Wednesday, December 4, 2013

The Vollono Family Christmas Tree

Last year, when Scott and I didn't really have space of our own, his parents graciously let us put up "our" tree in their living room. They loved so much that they didn't have to cut it down, bring it in, etc. that they asked us to pick out a tree for them this year! 

We went to Oak Ridge Tree Farm in Middletown, same as last year. We found the winner and loaded it up in Scott's dad's truck. 

Tree Cart

Safety first

It's a beaut Clark!


Rudy eating residual hay from the farm

Not too much off the top! 

This thing has at least 1000 lights on it

Finished! (sorry for the crooked photo!) Sophia showing off her decorating skills


MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

Turkey day

Happy Thanksgiving! 

Scott and I made the trek to CT on Tuesday night around 8p to avoid the predicted rain/wind storm and to miss the traffic. 


Looks like everyone else had the same plan. It took 2 hrs to get to CT vs the usual 1 via the mass pike, but 3 hrs total wasn't bad for the holiday travel time. 

Thanksgiving day, we started off with the usual Turkey Trot  in Stratford. It was so cold, I didn't even take pictures!! It took me a mile in to feel warmish, and to feel my toes! I took my gloves off by the end because apparently my hands are heaters when I run. I thought I did pretty well, but my time was a bit longer than I thought it would be. Oh well - it was fun to do. Next up - dinner prep! 

We hung around my parents house and watched the parade, had a cheese plate (again, no pics! such a slacker) and then dinner around 3:30 with my grandparents. We left around 6 to head back to Wallingford for the night! 

Shiloh would love for you to drop some Turkey her way. 

Sunday, November 24, 2013

Restaurant Review: Tasca


Tasca is a Spanish Tapas restaurant in our neighborhood we wanted to try out. Friday, we walked the whole 1/4 mile to the restaurant for our 7:30 reservation. 

We walked in and the hostess said it would be a few min, so we ordered drinks at the bar. Almost immediately we were seated, and told our drinks would be brought over. 


 

We sat, browsed the menu and got some water. No drinks. 10 min later: no wait staff, no drinks. 

15 min later. no waitstaff, no drinks. I started to get annoyed. It's clear this place caters to groups of 5+, but don't neglect the 2-4 tables! I closed my menu and started to try to catch the eye of ANY waitstaff the walked by. Nothing. 

Finally out waitress came by and was clueless that our drinks were at the bar waiting for us. Clearly the guy who sat us and assured us our drinks would be delivered was not in communication with his staff. ugh.

anyway - I WANTED to love this place. The atmosphere is great, the wine and sangria were delish, the food was overall pretty good. The service was out of control HORRIBLE. They left a comment card, which I turned into the hostess (cause what if the waitress tossed it in the trash?!) Maybe we can give it another try. It is so close and has so much potential! 


On to the food: 
Tapas, In case you have never gone (it was my first time) - are a lot of small plates of food. They reccomend 2-3 plates per person. We ordered 6 total dishes. 

Per the menu: 
12 Pincho de pollo y chorizo 
Grilled chicken and chorizo skewer with peppers and onion in a spicy chili sauce

Delicious! spicy sauce, chicken, peppers, onion - no complaints! 

21 Albóndigas 
Beef and pork meatballs with romano cheese and fresh herbs in a green peppercorn sauce

meh. the meatballs were squishy and bland, with some sort of potato chip shredded on top. Do not order. 

29 Brie a la plancha 
Grilled imported Brie cheese with a homemade savory apple and raisin chutney served
with a grilled baguette

meh. the grilled brie was cold, and the grilled baguettes were soft. If they were crisp, and the brie warm, it would have been great! sadly, that was not the case. 

35 Canelón rellono de pollo 
Chicken and spinach stuffed canelon baked in a duo of tomato and smoked cheese sauces

OMG delish. Saucy, chicken and spinach cheesy goodness. Definitely recommend. 

18 Couscous con verduras 
Israeli couscous tossed with roasted eggplant, red peppers, zucchini, tomato and
grilled artichoke in a fresh basil marinade

Pretty good. refreshing and yummy. maybe a little heavy on the balsamic vinaigrette but overall worth ordering if you like the components. 

Also, we had Chicken Croquettes (not on the current menu) which were Delicious! and in some sort of red sauce. 

Introducing....

Scott's blog!! Moving from suburban CT to Boston is a bit of a change, and in good spirits and fun, Scott refers to his getting used to urban life as "Scotty in the Big City". I'm able to contribute (mostly the intro and pictures) but he is chronicling his adventures and our life in Boston! 

Check him out! 

http://scottyinthebigcity.blogspot.com/

Tool Time



When Home Improvement was on the air, my grandma typically referred to it as Tool Time. So now, when I have any home improvement projects, I think of them as "Tool Time" 

Anyway - This weekend we had some typical cleaning to do, but also we had to defrost and de-ice our fridge. Our refrigerator had a wall of ice on it, that literally took up half the shelf space and froze all our produce and yogurts. We were throwing out a bunch of food, so we had to fix it. 



Cut to Saturday - when I unplugged the fridge, and melted the ice with a hair dryer. Scott and I used a knife sharpener and a hammer to break the glacier. After an hour or so, we had our fridge back but are still battling with the temp to get our yogurts to not be frozen! 
 
Scott hammers out the ice                              ice.                        

Tis The Season


Saturday night was the Faneuil Hall Tree Lighting / Blink!  Scott has always been very into the Christmas Spirit, and I'm coming back around to loving the season. We've listened to Christmas music already and even watched The Santa Clause last weekend. (sorry for breaking the rules, Heather!

We arrived super early after grabbing a bite to eat at Mija, and settled in at the outdoor bar of the Ames Plow Tavern. So glad we waited there, it was roped off, capped off on entry, with a good view of the tree and access to beer! It was a bit cold (we had to buy gloves and a hat at Urban Outfitters) but fun to watch the insanity that we were not a part of. People were trying to climb over and under the chain to get in, and bouncers were so annoyed. When the event started, local radio DJ's intro'd the musical guest, Paula Cole. (Yes, the Dawson's Creek theme song singer) After the build up - the tree was lit! Countdown, cheering, and then a 2.5 minute light show ! 

  






They even shot out paper "Snow"! so fun! 



The crowd was intense. I didn't get a pic of it, so I borrowed one from Twitter.
 In the pic below, you can see my location was much closer, so think of how far back some people were and how crowded it was! Insanity. We took refuge in the Ames Plow Tavern for a bit before tackling the T crowd. 


Photo courtesy of https://twitter.com/OIITVideos 

Monday, November 11, 2013

Broken Hearted


 November 11, we lost our best friend, Ozzy.
He was the most loyal, loving, sweet natured dog, 
and 
would do anything for his main man, Scott. 

Oz and I had a special friendship. 
He let me in to his relationship with Scott, and let me know that he knew
Scott was OK in Boston.  He followed me around when Scott wasn't 
home, and made me feel special that I was second in command. 
I have never been so heartbroken, or loved and lost so hard. 
I have lost pets I was close to, but Oz was something special. 
He literally took a piece of my heart with him, and will always be a part of mine. 

Rest in Peace my little Baybo. You will always be missed and loved. xo. 




Saturday, October 5, 2013

Electric Run


Scott, Colleen and I signed up for the Electric Run at Gillette Stadium. 5k, at night at a stadium, sounds fun! When we first got there, I was a little concerned. There were a TON of people. So many were over the top dressed up and blinking in glow sticks /lights/etc. I thought, Oh man, are we too old for this?? But, after we got through the corral to start, it was a fun time! 

At the start



These glasses blinked, and died before the run started.


The course had all different light set ups throughout. 
We started in front of the pro shop, ran through the lot, around the side of the stadium, and finally up through the zig zag walkway to the 300 level seats, across, and back down. 
It was super crowded so you couldn't run the entire thing if you wanted to, but we still ran a good portion. I think night running is my time of day - it felt easier and less like a chore. Maybe because I knew it was only 3mi not the 13 I did a few weeks ago! 

Lights on the trees and signage

Our fave section! 



Done! the crowd was nuts so we left right away.

All done! Happy Friday!



Monday, September 16, 2013

Gulf Beach Half Marathon

Sept 14 - Scott and I ran the Gulf Beach Half Marathon in Milford. The weather was great, and the course was nice and flat. I did better than last year but still not as fast as I wanted. I felt good at the end having finished, and want to run better and train harder all year for the next one! 


Nice view at 7a!

Loooong bathroom lines 

Such a cute dog!



Scenic course

We did it! Scott finished in about 2 hours! 



Our cheerleader! Thanks Mom for coming to welcome us across the finish line! 









Sunday, August 11, 2013

Wicked


Friday night, I took Scott to see Wicked. It is one of my fave musicals, based on the story of the Wizard of Oz.  

This was my 2nd (or 3rd?) time seeing the show and it was fantastic. I love that the it has two female leads with amazing voices and acting ability.  And- that it tells what could have happened before the movie Wizard of Oz.  ( I have a weird childhood obsession /creeped out as an adult relationship with that movie) 

The first time I saw this, I was in love. I rooted for Elphaba, and was wooed by the dreamy presence of Fiyero. This production-- Elphaba and Glinda rocked. Fiyero, the dreamy prince/hero, was - weak. By the end he had a stronger presence, but I found hom hard to relate to. The guy who played secondary character Boq ( a munchkin- for reference) had way better stage presence and a much better voice. When the lead female and lead male sing a duet and you can't hear the male -- maybe it's a sound issue, but maybe it's a casting issue. 

Overall - fabulous show. B'way shows fill me with love and excitement, and it is 
always worth the ticket! 


( not our cast)

Below, a link to one of my fave songs - sung by the original cast. 


Ru-fi-oooooooooo


a few weeks ago- we caught part of Hook on TV.  Funny what strikes a memory -- when I watch this I think of being at my grandparents house on a Sunday after New Years or something.  We ordered pizza and (like Kevin McAllister) I wanted plain cheese.  The pizza had onions which at first I hated but dealt with, and now love. So funny to watch this, crave onion pizza and feel 10yrs old. 


Thursday, August 8, 2013

Mexican Zucchini




Last night I made this delicious dish, courtesy of a reco from Heather 

http://www.skinnytaste.com/2013/08/skillet-mexican-zucchini.html


I added a few slight variations - such as 1 full jalapeno instead of a jalapeno paste, and regular onion bc I forgot to buy green onion. AND - added some chicken to it as well. It was fantastic for dinner last night and lunch today! 

Also, I can't say delicious dish without thinking of the SNL Skit from the mid 90's - early 2000's. 

http://www.hulu.com/watch/4156

Pan Mass Challenge 2013

I participated in the Pan Mass Challenge with a team from work, and was asked to write a blog entry for the internal company blog, and am totally recycling that entire entry here. [at least I admit it!]


Congratulations to the 2013 Dunkin’ Dozen Pan-Mass Challenge bike team for completing the 50 mile Wellesley ride! (Check out the course here) Also, a huge thank you to the CSR team for their support and donation, and to the DD Smart team for the organization of the team, as well as the fabulous jerseys!

If you live in Massachusetts, or have been to a local Dunkin’ Donuts in the past month, you have probably seen the Pan-Mass Challenge logo sometime in your life. Chances are you’ve even seen the coverage on the local station, WCVB. But just in case you need more background, here are the basics:  [source: http://www.pmc.org/]
  • The Pan-Mass Challenge was founded in 1980 by Billy Starr, and raises money for life-saving cancer research and treatment at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute through an annual bike-a-thon that crosses the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
  • 100% of every rider-raised dollar is donated directly to cancer research and treatment at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute through its Jimmy Fund.
  • The event consists of 5,500 cyclists from 36 states and eight countries.
  • Over the past 33 years, PMC cyclists have ridden to raise and contribute $375 million to cancer research.

This was my second year on the Dunkin’ Dozen team, already cannot wait to do it again. Preparation starts months in advance with commitment to the ride, and (attempting) training rides. While schedules don’t always align for all of us, I know a few team members were able to meet up and ride a few times together before the PMC.

Me & Jessie Ready to Ride! 

The day of the ride, teams start off at Babson College where the registration tent is buzzing with riders, families, volunteers, as well as bike mechanics and shopping area for all the PMC and biking swag you can imagine. After gathering at the start, a brief introduction is made, the National Anthem is sung and it’s go time. The start is mildly chaotic with so many bikes in one spot but the crowds even out and you find your own pace. While I was not with the team the whole time, I never felt like I was riding alone. Every biker that comes up behind you, or rides in front of you can be an instant friend or cheerleader. I was constantly inspired and motivated to keep going, and ride harder from pictures of loved ones on the backs of bikes or jerseys, or encouraging words from fellow bikers. 

There are definitely highs and lows of the ride. Luckily, the lows are things like – unpaved sections of the road, long and tiring hills, and bike chains falling off! Highs include – someone you don’t know stopping on the side of the road to put your chain back on for you, coasting down the back half of a hill, and the wonderful volunteers along the course and at the rest stops.
Of course, there are a few personal highlights as well: 
  •        A girl about 13 years old was struggling up a hill on her bike, when her older brother rode up alongside her, and helped push her up the hill. Visibly upset, she thanked him and he said “No problem sis, where you go, I go – so let’s go!”  
  •        About 5 – 7 miles out from the finish line, there was a long hill. It was tough, and I was tired. Just before the top, there was a guy in a lawn chair cheering on riders with a huge sign next to him. The sign was a memorial of his wife, and a thank you to the riders. There is no way you can’t push it just a little harder to get up the hill after that!
  •      Turning the corner and seeing the WELCOME PMC RIDERS sign welcoming us to the final stretch, and passing the images of the Pedal Partners as we crossed the finish line.

Everyone has a reason why they ride – personal connection, support for the cause, or support of the team they are on. I am grateful to have been able to be a part of the PMC, ride every mile for someone close to me who is battling cancer and support everyone else who was doing the same.
We Finished! 

Starting line: 


Halfway there at Gillette Stadium