Last night, Mal and I went on a date to The Fat Cat in Quincy Center.

Over the past several months, I’ve heard all sorts of great things about it, so I was really excited to check it out for myself.

The Fat Cat is “an engaging, warm, industrial-style restaurant.” It’s quaint and cozy inside with a gorgeous bar on one side of the restaurant and an open seating area on the other.

Mal and I were pleasantly surprised with the beer menu at The Fat Cat. There were lots of great choices– from local selections to imports to “funky stuff.” Mal was especially happy about the variety of IPAs.

As an appetizer, Mal and I shared an order of the Fried Dill Pickle Slices, which were served with a thick Cajun Remoulade. The pickles were so delicious, we eventually had to push them away from us, so we could save room for our entrée. We just wanted to keep eating them!

For my entrée, I ordered the Cajun Seared Ahi, which was served with wasabi, pickled ginger, and a sweet sesame sauce. The tuna was thick, meaty, and very flavorful. I really enjoyed it, especially with a big glob of wasabi on it!

After dinner, Mal and I headed across the street to Blue 22 for Stump Trivia with our friends Elizabeth, Nick, and Nick’s brother.

Mal and I arrived a little early, so we had some fun with self portraits.

I love my husband.

Once everyone arrived, I ordered a dirty vodka martini to enjoy during trivia. It wasn’t the best martini, but I drank it anyway.

Over the course of the night, our team, “2 Girls World Cup,” did fairly well. We were actually in first place going into the final round, but we lost the lead on a beer question. A beer question!?! The horror! (FYI: The top import beer to the US is Corona. We said Heineken. Boo.)

We ended up coming in third place and winning a pitcher of beer. I didn’t end up drinking any, but I was psyched about our win!

P.S. I’m hosting a dog-inspired giveaway on Trading Up Downtown this morning! You can win some goodies for your pet!

I love girl dates. I need more of them in my life.

Last night, I joined Melissa, Di, and Stephanie for dinner at Fuji 1546, which is one of my favorite sushi restaurants in the area. It’s fresh, (usually) delicious, and so affordable. Usually, sushi is really expensive, but Fuji has rolls on their menu for just $3, and most are in the $5-8 range.

Mal and I used to live right down the street from Fuji, so we’d dine there and order take-out quite a lot. You can check out all of my reviews/blog posts here. There are some old, but really fun posts in the mix!

Dinner started with a glass of Sauvignon Blanc for me. I always complain about Fuji’s wine list, so I don’t know why I always order it. Fuji knows sushi, not wine.

Before we even looked at the menu, our sever brought by a complimentary appetizer. I’m not exactly sure what it included besides fish, peppers, and tempura. I tried a piece, but, sadly, it was somewhat flavorless. The fish was nice and fresh—I actually helped myself to a second piece—but, overall, the appetizer was pretty blah. I think the other ladies agreed.

I ordered two rolls for dinner: Spicy Tuna Maki and Negihama Maki.

As always, the Spicy Tuna Maki was fantastic. I always order it when I’m at Fuji. It’s my favorite. The Spicy Tuna Make is made with tuna, cucumber, and a spicy sauce. So good! I ate it right up!

The Negihama Maki was tasty, but just not my thing. I wanted to try something new, so I ordered this roll because it was made with yellowtail. I guess I don’t like yellowtail. Oops. I probably should have just ordered two Spicy Tuna rolls. Next time!

Girl date!

During dinner, the four of us talked about our favorite blogs. (Of course, right? Don’t bloggers always seem to talk about blogs when they get together?) We had a lot of the same favorites that we read everyday and keep in our readers, which brings me to the Question of the Day.

Question of the Day

What makes you keep a blog in your reader/on your must-read list? What makes you decide to delete it or not read it anymore?

Mal and I hit double digits with our marathon training run today! Ten glorious miles!! It was awesome!

Snack

Before meeting our team in South Boston for our training run, I grabbed a quick snack of whole wheat bread with Teddie peanut butter and banana slices. I also drank a small iced coffee with soy milk to help get me going.

When Mal and I arrived at the South Boston Running Emporium, our Team In Training coach, Christina, went over the 10-mile route before we all headed out to run.

We started down D Street to Summer Street and continued on past South Station to Boston Common. I ran the first mile with Mal before he took off at lightening-fast speed.

About a mile later, I bumped into him at the first water stop at Park Street. But, I didn’t see him again until we both finished.

The next 1.5 miles were around Boston Common and the Public Gardens. We did this loop twice before running back toward Southie.

The next three miles back down Summer Street to East Broadway to the water were sort of a blur. I ran them with Christina and we chatted the entire time, so they flew right by.

I ran the final two miles by myself down East Broadway to West Broadway to A Street and back to the South Boston Running Emporium. The final two miles were the hardest for me because I felt like I had zero energy left. I had planned to take a Clif Shot around Mile 5, but it fell out of my pocket somewhere. Lesson learned: pants pocket does not effectively hold running fuel.

Even without my Clif Shot, I still managed to truck along at a good pace for the 10 miles:

• Mile 1: 8:59
• Mile 2: 8:53
• Mile 3: 8:46
• Mile 4: 8:46
• Mile 5: 8:42
• Mile 6: 9:26
• Mile 7: 9:13
• Mile 8: 9:26
• Mile 9: 9:09
• Mile 10: 8:31

I finished in 1:29:59 (8:59 pace) and my speed demon husband finished in 1:11:11 (7:07 pace). In fact, he’s so en fuego that our coach is putting him on an “intermediate” plan for the rest of our training.

Mal and I both felt great (and very sweaty) after this morning’s run. The perfect fall/running weather didn’t hurt either!

Breakfast

After finishing our training run, Mal and I chatted with our team for a bit, and then headed straight to breakfast at the Wheelhouse Diner. I was so hungry, I was about to eat my arm!

As soon as we sat down at a table, I immediately ordered a hot cup of coffee to which I added cream and sugar. My sweaty clothing was making me so cold! Don’t ya hate that!?

To eat, I ordered my usual: two eggs over medium with homefries and rye toast. This meal is always delicious, but it tasted a-mazing after running 10 miles.

After breakfast, Mal and I went home, showered, and got the pug ready for a trip to the dog park. On the drive down to the park, we stopped to grabbed iced coffees. I finally tried Dunkin Donut’s Pumpkin Spice iced coffee, but I was sadly disappointed. It was WAY too sweet and syrupy for me. Ick.

On a happier note… what a beautiful day for the dog park!!

Murphy had a blast running around and meeting new doggie friends.

And, of course, playing fetch with Dad.

We stayed at the park for about an hour. Murphy is pooped now!

On the drive home, Mal had a great idea: cupcakes!!! We stopped by Babycakes to buy a couple.

I picked Pumpkin Spice (obviously) and Mal chose Oreo. The Pumpkin Spice cupcake had the best cream cheese frosting. I sort of wish I had ordered two cupcakes just for myself!

Relaxing for a bit and then meeting friends for dinner and drinks.

I hope you’re having a wonderful Saturday!

My life sometimes feels like a time warp. Just a few hours ago, I was on a bus heading down to New York City for the day. Now, I’m on another bus heading back to Boston. Where did those hours go? Total time warp, right?

Despite my super speedy trip to NYC, I had plenty of time to grab a cupcake from Magnolia Bakery. The bakery was right around the corner from the House Beautiful event, so why not? I can always make time for cupcakes!

I’ve heard lots of wonderful things about Magnolia Bakery, so, being the cupcake connoisseur that I am, I knew that I needed to pop in and see what it was all about. The place was packed!

There were so many delicious goodies to choose from, including flourless chocolate cake, 7-layer bars, Blondies, lemon bars, blueberry cheesecake, whoopie pies, and all sorts of cookies.

All of the different options were very tempting, but I stuck to my guns and ordered a cupcake.

I’m not going to lie, I was a little disappointed that Magnolia didn’t have a Carrot Cake cupcake, but I went with my second favorite flavor: Red Velvet.

Holy yum indeed!

The cake was outstanding– sweet, soft, and not at all dry like some Red Velvet cupcakes. It was delightful in every way.

The frosting was also delicious, but don’t Red Velvet cupcakes usually have cream cheese frosting? Maybe I am wrong, but the Magnolia Red Velvet cupcake definitely had a straight-up butter cream frosting. It was tasty, but it didn’t knock my socks off. Even still, I enjoyed every last bite. Cupcakes are my favorite no matter what type of frosting!

In my opinion, the best Red Velvet cupcake is from Babycakes in Quincy, MA. If you’re ever in the area, you need to give it a try. Their German Chocolate is also pretty amazing. As you can see, I really love to talk about cupcakes!

Recap of the House Beautiful media lunch coming soon!

Gooooood morning!! Despite the blah weather, I’m lovin’ today!

I started my morning, bright and early, at 5:01 AM for a Body Pump class with Marie and “Vicky,” and then I ate a delicious breakfast at my favorite local diner. It’s only 9:00 AM, but I’m already having quite an ideal day.

Snack

Before going to the gym, I snacked on a Fiber Plus bar, which Kellogg sent me to sample a few weeks ago. I liked this bar better than most of the “fake” bars out there, but I’m not sure it’s something I’d buy. The chocolate was tasty, but there were too many hard-to-pronounce ingredients in it.

Breakfast

After Body Pump, Marie and I treated ourselves to a special weekday breakfast at the Wheelhouse Diner. I’m not going to lie, we were both giddy with excitement when we got there. It felt like we were playing hooky from school!

I started with hot coffee with cream and sugar.

Then, I ordered a #3, which is 2 eggs with homefries and toast. I picked rye bread because it typically has more fiber than whole wheat.

I topped my eggs and homefries with hot sauce. So delish!

This huge breakfast (with coffee) only cost $3.50!

I love that today started with my favorite type of morning!

Question of the Day

Envision your ideal day. What would you do? (Money is not an issue.)

After my previous post, Mal’s rough day got so much better. He received a call telling him that he won a raffle for 2 tickets to Opening Day for the Red Sox!! His bad day instantly became a good day! Our sushi dinner turned out to be more of a celebratory dinner than a cheer-up dinner!

Tonight, Mal and I went to dinner at Fuji 1564 in Quincy Center. It’s one of the best places to get tasty, cheap sushi– and, for this reason, Mal and I go there quite a bit. It was actually the first place we went to dinner when we first moved to Quincy in 2007, and we’ve been going there ever since.

Fuji 1564 has actually appeared a number of times on CNC over the years, including the time Mal and I randomly bumped into each other at Fields Corner. So random!

By the time we sat down to dinner, Mal was already in a better mood!

I was too! I love making goofy faces with my husband! We’re such nerds.

This is when I realized that Marathon Monday is only a couple of weeks away! YAY!

Dinner started with our usual Pork-Fried Gyoza with teriyaki dipping sauce.

Mal was starving, so I let him eat 4 out of the 6. Usually, we split them 50/50.

After the appetizer, we ordered 3 rolls of maki to share: Spicy Tuna Maki, Hokkai Yaki Maki, and Tempura Maki.

I enjoyed all of the different maki rolls, but my favorite (as usual) was the Spicy Tuna Maki. I love the special sauce that Fuji adds to it!

I’m so glad that tonight turned out like it did. Mal and I had a nice time together at dinner and now we’re getting ready to watch last night’s episode of Lost. Today definitely turned out to be a good day!

Good night, bloggies!

I’m feeling so much better! I’m not 100% quite yet, but my fever is gone and my energy level is almost back to normal. I still have a runny nose, but the head-cold pressure is mostly gone. An early bedtime is on the agenda for tonight, so hopefully, some quality rest will help me make a full recovery by tomorrow.

The BEAUTIFUL weather also made me feel much better!

When Mal got home from work, we took Murph for a long walk around the neighborhood. We walked and talked and soaked in the sunshine. It was nice.

Gorgeous weather obviously calls for flip-flops!

Dinner

Mal and I worked up an appetite after walking with Murphy for more than an hour, so we headed to Finian’s for dinner.

Finian’s has been on my “Need to Try” list for years now. Everyone who I have talked to about this restaurant has raved about it, so I was excited when Mal suggested it for dinner tonight.

Finian’s is a restaurant and pub with an “old-fashioned” vibe. You won’t find funky entrees or trendy cocktails, but Finian’s serves up some quality, homestyle food.

Tonight, the dinner crowd seemed to be mostly families and retirees. Mal and I were easily the youngest adults in the whole place– although, we felt totally welcome! Finian’s has an extensive menu of mostly American-style, comfort food at very reasonable prices.

Our meal started with dinner rolls and corn bread muffins. I ate one of the corn bread muffins and Mal ate the rest!

After we ordered our food, Mal and I filled out our brackets for March Madness. This year, we’ve decided to strategically diversify our efforts so maybe we can win some money!

For dinner, I ordered the salmon salad (in honor of last Friday’s “For the Health of It” event ). The salmon was very tasty with a buttery, herb-crusted seasoning on the outside. It was tender and “meaty.” I ate every last bite of it!

I was pretty impressed when this salad was served to the table. It was huge, but also packed with veggies– tons of tomatoes, red and green bell peppers, red onions, and sauteed onions.

Now, Mal and I are watching American Idol and eating ice cream. Aren’t you suppose to feed a cold?

Enjoy the evening, blog friends! Normal blogging to resume tomorrow.

G’night!

Thank God for cupcakes!

Look what my wonderful and amazing husband brought home to me this afternoon: Babycakes cupcakes!  They totally made my day!

Mal chose two really yummy cupcakes: German Chocolate and Banana Chocolate. Of course, I stole a bite of each before dinner.

Dinner

I tried something new for dinner tonight: gardein Bqq Pulled Shreds. A few weeks ago, the gardein folks sent me a few coupons to try some of their products.

So, what is gardein?

gardein™ is a wholesome range of tasty plant-based foods with a meaty texture. it’s made from soy, wheat and pea proteins, vegetables and ancient grains (quinoa, amaranth, millet and kamut). gardein™ is easy to digest and free of cholesterol, trans and saturated fats. the majority of gardein™ foods are a good source of fiber and low fat too. gardein™ is also animal and dairy free.

The ingredient list on the package was long, but nothing looked too scary, and I could pronounce all of the words.

Verdict: I was pleasantly surprised!

I’m always wary of meat substitutes. Usually, they’re a complete disaster– weird textures, fake-tasting flavors, and hard-to-pronounce ingredients. But, this was not the case for the gardein Bbq Pulled Shreds. They were surprisingly close to the real thing. The shreds were tender and chewy, the smell was bold and authentic, and the bbq sauce was the perfect balance of sweet and spicy.

The Bbq Pulled Shreds even looked like the real thing!

If I hadn’t known already, I would have thought it was a real bbq pulled pork sandwich. I’m a big fan of this product. Mal loved it, too!

For dessert, Mal and I plowed through the Babycake cupcakes. They had no chance!

Snack

For accountability’s sake, I ate a small bowl of Uncle Sam’s cereal with walnuts and raisins before dinner.

I was supposed to go out with friends for drinks tonight, but I decided to stay home and be a bum. Mentally, I am just spent. Hopefully, an easy night at home will recharge me. I have a busy weekend ahead!

Happy weekend, all!