gobble, gobble...

I hope everyone had a fantastic Thanksgiving!  We were missing a few members of our family--my sisters were both with their significant others and their families and one family of my cousins was home in New Jersey because Hurricane Irene did a number on their CT house--but we were thankful nonetheless.  

My Dad was particularly thankful for a successful first fried turkey.  After hearing all the horror stories, our turkey fry was pretty uneventful!  The end result?  "Perfect."  Or, at least, that's what everyone else thought.  I might be the only person on earth to feel this way, but I hated the fried bird.  It was moist and flavorful, and it was perfectly seasoned, marinated, and cooked, but it just didn't do it for me.  Call me traditional or unadventurous, but I prefer the roasted version.  Thankfully, we had both!  

how many turkeys does it take to fry a turkey?

We're off to the paddle courts for the day and have another huge dinner with 20 family members tonight.  We've transformed the livingroom/dining room and prepared the meal.  On the menu?  Lasagna and left over Thanksgiving sides.  Yum.  

I hope everyone has a fantastic weekend.  Gobble, gobble!

a weekend in jupiter

...And I don't feel any stupider.  In fact, I feel very smart, well-rested, and refreshed!

My boyfriend's family bought a house in Jupiter, FL last April, and it is the best place to escape for the weekend.  First of all, traveling from Boston (at least if you live in the city) is the best experience ever, and I realize all of us Beantowners are very spoiled.  I leave my apartment one hour before take-off.  Walk 15 minutes to South Station.  Take the 10 minute Silver Line bus/train ($2) to Logan Airport.  Breeze through security.  Buy a water, snack, and magazine for the trip.  And board the plane.  That JetBlue flies directly to West Palm Beach, which is a 15 minute drive from said house in Jupiter, is the icing on the cake in this ideal weekend getaway.

Making for the perfect weekend, the weather Gods gave us this nice little nod....

And it also helped that we had nothing planned.  We drove the golf cart to the beach, had jumping contests in the pool, ate meals outside, napped on the couch, and spent some great quality time with the fam.

They say beauty is only skin deep.  Here's to hoping it works for ugliness, too!

We are also very, very tan on the inside.  The skin is just a facade.

The unsinkable Molly Brown...

A huge thank you goes out to my boyfriend's family for hosting us for such a spectacular weekend.  We had so much fun and enjoyed relaxing and recharging so much.  If the Farmer's Almanac is even half-way correct for Winter 2012, we will be back for some relief very soon!

There is an exciting winter coming to the Northeast!

If you're thinking to yourself, "Geez, Jawsie has really traveled a lot recently!"  I can assure you, so is Jawsie. October and November were quite busy: BOS-->LEB (x2)-->BOS-->SFO-->BOS-->PBI-->BOS-->NYC-->HOME SWEET HOME (CT).

This week I am so thankful to be home with my family in Connecticut.  Thanksgiving is my absolute favorite holiday, and this week is just what the doctor ordered.  

biking across the bridge

DUH! An east coast tourist doesn't just cross the bridge by car on her first day in SF and then forget about it!  I had to go back!  The Golden Gate Bridge is the iconic San Francisco attraction.  There isn't the city by the bay without the bridge that gets you there.  And what a bridge it is-- so vibrant, so magnificent, and so mind-bogglingly-suspended above the entrance to San Francisco Bay.  The Golden Gate Bridge was my final conquest on my SF trip last week, and I took it by bike. (Tip #8 [ride]: They say you have to ride a trolley if you're going to San Francisco.  I say you have to ride a bike.  I borrowed a friends, which was uber cheap (free!), but they also rent them all over the city!).

There you have it.  There are no words to describe it.

But the sandwich I brought with me to enjoy on the other side?  HA! I'll give you some words to describe that: good luck every finding one better.  Sweet ACME Rosemary bread, roast turkey, sun dried tomatoes, avocado, pesto, and goat cheese.  Fresh. Huge. Amazing.

It came from Lucca Deli (2120 Chestnut Street), which looks like heaven on earth.  And it tasted so good, too.  I couldn't even put down the sandwich to take a picture of it.... woops!

Before my red-eye flight back east, my friends and I went to Pizzeria Delfina in Pacific Heights.  (Tip #9 [eat]: go to Pizzeria Delfina for an amazing slice after a long day).  If you love gourmet pizza and amazing meatballs, meet your favorite new restaurant in San Francisco.  And they let us have a glass of wine while we waited outside for a table to open up...  Um, hi. I'm Jawsie.  Have we met?  Yum, yum, yum.

It was the perfect end to a perfect trip.