the beach house

Hello there, sailor!

The happiest place in the world is the beach house! B and I went to Scituate (in Massachusetts) last weekend, and had a wonderfully relaxing time. We're going back this weekend, too! It's the best place to unwind after a long work week, and I'm so so so so grateful to B's family that they are letting us stay there a few times over the summer. My summer got infinitely better, wouldn't you say?

Best view in the world...!

Love these cups!

Goofing around on the rocks 

Of course, it wouldn't be summer without some good summer beer! B and I try not to be too snotty about booze, but it's a lot more fun to get tipsy/drunk when it tastes good. Who am I kidding... we're total snots.

amy's bridal shower!

One of my best friends from graduate school is getting married oh-so-soon (towards the end of August), and I was so so so happy to be invited to the festivities! Her bridal shower was on Saturday at Diamond Hill Vineyard in Rhode Island, so obviously I was there. Me + grape juice = awesomeness. Okay, not really. I got to try some of Diamond Hill's fantastic cranberry wine with brunch, and I even won a small prize during bridal shower bingo! Woot woot!

Diamond Hill is pretty well-known in the area for their fruit wines. So I brought home a bottle of peach wine and another one of berry wine. Hooray! And while I wasn't "tasting" copious amounts of cranberry wine, I took some pictures! 

Gorgeous flowers around the party area!

My lucky bingo board!

Adorable shower favors - wine, naturally!

twenty-one

J and Momma. You can see my reflection in the glass!

I had to make an impromptu trip to Charlotte last weekend for another reason, but my trip was perfectly timed, because my little brother turned 21 on the 7th! Yeesh, I'm getting old. I took my family out to Nikko in Charlotte for J's birthday dinner. He's not much of a partier (or a drinker), so there was no big 21st birthday booze fest. I bought him a few drinks at dinner, though. I'm such a nice sister... and such a good influence, too!

Happy birthday, bruzza!

J'S FIRST LEGAL DRINK... was a fruity martini. 

Delicious birthday dinner!

My silly family - J looks a lot like my dad, huh?

Side note: yes, there were photos of us all together, but I look absolutely atrocious in all of them - either tired, fat, or tired AND fat - it's been a rough week and a half. I'll be on back on track soon, though! Zumba + yoga + half-marathon training should do the trick!

fourth of july, 2012

B manning the grill! 

Steaks and corn!

Our fantastic apartment complex's pool!

My favorite beer!

This year's 4th of July celebration was decidedly low-key for us here in Connecticut. Me, B, and one of our friends grilled up some steak (and veggies!), drank some (Canadian) beers, and hung out by the pool for a while before going to see the movie Ted. Very American of us, don't you think? We live in a complex with an awesome outdoor pool and grills, and we've been taking full advantage of it since we moved in.

Anyway, that's all for now!

I'm not sure why, but these guys are in my friend's car. Buckled in and everything.

run free

B and I registered for the Boston Half-Marathon in October! We're running and raising funds for the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. My major goal is to finish the 13.1 miles, so I started training last week.

During my first training run, my Asics running shoes started to feel really heavy, and I had shooting pains up my legs after just one mile. Not good. I did some research and then went and tried on a pair of Nike Free running shoes at the local Finish Line, and it is the best decision I've made in a while. They're super-light, and perfect for my feet.

And bonus points for the integrated tongue design - now I don't have to worry about the silly things shifting all the way to the side of my feet. Oh, and I didn't get paid by Nike to write any of this. Or by Finish Line, for that matter. Just so you know.

B and I each got a pair in different colors, so we can match. His are the comically large ones, naturally. Sometimes I think we're just too silly for words.

panda balls

During my recent trip to Japan, I brought home an onigiri (rice ball) mold. It's shaped like a panda - how could I possibly resist?! I plopped down the 1000yen for it without even thinking.

I finally put it to the test a few days ago when B and I decided to make our own onigiri. We used a mix of canned tuna, mayo and hot sauce for the filling to try and replicate the onigiri I had in Tokyo. They actually turned out pretty well! The only thing we were missing was nori (seaweed). My panda mold came with a little hole punch-like thing that you can use to cut the seaweed into panda faces. Still, the panda balls were so cute, and so much fun to eat.

B and a panda rice ball.

B made regular rice balls, because he didn't want to wait for the pandas. But then he ate the pandas I made anyway. Ha!

coventry

Today, B and I went to Coventry Farmers' Market! It was definitely worth the visit, and we came back loaded up with so many fresh goodies for our ongoing kitchen experiments. I would recommend checking it out if you live in the New England area.

Alpacas!

Our first experiment was a kale chip recipe! Perfect munchies for an episode of 'Game of Thrones' - I just got B into the series, and we're working through the first season.