The Fabulous Life of Stefanie

Let's be clear that I am in no way the healthiest person I know (more miles = more beer) but there are some easy ways that I try to maintain some balance, which I thought I would share in case it sparks anything helpful in someone else. Meal Planning I am not talking about pretty bento boxes of veggies, perfectly weighed out to by macros and ketos and whatever else the popular bloggers are doing. I just mean I sit down (with Matt) every Friday night and look at our calendars, decide what we will have for dinners, and make a grocery list. We have a weekly cash budget to stick to (more on that in another post) so we check the circular for anything on sale that we can take advantage of, such as chicken breasts and produce, since those are staples. I also like to make things that we can generate leftovers for our weekday lunches, such as chicken to throw in rice bowls or  Thug Kitchen 's delicious roasted beet and quinoa salad that is amazing over a handful of spinach. A few m...

Let me share with you a parenting hack for making sure that you never miss out on an exhibit/special event at a museum: as soon as you see it, look up the day that it ends and put it in your calendar at least two weeks before that date, even if that day is months in the future. Bonus if it is a museum that has free entry days and you can book it for that day. The two week buffer you give yourself allows for a reschedule if absolutely necessary, and sometimes you even get close to the date and are pleasantly surprised about the adventure you booked and may have totally forgotten about. You know, hypothetically, for a friend... This weekend happened to be the one I put in our calendar to visit the Peabody Essex Museum to see Playtime , which is an interactive and super fun exhibit for kiddos and grown ups alike (and ends on May 6th). We went down late knowing the museum closes at 5, figuring it would help us beat the crowds, but this exhibit is a big deal so we had a long line to wait ...

Halloween was my niece's 2nd birthday so after a night of trick-or-treating we woke early Saturday to drive to Brooklyn and celebrate. We were supposed to go to a little Halloween parade in her neighborhood but the rain caused it to be cancelled, which turned out to be a good thing since a four hour road trip and a potty training toddler take a lot longer than usual.  Maddie did awesome telling us when she needed to stop and only had one accident after she told us a little too late, but not bad for her first few weeks of no diapers. I am pretty sure she loves this whole stopping at each rest stop situation because it means she gets to chat with strangers and get something to snack on (she sure is her Mama's child!). We made it to Brooklyn with most of the day ahead of us so after a visit with our family we headed off, just the three of us, to get lunch at Momofuku Noodle Bar. I had so cruelly gone without my beloved back in March, so I really wanted to make it up ...

To me, summer in Boston is so wonderful because there has to be something to wipe away the memories of what February is like (aka the month when I think we need to move to an island in the tropics). New England has so much to offer in the summer, but you can really do a ton of fun things without ever leaving city limits (or having to get in a car)! I narrowed it down and these are the five things that I think everyone, tourist and local alike, need to do during the summer months in my fair city: Get a lobster roll. Bonus points for eating it outside with a local beer. We like Yankee Lobster for convenience and deliciousness, but you really can't go wrong with your choice when in New England whether you're a cold with mayo or hot with buttered bun type of person. Hit the beach. Since this is about what to do in Boston, I suggest going to Carson Beach in Southie. For a long time I thought it was probably pretty dirty with its view of a water treatment facility and prox...

If you haven't figured it out from this here blog, my life is pretty darn busy but I crave routine and do a pretty good job at sticking to a "regular" schedule, even if it does start at 5am and end sometime after 10pm. One of my most consistent things in life is definitely my eating. I love to eat, and love trying new foods and new restaurants but during the week I am the most boring person ever because I literally eat the same things at the same time every single day. At dinner, we get buck wild, but between 5 and 5, I am like a senior citizen. Here is a day in the life of what I am munching on: 5:00am (or whenever I stop hitting snooze) : one cup of coffee brewed at home with a hefty splash of half and half. I recently switched to the "light cream" store brand but that is as low on the fat as I will go - milk just does not do it for me like cream does. Post-run/workout (around 6:45) : second cup of coffee with cream Commute breakfast (between 7:1...

Well, it appears that all of the excitement (stress) of the past couple of weeks in the adventures in home buying has caught up with me because I feel very much like I was hit by some sort of truck. Specifically a really large one that likes to back up and re-run over people.  I am not sick, really, but my stomach is not being my friend and I would really just love to lay in the sun and take a looooong nap; well, more so than I usually feel the need to. There were some serious days of stress eating last week, especially when we thought we were not going to be able to go through with buying the house we wanted, and we ended up getting take-out twice in one week, which is a super rare occurrence in our house with two people that love to cook. So, with things (kind of) less hectic we are back on track and last night I made a really yummy dinner AND homemade "ice cream" which I will get to in a minute. If I could eat one food every single day it would probably be avoca...

Well, here we are, just a few days until I run a marathon . YIKES! It seems like just February that I was freaking out about how to run a half marathon and swearing that it would be physically impossible for me to ever do a full; oh wait, that was this February! Oh how time flies/the craziness of life makes it seem a total blur when you're having fun. I am a mix of excited, nervous and anxious but very thankful that my marathon experienced husband will be by my side for the whole thing, and my AIL (that is Jane's new title, here on out) will be there at the end with her decades of nursing experience/cooking. I know I won't be fast, I probably won't be pretty and I definitely won't be walking normal for a while but it is going to be my race and I am going to run it! On to other topics before I throw up on my desk... Last night I went to a spin class with a friend who I don't see enough (that covers most my friends these days, darn you busy lives!) and it ...

I started using eye cream for the first time in my life about a week ago, as a preventative measure, you know? I get really dry skin around my eyes and figured that not only would I be helping to fix that situation but that I would also be tackling any wrinkles that may show up in ten years (shhh, I know, I know, don't ruin it for me). Last night as I was washing my make up off for bed I noticed that my eyes seem a little brighter and the dry skin is a lot better, making me feel pretty good about my purchase...fast forward nine hours when I am standing in front of the same mirror with bags the size and color of a body bag hanging out underneath there. Hell-o Monday! But hey, we had a good weekend and learned that even (especially) on a Sunday a late nap will definitely screw the kiddo's sleep schedule up and keep her awake way past the time that we want to be awake. Never stop learning, people. We started our weekend off by attending a beautiful wedding reception in Narragans...

Since having the baby Matty and I have been lucky to make it out for a date night once a month, though it took us until the third time out to really let loose and not inhale our food and rush back as soon as possible. I have to admit, it was pretty awesome just to relax and enjoy each other, to talk about work and dreams and gossip (my favorite topics, especially the latter two) and to allow Maddie to have her fun time away from us too (ie. getting spoiled with love by her Grand Aunt). We decided to get dinner at the Island Creek Oyster Bar in Kenmore Square as we had been meaning to go there since they opened, but someone was pregnant for 9 months and couldn't have raw oysters, which is the whole point of going there, if you ask me. The spot itself is really well thought out and resembles being down the Cape in an artsy, modernist sort of way. There is a huge mural of the shore on one wall and oysters in cages line another wall while dozens of cans of Narraganset line the bar wa...

One of my favorite regular activities that occurs in our home is cooking. Matty loves to cook (and is really good at it) and I love to cook (and am okay at it) and we both love to eat - it's quite a perfect situation, really. Both of us like to cook different things - he experiments with different meats and techniques while I get obsessed with a type of cuisine (last year it was all things Asian, this year I want to master Indian). Sometimes we cook together, usually one person as the sous chef/dishwasher and the other as the master chef, but what we really like to do is impress each other, or at least I try to impress him because I think he is such an awesome cook. It's kind of romantic really, one of us will be cooking away in the kitchen, banging around pans and spices while the other sits in another room yelling out offers of help every commercial break or so (neither of us ever allows it, that is what the post-dinner dishes are for). Then, there is the serving and the hold...

Make way for Bruins....er ducklings! Things that are awesome in my life right now (not necessarily in order of their awesomeness): My Mommy is on a plane on her way to Boston! Right now! And she will be here for a week. She hasn't seen me since I have been pregnant, so it's super exciting that she will be here to rub my belly and eat ice cream with me. We aren't homeless! Not only did we find a place to live but it has so many great things: it's a 3 bedroom, which means a spare bedroom for family and friends to have extended visits (especially after the baby comes and I will need them more than ever), it has porches and a yard, it is deleaded, it is gorgeous and freshly painted/stained/cleaned and it is not in Allston!! It is all the way in Dorchester where there are no college kids and there is actual diversity and there are real Bostonians. Yay! Today marks the official start of Pride Week in Boston and my co-workers and I went to watch the flag raising and show our s...

I have the sick in my face! It's in my nose and throat and behind my eyes and I completely dislike it. I felt it coming on just a little bit yesterday morning when I woke up for spin class and it totally trickled along until I got home last night and felt completely demolished. Then I woke up this morning (well, got out of bed after waking up every hour) and it was just a big sick fest. My eyes were crusty and my nose was leaking and I am sure my husband just thought I was the prettiest zombie bride he had ever seen. At least I had this guy to snuggle with (though to his credit, my dear sweet husband was also not feeling aces and was willing to snuggle with my grossness). Normally I would just call out of work and roll over, but today was the last of three days of training at the Shirley Prison Complex and I did not want to miss it (especially the new frame-ready certificate I received). The training was great; it wasn't necessarily new information, but it was a lot of experien...

Last night Matty and I went to Darryl's Corner Bar and Kitchen to partake in the Mardi Gras party, which consisted of their delicious menu and an awesome band led by a man straight outta N'awlins. We started off with a sidecar (for me) and the crawdad (for Matty) and an appetizer of shrimp etouffe, which had a delicious sauce and was cooked to juicy perfection. For dinner I had the catfish sandwich, that was gushing with the best remoulade I've had in the North and a side of sweet potato fries. Matty had the ribs with collards, which were delicious and had a fantastic sauce smothered all over the ribs. For dessert we had the red velvet cake (of which we did not find the baby and win a free entree) and Makers Mark (neat for Matty, on the rocks for me). The band was just what I needed to lift my spirits and bring me back to that summer afternoon, less than a year after Katrina hit, when I was walking around the French Market during the Satchmo Festival and a band was set up u...

Check out how cute my bed mates are. This is why it is so hard to get up in the mornings...aside from the cold and the gym and all those other gross things. Have you been outside today? It is like, above freezing, crazy! I don't want to get too excited, but I really hope this means that Spring isn't too, too far away. I feel like it has been Winter forever. We went on our honeymoon and came home and then it was just cold...for months...did I mention that Saturday is our 6 month wedding anniversary! Sweet, no? That also means that it has been cold for 6 months. Ugh. This weekend my poor Matty had to work on Saturday, after he ran 18 miles, which left me time to get my nails done and go to Spin class and watch 90210 while I felt sad for him having to be at work. I tried to cheer him up by making this awesome bacon covered meat loaf though: I think he liked it, okay, I know he did. It had jalapenos in it! (and it made for a darn good sandwich last night). After we had our meatloaf...

Home means the hills, home means the sage and pine...and also a crap ton of snow that I was trying to avoid. Yep, I left freezing Boston for Reno, where the highs were hitting the 60's and flew right into a snow storm and Facebook posts from home about the Spring-like weather. Not cool Mother Nature, not cool. I take back all of the defending of you that I did earlier this winter. All of it. The thing about snow in Reno versus snow in Boston is that Reno snow actually messes up my plans; I can't just hop on the T and grumble about the two block walk to my destination, no, here in Reno people actually have to drive long distances past flipped over cars and risk not getting to pass between here and Sacramento when Donner Pass closes and have to shovel their own sidewalks. I have become so spoiled in my big city that I almost forgot all about these legitimate reasons to hate the snow. However, since I am little miss sunshine, I have found the silver lining and am enjoying my time...

Twas the morning be fore Thanksgiving, and all through the office...yeah no one is really doing much stirring since we are all getting ready for this afternoon's luncheon where we get to serve our clients a big Thanksgiving meal and then after we have everything cleaned up and the clients on their way, we get to sit down and break bread together. Then we leave, by 1pm, yessss! This year I feel that I have so, so much to be thankful for and I am excited to be spending Thanksgiving morning watching the Macy's Parade with my new husband before heading down the the Cape to share a meal with my father-in-law and his wife. We are going to stay down there a couple of nights since they have the most comfortable bed I have ever slept in as well as the cutest rottweiler I have ever seen. Amy will also be down on the Cape with her family, so I get to see one of my besties too! It will be an awesome, sweatpants inducing weekend for sure. I thought I would take some time this morning during...