True Bistro and a Winter Hike

Good Evening!

Today was such a refreshing and fun day. After a week of sub-freezing days in the Boston-area, it felt almost balmy to have a 47 degree day. I was excited for the nice weather because I had my first ever blogger meet-up planned 🙂 Organized by Lindsay, I met with with Lisa, @seaweedgirle, and Laura, as well as Lindsay’s husband, Neil, at True Bistro in Somerville.

Such a great time! We went for brunch which was really exciting for me because I haven’t eaten dairy-free restaurant breakfast foods in forevvverrrr! So when I saw the waffle with poached pears, whipped cream and toasted hazel nuts, I was all over it 🙂

I couldn’t hold back from taking my first bite before I remember to take a picture 🙂 It was so good, just the right amount of waffle, too. I also got a side of fresh fruit:

Pineapple, raspberries, and persimmons. All so fresh and really good; I had never tried persimmons and were surprised by the sweet but mellow flavor, really good!

After sitting, eating, and chatting for about two hours we all parted ways and Eric and I headed to one of my favorite stores: Whole Foods! I needed to get a few items for tomorrow’s Holiday Cookie Bake (pictures to follow) and also never pass up an opportunity to make a Whole Foods trip on the weekends. Other than the cookie ingredients, I got some canned beans, almond butter, a PureBar, and some ingredients for mine and Eric’s dinner.

After heading home to drop off our purchases, Eric and I decided to make most of the sunny and unusually (as of lately) warm day. We got on our workout comfy clothes and headed to our usual mountain biking spot, Bradley Palmer Park for photo hike.

There was a bit of a chill in the air, but we did well for the first hour.

I was saying to Eric how different our nature/still life photography is in the winter months; you have to change your perspective a bit the bright flowers and everything in bloom.

This park is full of fences for horse riding.

My goal was to hike up this hill..

To this beautiful giant field on top. I loooove this spot; it’s such a hidden gem 🙂

A quick photo was necessary 🙂

It was starting to get dark but the sky was so gorgeous.

After our hike we were very ready for dinner. The great thing about brunch is it give you an afternoon free to do whatever and then you’re ready for an early home-cooked dinner. Or maybe that’s just how we are 🙂

We put our Whole Foods trip to good use, going veggie heavy on our meal. My plate:

Steamed kale, red peppers, bok choy, and water chestnuts with oven roasted tofu and asparagus. We also had some guac on the side 🙂

This evening we watched Elf and are relaxing. Tomorrow is completely dedicated to the Holiday Cookie Bake and completing my final presentations 🙂

Have a great night everyone!

lots of love,

Em