Now that it’s Friday (yippee!), the weekend is a mere hours away and we can all be excited for a couple days off to relax and have fun. The work week is busy! And personally, one of my favorite parts of the weekend is rarely making plans ahead of time.

Perhaps it’s due to my actual job requiring lots of planning and details or I’m just not great at making plans (😬). Either way, I love the option of leaving the weekends wide-open for whatever may suit my fancy.

How about you? If you need some plans, then there are some fun restaurants below. If you feel like shopping, I’ve noted a few cool products. And if you’re about to cook, I’ve got three recipes that could easily cover all of your weekend needs. The choice is yours!

Have a great weekend!

Read

For all of my talk about healthy eating and regular exercise, I do avoid the term “diet.” But maybe that’s exactly what’s happening? Check out this piece that sheds a new light on the word “wellness” and what it means for all of us out here trying to make healthy changes to our daily life.

It’s spring! And that means fresh, local produce is soon to be available once again. I’m thrilled! As we gear up for the busy seasons of farm-fresh everything, check out this Spring Produce Buying Guide. How helpful!

And while we’re at it, let’s discuss some Grocery Shopping Best Practices (these are excellent) offered up from Carla Lalli Music’s new book. I still need to buy my copy!

Cook

If there’s anyone out there that doesn’t enjoy a scrumptious shrimp scampi, I’m so sorry. I think it’s an amazing dish; Seth loves it. I happened upon this scampi recipe and have deemed it “whoah” because it looks so darn incredible. Perfect for a Saturday night at home, don’t you think?

These just look and sound amazing. Blistered Green Beans with Garlic will be making an appearance on our plates very soon.

Keeping my eyes wide open for healthy and interesting dinners, I think these Brown Rice Patties with Pesto could be a great weeknight option (would just need to use GF breadcrumbs).

Dine

The latest edition of Bar Bites launched today (hooray!), but here’s a sampling of spots I want to try in the near future...

Oak + Rowan: I’ve heard so many great things about this restaurant and after peeking at the menu, I can’t wait to make a reservation. There’s a cheese board on the lunch menu and all of the entrees sound excellent. Nice.

Neptune Oyster: No reservations and there’s always a line out the door, but that won’t stop us. I’ve wanted to eat here for a long time so I think this summer we’ll finally make it happen. It’s a staple of Boston’s North End.

SRV (Serene Republic of Venice): Ever since I saw that the risotto is made-to-order, I’ve had this spot on my “must go” list. Of course, I’ll need to skip the house-made pastas, but luckily the rest of the menu sounds awesome.

Shop

Remember: Mollie’s Market is launching so soon!

How’s your plastic bag usage these days? I need to cut way back and I think I’ll start with a few of these Stasher reusable sandwich bags. So much better for the environment; and they are so pretty!

We don’t cover much in the way of home decor around here, and yet in reality I’m always in search of new throw pillows or some overly specific type of furniture. I’ve been looking for a mirror like this one for quite some time. Maybe it’s time to place an order.

Sure, we already have three types of cheese graters in the kitchen, but I love this design. I think adding a fourth wouldn’t be the worst idea. We love cheese!

Enjoy! 

Mollie