Happy Birthday Mom!

February is a very big birthday month in my family. There is always lots of celebrating, many delicious dinners, and of course cards galore!

Today is my mom's birthday. Don't be confused, we may not look alike, but we act alike. I would argue with anyone that I have the best mother on the planet. I could go on and on, but just trust me, she really is the best.

Happy Birthday Mom!

I can't wait to celebrate this weekend

Tour Continued

In the last few months I have taken you on a tour of our house. I have shared our dinning room, sun room, basement, and backyard. Today I am going to share our pantry. Be prepared to be jealous :)

One of the reasons we bought our house was because of the kitchen and most importantly, the pantry. Since we keep kosher, we have a lot of kitchen stuff...A LOT. We have 2 full sets of dishes and silverware and 3 sets of pots and pans and serving pieces. We also have a lot of barware and tons of specialty items. With all of the stuff we have we needed a big kitchen, and storage, and storage, and storage.

When we finally found a home that had a big kitchen with tons of cabinetry, counter space, and a huge pantry we were sold. Quickly the pantry has become one of our favorite rooms in the house. It stores so much, makes our lives so much easier and organized, and yeah and it is the perfect backdrop to all of our blog photos.  

I love our pantry! It makes cooking and baking SO MUCH EASIER! Check it out.

View from the kitchen into the pantry

The counter space in the main portion of the pantry is so wonderful.

We use the counter space in the pantry to store all of our small appliances. This gives us full use of the counter space in the kitchen for prepping and cooking. We also keep extra baking supplies and dry goods in containers on the shelves so we can see what we have and keep it out of the way. Not only are they practical, but they are cute too. Our serving pieces and other kitchen goods fit perfectly in the cabinets. Making the most of this space really helps us to keep our kitchen organized. 

The right side of the pantry is full of cabinets from top to bottom.

Our large cabinets help us so much. We keep our vacuum, broom, and swiffer in the tall one. Large pots and deep platters fit perfectly in the top cabinets. The tall and wide cabinet holds tons of food, extras, and some other things that need a home. In my wildest dreams I never could have come up with anything like this. It is perfect!

Seeing all of our cookbooks and having them be easily accessible is fantastic! 

The original dough boy!
Best Cookie Jar Ever.

Told you it would make you jealous. We LOVE our pantry.

1 Week

until the Pat Green concert!



I am so excited I can hardly stand it!

1 week from today I will be rocking out to:
Feels Just Like It Should
Way Back Texas
Let Me
College
Galleywinter
I'm Tired
Three Days
AND Wave on Wave

Let the countdown begin!

More Breakfast

When Josh came home last night and said he wasn't in the mood for a real dinner and asked if I wanted pancakes instead there was only one thing for me to say: Yes please!!!!!

Sure it is the dead of winter and fall is a looooooong way away, but I will take any excuse to have pumpkin pancakes. They are so tasty! Especially with our secret topping.

Sure Josh may takes the lead on most tofu and chicken dishes, but breakfast is alllll me. 

Stirred and ready to roll.

The perfect pancakes.

A well balanced meal. 

Our secret topping...Ten Apple Farm Apple Butter!

I LOVE breakfast for dinner!

2 Steps

My girl Paula and MC Skat Cat sang about taking 2 steps forward and 2 steps back because opposites attract. Though I sort of think they were singing about my life.

Monday I ran longer and faster than I ever did before. Just the other day I shared that I had had my best run to date. Well on Monday I destroyed that time. It is official. I am a runner! I can totally compete in a road race and not win, but certainly finish without walking. For the girl who always felt that dancing was the way to stay in shape and not running, this was a BIG DEAL. 2 steps forward!

Tuesday, as I was walking out of my office I slipped on some black ice, fell down, skinned my knee, and ripped my pants. 2 steps back!

Now I'm just waiting for opposites attract...or an appearance from MC Skat Cat.

Budda C is #1 To Me!

Jae's Budda C is my favorite sushi restaurant in Brookline. Yes I love Orinoco too, but really, I love Budda C. The sushi is by far the best around, plus there are lots of other Asian cuisine options for those not interested in raw fish (though they are really missing out!)

I can't talk enough about the sushi at Budda C. Every time I go I always order the spicy tuna roll (seriously, the best I have ever had), an Idaho roll (sweet potatoes tempura YUM!) and if I'm sharing with Josh, the screaming roll with tuna. The screaming role definitely lives up to its name! It may knock your socks off, but it is so, so good. Josh likes the Boston roll and any sort of yellow tale he can get. He also really likes the vegetarian pad thai...almost as much as he likes the sushi. The drink menu is great as well. I can not say enough about this restaurant!

I love that Budda C is really easy to get to, super low key enough to wear jeans to but nice enough to celebrate an occasion at, and extremely competitively prices. I feel like I am always guaranteed a great meal for a good deal. When in doubt, if you ever ask me where I want to go, the answer will almost always be BUDDA C!

Please excuse the dark photos. The restaurant was packed and I didn't want to go flash crazy.

Not only is the sushi amazing but the decor is fun too!

I love the funky red window covers...and the chop stick stands.

Big kids night out with fancy drinks (and yes, they are both pink!)

Edamame for an app. So simple. So tasty.

Getting ready for the main event! (low sodium soy sauce of course)

These photos do not do this delicious sushi justice. It was so good as always!

Alaskan rolls in the front, screaming rolls in the back, and Boston to the side.

My #1 spicy tuna! (for some reason I forgot to take a picture of the Idaho roll. sorry!)

More spicy rolls. They did not last very long :)

I love date night at Budda C!

Not Just

Any time that anyone asks me about being married or buying my house my answer is always "I just got married, or I just bought a  house." Because, to me, I just did. Sure it has been 8 months, but in the grand scheme of things that is definitely a just in my book.

But lately I've noticed many conversations going like this:

Person: "Do you have any children?"
Me: "Oh no, not yet. I just got married."
Person: "Congratulations! When was the big day?"
Me: "June 13th!"
Person: "Oh, that was a while ago now. You aren't just married."

or:

Person: "Oh, you live in a suburb outside of Boston? I love that area, how long have you lived there?"
Me: "Actually, I just moved there, but I too love the area so much."
Person: "How long ago?"
Me: "I moved in over the summer."
Person: "Oh you didn't just move there, you are practically a townie!"

While I love being married and living in my house, I'm not sure I'm ready to not be a newlywed or a new homeowner. I was sort of hoping to get at least a year out of the deal. Plus, everyday is so different and each season brings new exciting activities and challenges, I don't feel like I'm an old hat at any of it.

What do you think? 8 months in am I still a newlywed? Can I safely say that I just moved into my new house? Or are other people right. I am no longer just anything.