Hiking the Hills

As I mentioned yesterday, our date night had a part two. For the second part of our date, I decided to take J & Tucker hiking at Blue Hills Reservation.

Although Saturday morning was a little rough after a couple martinis and glasses of wine Friday night...oops....I pulled it together and we got on the road as soon as we could. We took Tucker to the hiking paths at Blue Hills when we first got him in the Fall of 2010 and sadly, haven't been back since!

Tucker- October 2010

And after our shopping spree the weekend before, I wanted to do something fun & free.  It was the perfect opportunity to take the boys hiking. It was also a great opportunity to keep Tucker off his leash for the majority of our hike. This is the first time we've done that and I was definitely nervous at first. But Tucker was awesome- he came if we called him, and never went too far ahead, we were never out of his sight. Even when other dogs came by, he stayed right with us (thank goodness!).This could just be him being a big baby and scared to leave us, but that is just fine with me.

Loving being outside. Kicking up some dirt.

Anyone who's met Tuck knows that his tongue is abnormally large. He's a freakshow, what can I say?

Thankful for his Gulpy

Couldn't have asked for better weather!

Freak.of.nature.

J told me he was bouldering....

Final destination on our weekend journey, frozen yogurt at Pinkberry! Peach yogurt with raspberries, blueberries, chocolate chips, and waffle cone for me.

Kiddie original for Tucker

A family that eats frozen yogurt together, stays together :)

Overall, I'd say our weekend together was a success. We tried a new restaurant, got some exercise outside for ourselves and Tuck, ate frozen yogurt, and continued the great weekend with quality time with family and friends Saturday night and Sunday. I am definitely looking forward to another weekend like this one.

Date Night

In an effort to make more set plans together, try new restaurants, and experience more in and around the city, J & I have decided to switch off planning a date for each other. Our goal is to do this once a month. But honestly, time is flying lately. And the next 4 weekends are filled with wedding extravaganza's so we may need to be a bit relaxed on the timing for now.

Anywho, I told J I'd plan the first one. My plan was to try out a new restaurant and to plan an activity outdoors. It's not that we don't eat out often, because we do (more than we should really...). But it's usually, "I'm hungry," "Me too," "ok, let's go grab a bite to eat at..." And usually, it's somewhere within our neighborhood.

I decided to make reservations at the Red Lantern for Friday night. I had heard great things about not only the food, but also the atmosphere so I was excited to get there. I had stopped by Tao in New York City earlier this year and absolutely loved the decor there so I was hoping Red Lantern would have a similar design.

I'm still new to this whole, document everything through pictures process so bear with me for now. I managed to snap one photo at the table of our appetizer and drinks. Sumo martini for me (Hendrick's gin, grapefruit, fresh basil, and sparkling rose) and Kettle One on the rocks for J. And notice J's glass to the far right of this pic, since when does on the rocks mean an entire glass of vodka?! Holy smokes. We also split their chicken lettuce wraps which were delicious, but a bit messy.

Dinner included the Crispy Bliss sushi rolls (tempura sea bass, piquillo pepper, caramelized pineapple) and Teriyaki Noodles Steak. Both were amazing and I would definitely recommend them to you. We were already eyeing the sea bass sushi roll but asked the waiter for recommendations anyways and when he mentioned it, we knew we had made a great choice.

A quick photo I snapped of the lighting and high ceilings/outdoor feel.

After dinner we headed down Boylston Street to grab another drink before heading back home. We ended up at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel's M Bar & Lounge after hearing a jazz band playing from the street. There's nothing better than live music sometimes. Cab Sauv for me, Manhattan for J.

Sorry so blurry, I had to really increase the exposure on these ones since it was so dark in the bar. And they're phone pics...

Well, while at the Mandarin, we ended up running in to an old-coworker from my public accounting days! It was so great to see her and catch up. Before I knew it, we were discussing the gummy bear martinis at the Chilmark Hotel, and then we were on our way there!

This was delicious! 

Our Friday night date ended at the Chilmark Hotel where we said goodbye to my old co-worker and headed home to get some rest. I had planned something for us to do Saturday morning and was excited to spend the day outdoors. Stay tuned for the rest. 

Date night outfit:

Top: Sarah Spencer (via TJ Maxx)

Bottoms: Rich & Skinny (via Rue La La)

Shoes: Kelly & Katie (via DSW)

Handbag: BCBG

Watch: Puma (via Rue La La)

Jewelry: Alex & Ani bracelets

Wedding: Up-do's!

I don't have a recipe or fitness post lined up unfortunately. I've been a bit relaxed about the gym/morning workouts since the half-marathon and my cold....and when I don't workout, I tend to lose my healthy eating habits too. It's a bad combination.

But I won't leave you hangin. Instead, let's switch gears to weddings since I missed Wednesdays post! I try to have some fun with my hair when I have a wedding to attend. It gives me a reason to try out a new 'do I wouldn't normally have time for on a typical day.

In April, I found my inspiration from a magazine (here). For the wedding I'm attending this coming weekend, I think I'd like to attempt this simple updo:

I have loved this updo since originally finding it on The Knot back in college. And after being told by a hair stylist that my hair wasn't long enough for it, I hadn't given it too much thought. 

Well, thank you Kate and your amazing blog! I'm pretty sure I'd pinned 10 of Kate's hairstyles before realizing how great her blog was. Step-by-step instructions. Thank you very much!

Kate's simple, chic updo:

And some other up-do's I'm considering for the weddings I am in in June and August (requiring professional help):

All via

The only problem with these, that my sister pointed out, is that blonde hair tends to highlight all of the detail better. The different shades of blonde hair seems to make up-dos really stand out. So we're not sure if it will look the same in our brunette hair. 

Keeping my eyes peeled for some updo examples on a brunette! 

Honeymoon: Hawaii

Last weeks post covered the first half of our honeymoon in Maui (here).

From Maui, we took a quick inter-island flight to Hawaii, more commonly known as the Big Island.

Our baby inter-island plane.

 Our ride for the week

 

Aloha!

 

We stayed at the Hilton Waikoloa Village 

 

Grasscloth walls

 View from our room

 Complimentary champagne!

 The sunsets from our balcony. I probably have 500 photos of them!

 Views of the resort

 Double rainbow on our way to ATVing

 By far, the most attractive photo of us. ATVing in the rain.

 Beach tour from Waikoloa Village to Kona

 

 

Golfing on the Beach Course

 A romantic dinner on the water

 Akaka Falls

 Views from our helicopter tour over the volcano!

 Off-road driving out to the Green Sand Beach at South Point (craziest drive ever..and is strongly advised against...oops!)

 

 And they advise you against swimming due to the turbulence....

J and I are counting down the days until we can return to Hawaii. Although I loved the hotels for our honeymoon, I would certainly look into a rental property next time. Anyone want to go next year?? :)