A few days ago I was giving my opinion on some popular breakfast spots to stop at to a friend coming to visit Boston in a few weeks. Each time I thought of a place I would instantly say, “Ooohh! They have the best brunch!” Boston is just a brunching kind of town. I’ve had my fair share (and then some) of fantastic brunches and many of them have been with the Boston Brunchers.

A few weekends ago I had the opportunity to join up with my Brunching friends after a long hiatus and check out Vine Brook Tavern in Lexington, Ma.

On a sunny Sunday morning I joined a few other brunchers at a beautiful wood table for a little community dining. The restaurant wasn’t busy, but there was a nice sprinkling of guests throughout the two store building.

The restaurant has a farmhouse type of feel with the wooden tables and textured cutlery, but is modern and cool at the same time.

There is a nice sized bar that would be perfect for enjoying a drink or grabbing a bite to eat.

The folks at Vine Brook treated us to a variety of their menu items including a few cocktails. Our server, Ashley, guided us through some of the history of Vine Brook while we waited for our food to arrive.

Vine Brook resides in a building that was built in the 1830s and was the site of the first post office in Lexington.  They serve “Blunch” on Fri-Sun from 11:30-3 and start serving dinner at 5 every night of the week.

The first bits to hit the table were a few cocktails.

Latin Lebowski (cachaca, chocolate malted milk, agave, ancho chile)- This tastes just like chocolate milk. Which means that it goes down just as quickly as chocolate milk!

Elderberry Cocktail (St. Elder, Scharffenberger, soda)- I love a good soda based cocktail and especially one with elderflower, but unfortunately this one didn’t stand out as much against the group as the others.

Moscato Mist (Moscato, white grape juice, Prosecco, frozen grapes)- This was so light, but sweet and delicious. The sweetness of the moscato with the bubbles in the prosecco was perfect. The frozen grapes were like little bonuses!

Hemingway Daiquiri (rum, maraschino liqueur, lime, grapefruit)- This was my favorite of the bunch. It was a just a touch tart, refreshing, and filled with crushed ice. This sounds silly, but I LOVE crushed ice. This makes a huge difference in a drink and this made it perfect for me!

Caipirinha (cachaca, lime, sugar)- Traditional drink, but a little too much lime and sugar for me. It seemed to be a favorite for the table though!

After a few “CHEERS!” around the table it was time for some food.

Sopressata Flatbread with cherry bomb peppers and aged provolone.

This pizza was one of my favorites of the morning. The crust was the perfect combo of crunch and doughy. The cherry bomb peppers added a touch of heat that was on point when paired with the aged provolone. This sucker could easily be split between a few people too! Typically when we are at brunch I take a little piece and move along so I can have enough room to taste everything. I loved this one so much that I took two pieces and could have had more!

Smoked Salmon Club on everything bagel with scallion cream cheese.

This was a fantastic brunch sandwich. The savory salmon made a great combo with the slightly garlic everything bagel. The only thing that was a bit…odd…was that this sucker was HUGE! It is a double decker and a bit hard to handle. It was nice to get a big taste of the cream cheese in on the second layer though. Hard to handle or not, I would definitely order this again and messily gobble the whole thing up.

Crispy Challah French Toast with maple pecan butter, blueberries and maple bacon.

Thick slices of challah are coated in cereal to get a nice crunch on the french toast. The maple pecan butter was a lovely sweet addition to the plate. I’m usually a savory person for breakfast, but I thought this was delectable.

Shaved steak sandwich with horseradish dijon, sauteed mushrooms, carmelized onions, sharp American cheese and house chips.

I’ve never been a fan of shaved steak. There is something about the texture that throws me off. For me this sandwich just kind of blends together with no flavor that stands out. The chips are dynamite and I would love to add these to the side of any meal they serve at Vine Brook.

Turkey Burger with avocado, house mayo, munster, and fries.

If you ever wondered if I was being honest when I review something that I was given for free, then here is where I prove that I am always a woman of my word. This turkey burger was so disappointing. It *looks* absolutely stunning when it came out. There was melty cheese, tons of avocado and fantastic fries. Unfortunately the turkey burger itself was a funky texture that was entirely too mushy. It tasted more like a homemade veggie burger than a turkey burger. I couldn’t really taste the munster either. Combined with a soft bun and this was just a fail for me.

Lets end the review of the food on a good note though!

Farmhouse Pizza with runny eggs, corn, onions and other fresh vegetables from local farms.

I never really understood the big hub bub about runny eggs until about a year ago. Now any time I see them I get all kinds excited. I loved the idea of a runny egg on top of a pizza! There were so many little fresh bits on this pizza and the amazing part was that I could taste all of them. Sometimes flavors become muddled when too much is together, but in this case it was the exact opposite. They all worked together to create a great blunch pizza.

While we were hanging out enjoying our food we were treated to a little entertainment from another server. Joel Edwards is a trained opera singer and put on a bit of a show for us. It was such a fun surprise! (PS. This was filmed for Vine so that is why it is a bit weirdly cut.)

After our meal we were given a tour of this gorgeous restaurant. Our brunch was on the first floor so we went to check out the second floor where there is a more table seating for smaller parties, another bar and a room that can be used for special occasions.

I love the light fixtures and all the wood flooring. It adds to the charm and cozy feeling of this large restaurant.

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There is also local art, historical photos and décor that make this place feel like it could easily be  your “local” hangout where people remember you when you come back over and over.

I absolutely adored this restaurant. The food, the cocktails, the atmosphere. A note on the staff…I know they picked their best servers for our visit, but all staff that I came in contact with was just as friendly and helpful. Five stars all the way around!

I will DEFINITELY be returning to Vine Brook Tavern and look forward to trying out their dinner menu. Save me a spot at the bar Vine Brook?!

Many thanks to Boston Brunchers and Vine Brook Tavern for a wonderful brunch!

*Just a Note: Brunch was provided to me free of charge by Vine Brook Tavern. As always, all opinions are all my own!*

For the past few weekends I have been on the go non-stop. Traveling, events, errands, etc. All fun things, except for errands, but exhausting none the less. This past weekend was the first in forever that I didn’t have one single plan. It was lovely!

Friday

On Friday night I joined 100+ lovely little nerds to enjoy Superman: Man of Steel. My official movie review? It was fine. I really thought the guy who played Superman was great, but I wanted to see him be Superman more often. Fly around! Save children from burning buildings! Save a cat from a tree! It was nice to see Russell Crowe and Kevin Costner on the big screen too. Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves is one of my most fave movies ever. Kevin could do no wrong there for a while. I’d see a Superman sequel if it is made, but I won’t be watching this one on repeat when it comes to Netflix.

After the movie we made a pit stop for dinner at Sweet Cheeks BBQ. I’ve mentioned this restaurant from Top Chef’s Tiffani Faison a couple of times on the blog, but have never ventured from the meat plates. This time I decided to get the Smoked Chicken Cobb Salad.

Holy smokes.

I am ready to declare this the BEST COBB SALAD EVER. I nixed the croutons (dental work is evil!) and laid low on the dressing. So good and this sucker was HUGE. I will definitely be ordering this again!

Saturday

I high tailed it down to the gym Saturday morning for my Total Body Shred class. This time my buddy, Karen, came to join me. I love having a workout partner! I don’t talk while I’m working out but its nice to have someone to chat with while getting ready for the class and complain to after the class is over. I also love a good friendly eye roll to each other about other members of the class. Heh. Megan is my spinning buddy. Maybe Karen will become my TBS buddy?!

I was super hot and sweaty after this class. It was all about doing as many rounds as possible in an allotted amount of time. Each class is different and my instructor definitely keeps us on our toes.

On a side note…how white are my teeth looking?! I’ve been using these Crest White Strips and they are magic!

After a shower and resisting the urge to lay on my bed for the rest of the day, I rallied and got the dog to the park.

Korky gets himself all riled up when we first get somewhere and gets his leash all wrapped around his legs. Every.Single.Time. It drives me nuts. Finally he relaxed enough to lay on the blanket and enjoy some petting.

Can we talk about how totally uninterested Korky looks in this photo?!

When we got home I was starving! Total Body Shred makes me want to eat anything and everything. I had plans to do some grilling for dinner, but needed a snack. Guac & Endive to the rescue!

Guacamole is actually a strong term. This is really just 1/2 an avocado, lime juice, and salt. I mixed in a little bit of tomatillo salsa this time to give it some spice.

Dinner was trio of new recipes for me to try. Thai Turkey Burgers, jalapeno poppers and Cauliflower Couscous.

I have a little work to do on the cauliflower, but will share all these with you later this week.

Sunday

I *had* a goal of making my return to Zumba after a few weeks off, but when I got there all the tickets were gone. Seriously. The class is at 9:30 and I got there at 9:01. Such a pain! Instead I did a little work in the gym and then headed home to do one of the strength workouts from Summer Shred that I had missed during my trip to San Diego. Nothing too major, but my muscles were feeling it!

It was a little overcast and just seemed like the perfect day to do a little outdoor shopping at my favorite summer market, SOWA Open Market. I didn’t end up buying anything, but crispy cauliflower from The Dining Car food truck.

Boston has more and more food trucks popping up all of the time and they gather all together on Sundays at the SOWA Market.

By the time I got home I was tired, a little sweaty, and ready to go to bed, but I took the time to sit down and plan out my busy week. I have lots of things going on at work and outside of work so I really need to be on my game this week. No procrastinating, no off eating, no messing around at the gym!

The most important part of Sunday though was that it was FATHER’S DAY! If you have been reading for a bit then you know that my Dad is my partner-in-adventure. I couldn’t have picked a better Dad even if I had tried.

See ya soon Dad!

I hope you all had a great weekend! If you are a local and interested in going to a puppy friendly festival, be sure to check out my post from Friday.

Coming this week…a recipe, the rest of my San Diego trip recap and a good (? fingers crossed!) weight check-in!

Since I returned from vacation my little love muffin, Korky, has been a big ol’ snugglebug. I love when he gets in the mood to actually like me instead of just tolerate me. Most of the time he could do without me, until it comes time for dinner. I’ve been taking advantage of all the snuggles and have been petting him nonstop. He is just too cute. *Insert me making that little squishy face noise*

Since my love for the dog is strong, lets do a special dog friendly edition of Fave Five Friday!

Fave Five Friday: The Mutt Edition

1. I’m starting off the list with something that, as a dog owner, I absolutely love. Korky hates this thing. The FURMINATOR. It is a simple looking brush, but this sucker gets to the root of those loose hairs. What would normally end up on your floor or black pants, is removed with a simple brush. I can’t promise that lab owners will see as much success (so.much.hair), but for dogs like Kork this works perfectly!

2. Finding the right food for Korky has been a lifelong process. Heh. That is how I know he is part of the family. We have tried a few types of food over the years with success with just one. It was working great until they changed the formula. The result? Dog crap all over my house for 3 days straight. It was awful. After a big huge professional scrub down of the place I started to research food that people had found success with. Wellness Pet Food came up a few times. We use the Complete Health Super5Mix Lamb, Barley, and Salmon Recipe. Since we started the food I have been able to easily maintain Korky’s weight and his bathroom breaks are much less traumatic.

3. Professional Dog photos are a must for you dog lovers. I know people think it is silly that I had them done, but honestly…they are just perfect. Dog Breath Photography could not have captured Korky’s spirit and personality better. If you are in the market for a photographer who specializes in getting hard to train, overactive, slightly blind and deaf dogs to cooperate for photos then this is the lady for you.

4. I’m a lover of dog clothing. I will admit it. I appreciate a good dog costume. I love a cute and witty dog shirt. But nothing is as cute as a dog in a bow tie. This is the current one that I am in love with from Etsy shop LittleBlueFeathers.

5. Just like I love supporting my local food and wine providers, I love supporting my local dog friendly hot spots. Two of my favorite dog related stores in town are Polka Dog Bakery, a bakery just for the animals in your life,  and the LaundroMutt, a DIY dog wash station that makes clean up at home a thing of the past. Korky is a fan too. Two paws up!

BONUS!

In addition to all the great things above, I also love a good dog related event. This year dogs and their humans will be gathering together in Canton, Ma at Prowse Farms on the weekend of June 22-23rd for the first annual POOCH-A-PALOOZA Festival.

The weekend will be filled with live music, food trucks, interactive kids’ zone, and a large marketplace to check out all kinds of dog and human products. When this festival calls itself “family-friendly” they truly mean the whole family! Bring Fido and enjoy a lovely day with other dog lovers. Oh, and I can’t forget the beer garden!

Advance tickets for Pooch-A-Palooza are on sale now.  Ticket prices are $15 for adults, $8 for children, and $12 for seniors.  Dogs are admitted free of charge but must be leashed.  Ticket prices day of the festival will be $20 for adults, $10 for children, and $15 for seniors.  Children 2 and under are free. To purchase advance tickets, visit www.Pooch-A-Palooza.com/tickets.

***GIVEAWAY ALERT!***

The lovely folks at Pooch-A-Palooza were kind enough to give me 2 pairs of tickets to giveaway! You and guest can enjoy the festival with or without a dog.

Interested in going?! 

1. Comment on this post and let me know what your favorite breed of dog is. Don’t have a favorite?! Pick cocker spaniel.

Have a great weekend everyone! See ya Monday!

I’m feeling all kinds of wordy today. I think a few days of photos and little writing has my fingers all cramped up.Ready for weight loss/workout update?!

Weight Loss

I should probably rename this section to Weight Gain. I mentioned yesterday that when I weighed in on Tuesday after returning from vacation that I was up a few lbs. That is 2.6 to be exact. Not exactly the best news of my day. I had something similar happen when I returned from my cruise. When I went on my cruise I had serious anxiety about going off my eating plan and gaining weight. I was a nutball the first few days and gave myself a serious stomach issue at first. I was convinced I was going to gain every pound I had lost at that point in one week. Then I finally simmered down and relaxed a bit. I didn’t go off the rails and got right back on track the minute we landed on solid ground. By the end of the first week I was back from the cruise I had lost the weight.

To some, gaining any weight while on vacation probably seems like a failure or disappointment. Everything I read says not to do “cheat days” and to “stick to the plan” while on vacation. Instead I follow the healthy balance way of life.

I took spinning classes on the ship. I enjoyed dessert. I didn’t eat bread. I had a few drinks. Healthy balance.

My trip to San Diego was no different. I ate a balanced and sensible breakfast, but I enjoyed beer tasters in the afternoon. I worked out in the hotel room and walked over 6 miles at the zoo. Then I enjoyed refried beans and cheese. I kept it even. Well, maybe a little more on the cheesy side than the healthy side. Having the BF there to encourage me and workout with me was helpful too.

I didn’t eat as clean as I would probably have preferred, but it wasn’t like anyone forced those beers or refried beans down my throat. I made the decisions and I’m living with them. All 2.6 lbs of that decision.

Solution?

So yes, my weight is up a little, but I’m not freaking out. I’m back on plan and really buckled down. No booze. Consistent tracking of my food in MyFitnessPal. No sneaking any Sour Patch Kids. I’m also drinking water like it is my job. If they charged me every time I had to take a tinkle break at work then I would end up just giving them my paycheck back. I’m also going back to my weight 2x/week routine. I do my official, or as official as you can be in your own bedroom in you undies, weigh-in on Wednesdays. I also like to step on the scale on Sunday to see how I am doing. My weight fluctuates A TON during the week and that freaks me out sometimes. Sunday is just a little check point.

Unlike times in the past where I might have slipped back into a relaxed eating style (i.e. whatever I want) I am taking this as a learning opportunity and taking notes on how to do it better next time. You know, without those extra lbs.

Working Out

It is official. I love working out! Technically I just like that I’m seeing muscle definition and I don’t get winded when I have to walk the six flights of stairs to my team meeting at work.  I much prefer indoor group fitness classes in the a/c, but I’m learning to like working out at home on my own too. One reason I’ve been doing more at home than at the gym is that for the month of June I’m participating in NHerShoes Summer Shred. The plan consists of a meal plan, shopping lists and daily workouts. There is also a Facebook group where folks can post for encouragement and such.  I have been doing my own thing with the food, but using a few of the recipes to make my dinners. The workouts are intense and can be done at home. I have a bit of a hard time getting into them at first though. I have to motivate myself to not be lazy with a burpee. At the gym I just want to beat or fit in with the rest of the group. At home no one is watching me. Maybe I should skype someone to have them watch me workout? Wait. That is super creepy. Forget I suggested that.

I am proud to say that on my vacation I stuck with the Summer Shred workout schedule. This is in despite that the hotel room floor didn’t feel like the most clean thing in the world. While I was doing burpees I kept thinking that the carpet seemed a little crunchy under my hands. Fortunately I started to sweat so much that I could only concentrate on the workout after a few minutes. The BF is great at cardio so I found myself cursing him a little when he was able to do a full minute of knee slappers without dying.  I also did my Zombies, Run! app on one day and ended up job/walking 6 miles. Seriously. 6 MILES! I was so impressed with myself. I felt a little down when the oldest man on the planet ran past me, but I figure we all have to start somewhere. Or at least I thought that after I stopped crying. Kidding. I didn’t cry. This time.

To keep myself motivated I’ve bumped up my Real Ryder spin classes to 2x a week. I’d love to do more, but I know it is important for me to change things up or I get bored. Plus, those suckers are expensive!

My next few weeks look a little like this:

Monday- Summer Shred Cardio/Spin

Tuesday-Summer Shred Strength/C25K

Wednesday- Summer Shred Cardio/Spin

Thursday- Summer Shred Strength/C25K

Friday-OFF! or Yoga

Saturday- Total Body Shred/Yoga

Sunday- Zumba

On each of those days I’m walking the dog and getting my steps in according to my FuelBand. Once the Summer Shred is over I will probably switch up my routine totally and add in some swimming for the month of July. I got a 30 day pass to a gym near me that has a pool. Excitement doesn’t even begin to describe how I am feeling about that. I’m not the world’s best swimmer, but I love being in the water.

I’ve also been posting my workout results on Instagram. I don’t know why, but having a little “Like” button pushed by strangers on the internet is very motivating!

So with all that said, I have some questions for you.

-Do you make a schedule for your workouts? 

-Do you do yoga as part of your regular routine? I’d like to get into it more often!

-Anyone using the new FitBit? I’m curious how people are liking it.

Any and all advice, comments or critiques is welcome! I’m still learning what is best for me and my body so I love hear what others have found success with. You have all been super supportive and offered some great advice. You some smaht folks! <—Please say that with a Boston accent. It gives me a giggle.

See ya tomorrow with more photos!

Well, this should be fun. If you haven’t noticed, my little weight loss ticker took a little jump. Oops. This What I Ate Wednesday will probably give you a clue as to why. I’m not worried. I weighed in on Tuesday right after we got back from San Diego (ha!) and I should have the pounds gained off in the next week. So with that in mind…

WIAW: San Diego Edition!

I was convinced that San Diego should be our vacation spot by the BF with the promise of tacos, refried beans and beer. I’m a HUGE Mexican food fan and could literally eat it for every meal. I have been low-carbin’ it for the past few months so this was a huge treat for me! I’m including only the non-healthy but drool inducing bites for this round.

Pacific Beach Bar & Grill for Taco Tuesday! The shredded chicken crunchy tacos and fish tacos were sublime.

Brunch at The Cottage in La Jolla. I had the California Benedict with sliced turkey, avocado, poached eggs and hollandaise. I drizzled a little hot sauce over the top because that is the way I like to live. Although I enjoyed my brunch company, I thought the juice that I had (pom) was the highlight of the meal. My benedict was a little cold and the turkey a bit dried out. The hollandaise didn’t have much flavor and since it was a little cold it had started to congeal. Eh. Not my fave benedict. I did enjoy sitting on the patio though.

Old Town is a must for any Mexican food lover when visiting San Diego. We decided to go with the majority of folks on Yelp and visited Casa de Reyes. We started with guac which had an interesting mix of radishes on the top. I actually loved the crunch and punch that it added. Definitely something I need to remember for my next guac batch.

For dinner I got the bean and cheese burrito “wet” style. Wet just means sauce on the top. I wasn’t a fan of the flour tortilla so I ate the insides with the sauce. Mmm…refried beans are my absolute favorite food. There was a decent sized salad going on over there on the side of the plate but it was dwarfed by the extra jumbo burrito.

Near the end of our trip we took a little trip out to Oceanside to check out their beaches. Spoiler Alert: Not as nice as Coronado or Pacific Beach. While we were there we stopped at Breakwater Brewing for some lunch. It had a very relaxed beach bar type of vibe. We grabbed a seat at the bar and ordered up one of their beers and a pizza to split. The medium was huge! We had the Spicy Jerk Chicken pizza. Although I enjoyed the pizza, spicy this pizza was not. As a matter of fact, I didn’t taste anything that remotely reminded me of jerk chicken. Good pizza though! The crust was delicious.

One of the last meals we had in San Diego was at a place in Gaslamp called Neighborhood . I didn’t do my research enough so I didn’t realize this place was a hipster’s delight. No hostess. No ketchup. No vodka. I’m not really a ketchup fan, but any time people try to put down what others enjoy I get a little annoyed. I figured what the heck and put my own name on a chalkboard that I assume was the waiting list. We were seated pretty quickly and had a lovely server. The whole meal was pretty good, but what cracked me up the most was the Grilled Cheese Salad. We ordered this to split and for some reason we both thought that the grilled cheese part referred to something like cheese sprinkles or maybe some gouda on the top. We weren’t expected an actual grilled cheese sandwich to be surrounding the plate. Heh. I like all the goodies in the salad, but I was a bit bummed out that it was so wet. I think I officially like all dressings on the side.

Are you worried about me after all that cheesy carb-a-licious food up there? Eh. Don’t be. It was a one time deal. You know, until we decided to get drinks.

There were $3 margaritas at Pacific Beach Bar & Grill.

Dueling Sangrias at Vin de Syrah in Gaslamp.

Beer tasters at Coronado Brewing Company and Ballast Point.

FYI…Ballast Point is awesome. They have a foreign export stout called Indra Kunidra that is out of this world. It has coconut, kaffir lime leaf, cayenne, cumin, and Madras curry spice to round out the crazy flavors in this beer. SO GOOD. I have to find this beer near me!

There was also some wine tasting, including a stop at The Wine Encounter in Hillcrest. Happy Hour included 1/2 off wine flights. Don’t mind if I do!

We paired our wine with some mixed olives (which I have a hard time resisting anywhere) that also came with some nuts and fruit. Lovely little platter.

There was also a tour (and tasting, of course!) at Stone Brewing Co. I had their oak-smoked barley wine. I am a huge fan of barley wine and this one was super unique. It didn’t have the super thick texture that I am used to, but the smokiness was just enough to make this drink stand out and be super drinkable. We also tried their Cask beer which was the IPA with honey, mint and chipotle peppers. Nope. Not a fan. Don’t put mint in things. *Shudder*

Fear not my healthy friends. I had plenty of salads, fresh fruit, yogurt and other healthy options. I even managed to snag a veggie plate at a pizza place.

The next time I have a WIAW I will be back to my healthy and not quite as cheesy meals.

Until tomorrow!