Category Archives: Connecticut

MIMM: Worn Out But Worth It

I am exhausted, despite the fact that I went to sleep at 9:15PM and got to sleep til almost 8 this morning. But the reason I’m worn out is because of a weekend which included some going out of my box, and it was well worth it. Let’s get the Marvelous In My Monday party started so that I can remember that fact.

Will you too be joining Katie’s marvelous link-up?

Marvelous is…trying a new restaurant for a baby shower on Friday. I went to spin in the morning so I was able to join my co-workers after work for drinks and dinner, which is not something I’m usually able to do with my preference for evening gym sessions. I was of course in charge of picking the place and I ended up choosing nearby Cracker Barrel Pub in Tariffville, because they just re-did the menu and new manager and head chef Hazen is someone I’ve worked with before. Clearly he knows me because he sent out crispy baby cabbages for the table – what a nice surprise! (If anyone is interested in trying Cracker Barrel’s new menu, there is a Groupon out right now!)

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Let’s See How Far We’ve Come

Happy Friday readers! I came into work late today due to a family obligation so I’m all confused about what time and day it is. Thankfully the time is afternoon and the day is Friday, so I’d say I’m in business. I wasn’t sure what to blog about today or even if I was going to blog, but I can’t stay away for long so here I am. I noticed a few things last night during the plans I had mentioned in yesterday’s post, so I’d like to share them with you all.

I first headed to J’s Crab Shack in Hartford after the bartender Kim invited me to come have a Manhattan in their new lounge (formerly was a banquet room). While there I found out that not only was Kat running late to the event, but the food there would be “snacks” from Pond House Cafe (who by the way is offering some fun reasonably priced cooking classes this year). I love Pond House food but snacks seemed ominous to me. I knew I needed to eat dinner but making a dinner out of event snacks often means making dinner out of dips, cheeses, and other not-so-light food. Instead of planning to restrict at the event (AKA drinking on an empty stomach), I made the decision to go next door to O’Porto and grab dinner – a healthy dinner I was comfortable with – at the bar.

Greens, shrimp, smoked-salmon-wrapped asparagus, and balsamic vinaigrette.

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Let’s Think-Out Loud (Let’s Think-Out Loud)

I hope at least one person gets that the title of this post is meant to be sung to the tune of “Let’s Get Loud” by J. Lo. If you don’t get it after this explanation and the below video, I have failed as a blogger.

 

I hope you guys are ready for some thoughts. Because I’ve got a few of them, and it’s Thursday, which means it’s time to link up with Amanda for Thinking Out Loud Thursdays!

Thinking-Out-Loud
1. I totally spaced and didn’t announce the winner of my Nancy Rose Performance workout outfit giveaway in Tuesday’s post. Oops! Thank you to all who entered and our winner is Hillary…I will be contacting you to arrange for receipt of your prize!

2. Best of Hartford 2014 awards nominations are out for both Hartford Magazine and Hartford Advocate. I’m honored to be nominated again in categories for both! You can vote for me for Best Blogger and Best Twitterer in Hartford Mag’s awards, and Best Local Blogger, Best Local Twitter, and Best Local Instagrammer in Hartford Advocate‘s awards.

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Marvelous Mohegan Trip!

Tonight is your last chance to enter my Nancy Rose Performance giveaway for a new workout outfit! Entries close at 11:59PM EST. Seems as if it’s been eons since my last Marvelous In My Monday (MIMM) post. I haven’t taken the time to sit down and write one since before all my holiday travels! But this past Saturday night certainly calls for a recap. My good friend Molly came home (we grew up a few houses away from each other) from Boston so we could spend time together in CT. Turns out my parents planned a spontaneous overnight at Mohegan Sun Casino for that very same evening…and they let us tag along.

Will you be joining Katie’s link-up this week?

We got ready in the hotel room and headed downstairs to grab a snack, since dinner reservations were late. I knew Molly would adore Tuscany and we had a cheese plate craving so we selected that as our first stop of the night. I had the Perfectly Pear Martini (Absolut Pear, Martini & Rossi Asti) which earned its name thanks to the bartender doing a great job of fulfilling my request for just the tiniest splash of sour apple pucker (it was supposed to come with more). Molly was pleased by her Rye Sour…and the prompt bread-and-dips (white bean puree and olive tapenade) service. Continue reading →

Best of Each Month in 2013

Thanks for your feedback on yesterday’s post about my 2014 New Year’s resolution! I was hesitant to hit publish because I felt there were a few misconceptions you guys could get from the post. I do not think I’m ugly without makeup or my hair “done up”, and I also didn’t want anyone to think my resolution was vain. But this is my blog and it’s my resolution so I shared, and I’m glad I did. It seems that those who commented get that it’s about how I feel about myself, not how I look to others.

I have been debating for a few weeks now how I would recap 2013 on the blog. Last year I did a top 12 of 2012 but I really think it would be too hard to rank all the great stuff I got to do and the fabulous people I got to see this year. There is so much to look at in the year! So I decided to refine a bit and instead look at each month. I’m going to try my hardest to declare a favorite day/event/occurrence/etc for each and I’ll end up with a list of twelve things, but to be honest I still won’t do an accurate enough job of getting across how grateful I am for each and every person, place, or thing (noun?!) that made 2013 a year to remember.

January

The Mohegan Sun WineFest was a very special event for me! It was my second time there to help Mohegan promote the festival but this year I got to bring my foodie partner in crime Rachel. She got hooked and is taking her boyfriend back to this year’s event! I also met Kaitlin in person for the first time, and we shared a hug that made her boyfriend (now fiance!) think that we had known each other for year’s. It sure feels like it!

Me, Rachel, and our media passes!

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New Year’s Eve 2013

Lindsay commented on my last post and said some say New Year’s Eve (#NYE as we social-media-lites like to call it) is an indicator of how the upcoming year will be spent. I both hope and don’t hope this is true! I am currently sitting in my kitchen drinking the last of a Starbucks black coffee (Daybreak was closed today 🙁 ) and writing this post to put off going to the gym. I cannot stand all the New Year’s resolution talk going on right now but today I sure do wish I had the motivation of a resolution-er. Given the fact that I work out consistently, it’s just any old gym day for me. Stairs, abs, and maybe arms are on my agenda.

My New Year’s nails, which I surprisingly haven’t messed up yet.

Anyway, New Year’s Eve was fun. I pretty much allowed myself to drink and eat what I wanted. We started with a lovely dinner at Bricco Trattoria in Glastonbury, where I un-surprisingly ran into many people I know from around town. My good friend Kelly came to visit and some other old friends, including Greg, were part of my evening too.

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CONNetic Dance Nutcracker Ticket Giveaway!

Last holiday season I had the opportunity to see the Sunday matinee of CONNetic Dance‘s The Nutcracker: Suite & Spicy at Downtown Hartford’s Wadsworth Atheneum. You can see my review here. Director/founder Carolyn Paine is a friend of mine as well as a huge part of Hartford’s cultural scene. She is one of those awesome people like Chion Wolf who I see at almost every area event; she’s on a mission to show the state that Hartford Has It. Well it’s that time of year again…CONNetic Dance will be performing The Nutcracker: Suite & Spicy at the same venue this coming Friday 12/20 and Saturday 12/21 at 8PM, and Sunday 12/22 at 2PM. Tickets are $30 each and can be purchased here.

My favorite dance of the show.

This year CONNetic is literally mixing things up by adding an official cocktail sponsor – Tanduay Asian Rum! You may recall that I am a fan (may or may not have had some last night, ice cold with a splash of sweet vermouth, not bad for a Monday). Tanduay will be pouring in the lobby and the program will have special recipes developed just for the show. Here’s a preview!

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MIMM: Holiday Cheer!

The winner of my giveaway for a Blue Nile Sterling Silver Branch Necklace is actually the first person who submitted any entries – Shawna! I will be contacting you to get your shipping address. Congrats to all who entered and thank you for the enthusiastic participation!

I had plans this past weekend for not one but two holiday parties. Unfortunately Saturday’s snow resulted in one of them getting cancelled but I still managed to make my weekend full of plenty of marvelous holiday (and overall) cheer.

Be sure to link-up with Katie if you’re participating in Marvelous In My Monday today!

Marvelous is…visiting Kaitlin on Friday! She was kind enough to host me for the evening and showed me a wonderful time. We started with a gift exchange…she got me a set of champagne flutes and a bottle of Prosecco, not to be opened until I move out of my parents’ house and get my own place 😉 my kind of motivation! The booze theme proceeded to carry on throughout the evening.

We went to Total Wine in Norwalk (which only made me more pumped for FL this month because there’s one by our condo) and they were having not one but two wine tastings AND a vodka tasting. Thank you Friday night! I’m worse in liquor stores than most girls are in Target so I walked out with two bottles of late harvest dessert wines, a nip of coffee liqueur, and a really nice Cabernet to share with Kaitlin at the holiday party we planned to attend later. I also ran into a fantastic guy named Latif who overheard me asking an employee if Total Wine carried Cesca Vicent, my favorite red to order at Barcelona. We immediately bonded over our love for Cesca and Barcelona! It was classic.

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Five Things Friday: Half Day!

It’s the last day to enter my Blue Nile giveaway for a sterling silver necklace! Entries close tonight at 11:59PM EST.

It’s Friday and I’m taking a half day at work today (holla) and have a lot of random stuff to say. Perfect day to join Clare‘s Five Things Friday party so I can be ADD and talk about all the things!

If you participate, make sure you link-up!

1. Today I get to see two very special people!

The reason for my half-day at work today is because I’m the lucky duck who gets to pick up this lady from the airport.

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Hartford TheaterWorks “Christmas on the Rocks”

I received press tickets to a performance of this play for review purposes. All opinions are my own. This is not a sponsored post.

I worked with Hartford TheaterWorks to do a ticket giveaway promotion for their current production, Christmas on the Rocks. Thankfully I too received a pair of tickets so that I could check out the show myself and share my thoughts! This past Saturday I attended the 4PM matinee (I love the 4PM time…so easy to go out to dinner downtown after!) with my friend Howard.

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Meet Caitlin

I’m a 28 year old full-time working girl living in Boston (previously lived in Connecticut). I’m passionate about food/drink, restaurants, self-love, fitness, and the ever-present search for balance. I write about that journey on this blog – I hope you enjoy!

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Design Credit

My header was originally designed by Mai Le and later tweaked by Chris Roggi to match this theme, which he helped me customize. He also moved me over to self-hosting! Both can be contacted through their sites for design & development work!

Disclaimer

I am not an RD and do not have any official training, certifications, or degrees in nutrition or fitness. This blog is a way to write about my life. Any views I express are mine alone, based on what works for me, and should never be taken as medical advice. Always talk to your doctor or a trained professional before starting a new diet or fitness plan. In addition, this blog and its content are in no way affiliated with Kate Gosselin, “Kate Plus 8”, TLC, or any related affiliates.

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