Cherry Blossoms + Boston

Since this was our first spring in D.C., coincidentally it was also our first time seeing the the cherry blossoms!  In the early 1900's, the mayor of Tokyo gifted our capital with over 3,000 cherry trees. Each year, tons (an I mean MILLIONS) of people head into our Nation's Capital to see this lovely sight.

Now these pictures may look very peaceful and beautiful, but I had to maneuver myself like a magician in order to get shots that did not include the MASSES of people.  We literally could not move because the entire mall and tidal basin were filled with a sea of tourists.  After living here, I am slowly learning (the hard way) that there are many times to avoid the city.  This being one of them.

I'm not saying it wasn't a gorgeous sight to see.  The sheer impact of all of these pink and white blossoms is breathtaking. I just learned that next year, I am going to go see them on a weekday around 5:30 in the morning.

Can you see the frustration?  I think the words that came out of his mouth were, "I can't believe you dragged me here in this crowd of people to see a bunch of trees."

A few weeks back I made a quick trip up to Boston to visit some clients. It was my first time there and I fell head over heels in love with this city.  If I had a few extra million dollars, I would buy an apartment right off Newbury Street and spend as much time as possible in this extraordinary city. A girl can dream, right?!

Here are just a few pictures that I snapped.  My meetings ended a bit early and my flight didn't take off until later that evening.  So, what do you do when you only have a few hours of free time to see as much of a city as possible?  Well... you hop on a double decker tour bus of course!  This was my first time doing that and I am sold.  The bus took me all over Boston, and Cambridge as well.  I hopped off and walked around the Harvard campus, which was such an idyllic little town.

Here are a few pictures and cell phone snaps that cover most of my Boston trip.  My time there was way too short and I hope to go back many more times in years to come!

Now, let's get to the good stuff... food!  Here are a few places that I ate and what I had.

+  No. 9 Park
This restaurant was on the fancier end, but it was crazy good.  Since cooking is my thing, I love restaurants that wow me with technique and have me wondering, "How the hell did they make this?!?!".   This is one of those places.

I was a single diner and sat at the bar by myself.  Most restaurants will send over something extra for us single diners (they feel bad for us, lol) and No. 9 Park made me feel wonderfully welcome.  In this instance, they sent over a small sashimi appetizer which was delightful. For my main course, I had the chicken.  This is not your normal piece of chicken.  It was perfectly tender with the crispiest skin ever.  Served over wild mushrooms, topped with a castelvetrano olive relish, along with a side of creamy polenta and poached egg, this was one of the best meals I've had in a long time.

I passed on dessert, but they still gave me a tiny trio of miniature confections.

Chicken from No. 9 Park

+ Stoddard's Food and Ale
It is so fun when I am traveling and find out that a good friend is also in the same city.  To my surprise, a good friend of ours from Florida was also in Boston as well!  We decided to meet a Stoddard's Food and Ale since it was conveniently located in between our hotels.

This place is really charming and featured a huge list of unique beers and gastropub-esque food.  Plus, I was finally able to try my first Scotch Egg!  A Scotch Egg is a soft boiled egg, wrapped in a thin layer of sausage, breaded, then fried to a crisp and served with a side of mustard.  It was everything I hoped it would be!  

I then finished out the meal with some chicken pot pie and you want to know what they served as a garnish on top?  Fried. Chicken. Skin.  I kid you not.  Sorry to you vegetarians out there, but it was awesome.

The infamous Scotch Egg

Teeters and I; Good friends and good times!  

LOVED this mural!

Harvard campus

That's me... on my tour bus :) 

+ Legal Sea Foods
For lunch, I took some clients out to Legal Sea Foods.  Their office was right around the corned and it was their recommendation.... and what a great one it was!  The inside was very stylishly designed and the food & service were great!

I had the Korean Rice Bowl, which was filled with sauteed shitake mushrooms, carrots, seaweed cucumbers, kimchi, tuna, and an egg yolk.  I want to try to recreate this dish because it was crazy good!

Korean Rice Bowl at Legal Sea Foods

And here is my last shot.  Boston, you have my heart!  

Udvar-Hazy Air & Space Museum + Other Stuff

Holy overdue post!  I've had this in draft form for almost two months, but I wanted to share some of these pictures because they are so cool!  

We took a day to head out the Udvar-Hazy Air and Space Museum and it was awesome.  From what I understand, this Air and Space Museum is better than the one in DC.  It is near Dulles airport and they have a huge hangar filled with all different types of aircrafts.  They even have a space shuttle there! 

If you find yourself in the DC area and are into stuff like this, you HAVE to make time for a visit.  Oh, and it's free too!  

Here are just a few pictures of our furry kids.  These pictures were taken on snowy day and the light in our bedroom was just perfect!

I know I am biased, but in my opinion, they are the cutest doggies in the world :)

::Cell Phone Picture Alert:: 

I wish I was more comfortable whipping out my big DSLR camera in restaurants, but I'm not.   I've tried before and it made me feel like a total weirdo.  The past few months, I have had some spectacular meals, including this at the Peking Gourmet Inn in Falls Church, Virginia.   

If you want to know why we went there then watch this video and try not to salivate over your screen.  They thinly slice off the crispy skin and meat and then serve it in a scallion pancake (or as we called it, a taco- lol Jen & Gabe) with homemade hoisin sauce.  This duck is earth shattering.  Mind blowing.  Un-frickin-believable!  

As if the duck isn't enough, they also have another signature dish that is your choice of meat served with garlic sprouts, a special sauce and over rice.  The sprouts are grown at a farm in Virginia and they have a subtle garlic flavor.  This dish is also worth a trip to Falls Church.  

Well, I hope you enjoyed this totally random post.  To ducks and friends... Cheers!  

Travel Lately

Howdy folks!  I have a few fun pictures to share with you.  During the past two weeks, I traveled to LA and Florida for work.  Luckily, I was able to find some time to get out and enjoy the scenery and visit with family and friends.  Here are just a few glimpses of where I have been lately.

California

The main reason for my California trip was because we threw a big client appreciation event downtown Los Angeles.  The event was held in a penthouse suite at the AT&T center and the views were phenomenal.  It was an incredibly successful event and I was able to stay through the weekend to visit with some family and friends... so on to the fun stuff!

My baby brother lives in LA and I stayed with him through the weekend.  I wanted to get out of the LA/Hollywood area and enjoy the nature.  We decided to go horseback riding in Malibu and I am so happy that we did.  Park Place Stable was more than accommodating to get us in.   For $60 for an hour, you get a lovely guided tour through the mountains. It was so peaceful.  

My favorite part was when we galloped.  It was quite funny because our group consisted of City Slickers and we were all amateur riders.  My friend Michelle had the brilliant idea to pick up the pace a bit.  A few kicks and our horses were haulin' ass... literally!  

At one point, my horse Fiona, just took off.  I thought the rest of the group was going to find me face planted in some cacti (plural for cactus... who knew it was spelled that way?!), but I surprisingly managed her pretty well... as did everyone else.  SO glad that we stepped out of our comfort zone and did this. 

Just down the road from Park Place Stable is the Malibu Cafe.  This place was awesome.  The epitome of California.  Riding the horses definitely worked up our appetite... and thirst!  We found a nice little spot to relax, sip on some sangria and munch on some good food.

The atmosphere at this place was so chill.  Live music, corn hole, adirondack chairs, chandeliers in trees and whimsical umbrellas made this place into an adult playground.  I could have stayed there all day and into the night, but we all wanted to go to the beach.

We finished our day on Venice Beach, which is where my friend Joey lives (in the most CHARMING apartment just steps from the beach).  Some California wine, red solo cups and a beach blanket is all we needed to wind down the day and catch up on lost time.  We even snuck Michelle's little fur child, Max, onto the beach with us where he acted as my muse for a few rounds of photos. 

Unfortunately, I didn't have my camera available for this, but my friend Leslie took me to the Cornell Winery & Tasting Room.  I am mildly obsessed with this place.  It is a quirky little destination as you can drink wine, go shopping, see peacocks and get some down home cooking all in one place.  I just love finding places like this off the beaten path.  

All in all, it was the perfect California trip.  Family.  Friends. Mountains. Ocean. Food & Drink.  I could not have asked for more.   

Florida

Right from LA, work took me down to Florida about an hour east of Tampa to a luxury resort that we manage called Streamsong,  While I was working most of the time, it was able to explore in the evenings and even squeeze in a boat ride/fishing trip.  

If you are a golfer, you need to get to Streamsong.  If you are in need of some desperate R&R, get to Streamsong.   If you live in Florida and need a little "stay-cation", get to Streamsong.  The owners of this property built an impeccable resort that is gaining notoriety among golfers from all across the nation.  I'm not even a golfer yet I was blown away and how beautiful the courses were, effortlessly blending in with the natural terrain.  

Here are just a few snaps of my stay, including some gators and the most gorgeous sunsets I have seen in a long time!