Riccardo's Ristorante

Today my parents surprised me this afternoon and said they could stop by this evening for dinner.  I called my favorite restaurant in the North End because I know I can always get a reservation.  The food is amazing!  Since it is located on North Street (not Hanover Street, the main street of the North End) it is typically easy to get in.
Although, I've been trying to watch what I eat I had to cheat this evening.  I got the "Pollo Exquisito" (Chicken sautéed in a light egg batter topped with imported Prosciutto di Parma and Mozzarella cheese. Finished in a Marsala wine sauce.).  As always, it was delicious!
My parents and I had a nice evening out, and enjoyed some delicious food in the North End.

*Tip:  If you are interested in dining at Riccardo's, you can purchase a discounted gift certificate at restaurant.com

Keira & Chris' Wedding

I first met Keira in college, since we both studied interior design we had a lot of classes together.  Her and Chris met at a "June Birthday's" party, and they have been together ever since.  I was lucky enough to attend their special day.  Both of them are fun, creative people so I was looking forward to fun and unique ideas at their wedding.  I was not disappointed.

The perfect cake topper for a graphic designer and an interior designer.  So adorable!

For a guest book, everyone put their thumbprint on this drawing of a tree (which Keira drew herself).

The place cards were one of my favorite details of the evening.  All the place cards had small buttons on them, which said something about their personality.  (Of course mine was a picture of Martha Stewart).  One of the other nice touches was all around the reception they had photographs of different family members on their wedding days, it was a great way for them to honor where they came from.
If you're wondering what the long slips of paper are in the vase at the end of the table, they are wedding mad libs.  It was a fun activity for guests to complete and leave for the couple.

It was a beautiful day, best wishes for Keira and Chris!

Mini Muffins, Perfect Carpool Snack

Tomorrow I'll be heading to a wedding in Gloucester, MA.  A few of friends decided to carpool up to the wedding together.  Since we'll be driving up during brunch time I decided to make chocolate chip banana mini muffins.  I used this recipe and switched it from a loaf to mini muffins (since they will be easier to eat in the car).  To switch the recipe to mini muffins bake for 10-13 minutes.  I also folded in 1 cup of chocolate chips to give the muffins a sweet brunch taste.

To make the treat ready for the wedding festivities, I placed a few in cellophane treat bags and tied them with a chocolate brown ribbon.
Yum!

Tart Deco

Just a quick post to show off my new favorite nail polish.  It's Essie's "Tart Deco".  I've gotten this color a few times when I treat myself to a mani & pedi, yesterday I finally picked up a bottle for myself.

Rock n Roll All Night

Here it is, my new favorite clutch!  This Zara "Studded Evening Box Bag" is the perfect evening bag for me.  It is the perfect bag to add a little rocker style to evening wear, and it's casual enough to use for a regular evening out.  I already used it for one of my college's friend's bachlorette party here in Boston, and I planning on using it at her wedding on Labor Day weekend (photographs to follow).
A little over a year ago I found an Alexander McQueen clutch with a similar rocker/evening wear style but at $3000 it was clearly out of the question.  Ever since I've been hunting for something like it that I could afford.  Then as I was waiting in line at the register at Zara I looked over and out of the corner of my eye I found this bag.  Although $89.90 is more then I typically like to spend on an evening bag (since they don't get used as often as other handbags) I couldn't pass it up.

Couponing Tips

One of the things I enjoy most is couponing.  Coming from a family of five, I remember my mother couponing when I was a kid.  When we went grocery store, she would hand me a bunch of coupons and say, "go get these, meet me in the next isle".  I'm happy to say it is one of the values I've continued to enjoy as I've grown.  Just yesterday I had one of my best couponing days at CVS, below are the items I picked up while on my lunch break.
- Dove Shampoo 12oz (Reg Price: $4.99)
- Dove Conditioner 12oz (Reg Price:  $4.99)
(Above items were on sale 2 for $6.00)
- Neosporin .5oz (Reg Price $6.29)
- (Qty 2) QTips 170 count (Reg Price $3.19 Each)
The total for all these items at regular price would have been $22.65
After sales and coupons I only paid 71 cents

I notice a lot of articles online with couponing tips, so what are my tips?
- Don't be brand loyal, be store loyal.
The above transaction is a perfect example I make purchases at CVS on a consistent basis.  Which gave me several "Extra Care Bucks" coupons to put towards this purchase.
- Think about how much you are spending, not how much you are saving.
Often even the after coupon price of a brand name product will not beat the price of a store brand product.  Target brand products are usually as good, if not better then brand names and often they are cheaper.
-Store your shoes, not your groceries.
As any city girl can tell you closet space is a premium so there is no need (especially when living alone) to use up a majority of your storage space storing products that you get at a good deal.  Depending on the product, I typically don't have more then 2 or 3 in storage no matter how good the deal is.
-Free is free.
This is the one rule that will make me break the rule above.  It doesn't happen often but every once in a while there will be an item on sale and I have a coupon, when put together the item is free.  For this reason I clip almost every coupon in the Sunday paper.  Even if it's a product I know for a fact I have no use for (ex. body wash for men) I'll buy it if it's free and either give it to a friend or donate to a charity.

Long Time Gone

Hello Beantown Babe!
It's been a long time since I've update, almost all summer for the most part.
As I'm sure you all know it's been quite the summer this year.  The heat has been crazy!  Everyone that knows me can tell you, I'm not a huge fan of the hot weather.  But I did want to update all of you on summer of my summer fun...
- I went away to the Jersey Shore with my family for a week.  It was great to get away for a while.  I even got to visit my friends Nikki and Anthony on my way home.
- Mad Hatter Bridal Shower.  This was one of the cutest bridal shower themes I've seen in a while.  Everyone was asked to wear "fun headwear" to the shower (which knowing the bride's love for costume parties was perfect).  Even the food was decorated with cute little "eat me", "secret potion" and other things like in Alice in Wonderland.
- I've been volunteering a lot lately.  It's been so much fun!  Just this past Saturday I was helping out at the CCFA (www.ccfa.org).  The CCFA's Camp Oasis was starting and before the kids hop on the buses to camp, my job was to help them check in and check in all their needed medicine.
The other big volunteer effort has been collecting raffle prizes for the 4th annual Judy M. DiCicco Memorial Golf Tournament.  I've been a part of this since the first year, and I'm happy to see that's it's been getting bigger every year.  And thanks to many of the local Beantown businesses, we will have lots of great raffle prizes this year!

I promise to write more in the upcoming days/weeks!
I have a lot of fun things coming up, weddings, baby showers, cute DIY projects, and couponing tips & trips!