karen "vanilla bean" c.'s Profile

Confession: I love hats and sunglasses. I am lucky enough to have a facial shape that looks good in both (thank you, genetics!) and I cannot resist putting a hat atop my head when I see a cute one.

Goorin Bros is my playground. Men's hats, women's hats, feathers in my hair....find me in the corner in front of a mirror taking a photo of myself on my cell phone to upload to instagram because I look soooOOOOOOooooooo cute.

Did I mention that I am also modest?

I had an awesome customer service experience with the Goorin Bros staff, as well. I got a deal coupon (from Rue? or Gilt? I can't remember) and I was pre-coffee when I purchased it. I got the one to buy online instead of in-store. And what fun is shopping online for a HAT? None at all.

Soooo I emailed the deal site and they couldn't help me. They recommended emailing the store manager, which I did and she was more than happy to help. Her email signature cracked me up-she sent from her mobile and it was something to the effect of "Sent from my fingerpainty thingamajig" and I HAD to tell her that it cracked me up. She emailed me back and told me to come by the store that night to try on hats and drink champagne, which I happily did and had the time of my life.

Love!

Fresh pizza, reasonable prices, and super nice staff who knows us by name. What else could a girl want? A few things-pizza that's a hybrid between thick crust and thin crust; fresh salads (the mozzarella salad is AWESOME-really generous portions of cheese!). Their sandwich menu looks amaaaazing, but I usually opt for salad and a pizza; I read somewhere that eating a salad with any meal negates the calories of the other food you eat with it....or something like that.

Pro tip-grab window seats to people watch as people stroll by on Main street.

All of this and more can be found at what I consider my home away from home pizza spot.

Desperate times call for desperate measures.

As a Road Warrior, I pride myself in my traveling superpowers. In the past year, I've logged 100,000 airline miles, 27 bus trips, 40 train rides, several passport stamps and a financial planner who asks me why I bother to rent my apartment when I spend more money on travel than on said apartment.

But every road warrior trips over her own two feet. Yesterday (the Sunday after Thanksgiving), I fell flat on my face. I forgot to book a ticket to get from New York to Boston. Granted, this was not a typical trip-I flew from Boston to Jamaica to JFK, then spent a few days on Long Island, went out east to the vineyards, then back to NYC expecting a Bolt Bus ticket in my inbox, but there was no ticket. Panic set in at noon on Sunday when I realized that I was about to be stranded on Long Island. I quickly booked a ticket via Greyhound, dreading the trip to Port Authority for good reason....

The line to get from NY to Boston was wrapped around the lobby of Port Authority three times. I was asked for money no fewer than seventeen times by homeless people. The staff was rude and completely useless when you had questions (like, "where can i print my ticket so I can get on the bus I just waited two hours for?"). Had the line been on a staircase, you could have thrown yourself from the top step and spiraled down the staircase of insanity for days.

It was also hotter than moose balls in the terminal. I deeply pondered the merits of going to the bathroom to put on a bikini left over from my trip to Jamaica, but the thought of entering the bathrooms, which are on an unknown level of hell that even Dante himself wouldn't enter, makes me queasy. You couldn't pay me to go peepee in the station. I would sooner go in my pants and/or explode.

There is no method to the madness, nor is there adequate staffing. There are seven police officers for every one agent, which makes sense in hindsight; I was expecting a riot to ensue after they announced that the time on your ticket meant nothing and that if you were to get on a bus and get home, you should consider yourself lucky. And THAT is what I call customer service!

Unless I forget to book travel again and I'm hard up, I could happily live the rest of my life without ever going NEAR Port Authority again. I made it home in one piece and lived to Yelp about it.

When asked what my favourite part of Old San Juan was, a knee-jerk/Tourettes-esque "omgihadthebestcoffeeofmylifethere" is my reaction. I do believe I have more photos of the cafe than the beach, and that coffee porn is alright by me!

Coffee is a religious experience here. They roast the beans on the premesis and no ifs, ands, or butts about it-the coffee is fresh. Like, old man hitting on you fresh. And strong! It was able to jolt me back to life after too much roasted piggy, rice, and mofongo coma.

This is not Starbucks; you will wait a few minutes for your latte, but it's worth the wait. Just don't get that extra shot-you won't need it and it may or may not mke it difficult to blink all day (spoken from experience!). Bring some beans home-I've been rationing out my beans since April. I'm using lack of coffee as an excuse to return again in the spring!

They're very nice and appreciate any attempts at Spanglish you may want to try and they won't call you Blanca behind your back...or at least they'll wait till you're out of earshot. ;)

Lobster
Bacon
Avocado
Spicy Mayo
Potato Chips.

Need I say more?

My team came here for a lunch to celebrate the arrival of one of our German coworkers and we decided to get fancy (for the first time EVER we were allowed to expense lunch), so we made a reservation for 8 of us, which LTK happily accommodated, even during the lunch rush. The "lunch rush" in the seaport district is kind of a joke, but they were still very nice.

Our server was really friendly and made sure we were all well-watered throughout our meal, which is challenging when you have a table of athletes (we work for an athletics brand). The food was great and it all came out at the same time at the appropriate temps. The table fell silent when everything came. Subtitles to silence at a meal: The Food Is Good. Don't Talk To Me.

We all got dessert to share-the creme brulee "shot" is adorable, but truth be told I did not want to share. The chocolate cake was also delicious. I wouldn't necessarily rush back to LTK since there are so many local businesses in Boston that specialize in seafood, but if given the green light again for a company lunch, I would happily head over to LTK!

Things I need tattooed on my forehead: Please do not speak to me while I'm eating.

*internal monologue*

This guacamole is the SHIZ! Are you double DIPPING, coworker man? Oh no you di-int! Now I'm going to have to eat from the left side of the guacamole only. Oh, screw it. This sangria will kill the germs. Oh my GOD new girl is talking a lot. Does she have a word count limit to meet by the end of the day or she'll self-destruct? No, seriously. New girl, I know you want to be besties, but I'm chewing. And whatever you have to say is not as important as this guacamole. In fact, I cannot think of anything more important than this guacamole. Oh, wait, the sangria is more important than this guacamole. Oh wow. I'm drunk.

Hmmm...what to order? What to order? I have no idea what the menu says, but I refuse to order enchiladas like the rest of the table. I know. I'll order the most exotic looking thing on the menu. I'll order something I can't even translate with my limited vocabulary left over from 8th grade Spanish! Wow....8th grade was a long time ago. What does this say? Oh well, We'll find out soon!

*plate arrives....internal monologue continues....insert hiccups to the equation*

Well, slap my ass and call me Susan, this looks pretty good. But what IS it? Still unsure. Okay, those are shrimp. The sauce looks black. Okay, take a bite. If you're going to spew, there's a piece of pottery over there. Oh god, she's talking. Again. Okay, whatever it is that I'm eating has shrimp and stuff in it and it's awesome.

30 seconds later. Meal inhaled. Coworkers still talking. Waitress returns. I should not have another glass of sangria if I'm going to go into the office tomorrow. Ahhh, screw it. You only live once.

Yes, I WOULD like a refill of this sangria. And.....YOUR FACE!

*The staff here was awesome-very accommodating to my princess ways (early check-in, late check-out, don't clean my room but please bring me new towels). Yes, I'm a total weirdo. I couldn't remember which last name was on my reservation and the front desk folk and I had a funny-ha-ha moment about how annoying divorces and name changes are. I joked, saying I'd be at the bar holding therapy hours from 3-4 if anyone wanted to wallow with me, which got me into my room well ahead of check-in time. Humor will get you everywhere if good lucks and money don't. Seriously.

The hotel was pretty empty (even though the front desk said they were sold out). I had some fun causing trouble in the library bar. I may or may not have played with the unmanned bar taps while nobody was looking. I've always wanted to do that.

The rooms are sexy with a capital S. Big beds, leather headboards, dark, lighting (maybe even a little too dark?). It's easy to get yourself into trouble here.

It is also extremely easy to get LOST on  your way here. Every time I left the hotel, returning was an adventure. So....I bought some gumdrops and left a trail, which SOMEBODY (I am looking at YOU, homeless man on the corner) ate them and then I was fumbling around the cobblestone streets lost AGAIN (ladies, don't wear heels unless someone is either giving you a piggyback ride or you're showing up in an Escalade).

*This review is much less helpful and much more an account of how spazzy I am.

Pop quiz time!

Lunch dates are the perfect way to

A- escape a first date if it's not going well
B- figure out if you like someone enough to have drinks with them later
C- save money on dating (lunch is cheaper than dinner)
D- all of the above

If you answered D, you are correct!

And so, on a Saturday afternoon, two perfect strangers met for lunch to find that yes, they did enjoy each other's company enough to meet for drinks later, but that is another story for another place and time.

The food was lovely. Not as pricey as I expected it to be, but I didn't pay, so it didn't keep me up at night either way. I would happily come back with a brunch group or my parents.

The ambiance is very nice, as well. We sat outside and I got moderately cooked in the sun, but that's not Stephi's fault. The service was friendly and attentive, although the restaurant wasn't very crowded at 1 o'clock on a Saturday.

You can't really go wrong with anything on the menu. They're all kind of tastebud staples-chicken salad sandwiches, panini, eggs, etc.

Nothing amazing. Nothing terrible. Perfectly adequate.

A Haru-ing experience.

I have loved and lusted after Haru in Boston for quite some time, but the New York location is the ugly stepsister, for sure. The service left something to be desired. What? Well, everything. Like some attention, for starters. When three hungry ladies come in for sushi, you best have your A game on. We were neither watered nor well-fed during our meal. Our server clearly did not understand the severity of our hunger and sobriety situation.

The food was blah. It felt like it was either not fresh or had been sitting for a long time after it was prepared-our dumplings were lukewarm and mushy. Our sushi was just funky (I've never had someone mess up spicy tuna-even Whole Foods sushi is better than this). And the seared tuna was squishy.

Seafood was not meant to be served this way. Bleeeeeeck!

If your significant other is meeting your parents for the first time, this is the perfect place to meet for brunch, lunch, dinner, or drinks and appetizers. It definitely appeals to an older demographic with a cozy neighborhood feel.

With a seasonal menu that features local ingredients, it's hard not to like The Fireplace and if you've ever gotten off the T at Washington Street on a cold November evening, you'll have the luxury of breathing in childhood memories with the sweet smell of a fireplace roaring inside.

The service is friendly and attentive without being overbearing and if you're celebrating an occasion, do let them know ahead of time-they're very good at accommodating special requests. Reservations are a must every night of the week and for brunch. If you're eyeing a table near the fireplace, definitely put a request in because the restaurant has a bar to the right when you enter, a booth section to the left, and then two tops right in front of the fireplace. In my opinion, the booths are the most comfortable-I sat by the fireplace once and I was cooking like a rotisserie chicken by the end of my meal (which may or may not have been slightly related to the amount of WINE consumed). In the spring/summer/fall, they have outdoor tables when the weather is nice, which is a plus in Brookline-dining al fresco is hard to come by.

Street parking can be kind of a pain, so give yourself some time to find a spot. It is, after all, Brookline!

If you ever see the short rib with the cheddar porridge on the menu, order it. Stop everything and order the short rib. It will change your life. Drooling!