Tag Archives: booze

First Family Weekend

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So obviously the best thing about being back with my boys was this –

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But we also had a ton of fun out of the house too!  This weekend Adam and I ran a thousand errands / saw Knives Out / met up with friends for dinner in Astoria / walked around Cold Springs Harbor appreciating their holiday decorations and Christmas carolers!

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Edible highlights included…

Shakeratos with fancy coffee.  I just now writing this post realized that I make these with coffee + sweetened condensed milk and half and half versus SCM and simple syrup but they still turn out great.

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During our Cold Springs Harbor morning we stopped at Sweetie Pies on Main for a quad nonfat iced latte and a rainbow cookie cake.  Every single pastry in this shop looks next level.

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A yogurt bowl with Trader Joe’s egg nog Greek yogurt, vanilla spiced sunflower seed butter, and giant blueberries.

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S’mores cookie from Chip.  FYI – these are very graham cracker forward, I much prefer their other flavors.

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Sweetened condensed milk and cookies ice cream from Spot (an H-Mart find!).

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We stupidly went to Target at dinner time but these impulse buy chocolate covered cashews ended up being amazing.

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Between the four of us during dinner at District Saigon we tried and loved a lot of the drink menu but I think the clear winner was this spiked Thai iced tea made with cachaça, absinthe, Angostura bitters, sweetened condensed milk, and egg whites.

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Frozen meal I am in love with = Amy’s chile relleno casserole bowl.  Paired with leftover chicken nachos.

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Nacho Zip Code

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My stuff, my husband, my dog, and I all finally live in the same place (New York) again!  What a surreal week!  I worked Monday-Tuesday, moved Wednesday, and unpacked Thursday-Friday.  I am thrilled to be with my amazing family and excited to be back in New York but am deeply mourning leaving Charlottesville, and my fantastic Virginia family and friends, and my unbelievably great job.  <– it’s an extremely good problem to have 🙂

My last Cville weekend was low-key because I was a bit under the weather.  I mostly watched tv in bed, drank Gatorade, and spent $8 on precut fruit.

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Before I knew it it was Tuesday and I was drinking my very last hospital coffee!  Sidenote – the coffee stands in the hospital served my favorite iced lattes in Virginia and I am going to miss them greatly.

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Also that afternoon coworkers took me out for coffee and then after work we went to Hardywood for a final round of marshmallow gingerbread stouts and by the time I packed my car I was a drunk, overly caffeinated mess.

My last night my family took me out for nachos – multiple plates! – and margaritas and I got to tell them how unbelievably grateful I am for their hospitality.  I lived with my cousin and her fiance for the last 4 months and they could not have made my life easier or more fun.  A lot of people thought I was insane for choosing to live apart from Adam and Webster for so long but one of the biggest silver linings of situation was the time I got with my Virginia family.

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And they would be thrilled to know that the very first thing I ate in New York was nachos!

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Once we got the car unpacked Adam and I headed to I am Nacho Mama for bbq chicken nachos and fancy honey coffee.

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I also had tacos – griddled cheese and salmon.

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Last night we had a fancy dinner at our local mall, Tom Colicchio’s restaurant Small Batch.

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Little gem lettuce with pecorino cheese, radishes, fried soft-boiled egg, and ceasar dressing.

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Local duck breast with honeynut squash, figs, and black garlic.

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Chocolate souffle cake with milk chocolate sauce, cookie crumbs, and bourbon-brown sugar ice cream.

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Good Tidings And Cheer

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Is everything I have to share this week celebratory in nature?  Yes!  Thankfully I have a lot to celebrate.

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In ongoing goodbye festivities… Some coworkers and I went out for a very dietitian-y lunch at Roots.  I had a kale salad topped with miso chili tofu, eggs, and other goodies.

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And some coworkers and I went out for a much more on brand happy hour at Vitae – in addition to our cocktails we also got to taste-test some marshmallow simple syrup!

My cousin and her fiance hosted an absolutely fantastic Thanksgiving dinner.  There were 14 people in attendance but the platter of nachos I made for our appetizer was probably a still bit excessive!

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Most exciting morning of the week?  I had eggnog Greek yogurt, cranberry seltzer, and a peppermint mocha.

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In yogurt bowl fun… Vanilla bean Greek yogurt with cranberry sauce and granola.  And a holiday cheer kombucha on the side.

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Wegman’s eggnog Greek yogurt with cinnamon Chex and a banana.

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Fluffy GBS

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I don’t have a ton of photos to share from last week because I ate a bunch of celebratory meals sans camera.  By the time I leave for real next week it is going to feel fairly anticlimactic!

A work friend and I went out for drinks at Vitae {highlights include a maple cinnamon sour with smoked rum}.

A big group of co-workers took me out for lunch at Asado {highlights include a smoked chicken quesadilla}.

And my team took me out for dinner at Junction {highlights include a rum and coke with allspice syrup and charred baby carrots with goat cheese and carrot top chimichurri}.

Other highlights include…

Eggnog and coffee!

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A vanilla coffee can with a peanut butter chocolate chip Perfect Bar.

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The cortadito from Gaurijos is excellent.

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Vanilla bean yogurt with maple pecan granola and cranberry relish.

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S’mores pie and a cortado at Pie Chest.

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An orange creamsicle IPA my family brought me back from Maryland.

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Hardywood has released their Fluffy GBS – a toasted marshmallow gingerbread stout!

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My cousin took me out for excellent Thai food.  My drunken noodles were super spicy and loaded with veggies (including cauliflower!).

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Have a great week (and a happy Thanksgiving, all of my American readers)!

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Oreo Crunch And Apple Brandy

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This past weekend I took my last trip to New York — last because I am officially moving in 2.5 weeks!!!  This move is super bittersweet – I am over the moon to get to live with Adam and Webster and I love NYC but I am really going to miss Charlottesville, and my family here, and my amazing job.  I’ll have to really soak in the South the next two weeks!

Our New York weekend was fantastic as always.  We had babka and creme brulee doughnuts and walked all over the place.  Saturday we met friends in Williamsburg for a walk over the bridge and an afternoon in the city.

Highlights include…

Milk Bar‘s Thanksgiving Croissant.  It’s stuffed with turkey, stuffing, and cranberry sauce.

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Drinks at Serra by Bierria.  We tried four things from the holiday cocktail list – a buttered rum, a walnut Manhattan, a gin and blood orange drink, and an apple brandy drink.

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Caffe Panna.  I had peanut butter oreo crunch with fudge sauce!  Also Adam got an affagato and I drank his last sip of espresso and it was genuinely the very best thing I’ve ever put in my mouth.

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Bunnies And Bears

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My Ohio trip was absolutely perfect! My grandma had a great 90th birthday and it was fantastic to spend time with my family!

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Highlights from the week back home include…

La Colombe caramel oatmilk draft latte.

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Adorable elderberry Wild Kombucha with adorable Trader Joe’s tiny gummi bears.

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I had the best yogurt bowl toppings – Made Good Cocoa Crunch granola and Noosh cupcake almond butter.

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So I made the best yogurt bowls!  Plan Greek with almond butter, granola, and blackberries and blueberries.

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A friend and I met up at Hardywood to celebrate the release of Gingerbread Stout and discovered their newest beer – Christmas Pancakes, aka GBS with maple syrup!

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Cafe Con Leche, Cerveza Con Calabaza

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Adam came to visit me last weekend, aka I had the best weekend ever!  He probably won’t be back in Virginia until my cousin’s wedding next year so we made the most of the visit.  We went to several old favorites and couple new favorites!

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Weekend highlights include…

Saturday was National Pumpkin Day and Tropical Smoothie Cafe sent me a free coupon to try their Pumpkin Pie Smoothie to celebrate.  Made with real pumpkin, Ghirardelli white chocolate, cinnamon, and non-fat yogurt.  It was very pumpkiny without being boring and just sweet enough.

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Drekker‘s Everybody Love Everybody is a rainbow sherbet sour and it’s PINK!

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Hardywood had a Halloween-themed black IPA on tap – the Heebie Jeebies!  Plus I had a None of This Makes Sense double IPA (my current favorite beer) and a soft prezel with cheese sauce.

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Gaujiros Miami Eatery is Charlottesville’s new Cuban spot and it is damn good!  I had eggs with beans and rice plus fried cheese.

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Plus a Cortadito that was so delicious I went back again the next day for another one!

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Quality Pie.  We split a Spanish Tortilla.

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And I had (super buttery, garlicy) foccacia with egg and cheese.

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Dinner at Comal with my cousin and her fiance.  I didn’t snap any photos but we had an absolutely amazing meal at this new Oaxacan spot in Belmont.

P.S. No more posts coming from me this week.  Tomorrow morning I’m on my way to Ohio to celebrate my grandma’s 90th birthday!

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Pumpkin King

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It rained all day Sunday but luckily Saturday was beautiful.  One of my coworkers invited me to the UVA-Duke game and we had a wonderful time (bookended by stops at local breweries!).

Five food highlights include…

This cold brew from La Colombe is so velvety! (fyi, the stuff in the cup has half and half mixed in)

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Trader Joe’s pumpkin yogurt with vanilla peanut butter.

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I saved my two favorite pumpkin beers for last.  I typically don’t drink imperial ales but Pumking is the best.

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Crispy carrot sticks.

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Waffle flavored chicken nuggets(!!!) with roasted green beans and honey mustard.

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