Before They Were Stars: Kenneth the Page

So, after living in New York City for 5+ years, I came up with a little list of "best kept secrets" in the city.

Best speakeasy-turned-restaurant: La Esquina.

Best rainy-day reading spot: The NYPL on 6th Ave and 10th St in the Village. It looks like a castle.

Best date night activity: The Upright Citizens Brigade.

I can proudly say that after years of attending UBC (thanks, Heather!), I knew Kenneth the Page before he was a star-lebrity. And yes, he's just as funny in person as he is on the show. We LOVE him.

Also, loved him in this blog post from Jimmy Fallon's new show talking about whether or not Gov. Bobby Jindal from Louisiana and Kenneth the Page are long-lost relatives. Classic.

And a special shout-out to our friend, Cory Cavin, who's blogging and writing for Jimmy's new show! Yay!


Late Night With Jimmy Fallon

My First Opera

This weekend, a friend of ours came up from NYC for a quick visit, and he and Brian went for a test run on the Boston Marathon Course.

We rented a car to drop them off at the beginning of the course, so on the way back, I found myself (with a Starbucks tall skinny cinnamon dolce latte in hand) browsing the aisles at TJ Maxx. Loved it.

Later that day, I got a surprise call from a friend (she's the sister of one of my colleagues), and she said she had some extra tickets to the opera. I have never been to the opera, but I've always wanted to go, so I got dressed up and headed downtown.



Rebecca is studying opera at the New England Conservatory of Music - and she had the lead in the opera I went to see! It wasn't your typical opera. The performance included two, one-act operas instead of one, three + hour show, and it was in English. I saw "The Medium" written by Gian Carlo Menotti and "Trouble in Tahiti" by Leonard Bernstein. Rebecca was AMAZING - and I had a great first time at the opera. As for my singing career, I think I'll stick to singing in the shower.



Me and Rebecca in the alley backstage after the performance

Happy Valentine's Day!

We had a pretty relaxing Saturday - just the two of us. I love days like that - snuggling under the covers, drinking coffee all day, and reading a good book.

I took Valentine's Day to start - and finish - "All Souls," a memoir about growing up in "Southie," a tough neighborhood in South Boston. Very good!

If I like a book, I tend to "eat" it up - and finish them pretty quickly. Other books that aren't so great sit on my nightstand for months at a time while I keep renewing them at the library and insisting on trying to finish each book I start from my book list.





We started off with a yummy brunch - cream-cheese stuffed French toast with strawberry sauce and candied lemon rind, bacon, and oranges. Believe it or not - the French toast recipe is from Cooking Light!



That afternoon, I went to the Institute for Contemporary Art to see the Shepard Fairey exhibit (Brian had to study) - and while I was walking back to the T, I saw a swan in the Boston Harbor! Who knew?



This is the famous Obama print that Fairey did during the 2008 presidential campaign.





The day ended with homemade Valentine's cookies from Chez Brian - delicious!

Choc-o-late

Nothing tastes better than warm hot chocolate on a cold Boston night.

The other weekend, we met up with some friends of ours to try out LA Burdick's hot chocolate in Harvard Square, supposedly some of the best stuff around.



Brian had the white chocolate hot chocolate.



And I tried the dark chocolate hot chocolate.

It's SO rich and sweet that I wouldn't recommend getting anything bigger than the "espresso" size, but it's delicious! It's thick and warm and....perfect for a "hot" date night with your husband and some new friends! =)

SWEAT-cicles

Credit Brian with coming up with the term "sweat-cicles" - it's what happens when you're training for April's Boston Marathon through the very cold New England Winter.

It's what happens when you have to do a two-hour training run in 16-degree weather, and you haven't bought a face mask.

It's what happens when the salt water [sweat] pouring off your face is SO cold that it freezes. It takes a lot to get salt water to freeze.

Take a look:







Look closely - those aren't iPod earbuds, those are "sweat-cicles" in his ears!

Brian thought it was the coolest thing in the world, but it looked so painful to me that I begged him to go buy a face mask at the running store across the street.

Now, he looks like a robber running through the streets of Cambridge. All you can see are his eyes!

Boston Houseguests

Last weekend, one of my sisters, Katy, and her boyfriend, Matt, came up for a long weekend to hang out in Boston.

We had a great time! Here are a few pictures:




The Charles River in the winter



The new couple



The old couple





For lunch on Saturday, we had some amazing burgers at Mr. Bartley's in Harvard Square. Been around since 1960!





Sunday night we ventured out in the snow to show off our candlepin bowling skills at Sacco's Bowl Haven in Davis Square.









Capping off a great weekend with some nice, sweet cigars!

Happy Birthday to Me!

Earlier this month, I celebrated my 28th birthday. B surprised me by cooking breakfast, lunch AND dinner for us! Each meal had a different theme about us and our marriage.



Chef Brian

He used to say he "couldn't even make a sandwich," but now that I know better, I might have to take advantage of his skills more often!







Breakfast in bed: Raspberry and Banana Pancakes with Orange Juice

Why? Because we LOVE pancakes!



Lunch: Fluffernutter sandwiches

Why? Because our first date was at the Peanut Butter Co. in NYC. Both of us ordered peanut butter sandwiches - one with orange marmalade, white chocolate and almonds and the other with dark chocolate, cherries, and coconut. It was meant to be!

And finally...







Dinner: Bacon-Wrapped Shrimp with Chipotle Cheese Grits

Why? Because we love to watch TopChef together every Wednesday! (Well, I love to watch it, and Brian loves to talk about what an a$$ he thinks Tom Colicchio is.) This recipe came from a Top Chef contestant in Season 3.

What a fun birthday!