Artichokes

Persistence pays off!

Last Saturday my friends and I had plans that we had made a MONTH in advance to go to the new restaurant in Wakefield, Artichokes. We were all so excited and having been anticipating great things from the rave reviews, turns out they don't take reservations due to the fact that they are consistently insanely busy! So Saturday night needless to say was unreally PACKED... it was like a Stoneham High School reunion with out the DRAMA ;) The hostess told us at 8:15 that there was a 2 hr wait and that they stop taking orders for food at 10pm... so basically it was a lost cause. Everyone was ready to leave and move on to the next idea.. however I was not. I had be anxiously waiting for this and was bound and determined to get into this so called GREAT place! I was definitely disgruntled at the pessimism the hostess had portrayed but even so pushed to make it clear that we were going to eat HERE.. I told her we would go and get a drink and for her to call us when something opens up because having worked in the industry myself I knew that the ratio of tables verse people standing.. plus there no reservation policy.. she was over estimating that wait time! None of my friends believed me but I knew that we where getting in... so to hold us over we went down to Stearns & Hill Bistro in Melrose and experience a similar packed setting! We did of course finagle our way to the bar and managed to get some rather yummy martinis... mine was a dirty martini with blue cheese stuffed olives .. just fabulous. What was disappointing about the Bistro was the snooty atmosphere that Melrose just exudes between the clientele and the bartenders I really couldn't tell who was worse... they did have a super cute hostess who took our names for a back up plan in terms of dinner and just as she came over to let us know we had a table ready... guess who called... ARTICHOKES! Yup that's right a little optimism goes a long way :)

So as for Artichokes... as soon as we walked in the door everything from the service to the food was AMAZING.. OMG their breaded artichoke hearts were perfect and the bruschetta was dripping with tasty fresh tomato's.. my entree was the BOMB.. home made fusille with shiitake mushrooms and shrimp in a tomato cream sauce with a hint of some sort of sweet liquor mmmmm.. I'm drooling just thinking about it :)

Artichokes.. is WORTH THE WAIT!

xoxo

Erica Marie

M.A.M.

Sorry for the lack of POSTS, I'm trying to get a hold on life as a new REALTOR while simultaneously planning a wedding and honeymoon... and with that I'll end this post with a shout out to my Auntie Debbi for her inspiring ACRONYM.... MAM.. MAKE A MOVE!!! That's just what I intend to do with all aspects of my life :) mostly its time to make some money honey!

xoxo

Erica Marie

Bean Town

How cute is this little Beanie, things like this give me warm fuzzy feelings about having children in the next couple of years! "Boston Beanies" my vow to you now is that I will most definitely be a supporter of your business in the future.


xoxo

Erica Marie

Where the WILD THINGS are

Tonight I decided to be a loner and catch a nice dinner, drink and a movie. A great place to do all three is the REVERE theater (National Amusements), the restaurant there has a really sweet bartender named Lisa that makes the a great grey goose dirty martini.

Where the Wild Things Are

From a set design perspective the movie was everything I hoped it would be.. the realistic sense of the character's along with the scenery had that desired whimsical feel. However I probably wouldn't take my child under the ago of 10-12 to go and see this movie.. its a little on the DARK side and possibly a bit too graphic for anyone younger. My take on the film was its subtle synopsis on life in general... no one owns this world we live in, if you make plans don't expect them all to follow through exactly the way YOU thought and EXPECT, ACCEPT AND EMBRACE CHANGE.

xoxo

Erica Marie

FELT like more.. FELT

Such a GREAT idea.. I love getting 2 uses for the price of one!

http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=20901237&utm_source=etsy_finds&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=etsy_finds_101409

xoxo

Erica Marie

Laser Cut

Cool Awesome Dude! Love the baroque like feel in a modern material.

Wicket Cheap too... check it out

http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=26790540&utm_source=etsy_finds&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=etsy_finds_102109

xoxo

Erica Marie

Head Adornmentatioin

These classic vintage head adornments are the perfect accessory, for a few dollars you can take your dress from blah to AWESOME with this retro twist. It would be very easy to assemble these your self to (with all that spare time you have) Michael's / A C Moore would carry all the necessary ingredients to breath new life into these retro fitted head pieces and make it your own.

Thanks to Elements of Style for these great pictures, I had to pass the good news along!

xoxo

Erica Marie