very excited :)

[andra]

I am so excited because, in a few weeks, hubby and I are going to Boston for the weekend and I have made reservations for Friday and Saturday night at Grezzo :D I showed hubby the Grezzo website and he was very impressed. This will also be our wedding anniversary celebration (albeit a few weeks early). I love my husband because he is so willing to try things that are new for him and he is so supportive of me :)

I have never been to Boston so this will be new for me. We are going to be seeing lots of our friends from all over the USA that weekend because there is a big hedgehog fest and we are bringing our two hedgies to participate. So, the weekend will be very awesome--hedgehogs, friends, and then yummy dinners!

I just had to report this to the board as I know many of you have been there already and I am looking forward to going.

Warmly,

andra

[DebB]

It sounds like a wonderful weekend! And a hedgehog fest to boot - do those little guys GET any cuter?? I'm so tempted, they're darling.

Have a great time ~ Happy Anniversary! *Ü*

[Hina]

Sounds fantastic indeed. Have a great time!

Where I live, hedgehogs come at night onto our terrace, they are so adorable.

[Veganforlife]

WOW WOW WOW! That's right Andra - I knew you were going, but lost track of when! COOL! Take photos!!!!:D

[Moretta]

Have a great weekend, and lucky you to get a chance to go to Grezzo.

[andra]

WARNING: A LONG POST LOL:

I wanted to give everyone an update from last week's trip to Grezzo. Hubby and I traveled, with our two hedgehogs, from Northern Virginia to Boston for the big hedgehog fest that was being hosted by my friend Kelly of Hamor Hollow hedgehogs. My one hedgie, Spikey, got very car sick and threw up twice and I was very worried about him. The trip up took about 9 hours due to hitting traffic (it was the Friday before a holiday weekend so traffic in areas was heavy).

We got to our hotel and got the hedgies settled in and then we took a taxi to Grezzo. We got stuck in bad traffic but the driver of the taxi was so nice and agreed to pick us up from the restaurant, which was very nice of her. I called Grezzo from the road to alert them that we would be a bit late for our 7:00pm reservation and the woman I spoke to was very sweet. We ended up only being about 5 minutes late.

The restaurant is so beautiful--it is in a renovated row house type of building. It reminded me of my favorite Teaism in DC which is also in a converted row house. Grezzo is painted in really soothing earthy colors and the wait staff is lovely. The menu comes encased in glass. The wait staff explains the specials and provides an overview of raw food in general and the ingredients used.

Hubby ordered a tea and we requested it with ice; hubby does not drink alcohol. The tea was full of herbs and even had some goji berries (I took some sips :p) and it was delicious. I am normally a non drinker but I did order one of the drink specials, which was a fall drink with some homemade sake, some autumn fruits and herbs--I am not sure what was in the drink but it was delicious and did not taste "strong"; in the past, whenever I have an alcoholic drink, it tastes too strong and makes me feel sick. I did not feel sick with this drink and it was very yummy.

Of course making choices from the menu is very hard as I wanted to try every thing LOL. Hubby and I split an appetizer of mini sliders--these were very yummy. We each got a slider (mini burger/falafal) that came with tomato, watercress that was either marinated in a light nut cheese or had a sauce), other veggies, a pickle, microgreens. I am probably getting the actual ingredients wrong but it was AWESOME in taste. Hubby kept commenting that the food did not taste like raw food and he would never have guessed that if he had not been told at the onset of the meal. The slider came with sweet potato crisps.

I also got a soup to start with--it was a thai style soup with lemongrass, coconut, spices--it was delicious and of course I shared some with hubby.

For our main courses, hubby got a tomato ravioli (I also tried some :D) and it was delicious. It was different colors of tomatoes with black olive boursin, herbs, truffle oil etc. It was beautifully presented. I got one of the specials which was a spicy pizza (2 slices!) and an awesome salad that came in a big lettuse bowl--ok, the salad was awesome and so was the pizza. I let hubby try some of both and he agreed that the food was yummy.

I enjoyed looking at other guest's orders--I discreetly spied on what other people were ordering LOL. The couple next to us on my right hand side were celebrating a special occasion as they ordered a bottle of champagne and got the tasting menu. To my left was what looked to be a mother/daughter team and the one woman got the lasagna for her entree and the other woman got the mushroom dish. I was curious about that because one of the mushooms is called a 'hedgehog' mushroom LOL.

Lots of yummy dessert choices....I am not a big sweets eater so I asked the waitress for recommendations. We got a fudge sundae that comes with a brownie and then one of the seasonal specials which was a more pumpkin type of 'ice cream' with pumpkin seeds, a crumble of some kind and other yummy stuff. But by then our taxi was waiting so the staff was gracious enough to put our desserts in 'to go' containers for us to enjoy back at the hotel.

Hubby was VERY IMPRESSED with the whole experience. He kept talking and talking about it. I love him so much and feel so lucky to be married to him. He always supports me and is so open minded about things, even when he has no experience or knowledge about it (and I am not just talking food here, I mean even things like getting the hedgehogs, trips we have taken etc).

I was so impressed with the entire experience. It really has changed my whole perspective about raw foods......it really was a very profound experience for me.

The only 'negative' was the fact that I had brought Alissa's book with us on the trip so I could possibly get an autograph (but then I remembered she was having her opening of her second Grezzo that weekend--and yes, I know this probably sounds totally lame but I like to get books signed and in fact I got my hedgehog book signed at the fest because the author was the judge in the hedgie competition) and on the trip home, our cooler leaked water all over my book :mad: My book is ruined. Hubby was so upset that this happened and was blaming himself for not securing the little nob on the side of the cooler (it was totally NOT his fault, I think the nob just opened up with the movement of the vechicle). He told me he would get me a new book ASAP. :D

Anyway, sorry for the delayed post and long explanation. I hope everyone gets a chance to go; it is truly awesome.

andra

PS Mr. Pickles the hedgehog won 4th place at the fest in the adult solid class.

[rawrawks]

Happy you had such a good time....thankx for the tour.

[DebB]

Thank you andra! It sounds like you and your husband had a very lovely weekend - it was fun reading all about it. *Ü*

[andra]

Thank you all :)

Veganforlife (Lucy)--I hope you saw my post since we had spoken about this trip; I wanted you to know we made it to Grezzo and also did well at the hedgie show :D

andra

[katchmoleen]

I'm trying to imagine a hedgehog competition. Too stinkin' CUTE!
Glad you got to go to Grezzo.......someday.......

[Clare]

Wow - congratulations to Mr. Pickles! What a cute post and thank you for sharing the details of your trip. You have a gem of a husband, too. God bless you both and your hedgies of course.

[andra]

Thank you Clare and everyone. And yes, hubby is wonderful. AND he is ordering me a new book by Alissa since mine got water logged and is ruined :(

andra

[Veganforlife]

Thank you all :)

Veganforlife (Lucy)--I hope you saw my post since we had spoken about this trip; I wanted you to know we made it to Grezzo and also did well at the hedgie show :D

andra

I have! So cool!!!!

[T-Bird]

Thank you Clare and everyone. And yes, hubby is wonderful. AND he is ordering me a new book by Alissa since mine got water logged and is ruined

Do you read in the bath like I do????:p

[Veganforlife]

Do you read in the bath like I do????:p

Not THAT book! Good golly!!!! Too heavy, it would taken me down with it! LOL!

[rawrawks]

Yes...I almost drowned in the tub while reading the book....I saved the book from water and well.....me, I barely made it out alive...what can I say, it was about saving the book. hahaha