From the category archives:

Shopping

Weekend Recap: Enjoying Boston and SOWA Market

by agirlandhermutt on October 25, 2011

Hello friends! It is absolutely a gorgeous day in Boston and I’m going to spend it doing the thing I know best…working. Eh, a girl has got to do what a girl has got to do.

Fortunately, this weekend was a much needed break from a hectic life and I enjoyed it thoroughly. Don’t you ever have those weekends where you don’t make any plans just because you need to not have to be on the go? <—Confusing much? Well this was that weekend for me.

There were some walks to enjoy the changing of the leaves.

A few of the walks included the Mutt so he could stretch those cute little pup legs. Stretching his legs typically involves me telling The Scientist to run around with him while I run the opposite way. Then we let Kork turn around to run back to me. Ahh…life of a dog on a leash.

I cleaned my house, made some yummy meals for the week, and rewarded myself with a trip to the SOWA Market. I know I’ve talked about this market several times in the past, but each time I go I am blown away by the amount of creativity that people have.

This Sunday my obsession was with It’s Sew You by Kristin. Her use of color combined with patterns and textures really made her products unique.

Although I was loving all her fabric items, I was crushing hardcore on these fantastic brooches. Each one was a weird combo of colors that just screamed “BUY ME!” I ended up going home with one of these suckers and I am stoked to wear it.

Keeping with my funky pattern purchases I always was sucked in by a new vendor to me called I Heart Arm Warmers. For some reason any time someone writes “I heart” or “I <3” they are immediately in my good graces. Is it my hidden 12 year old dying to come out?!

I completely forgot to take a picture of all her goodies. I think I was a little overwhelmed with all of the choices. All of the armwarmers are handmade out of recycled sweaters and each pair is unique. I ended up with a pair of brown cashmere with leopard hearts and a pair of red & white herringbone. They both kind of look like these.

[Source]

I’m wearing mine today and let me tell you that I’m on the verge of looking just like this girl. Heh. Ok, maybe not.

My time at the market wasn’t all ca-ching! ca-ching! I also picked up some pretty delicious eats. Including an amazing veggie taco from the BBQ Smith food truck. You never know where you are going to find great veggie options!

The taco included sautéed greens, black beans, some other veggies and a nice dollop of goat cheese.

My final purchase from the market was from Samira’s Homemade, straight out of Belmont, Ma. Supportin’ the Locals!

Spicy Stuffed Grape Leaves = Amazing Little Nuggets.

Their hummus is out of this world and I have been thinking about these stuffed grape leaves for days. They had to come home with me! Do any of you make these at home? I need to learn how to do this.

I hope you all had a great weekend! On the agenda for this week is trying out a few new recipes, dinnah with friends, and the start of Halloween. SPOOOKKKKY!

Are you a crafty person? What can you make with your hands?

Have a great day!

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Give Me A Sunday and I’ll Lead You To Shopping…

by agirlandhermutt on August 23, 2011

I totally get window shopping. I like to peruse online sites to satisfy most of my shopping urges. I add to the cart but never hit purchase (is that weird?!). If I bought every time I felt the urge we would have to have some kind of spending intervention. However, there are times where I give in willingly and bring out the wallet.

Sunday Karen and I gave in to some shopping urges and hopped over to the SOWA Market in the South End to enjoy a beautiful summer Sunday and spend some $$$. I’ve always had success at the market.

This market has grown by leaps and bounds over the past two years. Gone are the days of just a few tents every other weekend. The SOWA Market is now there every single Sunday till October and is packed with some AMAZING artists, food trucks, and a farmers market element. It’s a one stop shop.

I needed energy to shop appropriately so we stopped for a little lunch first. My choice was from Lefty’s Silver Cart.

Lefty’s uses local and organic ingredients, which I love and falls right in line with my personal eating philosophy.

I went for the Lil’ Kim-Chi, which sounded fantastic. What really sold me was the sesame black beans. Guess what did NOT come with my sandwich? Grr. I didn’t know the beans weren’t available until I already had my sandwich. Boooo. Let a girl know! Good thing the sandwich was delish. Definitely a make at home meal!

Full bellies…Ready to shop! This market is NOT your average craft show. There are some really interesting and creative folks.

I’d love to own one of those fantastic umbrellas but I can’t seem to keep an umbrella around more than a week to save my life. Where do they go?!

Check out this little store on wheels! Walk in and shop. There was a dressing room to try on the clothes too. Clever clever.

In addition to all the great vendors, there is also a HUGE vintage market. I’m not a big vintage shopper, but I love to check out the fun displays.

Obviously we were working hard checking out all the tents so a break was needed. The Cupcakory food truck to the rescue. I snacked on a Pistachio with Raspberry Cream cupcake. Lets just say that it is a good thing this food truck is not near my office. Yum-my!

The farmer’s market area is pretty awesome too. Lots of fresh veggies from local farms and quite a few locally made food vendors. Karen met her shopping mission by buying a ton of beets. We all have goals. Smile

Final Market Haul Included:
-From the Fashion Truck- Awesome gunmetal grey bracelet with gold studs. Super soft and flexible!
-Grillo’s Pickles Pickled Asparagus. The perfect mix of salt and crunch.
-Fifth & Madison Collection Candles in Orange Blossom and Santiago. They smell beautiful and burn wonderfully.

Shopping urges were met and my wallet didn’t suffer too much. Successful Sunday!

Boston folks, have you been to the market before? What is your fave vendor?!

Don’t forget to check out the Robert Mondavi Gift Pack Giveaway from yesterday’s post. You can enter until Friday, 8/26! Don’t miss out!

Have a great day! Smile at a stranger. It makes everyone feel good!

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Holiday Partying!

by agirlandhermutt on December 19, 2010

Guess who loves a partay?! This girl! Any opportunity to dress up and get fancy is one that I pounce on!

A holiday party is even better. The cheer, the merriment, the Christmas decorations…it puts me in quite the festive mood!

A few years ago The Scientist’s work threw the holiday party of all holiday parties. It was held at the Boston Public Library, which in general is just an amazing place to be in. If you ever visit the Boston area be sure to check out the older section of the library. Just beautiful.

I wasn’t as good with the camera that year, but the decorations were absolutely AMAZING. Each room had a different theme with a specialty cocktail and TONS of food. I had never seen anything like it before.

I was especially shocked to see these fun little creatures greeting us as we walked in.

Who even knew there was a service to have people dressed up as plants and trees?

The night was filled with dancing, drinking and mingling. It was kind of surreal! Seriously…don’t we look so young? I remember hunting that dress down from the GAP. I was obsessed with it.

The next year the party moved locations and ended up at the Fairmont Copley Plaza hotel.

It was just as extravagant and entertaining. This was no run of the mill conference room pot luck holiday party. Shouldn’t all drinks be served from a woman in a table?!

The party this year moved again and we found ourselves at the Museum of Fine Arts.

The MFA just opened a whole new wing to the museum so I was excited to check out all of the changes.

We were greeted with a passion fruit champagne mixture, which ended up being my drink o’ the night. My fave part of the food situation was the dessert table. Hello pumpkin shots!

After some eating and noshing we walked the maze of the museum to find out where all the dancing was happening.

Have you ever walked a museum all on your own? Creepy but fun all at the same time!

Finally found it!

This is where the action was at. It was nuts and possibly a bit sweaty.

We all busted a few moves of our own too. So slick and fast you can’t even see them all! Winking smile

The Scientist and I were looking pretty smooth this year. Agree?!

I was absolutely in love with my dress this year. I knew I wanted something bright and colorful. I ended up ordering about 5 dresses from Macys.com and picked my fave. Fortunately for me it was the dress that was on sale for just $35! Woot.

What really pulled the whole outfit together for me was my jewelry.

I am a big accessories fan. You can make any outfit that much more fun by adding a necklace or some funky earrings. I searched high and low to pull together my jewelry. It ended up being a nice mix of Forever 21, Filene’s Basement, and Ann Taylor. Poor Ann Taylor is shuddering at the idea of being paired with Forever 21. Winking smile