A little catch-up.

First, a pouting puppy. No, I'm just kidding. He was sleeping the other morning, and I took his picture. But trust me, this is the same Guilty Eyes look he is so good at giving when he is pouting about not getting his way!

So let's see...the weight loss challenge continues, somewhat unsuccessfully. I've been doing okay sticking to my food diet during the week. It's the weekends that are difficult, because my schedule is very different on the weekends (aka non-existent). I'm trying to keep with it though. I've been doing a lot better with the exercising, which is good. Even if I don't lose weight, I've been feeling healthier and more energized, so that's never a bad thing.

MK and I have been keeping busy since last time I blogged. We've been lucky to get to spend time with friends and family.

A couple Fridays ago, MK was in Florida on vacation with his parents, brother, and stepbrother, so I went out with some of our friends. It was our friend SF's birthday recently, so a group of us went out to dinner to celebrate. We picked him up a cake as a surprise (which the host and the waiter both managed to ruin), but it was a really fun night. Here's SF blowing out his birthday candles. [For those in the area, the cake was a Triple Chocolate Mousse cake from Flour Bakery, and was amazing!]

Then last Friday, MK and I both took the day off from work and went to Western Mass - MK needed to get his car fixed, and I went to class taught by my favorite professor (seriously, this guy is so great!). After that, we met up with our friends and went to THE best chicken place you'll ever go to - Wings/The Hangar. This place is franchised now, but the one in Amherst is the original, and by far the best!

Here's our friend CG, enjoying some Wings. I've known CG since college (he was actually my college boyfriend's roommate!), so it was nice to go back to where we met and hang out together.

Here's MK's brother, PK, and our friend JG, who was showing off his new phone (and is making that silly face on purpose).

Then on Saturday, I celebrated my cousin J's birthday with the family. We went to my cousins' house and ate food and played games, and then at night, we headed into the city to go to some bars. It was a lot of fun!

Here's my cousin K and I. We are crouching down, trying to be shorter than the other!

Here's K and I with her brother J (the birthday boy).

This is a "cousins" picture! So it's me, plus K and J, and T and E, who are brothers. I love hanging out with this group - they are so fun! The only sad part about it is that I just met them a few months ago, so have missed out on a lot of other fun I could have been having before!

Lastly, my cousin E and I.

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Weight Loss Challenge

So it begins...

My friend KH and I have been batting around the idea of doing a Biggest Loser-type competition for awhile now, and we're finally biting the bullet and doing it. We both have from now until May 16th to lose more weight (as a percentage of your starting weight) than the other.

I'm pretty excited. I've been trying to lose 20 pounds now for awhile, but between school and general lack of motivation (and probably vanity sizing as well), it's just something I keep talking about. I have, however, made a couple steps lately to pick up the pace.

First, I consulted with a dietitian, who talked to me about my eating habits, and gave me a TON of advice about eating right. The best part is she really tailored the information to my lifestyle and likes and dislikes. No one size fits all suggestions! (If you're in the Boston area and are considering this, let me know! She is amazing!)

Second, I finally got serious about running. MK and I "ran" a half marathon last May. I say "ran" in quotes because it was a lot of run-for-a-mile-or-two-then-walk. Then run. Then walk. It was painful. It didn't help that we didn't train for a good two months before the actual half marathon either. After the half marathon, I would run on and off, and finally in late November/early December got a bit more serious about it - as in, I tried to incorporate it more heavily into my schedule.

When January rolled around, it was time to start training, and I was doing okay for a couple weeks, and then I completely fell off the wagon for 2 straight weeks! I'm back on track though, and even went and got myself fitted properly for running shoes.

The good news is that in the couple weeks since I met with my dietitian and started exercising regularly again, I think I've lost about a pound, pound and a half. I'm psyched about this!

How about everyone else out there? Anyone want to join in KH's and my weight loss challenge?

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A thought for today

When your office neighbor tells you his chili is hot, believe him. (Especially if you don't have the highest tolerance for spicy things.) There will be a habanero pepper in there, and it will burn your mouth.

And it will hurt. A lot.

And you will regret it.

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Valentine's Pretties!

Happy (belated) Valentine's Day to you all, or, if you'd rather, Happy Presidents' Day!

MK and I aren't really ones to make a big deal about Valentine's Day. In the past, it has actually led to arguments (but for a different reason), but I wouldn't say we have any traditions or do anything really special. We usually set a price limit on gifts (which MK usually breaks...like the year the price limit was $20 and he got me the ice cream maker attachment for my Kitchen-Aid stand mixer!), and try to have a nice dinner together.

This year I decided to take MK to IHOP for breakfast/late lunch. We left the house around noon, and were hoping to avoid the Sunday morning/church crazies that flood our local IHOP on Sundays. No such luck - I think we waited about half an hour? And on top of it all, I smashed the corner of the car door into my face as I was getting out the car. Ouch. We were at IHOP for 2 hours (yes, 2 hours!), between waiting for our table and our food, but MK enjoyed himself, so that's all that really mattered!

After eating, we headed to the "big mall" to do some shopping. MK had just come back from an overnight winter hike on Saturday, so we went to REI and I got him some hiking gear.

This is an "ice axe leash" or something like that. Used to keep yourself attached to your axe.


These are "points" or something. They are used to cover the spikes on crampons.


And this is a little camera/device bag. We picked this up after MK dropped my camera and it went sliding down the mountain! Luckily it is okay, but I got him this cute bag to prevent future trips down mountains. :)


I also got MK a new watch to take hiking with him (this is probably the 5th watch I've bought him in the entire time we've been together). We got a nice, sturdy Timex at Target, but I can't find a picture of it online. It's digital, with the basic Timex features (timer, alarms, stopwatch, indiglo, etc.). MK managed to set the alarm on it while he was trying it out, so we walked around Target with the alarm going off every minute until I figured out how to turn it off!

After REI we went to Tiffany to get my present! I had seen a ring in the Tiffany "catalog" that I liked, so MK had said he would get it for me for Valentine's Day. I looked on the website, and found a couple other rings, so sent them to him and told him to pick one out (that way it would feel more like it came from him).

The first one is this "I love you" ring. I didn't really care for it in person. It's much smaller in person (as I've been finding to be the case with Tiffany online pictures vs. real life), and I didn't like it as much. Interestingly, this was the ring I had initially wanted, but it was the one I liked the least in real life.

The next ring was this one with Xs and Os around. Again, I didn't really care for it that much in person, but I liked it a lot better than the first one.


This one below, the Modern Hearts ring by Paloma Picasso, is the one we ended up getting. It was my favorite, and also MK's (although it was like pulling teeth to get him to say which one he liked the best)! Like the other rings, it's not nearly as substantial in person as it is in the picture, but it's still very pretty, and I love it!



Hope you all had a great Valentine's Day/Presidents' Day weekend!

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Living the good life

MK went on an overnight hike last night (check out his new blog here!), so I was on my own for dinner. I was going to get McDonald's, but due to logistical reasons and a pain-in-the-butt dog, I ended up getting fries and chicken nuggets and making them at home. Very fancy stuff!

And yes, those are dinosaur-shaped chicken nuggets!

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Riddle me this

Oh, Allure magazine. What are you doing?

I had to get an oil change a couple weeks ago (and a new battery, too, boooooo), and I walked over to the local supermarket to get some reading material while I waited. I don't normally read Allure, but I already had that month's Vogue, InStyle, and Glamour waiting at home, so I went with Allure.

Later on, while pulling out all the annoying subscription cards, I noticed something very interesting. Allure charges $10 for 12 issues. 10 divided by 12 is .83333 (repeating). That would explain the first card, which gives you a 79% savings, at a cost of 83 cents per issue.


So how come this second card, found in the same exact issue, claims that you'll get an 83% savings, at a cost of just 67 cents an issue? I could see if maybe it said 79 cents an issue; then you might assume it just mixed up the savings and cost numbers, but that's not the case.


It's interesting to note that the third card in the magazine didn't mention any percentage savings or cost per issue; it just said save on the news stand price (still at 12 issues for $10).

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A heartbreaker in Miami

Well, congratulations to the Saints! It was a great game, and even though it didn't end the way I would have liked, it's hard not to be glad for the Saints.

At the beginning, the Colts looked solid, but after halftime, it appeared that the Saints had figured out their game, and beat them fair and square. The on-side kick opening up the second half was brilliant (only because it worked though). Manning's interception, the offensive pass interference, and the Colts' inability to score a touchdown on 4 consecutive plays pretty much sealed the deal. But, as we are used to saying here in New England (or we WERE used to saying) - there's always next year! It was a good game, and the Saints came out on top. The Colts and their fans should at least be glad that they lost to a team of the Saints' caliber.

Our potluck party was a ton of fun. Everyone brought dips or some other kind of chip/snacky food, and instead of ordering pizza, we ended up making potato skins, which were delicious. For dips, we had onion dip, buffalo chicken dip, hummus, spinach and artichoke dip in a bread bowl, and this really yummy Mexican salad-like thing.

Before the game started, we played the game Things, which if you've never played it, you should give it a try - it's a ton of fun! I received it as a birthday present from a friend, and it's been our go-to party game for the past few get togethers, even trumping Apples to Apples.

Here's some pictures from the party.


It's always nice to have our friends over. One of the perks is that MK and I clean the house from top to bottom (well, maybe except for our bedroom) - vacuuming, straightening, putting things away. I'm not saying our place is wicked messy, but it's nice to have everything cleaned up and neat.



This is my cousin Kate and I, wearing our matching Peyton Manning jerseys!

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Hi there, it's been awhile

Sorry for neglecting my poor blog, readers! I was enjoying a nice break from school, and then somehow, this semester just sneaked up on me, and I've been in full-on "juggle work, school, two internships, and life in general" mode. Unfortunately, when that mode kicks in, blogging takes a backseat.

Or a nap. Yeah, I'll go with that. My blog has been taking a nap. (Or resting its eyes, as my dad loves to say.)

Anyhow, the good news is that I'm in my very last semester (at least for now, until I decide maybe, just maybe, I want to become one of those horribly overeducated people with too many degrees)! This is great for me, but still kind of bad for blogging.

So for now, I'm just posting this "Hi! I'm still here; I haven't forgotten!" post, and it's just a quick one.

Here's a couple pieces I'm loving from J.Crew's current stock. First, the Laporte drape blouse - I think this piece is so pretty and versatile. I love the way they have it styled on the "Skirts" page!


I also love the Flutter-Flower Clutch, even if it is a bit impractical and I'm not quite sure where I would use it. But it is oh, so pretty!

Lastly, I have to mention the Super Bowl! My Colts are playing the Saints this Sunday! I'm so excited. I find it interesting that the Saints are the "underdogs" here. I am not familiar with betting (spread, over/under), but it seems like the general public thinks the Colts will win, although my non-stop watching of NFL analysts leads me to believe all of those people think the Saints will win. The other night, they pretty much spent the segment unanimously talking about how much better the Saints are, and all went around and made their picks (Saints across the board), and then Phil Simms actually said that no one is talking about the Saints. Baffling.

I'm biased of course, but I'm pulling for the Colts. I love Peyton Manning, and while I like the Saints, I also don't buy the argument that the Saints "deserve" to win any more than the Colts.


But anyway, that aside, MK and I have a busy weekend ahead of us. I have class tonight (oh yay), and all day tomorrow (double yay), and then on Sunday we're having a bunch of friends and family over for a party. Our group of friends has decided to have a rotating monthly potluck dinner, so this month's theme is the Super Bowl! Everyone is making a dip, and then we're going to order pizza, just to keep things simple.

What about you? Anyone have any fun Super Bowl traditions? Who are you rooting for on Sunday?

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New Year's Feast!

We played it pretty low-key for New Year's Eve this year: we stayed home and had our 2nd annual New Year's Feast!

MK and I aren't ones to make a big fuss about New Year's. When I was a kid it was a lot of fun to get to stay up until MIDNIGHT (!!!!), but other than that, it's not a "holiday" I get into. Personally, I think way too much is made of it, especially around resolutions.
But I digress.

This year we were supposed to head down to the Cape to hang out with our friends and go to First Night in Chatham. However, I was lying on my bed, watching a movie, and MK came in and said, "Have you seen what it's doing outside?", pulled back the curtain, and showed me the snow coming down. So, that was that. Our friend confirmed that the weather was equally, if not more, crappy down in Chatham - it was raining. I could handle walking around in snow, but not in the rain.

So we ended up taking a quick trip to Whole Foods (and may or may not have sneaked in a showing of Sherlock Holmes), and picked up a bunch of delicious food for our New Year's Feast! (This is a slightly obscure reference to those Snickers commercials where the guy dressed up like Henry VIII, and drove around in the car with a bunch of other random characters.)

Last year, we celebrated New Year's with a wine and cheese "party" of two, that also included mushroom turnovers and puff pastry straws. This year, our spread include smoked Italian meats, cheeses, mushroom toasts, and some tasty drinks.



For meat, we had coppa - kind of like prosciutto - and salame toscano, which is probably one of my favorite things to eat right now. A bunch of thin slices in a crusty French roll, and I'm in heaven!



We had four different kinds of cheeses - Parmigiano-Reggiano (authentic), Robusto (no clue what this is - was close to cheddar), Manchego, and some type of goat's cheese. MK actually specifically picked out a garlic-herbed goat's cheese in the hopes that he could get me to try it (it worked).



Lastly, I made a mushroom toasts appetizer, which is sauted mushrooms with butter, sherry, thyme, and sage. We picked up some gorgeous shiitakes and chanterelles for this dish. I'll be posting the recipe for this soon - it's delicious!

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Oh right, the pie birds

In case you missed MK's comment on my previous post, he also got me a pair of "poor pie birdies" for Christmas.

I had asked for a single pie bird from Anthropologie, but that was no longer available by the time MK went about his shopping. He actually managed to find a similar pie bird and its little white friend on Amazon.

And even though it was sold out online, there were a few lonely pie birds at our local Anthro store, where we verified that the ones MK found on Amazon were indeed the exact same as the ones from Anthro.

And in the interest of full disclosure, MK also got me two sets of Victoria's Secret Body Rush holiday scent, Sugarpop. I don't usually bother to buy limited or special edition fragrances, as I'm usually worried that I'll like them so much, and then be disappointed when I can't get them anymore. Well, I think I have that covered. At last count, I have amassed 36 Sugarpop fragrance mists, 24 body swirl creams, and 18 lotions. (Thank you, 6 for $19.99 after-Christmas special!)

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Some Christmas goodies

I have to say, that as much as I love the holiday season, I'm kind of glad it's over. There's a lot of stuff involved, with all the shopping, baking, and "travelling". I say "travelling" because the most we travel for the holidays is 2 hours (so 4 hours roundtrip).

Add into the mix that MK's mother and I aren't exactly BFFs, and she loves to pit his poor, neglected family (her sentiments only) against mine, and it can make for a bit of a stressful time. (Now, don't get me wrong, MK's mother is mostly nice, but she and I have had it out in the past over a number of things.)

Anyway, on to the fun stuff! I was really happy with the gifts I received for Christmas this year. I don't know about you, but in my family, we still make lists. They're shorter now than when we were kids, and give them to my parents and my aunt and grandparents. MK and I also make lists for each other. Getting MK to make his list is such a process though. He always claims he can't think of anything he wants, and it is like pulling teeth to get him to write down a couple of things he'd like for Christmas. He usually just gets gift cards to outdoorsy stores, like EMS and REI anyway, and he's as happy as clam.

So for this year, I pretty much knew everything I was getting. MK and I actually created our lists in a spreadsheet in Google Docs, which we shared, so I was able to see which things I was getting off my list. I know, I know, this is a little counterintuitive, but it actually helped me out a bit.

My aunt and grandparents went in on a nice suit from Banana Republic for me, and my aunt had said to send her all the pieces, but in the end got the pants and the jacket. I was able to snag the matching skirt for 40% off, but that was only because I made MK spill the beans after he teased me that he knew what my aunt got me.

Also, the shared spreadsheet also provided a little bit of humor (MK left all his shopping until the last minute):

Okay, so here are my lovely gifts from MK:

A pretty set of measuring spoons from Anthropologie. I have always loved Giada's simply porcelain white and blue set, and have never been able to find them. Okay, I haven't looked very hard, but I thought these were very cute.

This Tiffany heart key and chain. The one I got I think is 1" long, so it's much, much smaller than it looks in the picture, but still very pretty. I got a 24" chain with it, which is pretty long. I actually don't mind it so long, but MK said he's going to get a shorter one so I have "options". Given MK's knowledge of jewelry, I thought that was pretty savvy of him.

I also got this Heart Frances cami from J.Crew. This one actually showed up weeks before Christmas, because I was working myself into an OCD frenzy that if MK didn't buy it RIGHT NOW, it would be sold out soon. Oh, and look, it's still available online.

Now, since I pretty much knew everything that I was getting, I told MK that he should get me a "surprise" present - one that I didn't know beforehand what it was. I told him he should just think about things I like, and surprise me. I don't know how anyone else's boyfriends or husbands are, but there was much hemming and hawing over this (and gnashing of teeth, even!). I'm amazed that after being together for almost 4.5 years, MK claimed he had NO IDEA what kind of surprise present to get.

In the end, he got two awesome surprise gifts - one was a boxed set of Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking books. He drove all over the place on Christmas Eve trying to find me a copy of Julie and Julia so he could give me the movie and then the books, but he wasn't able to find it.

The other surprise gift we actually got on the day after Christmas (or Boxing Day, for some of you), and had to go to a couple different places to find it, too. It is a speedlight for my DSLR, a Nikon SB-600! It was a great surprise, and MK was (rightly) very proud of himself for picking out such a great surprise gift!

As for other things, I got a gift card to J.Crew from my future in-laws, which I already spent on a super great deal - the long boyfriend blazer, marked down to $80 in-store, with another 30% off, plus my gift card meant out of pocket expense for me was about $5. This is great considering I had been coveting the schoolboy blazer, which was still a bit pricey on sale. Plus, I scored a great deal on a near lookalike from Gap anyway (marked down to $42, and extra 40% off sale!). The future brother-in-law gave me a Petzl Tikka headlamp, which I will wear when I go out running in the evening, and he also gave me The Cake Bible.

Lastly, this is probably one of my favorite Christmas goodies. This is the Skyfall dress from Anthropologie. I spotted this in my local Anthro, and loved it, but the price tag was a bit high. (Not even going to tell you what it is.) So then MK starts telling me he'll get it for me, and I can wear it all over Europe next summer. In the end, we split it, and I can't wait to wear it!

And if you're wondering why I posted that picture of the dachshund gift card, it's because I actually e-mailed my personal shopper at J.Crew to ask her if they were real, or if they were just printed for promotional purposes. I love anything dachshund-related, so actually bought myself a $10 gift card (the minimum amount) just to get the cute little dachshund reindeer. Please tell me other people do this too!

Hope your holidays were just as nice!! I'll be posting our New Year's recap and some New Year's recipes soon!

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Christmas celebrations

This picture is from Christmas day, and is probably one of my favorite pictures from the Christmas this year! Although to be fair, I wasn't as picture-happy this year as I usually am, but still. This is a picture of a bunch of (second) cousins on my dad's side of the family (my dad's dad's side of the family, to be exact). I spent part of Christmas Eve and Christmas Day with this bunch, and it was so much fun!

I knew some of these cousins from before, and by "knew", I mean had met a couple times when we were really, really young. You may recognize one of my cousins as the same one from our Indianapolis trip. She and her mom kindly invited me to their Christmas celebrations after I mentioned how nice it was that she and the other cousins were so close. I was actually really nervous about going, because it was basically like meeting a bunch of new people, but everyone was incredibly nice.

They welcomed me to the party just like any other member of the family, and I'm kind of embarrassed to say I've been fangirling over how fun they are (but only a little!).

In other Christmas stuff, MK and I stopped by a friend's "ugly sweater" party. We don't own any ugly Christmas sweaters, but we swung by Target quickly before we headed over to the party (sadly, there was no Wal-Mart in the area). MK got this wicked cheesy t-shirt to wear. We didn't even realize that the t-shirt has an outline of a sweater vest until we took this picture back at home.

MK and I also hosted our annual holiday party. I love this tradition - it is probably one of my favorite things about the holiday season. This is the fourth year we've had this party, and I'm so glad that it has really turned into a tradition. Basically, we get all of our closest friends together and they come over, and we have a sit-down dinner and do a gift swap. In the past, I've cooked the entire dinner, but we did it as a pot-luck this year, and it was really great.

MK and I made the main course (some kind of beef roast) and a couple of sides (mashed potatoes and green bean casserole), and everyone else filled in the gaps - appetizers, beverages, desserts, more side dishes. All the food was delicious, and it was great that it was more of a collaborative dinner - and less stressful! Here's a picture of almost everyone chowing down. (One friend was in the kitchen, checking on the mulled wine.)

MK and some of the guys played this drinking game called Wizard Stick. They kept taping their empty beer cans together to make a long stick, and there was a full/in progress beer on the top of the stick. Our friend Mike ended up with the longest chain of beer cans.

As for Christmas festivities, we actually hit up 5 different places over the course of 2 days. We went to MK's mother and stepfather's house, my uncle's house, my cousins' house (same cousins from above), all on Christmas Eve, and then my parents' house and another cousins' house (but still same cousins from above) on Christmas Day. It was a lot of driving, but it was really nice to be able to see so much family!

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Birthday Road Trip: Part 2

How cool is this vending machine?

It's from the Circle Centre mall in Indianapolis, and we were amazed by it. For starters, it takes debit and credit cards, so no more scrambling for money if you're thirsty. Second, the front of the machine is actually an LCD or some type of screen, and you can "page" through the drink choices. After you put your money in, the little bottles display signs that say "Pick me!", and then you just touch the one you want. It was pretty cool.

My friend told me that Simon Malls is headquartered right across the street from the Circle Centre mall, so they test out a lot of new mall concepts there. Note to Simon Malls: that hand sanitizing stuff you're testing out right by this machine smells REALLY BAD.

When we're in Indy, we also go to this Borders downtown to look for a Peyton Manning calendar. I can't exactly get one where I live (although MK did find one at Office Max a few years ago)! We treated ourselves to some yummy hot chocolate. I'm actually not the biggest fan of Borders's hot chocolate (Panera has the best), but the way they top it off is pretty good - thick whipped cream, white chocolate curls, chocolate syrup, and a chocolate stick. MK loves it!

We had a lot of time to kill for this trip. We had to check out of the hotel at 12 PM, but the game wasn't until 8:30. In the past years that we've gone, we haven't had to kill as much time. The first year we went, we went with a couple other friends, and the game was a 4:00 game, so we pretty much just checked out of the hotel and went and hung out around the city before the game started.

Last year, we flew to and from Indy, so we had the hotel for all of Sunday and Sunday night. This year though, we basically chucked all of our stuff into the car on Sunday at noon, and tried to keep ourselves busy. This involved a trip to the mall to drool over Eddie Bauer hiking gear (MK was drooling, not me), getting lunch somewhere (although NOT at Chick-Fil-A, because they are closed on Sundays!), and then just walking around.

This is a picture from the Indiana Soldiers' and Sailors' monument, which is right downtown. I love this monument, and I think it looks wicked cool when they deck it out for the holidays. Those strands you see are strings of lights, which get turned on at night, and really light up the monument.

This is one of the bears on one of the light poles around the monument. I have been trying to get a good picture of the bears for a couple years now!

Right before the game, we went to The Capital Grille for my birthday. When we were in the mall, we decided to go there for dinner - neither one of us was very hungry, so we agree to split a steak to help keep the price down. The Capital Grille really treats you nicely on your birthday - I got a handwritten message at our table that was signed by a lot of the people working, wishing me a happy birthday. We also got a little one-bite sample of this delicious herb-crusted tenderloin with a roasted yellow pepper and balsamic glaze - it was amazing. It was served cold, and super delicious.

After dinner, we got complimentary dessert - I got homemade mint ice cream (just mint, no chips!), and MK got homemade passion fruit sorbet. It came out on a plate that they wrote "Happy Birthday" on in chocolate. The ice cream was very good - really creamy and tasty.

I still haven't even written about the best part of the trip (the game!), so I'll get to that soon. I also have some holiday baking recipes to share as well! MK is gone this weekend, so I'm planning on baking up a storm.

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