The South End Buttery.

It should be known that I have a soft spot in my heart for all things cupcake (probably from the amount of cholesterol in them coupled with the mass quantity that I consume them). I go out of my way for cupcakes. They belong in their own food group. I would eat them for breakfast. And that is exactly what I did on Saturday morning...

I did not undergo this endeavor alone. Oh, no, no, I had an accomplice. One of my best friends had to work on Saturday morning *the horror* and thought she could scoot into Cambridge and back to suburbia without visiting. So I pulled my Ace.

I'm pleased to introduce to you the South End Buttery. A local favorite bakery/cafe here in the South End. Not sure if you heard, I live there now and that makes me a local. And local = street cred. Back to the cupcakes...

They are serious about their cupcakes at South End Buttery. Serious as in they have an entirely separate cupcake menu dedicated to them. You're probably wondering what a cupcake fanatic might order at such a place. My go to is chocolate with chocolate frosting and was not on the menu. My second favorite, carrot cake with cream cheese frosting, known as The Harriet, was. And it was fantastic! It was 93% shredded carrot with a little bit of cinnamon spice cake holding it together. The best part was and always should be the frosting. Not too sweet, high frosting to cupcake ratio and finger lickin' good.

My partner in crime had The Red Velvet. It was alright. We'd both been talking about cupcakes and neither had ever had a red velvet cupcake before so she wanted to try it. The cake itself was dry and the flavor didn't blow me away like I thought it would. Not to worry, I'd go back tonight if it was open at this hour...

Even my four legged friend wanted to try!

LB, Boston. Boston, LB.

After picking up and moving to a new place and still vowing not to join Facebook, I thought a blog would be a cReaTivE way to keep in with touch with people that don't live here and to let them in on my Bostonian adventures!

I live here.

Where is here might you ask? I have been asked that a lot in the last two weeks and then I hear my own voice reply "Over in the South End." Haha, because I live in Boston. It's been a whirlwind couple of weeks. Allow me to summarize:

I found out Thursday night after 5:00pm that I got the apartment I wanted. Friday I had my last day of work for a job I have been at and loved for 5 1/2 years. Friday night I picked up the 17 foot UHaul *please note the park job, I backed that beast in myself - thank you Stace for guiding, partially loaded it *more thanks to Stacy, and then went to a semi-surprise going away party *thank you Tony & Vanessa! (with all these thank you's this is starting to sound more like an Oscar acceptance speech than a blog post). I digress...

Got up at an unspeakable hour Saturday morning, finished loading the truck with the help of my Dad, stepmom, 2 stepsisters and 1 boyfriend of a stepsister, and no sooner do we pull away when it starts to downpour. Not a light rain. I'm talking a monsoon. This little deluge added almost an hour to an already two hour long trip so by the time we got there (b/c we still had to UNload) people were on edge. Little did the 3 of them know what awaited them. Stairs. FOUR FLIGHTS of stairs, count 'em:

Those lovely railings you see? They're original. From 1867. My landlord had them restored and is very proud of them, rightfully so. To add just a dash more salt to the already hemorrhaging wound. I'll spare you the gory details but you get the idea: it was a miserable move in. I am forever indebted to my family for their blood, sweat and tears and am not allowed to move out until I can afford to pay someone else to do it for me.

Good friends took a zombie like version me out to dinner that fated first night to an awesome spot called Tremont 647. We toasted with a much needed, rather good, Cosmo. To start, we split the Asian Style BBQ Pork Lettuce Wraps and the Jumbo Lump Crab-Avocado Bruschetta. Both delish! For my entree I had the Grilled Pan Seared Wild Striped Bass. It was out of this world. I'll be going back many, many times, not only is the food fantastic but it is dangerously close to my apartment...at the end of my street.

Since then I've started my new job (so far so good), unpacked most of my belongings (most being the operative word) and have begun to explore the amazing city I live in. I walk to and from work every day - approximately 3m and pretty much anywhere else my feet will carry me. I'm back on the running horse and sometimes wish I ran with a crash test helmet on so I could install one of those helmet cams and you all could see what I see. My clumsiness hasn't necessitated one yet so you'll have to settle for my witty descriptions. Take my word for it when I say it's a great way to see and learn my way around the city.

Last Saturday night I went to Island Hopper which is Asian fusion (Chinese meets Thai meets Malaysian) and really good.I'm a huge dumpling fan (called Hainanese Ravioli here) and these did not disappoint. Not for the faint of heart - one dumpling must have weighed easily a pound - and they give you 6. Then it was time for the main course. Lychee Duck. Wow. The sauce was hands down what made the dish, described on the menu as "a coconut and kaffir lime based broth. Lychee mixed in." Every bite was like a dance party on your taste buds. I need to learn to make sauce like that.

Thanks for reading my first official post...

More tales to come!