trendy wedding.

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I definitely gave in to a few trends when planning our wedding. Blue mason jars: Check. Vintage soda crates filled with colorful sodas: Check. Photobooth with fake mustaches: Check. That said, I didn't want our wedding to look totally dated in five years. But then I see pictures like these, and they make me want to throw caution to the wind and do it all over again.

 

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Charleston to Boston.

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It's hard to believe that it's been two months since I went from that  /\/\/\/\ to this \/\/\/\/.

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I don't want to say that moving was easy, because it really, really wasn't. Moving 1,000 miles away rarely is. But at the same time, it's crazy how drastically my life changed in just a few days.

Two months ago I was living in Charleston, working at a local newspaper and living in a little 100-year-old house on the outskirts of downtown. My days were made up of two-minute commutes, long walks under the live oaks, $4 cocktails with friends, and small-town gossip. Life was easy, and it was slow, and I was happy. But ready for a change.

Our new house is about five miles from the heart of Boston, yet a 15-to-45-minute commute by bus, depending on traffic. I work as an editor in an office surrounded by hip restaurants with $15 cocktails, and my daily walk takes me through the skyscrapers of the Financial District and past the Tea Party Museum over Fort Point Channel. In the evenings and on weekends, we've had pasta in the North End, ridden the ferry to Spectacle Island, explored the Museum of Fine Arts, eaten fish tacos in Fenway, and taken day trips to Newburyport, Marblehead, and Walden Pond.

It all still feels very new, and I'm still catching up. But every now and then I stop for a minute to think about how far I've come in a few short weeks — whether I'm hurrying along to catch the T, organizing a photo shoot at my new job, or just walking through the streets of a city I can now call home.

blueberry french 75.

When Alaina asked me to write a guest post for her blog So Alaina, I didn't hesitate. Her blog is one of my favorites in Boston, and even though we haven't met in person, I already feel like we're friends because we have so much in common. She asked me to create a cocktail for the post, so I took the opportunity to mix up a blueberry French 75. Two of them, in fact. And then I drank both, because, well, Todd doesn't like gin. And we wouldn't want to waste a good cocktail, would we?

Check out the full post here. Thanks again, Alaina!

 

Tomorrow morning I'm stepping back behind the editor's desk. This will be my lunchtime view. More later. I must go pick out a first-day-of-work outfit.

Cagematch: Shake Shack vs. Five Guys.

I've seen the Instagrams, the tweets, and read the articles about hours-long lines to get a sweet taste of Shake Shack. So when I found out that one recently opened in Chestnut Hill, I knew I had to get me some.

It's inevitable that I'll compare pretty much any fast food-ish burger place to my current favorite, D.C.-based Five Guys. I've simply never found a tastier burger at a better price.

Shake Shack definitely wins for ambiance, clever branding, menu selection, and of course, the shakes. All burgers just taste better when consumed with a strawberry milkshake. It's science.

But the burger itself? Five Guys still wins in my book. There's just something about their thin, juicy patties, buttery buns, and all of the toppings you can pile on. Shake Shack doesn't even put lettuce and tomato unless you ask (we learned the hard way). And then there's the price. Todd's double burger cost almost $8 without fries. Speaking of fries, Shake Shack serves a smallish portion of crinkle-cut fries in comparison to Five Guys' ridiculously overflowing brown bag of greasy goodness. Do I need an entire greasy bag of fries? No, but it's a nice gesture.

That said, I really liked Shake Shack and I will return. The food was good, it has a cool atmosphere, and the prices were still pretty reasonable. I just didn't experience the same level of fervid devotion as so many others apparently have.

i scream.

Has anyone else been craving ice cream, like, every single day? Seriously, it's a problem.

It's also a serious problem that we have Cabot's, an old-fashioned diner/ice cream parlor just up the street from our house. I like to think the walk there burns some calories. But that's a lie when I'm eating monstrosities like this. (And yes, I ate the whole thing.)

Speaking of ice cream, some things I want to try:

Ritz cracker ice cream sandwiches.

Chocolate and salted caramel pudding pops. 

Giant ice cream sandwich.

Blueberry muffin ice cream.

you are my lobster.

Hey friends, how was your holiday weekend? We spent the Fourth in the city, then headed to Newport for a few days, escaping Boston's hellish heat for a house overlooking the harbor — with air conditioning! Already I've learned not to take these things for granted.

We window-shopped on Thames Street, got sunburned at the beach, hiked part of Cliff Walk, and ate entirely too much good food — stuff like avocado fries and elote washed down with a pitcher of watermelon margs at Perro Salado (So. Good.) and this here lobster — my very first! — with clam chowder and a glass of crisp pinot gris.

I'll admit to being a little freaked out when this landed in front of me (especially when I broke it open to find eggs inside), but it was damn delicious. And now I know how to properly eat a lobster.

Pro tip: turn it around so it's not staring at you as you tear it limb from limb. You won't feel like quite such a barbarian.