Hip hip hooray! It's Friday! Congratulations, you've made it through the week!

So what's going on this weekend? If you're in Boston, there's only 1,000+ new restaurants you can probably try. Okay, a small exaggeration. Some new ones on my list are: oak + rowan, Benedetto Cambridge, and The Automatic. If you're in the hospitality industry Friday is probably more like Wednesday for you. But good news, the weekends are busy. Let the money rain down upon you in the form of good tips.

Though still part of the industry, my two little weeknight shifts still allow me to have a fairly normal weekend schedule. Add in one toddler, so no sleeping in until 10am like my younger years. But it does equate for some serious productivity.

I'm absolutely looking forward to some time with my small human this weekend since she's been on a little hiatus at Nana and Grampa's house since Tuesday afternoon. The week has certainly been productive and it's good for us to spend a little time apart since we spend all day together. However, this mama needs to make up on some serious baby snuggles.

Friday Four

So what is this Friday Four that you speak of? It's a new little recap beyond just recipes. Each Friday I'll be sharing 4 cool things that happened during the week. Some might be recipes, new stuff I tried out, or new products I am super into at the moment.

Without further ado, here is the first Friday Four:

One

MY NEW CHARCOAL MASK HAS BROUGHT NEW LIFE TO MY FACE. I'm sorry, but capitals were 100% required. As much as I try to deny it...I am 3o, I have a small child that likes to wake up between 5 and 6am, and on any given day there is a 70% chance of being tired. This mask takes less than 15 minutes and leaves your skin feeling like it just got a mini dose of Botox. For $28/jar, I can totally get down with that.

Some other awesome things? It's vegan and not tested on animals. My initial trial was a last minute trial sample purchase at Ulta Beauty. (Damn those cash out lines.)  Though I'm terrible at actually remembering to put on a mask after Shea goes to bed, The Body Shop's Himalayan Charcoal Mask from The Body Shop works well and keeps me reminded.

Two

If you read my post on Hand-Crushed Pomodoro Sauce this week, you'll know there was a small 'treat yo'self' moment. An indulgence in a $30 bottle of Pinot Noir totally happened. Elk Cove 'La Boheme' to be exact. Regrets? Mmm...uh, none.

Let me set the scene for you....Shea is sleeping soundly in her bed. Face is washed, dried and currently sporting a recently mentioned Charcoal Mask. The cork releases slowly from the bottle. Like unwrapping a present that you know what it is and you're really excited, but you want to savor the moment. The delicate 'glug glug' sound of the wine as it slides from the bottle, singing as it pools in the bottom of the glass. As a settle into my seat on the couch, a furry bull dog creeps his way into my lap to immediate snores at freight rain decibels. Ahhh, a Saturday night to myself.

But no, the wine was reaaaal good. My friend recently started a monthly wine club where I rediscovered my affinity for Pinot Noir, particularly from the Willamette Valley in Oregon. A Pinot-hating husband = more wine for me.

Three

So while I slowly, yet magically, made an entire bottle of wine disappear, I stalked the pages of the Food Blogger Pro website. The fact that anyone outside my family and friends reads my blog I attribute to this membership site. Though there is a cost to join, takeaway of information is totally worth it.

Video tutorials, templates, and an incredible user forum contains countless amounts of helpful information from an array of bloggers with varying degrees of experience. The site is geared specifically for food bloggers, it would be equally helpful for anyone brand new to the blogging game. There’s currently a waitlist to join, so if you’re interested go sign up!

Four

One of the very best parts of this week? Henry and I got a real live, try to act like adults date night.

On a Tuesday night?! Wild.

We stopped at the new East Coast Grill in Cambridge, Ma. Now under the direction of the same guys from Highland Kitchen just down the street from us. The menu is revamped with an array of barbeque and island inspired dishes. For the main event, like the creatures of habit we are, we headed to the South End to our favorite restaurant Gaslight Brasserie.

It's our favorite because the food is always good. We rarely indulge in French cuisine as it's usually laced in butter and we're pretty sure Henry is lactose intolerant. Every now and then though, it is a wonderful treat for the tastebuds! We feasted on my positively FAV-OR-ITE French dish - Escargot - and Fontina Gratin with toasted baguette. It maybe all that garlic and butter those little snails are soaked in that I love so much, but either way, it is divine.

For the main event, Henry settled into the Berkshire Pork Chop while I ordered the Duck Confit. Everything was cooked to perfection with a balance of acidity, texture and fat. For your next date night out give Gaslight a try! Besides the free parking in the lot next door [yes FREE parking in Boston], it comes highly recommended from us!

That's a wrap!

Thank you for stopping by for the Friday Four everyone! If you try any of the above mentioned, I would positively love to hear about your experience. You can reach out by leaving a comment below or connect via the social icon buttons in the side bar. Have a positively fabulous weekend!

xo

Lauren