Sleepy Saturday

Well I am almost done with all my shopping, only two more presents to go!

Prior to shopping, I went for a 6.3 mile run around the Charles River in 54 minutes. I do not have my splits because my Garmin did not receive satellite reception until after the first mile. Errrrrrrrrrr!!!!!! Boston has too many tall buildings; it is so hard to get satellite reception. It has been especially hard since I have been using it in Brookline (when I run with DreamFar) and then Boston (when I run at home). The Garmin has a hard time switching back and forth I think. Anyways, I had a lovely but cold run around the Charles. Even though it was cold, it felt invigorating to run outside! Marathon training here I come!

After a long afternoon of shopping, Evan and I decided to reward ourselves with some beer (and we had to work on our Beer Marathon) So, of course we went to Parish Cafe. I started out with a Rogue Dead Guy

This "ale" was good, but not as good as a Belgium Beers. However, the beer flavor was strong and delicious! Next up Endurance Pale Ale

I mostly just love the bottle this guy came in! The beer kinda tasted like a weak IPA. It was good, but definitely not my favorite. Evan and I also munched on some onion rings as we sipped our beers

These guys were incredible!!! They had herbs in the batter and they were fried so the flavor was awesome!!! Beer and onion rings, you can't ask for a better (or more unhealthy) snack!

As we were leaving the bar we received a text message that our ride (we don't own a car) to the holiday party we were attending cancelled on us, which meant we couldn't attend the party. So, we texted a few other friends to see what they were up to. Evan and I were feeling a little tired so we decided to go over a friend's house and watch a movie and eat dessert!

As we headed over we stopped at our old favorite sushi restaurant: Symphony Sushi. Since leaving college, Evan and I have been to more gourmet sushi restaurants, but we always come back to our old favorite Symphony Sushi.

We started with Edamame, Miso soup and Seaweed Salad

and hot tea to drink

Next up, Evan and I split "sushi deluxe" and an Eel roll

Everything was fresh, simple and delicious. And so much less expensive than other sushi restaurants in Boston. Sometimes simple and inexpensive makes a PERFECT Saturday night.

Even though we were both VERY full, we went to Whole Foods to pick up some desserts to take over to Laura and Matt's house for dessert and a movie.

Split four ways: Christmas cupcake, Peanut butter chocolate tart and chocolate raspberry bar. 

Enjoyed with "Eat, Pray, Love"

I have seen this movie and read the book, but it was still enjoyable the second time around (however the book was WAY better!!). I don't know if I was in a food coma or I was tired from a long day of shopping or I was comfy and cozy, but I fell asleep about halfway through the movie. Oops! I still had a nice  relaxing night with friends! 

Hope everyone had a GREAT weekend!! So excited for a short work week!!

Beer Marathon

This weekend Evan and I dined at Parish Cafe and OMG it was incredible! If you haven't gone there before, GO! Famous chefs from some top Boston restaurants create sandwiches for the cafe, so the menu is eclectic and changes seasonally. After a tough, tough decision I decided to go with the "Elephant Walking on an Egg Sandwich from the Mountain," created by Gerard Lopez (chef/owner of the Elephant walk).

The sandwich was basically like an omelet on French bread. The omelet had mixed veggies and herb goat cheese inside. YUM!!!!! This sandwich was great, but nothing compared to what Evan picked: "Steak & Blue." This sandwich included a generous portion of tenderloin, blue cheese bread, with roquefort butter and marinated red onions. Served with pickled ginger red cabbage, mixed greens and marinated red onions. AWESOME!!

However, the best part of Parish Cafe is the Beer Club. The deal is if you drink all 100 different kinds of beer they have within a 6 month period you receive your own 24oz mug (with whatever you want initialed on it) and can drink from your mug at only a pint price. Evan and I decided to take on this marathon of a challenge and have started training. I started with:

This beer is one of my favorites, I LOVE Belgian beers! One down, 99 to go. This challenge is going to take some hard work and dedication, but I am confident I will succeed (Evan might have to help me out a little bit...).  Wish me luck!

Speaking of training, yesterday I could not make DreamFar's training run, so I decided to run the 6 miles on my own. I ended up running around the Charles river in 53 minutes! It was a nice day in Boston and felt kinda warm compared to the frigid days we have been having, so needless to say it was an enjoyable run.

After the run, Evan and I continued the beer marathon at our friend's holiday party. To keep with the holiday spirit we enjoyed Anchor Steam's Merry Christmas, Happy New year beer:

and enjoyed some GREAT food, games and fun with our college friends!

Great time with good friends. We had such a nice time catching up with our college friends that we haven't seen in a while, THANK YOU HENRI AND ELIZABETH!

How was your weekend? Are you part of a "beer club"? If so, how hard was it to drink all the beers?