New Years Eve in Beantown

Our Trip to Boston!

Joey and I spent a few days in Boston over New Years Eve. We were there from December 29th-January 1st. It was too freezing cold for these two Floridians. It was a beautiful trip and I guess you could say it was worth every degree under 32*! Our first day in Boston was the absolute coldest the two of us have ever been; 14* with 30-40mph winds, the temp was -5* with wind-chill. It immediately had us wondering why we chose Boston in December! We packed a lot of activities and sight seeing in the 4 days we were there! Here are some pictures from our trip!

Day 1

Sam Adam's Brewery

FREE BEER! If you visit Boston, definitely make a stop in Jamaica Plain and visit the Sam Adam's Brewery. The entire tour is completely 100% free! The tour itself is about a half hour where they walk you through the brewery and let you smell and sample the ingredients. Then they take you to a 'tasting room' where you get to sample 3 different beers, including the Sam Adam's 'Brick Red' which is only available on tap and in Boston. They even let you leave with a FREE Sam Adam's tasting glass. Although the tour is completely free we kept laughing at how Sam Adam's really gets you. Throughout the remainder of our trip we would order Sam Adam's just about every bar we visited. What a great marketing idea!

After returning to our Hotel Room, I was too cold to move. This was by far the coldest day of our trip.

Our first night we went out to dinner at the 'Union Oyster House' which happens to be the 'Oldest Restaurant in Boston' then we ventured (by cab!) back towards our hotel and had a couple drinks at the 'W Hotel' near a fireplace. It was really that cold!
Day 2
Freedom Trail

On our second day in Boston we decided to walk the entire 'Freedom Trail'. It was still around 30* outside but nowhere near as windy or bone chilling as the day before. The Freedom Trail is a 6 mile mostly red brick or red lined path that leads you through all of Boston's Significant and Historical Sites. Such as : The Boston Common, Massachusetts State House, Park Street Church, Granary Burying Ground, King's Chapel, King's Chapel Burying Ground, Benjamin Franklin statue, and former site of the first public school, Boston Latin School, Old Corner Bookstore, Old South Meeting House, Old State House, Site of the Boston Massacre, Faneuil Hall and Quincy Market, Paul Revere House, Old North Church, Copp's Hill Burying Ground, USS Constitution and The Bunker Hill Monument.

Thats a lot to see and we walked the entire trail!

Joey on the Freedom Trail

Me on the Freedom Trail ( Note: I am a much better photographer than him!)

Joey and I in front of the Massachusetts State House

The Quincy Market

Faneuil Hall

After we walked the entire Freedom Trail we met up with friends and went Ice Skating on Frog Pond. During the winter it isn't much of a 'Pond'.

That night we decided we to eat somewhere on 'Newbury Street'. We walked about 2 miles on Newbury Street until we finally found somewhere we both could agree on; 'The City Table.' Dinner was great as were the cocktails! After dinner we walked to the Prudential Tower and decided to grab a drink and dessert at the 'Top of the Hub' on the 52nd floor. Service was horrible but the view was worth it!
Newbury Street at Night

Joey 52 Floors up

Me 52 Floors up :)

Day 3
New Years Eve!
On New Years Eve we took the train over to Cambridge and toured Harvard University. This was one of my favorite parts of the trip. We also ventured back over to the U.S.S. Constitution as it was closed the day before on our Freedom Trail Hike. New Years Eve is also the day it snowed a few inches! As we were on our way back into Boston from Cambridge on the 'T Train' we could see just a few snow flurries. That was enough to make me excited. Once we got out of the train it had already snowed about an inch! This Floridian was ecstatic!

The Harvard Campus

John Harvard and myself...

Joey and I waiting to tour the U.S.S. Constitution

Me on the snowy deck of the U.S.S. Constitution

Sailor Joey on board the U.S.S. Constitution

It was really coming down once we were done with our tour of the U.S.S. Constitution

Joey and I in the Boston Commons Park

After all of our sightseeing we met up with friends at the 'W Hotel' for drinks and then headed to the 'North End' for a nice New Years Eve Dinner at 'Terramia'. The North End is Boston's Little Italy, with Italian restaurants and pastry shops on just about every corner.
Joey and I at the 'W'

Can you tell I am a Floridian?

Pretty City

We randomly ran into friends of ours on our walk to the North End! We were planning on meeting up with them later that night. Small Town?

Our beautiful 8 Table Italian Restaurant 'Terramia'.

After Dinner we met up with Shaun & Jaclyn in Jamaica Plain

Happy New Year!!!

Day 4
New Years Day!
On our last day in Boston we tried to see as much as possible. We walked down the Back Bay area and we visited the Berklee College of Music so Joey could see where John Mayer started out! :)


Our last picture in Boston...

Tis' the Season to Bake Cookies!

Happy Holidays!

Last weekend we did our annual cookie bake off at my house. I hate baking... really I do. There is a science and chemistry to it that frustrates me to no end. I know it's really not that difficult, but if you know me, you know how scatter-brained I am. Losing count on how many scoops of flour I used for this mix or 'oops that was one too many teaspoons of salt' in that batch, it basically becomes one nasty tasting cookie! If you slightly mess up just one ingredient the whole cookie is wrong. Cooking meals is way more up my alley! Somehow with the help of 3 of my friends and mom we managed to do something right! The cookies are delicious. See below for recipes, if you have any questions, feel free to email me or leave a comment. Enjoy!

Snowball Cookies

The beloved family recipe. These things go fast! They are so easy to make and require only 5 common ingredients. We octupled the recipe twice. Yes that means we did the recipe times 16! However that somehow still isn't enough!

Ingredients:
1 Cup butter (2 sticks)
¼ Cup of sugar
2 Cups ground pecans (use a food processor)
2 Cups flour
Confectioners’ sugar

Directions:
Preheat oven to 300* Cream butter until softened. Add sugar, pecans and flour; mix well. Shape into balls, using about 1 tbsp for each cookie and place on a cookie sheet. Bake in slow oven on an ungreased baking sheet for about 45 minutes. Roll in confectioners sugar when first taken from oven, then again when cooled.

*Bakers Tip: Keep rolling the cookies in confectioners sugar. Double or even triple rolling the cookies in the confectioners sugar makes a HUGE yummy difference in taste!

Yields: 4 dozen cookies

Time to make: 1 hr 15 minutes

Buckeye'sThis was our first time trying out this recipe. They are delicious! You simply cannot go wrong when it comes to mixing Peanut Butter and Chocolate. Two ingredients that mix perfectly together! You don't even need an oven for these cookies.

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups peanut butter
1 cup butter, softened
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
5-6 cups confectioner's sugar
4 cups semi sweet chocolate chips*

*Bakers Tip: Use 2 cups milk chocolate chips and 2 cups semi sweet chocolate chips so the chocolate is more sweet than 'semi-sweet'.

Directions:
In a large bowl, mix together peanut butter, butter, vanilla extract, and confectioner's sugar. The dough will look dry. Roll into 1" balls and place on a waxed-paper lined baking sheet. The balls can be as close together as possible without touching.

Push a toothpick into the top of each ball (to be used later as a handle for dipping) and chill in freezer until firm, a little over 30 minutes. Melt chocolate chips in double boiler or in a metal bowl set over a pan of barely simmering water. Stir frequently until smooth.

Dip frozen balls into chocolate holding onto the toothpick. Leave a small portion of peanut butter showing at the top to make them look like buckeyes. Put back on baking sheet and refrigerate until serving.

Yields: Aprox 100 buckeyes
Time to make: 1 hour to 1 hour and a half

Peanut Butter Kiss CookiesAgain with the Peanut Butter & Chocolate! Everyone has had this cookie by now. They are seemingly* easy and very delicious. I think the hardest part of this cookie was unwrapping the Hershey Kisses and not eating them!

Ingredients:
1/2 cup of butter
1/2 cup of creamy peanut butter
1/2 cup of sugar
1/2 cup of packed brown sugar
1 egg
1 1/4 cup of flour
1 tsp of baking powder
3/4 tsp of baking soda
1/4 tsp of salt

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375*. Mix together first 5 ingredients; then add remaining flour and mix until you form a sticky dough. Roll into small balls and place onto a greased cookie sheet. Bake 8-10 minutes or until just golden brown. Place unwrapped Hershey Kisses in the center of each cookie, while the cookie is still hot.

*Bakers Tip: In baking these cookies the recipe we used seemed to need more flour. As we were mixing the dough it was entireley too sticky and too thin to roll into balls. Use your judgment and slowly add flour as you see fit. (about 1 cup to 1 1/2 cup ) The cookies should become a bit more firm and then you will be able to roll them into balls.

Yields: 4 dozen cookies
Time to make: 30-45 minutes

'Let's Say Thanks' to Our Troops!

Let's Say Thanks!

Take just one minute to click on the site above. The 'Let's Say Thanks' website allows anyone to send a thank you to the troops serving overseas while keeping our country safe.

Filling out a "Let's Say Thanks' card takes less than one minute. Remember as you are celebrating this Holiday Season within the comfort of your own home with your family and friends nearby, there are hundreds of thousands of troops stationed around the globe away from their family's. A simple 'thank you' is just enough to put a much needed smile on one of their faces.


Spread the word and tell your friends and family to do the same. You should never take your freedom for granted. It comes at the expense and hard work of others, please be sure to show your gratitude and appreciation in one way or another as much as you possibly can!

Happy Holidays!

I can't believe Thanksgiving has already come and gone. I hope you all had a wonderful Turkey Day! My family had an exciting dinner filled with 34 of our family members and a couple of close friends. Needless to say we had a busy and hectic house!! My niece Lillian is in town with her Grandmother Miyuki and we are having a fabulous time spoiling her rotten. The Grandparents took her to Walt Disney World for the first time this weekend where she met Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse and all of the Disney Princesses. Joey was home for the long weekend and we had a great time with his friends and family. We have 30 days left until Boston! I can't wait!

Here are some pictures from the Thanksgiving Break...

Family

Friends

Joey's sister Nikki takes incredible pictures. You can check her out at Nicole Marie Photography. Here is some of her work.

Night out at the Wishing Well

We're going to Boston!

We finally decided on our vacation destination!

We chose Boston and I couldn't be more excited!! We are planning on going December 29th through the 1st of the year. Flights seem to be reasonable around this time and it won't really interfere with the Holidays. Let's start out with the fact that I am a born Floridian who has probably seen snow a total of 5-6 times in my life. With that, I have only seen it fall from the sky twice. Boston's average temperature for the month of December is 26*.... We are going to FREEZE! I just can't wait!
So far we have had friends and family tell us to visit these places....

Quincy Market

Sam Adam's Brewery

John Adams House

Bunker Hill

Neither of us has been to Boston so any ideas or suggestions are more than welcome.

More tunes you should check out...

'The Avett Brothers'

The Avett Brothers (Scott & Seth Avett) formed a country/folk/rock band straight out of North Carolina. They have been around since early 2002 when they released their first CD 'Country Was'. However 7 years later- they are finally receiving the recognition they so rightly deserve.

I kept hearing about them through the music sites I visit (blip, imeem, etc.) and in Paste Magazine. Yesterday after hearing about them for months, I finally listened to a song by them called "January Wedding" (Give it a listen, you won't be disappointed). January Wedding is off of their latest CD which was just released in September titled "I and Love and You".


I have a feeling that as the Avett Brothers grow from the 'Small Town Indie Rockers' that they once were into the 'Mainstream Sensation' that they are becoming; loyal fans will follow along, rather than shake their heads in upset. They are that good.

Bowl for the Cure

I recently had the privilege of becoming a part of the 'Give 2 Live' organization. We held a fundraiser to raise money for the 'Susan G. Komen for the Cure' to help find a cure for Breast Cancer. The event, "Bowl for the Boobs" or to be more politically correct "Bowl for the Cure" was a huge success! Cancer has most likely affected every single one of us, whether it be a friend or a family member. We all know someone who has suffered through some form of cancer. My family has suffered and endured through quite a few cancer scares. My grandmother lost her battle with cancer last September, my father had cancer and is now in remission, both of my grandfathers have cancer, it just doesn't seem to end. That is why this event was so near and dear to my heart. Cancer is a horrible disease that hopefully someday there will be a cure for.

Give 2 Live Staff

We had a great turn out for our event. We had an incredible raffle with 50+ donations from local restaurants, shoppes and a local Doctor even donated Botox! (Only in Boca!) We were able to give each bowler a gift bag full of goodies including gift certificates to 'One Aveda Salon' and handmade bracelets from 'She Rocks 4 Cancer' . Check out Tomi's jewelry collection. She is also a breast cancer survivor with an inspirational story. She now creates apparel, jewelry and even recovery items for women going through their battle against breast cancer.

My personal favorite item by 'She Rocks 4 Cancer'...

We met our goal of 100 bowlers and we also sold thousands of raffle tickets! In doing that we raised over $5,000! Way to go team! Being a part of this organization has really warmed my heart. (Not that it was cold before!! hehe) It just feels so wonderful to be a part of something with such a meaningful purpose behind it. I can't wait to start planning next years events. Here are some pictures from the event...

A special thank you to my family and friends who helped support our event. You know who you are...