California Dreamin'

We got home late Wednesday evening after spending nearly two weeks on the west coast, and then somehow I'd scheduled a full day and evening of activity for Thursday, which meant grocery shopping and errands Friday morning so here it is Friday afternoon and I've just now finished uploading photos from two cameras onto the computer.  Hi! Come on in and see my vacation pictures!

While I'd never say that in real life, this is blog life so Hi! Come on in and see my vacation pictures!

Hubs and I are determined to see a little bit of the northwestern part of the US while my daughter and her family are living there, and decided this visit we'd drive up the Northern California Coast, follow the shoreline all the way up through Oregon, and then cut over to Tacoma for a few days with our grandson. Hey, when you're in the neighborhood, right?

Not being too familiar with the geography, the distances one can reasonably travel in a day on the coastal roads, or the best places to stop for a night, I began reading and asking questions on the Trip Advisor travel boards. Everyone there was so nice and made me feel less anxious about the fires and our chosen route. We jumped on the coastal road early and had no plans to veer into Napa this time around, so no smoke or fire issues at all on our trek north.

Pinterest was also a great resource and in fact was starting to overwhelm me when I happened upon a fantastic blog called California Through My Lens. Y'all I feel like I need to send this blogger a case of beer or a dozen roses because he had the most wonderful, easy to read, helpful posts on the exact trip we were taking.

His relaxed way of traveling fit with our own relaxed way of traveling and we followed an itinerary very much like the one he followed when he went up the coast and into Oregon. He listed mileage and the hours it took to drive those miles, his favorite stops and some he thought you could skip if you didn't have an endless amount of vacation time, he shared great places to eat that we'd likely never have run across on our own, and best of all he suggested we bring shoes that could get wet (more on that later). Thanks Josh!!

I'm going to post old-school style here with a day by day recap because I've got a lot of pictures and they need to go somewhere. Don't worry... I have a lot of words to balance it out.

Day 1. Which was really Day 2 because Day 1 was a full day of travel from South Carolina to Atlanta to San Francisco. We picked up our rental car and no we didn't opt for a convertible because it's the Pacific Northwest in October and a convertible seemed crazy
even for us. Also, we almost always rent from Hertz, but their prices were double that of Alamo so we went with Alamo and had a great customer experience from start to finish. We stayed at the Courtyard Marriott close to the airport and got on the road bright and early Day 2.

Day 2. San Francisco to Mendocino. Also this post may actually be Day 2 hour one only, because it's already so long and we haven't even gotten on the road yet. Buckle up...

We decided not to spend any time in San Francisco this trip, we've both been to the city and while we'd love to go back and linger there we opted to get on the road early and start making our way north instead. We did stop at the Golden Gate Bridge, because you've got to cross it to get out of town, and also because the sun was shining and we both had that wonderful anything is possible feeling a road trip stirs up in your soul. Road trips are my favorite.

Can you tell it was breezy? We had absolutely gorgeous weather the first five days of our trip, but you will see my hair acting a little crazy in some of our pictures. I just couldn't worry about it so decided might as well embrace it. Also can I just tell you that after 33+ years of marriage hubs has not lost hope that he can improve my sense of direction? He still insists on telling me routes and showing me maps and pointing out where the sun is in the sky until it makes my head spin. We're going north, right? Or 'up' as I like to say. That's basically all I need to know. I was happy I'd ordered honest to goodness laminated maps, the kind you can fold and unfold and hold in your hand and that allow you to see the big picture.

Seeing the big picture helps, on road trips and life in general.

The first stop we made after crossing the bridge was at the Muir Overlook. We almost missed it thanks to a detour, but initially we ignored the detour because we weren't sure it was for us. Turns out it was but if we hadn't driven up the road to check we would have missed this amazing little corner of the world.

Stunning! I will use that word many times in describing both the California and the Oregon Coastlines because it fits.

There are some old base stations here that were set up following the attack on Pearl Harbor to allow soldiers to watch for potential attacks on the San Francisco harbor. They're no longer in use of course, but interesting to see and think about.

The views here are incredible and it was the perfect start to a trip filled with the beauty of creation at every turn.

Okay, next post-Day 2 for real.

Thursday Things

A few things on this Thursday afternoon-

1. Every time we're out at the lot hubs sizes up the overgrown trees and the scrappy brush and the stray limbs which will eventually be taken care of by landscaping or we'll pay to have groomed, trimmed, limbed up, removed, whatever and then he gets that twinkle in his eye and says how he thinks he'll just go get one of those belts and climb up there and do it himself. Yeah. No. 

2. He also eyes the island out in the middle of the lake with that same twinkle, and says he can't wait to swim out to it. Through the channel where all the boats fly. Then I freak out and he says he'll get one of those float things you hook around your ankle so boats can see you so that won't be a problem. Yeah. No. 

3. I have told hubs not to mention point 1 or point 2 in my presence again. Yeah. 

4. The garage (s). This is a part of the house I'm not heavily invested in other than to say I want to park my car in one. Hubs is super excited about this part of the build which I'm just gonna say I think is a guy thing. Our original plan was to have a pull down attic, but then our neighbors invited us into their house and once we saw their stairs from garage to attic we made the change from pull down to actual stairs too.

I am now kind of excited about this space because a) attics normally creep me out and 2) as a result I don't use the space like I should because it means I'd have to climb up a ladder with a flashlight, and step carefully across narrow boards to retrieve stuff without falling through the insulation. This new set up is going to be just like accessing a second story. Winning! 

5. The attic space is huge and would be so easy to convert to a really fun bunk room for grandchildren should my girls give us a bunch. I haven't checked Pinterest for ideas or made an attic bunk room board or anything-ha! 

6. Hubs LOVES a clean garage. He jokingly says the garage will be like a surgical suite and you'll have to glove up to enter. He might not be joking?

7. On weekends we go out to the lot, broom and leaf blower and giant magnet in hand, and we sweep dirt from the framing and pick up ten thousand nails with this beauty-

It's a nailgetter. Also known as a giant magnet, but I call it the nailgetter. It's heavy and you just roll it around the perimeter of the house and nails attach themselves to it which makes for easy peasy clean up. Sort of.

8. Contractors will tell you there's no need to sweep up the dirt and such but it makes us feel like we're doing something helpful. Plus we've lived in homes where builders did NOT clean and as a result when we moved in and vacuumed we found chunks of wood and debris in the vents. 

9. We bought a boat. 

10. It's not in the garage. Actually it's not even on the property because we still need power at the dock to make the lift run and water at the dock so hubs can wash it too much. The lift was installed last week so once the utilities are connected we'll move the boat from the lake where it's currently 'parked' to it's new home on our lake. 

11. Yes I know correct terminology in the boating world is docked not parked. Old habits die hard.

12. The siding people are still at it. Hubs informs me there's about a million cuts they have to make in the trim work so I am trying to remain patient.

13. Trying. 

Talking Turkey in the Hodgepodge

Welcome to the 150th running of the Wednesday Hodgepodge! It's a fun way to mark the weekly mid-point...thanks for playing along.  Add your link at the end of my post and then hop around and say hi to all your friends and neighbors-

1. Describe a typical Sunday in your childhood.

We went to Sunday School and church every single Sunday. My mother always warmed up a coffee cake while we were getting ready for church, and while she was and is an excellent cook, on Sunday mornings the cake was not homemade. My favorite was Sara Lee's Butter Streusal coffeecake...we all  thought that was such a great treat. Can you still buy Sara Lee Butter Streusal coffeecake? 

After church we typically came home for lunch, which was oftentimes more like dinner. Sometimes another family would be invited. One Sunday a month we went to a restaurant and that was a big deal. Back in the 1960's the average family didn't eat out like they do now. I also remember that every once in a while my dad would make potato soup for Sunday lunch, and that's still one of my favorites.

Hmmm...so far most of my Sunday memories are spelled f-o-o-d. 

After lunch my parents would read the paper and in winter months my dad would build a fire in the fireplace, which was sort of special.  Our fireplace was in the living room, aka the fancy room, so lounging in front of the fire there felt like a treat. I guess my sister and I played or finished homework.

We usually went back to church on Sunday evenings, but I didn't mind.  I always loved church and the people there. Sometimes after the evening service the youth group would go to someone's house to hang out or we'd go out for ice cream. I remember the feeling of wanting to make the day last. I still hate to see Sundays come to a close.

2. How comfortable are you with uncertainty?  Explain.

I'm finding a way to be comfortable with it. I don't always succeed, sometimes uncertainty makes me cranky, but I do think I'm learning to let go of what I cannot control in this season of life, which is a lot actually.

3. What's something you've accomplished recently that might be described as crafty, as in 'arts and crafts' crafty? If crafty doesn't work for you, how about handy? Or both.

I am what you might call a wanna be crafter. I have ideas, but the end result rarely matches what's in my head. Mostly I've made peace with that. Yesterday I put together a little 'crafty' thing to hand out to board members at a meeting I'm hosting. I like to give the board some little treat every month, usually something related to the season as a way of saying thanks for volunteering.  I'd seen cute potpourri bags on Pinterest so I bought the supplies and set to work. Essentially all I had to do was drop the ingredients into a bag, tie it up with a bow, and then add a tag. Sounds simple enough, right?  

I ran into trouble right off the bat because the only oranges in our market were the size of pumpkins, so I really needed larger bags.

I made it work though, maybe not as perfectly perfect as Pinterest, but these ladies are just going to take it home and dump it out of the bag and into a pan anyway. Their house will still smell delightful, even with a too big orange in a too small bag.    

p.s.-I am even less handy than I am crafty. Isn't that one of the reasons you get married?  

4. Have you ever worked in a 'food place'. What did you take away from the experience?

Yes. I worked as a waitress when I was in college in a tiny town called Jonesborough Tennessee.  Lots of people know this town now, as its home to a huge storytelling event every year, but that event was just taking root back in the early 80's.  I waitressed in two restaurants owned by the same gentleman who happened to be the mayor.  One was called The Parson's Table and it was in an old church.  The sister restaurant was next door, and was called The Widow Brown's.  The food was delicious and it was a pretty nice place to work as far as the food industry goes.

What did I take away from the experience?

Some people are shockingly rude.

Everyone should do this once in their life.  

Food smells linger in your car, in your hair, on your clothes, and inside your brain. 

5. Cold turkey, talk turkey, what a turkey...in recent days, which turkey phrase or idiom best applies to you and why?  Click on the word turkey if you need to read more about the meaning behind each phrase.

Gonna have to 'talk turkey' later today so I'll go with that one.  
See #7. 

6. If you could have any one guest join your Thanksgiving dinner table, who would it be?

Just one? How about someone with no where to go? I hate to think about people alone on Thanksgiving Day.

7. What is one thing you must accomplish today?

I have two meetings requiring my attendance. One will be fun, the other I'm not real excited about. How's that for honest?

8.  Insert your own random thought here.

Speaking of crafting...I went to AC Moore last weekend and picked up several bits and pieces needed for three Christmas gift projects I want to complete before Christmas (obviously).

Christmas 2013. ahem. 

So far the bag is still on my counter. 

When it comes to crafting I think that saying 'my eyes are bigger than my stomach' applies.  Or maybe I should say  'my intentions are bigger than my ability to get things done'  

Here's hoping I surprise myself!

Gotta Start Somewhere

Hi blog.  Remember me?  I have a whirling twirling spinning spiraling mish mash of about a million things going through my head right now so I'm just going to dive in and unload a few of them here.  You're excited I know.

Hubs informed me last night that I hadn't been on my blog since September 4th, and that was the Hodgepodge which doesn't count.  I mean, it counts but not really.  No offense Hodgepodge!

Let's see...hubs had a birthday over the long Labor Day weekend and it was delightful. All except for the crazy hat-boat hair I had going on, but other than that delightful. I'd like my coffee here every morning please.

My sister and her hubs and their 7-year old son invited us to spend four days on their boat down in Chestertown Maryland.  That's pretty much our idea of a perfect long weekend, and my brother and his wife came too, so lots of fun.

Hubs finally got his feet back into a water ski which made him ridiculously happy. That's exactly how you should feel on your birthday, right?  The skis were too small, but he didn't even care, he was just so glad to be back on the water.

When we were first dating hubs skied a lot, and I gotta tell you it made me love him a little bit more than I already did.  He was always completely fearless on waterskis, and if you don't believe me, just ask a sailboat missing a chunk of its hull in an East Tennessee lake and a couple of cows who never saw him coming back in 1982.

At the ripe old age of not-23, he's still pretty fearless on the water, still trying to kick up a big spray, still making it look easy.

He gained a couple of new fans that day.

The weather was gorgeous the entire weekend, and the scenery was so beautiful.  We love this part of Maryland, and if you're water people like we are you'll love it too.

It's hard to beat a crab feast eaten with a view like that.
Unless it's a view like this-

I made these chocolate cupcakes which have a sinfully delicious blob of ganache dropped into the batter before baking.  So delicious! My nephew declared them the best chocolate cupcakes he'd ever eaten, and he's something of an expert on the topic. I copied a little boating theme for the decor that I'd seen on Pinterest and they turned out cute.

I've got more, but this feels like a start...

A peaceful easy happy summertime memory kind of start.

Friday at Five

It's still Friday and I have a head full of fragments...what better place to drop them than right here?  I don't really have anything of substance to say but,  a) when have I ever let a little thing like no substance keep me from blogging?,  and 2) I'm trying to get back in the writing groove which I think we can all agree is no easy feat post-Christmas.

I had a dozen women here for lunch today and I didn't cook a thing. I hosted our Gourmet Group and the great thing about hosting is no cooking. Your house is the venue and all you're required to provide are the beverages. I knew hosting in early January would motivate me to get every single solitary Christmas item packed up and put away, and on top of that my house would also get cleaned.

Ta-da!...it's done!

Speaking of yummy recipes, when daughter2 was home we made a delicious avocado-shrimp-grapefruit salad we'd seen on Pinterest, and it was a keeper.  The shrimp would have been delicious over pasta, but I suppose greens were the better option following a month of sugar cookies.  Sigh.

You'll find the recipe here.

I'm reading The House of Tyneford by Natasha Solomons in case anyone is interested. If you're a fan of Downton Abbey you would probably enjoy this book too.

My car is at the dealer today getting new tires so I have a loaner vehicle.  I'm not always good at noticing when something needs repairing on my vehicle.  Hubs will get in and say, 'How long has it been making that noise?' and I'll say, 'What noise?'  That answer frustrates him just a little-Ha!

Anyway, the dealer called and they will need to keep the car through the weekend which means I have to drive this loaner vehicle for a couple more days.  I really try not to drive the loaner vehicle anywhere except to/from the dealer which means hubs and I have to go out for breakfast tomorrow.

Here's how I made that happen-I was going to run to the store after picking up my car, but now I'm not picking up my car so there won't be any cream in the house for tomorrow morning's coffee.  I used the last of the cream at my luncheon today and Voila!...breakfast out.

We rented Salmon Fishing in the Yemen while Daughter2 was home, and watched it over the New Year's weekend. We all liked it a lot. I'd read the book, but the movie didn't get much publicity so I'd kind of forgotten I wanted to see it.  Sweet story and I'm a big fan of Emily Blunt.

In other Pinterest news...my daughter2 showed me something she'd seen that she thought was a cute idea for parents of young children.  Trace your child's hand on paper, write a bible verse you want to pray for them across the palm, and then keep it in your bible so you'll remember to do just that.  

Hey, you're never too old to have your hand traced....

Or to benefit from a mother's prayers. 

Rain is moving our way this weekend, but not until Sunday.  That means I should be able to squeeze in both a walk and a nap.   

Housework, weather, car repairs...you're glad you stopped by here today, aren't you?  

Happy New Year Hodgepodge-Vol 107

The first Hodgepodge of a brand new year...thanks for playing along!  Add your link to the bottom of my post before you run off to visit the neighbors.  Here are my answers~

1.  How did you ring in the new year?

Quietly, but we were awake when the ball dropped which should count for something.  

Daughter2 doesn't return to school until next weekend so we made fondue and watched movies and played umpteen games of Skip-bo.  Whoohoo!

2.  What is one thing you are looking forward to in 2013?

Daughter2 will be completing her Master's Degree in 2013, and that's pretty exciting. Mostly when I think about the year ahead,  I look forward to filling a blank slate.  

3.  Steven Spielberg is quoted as saying, 'All of us every single year, we're a different person. I don't think we're the same person all our lives.' What say you?

I disagree.  I hope the person I am at the core doesn't change from year to year.  As we grow and mature and experience life of course we may tweak some of our beliefs about particular issues, but that's not the same thing as changing our core.  Most of us have a moral center that hopefully isn't twisting whichever way the wind blows.   

I do think there may be years in a person's life where they encounter situations, hardships, or challenges that fundamentally change them, but normally that's not something we encounter every single year.  

4.  The Pantone color of the year for 2013 is emerald green. Like or dislike?  Do you already own something this color?  Will you add something in this shade to your home or wardrobe in 2013?

I love this shade and have at least one top this color in my wardrobe now-

C'est moi.  There were real life friends in this picture, but I used the magic scissors and cropped.  I normally like to warn my real life peeps if they're going to be making an appearance on this side of the pond. 

I do think emerald green is a color most people can wear-it looks good on all skin tones. My home is done more in the red-gold-navy tones so I probably won't be adding emerald to my decor.  

5.  Speaking of emerald...what's your favorite gemstone?

I think it's safe to say I've never met a gemstone I didn't like.  
My favorite is my birthstone-a sapphire.

6.  Share a favorite book or movie from 2012.

I read a lot and could make a very long list here, but two I read recently and  enjoyed were-The Light Between Oceans by M.L. Steadman and Sister by Rosamund Lupton.  

As far as movies go, it's also hard to choose just one. In 2012 I really liked Argo, Skyfall, The Life of Pi, Lincoln, and The Hunger Games.  

7.  What is something you want to tell yourself at the start of this brand new year?

I saw this on Pinterest not long ago, and it has really stayed with me.  Words to live by in 2013-

8.  Insert your own random thought here.

Still in holiday mode here. 
Happy New Year!

Merry Christmas Cards

One of my favorite things this time of year is sending and receiving cards.  There are several Christmas card link-ups in the blogosphere so I thought I'd add mine today too. (Visit Kelly's Korner and Kimberly's Korner  to see more).

This year I'm displaying some of the photo cards we've received on my back staircase. These stairs come down into the hallway we enter from the garage so we pass it many times a day.  I'd seen the clothespin ribbon garland on Pinterest and gave it a try (click here for the link).  The poster on Pinterest hung the ribbon horizontally, but I found the large clothespins plus a card made the ribbon droop,  so I hung mine vertically. I have a card holder for the non-photo cards and any that didn't fit on my ribbon, but I love the way this looks.

Back to our card...

It's something of a challenge getting all four of us in the same place at the same time in the weeks leading up to Christmas. It means I really have to plan when it comes to our card. We were all together at Thanksgiving, but we've done the traditional Thanksgiving indoor shot before, and I really wanted an outdoor picture.

Which is why our photo this year is full of contradiction. We took the picture in August and it was a tad warm.  It was hubs idea to add the bows to our plant hanger and outdoor love seat, and my crafty Daughter1 made the cute Christmas bunting.

I like this picture.
Everyone looks happy.

Course if you received this card in real life you'd be able to read our names, but I don't use names on my blog, hence the squiggles.

If you're reading here, please know the wishes are sincere...may you experience real peace and joy this Christmas season and in the new year ahead.

"For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be on his shoulders, and he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace." 

Isaiah 9:6

"Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift!" 2 Corinthians 9:15

Merry Christmas!

Here we go a Pinteresting

Good Monday morning!  I spent last week hopping from one event to the next, or maybe I should say one meal to the next, so blogging fell by the wayside.  Real life before online life, right?  Eat dessert before you write about dessert-ha! Lots of fun and too many treats, but I'm pretty sure that's the way December is meant to be. December is the month of indulgence and January is the month of no pain, no gain, but we won't think about that today.

Here's a glimpse of some of last week's fun and deliciousness starting with these cookies-

They're candy cane snowballs (recipe here) and they are yummy! I'm normally not a huge mint lover but these are not overpowering and the cookie itself is delicious. The candy cane pieces get a little melty gooey and who doesn't like that?  Plus, they are so pretty and I like a variety of colors and flavors on my cookie tray.  I took these to a party at a friend's house where we had a fun gift exchange. I ended up with a set of four Christmas wine glasses which hubs and I broke in over the weekend.

Next...this candy cane popcorn-

I know I just said mint isn't my favorite flavor, but this popcorn is so good. It's coated in melted white chocolate mixed with crushed candy canes and is the perfect combination of sweet and salty deliciousness that no one can resist. You'll find the recipe here.

I bagged it up in pretty cello packages and gave it away as part of my 12 Days of Christmas Kindness.  I made bags for my neighbors and handed them out at a neighborhood dinner last Thursday, and I also took bags into my dry cleaners because they're always so nice and go out of their way to accommodate us when we need something done yesterday.  I also took bags into the post office because I gotta tell ya, our clerks are a tad on the cranky side and I thought this would bring a smile.  It did.  

Next, this little sweet treat I sent to my nephew-

It's a way to share the Christmas story using chocolate, which just so happens to be his love language. You'll find the poem here.  

Last Friday our Gourmet Group met for a holiday gathering and our theme was holiday appetizers and desserts.  We're assigned recipes and mine was Spiced Coffee.  It was scrumptious and I will definitely serve this again.  It's so simple-brew a pot of coffee (8 cups) and then put it in your crockpot.  

Add 1/3 cup of sugar, 1/4 cup of chocolate syrup, and 1/2 tsp anise extract.  Tie up four cinnamon sticks and 1 1/2 tsp cloves in some cheesecloth and add it to the pot.  Let simmer on low for 2-3 hours.  I doubled the recipe without any trouble.  

 One of the desserts at Gourmet was this elegantly simple and delicious treat-

All you do is press an almond into a dried apricot and then dip one end into melted white and dark chocolate.  Easy peasy. Would mine look this perfect? Hmmm...doubtful, but I'm gonna try. Our Gourmet Group also had a fun gift exchange. Everyone brought a gently used kitchen item wrapped and I ended up with a Paula Deen cookbook so I was happy.

On Saturday I finally sat down and put together a craft I'd been wanting to try.  We get a lot of photo cards and I wanted to display them somehow. My card holder stacks the cards so you really don't get to enjoy the photos as much as you'd like.  I'd seen this Christmas card garland on Pinterest and it seemed simple enough even for me-Miss Not Crafty.

This is the finished product-

I'm also Miss Not a Photographer.  In my defense it was dark when I took the picture so I'll snap another once I get it hung.  I think it turned out so cute!

I covered a whole package of clothespins with the scrapbook paper, but obviously I won't display this many cards on the ribbon.  They'd be too jammed and defeat the purpose of being able to see the photos, but this way I have extras if any break.  You'll find the instructions for the Christmas card garland here.

Finally, on Sunday afternoon I dipped the buttercreams.  These are tradition in our house and it is not officially Christmas until this tedious  job is done. I was really missing Daughter2 yesterday since she is my official dipper and doesn't run out of patience before the job is done.  Patience is key, and if you rush the job you end up with sloppy tops.

I may have one or two sloppy tops.
Santa won't care...he loves buttercreams.

Empire State of Mind

The weekend. Where to begin? Let's back up to Friday so I can answer the question I know has been burning on your brain since then...how did hubs like the balloons? (If you missed that post you'll find it here)

Hubs loved the balloons! I had them filled at our local supermarket and the girl who filled them was a little chincy on the helium so by the time he got home they were all standing at eye level which was actually better. He was surprised and said when he opened the door it was impressive. I can only tell you this second hand as I was sound asleep and missed his initial reaction. Glad I took a picture the night before! We had fun looking at the photos while we sipped our coffee. Here is 1985...

We were in D.C. to celebrate our one year anniversary and my hubs still talks about that dress.

Back to 2012...hubs made a few work related phone calls and checked email and then we went out to lunch and a movie-The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel. It seemed fitting since hubs had just been in Delhi. Some of our favorite British actors are in the cast and its a sweet story with our favorite line being the overriding theme.... 'Everything will turn out all right in the end. If it's not alright then it's not the end.' We both loved it.

In other Friday news...hubs bought me an iPhone. I finally traded in my phone that flips open to reveal the keyboard and is impossible to unlock in less than three tries, for a 21st century phone. I'd been waiting for my upgrade to become available and let me just say I am going to be even more obnoxious with the picture taking now. I got a cute cover too because that's important.

Saturday was a gorgeous day and our anniversary. We took the little red car for a spin ending up at our local farmers market. The market is relatively new so it grows some every year, and of course up here its still early for some of my favorite produce.

We did buy sweet cherries and big bunches of rhubarb and kale before heading home to work in the yard. I've heard people raving about kale chips so I tried a recipe I found on Pinterest. They are very good but very 'green' tasting in my opinion. Tasty for what they are but you will not be mistaking them for a potato chip. Just sayin'.

Saturday evening we drove into the city and had so much fun. Hubs brought me a beautiful sari type tunic in India last week and I love it. I know I said we don't do gifts on our anniversary and I got a new phone and a beautiful sari but maybe its just that I don't buy him anything? Hmmmm.... Anyway, I wore it in to the city and it was a conversation piece for sure. We got into a taxi at one point and the driver was from Bangladesh. He was not happy with life in America but hubs worked his usual magic and had him smiling before we left his cab. As I was walking away he got a look at my top (dress?) and shouted out the window, 'Hey Bengali Girl!' He had a great accent so it sounded better live than in print but it made us laugh and hubs referred to me as his Bengali girl for the rest of the night.

We began the evening in Eataly which is a huge shop, cooking school, and assortment of restaurants all in one building in the Flatiron section of NYC. I don't need to explain why this area is known by that name do I?

Okay-this is the Flatiron building. It was completed in 1902 and it's shape resembles a flatiron, hence the name. It marks the area of the city known as the Flatiron District and this is where you'll find Eataly. Which I highly recommend if you're in the city.

Eataly is owned by a group that includes Mario Batali and Lidia Bastianich, two chefs whose names you might recognize. The space is massive and divided into sections...pasta, seafood, cheese, wine, chocolates and more.

We started with the wine and cheese and shared this delicious assortment of Italian meats and cheeses with spicy fig and apricot alongside.

Fantastico!

We wandered the shop browsing the various counters and menus and shared a plate of gnocchi before moving on to our next destination.

The Bubble Lounge in TriBeCa. fyi-Tribeca is trendy and I'd like to walk around that part of the city more. Did you know that TriBeCa is an acronym for 'Triangle Below Canal Street"? Consider that your fun fact for the day. We took a cab because it would have been too far to walk from Eataly, and we passed so many interesting looking restaurants. When I'm in the city I always find myself thinking about all the fabulous restaurants I will never get to try. A friend had recommended The Bubble Lounge and we like champagne so off we went.

The atmosphere was warm with soft couches and big comfy chairs arranged throughout. We had champagne and ordered a chocolate fondue for dessert. Our waitress said the fondue was her treat and happy anniversary so that was fun. I love NY.

Afterwards we decided we needed to see Times Square because we just always do when we're in the city. A couple approached hubs and waved their camera at him for a photo and he asked where they were from. The man said Brazil and hubs spewed out something in Portuguese and the couple beamed. I was reminded once more of why I love this boy. I'm pretty sure he only knows a phrase or two but that doesn't stop him from giving it a go. We walked some more and noticed a family from India attempting a picture. Hubs offered to do it for them so the dad could be in it too. More happy tourists. I like to think they'll go back home and say how nice people are in this city.

We meandered back to our car and it was late late late. Waaaay past my bedtime but I didn't even care. It was the kind of night that happens sometimes in the city. The sound, the light, the air...everything feels so right you wish the night would never end. Hubs felt the same so we stretched it out a little longer by stopping in a diner opposite the parking garage for a midnight snack.

28 years ago we got on an airplane bound for our honeymoon destination. That was only the second time my hubs had flown. Now he's speaking Portuguese to strangers in Times Square and talking the finer points of Indian curry with the cab driver from Bangladesh.

We've come a long way baby!

This post is linked with the Weekend Wrap Up hosted by Stefani over at A Defined Life. Go say hi and share your own news and photos from the weekend.