but let's just call it "Rustic" and leave it at that ok?

Pumpkin Is All Around Me

sarah.stewart@gmail.com (Sarah) — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 12:11:00 +0000

There is a lot of pumpkin in my life right now.

1) I am drinking a Dunks pumpkin coffee. Sweet jesus have you had one of these? Autumn in a cup!!!

2) Last night I made a pumpkin lasagna. PUMPKIN LASAGNA. I had it in my head that something like that would be good since other pasta and pumpkin dishes are good like pumpkin ravioli and this recipe so I simply googled "Pumpkin Lasagna" and lo, tons of recipes. I will share with you the one I used in another post with photos over the weekend. I haven't actually baked it yet- as it is for dinner at my cousin's house tonight but it is fully assembled and I expect it will be sinfully delicious as I may have sampled each ingredient before putting it all together. YUM.

3) Last night, after preparing the lasagna, Adam and I went out to celebrate (because he got PROMOTED yesterday!! He has worked really hard for a long time and it is so nice to see him being rewarded and recognized!), and after dinner he browbeat me into going to karaoke. Life is tough. However when we arrived it turned out there WAS no karaoke happening that night so instead I browbeat him into taking me to Stop and Shop and bought the fixings for one of my favorite desserts - Pillsbury Pumpkin Quick Bread + Semisweet Chocolate Chunks. My dear friend Andy shared this idea with me and it is always a hit. And super easy to boot.DIVINE! I then stayed up way too late baking it and brought it into work today to shared the pumpkin love with my coworkers.

4) In a non pumpkin related story, I have a sorely needed 4 day weekend upon me as of 5PM today. WOOT! Maybe I'll buy a pumpkin for the apartment. BAM! I just made this one pumpkin relevanta fter all.

Happy Monday!

sarah.stewart@gmail.com (Sarah) — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 11:46:00 +0000

First things first: we have decided to push out our wedding to Spring of 2011, rather than Fall of 2010.

Their are three main reasons for this decision. The most important one is that my parents' Peace Corps interview on Friday went very well and they are basically shoo-ins for the program. While this is fantastic news for them, it also means in likelihood they won't be here next fall, nor would they be able to return for the wedding since for your first 6 months of the assignment you can't travel.

Then there is the fact that, as I am realizing more and more, if we want to have a wedding next fall we basically have to book everything now. Even as it is now the places we have looked at only have 1 or 2 weekends left in the month we want. And I haven't yet found anything that really knocks my socks off. And it would be kind of luxurious to just check places out as I hear about them, really get an idea of what we want to do. I have felt much more relieved since making this decision!

Then there is the tertiary matter of housing. If my parents do leave next summer, we will in all likelihood be moving into their place (Sorry Peter!). This would be incredible since we both love their house and it would be a total money saver. However on the off chance the Peace Corps thing doesn't work out then we are for sure buying a place next year and it will be nice not to have to plan & pay for a wedding the same time we are buying and moving into a house.

Basically my life right now is a choose your own adventure novel, but I'm into it!

Anywho. This weekend was busy but delightful. Friday we toyed with some plans and decided to just stay in and relax. I had gotten maybe 7 hours TOTAL sleep over the past two days and was exhausted. I was asleep by 9:30 PM. Party in the USA!!

Saturday my mom and I went to Littleton for an all day Baby Shower celebration for my cousin Kate. We met at a nail salon in Acton and my aunt Marilyn came by with goodie bags for us all ()(water, granola bars and chocolate - one must keep one's energy up while one is being pampered). It was great to catch up with Kate and my cousins Jen and Dawn who live in Connecticut and who I never get to see! The party them returned to Marilyn's house for scads of inappropriate talk, hilarious baby shower games and loads of Seabreezes. Kate really cleaned up gift wise and it was fun to just hang out and relax with family.

Sunday Adam and I slept in (weird) and then headed out to get some sushi for lunch. Then visited my cousin Anna in her new pad (2 miles from my place, welcome to the neighborhood!) and then came home for some homemade macaroni and cheese.

Oh yeah and there is the small matter of the fact that I'm an Avon lady now? Yeah. Stay tuned for more on that this week!

I Know This Much Is True: A List

sarah.stewart@gmail.com (Sarah) — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 01:46:00 +0000

1) I am old. How else does one give oneself a charley horse by merely attempting to exit one's car while carrying one's handbag, laptop, XL regular from Dunks and tray of pumpkin cupcakes (to bribe coworkers with)? Clearly too much going on for this old gal. I am sure my coworkers enjoyed seeing me carefully maneuver out of my car with all this crap and then become stricken and almost fall down in pain. Misfortune is the mother if Hilarity, oui?

2) It may be unromantic of me to say so, but I never claimed to have the "bride gene". Getting married is annoying. I'm sure being married is swell but between caterers and venues and budgets the rigmarole of planning a party for 130+ people? Sweet Jesus! No wonder (smart!) people elope.

3) I went food shopping today and our total for the week, a weeks worth of breakfasts and lunches and dinners? $50.18. This time I really did make the bagger give me a high five. Boo freakin YEAH. Lower cost/lower calorie items on the menu this week include Turkey and Balsamic Onion Quesadillas, Macaroni and Cheese and Tex Mex Taco Salad .

4) I've decided to spice things up and go slightly redder (vis a vis my hair color) and go back to using Aveda Color Depositing Shampoo/Conditioner (which I have had great luck with!) for a little while. By the by if you google "Aveda Color Depositing Shampoo" my blog comes up before the actual Aveda website. So where is my free lifetime supply?

5) Earlier today I tweeted about how our Comcast bill is sucking my will to live and lo! A Comcast rep contacted me and after a short conversation with Nancy in the corporate office I am now paying $120 less a month. While I still think Comcast is a little shady, but I am glad that they pay attention to their customers and attempt to make them a little more happy and a little less poor! And I am happy to have $120 a month more to put towards the aforementioned annoying wedding :-P

A Mighty Salad / A Tragic Loss

sarah.stewart@gmail.com (Sarah) — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 11:43:00 +0000

I put Adam and myself on a meat-reduced diet.

We are chicken, pork, and steak folk up in here. In that order too. We have chicken the most. Followed by pork, and then the occasional steak or beef stew. We are also hardcore into a serving of veggies and a starch with this meat. It works for us.

However in an effort to expand our culinary horizons, I decided that for at least three days each week - we will not have meat with our dinner. At least not the trifecta of meat we are used to. In my mind sometimes one of these meals can be pasta, or sometimes fish, and then something vegetarian-y or vegan-y and that rounds out our three meatless dinners a week.

Last night, since they had some GORGEOUS salmon at Stop and Shop. And I love love love salmon. Guess what we had for dinner?

Wanting to experiment with different ways of serving it, and using a Sandra Lee recipe as a jumping off point, I decided to serve it atop a delicious and hearty salad. You see, dinner is my main meal of the day. For breakfast I usually have a Fiber One bar and maybe some yogurt. And I cannot abide a "real" lunch during the work day. I am usually too busy to go out and am never hungry enough to have leftovers from dinner the night before. So lately I have been getting a multigrain bagel from Dunks in the morning with my coffee and having that for lunch. Or a slim fast meal replacement bar and some almonds. So dinner is my big meal of the day and it needs to be a good one!

Anywho, this is a salad for non -salad eaters. It is super hearty, super tasty and as all salads are easy to throw together.

Spicy Salmon and Rice Salad
1 lb salmon
2 tbsp Cajun seasoning (or whatever spicy seasoning you like!)
1 head of romaine lettuce
1 cup cooked and cooled brown rice
a few roasted red peppers (from a jar), chopped
1/2 a can of black beans, rinsed and drained.
balsamic vinegar and olive oil (or whatever dressing you like)

It's easy enough - just brush some oil on both sides of your salmon filet, sprinkle the seasoning on and grill over medium heat for about 5 minutes a side or until it flakes easily. Chop roughly and set aside to cool

Combine the lettuce, rice, peppers and black beans in a bowl. Toss with dressing. Throw salmon on top. Et voila!

The rice mixed in gives the salad a nice hearty quality and the perky peppers and smoky black beans really compliment the spicy salmon. It was a homerun in our house!

On a somber note: last night we lost a good friend. Living in an apartment does not lend itself to grilling. And Adm and I both love to grill but we resigned ourselves to a grill free existence in our apartment building. Sigh.

Five years ago, something came into our life that fixed our grill-less living situation and we were better people for it.

The George Foreman Indoor/Outdoor Grill.

With this, we were able to enjoy all of our favorite grilled foods from the comforts of our apartment and with little to no smoke (and fat).

It's handy dial made it virtually impossible to overcook dinner.

We used it quite often - sometimes every day in the summer. And it was nice in the winter to get the taste and fun of cooking out even while the snow was blowing outside.

But alas our time with the grill, as all good things, came to an end abruptly last night. When I went to plug in the grill and one of the prongs came off in my hand.
Gasp!
Sob!
Wah!!!!!!!

RIP Buddy. We will be replacing this weekend but know that our new grill will never have the same place in our hearts that you did.

(Cue the song "Through the Years")

Through the years, you've never let me down

You turned my life around, the sweetest days Ive found

I've found with you ... through the years

Ive never been afraid, Ive loved the life we've made

And I'm so glad Ive stayed, right here with you

Through the years

Highs and Lows in the Checkout Line

sarah.stewart@gmail.com (Sarah) — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 18:04:00 +0000

On my never ending money to save money where saving money is possible (/ telling people how I am trying to save money without feeling like I am really saving any usually) I have gotten into coupons.

Hardcore.

Manufacturer’s coupons.
Online Coupons
Store Coupons

You name it, I clipped it and organized it into my dollar store coupon organizer. What what?

Now clipping coupons is very different from USING coupons. For one thing, it’s really easy to get suckered into buying something you would never normally buy because you have a coupon. Oh cool, $1 off those $8 granola bars I have never wanted to try. Let’s do it! But there are some things I continually am in need of (hummus, salsa, tortilla chips, canned accoutrements, frozen vegetables, fiber one bars etc).

And then there is also to consider, is the store brand still cheaper even when I use a coupon on the name brand item and if so is the store brand as good (which it is, lets say for frozen vegetables but not so much for fake fiber one bars).

So you see there is all this mental prep involved in using coupons. I can’t use a coupon on the fly. I make my shopping list, and if I have a coupon for the item I make an asterisk next to it. There is a process, people!

Which is why I flipped out a little at CVS last night and missed out on some sweet,sweet savings.

I had checked out my Extra Care Coupons before making my trip and determined I couldn’t use any of them since I was not in any need of CVS brand anti diarrhea meds (CVS likes to always remind you of worse times in your life) and I wasn’t going to spend close to $50 so the $10 off $50 wouldn’t work either. So I made my list of the usual suspects (face moisturizer, TP, clear nail polish, shower gel), went to the store, filled my basket and waited in line to pay. Ho hum. As I was being rung up I was thinking I had spent about $25 so when she told me “$48 is your total” I was a little aghast. Say what? How could that be?

OH yeah there was that hand cream I picked up. And the hair spray. Oh and the lip gloss. The hand sanitizer. The candy corn (what?).

Crikey! That stuff sneaks up on you.

So the clerk nicely tells me “you know you could spend $2 more and save $10” and a smart savvy shopper would have said YES I AM ON IT. But I, still mentally trying to figure out how I was $20 off on what I thought I would be spending said “No, that’s ok”.

What an asshole.

Then as I sat in my car after looking at my purchases, dazed. I couldn’t believe I didn’t just go grab a nail file or something because I would have had MORE stuff for LESS money. Jeez Luiz.

Fresh from that abomination, I went food shopping this afternoon.

I have probably mentioned before that I am on a constant mission to get our weekly food shopping budget down to $50. It used to be close to $150 but over the past year I have managed, through list making and sale stalking, to drop it to around $70. But not much below that. So this week I took a different tactic. I decided that for at least 2 of our meals we will be using the crock pot (and crock pot meals somehow are always cheaper to make), and we would have pasta at least once. Then I hit the cookbooks hard for easy, healthy and inexpensive to make recipes. Then I hit the store circulars. Then I checked my coupons.

Which is why, I believe, my grand total for food shopping for the week was $56! A new all time low! And that includes breakfasts and lunches and dinners and snacks (but not Liquor. We are savvy but we are not Puritans). I was so impressed with myself it was all I could do NOT to turn to the lady behind me and demand a high five.

And that certainly took the sting off of my defeat at CVS last night.

Now if only they had coupons for wine, I would really be all set!

Happy Almost Fall

sarah.stewart@gmail.com (Sarah) — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 12:34:00 +0000

Can you believe fall is tomorrow?

I know it must be true because I blew out my hair over the weekend and instead of frizzing into a ball it lay flat and totally behaved. If that is not a harbinger of the autumnal equinox I do not know WHAT is.

With the changing of seasons, comes the changing of dinner menus. The grills are put away (except for the hardcore, and to you I salute), and more hearty and warm dishes appear. This is not only the season of the blow out. It is the season of the CROCK POT.

If you do not possess one of these contraptions, you are missing out. A decent one will probably run you $30 or so and it could not be more convenient. Throw in some ingredients in the morning, turn it on and when you come home at night. Voila, dinner is ready. Ahhhhhh.

Target has a great array of crock pots - check them out here.

Anyway to kick off crock pot season I threw together some potato leek soup yesterday and it was very tasty, very easy and very seasonally appropriate. Not to mention super inexpensive to make.

Slow Cooker Potato and Leek Soup

3 large potatoes, peeled and diced
4 cups chicken broth (or veggie broth)
1 bunch leeks, white and light green parts, chopped
½ cup fat free half and half
Salt and pepper to taste.

Put diced potatoes into slow cooker. Add chopped leeks. Pour in broth. Cover and cook on low, 8 hours

Remove about half of the soup and put in a blender or food processor (be careful it will be VERY HOT). Blend for 20 seconds or so and pour back into the slow cooker.

Add cream and stir for a few minutes. If you want your soup to be a little thicker turn it to high and leave the cover off for another 20 minutes or so (this is what I did). Or you could Remove a little of the liquid, add in a tablespoon of corn starch to the liquid and then incorporate it all back into the soup.

Serve with crusty bread.

Delicious! And super easy!

Moving on..

On the wedding front, the search is on for a venue.

We have some specific ideas about what we want: After checking out local function halls and estates and hotels.....we decided what we would really LOVE is to do it in a cool space like an art gallery. A place that isn’t too “wedding-y”, has another purpose to it other than just being available for functions, and has some fabulous art on the walls and it's own kind of theme going on that we can trick out with our own ideas as well. What's even better is a portion of our rental fee would go towards the gallery association so you are doing a good deed to boot!

I’ve done a TON of internet research and came up with a sizeable list of galleries within an hour of Boston that are available for rental. We checked out a gallery in Cohasset this weekend which looked great on line but which in person was way too small. The front runner now is another gallery in the oh so cute Rockport, MA that we are checking out this weekend, and then there is another gallery in Beverly and one in Lowell. All look like really different but beautiful venues to throw a kickass party in.

Once we get a venue and caterer booked I think the REAL fun part begins. Since we are paying for the whole shindig ourselves a lot of it will be DIY and you know me, you know how much I love to throw a party, this kind of thing is right up my alley. I already have great ideas for the flowers, invites, centerpieces etc. This wedding is basically the biggest party we have ever thrown and probably will ever thrown. And we are up for the challenge. Woot!

Something I Inexplicably Hate

sarah.stewart@gmail.com (Sarah) — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 13:50:00 +0000

Cell phone trees!

You know those fake trees that house cell phone towers and look really unnatural and scary?

They give me the heebie jeebies and I hate them. I often notice them along the highway and they always stick out like sore thumbs and look alienesque and I am not comfortable until we pass them and they are far away in the distance.

The first time I noticed one was last year. Adam and I were cruising to Old Orchard Beach for the weekend when out of the corner of my eye I saw it. This incredibly tall "pine tree" that had no branches except at the very top and the branches looked like those of a plastic Christmas Tree from the Dollar Store. WTF IS THAT!!! I asked Adam. I thought it was just an actual, though very sick and "ugly" tree. And it frightened me.

I soon found out the truth though. That those monstrosities are cell phone towers "disguised" as trees to fit in with the landscape. I'm sure most people don't even notice them but I always do and am always unsettled by their presence.

I hate you fake weird looking trees.

What do YOU inexplicably hate? Let's get some unfounded hatred up in this piece!

Also you can thank Danielle for this rant. She showed me a photo of a plant this morning that got me ALL riled up.

It's Funny 'Cause It Could Happen

sarah.stewart@gmail.com (Sarah) — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 13:53:00 +0000

I have always been an intense dreamer. Every night I have vivid and what seem like lengthy dreams usually about what's going on in my day to day life, sometimes things I wish went on in my day to day life (remind me to tell you someday about the dream where I made out with Dr Kovac from ER, me-ow!).

All of which is to say, the wedding/wedding planning dreams have started in earnest. Mostly centered around the preliminary planning process. My favorite happened the other night.

In this dream, I was out drinking with friends (weird) and got pretty wasted. I then decided I needed to get my ring fixed and stumbled into some random jewlery store and dropped it off. Then, in the sober light of day, I could not remember what jewlery store I had been to or where it was located or anything about it. And so my ring was gone forever

And then I woke up and looked on my bedside at my ring of course was not there because it was getting fixed and I had a moment of panic. Mostly because knowing me that could almost really happen. Phew!