a life & style blog by Karina
— getting used to making myself an office anywhere I go–
— finding a Chicken of the Woods on my daily walk through the forest with Freddy —
— a weekend drive up North to enjoy peak foliage season–
— being selected to be in 2 different movies filming in Boston — actors sure do work long days! 14+ hours, I was drained!–
–and enjoying some poutine pizza (from CheeseBoard SO GOOD!) in Windsor,Vermont at Oktoberfest with Harpoon Brewery—
Happy Friday everyone! I am just (more…)
It would make a cool centerpiece, if only it stayed like this forever!
So all my Eastern European readers will understand this activity: Mushroom picking . When my sister and I were younger, instead of going to an amusement park on the weekends, we would grab some plastic bags, a knife and head out to a forest to go mushroom picking. Might sound kinda lame, but in Eastern Europe – specifically the Ukraine and Poland – this is something the kids get excited to do! It was kind of fun to “hunt” around for different mushrooms with my Dad and Dziadzia (grandfather) and learn about what features to look for to make sure it was safe.
Bringing them home and prepping them to eat was the BEST. We would clean them, saute them with some butter and onion and eat with some Polish Rye bread. The taste is so unique – you cannot get that from your local supermarkets!!
My neighbor went mushroom hunting (his grandfather was Polish) in the woods in our neighborhood and brought back some enormous Hen-of-the-Woods (Grifola frondosa) these can usually be found at the base of oak trees – which is exactly where he found them!He sold one to the chef at the hotel he works for for $100 , grilled one for his dinner and gave one to me to take home to my dad! We had some last night with some pierogi and it was amazing!! Check it out ( weighed 1.6 lbs)
There is the Hen of the Wood restaurant in Vermont – wonder if they serve this!!? I’ll have to check it out next time I’m in that area.
How important is date night? When you’re not home 7AM-6PM (M-F), your boyfriend is back in school getting his MBA, so not home till 10PM some nights, you just got a new puppy, you’re balancing living away from home for the first year (AKA:dinner planning, weekly lunch planning, where is all this laundry coming from!?, dishes galore, didn’t I just go grocery shopping?,maintaining the garden, forget about putting my clothes away, studying for Dental Admission Test( uhh?),training for the bike race, GYM? (why do I still pay for a membership?),blogging, keeping up with friends & some sort of social life, schedules, too many weddings, baby showers! (so happy for my BFF!), the list goes on and on. I may or may not over-commit story of my life -really!
So yes, the time for your significant other can be slim- even if its just cuddling in bed.. the puppy cries and we keep him in bed so cuddling and that minimal alone time we had together can be a challenge now!
Date night is VERY important.
I’m excited to go out with my handsome guy tonight. I made a reservation via Open Table to an Italian restaurant in the North End… Think wine (bottle, please!), warm bread, Chix Marsala, fresh cannoli, …. Is the work day over yet?
I need to plan my outfit! Its chilly out so I’ll mix in some Fall-inspired items along with a pop of summer… Not ready to let it go fully!
Xo,
Happy Friday!
Oh, I found some fun, creative date ideas (cheap too) on Boston.com! Once the pup gets older, I’ll have to plan a VT trip – my absolute favorite esp during Foliage season! – so soon!