Monthly Archives

March 2012

BOSTON, FOOD

Food: Sweet Lydia’s Toasted Coconut Marshmallows

Mmmmm….marshmallows! Typically perfect for soaking up hot cocoa or spilling over the side of a gooey s’more, it’s rare that marshmallows are the star of the show…until now. During a jaunt to the SoWa Winter Market, I discovered just how satisfying this confection could be on its own by sampling the toasted coconut mashmallows from Sweet Lydia’s.

Perfectly described as extra fluffy, eight good-sized marshmallows come in a pack for $4.50. While this Savvy Bostonian has only tried toasted coconut, the marshmallows also come in thirteen other tempting flavors like Mocha, Pumpkin Spice and Caramel. In addition to delectable marshmallows, Sweet Lydia’s has other crave-worthy offerings like personalized s’mores (omg!!!) and a cool blog that make her site worth a visit: http://sweetlydias.com/.

Excuse me while I take a bite...

BOSTON, TRAVEL

Travel: Tablet Hotels

Tablet Website Screen Grab

As a passionate leisure traveler with professional experience in the travel industry, I couldn’t resist giving a little love to Tablet. Specifically, the person who puts together the content for their weekly newsletter and TabletTalk blog. My personal inbox is forever clogged with newsletters (which is clearly my fault, I find it hard to pare down), but I always look forward to seeing the unique hotels Tablet selects for their readers. While most are above my budget (it is a luxury travel site after all), I find myself completely sucked in by the clever copy and beautiful photos. Plus, the hotels are unique and full of personality, like No. 5 Maddox St., an all-studio apartment hotel in London’s Mayfair district. Luckily, I can “favorite” them and hope the stars will align and one of the posh places will end up on a private sale site, just in time for my next trip. Crazier things have happened, right?

And, I’m sure it won’t come as a surprise to any of my lovely blog readers that so far all of my “favorited” hotels are in London….

Blake's Hotel, London. Have wanted to stay here ever since it appeared on an episode of Anthropologie's Man Shops Globe!

In case you were wondering about Boston, Tablet ranks our beloved city’s top five hotels, in order from one to five, as: Mandarin Oriental Boston, XV Beacon, Ames Boston, Hotel Veritas and Taj Boston.

BOSTON

The SavvyBostonian and The Back Bay Blackout

Not the kind of view I like to see from my apartment

It’s been a long, strange and most importantly, dark couple of days. And, it’s not over yet. Like many Back Bay residents, my week took an unexpected turn with a three alarm fire ripped through a parking garage several blocks from my apartment. As of Thursday night, I’m one of the 1,500 residents still without power (gee thanks, NSTAR). It’s been an interesting 48 hours and I feel compelled to share some of the strange, heartwarming and comical series of events that have keep my little Back Bay world going.

Continue Reading

RECIPES

Home Cookin’: Carrot and Chickpea Salad

I like it when my food can multitask. I’m so busy these days, that I make one vat of a salad-y item on the weekends and combine it with different ingredients throughout the week. Especially if you’re cooking for one, it’s a great way to avoid that inevitable food boredom.

For this dish, I’m starting with three of my pantry staples, carrots, chickpeas and toasted almonds, and I’m jazzing them up with a flavorful dressing. Made with a tangy, yet delicious blend of lemon juice, fresh cilantro, garlic, extra virgin olive oil, cumin, smoked paprika, cayenne and ground black pepper, the end result makes pantry staples suddenly seem more gourmet.

Continue Reading