Guac n' Roll

Some Mondays just call for margaritas. With my Mom and sister in agreement, we all headed to one of our favorite Mexican restaurants - Rosa Mexicano.

We first stumbled upon this restaurant when we were in NYC. Loving their funky interior, great atmosphere, and even greater food and drinks; we were bummed we would only get to enjoy it when visiting the city. As luck would have it though, they opened up a location in Boston not too long after!

Located right next to the Seaport hotel, it's a great spot to meet up over drinks and/or dinner.
What's great too is they have complimentary valet parking - definitely an added bonus... especially if, like us, you and your party all are coming from different places and had to travel separately.

After saying our "hellos," we ordered our drinks and settled into our menus.
It was quickly decided on that table-side guacamole was a must. And a few minutes later, it was being whipped up right in front of us.

  

 

 Guac and a margarita on the rocks with salt - I think I could live off the stuff.

We were guac n' rollin'...

 

and Mom was getting all fancy with her frozen pomegranate margarita.

And although we most certainly could have made a meal off of the chips and dip alone, the menu options sounded  too delicious to  pass on. 

Among our selections, we had:

 Ceviche tacos. Nice and light!

Rolled crispy chicken tacos. Very tasty!

Grilled filet mignon, chorizo sausage, tomatoes and serrano

peppers, served over herbed brown rice with tomatillo and

tomato-chipotle sauces. 

This was really good. Although I did accidentally eat a whole pepper in one mouthful. Serious spiciness right there.

Slow braised short ribs -

Tequila and beer-marinated boneless short ribs served with house

rice with a smoky tomatillo-tomato-chipotle sauce, and topped

with tri-colored roasted peppers. 

 

Fiesta in my tummy is how I'd sum this one up. It melted in your mouth and was extremely flavorful.

 

As we savored the yumminess of the food in front of us, we also enjoyed looking at the restaurant's cool wall waterfall.

 

A whole wall is essentially a waterfall, with figures of a diver in the various stages/positions of a dive. 

I thought it was pretty cool at least. 

We finished our Mexican food fest with what else, sweets!

Fried plantains with queso fresco and crema to be exact.

They may not look like anything special, but believe me - they're good. Not too sweet, but sweet enough - they're were the perfect ending for the night's meal.

Mexican/Margarita Mondays should become a thing. And if they are already a thing, well then they have 3 more fans!

xo Belle

Verrill's Fall Festival

One of my favorite local spots around is a place called Verrill Farm. Located in Concord, MA, it's a farm, store, and cafe of sorts. The farm grows a lot of their own goods, and also source them locally.
Veggies, fruits, cheeses, baked treats, sandwiches, specialty items... they have it all!
Super fresh and even more delicious.

Having ourselves a busy, errand-running Saturday, we stopped at Verrill for a quick bite to eat.
And stayed a lot longer than planned...

When we first arrived, we browsed around outside

picked a pumpkin or two

and got in the Halloween spirit.

We made our way inside for lunch - and got sidetracked by the yumminess...

 

And the prettiness...

 

And the funniness on display.

Once in the cafe area, we tortured ourselves a bit more by browsing the baked goods before ordering.

Raspberry White Chocolate Scones (and other flavors...clearly I'm partial to the raspberry).
Need I say more?

  Oh and their trail mix (nuts, raisins, coconut, chocolate) cookies? Yeah... I could eat a dozen.
Barely Able to control ourselves around these temptations, we ordered lunch and took a seat.


I ordered a turkey panini with cheese, tomato, onion, pickles and spicy mustard on marble.

Crunchy bread, melt-y cheese, spicy mustard - you can't go wrong.
As we enjoyed our lunch, we realized that today was Verrill's annual Fall Festival.

Not wanting to miss out on the fun, we took our last few bites and headed around back to join the festivities.
And I must say, they had a ton of things going on. There was: music, dancing, arts & crafts, games, hayrides, food, raffles, pumpkin carving contests, and more.

Having enjoyed ourselves thoroughly, we realized that the afternoon was flying by and we needed to get back to our errands. This was supposed to be a "quick" stop after all!
But hey, aren't the serendipitous moments often some of the best ones?
I think they are at least.

 

"Bye Verrill! See you soon!"

xo Belle

Catching Up at Upper Crust

My friend Katherine and I met up for dinner last night for a much needed catch-up.
We went to school together, were in the same sorority, and basically saw one another on a daily basis.
As we both live in Boston, we knew that even after graduation, we'd easily be able to get together.
Yet, its been MONTHS since we've seen each other.
It's crazy how that happens.

We decided on a dinner spot that was a half-way point between both our houses - and quite possibly makes the BEST pizza in Massachusetts.
*New York, Italian pizza will always steal my heart/stomach for the grand title of the BEST ever.

The spot: Upper Crust.

There are various storefronts scattered around Boston and the surrounding areas and they make the yummiest of thin crust pizzas. They have a whole menu of specialty pizzas with various toppings, or you can make your own creation. They serve by the slice (note: one slice is really two!) and by the pie (small and large).

It's super casual inside-- just order at the counter, pick your table, and they'll bring your order out. While you wait, you can amuse yourself with the "flying saucers" (pizza pie pans) above you.

After mulling over the menu and all of our options, we decided to get a pie- half BBQ chicken and half "Back Bay" (eggplant, chicken, fresh mozzarella, marinara, and fresh basil).

So so so good. Thin, crispy crust; fresh ingredients; and a ton of flavor.

Right out of the oven hot too.

We chatted and laughed as we caught up, slice after slice.
We may or may not have finished off the whole pie...Oops. 

xo
Belle

Category 5

One of the guys I went to high school with has just launched a company with three of his friends and I have to say, it's pretty impressive. So impressive that I thought it deserved a post.

The company is called Category 5 Boat Shoes, and they produce and sell classic and customizable, leather boat shoes. 

You can check out their website here.

The shoes, are hand sewn, water resistant, comfortable, durable, and pretty spiffy looking. If you're a fan of the Sperry brand, you may want to give Category 5 a go. 

They have a men's, women's and Greek (sorority / fraternity) line and each line has various colors to choose from.

Here are some of the men's:

 

And here are some of the women's:

You also have the option to customize and build your own shoe- choosing the color, and embossed "logo." This logo could be anything from a country club, sports team, monogram, company logo, Greek organization, etc. The choices are pretty much endless.

 In addition to shoes, the company also sells other items.

 

Like I said, pretty impressive.
The shoes are extremely well made, super comfy, and so nice looking.
They're definitely going to be a fall-wardrobe staple. And I've already decided that they're going to make for some great Christmas presents this year.

Category 5 Boat Shoes : Where Class Meets Custom.

xo Belle

Embracing October

These two little kittens My two little sisters are already embracing October, which is arguably one of the best months of the year.

A few things I love about October:

• Pumpkin everything!
• Pumpkin picking
• Pumpkin spice-lattes (I refuse to order/drink one until it's October)
• Pumpkin pie
• Pumpkin carving
• Gorgeous foliage - reds, oranges, yellows
• Sweatshirt weather
• That cool, crisp, autumn smell
• Piles of leaves
• Crunchy leaves
• Football games
• Apple everything! (although this goes for September too)
• Apple picking
• Caramel apples
• Apple pies and crisps
• Fall break / Columbus Day (who doesn't love a day off, right?)
• Turning the fireplace on
• Boots
• Plaid
• Halloween
• Decorations
• Costumes
• Candy
• Trick -or- Treating

Who else is excited for the month ahead?

xo Belle

Pink & Green October

Helloooo October!

xo Belle