Shaz by the Sea

The Easter Bunny came to our house! We had a wonderful, busy weekend.  On Saturday, we went to Chelsea and  Brian's house - a new set of friends who live a couple houses down  from my parents. They have two young boys who are just about Conor,  Caden and Cal's age. We had a lovely brunch spread and they had an  Easter egg hunt around their house for all the kiddos.  They also had  a pinata in their garage that the kids loved hitting. It was a riot. On Sunday, we woke up to find the Easter Bunny had visited our house.  There were eggs hidden everywhere and three Easter baskets with tons  of arts and crafts, slime, candy, and stuffed animals. Lucky boys!! Later in the day, we went to my Aunt Debbie's house in North Reading.  I  made a few desserts. My Dad's Aunt Frances' famous marble squares,  and a homemade white cake all decorated for Easter. We spent the  entire day at my Aunts house, but Cal wasn’t fe...

Our Family Christmas Tree We went to  McCue's   in Woburn for the second year in a row. It's nice and close and they have a great selection. Here are the boys leaving McCue's yesterday in Woburn's Four Corners. They gave the kids popcorn and Conor and Caden thought they were so cool with their own little bags.  I started decorating the tree this morning with the boys. The fireplace was on, Christmas music blaring, and two little boys were fascinated. Giving Back There are many ways to give during the holiday season and it's important for me to show my children that all year long - and especially now. You can donate your time by volunteering at nursing homes, hospitals, or even a local pantry like Woburn's Social Concern. You can also provide food directly to hungry families, and give gifts to other children. For example, at St Charles Church, there are paper ornaments you can choose from with the age and gender of a c...

It's December 21st -- what would have been my Grampa Callahan's 95th birthday. It is also my good friend, Milady's birthday! So shout out to MAO and all those who celebrate their birthdays on the first day of winter. Being out here in SoCal, there isn't much to make you think Christmas is literally around the corner. The sun is shining bright, the weather is about 70 degrees and the traffic is still horrific everywhere. And as much as I want to be home with friends and family over the holidays, I can honestly say I am glad I am not traveling. I need a little break. My friend Nicole (who is ironically traveling back home to Boston today) hosted a FANTASTIC potluck Christmas dinner at her place in Manhattan Beach last night. We had tons of apps/salads, filet mignon, chicken parm, stuffed shells and tons of other sides and desserts. What a spread. I was in charge of making some sweet potatoes, a kielbasa & pineapple appetizer, and a warm spiked Christmas apple cid...

I just got back from a fun vacation in Los Cabos last weekend! I went to an all inclusive resort with my besties Sarah and Nicole. We had SUCH an amazing time. We were nicknamed the party girls by the hotel staff there. It was so funny. Our flights were short and sweet, and everything went very smoothly. Here's a pic of us on a little boat tour near the arch in Cabo and another pic of us at Lover's Beach. Now that I am back in the states, I am in full fledge Christmas-prep mode! I started cooking a lot again (now that I can stomach most smells) and even baked a mixed berry pie today. I included a lot of photos in this post because there was so much to talk about! To start, I was craving pie. I really wanted a blueberry pie (or maybe A and B really wanted blueberry pie) but the blueberries weren't on sale at the market. They were each $4 and I needed about 3 containers. I couldn't even think about spending $12 on blueberries alone, a...