Au Fudge

When my nieces were younger and still playing with dolls my husband and I would love to shop at The American Girl store just outside the city here in MA. Seems normal right? Go into doll store, buy doll, go home. Oh no, well this doll store also has a restaurant and I am not going to lie, more then once we have ponied up to the old fashioned counter next to parents with their kids and fancy dolls in tow to order a milkshake treat post shopping. We were definitely the only people there without children which probably made us look like major weirdos but in all honestly they just make a damn good milkshake and it was one stop shopping for us. I remember looking around the crowded restaurant filled with children having birthday parties or just a special day out with their parents and I recall them all being so well behaved. I remember my parents also taking us out to nice places as kids and removing us the second we weren't at our best. Sure was that annoying for the parent that had to take us outside? Yes, but after it happened a few times, we all eventually learned how to behave in a restaurant. It had me wondering why there aren't more family friendly restaurants outside the big box chains. Enter Au Fudge, Jessica Biel's new stylish eatery in Los Angeles that was created with the family unit in mind. Not only is the menu designed with healthy organic bites, it's decorated beautifully so you don't feel like your in a dark dungeon of restaurant that feels depressing. They offer creative spaces for your children to be entertained while you dine as well as a calendar of fun child friendly events. Short on time to dine in, order a cake or stop in the marketplace for treats to go. While we aren't parents yet {hopefully one day}, I love this concept and would love to see something similar in Boston! Read more about the restaurant in this short interview.

all photos via LA Eater

Restaurant Crush

Pinterest is a wonderful thing, it's always a great source for inspiration from entertaining to fashion to home to amazing recipes. I personally love using it as a place to keep tabs on things I want to revisit such as future travel plans. So when I saw a pin of a beautiful gold, black & white restaurant in I was quickly intrigued to find out more. Anahi is a Argentinian restaurant located in the Le Marais district of Paris that boasts a beautifully rustic gilded interior. Formerly a butcher shop this restaurant has been taken over by a group that plans on renovating up to 40 restaurants in the area into chic dining hot spots. This will definitely be on my list of places to visit, the next time I am in Paris.

I read the designer mixed gold leaf into the grout to achieve this look - genius!

images via Remodelista

Boston Meets New York

Whether it be a retail store or a restaurant, rarely do things generate in Boston and then find themselves in NYC. It's almost always the other way around. Well that is not the case with the fab Boston hot spot Toro, when it found a home in Manhattan's South Chelsea neighborhood. So while our beloved Boston is now where we call home we thought we would visit the NY location while visiting the city this week. After-all the New England location is awfully petite and doesn't offer reservations, which is a hard sell to my busy guy. I am happy to report it was as amazing and well worth the visit. We had to sacrifice the floor to ceiling Hudson River views as we were dining late at night but I imagine that the ambience is even more incredible during the day. A must try in the big apple!

Boston

My friend Amelia had a great idea to start a group Pinterest board with some other fab bloggers and friends to help map out our favorite spots in and around the Boston area. I personally loved this idea as she is always filling me in on the newest hot spot in our little city. The best part is that the list is literally mapped out thanks to foursquare and is a great mix of high end dining and cheap eats as well as some fabulous little boutiques. I know I love trying somewhere new and look forward to visiting some local eateries and stores that maybe I would have otherwise tried. Where is your favorite place to dine and shop in this little urban paradise???

for the love of the weekend getaway - portland, maine edition

This past weekend some of my best friends from college and I went up to Portland, Maine for a little girls weekend away. Just a two hour drive from Boston it was the perfect destination to meet our friend Allison who moved back to Bangor, ME over the Summer. While I had been to this small city before it was many years ago and while I was also with my good friend Allison it was very much a different place. Let's just say there may or may have not been a club with tide on the walls with black lights emphasizing the glow of the tide and there may have been total eclipse of the heart playing which we thought should be a sing a long. Since we are older and more mature (yeah right) we did things a little more sophisticated this time around....below are the details of the weekend should you want a little getaway and live in the New England area!

We stayed at the charming Portland Harbor Hotel. the rooms are all remodeled and the staff super nice. The valet's were awesome and even drove us to our first nights dinner so we could wear our cute shoes without having to trek through the snow and likely wipe out on the ice covered sidewalks. Their car service is available to all guests but they were especially nice to let us all squeeze into one car.

Our first nights dinner was at this fabulous restaurant called Fore Street. The interior of the restaurant was so simply decorated yet had an industrial edge  too. I could have easily been convinced that I was in a downtown NYC resto with this revamped warehouse atmosphere. We scored a nice comfy booth and made ourselves at home with a rustic style dinner.

Afterwards we took the icy stairs down to the Irish Pub called Ri Ra's. While this is not anywhere near as cute as Fore Street it was a hella fun. Everything in this place is served in a pint glass including the shots (which means two cocktails later we were all feeling pretty darn good). It is also super cheap to boot, I thought the bartender had given me the wrong bill after a round that I had purchased was $24 for 5 girls. Needless to say lots of fun was had, but the morning after not so much. I know now to never take a pint of vodka soda without ordering top shelf vodka, the well liquor that we drank in too large of quantities totally determined the severity of our head pangs the next morning.

The hangover that ailed us all the next morning was pretty fierce but subsided at our three hour brunch at Blintliff's. This very informal cafe changed my life the next morning. We  had to wait for a table so we naturally ordered a round of drinks to keep ourselves busy. The blood marys are delish and the mimosas are the largest I have ever seen. The menu was enormous and so were the portions. Double bonus for the hellacious hangovers we all had. I slightly overdosed on an omlette the size of my arm. 

We decided to plant ourselves at brunch until close which had the manager of the resto having to give us the boot.  So we bundled up for the brutal cold and went shopping. Beware it's very dangerous to drink and shop but also very fun. Our first stop was at this adorable gift shop called Abacus. This little store had so many knick knacks, jewelry, and interesting items for the home that we spent a significant amount of time in it trying to take it all in. I love that their website also has almost all objects for sale on line. I am sooo making a mental note to shop here for a housewarming gift or stocking stuffers next Christmas.

their store window had the cutest little metallic piggy banks

my friend Michelle purchased this adorable mouse trap cheese board

I also loved this Maine pillow for the home

or this ducky mirror for a children's bathroom

our next stop & my favorite was an antique jeweler that was so nice to let us try on numerous vintage pieces of one of a kind jewles. I fell in love with everything art deco & my other friend in her mimosa haze almost bought herself a cocktail ring but we made her sleep on the decision

Stone Home Antiques

the jewelry I tried on, 1920's art deco three stone ring

 vintage crystal and diamond bracelet

vintage Tiffany's brooch - only $20K - total steal! - haha

Another stop for cute clothing was Zane where everything was displayed so uniquely on driftwood

for sale - custom coat racks out of salvaged wood

lots of feather earrings so cutely displayed on white driftwood

I spy an incognito animal print scarf

my friends were trying to convince me to buy the "tigress" tank below but I resisted since it looks mean and all I could hear was "eye of the tiger" in my head playing whenever I would wear it

all the shopping made us thirsty so it was time to stop for some more beveys at Gritty's

join their beer club and you get a mug hung from the ceiling & discount drinks every time your in

sugar stop on the way back to the hotel at Old Port Candy Company, the person working this particular evening was slower then a 90 year old woman but the candy was worth it

the second group of gals arrived & we all headed out to dinner at this fantastic Italian Restaurant called Cinque Terre, amazing pasta dishes & great service

the following morning we nursed our hangovers with carbs for the ride home at the Standard Baking Company which is owned by Fore Street. This place is heaven on earth - beware if you are dieting

If you aren't counting calories - get their morning roll with nuts. It might be the most delicious thing I have ever eaten. I saved half for the hubs so he didn't miss out & it was hard to do that!

the gals

Plan your trip to Portland Maine!

~Sleep~

http://www.portlandharborhotel.com/

~Shopping~

http://stonehomeantiques.com/

http://www.shopzane.com/AboutUs.asp

http://www.abacusgallery.com/portland

~Eat~

http://www.bintliffscafe.com/

http://www.forestreet.biz/

http://cinqueterremaine.com/

http://www.restaurantgrace.com/

http://www.oldportcandyco.com/

~Drink~

http://www.grittys.com/portland.php#

http://www.rira.com/