July 4th Dinner Cruise with Odyssey

Screw the Hurricane… Odyssey Cruises

Pre-gaming at Copley Square Hotel FER FREEEE… they had beers, and burgers and hot dogs… NOM

Was craving burgers.. so had a cute little slider.. NOM NOM.. usually the hotel has free wine happy hour but since it was July 4th they had specials!

All dressed up and ready to party

Yea I ordered like 3 bottles of wine/champagne… oops

Creamy salty butter… NOM

Cheese tray… prob a little too much

Cuz I also added on an extra shrimp cocktail/ceviche

Watermelon Salad
Arugula, Romaine, Goat Cheese, Watermelon, Sugared Pecans, Balsamic Vinaigrette

Screw Hurricane Arthur… still got my modeling on, on deck

Gorgeous View, even in the stormy weather

Roasted Chicken
Heirloom Potatoes, Thyme Demi-Glace, Fried Leeks

And of course I got the

Odyssey Short Ribs
Fontina Scalloped Potatoes, Roasted Brussel Sprouts, Carrots & Squash, Cabernet Demi-Glace

Desert was some of everything…

Bread Pudding, Chocolate Cake, Berry Galette and Sorbet… with more bubbly

Actually ended up taking short ribs and cheese home.. OK FINE I ordered too much… but it was delicious, fun and amazing. Probably don’t wanna spend that much on a July 4th again tho… hahahha – and we didn’t even get fireworks. BOOOOO…

For the love of Coconuts….

The first time I had my first real coconut was when I was in elementary school.. I think it was 1st grade.  My parents and I lived in an apartment near NMSU where my dad was working and I found my first coconut at the grocery store.

To make the story short… it took forever to get a hole in the coconut and when we finally did – it was DRY!!! A dried out coconut.

Now, like most kids, I didn’t like the coconut chocolates. I’m not really sure why, they tasted great, I secretly loved them – but went along with the other kids saying “ewwww” but actually loving it when I picked “the wrong chocolate” out of the box.

Forrest Gump said that ‘like is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you’re gonna get’.. don’t think this applies to me as much since I’ve never met a chocolate I didn’t like.  But then again, that might explain my optimistic approach to life.

Ok. Fast forward. While I’ve always loved coconuts, I never got to FULLY experience a WHOLE coconut, sweet juice and meat and all until… ’09 I think? Spring ’09…. a trip to Haiti.  A cruise actually… probably still a bit drunk, really hungover I partook in a water tour of the island and on that boat they served whole coconuts with rum in it.  Still drunk from the night before, I opted out of the rum and instead asked for a pocket knife.  After drinking the sweet delicious cold nectar inside… I slowly sliced off the meat and enjoyed it while I cruised around the island taking in the sun and the nice breeze.

Coconuts what an amazing, rich, delicious and refreshing snack.

Ok, maybe a WHOLE coconut was a little overboard but hey… :] Ya’ll should know how I roll by now… Go all the way or go home ;D

Hey, isn’t coconut water supposed to be a good cure for hangovers? No wonder I felt so much better after…. hahaha