A Trader Joe's Revelation

I bought some of the chili spiced mangos last night at Trader Joe's. I was hesitant to buy them, cause, let's face it--chili pepper spices and dried fruit? does not sound so good--but God knows I am quite the adventurous eater so I tried them. And OMG. So good. I could eat them all day. You bite into them and at first just taste the sweetness of the dried fruit, and then the heat hits your taste buds. It's a perfect marriage of sweet and spicy!

Summer Musings...

1. To all the ladies who take the commuter rail and T to work--shopping bags are NOT tote bags. You know what I'm talking about--the people who carry around Bath and Body Works, Lord and Taylor, et etc small bags as a handbag--it looks ridiculous. You can buy a purse at Marshalls or Old Navy for less than $10. PLEASE buy one of those instead!



2. I saw a woman on the Red Line this morning dressed in head to toe orange. She looked like a tangerine. Seriously. Orange t-shirt, orange Girbaud jeans (seriously?? who still wears those? I had to laugh), orange hat, orange sandals. It was very odd.



3. Speaking of summer, I cannot stand Crocs. I really wish people would buy a $2.50 pair of flip flops from Old Navy instead of those. They are the ugliest shoes ever.



4. This weather makes me want to leave Massachusetts and NEVER COME BACK. It's not too bad today but this disgusting heat and humidity makes me physically ill. I can't stand it.



5. I have a boyfriend now :) Well, he's been my boyfriend for a few weeks now. It's going really really well. He is so sweet and caring.



6. I think I am going to start drawing again. I bought a sketch pad and colored pencils a while ago and last night I bought some oil pastels. So I am good to go!



7. Speaking of art supplies, I love Pearl Art Supplies in Central Square in Cambridge. It's fantastic. And ginormous. Utrecht Art Supplies near Symphony isn't bad either.



8. I need to start going to the gym more regularly. I am hoping by putting it in writing I will be more motivated! There's a WOW (my gym) near my house and near my boyfriend's house so quite frankly I really don't have any excuse!

The Chicago Rundown

Chicago is a great city. I love it there. The people are friendly, there's a ton of stuff to do, and the food is great.

When we got there we took the subway to the hotel, then walked down State Street to pick up our Go Chicago Card. For your money, this card is a FANTASTIC deal. We had the 3 day pass (we paid $98, the site was having a sale) and we definitely got our money's worth. We also got to skip the lines at the Shedd Aquarium and the Sears Tower Observation Deck. The waits were ridiculous for both, so that pretty much made our days :) The Shoreline Architectural River Cruise was also included, and I think it was one of my favorite things. I love to take pictures of landscapes and architecture so it provided many a photo opportunity!

For nightlife, we went to Funky Buddha Lounge on Friday night and to Excalibur and then some Division Street bars on Saturday night. We also went to the Signature Room in the Hancock Building to enjoy a (pricey) cocktail and the view at night.

And the food. DELICIOUS. I had a few gift certificates from Restaurant.com so we used those for dinner (Blue Agave on Friday night and Goose Island Wrigleyville Saturday night). I had fish tacos at Blue Agave, which were very tasty. We had brunch at 3rd Coast Cafe, right down the street from our hotel, on Saturday, and they was really good too (I had a bacon and swiss cheese omelet, cooked well done as per my request, and the bacon was not overcooked at all). We tried the fried pickles at Goose Island, which to my great surprise were really really good. Sunday I tried the foodlife food court at Water Tower Place. I had chinese food (from Big Bowl), and really enjoyed it. The beef and broccoli was very good.

I bought some foodie souvenirs, which I have yet to try--Frango mints from Macys (the hallmark of the former Marshfall Fields stores), some Vosges Haut Chocolat mini bars, honey toffee cashews from Nuts on Clark, and a container of mixed Spanish nuts from Fox and Obel. I did not get a chance to try the "Chicago Mix" popcorn from Garrett Popcorn, which makes me sad : ( I did buy some cheese popcorn from the Nuts on Clark store which was good though. I am definitely ordering Garrett popcorn though, I want some bad!

I'm Baaaacckk...

from beautiful Chicago. Pics to come soon. It was a great trip, and we couldn't have asked for better weather. I kind of want to move there!

I didn't make it Windy City Sweets, much to my dismay. Next time! I would love to go back.

Speaking of candy, I was asked to do some candy reviews of products that were sent to me by Oh Nuts!, a candy/nuts company based out of Brooklyn, NY. I received sour jelly beans, Jordan almonds, and Turkish dried apricots.

The sour jelly beans were from Jelly Belly, and were really good, and very fresh. All of the products are provided in sealed bags that allow the candy/nuts/dried fruit to stay fresh. There was a wide variety of flavors, and my friends and I enjoyed them throughout our trip to Chicago :)

The apricots were great, very flavorful and fresh. Truth be told, dried apricots are my favorite type of dried fruit and I was pretty happy that is what the marketing person chose to send me.

Lastly, the Jordan almonds. As far as candy goes, I am definitely not a fan of Jordan almonds. Never have been, never will be. I don't really care for almonds in general, and especially when they are coated with a candy shell. That being said, as a product, Oh Nuts! does a great job with them. Like the prior two products, they were fresh, the candy shell was crunch, the almonds weren't stale at all (when I buy candy with nuts, I pretty frequently encounter stale nuts). So if you enjoy Jordan almonds, Oh Nuts! would be a great company to order them from.

On A Side Note...

I am LOVING the new fragrance from Fresh, the Cannabis Rose. I got a card in the mail to receive a free sample set and it's great. And the sample size perfume and shower gel is perfect to bring with me to Chicago, it meets the current airline regulations, so I don't have to check my suitcase. PERFECTION, people, PERFECTION. And it's such an unusual scent compared to most perfumes. I heart it.

Leavin' On A Jet Plane

In 24 hours I will be in Chicago! Yay! I am really looking forward to my trip. I have never been anywhere in Illinois except for O'Hare Airport. Ha ha. It should be a really fun time. Details to be posted when I get back.

Hyannis Weekend Trip Recap

This past weekend my sister and I brought our mother to Hyannis for the weekend (Saturday - Sunday) as a Mother's Day present. We stayed at the Seacoast Inn near Hyannis Harbor, and I can't recommend that hotel enough. The people that own the inn are fabulous, and really care about the needs of their guests. We had a room with two beds, it was meticulously clean when we checked in. I'm not really a fancy girl, all I ask is the hotel bed be comfortable enough to sleep in and the rooms be neat and clean. Our room was SPOTLESS. From what I could tell, all rooms come with a kitchenette area (a stovetop, a refrigerator, and I believe there was a microwave, but I could be mistaken. All in all, I really couldn't ask for me as far as a hotel room goes.

We arrived in Hyannis late on Saturday morning, and parked the car at the hotel. It's very convenient for its location--you can walk to Hyannis Harbor, to a beach, and to Main Street. We walked down to the harbor, and had lunch at Spanky's Clam Shack. We all had a margarita on the rocks (which really hit the spot, LOL) and I had a platter with fried shrimp, scallops, fish, and clam strips. It was extremely fresh and really good.

We took a duck tour of downtown Hyannis and walked around Main Street for the rest of the day. At Tim's Used Books on Main Street, I managed to get 5 books in very good condition (all but one basically brand new!) for $30. Good stuff. We had dinner at a tapas place called Embargo on Main Street (get the lobster tempura!) , and then ended the night at Harry's Blues Bar. A regular there bought us all a round of shots (flu shots, they were quite tasty).

On Sunday we stopped off at the Cape Cod Mall before heading back home. I bought a ring and a pair of earrings for $12 at Macy's, which was quite the bargain, no? I managed to fry myself at my aunt's pool because apparently I did not feel the need for sunscreen. What can you do?

Chicago Here I Come!

72 hours from now I will be in Chicago. Woohoo! Good times. I am pretty excited about this. I'm going to go on a few boat cruises, some boat tours, go to the top of the Sears Tower, go to the Lincoln Park Zoo, walk around the Magnificent Mile, etc etc. I also want to go the Spice House in Chicago--they sell truffle salt, which I really really really want to try. I am also going to go to Windy City Sweets, to feed my candy obsession :)

Speaking of candy, I received a free pound of candy from Southwest Candy! If you were one of the first 50 people to email them, you got a free delivery. It was a varied assortment of hard candy. So thanks, Southwest Candy!

I still haven't made it to Penzey's yet, but I will be going soon. I found my list of spices I want to buy:

Galena Street Rub
Cinnamon Sugar
Vietnamese Cinnamon
Chives
Celery Salt (delicious on microwave popcorn and sprinkled on cheeseburgers)
Brady Street Cheese Sprinkle
Medium Chile Powder
Baking Spice
Sweet Curry Powder
BoldTaco Seasoning
Sandwich Sprinkle
Shallot Salt
Smoked Spanish Paprika
French Grey Sea Salt
Tandoori Seasoning
4/S Seasoning Salt
Lemon Peel
Buttermilk Ranch mix
Powdered China Ginger
Fox Point Seasoning
Fajita Seasoning

Little long, eh? Oh well. That's what money is for--to spend!