Stamp Out Loud!
Posted: June 26, 2011 Filed under: wedding, weekend | Tags: wedding 1 Comment »Whew this weekend was kind of crazy. Always moving but we got the wedding invites stamped and addressed!
Mom and I had a little cheese party while we re-visited our stamping skills that we haven’t used since 1998.
Like our bows? They were on the invite boxes.
Lunch break!
Sissy did her part by keeping us entertained and only stepping on a few envelopes.
Nick didn’t really have anything to do, but he kept us company.
After our little stamping party we made a trip to Lancaster to have dinner at our rehearsal dinner location
The restaurant is keeping with the wedding theme of sustainable happy food from the local area.
We had dinner with Nick, Nick’s mom, Nick’s dad, Nick’s step-dad and my momma beans!
Because it is a place that gets meat from a responsible place and the animals live happy lives I took advantage and ordered some meat!
Waaaay too much steak on top of some lovely greens. My only complaint about the restaurant is the portion sizes were a little large for a sustainable restaurant. I guess they want you to have leftovers? They only serve local beer, which Nick was really excited about and they even have local wines (not sure if they are good are not).
Less than 3 months to go!!!!!
Crunch time and the rocks are here!
Weekend Breakfasts
Posted: May 22, 2011 Filed under: weekend | Tags: farmers market, Food Matters, french toast, mini doughnuts, peach, wedding, Zia's 3 Comments »N and I had a pretty busy weekend with a food movie (Food Matters) showing and raw food dinner – from Zia’s!!!! – along with a crazy 60th Birthday celebration for N’s dad. Even though our time was crunched I was still able to bang out two stellar breakfasts.
French toast with sunflower seed butter, granola and grilled MD peaches that I canned last summer.
I sort of hoarded the peaches in the beginning and now I am trying to get through them before the new ones are at the farmers market!
I love FT on the weekend.
Next we have doughnuts and coffee!
I had a lot of fun using my mini doughnut pan this morning but unfortunately the recipe I used is nothing to write home about.
They are still really cute though and the best part was actually located on the “ugly” side.
chocolate chips!!!!! I may have eaten all 12 throughout the day and this is why I do not have grab-able snack food throughout my house 
Wedding Update: We picked up out wedding bands today and they are exactly what we ordered. Simple and US. I really like that my band is just a simple white gold band and I am probably going to write a post about wedding rings and the hype that surrounds them. We also got all of our stamps for our wedding invitations, now I am just waiting for the actual invites to come back from the printers! Walk through with all parties involved on Thursday – this is so exciting because I get to talk design with my coordinator. Lastly my boutonnieres are being shipped!!!!!
I hope everyone had a great weekend!
Weekend Doings
Posted: October 24, 2010 Filed under: weekend | Tags: apple picking, BARCS, pumpkin scones 1 Comment »It has been an eventful weekend!
Saturday I was up early to work the BARCS event 7-11.
The weather was awesome, and I really hope that BARCS raised a ton of money. I baked some pumpkin scones to sell at the bake sale and they came out great! I saw someone eating one and he said it was good!
I checked on the kitties in the cat tent.
Mom, these are your black kittens.
Then I went to visit some puppies.
$600? $700??? Nope, these puppies are up for adoption!
Why would anyone go to a pet store that supports puppy mills???? There were so many rescues at the event for all types of breeds. Even such breeds as Pug and Lab have rescue centers that everyone should look into first!
Visit your local shelter today!
Enough of that…on a lighter note, after animals Nick and I went apple picking!
We picked Nittany and Cameo. The Nittany are tart and crunchy which I prefer and Nick got Cameos that are a bit more sweet and crunchy.
I also got to seem some of those cool fall gourds growing on their vines.
I always thought these dainty gourds were grown with protection, but obviously not.
Time to finish up the Raven’s game and drive Nick to the bus stop 
Weekend, Was It Really Only Two Days?
Posted: August 1, 2010 Filed under: weekend | Tags: cycling, mini golf, weekend 2 Comments »Friday
Mini Golf! I finally beat Nick at something! By 7 strokes I might add!
I am a pro. Nick is one of the most competitive people I know, so when I can beat him at something I just smile. He maybe competitive, but he is not a sore loser (at least with me).
I had to get to bed early because Saturday was going to be a crazy bike adventure!
Saturday
I headed down to meet with my friend Jen in DC. We had planned to bike to Mount Vernon and back along a bike/walking trail that follows the Potomac River.
Hi Jen!
It was about 20miles out, but we made it!
We didn’t go inside because it was $15 and there weren’t any really good places to lock up our bikes. We sat under a trellis and ate our back PB&Js.
I only fell off once! I have issues saying up on my bike. Considering how many people were on the trail and that we rode through parts of the city I think once is pretty good. (It was almost at a stop mom, nothing crazy)
Anywho, it was fun and 40miles is my new PR! It took us probably 3.5 hours of actually peddle time.
It was great to see Jen and Meredith (who took the pics!) we went out for Greek, self serve fro-yo, of and some gelato! We had to make up for the 40miles!
Sunday needs its own post…coming right up, peaches 
Slowly Headed Back
Posted: June 14, 2010 Filed under: weekend | Tags: maine, Sicily Leave a comment »Good Morning!
Sorry I have been MIA for awhile. I should be posting more often now that my momma loaned me her camera for a month.
Thanks Grandma!
Here are a few pics from memorial day weekend in Maine that I found on the memory card.
Mom and Poppop playing croquet. I won!
Gig playing with Poppop’s new Boston belt.
Me and Poppop. See the ocean?!?! It smells amazing there.
See you later tonight for a new recipe!
Simple Pleasures
Posted: June 6, 2010 Filed under: weekend | Tags: racing, running, simple pleasures, zooma Leave a comment »There are something that just make you happy in life.
Friday afternoons, knowing that you have the whole weekend in front of you, is one of them.
Add a little cheese and wine and I am perfectly happy.
Nick and I enjoyed some wine, cheese and olives on our balcony to kickoff the weekend.
A little something different to make life interesting.
What are some simple pleasures in your life?
In racing news…
I ran the ZOOMA 10k this morning.
7th/235 age group
31st/1458 females
34th/1542 overall
I think I did pretty well all things considered! Maybe one day I could actually place top 3? I would not want the added pressure of this idea though.
Overall I would not recommend this race. It was expensive and poorly organized. They were still setting up when we arrived and were not ready for the 10kers at the post race pavilion. I will not be doing this race again. I am however looking for my next one!
I hope you had a great weekend!
What Have You Been Up To?
Posted: May 31, 2010 Filed under: weekend | Tags: maine, pick your own, Stonyfield, strawberries Leave a comment »Well hello there!
What have I been up to?
Well Maine was awesome as always. My grandfather really enjoyed his birthday and I just wish I had some pictures We enjoyed many wonderful dinners and angel food cake!
Best dinner:
Back Bay Gril – beat pasta with goat cheese, pine nuts and basil.
Coolest Place Visited:
Yes, Stonyfield now has cafes! Well actually there seems to be only one in Maine!
My mom and I split a fo-yo with strawberries, blueberries and almonds.
They have a ton of fresh organic food made to order and they even have happy hour!
I really think they should expand the concept! Maybe put one in Maryland near me!
Fun Adventure:
Strawberry picking! It was hot and sweaty, but got a lot of berries! They smell amazing and I have already eaten a ton.
I was excited for fresh fruit!
Next up…cherries!
Cherries are so hard to find organic and they are crazy expensive. They also have blueberries coming out soon that will be ready for picking.
Final Thought:
It grosses me out that strawberries and 2/$5 right now. They taste like nothing and are covered in pesticides! I also feel bad for the pickers, because that was serious hard work and I know they are the ones making less because of the bumper crop.
Thanks for staying with me!
Maybe I will get a new camera some day!
I hope you had a great weekend!
Centro Tapas Bar
Posted: May 23, 2010 Filed under: baltimore, restaurant review, weekend | Tags: BARCS, Centro, sangria, tapas 2 Comments »Nick and I enjoyed a lovely evening outside on Friday night in Federal Hill.
I am always game for sangria and tapas so when I heard about Centro I had to check it out.
The menu is extensive and we took our time making or plan of attack over a glass of sangria.
We started off with a trio of cheeses and some Spanish olives.
Manchego 12 Month (D.O) || semi-hard sheep’s milk cheese-peppery, zesty, full of robust flavor
Cabrales (D.O.P) || blue cheese from the Asturias region-made with cow, goat and sheep’s milk, semi-hard, crumbly texture, aged 2-6 months in limestone caves, unpasteurized
Murcia al Vino (“The Drunken Goat”) || semi-soft goat cheese, sweet, buttery, smooth, wine cured
Next we split a lovely salad
Ensalada Hinojo y Manzana $6 || salad of shaved fennel, granny smith apple, marcona almonds, baby arugula, Pedro Ximenez vinaigrette
I loved these almonds!
Up next… mushroom stuffed sweet peppers and spinach and chickpeas.
Pimientos del Piquillos Rellenos $7 || sweet roasted red peppers stuffed with wild mushrooms, cava cream sauce
Espinacas Salteadas $6 || sautéed spinach, chickpeas, dates, pine nut butter
Nick and I both agreed this was our favorite dish, and he doesn’t even like cooked spinach or chickpeas!
Then we waited and waited for our remaining main dishes…apparently things got a little backed up in the kitchen.
Arepa Mechada $8 || Venezuelan corn masa topped with pulled oxtail meat, fried egg, avocado – NOT PICTURED
Calamares en su Tinta $7 || sautéed baby squid in its own ink, sticky calasparra rice
The squid was not as good as we had hoped and the oxtail would have been better with less masa.
We also got a special snook fish that came with bay potatoes that tasted like pure butter. There was supposed to be saffron in them, but I could not taste it.
I also had a glass of sustainable pinot noir from Chile that was delicious.
We ended the night with a flourless chocolate almond cake that was not overpowering and very almondy. I enjoyed the light end to the evening.
Overall I love tapas and sharing flavors, but I wish they all didn’t have so much oil. I can defiantly start to weigh me down.
It was a great experience and a nice night to eat outside.
IN OTHER NEWS…if you live in Baltimore and want a dog please come see Stitch at BARCS!
How cute are those ears!
Life List
Posted: May 15, 2010 Filed under: weekend | Tags: BARCS, life list 2 Comments »Do you have a life list?
I know a lot of people in the blog world have been posting “life lists” and “bucket lists”, but I find that things like that stress me out a bit. I would spend too much time worrying about getting everything done rather that enjoying the activity.
There is one thing that I want to do before I die, and that is to visit every state in the US! I have already been to 23, and the rule is you must have slept there (airports do not count!)
I put a map up in my cube to give me a visual of what I am working for.
I also put push pins in the states I have been and I have 2 two tacs for places I would call “home”.
I was talking to Katherine about how to tackle this, and I am thinking National Parks.
I think my first quest will me the Trail of Tears.
Why not learn a little history on my journey.
I know this will take me a long time, but I will be patient. I am hoping to live a long and happy life, so I am in no rush. Plus I would really like to go back to some states I have already visited mainly AZ and CA.
I currently will not be taking leave until October due to my new employment status, but I CAN wait.
Do you have any life goals? Do you set time limits for completion?
In other news:
I hope everyone is enjoying their weekend. This was my Friday night activity.
Now it is time to get moving! I am going to NJ today to visit a long lost friend from college!
Happy Mom’s Day!
Posted: May 9, 2010 Filed under: weekend | Tags: cereal, civic works, farmers market, rhubarb, strawberries, sushi, urban garden 1 Comment »Good Morning!
HAPPY MOTHERS DAY MOMMA BEANS!
It is freezing today! We have frost warnings tonight and tomorrow night. What is going on Maryland?!?! Mom is coming tomorrow for dinner and to celebrate a delayed mom’s day and I wanted the weather to be warm for her. I can’t wait to see her!
Another big event…yesterday was my blog anniversary! Yes, it came and went with no candles and cake, but that is OK. I need to figure out where this little baby is going and what I really want to do with it.
On that note lets get back to the last 24 hours of my life.
Yesterday after breakfast I ran to the farmers market, and then I shoveled compost and snipped seedlings for about 5 hours at a small urban garden in a not so nice part of Baltimore.
The school where the garden is. They have problems with vandals in the area.
One of the hoop houses. Both pictures were taken from the car it was not the place to snap happy shots.
When I got back in the car at 12:30, I was hot and hungry.
I had the mini pb and j from my packed lunch to hold me over until I got home.
When I got home I washed a ton of lettuce and then made a nice lunch plate.
Orange, pickles and a wrap with spinach, meatless balls and goat cheese.
Then it was time to get started on a dessert for Mothers Day.
Rhubarb from the farmers market. Sissy wanted to check it out.
I made baby rhubarb upside down cakes with farmers market strawberries and homemade almond macaroons. I am thinking about making brownies and sprinkling these in top. That is if I don’t eat them all first! I think I had about 8 yesterday!
For dinner nick and I went for sushi. It was nice because I was not very hungry from the macaroons so I just got a spicy tuna roll and two pieces of unagi.
The other stuff is Nick’s.
Finally we are caught up to today! I need to leave for the grocery store in a minute so I wanted something with minimal dishes and tasted good.
Enter yogurt and cereal in the yogurt container!
TJs fiber cereal, kashi H2H, strawberries, vanilla almond granola, pb, yogurt and a splash of skim.
Time to bundle up and get out the door! We have to leave in two hours for brunch! Maybe I won’t be making brownies.
