Hurricane Sandy - It's gonna rain!

Experiencing Sandy on our roof deck

As I'm sure all people with access to cable and the internet know, yesterday big bad Sandy finally blew into town.

And I was prepared!

Sunday night I set up all my electronics to charge because I was definitely not going to be caught without the ability to watch movies, read my Nook, and use my beloved iPhone (sad, I know but a girl's got to Tweet yo).

After not being able to justify skipping work in the morning (it was barely raining and I was convinced it was a conspiracy) I finally bailed at 3 because it was getting mighty blustery out there and Sandy looked like she meant business.

At home my roommates and I set up our Sandy Survival materials in case of a power outage. Then we faithfully sat on the couch using up as much electricity as we could until Sandy forced us pull out candles and Monopoly to entertain ourselves.

Boston was extremely lucky and didn't get hit nearly as hard as other cities and thankfully we never lost power at our house. Hopefully all my friends down in NJ, CT, and NY are ok and can get back on their feet soon!

Club Belmont Survival Preparedness Kit

(trademark on this name pending - we're pretty witty) 

1. Bucket of leftover Halloween candy to keep energy high. 2. My Irish Wellies for trips up to the roof to check on Sandy.
3. Lots of Vino 4. A million tea lights all over the apartment in case we lost power.

A rainy/blurry/grainy picture of Sandy doing her best on Boston from our roof deck.

Happy Halloween!

Halloween's easily one of the best holidays out there and on Saturday we hosted our 2nd annual Halloween bash!

I turned it into a bit of a whole weekend event with pumpkin picking (which turned into "pick out your own pumpking from our barrels" because they would only let people out into their field Saturdays and Sundays...rude.) followed up with some pumpkin carving, cleaning, and cooking up a storm. Plus, it was brothers birthday on Saturday so there was a lot to celebrate!

At 7 I decided it was appropriate to be costumed and ready for our guests who I impatiently waited for until 8:30.

And let me tell you what. We throw a mean party people.

Hard apple cider on the stove? Check.

Beverages galore courtesy of the hosts for all guests to enjoy? Check.

Bowls of candy? Check.

Homemade snacks we started making the night before? Check.

Friends and family around to celebrate? Check.

Fun had by all? Double check.

Happy Halloween everyone! Hopefully big bad Sandy doesn't interrupt trick-or-treaters this year because we have way too much candy sitting in our house right now.


*Note: Pictures are a bit grainy because it was dark in my house (certainly not from my subpar photography skills of course). Halloween=haunted aka dark, get it?

Fall Uniform

I'm definitely a comfort kind of girl and once I find something that (in my mind) looks fab and is supremely comfortable I stick with the idea. If it ain't broke, don't fix it...right?

This has translated into many fall days in some variation of a white top, jeans, and my favorite new riding boots. I like to think that a different scarf or jacket mixes it up enough to distract the public from the fact that I'm essentially wearing different reincarnations of the same outfit.

Don't get me wrong, I love checking my favorite blogs for inspiration and throwing my new pink denim and chambray shirt into the mix but in my mind my fall uniform screams "I just did so many fall activities in my perfect fall outfit!". So I'm gonna stick with what works :)

What's your fall uniform? (...so I can steal more inspirations!)

1. Loose Tee 2. Cashmere Scarf 3. Michael Kors Watch 4. Long Layering Necklace 5. Skinny Jeans 6. Casual Button Up
7. Riding Boots 8. Printed Scarf 9. Olive Jacket 10. Studded Bracelet

Little Things

This past week has been a rather quiet one, no major events or outings planned just a bunch of little things making me smile everyday.

Delicious food, random 80 degree fall days, spontaneous plans with friends, contemplating just wearing a giant poncho for Halloween, and discovering a "leprechauns door" at a local Irish pubs wall are all helping me stay sane.

Now to just get through this week because my house is having our Second Annual Halloween Bash and I don't know if I can wait till Saturday for it!

1. Peanut Butter Thing (it's a tradition) 2. Leprechauns Door 3. Late night thin crust pizza heaven 4. Where did I pack my sandals away to? 5. Pumpkin beer 6. A poncho's a costume...right? 7. New brunch discoveries make me feel like Christopher Columbus 8. I want to marry whoever invented Apple Cider Donuts

Is WebMD the same as Medical School?

Last week I got peer pressured into was a responsible adult and got a flu shot.

This week I'm starting to show cold symptoms and I am none too pleased.

Are these two things in any way related? HIGHLY unlikely. Will I blame my impending cold on my flu shot? Abso-freaking-lutely.

Therefore, I will use my expansive WebMD knowledge (I'm basically a qualified medical professional) to drink as much orange juice as I can find and to enjoy the pleasures of DayQuil/NyQuil (those people are geniuses).

Orrrr I'll just pretend like it's not happening because I don't accept being sick very well. Going out and eating delicious foods and enjoying delicious bevs and doing fall-ish things is way more fun!


My "Doctor's Kit" - psh, who needs medical school



What I plan on recreating while I'm pretending my cold isn't happening.
Because sliders and Pale Ale are the best way to feel better.

Purple Cake and Homemade Pizza - That's What Dreams are Made Of

These past few days I've been living life in the fast lane!
Orrrrr I passed out early Friday night and spent Saturday at my 5 and 6 year old baby cousins birthday party.

But you know what? Sometimes you just need to chill out (and save some cash moneys) and I really loved my low key weekend.

Plus I'm pretty sure my gifts were the kids favorites because they would not put them down and that makes me one happy girl!

Then, to start the week off on a high note, we spent Monday evening bow tie shopping and buying quality ingredients at Trader Joe's for another creative pizza night. Is this what being a grown up is?

I was admittedly mildly terrified of our autumn themed squash pizza but I'm always a sucker for a good theme. And guess what you guys, it was delicious!

I'm basically ready to compete on Top Chef (if that means I get to supervise over my glass of wine and get tasked with cutting things - sharp knives are a big deal!)

Here's to the rest of the week going swimmingly!

Birthday shenanigans - what's up purple cake and purple ice cream

Squash Pizza - acorn squash, apples, peas, mushrooms, caramelized onions, cheddar and mozz cheese
YUMMM

Our masterpiece!

I don't want to brag but...

...I'm basically James Bond now.

This week I reached another level of badass when we ventured an hour south of the city for a beginners class at a firearms school. That's right people, this girl was taught firearm safety and then was handed 100 rounds and two targets to see how I did with it. (I was just as surprised as you that this happened)

And ya know what? I wasn't too shabby!

For the first 5 minutes I was terrified and a bit jumpy and I was embarassed by my hands shaking while my former marine instructor was trying to help me but once you get the hang of it it's AMAZING.

Now let me say that I'm a huge supporter of gun control but I like the idea of going in to learn gun safety and then being in a controlled environment to try it out and it really relieves some stress! I don't see myself going weekly now but I'd definitely go and do it again.

And on Tuesdays they have ladies night my friends so if you're looking for a fun outing I'd highly recommend it...just saying.

Check out those bullseyes. I'm basically a super spy.

Now off to a weekend of more typical Michelle activities like bridal shower decoration shopping and baby cousin birthday party-ing.

Weekend Recap

Rabbit Rabbit

Rabbit Rabbit! Happy October everyone!!

This weekend was one of my beloved three day weekends and I wasn't going to let the incessant rain stand in my way. As you can probably tell from the pictures, the weekend was mostly food themed (as are most of my activities) and I couldn't be happier about it.

Other than the little snag of Oktoberfest being postponed a week -womp womp- because I seemed to be the only one interested in eating and drinking outside in the rain I fit it in lots of other fall goodness.

On the agenda:

• Discovering the best brunch place ever
• Fluffernutters!! Union Square hosted their annual "What the Fluff Fest" (Somerville invented Fluff - you're welcome America)
• Introduced the fam to my favorite Tapas place
• Had anxiety attacks over the Patriots
• Cooked a feast all day with my Mama Dukes (roast chicken and homemade apple pie are what dreams are made of)

Now I think I need to reacquaint myself with the gym put on gym clothes and get distracted by TLC this week to work off all the food goodness.