I have worked on the outskirts of Chinatown in Boston for a solid four or so years now (our office was initially in a little room off our VC's office in Harvard Square. I miss Cambridge sometimes. But now, my commute from Dorchester is a grand old 20 minutes. So I don't miss it in that regard, at all).

The other night, I finally ventured over to the C Mart Supermarket a block or so away to grab some things and make dinner. I realized pretty quick that I am an idiot for overlooking this really good, really cheap, really close market for a long time just because I wasn't sure what I would find.


Obviously, despite some packaging being in Chinese, I was still able to grab the ingredients I needed to make a really delicious, really easy pot of what I was craving: broth-y, chicken-y, spicy goodness. With bok choy. All the bok choy. So, without further ado:

...I slept with my bearded buddy. 

Cause I can piss in whoever's bed I want. 

 And all will be forgiven with a week. Cuteness sure has its perks!

This is what my Crock Pot looked like at 9AM when I left today:


Those are short ribs underneath.
Hell to the yes.
Recipe tomorrow if this turns out as well as I think it will...

...we had a really good nap.

I didn't take many photos of this as I prepped it, as the bulk of it ended up in my BFF's fridge. But this was insanely easy and a great use of the Crock Pot. I did this overnight on Saturday, and by Sunday around noon, I had the most tender, delicious pulled pork I think I have ever made.

Last weekend was a little crazy.
Between the Patriots and uhh...
it being the weekend? I guess it snowed a little?
We took it as an excuse to drink to excess three days in a row.
Or at least Kurt and I sure did. Roll highlights!


Saturday we enjoy a snowy morning/afternoon at the Boston Clapp Compound:






And then, apparently, this happened on Saturday night:





...Totally unnecessary.
But yet, when I woke up Sunday. After making some banana chocolate chip pancakes and ample amounts of bacon, I somehow allowed my roommate Kurt to drag me out again in honor of our dear Patriots potentially ending up in the SuperBowl. So. I shook off my hangover, slapped on some red tights and drinking shoes Uggs, and headed to McFaddens to visit our buddy Jay (and apparently take shots after ever good play.)








Happy Thursday (aka Almost-Weekend again), and yay Pats!

...that fucking bitch person who feeds and snuggles me, tossed me into this white, wet, freezing cold shit in the yard and told me to piss. 

 
How am I supposed to pee when I can't feel my paws?
I'm putting myself up for adoption.
If you live in Mexico please get in touch.
Ole!

Taken outside McFadden's during the Pats game...

Perhaps, at some point I'll post a story about a favorite place of mine that is downtown (like Kingston Station) or Back Bay (Lucca...!) or somewhere other my hood, but for now, I'll regale you with a recommendation for another Dorchester haunt - Ledge in Lower Mills.

This should be the final post about my friend Courtney's infamous wedding, though no guarantees. As I noted before, this is the first real, good friend that isn't blood related to myself or my boyfriend to tie the knot. This was the first time I stood up at a wedding not because of familial obligation, but because of serious, life-altering friendship.

So of course, my generosity bone (which tends to grow the older I get) kicked in, and I hatched a plan to do a little something extra for my friends while they honeymooned in Hawaii.

Having recalled their (very easy) garage code, Matt and I let ourselves in to Court and Andy's place on Sunday, the day before they were slated to return from their trip.

Of course, having been gone for nearly a week already, their condo was a balmy 41 degrees upon our arrival. So. Nice thing number 1: turn their heat on. Nice thing number two was put away stuff in their living room, try to organize their bedroom without destroying all order that existed, and of course, to make their bed.

Finally, the real reason I wanted to do this in the first place; we cracked open some wine, were joined by Andy's sister Mei and her husband, threw the Golden Globes on their TV and proceeded to cook a wide variety of snacks for them to return to.

All I know is, if I were returning home after a week away and an eleven hour flight, pulled pork would be the best surprise ever.

...heheheheheheh.
Okay, I'm twelve. Anyway.
My life recently has included many, many iterations of Save the Dates (what were you thinking?!) for my friends' and family member's impending weddings. Here are the most recent batch I dreamed up for my cousin Meg. These will be getting modified, so I'll share the winner eventually, but for now, enjoy the first drafts!

Somehow, despite the fact that I live on the border of the ghetto (a murder map of Boston reveals that my neighborhood has the homicidal chicken pox. Awesome), there is a fantastic liquor store right by us (shout out to Liquor Land!) that pretty sufficiently filled the enormous void left by Kappy's Fine Wine & Spirits when I moved out of Medford.

The best thing about both of these places, and an increasing number of good liquor stores, is the variety and quality of craft beer that they offer.

So here's a quick plug for two beers a beer and a cider that I recently picked up and put down.


Pretty Things Beer & Ale Project
Jack D'Or

Pretty Things is relatively new to the scene in the past few years. Brewed by a husband and wife right over there in Somerville, you can't help but feel a sense of local pride while drinking this stuff. My favorite I've had from them so far is the St. Botolph's Town, but their flagship Jack D'Or may soon steal that spotlight.

Jack D'Or is a session-style beer, but not for lack of flavor. It's easily their most approachable number, and you'll find it in these big bottles at liquor stores and bars alike. Some places -- like Ledge Kitchen and Drinks in Dorchester -- even have it on tap.

If you see it -- or any Pretty Things beers for that matter -- give it a go. Jack is delightfully balanced, with just the right bitterness to even out the malt. Also the bottle designs are hand-drawn by local artists, and definitely live up to their brand name.


Crispin Natural Hard Cider
Honey Crisp

I had this during brunch a few weeks ago. Maybe at some point I will regal you with the tale of the hilariously horrific three-hour-brunch that followed my friend's wedding, but for now we'll keep it somewhat positive and say this: Local 149 has a great beer/cider/booze selection. If only they could hire someone to bring these things to me while I sit at a table. I'd even pay this person in addition to the cost of the drink. We could call them...servers? Maybe?

Okay I'm done. But no seriously. Never go to Local 149 for brunch if you have anything to do that day or at all ever. Other than that, it's wonderful.

Anyway. I'm a hard-cider addict, so the fact that Local has about 6 ciders on their menu (and they were only out of three of them! And 88% of their brunch menu! Awesome!) was exciting for me. I ordered this after a few too many bloody marys, and was very pleased with my decision.

The Honey Crisp isn't too dry like a lot of ciders, but the honey also ins't overpowering. It was like delightfully smooth, boozey apple juice.

Because non-boozey-juice is for wimps!

Thanks to my fantastic brother, who himself is a Sandwich Aficionado, if you will, and the Christmas holiday, I am now a proud owner of a panini press.

This was the first sandwich I made in it.
It was so god damn delicious.
Figured I should share!




What it's Made of:

• Deli roast beef, 4-6 slices
• 2 slices good-quality sourdough
• Green onions, chopped
• 1/2 cup or so baby spinach, torn
• 1/8 cup or so horseradish cheddar cheese (or sharp cheddar and add some jarred horseradish to your spread

Tangy-aioli-type-spread (very scientific in my naming schemes here...no measuring, just combine till you're happy):

• Mayo
• Dijon mustard
• Paprika
• Garlic powder
• Worcestershire sauce
• Cayenne pepper

I was thinking, if I ever start modeling, I know which picture is first to go in my Look Book.
Without question.


Pimp pimp, bitches.

I am, just now, beginning to recover from my best friend's wedding on January 7th.
While the hangover lasted a brutal 24 48-or-so hours, the week that followed, last week, still remained somewhat blurry, like the night of the nuptials themselves.

How was it? Coworkers and friends asked.
Where are they honeymooning?
Did you have so much fun?!

And without missing a beat, I answered every time:
Amazing.
Hawaii.
I did!

I guess I should get used to this feeling, which was somewhat foreign to me up until my only sibling tied the knot last October. It's just an overwhelming sensation that all is right. That love makes sense. And that fate, happiness, and being a good person will ultimately lead you to your perfect counterpart. That is certainly the way I felt last Saturday, when I saw the girl that has been by my side since age eighteen walk down the aisle at Boston Public Library, looking absolutely stunning.

I certainly could get used to that feeling.
And I probably should, considering there are 3  at least 4 weddings in store for us this year...

But for now, here's a peak at Courtney and Andy's January Wedding:

I could not stop singing this song -- January Wedding by the Avett Brothers -- all weekend.
Sorry friends. But it provides a pretty sweet soundtrack to these photos.

...it is cold as balls here.
I am dreaming about hightailing it to the motherland.


Hightailing.
See what I did there?

Sorry for the lack of hellos, lately, friends.
One of my bestest friends/other half through college was married at the Boston Public Library this past weekend in truly glorious fashion.
And another BFF (Yep. I have a few. Don't judge.) was home for said-wedding from California.
So, basically...
Sorry I've been drunk. And not cooking. Or writing. And drunk.
Sorry...I'm not sorry.

Anyway! I concocted this little bowl of deliciousness a little while ago and now, as I type this and look at the photos, I am salivating. This was so easy, relatively cheap, and very tasty. Amount of heat is totally your call - I just don't bat an eyelash at sweating profusely while eating my lunch. How cute?

I tend to make very broad strokes when late December comes around, and begin to deem all things a "resolution". This goes well when I inevitably lose all motivation to complete said resolutions. People also tend to stop remembering anything you "resolve" to do once you list more than five things, or include the phrase "bake the perfect cookie".

So rather than going to the gym or not drinking a beer or perhaps reading a newspaper on my day off yesterday, I decided to crank out the one resolution that would provide instant gratification. And that I could complete while drinking; Organize our floor of the house.

Friday night, like the incredible hulk on a drunken mission, I built our new bedframe that I had purchased from Walmart. It arrived in a 600 or so pound box and instructions En Espanol. After building the bed and putting the "spare" queen sized mattress we had in our guest room on it, I topped it off with a 4" memory foam mattress topper, new microfiber sheets, and a new down comforter and duvet. We are both sleeping like babies in our first "adult" bed (seriously. What couple living together pushing thirty sleeps in a full sized bed?!).
New Bed:

(sans sheets, because we kept them clean for exactly a day before they were covered in Ozzie fur and whatnot.)


But of course, this presented the what-to-do with our old full sized bed. We could give it to our roommate, in hopes that abandoning his twin bed for a bigger model will help him score? We could put it in the aforementioned guest room, which really looks like more of an opium den with one mattress already on the floor and about seventeen lava lamps? We could make a reading nook under the skylight in our giant hallway, right next to the landing of the stairs?

And of course, that last idea was the indisputable winner. Before, this space was used just for storage. Now, it is functioning, can host a guest from out of town, and most importantly...it's inviting!

Before:



After:




One resolution down. Only fifty or so to go?