Week #1

I moved into my apartment last Saturday. It's very cute and located northeast of downtown in a place called, Charlestown. Yes, it's the same place 'The Town' was filmed and no, there aren't bank robbers running amuck.

I started my new job on Monday, and so far I'm enjoying it. I sit on the 16th floor of a very tall building in the heart of downtown Boston. Unlike my last job, I now have a cubicle. Turns out cubicles are pretty great; I get to decorate my own space and not have to see people all day.

After sitting at my desk for hours on end, I decided to go running after work one day. I ran down to the harbor, which had a gorgeous view of the city. Hopefully, this will be great motivation to start a new running regime.

On my way back from running, I made a detour past the Bunker Hill monument. (I can see the monument outside my bedroom window, so I decided I had to go visit.) I walked around it for a bit and wanted to climb to the top, however, it was closed by the time I got there. Oh well, something I can look forward to doing later.

Today I headed out to Haymarket. It's an outdoor market they have here every Friday and Saturday. It's not a farmer's market because the produce is not locally grown. The vendors buy produce from wholesalers that haven't sold all of their produce yet. After reading reviews online, they mostly said the produce was old and too ripe to buy. However, I decided to check it out anyway. To my surprise, the produce was terrific. I only had a $10 bill in my pocket, but I bought all of this!

(Bananas, sweet potatoes, grapes, oranges, strawberries, apples, green beans, and lemon pears--had to try them and, unfortunately, they aren't that great)

Change is....GREAT!

Well I am officially a Masshole, a Bostonian, a Beantown kid.

A few months back, prior to having any thought other than the random voices in my head, my parents came to visit me in Salt Lake City. You see, I had just signed a lease for my first ever, very own, roommate-less apartment and my parents came out to help me move in. It wasn't until we were driving through downtown when reality hit.

Through the midst of a typical conversation with my parents, my mom blurted out, "Doree, isn't it great that you live here? You always wanted to live in the big city and now you finally do!"

I about hit the fire hydrant we were passing when I heard her utter these words. I just responded, "Uh....yeah." But I was dying inside, thinking, Salt Lake City is not a big city, this is not my dream, I've already been here 2 years longer than I wanted to be, help!

Anyway, my parents left, I unpacked my boxes, a few weeks passed, I quit my job in Salt Lake, I repacked my boxes, and I got a job in another city. This time I made sure it was a big city, a city which I am pleased to be the newest resident of, a city I am so excited to explore and embrace as my new home, a city called Boston.

I couldn't feel more blessed or more excited about this next step in my life!

The Best Cinnamon Rolls Ever....and They're Vegan!

I have a vegan friend who is always asking me to make her vegan food; this week her request was cinnamon rolls. Now, I am not a huge fan of cinnamon rolls. In fact, I'd probably eat any other sweet treat before eating a cinnamon roll, nonetheless, i was up for the challenge!

I looked online and found a recipe on a blog called Bitter Sweet. I didn't realize how time consuming making the cinnamon rolls was--but once the dough had risen, it went by pretty fast.

I started off by making the dough and letting it rise for an hour. It had risen way more than I thought, so if you attempt making these, this recipe could and should be halved.


After the dough was practically swallowing the bowl, I divided it and rolled out half onto my counter top. There was so much that the dough took up the entire surface of my counter. I added the innards (vegan butter, sugar, cinnamon) and rolled the dough up. Then I cut the dough and placed the rolls into pans, pans, and more pans...


They only took 20 minutes to cook. When I got the cinnamon rolls out I drizzled them with my makeshift frosting. (I didn't quite have all of the ingredients so I just improvised.)


Wrap up: So after the cinnamon rolls were finished, I decided I had to at least take a bite for all of the effort I'd put into making them. And let me be the first to say, DELICIOUS. I feel like I've been jipped my whole life by not eating cinnamon rolls. If you're looking for the best cinnamon roll recipe, you've got to try this recipe.

Here's the link to the recipe at Bitter Sweet.