Three Great Finds

This was quite the busy weekend around here. Friday Adam and I went to our beloved Rock Bottom in Braintree for one last dinner + beer before they closed permanently on Sunday. So sad!! From what our waitress told us the mall would not renegotiate their rent and it had become so expensive that their rent was DOUBLE that of the Rock Bottom in Boston and so they were unable to make themselves solvent. She also told me that word on the street is Crate and Barrel and William Sonoma are going the same way at this particular mall as well as the 99 Restaurant. I bet they are regretting their decision to throw a bunch of money at building a Nordstrom now! I feel like the South Shore Plaza is trying to become something it

s not....but we’ll see what happens. In any case Rock Bottom in Braintree was always a great place to have a nice meal and some excellent beer and it will be sorely missed.

Saturday I hit the road early for a day of much needed clothes shopping. I hit Macy’s, Talbots Outlet, TJ Maxx and Target. All in all I managed to score 1 pair of shoes, 4 shirts, 1 pair of jeans, 1 black and white wrap dress and 1 black trench coat for about $150 total. Not too shabby at all! Then at night we attended a party at Somerville Tapas restaurant Dali (which I still contend has the most flattering lighting in the area). The sangria flowed like wine and the food was delicious!

Sunday we woke up early and headed out for some research. We would like to be in a condo in the next year or so, so we looked up some available properties in the areas we liked and did a bunch of drive-bys, checking out neighborhoods. We’re actually trying to move even closer to the city and found some GREAT places...one in particular that would be perfect for us location wise. However, Adam is probably going to be changing careers in the next year, and his new career MAY require him to be a resident of the city we currently reside in..so we’re not definitely buying anything just yet. Once we know more concretely whether we have to stay in Quincy, we can seriously look. But for now it’s more of a reconnaissance mission. And we’re taking a first time home buyer’s class on Thursday so that should be fun. Or at the very least informative.

Anywho I made a few discoveries over the weekend that I thought I would share.

First of all, before we went to Rock Bottom on Friday we stopped into Bin Ends in Braintree to stock up on wine for the week. They have a fantastic selection of affordable wine AND seem to always be hosting free tasting. That is my kind of thing. Anyway as I was checking out, I was offered a re-useable wine bag that if purchased for $1, I could bring back whenever I shop and receive a discount on the wine I buy. I love combining environmental friendliness with drinking!


The bag is perfect for wine since it has 6 compartments that keeps the wine from banging into each over and falling over. I found them online as well so if you are a bulk wine buyer I suggest checking them out!

Secondly, we have the knot collection at Banana Republic.

I just love this style. Simple but chic, glam but understated. I scored the necklace in silver. LOVE. I’m trying to buy more “every day” jewelry ( I have a lot of “statement” pieces but not very much office friendly jewelry. Unless I worked at a cocktail party (I wish!)

Thirdly, not really a discovery but a moment of brilliance. For Christmas I received a cute makeup bag. Now, I already have probably at least ten makeup bags from shopping the Clinique and Estee Lauder counters when they are in gift but I did find a great use for this slightly larger one.



A stash for my emergency flats. I am a girl who loves to wear heels but who cannot tolerate wearing them for terribly long. So I keep a secret pair of flats in my car and if I’m at a party or out to dinner I can run out and change my shoes so that I did get to wear my cute heels but I am not bitching about how much they kill me all night. If I have a large enough bag I will even just throw this case in the bag and bring them in with me. The makeup bag is big enough that I can fit a pair of flats and in most cases the pair of discarded heels! Parfait!