TRAVEL: Back in Boston aka Beantown

Two weekends ago E and I ventured back up to Boston aka Beantown to celebrate our “engagement-aversary.” Yes…we like to celebrate all of our milestones. What inspired the trip up to Boston was the Beer Advocate Microbrew Invitational. As you know, E is REALLY into beer. When I found out about the Invitational and specific the breweries attending, I decided to surprise E with tickets! We took the opportunity to visit some of our old favorites as well as try a new place or two! The weather was perfect – not too hot, not too humid. We couldn’t have asked for a better engagement-aversary weekend!

Trillium Brewing Company

Because it is totally normal to be third in line at a brewery at 9:30AM…

Trillium has quickly become one of our favorite breweries in the Boston area. E truly enjoys their IPAs. Unfortunately they do not distribute outside of Boston so it is very hard for us to get our hands on their beer. We stayed by a friend in the Seaport district which is not very far from Trillium. We woke up early and walked over. We were so surprised by how short the line was! After only 30 minutes of waiting, we entered the brewery and placed our order. We selected six different bottles and then we were on our merry way! Off to get some food in our bellies pre-Invitational.

Dress: Jack Wills, Bag: Chloe, Watch: Freedom to Exist (Similar HERE), Sunglasses: Toms

A Strange Bumper Sticket Found in Fort Point

Bon Me

One of my FAVORITE food trucks in Boston is Bon Me. Bon Me serves Vietnamese inspired food and drink. After the success of their food truck they were able to open several brick and mortar locations, one of which is located right in Fort Point. It is a short walk from the Seaport and down the block from Trillium. While we waited for Bon Me to open we sat by the Children’s Museum and the famous Hood Milk Bottle statue. It was so beautiful out, it was a pleasure to be outside.

Once inside, we ordered our favorites. For me that is the Roasted Soy and Paprika Tofu Brown Rice Bowl and for E that is the Chinese BBQ Pork Brown Rice Bowl.  We inhaled our food as it is always so tasty! Perfectly stuffed and ready to drink some beer!

It Is A Beautiful Day For Bon Me

The Cutest Logo

Dress: Jack Wills, Bag: Chloe, Watch: Freedom to Exist (Similar HERE), Sunglasses: Toms, Shoes: Adidas

Beer Advocate Microbrew Invitational

BEER IS HERE. The Microbrew Invitational took place instead of the American Craft Beer Festival this year. The purpose of the Invitational was to showcase smaller breweries and their crafts. We were able to drink some of our favorites from Vermont as well as try a bunch of new smaller breweries from all over the country. Those that stood out include Fiddlehead Brewing from Shelburne, Vermont, J. Wakefield Brewing from Miami, Florida, Other Half Brewing from Brooklyn, New York, Hardywood Park from Richmond, Virginia and Earth Eagle Brewings from Portsmouth, New Hampshire.

My FAVORITE beer from the invitational was Haterade by J. Wakefield. It really tasted like Gatorade. It was strange yet delicious. E’s favorite was Hardywood Park’s Bourbon Gingerbread Stout. The bourbon and vanilla notes and overall drinkability really stood out to him.

In sum, the Invitational was well worth the time and money and was even better due to the fact that we were able to share it with friends!

Pretzel Necklaces Like Winners – Obviously Not Our First Rodeo

#TRUTH

Pretzel Necklaces Are The New Black

Dress: Jack Wills, Bag: Chloe, Watch: Freedom to Exist (Similar HERE), Sunglasses: Toms, Shoes: Adidas, Necklace: Helen Ficalora

Panza

We hadn’t been back to Panza since we moved down to New Jersey (almost) two years ago. We thought it would be nice to celebrate our engagement-aversary at our FAVORITE Italian restaurant in the North End. We made a reservation months in advance on Open Table (highly recommended) and were seated within 15 minutes of our arrival (actually pretty quickly for them). They seated us right in front by the windows – a PRIME location!

Of course we ordered all of our favorites. We shared the Burrata appetizer and it was just as creamy and delicious as we remembered it. For my main course I ordered the butternut squash tortelloni. Homemade tortelloni with butternut squash and a brown butter sage sauce. My mouth is watering just typing this! E ordered a chicken, pasta and prosciutto special that he devoured. It was so much food,  I actually had leftovers for lunch on Monday!

We Took This Same Photo 6 Years Ago!

Top: Jack Wills, Sweater: Alternative Apparel (Similar HERE), Jeans: AYR, Bag: Chloe

Butternut Squash Tortelloni

Creamy Burrata Goodness

Union Square Donuts at Boston Public Market

It wouldn’t be a trip to Boston without a stop for a donut. We didn’t have the time to venture over to the South End so we picked up a Union Square Strawberry Donut at the Boston Public Market in Haymarket. We decided to take my #agirlandherdonut photo in front of the “Dental Office” in the North End. We were always amused by the sign, and are even more so now that we have a picture of me eating a donut in front of it!

Every Dentist’s Dream – A Girl And Her Strawberry Union Square Donut #agirlandherdonut

Top: Jack Wills, Bag: Chloe, Watch: Freedom to Exist (Similar HERE)

La Sanghita Cafe

We stopped in East Boston on our way home to visit with a friend. She suggested we meet her at La Sanghita Cafe.  La Sanghita Cafe is a vegan restaurant that believes that food is medicine. To be honest, I was a little nervous but upon arrival, my nerves melted away. Everything smelled divine!

We were saving ourselves for lunch at Jack’s Abby Brewing (in Framingham) so we only had smoothies and cookies. Because you should always eat dessert first! I ordered the Revitalizer Smoothie with purified water, carrot, orange and ginger. It had a nice to kick from the ginger. I am going to try to replicate it at home soon!

Our friend said we couldn’t leave without trying one of their vegan chocolate chip cookies. Thank god we listened to her. They were AMAZING! Next time we need to eat lunch there as well!

This Is What A Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookie Looks Like

Nail Polish: Essie