Moving to Maryland

7 Quick Takes: A surprising amount of HIMYM takes

2012-02-10T10:24:00.002-05:00

1) Too long: It feels like it's been forever since I've done a quick takes post, so here goes!

2) King Cake: I'm planning on making a king cake this weekend. I've made them the past 2 years for Mardi Gras and, while I enjoyed the finished product, it was never anything amazing. My sister tried a new recipe and swears it's as good as our bakery back home's king cake. Trying it!

3) Huge squirrels: In my Toronto post, I mentioned briefly the overweight black squirrels that terrorize all garbage cans in Toronto. I wanted to share this picture of one who hit the jack pot. He was the instant envy of all of his friends.

4) Wha? Winter? I know everyone has been talking about this, but what is up with this winter? So freaking mild. I'm torn on this, actually. On the one hand it's nice that I can enjoy outside in a reasonably sized coat, but on the other, it just doesn't feel like winter, you know? I guess I just believe temps in the 60s and 50s have nothing to do with a mid-atlantic winter.

5) Canada: We've been on quite the making fun of Canada bit for a while now. We started re-watching How I Met Your Mother on netflix instant and Barney Stinson is full of great Canadian digs. Just search for Barney Stinson Canada on youtube and you'll see what I mean. Some of our favorites: "why do we even let you be a country?" "You speak French there too? What a mess." "It must have been so hard growing up in Canada with America right there" and this one from Lily, "it's like their money and their army, no one takes it seriously."

6) Robin Scherbatsky: Speaking of HIMYM, I got all Robin Scherbatsky last weekend and tried my first cigar. I thought that I'd probably not like it too much, but I actually did enjoy it. More than Bogdan even. Surprising because I've never had a cigarette, so I'm definitely not a smoker. But a cigar? Mmm.

7) Jumped the shark? Furthering the HIMYM talk, am I the only one who thinks the show is just not working this season? It's forced. Nobody clicks anymore. It's just not funny. What is happening?!?! Especially now that we've been watching the old seasons and realizing just how funny the show is, it's really sad to see it floundering. Guess we'll be meeting Ted's wife soon. What do you think?

Find more quick takes posts here.

Toronto, Redux

2012-02-08T12:01:00.000-05:00

Last weekend we went to Toronto. Again. Back in 2009 we made the trip to the Great White North for a conference Bogdan was attending, and although Bogdan didn't have a ton of time to explore, I did and I was impressed with the city. I found it safe, a manageable size, and an interesting mix of shopping, culture, and diversity.

I looked back in my post archive and realized that I totally left my readers hanging on that trip. I posted about Niagara Falls, promised a follow up post, and never delivered. Sorry about (a-boot) that.

The best part about returning to cities that you've already visited is that you don't have that whole "I must see everything" attitude. Instead, you think back about what you saw last time, what you missed, and you decide very casually what to do. This is what we did.

Right after checking into our hotel we walked the couple of blocks to St. Lawrence Market and had a Ukrainian lunch thanks to one of the food vendors serving up Bogdan's favorite dishes with huge sides of sour cream. We then walked a few more blocks to the Distillery District, which is Toronto's "hip" new spot with shopping, galleries, food, and history. We loved this place last time, and we enjoyed the return trip. We met Bogdan's friend and his wife for dinner later that night and had a great time picking fun at Canada (seriously, their money looks like Monopoly money) and sharing a lot of beer, poutine, and good food.

The next day we had a slow and leisurely morning, went to our first ever Anglican service in St. James Cathedral and then spent the afternoon walking and walking and walking. We explored the financial district, Chinatown, the University of Toronto, Bloor Street, and Yorkville.

Our friends brought us some cigars (and perhaps they were the kind that we can't buy in America), which we had planned to try the night that we hung out with them, but as the world currently shuns all smokers, we couldn't find a place or lounge to smoke them inside.

That afternoon we sat in a park, smoked our cigars and watched the obese black squirrels that appear to have overtaken Toronto. I had never tried a cigar before, and it was surprisingly tasty and good. I'm glad we tried them.

And so we spent Super Bowl Sunday night at an Irish pub in Canada not watching the game that was blaring and displayed all around us (I'm surprised they let us back across the border into the U.S. and didn't revoke our citizenship). Regardless, we had a very fun, if not a little exhausting, weekend in Toronto.

I can see clearly now

2012-02-02T14:29:00.000-05:00

For the past 4 years or so I have not seen anything clearly that was more than a foot in front of me.

Let me back up.

When we were getting ready to move to Maryland (3.5 years ago!), I knew that I'd be quitting my job and looking for a new job in the DC area. That meant many things, but one big thing was that I would have a gap in health insurance coverage. I am lucky and blessed that I have no chronic health conditions, so this gap would not affect me too much, but I decided to be smart and schedule a few doctor's appointments before we moved.

One of those appointments was with my ophthalmologist. He gave me a new prescription for glasses, and we moved to Maryland and brought that little slip with us. Luckily I was only unemployed for 1 month after the move (we moved at the beginning of August and I started my new job the day after labor day), but I just never found the time (or the desire to spend money?) to buy new glasses.

This continued.

For 3.5 years.

You think you see clearly with those old glasses,
but you have no idea, Stephanie. No idea

Then, this year around November, I decided that I needed to get new glasses and go see the ophthalmologist again. I felt all smart and clever when I decided that during open enrollment, I'd just sign up for the vision plan so that in 2012 I could get a free pair of glasses. Feeling all smug about my idea, I logged into my health insurance website and - lo and behold - I was already enrolled in the vision plan.

I had had this same exact idea in 2010, and for all of 2011 I was unaware of this.

Is this what getting older feels like?

I quickly scheduled an appointment (this was early December by now, running out of time for my calendar year free pair of glasses), got a new prescription, and picked out some frames. My glasses arrived a few days before Christmas, and so now, for the first time in 4 years, I can see clearly.

Don't get me wrong, I wasn't walking around blind all of this time. In fact, I thought I could see things pretty well, thank you very much. It wasn't until I started wearing my new glasses that I realized just how much I had been missing.

My walks through downtown Frederick have been eye opening (pun intended). I see for blocks and blocks and can soak in even more of my town's cuteness. I make a point of picking out things in the far distance and ask Bogdan (who has perfect eyesight), oh! did you see that snowman?

Hello World! You're no longer a blur.

I decided to continue my vision plan for this year, as well, and plan to get a new pair of lenses for my prescription sunglasses. The world will be so ridiculously clear.

Made up my own pasta bake recipe

2012-01-31T11:35:00.000-05:00

For probably more than five years now I've been making these Italian meatballs that are hella good. I saw the recipe in Bon Appetit and, although it was for meatball sandwiches, I just omitted the bread and served them on a generous pile of pasta.

When a good amount of time has elapsed since I last made these meatballs, I tend to forget the amount of pasta that I need for this dinner. More often than not I make way too much pasta and we end up with a bunch of leftover pasta with marinara sauce and no meatballs.

Last week, when I had a huge tupperware of said leftover pasta in the fridge, I decided to get creative. I also had about a half pound of ground pork in the freezer (leftover from the cookbook club recipe) so I decided I would make a pasta bake. I bought a can of crushed tomatoes and was ready to create.

Bogdan, for some reason, did not trust my recipe creation skills and hesitatingly sat down at the dinner table. After the first bite, he dove in. The pasta bake was a hit! Now, when I have some leftover pasta I know exactly what I will be making.

Ground Pork Pasta Bake (serves 3-4)
Ingredients:
1/2 pound ground pork (or more if you like meat. You could also use any ground meat you want)
1/2 onion finely chopped
1 garlic clove finely chopped
Ground fennel seed
Pinch of red pepper
Can of crushed tomatoes
Dried Italian herbs (I used basil and oregano - fresh would be better, so if you have it, use it)
Leftover pasta (I had about 3-4 cups of cooked pasta with some marinara sauce already on it)
1/2 cup cream
Grated parmesan cheese
Butter

Directions:
Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

Brown the ground pork and season with salt and pepper. Add the onion and garlic and let soften for about 4 minutes. Season with fennel and red pepper. Pour in the crushed tomatoes. (Note, my pasta already had some marinara, so I used about 1/3 of the can. Just put as much as you want). Season with the italian herbs. Bring to a simmer and let simmer without stirring for about 8 minutes.

Pour the meat mixture and the leftover pasta in a large bowl. Toss with the cream. You want to coat everything with cream, so use as much (or as little) as you want.

Pour into a baking dish. Dot with bits of butter throughout. Top the dish with Parmesan cheese (as much or as little as you want). Bake for 10-15 minutes until cheese is melted and crunchy).
(Shout out: This recipe inspired mine)

Now I can say I play chess

2012-01-25T11:25:00.001-05:00

Confession: Until a few days ago, I did not know how to play chess.

I don't know why I never took the time to learn how to play as a child (or as an adult) but it was never on my to learn list. When I started dating Bogdan, he was big into chess and even played pretty often with a man from our church. He always pestered me about learning how to play, but I just never made the commitment to sit down and try it out.

There were several reasons for this. One, I was just a bit embarrassed that I was in my 20s and had never touched a chess board. Checkers? Heck yes. Flip it over to play chess? Nope. Another was that I assumed that learning all the figures and how they each move differently and figuring out strategies and moves would just be so difficult and would come with such a steep learning curve that the only people I'd be able to play with for a few years would be children. Under 5. Finally, I knew that Bogdan was actually good at chess, which meant that said learning curve would put me at being able to play competitively with Bogdan about 10 years down the road.

That was just too much time and commitment. Sorry for ya, Bogdan.

For some reason a week or so ago I decided to learn. Bogdan sat down with me and explained all of the figures. We used a chess strategy book (that we bought at an estate sale in Frederick for 50 cents!!) to set up some situations that I'd have to figure out. I quickly realized that the learning curve was not so steep.

The final leap into me playing chess happened when I went to the Android market and downloaded the Chess Free app. Now when I find myself with some time to kill I can pull up the app and play a game or two (on the easiest level of course) and not worry about the judgment from my opponent of my often times incoherent moves. Sure, I'm still quite a long way off from being able to compete with Bogdan (without him saying, "are you sure you want to move it there?" or "do you really not see what I see?"), although I did win once last week (go me!).

Funnily, the most exciting part about learning to play chess is that now when people ask, "do you play chess?" I no longer have to do the awkward shoulder shrug, nose wrinkle, and whisper out, "nope."

Do you play chess? Any tips for a beginner?

Well, I kinda like the Nook

2012-01-20T14:43:00.000-05:00

I am coming to the gradual but convincing conclusion that Bogdan and I are Luddites.

It's strange that I'd turn out this way, what with my father's photograph appearing next to the "early adopter" definition in the marketing and advertising bible (if there were such a thing). Dad always had the newest and latest tech. He still does. You go home and feel like you're in a spaceship.

Now that I'm an adult, I eschew change and scoff at tech trends. (Case and point, it took me 3+ years to adopt a smartphone).

One new tech that I swore to high heavens I'd never ever adopt was the e-reader.

Seriously. I'm an avid reader - averaging about 50 books a year - but the thought of digitizing all of that and having it on this ridiculous tablet that has a battery that has to be charged and requires me to actually buy books made me cringe. I love books. I love that our library in our house is packed full with books. I could spend an entire day in a second hand book store.

When my library announced that they were buying several e-readers and allowing patrons to check them out for 7 days at a time I did not get excited. And then something happened. Maybe it was the whole finally coming to the dark side of smartphones and realizing just how ridiculously awesome they are.

Whatever it was, I decided one day to put my name on the holds list for the Nook. I was number 67 of 67 holds.

I thought I might get a nook in 2014.

When I had a voicemail from the library the first weekend of January that my nook was ready to pick up, I was shocked. I was a little worried that I would not be able to finish a book in 7 days, but decided it would be worth just playing with the device to see if I like it. Unfortunately the books pre-downloaded on the library's nook were ones that I was not interested in reading. I headed to the B&N website and downloaded a few books for free that were on my Pulitzer Prize list.

Barnes and Noble Nook. Image source.

One quick note about free e-books. There is a reason they are free. Google is working on digitizing books and basically scan and upload page after page of books. The scanning system is far from perfect. The first free book I read, His Family by Ernest Poole, was an exercise in creativity. For example, every time the author wrote "I'll" it would show up as "Uill" on the Nook. I quickly picked this up and flew through the book in a couple of days, but there were entire paragraphs of basically unintelligible words jumbled together.

I ended up finishing two books from the Pulitzer list (His Family and Alice Adams) and read half of Tina Fey's Bossypants, which was one of the pre-uploaded books courtesy of my library. I'll (Uill) just say that I don't feel the need to finish Bossypants.

How did I like the nook? Well, actually, I kind of really liked it. For one, the fact that the screen is not back-lit and that I could read the nook indoors and out, in low light and bright light, was a huge plus. My eyes barely noticed I was reading from a screen. I also loved that the reader lays flat - I could just rest the reader on my lap and read hands free (until I needed to turn the page). This was something that I never even thought I would want while reading, barely ever noticing before that it takes a couple of hands to read a big book. I read 2.5 books in 7 days and never needed to charge the battery (nice!!). I looked up a few words with the installed dictionary, but Bogdan and I both agreed that this is basically useless in learning new words because I most likely forgot all of the definitions the minute I closed the box being that it was so easy and quick to look up words.

The one negative I noticed about the Nook was the page turning was not really foolproof. The buttons on the side required a very certain and precise tap to get them to turn, and the touchscreen was also a little wonky. This rarely affected my reading, but was a little annoying when it did. The other obvious negative is that you have to pay for books and there aren't any second-hand epub stores that I know about. I know that some libraries are allowing patrons to "check out" e-books for a certain loan period, which is really nice, but I think it will take a while for that to catch on.

After my 7-day loan, would I buy an e-reader? Right now, no. I would not. As convenient and interesting as it was, I just don't think I'm ready to jump on the bandwagon just yet. There are some obvious advantages to owning an e-reader (ones that I never imagined), but not enough for me to drop the cash on the device and e-books at this time. In the future? Maybe.

Do you have an e-reader? What do you like and dislike about it? Are you staunchly against them like I was? Let me know.

Half Bathroom: An inexpensive makeover

2012-01-16T07:38:00.020-05:00

We spent a lot of time looking at historic homes in Frederick and there are a couple of things that you will most likely find: 1) no closets. I guess in the late 19th and early 20th centuries everyone used those huge wardrobes instead of closets for their clothes storage (how they got it up the stairs astounds me, we barely could fit a queen mattress up there), so when you look at 100+ year old homes it's rare that they have closets especially if they haven't had a total gutting/redesign. 2) they have only one bathroom. When we saw our house, which had a closet and one and a half bathrooms we were sold. (Those weren't the only reasons, but they were big ones).

Our half bathroom, however, was obviously an afterthought of the previous owners. I can imagine the conversation: "we have this space under the stairs, should we make another closet?" "another closet? are you kidding, this house already has one, how about a half bath" "ok, but I'm just putting a toilet in the ground and a sink in the wall and calling it a day." "deal."

And that's what it looked like.

It was in need of a makeover. We decided that some faux wainscotting and chalkboard paint could really liven the place up. Here is what a can of chalkboard paint, a can of white paint, and a few pieces of molding bought at home depot can turn into:

I've said for a while now (on Pinterest, that is) that I love black bathrooms. And now I have one.

Despite the short shopping list, I will not try to fool all of you into thinking this was an easy half day project. For one, Bogdan cut each piece of molding into 45 degree angles by hand with one of those ridiculous plastic saw guides. If you're thinking about doing something similar, either drop a $100 on a power miter saw or ask your friends if they have one you can borrow.

This project also takes a lot of measuring (and re-measuring) to make sure your pieces are all the same size. We decided to do decorative squares and so we had to make sure the squares would all line up and look good. The best part was that since we didn't have any molding going all the way down to the baseboards, we didn't have to do any labor intensive baseboard cutting (or removal). Saved a lot of time and headaches. Bogdan used liquid nails to adhere the moldings to the wall then nailed it in. After he was done, he spackled the nail holes and then finally painted the whole molding and walls with white paint.

Chalkboard paint is really fun and all, but you have to wait 4 hours between painting each coat, so that also adds considerable time to the project.

Bogdan worked his little heart out on this project to have it finished before his parents came here for their holidays visit. He was successful. He even found some time to go to an antique store downtown and find a super affordable and cute mirror (much better than that ridiculous two mirrors in the corner set up that was there before). So when Vlad and Wanda were here, they spent some time doodling on our new chalkboard wall.

We're still on the lookout for a cute light fixture to replace the one in there now. But I couldn't wait any longer to share the mostly finished product with you.

Jan/Feb 2012: No More Chinese Take Out

2012-01-14T11:55:00.001-05:00

Those who know me pretty well will probably wonder about my cookbook selection for this month. A little history - growing up I was never really a fan of Chinese food (and/or the Chinese food that was available in our small town). Sure, I would eat it and maybe even enjoy it a little, but I would never ever choose it for dinner.

I've pretty much held onto that in adulthood, favoring Vietnamese, Thai, and Japanese. Then we went to San Francisco.

As you may know, San Francisco is well known for its Chinatown. It's also well known for its excellent Dim Sum. So, of course, when we were there, we tried both. And can I tell you, I LOVE dim sum! That was some excellent and delicious Chinese food. Nothing like the beef and broccoli I grew up eating.

Without further ado, for Jan/Feb we will be cooking from Easy Chinese Recipes. I saw the cookbook and author featured on DesignSponge and thought it would be perfect for our club. The cookbook is the number one selling Chinese cookbook on Amazon, and the pictures of her recipes that I've seen look scrumptious.

The main recipe for this cookbook will be the same that was featured on DesignSponge - Pan Fried Dumplings. I've never ever attempted to make these, but the straightforward steps and photo tutorials make me realize that it's definitely something we can all pull off.

As an alternate you can choose between these two recipes: Classic Shrimp Fried Rice or Sweet and Sour Pork.

I will post my review and a linky link on Wednesday, February 29. Hopefully I won't be the only person cooking this time again (hint hint, nudge nudge, wink wink).

Happy cooking!

A Tour of Our Gallery...er...House

2012-01-11T13:52:00.000-05:00

A few posts back I mentioned that there are some really great perks to having a professional artist as a father in law. Among many other things (like great design advice), we reap the benefit of having a house filled with original art. This past visit, Bogdan's dad brought us several paintings and I wanted to share all of our artwork by Vlad in this post.

1) This was our first watercolor by Vlad. We have this one hanging in our dining room.

2) Bogdan loved this painting of ships and a maritime battle growing up, so on one of Vlad's visits he decided to bring it and let us hang it in our house. It sits right above our cozy arm chairs in the library.

3) The first time Vlad came to the U.S. was for our wedding in 2006. We lived in Louisiana at the time and brought him to the French Quarter. He loved it and started taking pictures of everything. Then he shut himself up in a room at our house and drew these two awesome New Orleans street scenes.

4) This year, Vlad gave us this awesome still life, which matched the colors in our kitchen perfectly. And that is where it is hanging

5) And last but definitely not least is this watercolor that Vlad painted from a picture we took back in April when we were visiting family in New Orleans. That's me, my sister, and my two nephews Grady and Reece. I just love this one. It's got so many things that I love and cherish on one canvas. We also hung this one in the dining room.

I just love our art-filled house. Thanks, Vlad!

Cities Visited in 2011: Wrapping Up Last Year

2012-01-06T08:26:00.000-05:00

Maybe I'm about a week late on this, but it wouldn't be January at Moving to Maryland without a New Year's post. Just like in 2010 and 2011, here's the annual list of cities we visited in 2011 and a photo collage of the year. Looking through my photos and reading my list of cities for this past year, I noticed that we were quite the busy couple in 2011—from traveling, to house projects, to spending time with family. Bogdan got an American passport this year (and citizenship!) but we have yet to use it. That will need to be remedied soon...

Cities we visited in 2011:

Middleburg, VA
Rochester, NY
Pittsford, NY
New Orleans, LA
Mandeville, LA
Philadelphia, PA (me for work)
Chicago, IL (Bogdan for work)
San Francisco, CA
Big Sur, CA
Yosemite, CA
Pleasanton, CA
Baton Rouge, LA
Pride, LA visited my sister's new house!
San Juan, PR
Rio Grande, PR
New York, NY
Harper’s Ferry, WV
Annapolis, MD
Great Falls, VA
Leesburg, VA, Washington, D.C., Hagerstown, MD, etc.

As far as you the reader goes, I had nearly 1,700 unique visitors view my blog 13,000 times in 2011 from 72 countries and 48 states (I need to make some friends in Vermont and Montana). By far the coolest stat from Google Analytics is that 37% of you visited my blog more than 100 times! Thanks!!

Here's hoping for a happy New Year with more new cities on the list and more adventures in 2012.

Nov/Dec 2011: Cookbook Club Review

2012-01-04T06:27:00.000-05:00

Nov/Dec 2011 - Choose Your Own Cookbook

The most recent installment of the cookbook club featured a new idea—choose your own cookbook for a holiday dish. I chose Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking (predictable?). I know we cooked from it for Sep/Oct 2011, but when you're looking to make a statement with a meal, you go with Julia. Trust me.

As you know, Bogdan's parents were in town for the holidays, so I asked what was a traditional dish for them for Christmas. I made a beef pot roast last year and wanted to try something new. When they said pork, I was a little worried. The few times I've made a pork loin it's only been so-so. But I trusted Julia and went with it. Recipe for casserole roasted pork here.

The pork with green beans and Paula Deen's Corn Casserole

I marinated the pork during the day on Christmas in a simple salt, pepper, ground thyme and garlic marinade. Julia has you sear the meat before it goes in the oven, so I did that and then went and enjoyed myself for 2 hours while my pork roasted and made the house smell delicious. After the pork was finished cooking, I strained out the juices and made Julia's mustard cream sauce for pork.

We set the table to look really nice for our Christmas dinner (china and everything) and sat down for our huge meal. The pork was the juiciest, most tender and flavorful I've ever consumed. Amazing. Not a thing like my previous pork cooking experiences. Everyone loved it too, and I think we all had to restrain ourselves from just gulping down the mustard sauce. It was a huge hit.

Will I be making this one again? You betcha! This is a great recipe to put in the "I need to cook something really special" folder.

I want to know what everyone else made this holiday season. Let me know how your cooking creations came out and what cookbook you chose. You can add it to the linky link and comment on this post.

Copy and paste the code below into your review blog post for a totally awesome Cookbook Club image.

<a href="http://stephandbogdan.blogspot.com"><img alt="Cookbook Club at Moving to Maryland" height="105" width="200" border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-sO1f7BBi1MA/Tl1oAWt9lQI/AAAAAAAAedI/CqnByj2UAKQ/s800/cookbookclubllogosm.jpg" /></a>

The holidays flew by

2012-01-02T15:29:00.000-05:00

Following a crazy start to Bogdan's parents' visit, we had a rather low key rest of the holiday. We celebrated Christmas at home, including a big and tasty dinner that night (look for the Cookbook Club post on Wednesday for more on that).

On a rainy day after Christmas, we sat around and played with presents and just relaxed. We went to the outlets one day. Bogdan's parents spent a lot of time at the Frederick mall another day.

We drove to DC and went to the National Gallery of Art, the Botanical Gardens, and the Hirshhorn on Friday.

New Year's Eve we made another big and tasty dinner and took a late-for-us-but-early-for-New-Year's-Eve walk around downtown watching the many revelers make their way to parties and restaurants.

Grilling our very tasty dinner.

On New Year's day we went to Great Falls (a first for Bogdan and me), Tysons Corner mall, Georgetown, and ended the day with an organ recital at the National Cathedral.

Every time my in laws come to visit, we're amazed at how quickly time goes by and, before we know it, we're back at the airport dropping them off for their long flight home. We will be doing that tomorrow.

It's been a great visit and a great holiday—one of those where you have nothing to do and forget what day it is. And now it's back to the daily grind...

Day 2 in NYC: The day of museums

2011-12-31T18:52:00.000-05:00

Bogdan's dad is an artist (which has some really great perks and you will see why in a few posts from now) and so we knew that his favorite part of the NYC trip would be the museums - the Metropolitan Museum of Art, MOMA and Guggenheim. Because our MOMA plans on Friday evening didn't quite work out, we decided we'd do the Met in the morning, MOMA in the afternoon, and Guggenheim in the evening.

But first!

We needed to see a few humongous Christmas trees and ice rinks. Where could we find those? Well, in Bryant Park and Rockefeller Center, that's where.

After the requisite Christmas tree viewing (which was spectacular by the way) we got in a cab and headed to the Met. I won't lie - I thought for a few moments about Jenny Humphrey sitting on the Met steps (she was not there).

The Met was so ridiculously big. Think Louvre big. We spent a few hours there and Vlad was in art heaven. After a couple of hours, Wanda and I were exhausted so we left the boys to tour and we headed to the American Wing Cafe and had coffee and croissants.

Luckily we were smart enough to look when MOMA closed (it was Christmas Eve) and found out it was at 3 p.m. So at 1:30 we bought tickets for Wanda and Vlad who spent 1 hour and a half at MOMA while Bogdan and I spent about just as much time in the MOMA design store (so cool).

We had a super late lunch after MOMA closed and then walked down to Time's Square. Bogdan and I were completely underwhelmed by Times Square when we were there a few summers ago, but this time, as we walked up and the sun went down the bright lights, the fast moving images, the people, the sensory overload - it was amazing.

Once again we made an executive decision against the Guggenheim and instead went back to Rockefeller Center to see it lit up for the nighttime. Not surprisingly, it was even better than the daytime.

Before we knew it, it was time to get in a cab and head to Penn Station to catch our train home. We left the station happy, exhausted and excited. The NYC trip was a success!

Day 1 in NYC: Ambitious plan re-do

2011-12-30T20:40:00.000-05:00

One can't start an ambitious walking tour of NYC without good food, so our first stop was Mario Batali's Eataly. I had read about it in Rachael Ray's magazine and wanted to check it out since it is rumored that downtown Frederick may soon be home to a very similar Eataly-esque food emporium courtesy of one Bryan Voltaggio. Rachael talked about the rooftop beer garden at Eataly - Birreria - and we got on the elevator and headed up top.

Birreria (took this with my phone)

Our helpful waiter helped us pick two great beers - the Victory Otto that I had was amazing. We didn't know what to expect from the food (it was a beer place after all) but oh my word we had a ridiculously tasty and fresh lunch.

Yum!

Once our stomachs were full we got on the metro and got off at the Wall Street stop and commenced our 3-hour tour. The last time Bogdan and I were in NYC we rented bikes and covered a lot of ground. The goings on foot was much much slower. We walked to the tip of Manhattan, checked out the Statue of Liberty and walked through Battery Park. When Bogdan told me it was already 3, I could not believe it.

The plan had been to finish our walk at 4 and head to midtown for MOMA, but we had only really started my tour. We pressed on and finished a third of my turn-by-turn tour (thanks to my smartphone we were able to make some quick changes).

We finished the tour in front of a Ukrainian Orthodox church smack dab in the middle of a little Ukrainian enclave near Little Italy. (I totally planned that).

When we arrived at MOMA that evening (much later than expected) we unfortunately found that every.other.person.in.Manhattan. was at MOMA for the free Friday night. The line for free tickets was literally out the door and around the block.

We made the executive (and smart!) decision to hail a cab, head to our Kimpton hotel for their free wine hour, and get ready for our dinner at Hundred Acres. That night as we ate a delicious dinner in an uber-romantic soho restaurant, we reminisced about our long day and prepared ourselves for the next (and last) day.

(Not Really) Planning Our Trip to NYC

2011-12-29T15:19:00.000-05:00

Bogdan's parents flew in from Ukraine last week to spend 2 weeks with us in Maryland. We had decided that one of our Christmas presents for Bogdan's dad (and mom) would be a trip to New York City. Vlad had never been to Manhattan and, to be honest, we'd only been once a couple of summers ago (I went once as a child with my parents, but it was a one-day thing part of a whole Northeastern Tour).

We booked two rooms at a Kimpton Hotel, reserved our train tickets, and...well, that's about it. Normally before we go on a trip I spend a good amount of time researching the location - I discover the hidden local gems, plan out a walking tour or two, and figure out where we should eat.

Because we were leaving for NYC on Friday, December 23, I had absolutely no time to plan the trip. I get the whole week off between Christmas and New Year's so I was busy finishing up projects at work and then when I got home in the evening I was finishing up holiday prep and getting our house ready for Bogdan's parents. As a last ditch effort, I made my way to the library on Thursday before we left and checked out two NYC tour books.

The four of us spent Thursday evening talking about the most important thing when you go to NYC.

Dinner reservations.

Kicking off what I thought would be a "three hour tour"

I did some web searching and found a few restaurants that looked awesome, but unfortunately we're already booked for the night (I mean, we were planning this the day before!). Then I found a list from another list of a blogger I trust and in one of the comments of that list a local NYCer suggested Hundred Acres. I pulled up the menu, thought it looked interesting, and reserved a table for four for the next night.

The next morning we woke up super early and drove to the train station. We had a 3 hour train ride so I made good use of that time and spent it researching the tour book. By the time our train pulled into Penn Station, I had a walk planned out with turn-by-turn instructions that weaved us in and up Manhattan from the very bottom up to Midtown. I assumed that by the time we got to Midtown we'd have enough time to drop in to the Museum of Modern Art (MOMA) for the Friday evening free admission and then catch a cab or the metro back to Hundred Acres for our dinner reservations.

Calling this plan ambitious is an understatement.

But at least it was a plan.

Merry Christmas!

2011-12-26T16:15:00.001-05:00

I hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas!

We spent a couple of days in NYC and had an amazing trip. I will blog about it soon.

In the meantime, check out our pictures here.

Christmas memories: The biggest present ever

2011-12-21T11:57:00.000-05:00

This time of year is perfect for nostalgia, and this morning I found myself thinking about a particularly awesome Christmas of my childhood.

Until I was in 2nd grade, my family lived on the bayou. Literally. There was our house, the backyard, the dock, and the bayou. Despite moving away from there at such a young age, I still have pretty vivid memories (whether those are assisted by videos and pictures I'm not sure) of that house and yard and, of course, that bayou.

Santa Claus was one of my favorite parts of Christmas growing up. I remember the excitement of waking up (at about 4 a.m.) on Christmas morning and patiently waiting in my sister's room until a more decent hour (6 a.m. was my parent's appointed "wake up" time for Christmas morning) and then running into the living room to see our presents from Santa unwrapped and waiting for us to play with them.

One year, us kids decided to "test the limits" of Santa, and asked for something humongous.

A present we thought was so large and expensive that only Santa would be able to pull it off.

It's something we had seen hanging from the side of the Wal-Mart, and we knew it had to be in our backyard.

That's right. We asked for a trampoline.

I don't know how or why we were so brave, but let me tell you, until I was probably in 5th grade I thought that a trampoline was so ridiculously expensive that no one on Earth (including my parents) could afford it.

Well, one person on Earth could... and that was Santa and he lived in the North Pole.

That Christmas morning we ran into the living room, looked at the tree and... no unwrapped presents there. We hightailed it to the windows, pressed our faces against the glass, peered out in the not-yet-daylight foggy morning, and behold! a trampoline! in our backyard!

Santa delivered.

I remember years later, telling that story to any and all who would listen as proof that Santa was the real deal. No way my parents could afford a trampoline, I'd declare. He's real. No doubt.

I'm not sure at what point I realized that a trampoline cost about $200. And I'm not sure at what point I realized that $200 was something my parents could afford.

But that magical moment of believing has stuck with me over the years.

And every time I see a trampoline hanging from the side of a Wal-Mart, I smile.

You sneaky, Christmas!

2011-12-16T09:05:00.000-05:00

Anyone else feel a little hoodwinked by the holidays?

I don't know why, but I feel seriously tricked by Christmas this year. As in, I cannot believe that we're in the less than double digits of days away from the 25th.

What happened?

I'm blaming the weather.

The weather is a great thing to blame.

But seriously, it has me all messed up this year. We've had an extremely mild late fall/early winter. As in, high 50s most of the time with a few colder exceptions (and that random October snow). When I'm walking around in my fall jacket and no scarf for so long I just can't get into the Christmas spirit.

I bet I've completely lost all my Southern readers at this point.

Let me explain: by this point I've become pretty reliant on the seasons alerting me to what time of year it is. Warmer temps and cherry blossoms? It must be close to Easter! Falling leaves and cooler evenings? Halloween should be around the corner!

This year I had no help from the seasons. I'm still in pre-Thanksgiving mode actually, still scoffing at Christmas decorations and displays in store (Christmas already? gah!).

That might be an exaggeration.

Regardless, I am not ready for Christmas. I mean, sure, I've done some shopping, I have lists done, a few decorations are out, some lights are up, but still I have this feeling that we're eons away from Christmas day.

It really didn't hit me to do any of the above until I was sitting in church last weekend and noticed that it was the third Sunday in Advent. Third? But there's only four!

I don't know what it will take, but I need to get into the Christmas spirit stat! Any tips or ideas?

Quick side note: Today on the metro I saw the best ad ever. It had a picture of the three magi and it said "They took a camel and followed a star. You can just take metro" and then it had a listing of all the Catholic churches near a metro station. Great idea Archdiocese of Washington!

Quick side note number 2: Yes, I just finished watching the You Sneaky Mom video on youtube. Why do you ask?

The 2000s: Americana and its immigrants

2011-12-14T10:44:00.000-05:00

First off, I just want to ask what is up with Maine and writers? More and more books are set in Maine, or the characters are from Maine, or the "author and her husband currently reside in Maine." I'm coming to the conclusion that Maine must be a magical writer's paradise...and I'm ready to pack my bags? Who is coming with me?

I recently finished reading the Pulitzer Prize winners of the 2000s. Before I started methodically reading through the decades (which I'm loving by the way), I had mentioned that I had been enjoying reading the books of our own century.

The 2000s (2000-2009) was the decade of my first crack at adulthood and independence—I went to college, then grad school, got married, got my first full time job (and second), moved across the country and bought a house. I became more politically aware, more up to date and knowledgeable of current events, and experienced an overall awakening that people didn't all grow up on a cul-de-sac in Mandeville with a brother and a sister and a banana-seat bike.

Source: Amazon

The books from this decade were pretty evenly split between historical and present-day fiction (with a big question mark going to The Road—is that the future? I hope not?). As I look over the 10 books, a few common themes and threads emerge.

For being a country made up of immigrants, we really don't have a stellar track record when it comes to welcoming and accepting immigrants. We've always had prejudices against certain groups—Italians, Jews, Irish, Japanese, Catholics, etc. Several books explored the immigrant's experience, whether in present day (Oscar Wao and The Interpreter of Maladies) or earlier in the 20th century (Middlesex and The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay). Instead of a narrow focus on the victimized, the books showed the heroic, the possibilities and opportunities that exist in the U.S. regardless of any xenophobic tendencies. Kavalier and Clay exemplifies this the best, and is a book I highly recommend.

Source: Amazon.

On what might be thought of as the complete opposite end, several books really felt like a slice of apple pie Americana. This doesn't mean candy-coated unrealistic representations of American life—no, we embraced the neuroses and took it for a ride. In Empire Falls, Gilead, Olive Kitteredge, and even The Road we come in contact with America—the preacher's son, the man who can't ever leave his sad home town, the nosy woman dabbling in everyone's lives, and the father who would do anything to save his son. And even in the immigrant's account, we're shown what Americana looks like from the outside, and how messy it can get when assimilating to be on the inside.

Other themes that emerged in the 2000s books were oppression, the unknown, the droll, the son.

Source: Amazon.

In addition to Kavalier and Clay, three other books completely wowed me from this decade: The Road, The Known World, and Interpreter of Maladies. As an admitted not-a-huge-fan-of-short-stories, Jhumpa Lahiri swept me off my feet in Interpreter of Maladies and had me reconsidering that silly stance. The one book that I really disliked was Olive Kitteredge, which read like a really bad series of short stories with an unlikeable main character whose insertion in each and every story was more of an annoyance than a delightful surprise.

Next up, the 1990s. I'm finishing up the last couple of books of that decade and will post my thoughts soon. For anyone who is still counting (anyone? anyone?? just me? Ok), I've got 30 more books to go before finishing the Pulitzer Prize list.

7 Quick Apps: Loved your suggestions!

2011-12-09T09:04:00.000-05:00

I've downloaded and played with quite a few apps in the past week, thanks to all of your suggestions, and I wanted to share my favorites so far.

1) Shazam: A few months ago, we were watching the trailer to Crazy, Stupid Love and heard a Radiohead-esque song. So we did what all cavemen do (i.e. people without smartphones and the shazam app), we went to google and searched "what is that song on the crazy stupid love trailer?" Needless to say, we never could find it. Enter Shazam. We pulled up the trailer on youtube, opened up the app, and bam! we learned it was by Muse, called Starlight, and do you want to buy the MP3 at Amazon? Do you want to see when they are on tour? Would you like the lyrics? Love it!!

2) Skype: Bogdan was traveling for work earlier this week and so almost every night we used Skype (which is normal when he's out of town) but I could use skype on my phone! Yay! I'm amazed at the video quality on the Skype app - but it does drain my battery. Still, very cool to be able to open the app on my phone and video chat with my hubby.

3) Gesture Search: This one is a huge time saver. Instead of having to open up "contacts" clicking on "Favorites" and then finding Bogdan's name to call him (or whoever) I can now open up the Gesture app and draw a huge letter "B" and up pops Bogdan's phone (as well as anything else on my phone that starts with a "B"). And it's by Google, so you know the search is good.

4) Amazon Price Checker: This one is great! I've only used it a couple of times, but I can see how very useful it will be. We were at Target this past weekend buying something and I wondered, "is this cheaper on Amazon?" We scanned the barcode and found it was $5 more on Amazon. Nice to know.

5) Keyring: Don't you hate having so many reward cards on your keyring and/or in your wallet? This app lets you scan the barcode on them and saves them on your phone. When you're at the store, pull up the keyring app, see your barcode on the phone and scan it at the store. Can't wait to use this one. It even stores my gym key card and my library card.

6) Evernote: I have to be honest, I've only just begun to understand how to really get the best use of this but so far so good. I've used the "web clipper" on my browser to save some cool sites for Christmas gifts, I've written some notes to remind myself of things, but I really think I've just seen the tip of the iceberg. Waiting to see how and if this is as good as I keep hearing it is.

7) The Google suite: I love that Google is so seamlessly integrated all over my smartphone (thanks to Android, what?). I open up my gallery on the phone and there are all my Picasa photos, I look through my contacts list and see whether my friends are on Google chat, I can quickly and easily scan my Google Reader, Google docs, my maps are google, my search is google, it's Google, Google, Google.

Read more Quick Takes posts here.

LSU is 13-0: Looking back over my 7 seasons at Tiger Stadium

2011-12-05T22:08:00.000-05:00

Following our win over Alabama (oh wait, what? you already beat Alabama? And now you're playing them again in the national championship game?), my cousin Liz shared this adorable post of her time as an LSU student and LSU football fan. I loved the idea and knew that I would have to play along.

Except.

I had to wait until the end of the regular season.

I didn't want our stellar season to end on a ridiculously painful and embarrassing note all because I could not wait until December to share this with you and jinxed it.

So, LSU, Les Miles, Honey Badger, et. al., you're welcome. Definitely no jinxing you this season.

My first football season at LSU was in 2001, and boy did I learn quickly how to party. Great "life" lessons learned in that first year (but! I did have a 4.0, so at least I had some priorities).

Looks innocent enough, right?

Getting a little crazier! This is me and my now brother in law (then he was my sister's boyfriend).

And finally, being a bit tipsy from the daiquiris my sis and I chugged outside of the stadium, I decided to show everyone just how long it had been since I shaved my legs. Good idea, Steff, good idea.

2002: Sophomore football season, calming down a bit.

If it weren't for Erin's sweater and hat (and the green grass behind us) you might not even know we were at an LSU football game.

2003: Fun but not nearly as 2001 crazy.

If I had a dollar for every game that I attended with Kate and Candice... well, I'd have about $50, but we kept it real every season.

As you do in Tiger Stadium, at this game our section of bleachers broke out into a spontaneous kick line.

This kid next to me was the little brother of an (apparently?) highly recruited high school football player, who also gave the camera a small grin. Can anyone ID him? Did he end up playing for us? If so, I'd say it's because he and his lil bro had so much fun with us at this game.

At the SEC championship game! Woo! Oh wait, isn't this the year we won the national championship? Oh, I think it was!

2004: It's already senior year? What? Where did the time go? What will I do after graduation?

That's me showing the ropes to my young friend Jenn! Had some fun at the games that year!

This is the only photographic evidence that I have that I was ever able to get Bogdan to come to me to an LSU football game - and it's blurry! Boo!

2005: You know what? I'm not done with LSU, maybe I'll do grad school. All of you LSU peeps know what that means—2 to 3 more years of tickets in the student section. Score!

Here I am with Jenn again, she was such a quick learner. ;)

2006: Still not done with the student section!

Amanda and I had some good times at the LSU games (even as grad students!)

2007: Darn, I can't stay in grad school longer? Last official LSU football season as a student

Let's end this streak with a bang. Or a Tyrus Thomas. What? Here he is as an NBA pro basketball player coming home to LSU for a football game. So that's what I look like next to 6'8? Oh, and we happened to win the national championship this year too.

What the phone is going on here?

2011-12-01T14:35:00.000-05:00

What was that?

Did you just see a pig fly?

Something crazy impossible might be going on because...

I now have a smartphone!

Smart phones not made for small hands.

Whaaa?

But don't worry.

Hell has not frozen over.

It is not an iPhone.

Nor do I have text messaging.

Ok, so what are your must-have apps? Do tell!

Getting Lost in a Super movie

2011-11-29T18:58:00.000-05:00

There have been very few television shows that have gotten me so hooked that I anxiously await the next week's episode.

Sure, we watch several shows now (Modern Family, HIMYM, Big Bang Theory, House) but we watch them online and only after they've aired live. I don't look forward to the weeknight that they air.

But Lost was different.

From Amazon.

I didn't get in to Lost until about 3 years after it first aired. But as soon as we watched episode after episode on DVD I was hooked and counting down the days until Wednesday nights (all the while reading blogs and Lostpedia trying to hold myself over until the next episode).

Which means I was not very surprised when we finished watching Super 8 this past weekend amazed that it had been so very long since we watched a good movie.

Lost and Super 8 were both J.J. Abram's creations. And it's pretty clear to me that I am a huge Abrams fan.

If you've seen neither Lost nor Super 8, get watching. If you are a Lost fan like me, go rent the movie now.

From Amazon.

From the trailer, you might think this would be a Goonies-esque kids show, but you'd be mistaken. Borrowing from the best elements of Lost, Ambrams and Spielberg combine mystery, action, good acting, and compelling storylines.

On a side note, if there was any wonder whether Ella Fanning was simply riding the coattails of her famous older sister, Dakota, let me just say that nepotism is not at work here. Ella is talented. She was a treat to watch.

So have you seen Super 8? Were you a big Lost fan too?

...Oh how I miss Smokey and Sawyer...

Nov/Dec 2011: Make Something Special for the Holidays

2011-11-20T13:33:00.001-05:00

I've been slacking a bit on the Cookbook Club and haven't posted any recipes yet (whoops!). Cookbook club member Katie had a great idea for a holiday-themed cookbook.

She suggested we each pick our own cookbook and recipes for Thanksgiving or Christmas (or any celebration you may have in the next 2 months) and try something new that we'll all post. I love this idea because it takes the pressure off of having to make something specific, but at the same time encourages us all to try something new.

Without further ado, this month's cookbook will be "you decide!" and this month's recipe will be "you pick!" and this month's alternate recipe will be "you pick that too!" I hope you will join us.

So dust off your cookbook shelves and find a cookbook that is begging to take a place on your kitchen counter and provide you with a fabulous new dish for the holidays, whether it's a surprising main dish, a succulent side, or a tasty dessert.

We'll come back after the holidays, on Wednesday January 4, 2012 and I will post my review and a linky link so we can show off our holiday masterpieces and, hopefully, we'll all get some new ideas and recipes too.

Happy holidays and happy cooking!

Top 5 Puerto Rican Oddities

2011-11-17T17:00:00.001-05:00

Anyone who has traveled to an island in the Caribbean can tell you about the disparate ways of life that coexist on these islands. You have the touristy tropical havens that are the resorts and then you have the "real life" which is often impoverished and appears to be world's apart. While being next door. Puerto Rico is no different. However, instead of focusing on what could become a rather depressing topic, I've decided to explain some of the Puerto Rican "oddities" that we encountered on our trip.

1) One of the best parts about flying AirTran is that they're consistently early (!), and so we arrived 30 minutes early in San Juan. We caught our shuttle to Avis and pulled up to a lot packed with Hyundais. Strangely, when we spoke with the Avis rep., we learned that they had no cars.
The Hyundais? -we asked
Not registered yet.
When will you have a car?
We're not sure.
I wanted to play them this Seinfeld clip, but instead tried to force a smile (grin) and remember that we're in Puerto Rico, and not let this ruin anything.
40 minutes later we drove off the lot.
I believe they call this "island time."

2) Bogdan discovered there were 2 ways to get to our resort from the airport - on an interstate cutting through the middle of the island or a smaller highway following the coast. He imagined spectacular Highway 1 views, but the reality was buildings and trees blocking the view of the beaches and ocean. Dotting the roadside were what seemed to be abandoned shacks that at some point were kiosks for beachgoers. Were they empty because we were there "out of season?" And how ridiculous is it that a place that is year round 85 degrees has a "season" for the beach. Regardless, we soon found that this route was more about showing you the reality of the island (poverty) than the other route.

3) So on this aforementioned route we pull through a very small town - Loiza - and we're driving and we suddenly see 7-10 cop cars on both sides of the road, caution tape roped around some cars and the entrance of a building, and about 15+ cops (some with guns drawn) surrounding the entrance.
But!
That was not the oddest sight in the town.
About a mile farther down the road we saw 3 horses just chilling on the shoulder. Horses. On the side of the road.
I later asked our bellman (who was born in Puerto Rico) whether it was a common occurrence to see horses on the side of the road. He chuckled and nodded.

4) During lunch at the resort one day I asked our waiter about local beers. There are apparently two, so I tried Magna beer. It was pretty tasty, so when we headed to Old San Juan one night for dinner at a small restaurant that serves "homestyle Puerto Rican" food according to Yelp, we ordered 2 Magnas. The woman, who was the only employee at said restaurant, went to look in a nearby refrigerator to see if she had Magna. When she realized she did not, she grabbed two random beers, walked out the front door, down the street, where we assume she "traded" those beers for 2 Magnas at a nearby restaurant. We drank Magna that night with our Mofongo. And it was all awesome.

5) We bought cereal at a grocery store and milk, which we stored in our mini-fridge in the room. I called room service to bring us two bowls and two spoons so we could eat breakfast in our room the next morning. Two hours later (and several more phone calls) we got the bowls. We became very territorial about the bowls, and even put them in the room's safe one evening when we knew the maids would be coming for turndown so they wouldn't take them from us.
Yes, we put bowls (and spoons) in the safe.

These are the types of things that make trips memorable. We definitely had a memorable trip. :)

Our Puerto Rico Activities - We actually relaxed!

2011-11-16T09:22:00.000-05:00

My main goal of this trip was to rein in our tendency to go-go-go on trips, and just spend our time relaxing. I'd say I succeeded at this—I don't think I've ever had a more relaxing trip—but we still did a lot.

Bogdan's been working from home a lot lately so he thought his idea of setting the alarm clock (on vacation?!) for 6:30 a.m. (!!!) was a good one. I agreed with his point that we shouldn't sleep the trip away, but I drew the line at 6:30. We set it for 7 a.m.

We mostly were up by 6:40 a.m., which was nice to not be rudely awoken by an alarm (on vacation!).

The first morning, after spending an inordinate amount of time sipping coffee on the plantation house porch while calmly watching the waves crash on the nearby beach, we walked to the boat house and borrowed bikes. We explored the trails and bird sanctuary on two wheels and then headed straight to the beach.

One thing we had been unaware of was that the resort is on the Atlantic side of Puerto Rico, so that meant no crystal clear Caribbean, but huge (and fun!) waves. I suggested we try out the resort's boogie boards, and Bogdan (despite being skeptical of their fun factor beforehand) could barely be peeled away from that board by trip's end.

We got a hang of it quickly and rode the large waves all the way into shore (that is, when we weren't being knocked out, somersaulted, and splattered about by the larger un-tamable and unruly waves). I had sand everywhere. There are still clumps of sand in my swimsuits in between the liner, which baffles me since there are no holes in the suit or liner.

See.

Not a fan of sand. It is sneaky.

We spent very little time at the pool, as it was the more popular spot, but would hide under our beach umbrella while our freshly applied sunscreen dried before running back into the ocean squealing like children.

On our second morning we drove to El Yunque National Rainforest and hiked the wet and rainy trail to a beautiful waterfall with its very own swimming "pool."

The main activity I wanted to try was stand up paddle boarding (and, yes, it's because I've seen so many celebs doing it, OK?). We did that our last morning at the resort. We stood on the boards and paddled the perimeter of a large lake looking for birds and turtles and fish.

As I write all of this I fear it may appear that I was unsuccessful in my quest for relaxation, but despite what it may sound like, we truly spent most of our time lounging on beach chaises, pool chairs, plantation porch sofas, and on our own private balcony chairs. Perhaps it's a product of being up before 7? Either way, at the end of our trip we moved around zombie-like without a care in the world.

The St. Regis Bahia Beach Resort - Wow!

2011-11-15T10:04:00.002-05:00

The resort itself is worth a post. I don't know exactly what we had imagined the resort would be like, but it surpassed all of our notions. The whole time at the resort was an "experience" (or a journey, as St. Regis calls it) from the moment they opened our car doors at the entrance to the time of our departure a few days later.

Guests are greeted by a bellman who escorts you to reception, shows you parts of the resort grounds, takes you and your bags to your room, and then spends 10-15 minutes explaining (showing off) the amenities—like the shower the "size of a NYC apartment" or the TV behind the bathroom mirror, or the stunning jungle view from your private balcony.

Shower the size of an apartment and me watching Big Bang Theory in the mirror.

View from our balcony.

The resort is very large and you actually need a map to get oriented—boat house here, bird sanctuary there, golf club house here, etc. Everywhere you walk—whether on raised wooden walkways, secluded paved paths or gravel trails—you're treated to views of incredibly well designed landscapes that seems to place you smack dab in the middle of the world's most manicured jungle.

Then you get to the pool.

And, well, just wow.

The beach is nice too, with El Yunque mountain looming in the background, and on our first evening I think we walked the full 3 miles of the private beach.

The main building, called the plantation house, houses the reception, concierge, bar and fancy pants restaurant. We finally figured out for whom Restoration Hardware designs its wares—only in spaces that large and expansive can their accessories and light fixtures "work."

At night everything is thoughtfully illuminated and our nighttime strolls were accompanied by a chorus of coqui tree frogs (who sing "coqui aqui") and other insects.

No matter where we were in the resort, we were well taken care of by the staff. You could call it pampered.

Or spoiled.

Whichever.

And so we discovered, in a short amount of time, that sometimes you truly get what you pay for.

Where would you go for three free nights?

2011-11-13T14:57:00.001-05:00

Although some people might actually enjoy traveling for work, Bogdan and I both would disagree. It's tough being away from home, away from your family, and the worst part - eating dinner by yourself. However, good things came out of Bogdan's summer business traveling, in addition to our visit to Highway 1, Yosemite, and San Francisco, we earned three free nights in any Starwood Resort around the world.

We had to use the free nights before the end of 2011, and so we spent a couple of months deliberating on our options. Yes, there is a Starwood resort in Rome and Fiji and other ridiculous places, but the fact that we had only three nights (and that I did not have a ton of vacation days accumulated) meant that we needed to stay closer to home. We narrowed it down to a Caribbean resort because we never made it to the beach this summer (well, never made it to a beach where we could actually swim this summer) and further narrowed it down based on the availability of quick (and inexpensive) flights.

The result: Puerto Rico.

We booked the free nights, bought our nonstop from Baltimore tickets, and packed our swimsuits and flip flops while wearing sweaters and cozy socks. We arrived in San Juan on Tuesday afternoon greeted by 85 degree weather and 85% humidity. Welcome to the island.

Bogdan and I are admittedly frugal travelers. We travel with the idea that if we're spending money on travel it makes more sense to see as much as we can and stay as long as possible, which means we always pick very inexpensive lodging.

The Starwood Resort (St. Regis Bahia Beach) is a five star resort with rooms starting at about $600. As we drove through the jungle of an entrance (a couple of miles of palm tree lined and immaculately landscaped grounds that meanders over bridges with views of peaceful lakes, large fountains, and lush tropical life) and then pulled up to the grand entrance, we knew this would be nothing like anywhere we've stayed before.

We spent last week in Puerto Rico!

2011-11-12T09:35:00.001-05:00

For the past week we've been chilling in Puerto Rico where it's 85 degrees, sunny, and perfect for swimming and playing on the beach.

I've posted pictures here and will write some posts about our trip in the next few days.

It's been tough to come home to a freezing house, but we're happy to be home safe (and still have the weekend to recuperate!).

A hardy Fall and a beautiful foliage bouquet

2011-11-09T07:29:00.001-05:00

Despite the snow a couple of weeks ago, autumn is still in full force here in Maryland. The leaves are still changing and dropping and surprisingly all of our plants survived the early snow (even that pretty yellow rose).

I know that in a couple of weeks the trees will once again be bare and the days will get colder.

While I still had the chance, I wanted to "capture" the foliage in a different way this year, so I used another DesignSponge post to inspire me to make this bouquet.

The tutorial post was from early October, which was just too soon for the leaves around here. A few days ago I was getting out of the car and noticed a ton of bright beautiful leaves in the street.

On Sunday, I went outside a selected a few leaves to "test" the tutorial.

The result was so cute that I went to Michael's later that day to buy floral tape. Leaves perfect for this project were scattered all over the sidewalk across from the house. I gathered a bunch and then started working.

It was so much fun and I'm happy with the colorful results.

Happy Fall!

Pinteresting Project: Chalkboard Paint Kitchen Jars

2011-11-06T16:28:00.000-05:00

Back in the spring I saw a post on DesignSponge about painting terra cotta planters with chalkboard paint to write the name of the seeds you planted. When I read it more closely I realized that they just suggested using regular paint because, well, you can use chalk on a terra cotta pot already... I never did this to my pots, but it was sitting back there in my mind for a while.

Within the last several months, Bogdan and I have started storing our flour and grains in clear jars and storing them on the counter. It's so much easier to open a jar and grab a scoop of flour than having to dig the bag out of the pantry. Plus, our pantry is pretty small, so we liked the space-saving aspect of it as well.

As much as I loved the access, I started to realize that I would put rice or cous cous or pasta in a jar, throw out the packaging (or just buy in bulk at the store) and then forget the cooking directions.

That's when I remembered the designsponge project. I bought chalkboard paint and started working.

I copied (by hand) their template ideas for cute shapes and then cut out the shape on thick paper. I taped the paper on the jar with masking tape and started painting.

I didn't have a sponge brush, but that would have been much better for this project.

I did a second coat (4 hours later per the instructions) and waited for it to dry. Because my taped paper cut outs were not fool-proof, I used an exacto-knife to clean up some of the edges and smudges. Then I had to wait days (so hard!) for it to dry and cure properly. Once that was done, I bought some chalk and started designing.

I love that I can now put water to grain ratios, cooking time, and/or just what the heck is in the jar.

Reading the 1950s: What I learned from Pulitzer winners

2011-11-03T14:16:00.000-04:00

I mentioned in my previous post about my Pulitzer winner reading project that I was reading through decades now. I started with the 1980s, which I named my "lost decade," and then decided to read the 1950s.

Much like the 80's, I discovered some trends and learned a lot about that decade just from reading its prized novels.

Source.

First thing: war was on everyone's mind.

This makes sense. The second world war had just wrapped up in the late 40s and most everyone living in the 1950s had been affected personally by the devastating war. Some of the books were solely about war - Caine Mutiny, Andersonville, and A Fable - and another was about death (A Death in the Family). The one book about WWII, Caine Mutiny, was interestingly humorous and almost light hearted, which may be because the war was so fresh in everyone's minds they really couldn't deal with a dragged out heart wrenching tale. The others were more serious and caused you to really consider war and death and what affect it has on us.

The second thing I learned was that people were interested in pioneers and the frontier.

It's funny if you think about it because thanks to the G.I. Bill young veterans and their wives (and quickly growing families!) were moving out of the cities in droves and creating the suburbs that define our country now. Perhaps those vets and wives considered themselves pioneers in a sort, charting new territory and creating new communities and civilization.

Source.

Or maybe just everyone likes a good frontier tale, and that's what we had in The Travels of Jaimie McPheeters, The Way West, and The Town.

I find it very surprising (and odd!) that Ernest Hemingway only won one Pulitzer prize. In fact, I even looked at the year's where he published some of his (in my opinion) greatest works to see what had won instead.

In 1940, Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath beat out For Whom the Bell Tolls, which could answer that question (although it's still a close call!). Hemingway published A Farewell to Arms in 1929 and was beat by Scarlet Sister Mary (I have not read it yet). In 1926, Sinclair Lewis won the prize for his book Arrowsmith (note that he declined the prize!) and that was the year Hemingway published The Sun Also Rises. Side by side, I'd say Hemingway wins by a long shot, but I wasn't a huge fan of Lewis's work and even less of a fan of his whiny main character.

Source.

I've also never been asked to be a judge on the Pulitzer committee.

Yet!

Hemingway won the prize in 1953 for Old Man and the Sea. Despite it being basically a short story, the novel sticks with you and is definitely one of his top works.

Reading methodically through each decade has been an interesting way to get through the Pulitzer list (I'm at 48 out of 85), so I've decided to continue with the 2000s. Look for that post soon!

It's Snow-tober in Maryland

2011-10-31T09:55:00.000-04:00

We had some unexpected snow this past weekend. Most trees in Maryland still have leaves and are far from being dormant, so this wet heavy snow was not really a welcomed sight.Luckily, when we emerged from the house yesterday it appears as if all our plants and trees survived the early snow.

Even our still blooming roses.

Snow wasn't the only visitor to Frederick this weekend, we also got see some family who were visiting from out of town. My aunt and uncle spent the night at our house on Friday, and then Saturday my cousin and her hubby came to see our house and my aunt from Hagerstown met us too. We had a great visit and were happy that everyone had safe travels in the snowy weather.

Aunt Lucy, Jim, and Liz

Picture by Liz.

As I read about millions without power and several feet of snow farther north, I'm happy that all we had was a wet cold and snowy October Saturday.

Why I love homemade Halloween

2011-10-28T09:19:00.001-04:00

Halloween is most definitely one of my favorite holidays. The inherent creativity of the holiday is what attracts me. As children, my mom never let us buy a Halloween costume and instead helped us design, create and execute our homemade masterpieces. We were very creative with our costume ideas (I was a half man/half woman one year and my sister was a shower once).

As an adult, I continued this tradition and have dressed up in homemade costumes many times since (I've been a peacock, a flapper, Kim Possible, Lara Croft Tomb Raider, Audrey Hepburn in Funny Face, etc). One thing I've noticed after all these years is that I tend to have more fun coming up with a costume idea and creating it than I do at the actual Halloween festivity.


Source (updated). Can I just take this opportunity to say how much I dislike Tumblr. I can never find the original source for photos. So, if this is your photo, and I've incorrectly sourced this, please let me know!

I've known Bogdan for close to 7 years now and in all that time I've only convinced him once to dress up for Halloween. We were dating back then and my friend BJ and I decided we wanted to be the Scooby Doo gang. I dressed up as Velma, she was Daphne, Bogdan was Fred, and BJ's boyfriend at the time was Shaggy. Our costumes were a hit.

This year I saw my sister had pinned the cutest Mary Poppins costume ever. Immediately I wanted to not only dress up as Mary Poppins (and convince Bogdan to dress up as Chimney Sweeper Bert), but I also wanted to find something that we could attend to give us an excuse to dress up. I started searching Mary Poppins costumes and came across some great homemade ideas.

But then I found something that has scarred me.

Amid the cute poofy skirts, black hats with daisies, sensible heels, red bow ties, and carpet bags, was an abomination.

It was a "sexy" Mary Poppins costume.

Scarred.

It was named something ridiculous like "a spoonful of sugar" or something other, and I quickly closed my browser and quit my search. That's when it hit me—this is why I dislike the anti-homemade Halloween. It takes very little (if any) creativity or imagination to buy a sexy Mary Poppins costume (shudder) and when it comes down to it, you're out $50+ and you most likely feel a bit ridiculous at that costume party and wonder why-oh-why you never win the costume contests.

With that in mind, I wanted to share with everyone a great website with tons of homemade Halloween costumes to get your last minute costume ideas rolling. Whether you decide to be a bowl of macaroni and cheese, David Bowie from Labyrinth, garden gnomes, lego pieces, or a baby-sized hobo, let this be a holiday where you get creative and have more fun with the process than with the final product.

Happy Halloween!

Sept/Oct 2011: Cookbook Club Review

2011-10-26T09:17:00.000-04:00

Sept/Oct 2011 - Mastering The Art of French Cooking - Filets de Poisson Bercy aux Champignons

I've mentioned it before, but I really enjoy Julia Child's cookbook. I feel like every time I make a recipe from her book I not only have a pretty good meal, but I also come away with an understanding of a new cooking technique that I can use later (perhaps when coming up with my own recipes).

This month's recipe was no different. We love fish and try to cook it pretty often in our house, but I had never ever poached fish before. There's a first time for everything. Preparing the dish was easy and straightforward. I don't own (yet) a casserole dish that can go on the stove, so instead I used one of my All Clad pans that is oven safe.

I sauteed the mushrooms, arranged the fish and butter, poured the wine and water and topped with the mushrooms. After bringing it all to a simmer over the stove, I put the pan in the oven and let it simmer.

I was very careful when taking my pan out of the oven because it's very easy to forget that the handle is just as hot as the rest of the pan (unfortunately I got burned pretty bad once making this mistake), so I wrapped a towel around the handle to remind myself.

Making the sauce was very easy as well (I love Julia Child's sauces and make her Bechamel sauce pretty often to serve with pasta). Everything came together easily and I served our fish with cous cous and a salad topped with goat cheese.

The verdict? Well, honestly, I was not wowed. I loved the sauce, it was delicious. However, the fish was not my favorite. It was good, but I didn't like it more than any of the other many ways I cook fish.

A few things to point out - 1) I used tilapia, which was not on the extensive list of substitute fish, so maybe that was an issue; 2) Bogdan thinks if I had added some Tony's to the salt and pepper when I seasoned the fish before cooking all would be perfect; 3) I think he might be on to something. Did I say that the sauce was delightful? It was.

Will I make the recipe again? You know, I'm not sure. I might try it with another type of fish one day and use the Tony's trick. I don't see it becoming a "regular" fish dish in our house, though. What did you think of it? How did your fish come out?

Alternate Recipe: Potage Parmentier. I've made this soup before and thought it was the best potato soup ever. You can read more about it here. What did you think of the soup?

Copy and paste the code below into your review blog post for a totally awesome Cookbook Club image.

<a href="http://stephandbogdan.blogspot.com"><img alt="Cookbook Club at Moving to Maryland" height="105" width="200" border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-sO1f7BBi1MA/Tl1oAWt9lQI/AAAAAAAAedI/CqnByj2UAKQ/s800/cookbookclubllogosm.jpg" /></a>

7 Quick Takes - LSU Style

2011-10-21T08:58:00.000-04:00

1) Geaux Tigers: It's a great season to be an LSU Tigers fan. One of my favorite things are the hype videos that LSU Sports puts on YouTube...like this one

2) Meaux: While browsing the LSU Sports YouTube channel, I came across this series of videos with the keeper from the LSU women's soccer team (her name is Mo, but she's been renamed "Meaux") who challenges football players to different athletic events. It's actually kind of cute. The Tyrann Mathieu one is funny and worth watching if just to see Tyrann (Honey Badger, Tyrann-osaurus) run backwards through that ladder thing (yes, that is its technical name).

3) A neglected crockpot: I just realized that it's been a ridiculously long time since I've used my crockpot. I have a few recipes that I love making in it, but I'm looking for some new ones. What are your favorites?

4) Fall planting, Part 2: We got back in the garden last weekend to plant a few more things before the first frost. I'm really excited about the way everything is coming together in our yard.

5) Pinterest Project: Last weekend I picked up some supplies to do a (another) Pinterest project. I actually never saw this particular idea on the totally addictive site, but it's right up the Pinterest alley. Look for the post (and pin) soon.

6) More 24: We've continued watching episodes of 24 and have lately been impersonating Tony Almeida when he says "yeah." Anytime we answer each other in the affirmative, it's been Tony Almeida style. So imagine my surprise when I found this Tony "yeah" montage.

7) Cookbook Club: This is just a reminder that I'll be posting the cookbook club review and linky link next week. So, if you haven't had a chance to make the recipe (in the past 2 months - I'm looking at you, Stephanie) you better start cooking!

And, as always, read all the 7 Quick Takes posts here.

Went on down to the National Zoo

2011-10-18T19:47:00.000-04:00

This past weekend, we made a trip down to D.C. to the National Zoo. Bogdan has been wanting to go for a while now, and since the weather was beautiful and it was the day after his bday (or "birthday week" as he called it, which has been noted and will be fully exploited by yours truly next year) we decided to go.

We were walking up to the entrance and Bogdan said, "I know you don't like zoos, but..."

I interrupted him. "Wha? Excuse me?"

"You don't like zoos."

"Who told you that? Did I say that?"

Then, 15 minutes in on our tour of the zoo, I concluded, "I don't like zoos."

This has happened before, by the way. The whole being reminded about some random declaration of distaste I apparently made in the past but having no recollection of having ever said that...aloud. For example, my friend Candice once wrote to me about an idea for a beach trip in which she said, "I know you don't like sand, but the beach is..."

What?

I don't like sand?

Well, I really don't like sand, when I come to think about it. It gets stuck in places and never ever goes away. But how did she know that? And why, oh why, did I ever make the point to tell someone that?

Back to the zoo. We had the let down of standing in front of the sloth bear exhibit for a few minutes, wandering around looking in at all angles and not ever seeing him. Sloth. Then we saw some elephants, which was cool and all, they were even doing tricks, but something about it was...just...sad? The final nail in the "I don't like zoos and you can hang a sign about it on my door" was when we entered the ape house. The rancid ape smell was emanating from the doors before we even opened them, and then, after standing inside watching an ape eat an Amazon.com box for a while and realizing I no longer noticed the smell and hoping to all that is good that I hadn't somehow allowed the smell to seep into my clothing and hair...well, this is when it solidified.

So there, I don't like zoos.

I don't hate zoos. And I actually remember really enjoying the Audubon Zoo in New Orleans. But if you gave me a choice, I'd go to the aquarium.

Have a very minion birthday

2011-10-16T10:48:00.000-04:00

Earlier this year, Bogdan and I watched the movie Despicable Me, and in addition to thinking it was a cute and funny movie, we developed a perhaps unhealthy habit of watching youtube videos of our favorite Despicable Me characters—the minions. For those of you who have not seen the movie, the premise is that a criminal mastermind is trying to pull off his biggest crime yet (stealing the moon!) with the help of his hundreds of "minions" who do his dirty work. These pint sized yellow creatures are not only strangely cute, but they are hilarious. This is probably one of our favorite minion youtube videos.

Fast forward a few months: one day I was browsing Pinterest and found a picture of minion cupcakes. I immediately pinned it, checked out the source blog, and found a great how-to post on how to make minion cupcakes. I knew I would attempt it for Bogdan's birthday.

Because Bogdan now accompanies me on our weekly grocery trip, it was difficult being sneaky buying the absolutely random ingredients for the minions—twinkies (I had to ask where these even were in the store, which ended up being on the bread aisle), smarties, icing in a tube—but I kept imploring Bogdan to not ask and please don't ruin the surprise!

I started working on the cupcakes and, I won't lie, a few hours later the minions were ready to take over the world... and/or Bogdan's stomach and heart. There were more than a few times throughout the process that I imagined, with horror, the thought of my cupcakes ending up on Cake Wrecks, but I persevered and I'm happy I did. On his birthday, I set up the cupcakes and lit some candles. Bogdan was so surprised! He loved them and thought they were hilarious. He did mention that he's never tried a twinkie, so there's a first time for everything. Even though my cupcakes looked extremely amateur compared with the original, I'm still happy with the product.

Ready to make your own minion cupcakes? Well, here's how!
Ingredients: cupcakes, icing, twinkies, smarties, brown sprinkles (aka jimmies)

1. Bake cupcakes, let them cool and frost them.

2. Sort out white smarties and draw a small dot with black icing (or in my case brown because I used a chocolate icing in a tube) on the center of each—these are the eyes so you can get creative about the placement of the "pupils."

3. Unwrap a twinkie and lay flat. Draw two black lines with the icing around the front and sides of the twinkie, one near each end (see picture).

4. Take four white smarties and place two smarties securely on each black line.

5. Dye a small amount of icing gray. I did this by mixing a few drops of green, red, yellow, and blue food coloring in a small bowl and then dropping a small amount of the dye in the icing. I kept tweaking the dyes until it was the gray color I wanted. Pipe the gray icing around the smarties for the "goggles."

6. Draw a smile underneath the eyes in black icing.

7. Cut the twinkie in two.

8. Stand up and set each minion in the middle of a frosted cupcake. Stick in 2 or 3 brown sprinkles on the top for the hair.

On another note, kids in our neighborhood can look forward to getting leftover smarties and twinkies this Halloween. :)

My (odd?) attraction to paper

2011-10-12T15:26:00.003-04:00

I love paper products. Seriously. A beautifully designed and thoughtful card can be a work of art to me. I could spend hours in a paper store admiring (and maybe drooling) over the imaginative products for sale.

I wouldn't be surprised if one day I opened my own paper shop.

But I'll probably choose not to do wedding invites.

Because that opens the door to dealing with bridezillas.

I can't have that.

For now, I admire paper from afar. I make a few purchases. I cull a list of some of the most interesting paper companies (that I would one day carry in my - probably never going to come to fruition - store).

Not sure where or how the attraction started. Recently, my mom wrote me a note on some hand made stationery I had made her as a gift many many years ago. It was white computer paper with her name decorated as prettily as my hand could make it back then and generously stamped all over with those Crayola Stamp Markers. (remember those?). It seems that even back then I liked stationery (and/or had to come up with a homemade gift on the dime - who can know, really).

Below are some of my favorite paper companies and products. I'd love for you to share your favorites too.

1) Egg press: I just love these letterpress products. Egg press balances the beautiful, the wit and the charm. (Be sure to click the pictures for a bigger view!)

2) Binth: I love their whimsical look. Plus Binth always has the cutest animals.

3) Snow and Graham: Very floral and sometimes borderline girly. But I still love Snow and Graham.

4) Elum: Another outstanding letterpress group. Elum is great at creating beautiful patterns and prints.

5) Great Lakes: When I look at their cards, I feel like I'm living in a Michael Cera movie. The hand made quality of it also really appeals to me (you know, the ex-homemade-stationery-maker extraordinaire)

And finally, just for fun, I found this card at Paper Source and it had me giggling.

7 Quick Photos I love

2011-10-07T10:32:00.000-04:00

Randomly I was looking through some of my old Picasa albums and came across a few pictures that I had completely forgotten about and love. I decided I'd do a 7 Quick Photos post instead of 7 Quick takes. Enjoy!

1) Serenity: This was taken in Annapolis in October 2008. I love how peaceful it is.

2) Ukraine: On my first trip to Ukraine (in the middle of winter, mind you) we toured Lavra. I love this picture I got of Bogdan and his mom. It looks like it could have been from another time period, no?

3) Noah: I know I featured a whole guest post on this guy, but he's just too cute to not share again.

4) Artsy Toronto: I have to say that even now, 3 years later, I'm still struck by how artsy Toronto is. Definitely a cool place to visit.

5) Snowy Cabin: I know this picture is a little dark, but it's also so cozy.

6) Home: I chopped the top off of the cathedral, but it's home and it's pretty.

7) Twisty Tree: I love being able to see the "bones" of a tree during fall and winter.

Find more Quick Takes posts here.

Three things I like and (can-you-believe-it) dislike about Fall

2011-10-05T09:09:00.001-04:00

The past couple of days have really felt like Fall here in Maryland. As usual, people are over-responding by pulling out wrinkled puffer jackets, heavy wool scarves and mittens for their commute to work (in 60 degree weather, mind you).

Every year at this time I'm reminded of how much I love this season and this month. It's my fourth October in Maryland and—perhaps not surprisingly—I've blogged about how much I love this month and/or season each of those years. Exhibit A, B, and C.

Not one to break with traditions, I compiled a list of my top 3 things I like about Fall, and while doing so, I discovered there are—shocking—a few things about this season that I'm not crazy about.

I like Fall (and October) because:
1) The leaves are beginning to change colors, some have fallen to the ground, and the crisp Fall air is delightful.

2) This month I can switch out my summer wardrobe for winter, which means scarves, boots, and cashmere. Enough said.

3) The oven! Oh the oven! All summer I have neglected you. But now I can bake and broil to my heart's delight.

I dislike Fall because:
1) I hate waking up when it's dark outside. It's just so difficult. However, by the time I'm walking to the train, the sun is *this close* to poking its bright shining head out of the horizon and the sky is painted with an array of colors so beautiful that the fact that I woke up when it was dark...means so little...

2) We're edging up to our third winter in our new house (can I still call it new?) and I've come to the conclusion that Bogdan will perpetually be worried and conservative about using our heating oil. This means that October is usually accompanied by a cold house. Brr... Of course, using the oven helps with this problem...

3) I'm a bit like Monica from Friends when it comes to being sick—I just don't get sick that often and I pride myself of that fact. But this year, a little Monster named Reece gave me a cold and for the past week or so I've been coughing, sneezing, blowing my nose, and feeling under the weather. Of course, the fact that I got to spend time and play trains with that little Monster all but negates my damaged pride of not-being-sick.

Nevertheless, Fall you are still my favorite season. And October, you are definitely one of my favorite months.

You're welcome.

Ten places for eating and drinking in Louisiana (and a bonus)

2011-09-29T09:00:00.000-04:00

We spent the past weekend (and a couple of weekdays) in Louisiana. Not surprisingly we spent a large portion of our time stuffing our face with incredible food, leaving us even more befuddled as to why food in Maryland (and DC and Virginia) doesn't taste this good.

Why?

Really.

A quick check on Google Analytics shows me that a large portion of my readership is from Louisiana (represent), but I wanted to share the Louisiana food love to everyone else. And, you Louisianans might even learn something too. In semi-chronological order I'm going to tell you what we ate, why it was awesome, and how you can try some yourself.

#1) Raising Canes: This was our first stop out of the MSY airport. We went to the Canes on Veterans Blvd and ran into real live Saints players. Ran into them because they were huge. Bogdan is not a fan of fast food...except for Canes. He had a 3 finger combo. Canes are popping up everywhere in the South, so if you have one nearby I would definitely try it.

#2) Caffe Caffe: Oh you all read about Caffe Caffe just a couple of weeks ago. Well we also made my mom stop at this coffee shop before heading across the lake home. Freeze Float? Check!

#3) Chimes of Covington: An LSU tradition has made its way down Interstate 12 and into the loving and open embrace of the northshore. This place was crazy packed. The food is the same, which means you should get Red Beans (the side dish is plenty for dinner for me and costs less than $4) and the Crawfish Etoufee.

#4) CC's Coffee: Had (more than) a few cups of medium roast coffee with a shot of caramel. Just as good as I remembered.

#5) Cafe Du Monde: Mom got us some beignets for Saturday morning. I can't imagine a more perfect breakfast. The best part is that the Cafe Du Monde in Mandeville has a drive through. Enough said.

#6) Danny and Clydes: So this place is a poboy shop in a gas station in Mandeville, which if you're from Louisiana you know means one thing - they are really good. I had fried oysters and everyone else got fried shrimp. Loved it.

Side note: Anyone else notice the abundance of "C's" in this list?

#7) Mr. B's: We spent two nights in downtown New Orleans (I was attending a conference) and on our first night, Sunday, we ate at Mr. B's because the french quarter was packed with really happy Saints fans (who dat?) and there was a wait at our first restaurant choice. Despite having to pay more than we had wanted for dinner, the trip to Mr. B's was well worth it. I got myself all kinds of messy with the BBQ shrimp and Bogdan loved his shrimp and grits.

#8) Deanies: We had tried to eat here on Sunday night, so we decided to try again for lunch. We had much better luck. The prices here are right and the place is super casual. I had the seafood gumbo (pretty good although too heavy on the spice) and Bogdan had a crawfish platter with crawfish etoufee and fried crawfish.

#9) G.W. Fins: Then, on Monday night, we went to heaven. My godparents took us to eat at G.W. Fins and it was incredible. I had the Lobster Feast, which meant I got to enjoy three courses of lobster (bisque, roll, deviled-crab-stuffed baked). Bogdan had the swordfish and was a big fan. The servers carrying around hot baking sheets with biscuits was also a highlight.

#10) PJ's Coffee: There was a PJ's right next to our hotel, so I might have also had a few Iced Mochas.

#Bonus) Wine Institute of New Orleans: This one is a bonus. We didn't eat anything here, and really only spent about half an hour at the shop, but this still ranks as one of the coolest places in New Orleans. It's a wine shop and wine bar, except that they have about 100+ wines "on tap." You buy a prepaid card and walk around the store with your glass. When you find something you want to try, you insert card, choose 1 oz, 3 oz or a full glass and it will dispense it for you. The pricing is based on the cost of the bottle so you can get a 1 oz sip of a $15 bottle of wine for $1.50 (and you could get a $9 taste of a $90 bottle of wine). It's such a great place to be adventurous with wine without breaking the bank.

7 Quick Takes: Gardening and Ballerinos

2011-09-23T09:28:00.000-04:00

1) Garden transformation: I can't believe it's almost October! Our garden has changed and grown so much since this spring. Last spring I was looking at my pictures and found one of our yard from the previous August. I was shocked at how jungle-like it looked (and how big and unwieldy the butterfly bush was) after having looked at bare branches all winter. I'm sure I'll feel the same way when I look at these pictures next spring.

2) Planting in the fall: We've started our fall planting (hooray!). The plan is to create a few new beds and plant a dogwood tree. Here is what we've done so far:

3) Pyracantha: So if you're in need of a plant that grows like a weed but is also quite stunning, let me suggest the pyracantha. We planted our pyracantha last year when it was probably 12 inches high and maybe 6 inches wide. In one year's time it has exploded to 4.5 feet high and about 3 feet wide. It's also in need of some serious winter pruning.

Pyracantha on left. Here's a shot from the plant's beginning

4) Art-o-Matic: For my local peeps (that's Frederick, MD) I'm super excited about the opening of art-o-matic next week. Yes, the name is a bit cheesy but I'm loving the concept:

"Coming this fall, to the old Frederick Board of Education building in the heart of downtown Frederick, is a five-week, artists-first, all-in-one-place, mother-of-all-art-parties called Artomatic of Frederick. You want visual arts? You got it. Music? It’s here. How about performance art? Poetry readings? Or better yet, do you want to see your kid’s creative artwork covering more than just your refrigerator door? That’s here, too. Beginning Wednesday, September 28th and ending Sunday, November 7th..." Read more.

5) Male ballerinas: I was on the phone with my sister last night and somehow we got to the topic of dance lessons. My nephew told his mom that boys don't take dance lessons and she explained that, yes, sometimes they do. I mentioned male ballet dancers and when my sister told my nephew what I had said, he replied, "she's lying." It got me thinking... what do they call male ballerinas? Not ballerinos? Then what?

Here's proof for Grady (and the photo is from here)

6) Watching 24: I know we're a decade behind the rest of America, but we started watching the first season of 24. Last night after a scene where Terry watched her daughter and car fall off a cliff and explode and then subsequently woke up lying on the ground with no memory of it and started stumbling around like a drunkard, Bogdan got so aggravated that he told me, "She makes all you short hair girls look bad." Thanks, Terry!

7) A million miles: Jen at Conversion Diary wrote a great post about Don Miller's book A Million Miles in a Thousand Years. She spoke about the life-changing capabilities of the book, and even though I didn't have that experience, I enjoyed reading it. These are a few snippets I copied down to remember:

"Ecclesiastes practical advice—find a job you like, enjoy your marriage, and obey God."

"I wonder if the intention of man was to chase sticks and ducks, name animals, create families, and keep looking back at God to feed off his pleasure at our pleasure."

Read all of the Quick Takes posts here.

Sept/Oct. 2011: Back to Basics with Julia

2011-09-17T14:22:00.001-04:00

I'm calling this post back to the basics for a few reasons. One reason is that we've made it one year with this Cookbook Club, starting last September and, with the exception of a few missed months and combined months, we cooked together for a whole year (yay!). The second reason is that now that we've made it a year, I'm proposing a change to the club—I think it will be more sustainable (easier to cook along) if we do one cookbook every two months. Finally, the cookbook I selected for the next two months is the one that got this whole club started: Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking.

That cookbook was a gift from my godparents to me, and it's really changed my mind about what a cookbook should be—not only a collection of recipes but also an in depth resource on methods, tips, and basics to teach you how to be confident in cooking and able to create your own recipes/masterpieces.

I selected a rather basic and quick fish recipe from the cookbook. It's definitely something you can make on a weeknight and it uses the most basic ingredients. If it's anything like the other recipes I've made, don't let the simplicity of ingredients fool you into thinking it will be a plain tasting dish. Julia has surprised me many times already with the depth of flavors from a rather small ingredient list. The recipe is Filets de Poisson Bercy aux Champignons (Fish Filets Poached in White Wine with Mushrooms).

A note from Julia about the fish: her recipes call for European Sole, but you can substitute flounder, whiting, silver hake, dab, tilefish, fresh-water trout, halibut, cod, pollack, striped bass, monkfish - "any of the lean white fish, in other words, may be used in these recipes."

The alternate recipe is one that I've made before, and once again, it's so very simple that you may be shocked at how tasty it is. It's the Potage Parmentier (Potato and Leek or Onion Soup). It's a perfect cooler weather weekend lunch. It will also teach you the basics of a very good soup base from which you can build your own soup creations.

I will post my review and a linky link on Wednesday, October 26.

If anyone has thoughts/objections/ideas about the changes I've made, please comment here or shoot me an email (stephandbogdan at gmail dot com) and we can decide if there's a better way to increase participation. Also, please let me know if you're interested in selecting a cookbook and recipe (you can do it more than once!).

Reading through my lost decade: Pulitzer Update

2011-09-15T18:20:00.001-04:00

I was born in the early 1980s, and although my, perhaps, most vivid childhood memories occurred in the 90's, I somehow still hold this notion that I am a child of the 80s. I realized that if this had truly been the case, I would have been more enthralled with Madonna than New Kids on the Block, I would have had the shame of photographic evidence of hair dos gone wrong much worse than I currently have, and I'd probably have a more astute and first-hand understanding of the Clinton (and possibly Reagan) years. I have come to terms with not being a true 80s child - but I still had a yearning to learn about this "lost decade" that bumbled and bounced all around me while I was more preoccupied with Cabbage Patch kids.

From BN.com

I decided that I would be more systematic in my reading of the Pulitzer fiction list - previously I was selecting books at random avoiding those books with more than 600 pages and/or those housed in that strange and abandoned Western fiction section of my library. I decided to read through the 1980s. I assumed (quite correctly, I must admit) that if I were to read the prized novels of a decade, I might come to understand and perhaps appreciate those lost years of mine.

I had already read a couple of the books from the 80s - A Confederacy of Dunces and Ironweed - and the funny thing was that by forcing myself to read a decade it also meant I had to overcome most of the items on the "avoid" list I mentioned earlier - one of the books was more than 1,000 pages, another was 800 pages and housed in Western fiction, and most annoying of all, I had to endure more Rabbit Angstrom (whom I loathed, and yes, I know he's just a fictional character).

From bn.com

If I had to pick my top 3 from the 1980s it would be the Executioner's Song (the chilling 1,000+ page tome that, at the end, I still wanted more), Beloved (astounding!), and of course, A Confederacy of Dunces.

But I didn't read through the 1980s merely to pick favorites. I wanted to learn something. To extrapolate. And what I found was that life in the 80s was very similar to post-2008 life today. You had a recession, you had ever increasing gas prices, you had a tense political situation at home and abroad, you had frugality, you had questions about the country's biggest issues... In fact, I must say I was a bit shocked to read dialogue in Rabbit is Rich that could be repeated verbatim today without one person knowing it was written 30 years ago - people wanting cars with excellent gas mileage, social security won't be around by the time I'm ready to collect it, and how Carter had no clue what he was doing.

Incredible.

From BN.com

In the Executioner's Song I learned about the drawn out and oft-debated topic of capital punishment. In Breathing Lessons I found a rather bleak view of the institution of marriage. Foreign Affairs brought me the story of expatriates unwittingly desiring home. Beloved and The Color Purple both examined the life of African Americans although in different centuries (19th and 20th, respectively), and while I admit that The Color Purple is everything The Help wished it were, Beloved just blew my mind. Toni Morrison most definitely deserved every prize she received, especially the Nobel for Literature. Ironweed examined the life of the undesirables in our society and how they got there. And in a way, A Confederacy of Dunces does the same thing, but in a much more humorous and entertaining fashion. Rabbit, was Rabbit. And as much as I dislike the character, I have much respect for John Updike for writing such interesting stories about such deplorable characters. Lonesome Dove read like a beautiful movie and a Summons to Memphis showed the result of blaming parents for our problems.

My plan was successful. I finished reading the last book from the 1980s and I was already making connections and drawing conclusions about this decade.

And now, as I continue on my journey of reading all of the Pulitze prize winners (I am now finished with 43 of 85), I think I will start reading the 1950s. My mom was born exactly 30 years before me, and I'm wondering now if she feels the same was as I do about being a child of the 50s. Was she more accurately a child of the 60s? Either way, I'm going to read about that decade next. And I will most definitely update you on what I find.

Losing an old tree

2011-09-11T13:58:00.000-04:00

On Tuesday night, Bogdan and I were sitting on the couch when we heard a very loud (and rather long) thud. We looked at each other with curiosity and then picked up an umbrella and headed out the back door.

It was there, in the dark and rain, that we saw a rather sizable chunk of the tree in the neighbor of our neighbor's yard had split apart and fallen onto our neighbor's roof. The chunk was so large that it also leaned on our fence and umbrella. We started folding down the umbrella and moving things around when I noticed that a power line was intertwined in the fallen branches. Luckily it was not our power line (it was the neighbor's) but I decided to call our power company and let them know.

If you don't live in this area, it was raining here from about Sunday until Friday, basically nonstop, thanks to the lingering remnants of Tropical Storm Lee. Everything was overly saturated and ready for sunshine.

On Thursday, when I was working from home, I heard chain saws. I assumed, at first, that either the power company or the tree's owner was cleaning up the mess of the fallen portion of the tree. However, when I put on a rain coat (it was still raining) and went outside I saw, to my immediate dismay, a man roped on the tree that was still standing cutting it down branch by branch. We later learned that it was a 60 year old tree that is only supposed to live about 20 years and was very unsteady and likely to fall at any point. The owner decided to just cut the whole thing down.

Although the tree was two houses away from our own yard, it was a beautiful, big tree that gave us a lot of shade on our patio in the morning. We were very sad to see it go and now the area looks very bare. I wanted to share a few pictures of the tree that I have - I don't have many - but we will miss the shade it provided, the beautiful smell emanating from its spring blossoms, and the beauty of a large and old tree.

You can see the tree on the right of our cherry tree.

Running in the rain is just as fun as singing

2011-09-07T16:33:00.000-04:00

I try not to blog about the same topic too often, but I had an experience yesterday that I just had to share with you.

I ran in the rain.

I admit that might not seem like a particularly interesting statement. For those of you who read this blog and run, I'm sure about 98% of you are saying, "so what?" And for those of you who don't run, I am sure you're thinking "those runner people just keep getting crazier." But hear me out.

I mentioned last month that I do not run outside in summer. I just don't. That decision came after a few trial and error runs when it was just too hot and too humid outside and almost pushed me over the I-will-never-run-again edge.

However, with rain running, I honestly had never tried it. Of course I'm sure there was some run back in the past few years where either it started raining while I was running or maybe there was a light drizzle of some sort, but for the most part when I'm thinking about working out, if it's raining outside I know that I will not be running out there. Plain and simple.

Yesterday was different though. It was 65 degrees outside at noon (yee!!) and it was such an abrupt end to yet another hot summer that I felt as if I should just run to celebrate. I knew that rain was in the forecast for the whole day, but when I left the office during my lunch break to walk to the gym it was barely drizzling. Like you don't even need an umbrella drizzling. That's when I decided I'm going to run on the trail.

There's a fabulously maintained (and super long) trail right by my work that my feet have pounded plenty of times (in fall, winter, and spring of course) and I've been missing it dearly these past few months. I changed and headed out. It was gorgeous outside. The first half mile I felt amazing and there was barely a drizzle. Then it started raining harder but not too bad and the combination of cool air, fast heart rate, nice stride, good pace, and water all over me was enough to make me an official rain run convert.

The moment I passed the 1-mile marker, the sky opened up and unleashed a torrential downpour, I decided to head back to not be too far out if all heck broke loose. At this point I felt as if I was running in a shower (like in the bathroom). A cool shower. A shower after you've worked out and are all sweaty and it refreshes and revives you.

I got back to where I started and the rain showed no sign of lessening. I decided to play it safe and head back indoor—I didn't want to get caught in a thunderstorm. As I walked in the gym, dripping wet from the rain and probably some sweat, I realized that I've been missing out.

Why drinking coffee at home is odd

2011-09-04T17:46:00.000-04:00

I have odd coffee habits. When changes to those habits occur (such as a move, a change in my commute, a change in job location, etc.) I really get thrown off.

Slightly panicking is probably a more accurate description.

I have no clue why, but for some reason I just am not crazy about coffee at home. It can be the best darn coffee in the world (and the stuff Bogdan buys is pretty darn good) but I just don't drink it. I will, if need be. But when faced with an option, I choose to go out. It's more of a ritual than a drink in the morning. I enjoy the process of heading to a coffee shop (on foot or by car), making small talk with my familiar baristas, and being on my way with a hot cup of tasty coffee.

This all started in Mandeville. I grew up near New Orleans, which is well known for it's coffee (among other things), so I never was very far from decent coffee. However, as a young one in high school, I had no desire to drink coffee. That is until I first tried a freeze at Caffe Caffe. I don't know how or why that drink ever landed in front of me (Katherine, do you remember??) but from that point on I was addicted. A freeze is a frozen coffee, made in a daiquiri-style machine (not a blender), which means it freezes and churns itself all day long in it's undeniable french vanilla goodness. Caffe Caffe would also whip you up a Freeze Float, which added in ice cream, chocolate syrup and whipped cream for good measure.

It's a wonder I didn't gain weight in high school?

My friends and I would spend hours in Caffe Caffe on weeknights and weekends drinking our freezes through a straw and gossiping and planning whatever silly thing we would be doing later. It was a tradition. And it was tasty.

When I moved to Baton Rouge for college, I was suddenly cut off from my weekly freeze floats and floundered around like a fish out of water wondering what would fill that wide open void. CC's Coffee quickly stepped in. At CC's I had several drinks I liked and they were no longer caloric nightmares (e.g. a drip coffee with a couple of pumps of caramel syrup). It all worked out perfectly because I could buy a coffee at CC's and spend the day in the coffee shop studying.

My daily coffee habit didn't truly start until I got my first full time job. My route to work passed right by a CC's, so every morning there I was in line with my travel mug ready for the caramel-y coffee to perk me up for the work day ahead.

Still, any and every time I made my way home to Mandeville, I'd make sure to pick up at least one Freeze during the trip. Caffe Caffe eventually closed in Mandeville (sad, sad day), but the location across the lake in New Orleans is still open, which made getting a Freeze a little more difficult, but I most definitely found ways to make it work.

When we moved to Maryland, I was naturally worried about the coffee situation. The first year we were here I would drive to Panera every morning for a cup of coffee (and sometimes a bagel too) before heading to the train station parking lot. When we moved to our new house and I started walking to the train station, I quickly switched to Frederick Coffee Company for my before work joe. Now I have several options to choose from in Frederick (including Cafe Nola which only charges me $1 because I always bring my own mug) and barring any unexpected closures or changes in my commute, all is well on the coffee front.

And then last month when I was in Louisiana, my sister asked me if I wanted to try her iced coffee. Being that it was August in Louisiana I could not turn it down, and when I took my first sip I was shocked that I was basically drinking a Caffe Caffe freeze. They use a Toddy cold brew system to make their iced coffee and I neither have one of those nor am planning to buy one, so I unabashedly drank as many cups as possible during the short time I was there.

A few weeks later I was browsing Pinterest (always a wonderful time suck) and found a recipe for iced coffee. It sounded easy enough: 1 part coffee and 8 parts water; steep for 8 hours; pour through strainer; refrigerate. So I made it. Then I called my sister and asked for the ingredients, which simply enough was iced coffee, milk, and the liquid coffeemate french vanilla.

For the past few days I've been enjoying an afternoon "freeze" in the form of iced coffee. This afternoon, while sipping on my iced drink, I started thinking how strange it was to be drinking coffee at home—probably one of the most un-strange things for most people. But, as I've just outlined, my coffee drinking habits have always been far from the norm.

Netflix: What did you decide to do?

2011-09-02T09:15:00.000-04:00

It's September 2.

And you know what that means.

Wait, you don't?

Well, it's the second day of Netflix charging ridiculous prices for the exact same service they brought us last month. When news of this first broke a few months ago there was outrage. shock. anger. Netflix's post on facebook announcing the new prices had a reportedly 4,000-5,000 negative comments. Many of which were from current subscribers purporting that they would cancel Netflix in September.

It's easy to be threatening in a facebook post, but I wondered just how many people were going to quit Netflix this month.

The price Bogdan and I paid last month for instant watch and one blu-ray disc at a time was $11.99. This month, had we kept the same plan, we would be shelling out $17.98 for the exact same thing. We talked about it and decided that we would switch to the $7.99 unlimited instant watch and just no longer receive discs in the mail. The few movies that we actually want to watch, we've decided we can rent online at Vudu (love Vudu). And if we get absolutely tired of the lack of movies and TV shows on Netflix, well we can always cancel that too.

I wanted to know about all of you. What did you decide to do? Did you take advantage of Blockbuster.com trying to woo old Netflix subscribers? Did you keep the same plan and will just pay more?

August 2011: Cookbook Club Review

2011-08-31T06:09:00.017-04:00

August 2011 - In The Small Kitchen - Ginger Chicken Meatballs

We have a rather strict no-oven policy in our house during the months of July and August (and sometimes mid to late June depending on the weather), so when I re-read the recipe for this month's cookbook club and saw that it called for an oven preheat, I realized that I needed to improvise.

As I mentioned before, I actually made these meatballs back in May and loved them. That time I followed the instructions to a tee. This time, well, my grocery store was doing the ingredient list no favors, and I had to substitute regular milk for coconut milk and had to use - cringe - ground ginger instead of fresh. However, even with these substitutions the dish was a hit.

Lately, whenever I see that a recipe calls for more than 2 cloves of minced garlic, I get out my microplane and put away the chef's knife. This recipe needed 6 cloves so I peeled them and grated it onto the cutting board. It's super quick and easy (thanks for the idea Rachael Ray).

I loved the description of shaping the meatballs in "golf ball sized" balls and I kept second-guessing myself on how big a golf ball actually is. I cooked the meatballs on the stove by browning them all over for about 6-8 minutes on medium high, then lowered the heat to medium low, covered, and simmered for about 20 minutes. Meanwhile I whipped up the delicious sauce and a batch of rice because we weren't eating these babies as a sandwich.

Just like I remembered from the last time, the meatballs were flavorful and filling. I feel like they were a bit drier this time (maybe I cooked them too long on the stove?) but they were still really good. I like it when a dish doesn't take very long to make but it tastes like the flavors have been simmering and melding together all day. I definitely think this recipe will be in regular rotation at our house.

Alternate Recipe: Spinach Pie Quesadilla
I was surprised that this was a recipe for one serving, but now that I've tried it, I realize it's a perfect lunch or snack for one. Quick and easy to make, and pretty tasty too. I didn't have tortillas on hand, so I sandwiched the filling between two thin slices of bread and made what I guess could be called a panini. I'd like to make it again and try it with a tortilla, maybe add some parmesan cheese, and just play around with the spices. I've been looking for some simple lunch ideas for weekends, and I think this recipe might just be the ticket.

What did you think of the recipes and the In the Small Kitchen cookbook?

Copy and paste the code below into your review blog post for a totally awesome Cookbook Club image.

<a href="http://stephandbogdan.blogspot.com"><img alt="Cookbook Club at Moving to Maryland" height="105" width="200" border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-sO1f7BBi1MA/Tl1oAWt9lQI/AAAAAAAAedI/CqnByj2UAKQ/s800/cookbookclubllogosm.jpg" /></a>

7 Quick Takes: Earthquakes and hurricanes, oh my!

2011-08-26T08:19:00.002-04:00

1) Earthquake! You probably didn't hear about it, but we had an earthquake in the DC region on Tuesday. Oh wait? You heard about it? Ad nauseum? Oh, ok. Yeah. It was a pretty big deal.

2) My quake experience: I was at work, sitting at my desk, listening to a familiar chorus of jackhammers because they are doing work on the basement in my building. Then the shaking started. First thought: aw, crap they jacked up the building (pun intended) and it's coming down. That's not a great feeling when you're 6 floors up. Then the building is swaying back and forth and I'm thinking this is going to be pretty bad. My boss is out in the hallway saying she thinks it's an earthquake, so we dutifully stand in the doorways until it stops.

3) My SECOND earthquake: The whole time I'm standing there I'm thinking, "no way this is an earthquake because we just had one last year!" Everyone starts leaving the building, I run to get my purse and was super annoyed that I had been a good girl and locked it in my desk earlier, not.enough.time.to.unlock.must.get.outside. Grabbed my cell phone and went... Still not certain it was an earthquake. A few minutes later I finally got a cell call through to Bogdan, and sure enough, he felt it too. It was an earthquake.

4) The 2nd worst metro ride ever: We're outside (it was a beautiful day) and the bosses say, if you have your purse and keys, go home! DARN! So then they let small groups back in the office and I get my stuff and leave... and head down to the metro station. I know. I know. Going underground. Probably not the best idea. Station appeared to be open, and eventually a train arrives. The conductor says we're going 15 mph and the whole time I'm thinking, "get us the heck out of this tunnel!" A usual 15 minute ride was an hour. (side note: the worst metro ride ever was the day after the HUGE metro wreck and the trains were creeping and there was no a.c. and it was summer and it was hot and it was crowded and everyone was on edge because people had died. Not fun.)

5) And now we're going to have a hurricane: Irene is headed our way. For some reason (well not really, there is a reason) this just doesn't really faze me. First off, I think girl is going EAST, which means good things for us. Second, I've lived through my fair share of hurricanes and I know that there is a chance that work will be closed Monday...woo! Rain. Check. Wind. Check. Possible power outage. Check. Stocking up for a hurricane party? Working on it.

6) The cuteness: Bogdan and I have been tossing around the idea of getting a dog for a while now. It might be a ways off, but if I keep looking at this picture below I think I might burst. And then call up a breeder and order me up one of those guys.

Pic source.

7) Natural disasters can't ruin the cookbook club! I'll tell you one thing, no matter where Irene goes or whatever else happens, the cookbook club is queued up and ready to post on Wednesday morning. That's right readers, I'm on top of it this month. Looking forward to your reviews!!

Be sure to read all of the Quick Takes posts here.

A review: My really awesome camera backpack

2011-08-24T10:03:00.001-04:00

I mentioned that Bogdan gave me a totally awesome backpack camera bag for my birthday this year. Now that I've had a couple of months (and one trip to Cali) to test it out, I want to share how much I love this bag.

Me, my old bag, and Amsterdam...ooohh! ahhh! ;)

When I first got my DSLR camera, I was using an old camera bag that I actually used to use for my video camera (remember those days?). Then one day, while surfing the net, I came across this sweet and cute camera bag disguised as a purse. I loved the idea of not shouting to the world that I have a really expensive camera in this bag so pretty please don't steal it. I've been using that for a couple of years now and love it too.

The problem is that ever since I got another lens, I no longer have a spot for my wallet (or anything else) in that bag, which meant that I was having to either: a) shove my license and credit cards in that bag and leave the wallet at home; or b) bring along a purse, thereby carrying two bags. Another negative was that it was a very girly bag, so I could never really justify asking Bogdan to assist in the camera-bag-carrying duties.

My friend Emily recently got a backpack for her camera, lenses, and laptop and I was instantly jealous. As my birthday got closer, I realized it would be a perfect birthday present so I asked her how she liked her bag. Unfortunately, she said she wasn't crazy about it because it was so big. That got me searching Amazon and I came across the Lowepro flipside bags. Lowepro had two sizes and I decided that smaller is always better for me, so that's what I asked for and received (the Lowepro Flipside 200).

First the fit of the bag is just perfect for my back. I'm a pretty small gal, so I didn't want something that would overwhelm me, and this backpack definitely does not. In fact, even with all my gear packed inside, the bag is not too heavy and the straps make it comfortable.

I love the concept of the bag, which requires you to take the bag off your back to open it (so that someone cannot unzip the bag while it is on your back and thereby steal all of your stuff). The actual compartments inside the Flipside are incredible.

In the main compartment, the zipper part on top ends up being the best place for my wallet and other extras that I usually carry in my purse. The dividers in the bag are all velcro, so I can rearrange them based on my needs (I can even take out the zipper top compartment). The side zipper compartment on the outside of the backpack is convenient when you need something quick, but it is quite small and won't fit more than a rather small cell phone, a pen or two, and a memory stick.

Honestly, my favorite thing about the bag is that Bogdan now happily carries the bag when I get tired of having it on my back or when he wants to take photos.

The bag has a strap that buckles around your waist so you can take the bag off your shoulder, flip it to the front, let it hang down a bit, and unzip the top. I was worried that this would be cumbersome, but in fact it's actually a very quick process and I haven't had trouble yet getting my camera out in the time that I needed it.

Another bonus is that you can carry a water bottle on the side of the backpack (see the first picture) which was really nice when we were in California. And the final bonus is that you can actually carry a tripod on the outside of the bag if you should ever need or want to do so.

This has to be the perfect tourist camera bag. Not only does it look like a typical backpack, it has plenty of room for everything, the camera is easily accessible and, once again, you have peace of mind that you're not a target for expensive camera stealing thieves.

Even with all of the praise, I will say that I don't always want to carry a backpack with me, so I think I will still use my cute camera bag for day trips or when I only need the one camera lens.

Bottom Line: A great camera bag, plenty of room for someone with a couple of lenses and other accessories, comfortable and relatively light, great size. Worth it!

Hanging out with the Dutch

2011-08-22T12:21:00.000-04:00

Back in 2009 on our trip to the U.K., Bogdan attended a conference where he presented his research. At the conference reception, we met Arnoud from the Netherlands and spent the entire evening discussing everything from research to politics. In 2010 when we were in Europe, we met up with Arnoud and his girlfriend, Maja, in Brussels for dinner. So earlier this year when Arnoud found out that his paper was accepted to a conference in Texas, we were happy to invite him to spend a few days with us in D.C.after the conference.

Friday night, following a torrential downpour, we picked Arnoud up in D.C. and had dinner in Georgetown. The original plan was to take him to our favorite bbq spot in Frederick (very American), but due to some unexpected travel delays we knew we couldn't make it to the restaurant before they closed. Instead we ate pizza and drank Belgian beer.

On Saturday we decided to go to Harper's Ferry, which is one place that no matter how many times we go, it always seems to surprise me. It's just so charming. The town itself is cute and quaint, but the area surrounding the city with the two rivers converging and the tree lined hills and rocky cliffs towering above and the train tracks coming out of the tunnel and over the river is quite spectacular.

We walked up the hills (reminding us of our trip to San Francisco) and read about the history and then finished up the visit with our feet in the fast flowing waters of the Potomac river. We spent the whole day out in the sun (with the exception of a quick trip to Wal-Mart, which was one place Arnoud wanted to see) and then that evening we barbecued pork on the grill and had a huge dinner at home.

We spent Sunday in D.C. and went to the Botanical Gardens, the Capitol, Union Station, the White House and while we were eating lunch the sky turned black and opened up and unleashed, yet another, torrential downpour. Luckily we had umbrellas, although we all were soaked by the time we reached the car. The rest of the afternoon we took shelter from the rain in the National Gallery of Art looking at Dutch paintings and American art. The rain subsided just in time for us to bring Arnoud to the train station for his trip back to NYC where he's flying home late tonight.

It's always interesting talking to Arnoud. It is refreshing to get another perspective on the world from someone who has completely different life experiences than you and who has grown up in a different culture and country. We always hear that the world is "shrinking" and that globalization is the wave of the future, but if you really think about it how often do we interact with people living in another country or on a different continent despite having the technology to easily do so? This is why I'm really happy that Bogdan has kept in touch with Arnoud the past couple of years and that we all make a point to try to get together whenever it is possible. We've already tentatively discussed the next time we might be able to meet up and hopefully that will be soon (and preferably in Europe).

Why I Don't Run in the Summer

2011-08-18T12:01:00.000-04:00

I like to run. I've been running pretty regularly (but not really consistently) since 2005. It's a time for me to be by myself, to tune the world out, and usually I'm also writing blog posts in my head (seriously).

Running in Louisiana (which is where I started running) is a bit challenging because you have a time period between late April until late October where running outside is just miserable. Awful, really. And unless you're one of those get-up-at-4:30-am-of-which-I-am-so-not then you have two options: a) take your runs to the treadmill, or b) stop running. Maryland has been much better in that department; at most you have to sit out July and August (well sometimes you need to take runs indoors when it snows or is icy).

I love to sweat when I run. I like pushing myself to go faster. I like finishing a run and feeling like I went all out. I tend to gauge the effectiveness of most of my workouts by the amount of sweat I produce (swimming has been a challenge) and when I run there is usually a ton of sweat. My dislike for running outside when it's hot does not stem from the sweat factor, but instead it's the whole I'm-not-in-control factor. On a typical run, if I'm really tired or I'm huffing and puffing it's my fault because either I am out of shape, pushing myself too hard, not paying attention to my heart rate monitor, not resting enough between workouts, or decided to take the hilly route. But when you throw heat into the mix, suddenly something that I have no control over is slowing me down and causing fatigue.

Not cool.

No one gets between me and my workouts. (Do you hear that pushy personal trainers at my gym?).

I've come to embrace the fact that I won't be running outside for a couple months each year, and this has made my cross training more varied and interesting—this year I've been swimming once a week instead of my outdoor runs. In the past I've just brought my runs indoors and it's been no big deal, but this year I've pretty much given up on the treadmill. I've just stopped running. Period.

Until yesterday. I don't know what possessed me, but when lunchtime rolled around and I was getting ready to head to the gym I decided that I would run outside. It was high 80's and about 50% humidity, so I thought, why not? Ugh. Five minutes in I remembered why not. And as I mentally battled the heat that was making me so tired, I wrote this blog post in my head. And then I came back and typed it. Perhaps some future summer day, I'll be thinking, "why don't I run outside today even though it's hot?" and I'll come read this. And then I'll go jump in the pool. As I should have done yesterday.

A thank you and segue

2011-08-15T10:39:00.000-04:00

To say it's difficult to post something following my previous post is an understatement. It's nearly impossible.

I decided the best way to segue back to my usual "a whole bunch of nothing" posts is to use this as a way to say thank you to everyone who read, commented, emailed, or talked to me in person about the post I wrote for my grandma. I appreciate all of your kind words!

I was able to travel to Louisiana last week to attend the funeral and see most of my family. Funerals always happen to also be impromptu family reunions and this was no exception. I got to see cousins and aunts and uncles that I haven't seen in a long time. I got to hang out with my hilarious and awesome godsons. And I got to savor the ridiculously humid air of Louisiana in August.

I stayed with my sister's family and had a great time doing 63 piece puzzles with Grady (and bragging about my "robot phone" of which he was pretty impressed) and played dress up and read books with Reece.

And what would be a trip to Louisiana without a mention of food? I had fried oysters, fried pickles, crawfish etoufee, PJs coffee, and Canes chicken fingers. You know, all the healthy stuff.

Where there is love

2011-08-08T11:46:00.000-04:00

As you get older and move away from home, you come to expect that your birthday will most likely be a small affair. Of course your spouse or local friends will make sure you have a really special day regardless, but a birthday at 28 years old is just never the same as a birthday at 8 years old. There are exceptions to this, and I've come to realize that my birthday this year was probably one of the most unforgettable and special birthdays thus far.

My grandmother (Grandma O'Meara) passed away yesterday, and she died peacefully at home surrounded by her children while saying prayers. The past year or so had been really tough for her. She's been in and out of the hospital, experienced multiple complications with treatments and medicine, and had been overtaken by an exhaustion that kept her away from some of her favorite activities with her friends.

In the spring of this year, things started looking better and she decided that she wanted to go to Frankfort, Michigan in June and then spend a week at my Aunt's house in Maryland. My mom and her sisters have been going to Frankfort every year with my grandma for years, and it's a special place for them because they spent their childhood summers in that small town on Lake Michigan. My grandma's doctor gave her the go-ahead for the flight, although everyone knew it would be tough. She spent the week in Frankfort and, unfortunately, had to go to the hospital there.

She then flew to Maryland with my mom and spent the evening with me and Bogdan having dinner in celebration of my birthday. I was sad at how weak she looked, but despite it all (and my mom had tons of stories about the difficulties they had flying) she had a smile on her face. A contended look that I've come to know and expect from my grandma.

Grandma liked her seafood! :)

We ate at a crab and steak restaurant and my grandma was determined to have steamed crabs for her dinner. So she did. And my mom peeled and picked her crabs for her, and I pitched in too when I finished my entree, and we shared a birthday meal and what I now know was my last meal with my grandma.

My grandma was 87 years old when she passed yesterday and she lived a long and beautiful life. I cannot claim to know what impact she had on others' lives, but I don't doubt that she's touched and helped many people during her long life. I remember, as a child, being ecstatic about going to Grandma and Grandpa O'Meara's house and being able to play with my cousins (they had 14 grandchildren) in their huge front (and back) yard with an ancient oak tree towering over us and providing shade from the usually hot Louisiana sun. I remember when we found out she had breast cancer how scary it was watching her battle cancer, and how triumphant we all felt when she won. I remember her wearing a bright pink survivor's shirt at the Race for the Cure and feeling so proud for her and all of the other survivors at the race.

I remember after my grandpa died, I was only just starting college, wondering what it would be like to be at Grandma's house without him. And soon thereafter realized that my grandma was a separate person (as a child they were always "grandma and grandpa" to me) who was loving, kind, interesting and - as I mentioned before - always wore a smile.

My grandma got to see five of her grandchildren get married and got to love and play with two great-grandchildren.

I will miss her, and I'm sure my mom, dad, siblings and aunts and uncles and cousins will too. But I know she is resting peacefully now, she may even have caught up with her husband of 56 years and her son, and perhaps they are all together in the place where there is no more pain, no more tears, no more suffering. Where there is love.

The kitchen just keeps getting better

2011-08-06T14:39:00.000-04:00

Our kitchen, when we moved in, was what I would call institutional. Everything was white - cabinets, walls, door, trim. The dark green granite counter tops stood out amid the all of the white in the room starkly, but not in a good way. And the stainless steel appliances also did the room no favors. The harsh fluorescent light was the type that would make a person go mad if they spent too much time in there.

Kitchen when we first moved in.

That's not my idea of a kitchen.

I think a kitchen should be warm, inviting, and a place where you could happily spend the entire day whipping up delicious treats for your loved ones. I shared our kitchen about a year ago, and a few things have changed since then. The most recent change was our new kitchen door, which we are both very excited about.

Why? Is our life so boring that we get excited about doors? Well, if you must know, our kitchen door before was a dud. It looked like someone picked up a piece of wood, cut it in a rectangle, put it on hinges, and hung it in the small door frame. And then to add insult to injury, they installed an ugly gray plastic cat door. What color was the door, you ask? White. Of course.

We've wanted to change the door for a long time now, but with a 100 year old home everything is so oddly sized that you have to go custom (and that means expensive). Just like our front door, we decided to buy a wood door that we could cut down to fit the oddly-sized opening. We bought the door in June, and it's been standing in our kitchen for almost 2 months now. We finally called the neighborhood handy man last week, and on Thursday he came and installed our new door.

I love the way our kitchen looks now. There's more natural light; the warm overhead light on the warm colors make it a cozy spot.

With the butcher block we now have more counter space, and it's a place where I can and will contentedly make our meals.

August 2011: Big Girls in a Small Kitchen

2011-08-04T12:09:00.000-04:00

Yall, I have been the worst Cookbook Club host ever. Not only have I not made the recipe from back in May!!! I haven't even posted a cookbook in 2 months.

Epic. Fail.

So we can either continue on this journey of self condemnation, or I could get my act together and post a new cookbook for August and two great recipes.

You want the latter, you say? Well, then, here goes.

Back in May I was going through the DesignSponge posts (as I do each day), and saw this recipe for meatballs with masala sauce created by the women who blog at Big Girls, Small Kitchen. The pictures looked fabulous and the recipe was right up my alley. Their new cookbook, called In the Small Kitchen, was released recently and in it is the meatball recipe and 99 other recipes. I've selected their cookbook for August's club and I'm excited to cook these recipes with all of you.

The main recipe for this month will be the Mini Ginger Chicken Meatball Subs with Masala Sauce. Although I've made this recipe before, I am going to cook it again and take pictures this time and write a review. The ingredients are straightforward and easy to find. You could substitute ground turkey for the ground chicken, if you'd like, and you can also feel free to not make them into sandwiches and serve with a side dish (like couscous!).

The alternate recipe is a vegetarian option and it looks so scrumptious - Spinach Pie Quesadillas.

I will post my review and a linky link for your reviews on Wednesday, August 31. Happy cookbook cooking!

Nor Cal Roundup: Our Trip West

2011-08-01T09:37:00.000-04:00

One of my favorite parts about traveling is chronicling our trip in a journal. It's not only a great way to think about all the things we saw and did, but it's also fun to come back in a year (or later) and read about our past trips. I hope you enjoyed (or at least endured!) my California posts.

Poor Bogdan feels like he didn't have a vacation (because he was working 10 out of the 16 days we were there) and it's going to take a while for me to accumulate vacation hours again, so hopefully these posts will at least, for him, be a testament to the many vacation-like things we experienced in California.

First Weekend: Agenda - Highway 1, Big Sur, Yosemite National Park

Where we've been lately (the one with I heart Kyle signs)
Driving down Highway 1 (the one where we spend the whole day on the coastal highway)
The lodge was no disappointment (the one where we realize our lodge rocks - and is on a rock)
A scene from Lost (the one with the waterfall on a beach)
Finishing up the coastal highway (the one where we see elephant seals)
Long exhausting drives aren't good for us (the one where we throw newspapers at each other)
Yosemite, we need to talk (the one where we search in vain for a secluded spot in Yosemite)
Finally getting some rest (the one where I chill-ax while poor Bogdan works)

Second Weekend: Agenda - The whole weekend in San Francisco

We may be old souls, but we still have fun (the one where we stay up late)
Is it worth the lines? (the one that will get me banned from San Francisco)
Conquering hills and markets and crowds (the one where we're charmed by the city)
It was only the 2nd day, but we needed a rest (the one where we play with magnets)
We were on a boat, and... (the one where we see humpback whales)
Eating dinner at a cigar store (the one where we skip 4th of July fireworks)

The Leftovers: Agenda - One more time in the city before flying home

A break and a lot of food (the one where I tell the truth about In-N-Out)
A Full House Afternoon in Hayes Valley (the one with that weird woman statue)
Pancakes and piers on our last day (the one with famous pancakes)

Pancakes and piers on our last day

2011-07-28T11:19:00.000-04:00

Bogdan is such a little boy when it comes to boats (and trains, and helicopters, etc.), so it wasn't too shocking when he said he wanted to spend our last morning in San Francisco at Fisherman's wharf (our plane departed in the afternoon).

I had read that an S.F. tradition was going out for breakfast, and our hotel happened to be next to a breakfast spot famous for their Swedish pancakes (Sears Fine Foods). We woke up pretty early - kids, that's what happens when you go to bed early - and headed to the restaurant. There were about 3 or 4 groups ahead of us waiting for tables, but the line moved quickly and we waited about 3 minutes tops. Regardless, the place was packed. We decided to split one order of the "famous" pancakes and when 18 palm-sized pancakes arrived at our table, we knew we would have plenty to eat. When we left, the line was suddenly out the door and halfway down the block - kids, that's what happens when you go to bed late.

Bogdan had the (fabulous?) idea that we should walk up Nob Hill again (despite his complaining about it just yesterday) and walk on Powell Street all the way to the waterfront and piers. It ended up being an interesting route - and we're pretty sure we stumbled upon the "real" Chinatown (you know, where the Chinese actually live and not the touristy bazaar a few blocks away). We got to the waterfront and Bogdan was disappointed by Ghiradelli Square (because it is pretty much just a shopping center) but got excited about the "National Park" set up on a pier with restored boats. We watched some crazy triathletes-in-training swim in the bay - and we say crazy because despite it being cloudy and barely over 60 degrees, some of them were not in wetsuits. We took another gander at the Pier 39 sea lions and then hopped on a F line street car back to Union Square.

After yet another ridiculously long flight, we were back in Washington D.C. at about 11 p.m. where we were smacked in the face with the heat and humidity (which is nothing like arriving in New Orleans, but the difference was still stark).

A Full House Afternoon in Hayes Valley

2011-07-27T09:55:00.000-04:00

Because it was his last week of having to work from California (thankfully!), Bogdan had to be in the office on Friday instead of working from home. We had first thought that we could fly home on Friday evening, but his boss had mentioned that there was the possibility that he would need Bogdan to stay late. At noon on Friday, Bogdan called and said that he was pretty much finished with his work, and that it would be pointless to stay the night in Pleasanton. His boss was more emphatic on this issue, and urged us to book a room at the Westin St. Francis and for us to have a fun last night in San Francisco. So I packed both of our things, checked out the hotel in Pleasanton a day early, and picked Bogdan up from work.

There was one area that we hadn't explored the previous weekend (due to exhaustion, really) that I really want to see - Hayes Valley and Haight Ashbury. That afternoon after checking in to the hotel, we started walking toward Hayes Valley. I knew it would be a rather long walk (and probably hilly) but I didn't know it would take us through such seedy areas. Bogdan's mind still fresh on the Mission began complaining, "where are you taking me now?" Almost suddenly, the homeless morphed into the hipster and we found ourselves on the lively Hayes Street among cute boutiques, modern furniture stores, and loud cafes. After an appropriate amount of time for shop browsing (including a stop at the cutest candy store ever) we continued our walk to Buena Vista Park.

The park is situated on the top of a hill and beautiful Victorian houses line the perimeter - including the famous "Painted Ladies" of which you've probably seen before in photographs (and/or on the Full House intro). The park was full of young people - on picnic blankets, walking with friends, playing with their dogs or being obvious tourists trying to get their photo of the Painted Ladies just right.

We then made our way down the hill to Haight Street and just really enjoyed this more residential and real-life area, one where we'd be happy to live (if we were interested in moving to S.F., which we really aren't). Later that evening we realized we had never been to Nob Hill, despite it being adjacent to Union Square, so we made the long, steep climb to the top where Grace Cathedral sits perched above the city.

That night we were tired from all the walking (and the hills) and had an unpretentious dinner at a hole in the wall bar, sparsely populated with just us, the bartender and her friends, and a few young adults in suits who were having a Friday happy hour after work.

A break and a lot of food

2011-07-26T10:46:00.000-04:00

I had grandiose plans for my second week in Pleasanton. Plans which involved me catching a ride on the BART train into San Francisco while Bogdan was at work and me spending the day enjoying the city. However, things worked out rather differently. Tuesday morning I dropped Bogdan off at work after we drove up from San Francisco, and I spent the rest of the day photoshopping and editing down our 500+ pictures. The next morning I dropped Bogdan off at work and... went back to the hotel and ended up sleeping for 3 more hours (?!). Instead of forcing myself to get on the BART train, I opted to spend a lot of time at the pool, working on my freestyle stroke and the uneven tan lines that the extra powerful shining California sun had graced me with over the past week or so. I also got a head start on writing and blogging.

During this chill period I had the chance to try some of California's "finest" (I don't know how else to put it, but the stuff everyone says you have to try when you visit). I might be banned from ever entering the state again (is that twice already?) but the In n' Out burger was... just a burger... (and yes, I got it animal style). Pinkberry frozen yogurt? Also, just tangy frozen yogurt. California strawberries were not even a fraction as sweet as my Ponchatoula strawberries (although we didn't try too many). The clam chowder we had back in Sausalito was good, but their fried oysters? Embarrassing. Sourdough bread was tasty, although Bogdan discovered (realized?) that he's not a fan.

It was surprisingly difficult to find a reasonably priced and good bottle of wine (what with all the hullabaloo about California wines). When the wine store bottles start at $35 and the Safeway had the exact same uninspired wine selection as every grocery store and liquor store in the USA, we realized just how lucky we are to have Bob and Viniferous where the bottles start at $7 and go all the way up to things we can't imagine paying, and they are all wines that he's tried and liked (if not loved) and he'll be happy to tell you why he loves it.

I'm sure there are California things we didn't get to try - so what am I missing?

Eating dinner at a cigar store

2011-07-25T10:08:00.001-04:00

We took an unexpected nap in the hotel after the whale tour. When we woke up, it was already late in the afternoon and there were still items on our to-see list. We got on the MUNI and headed to the Mission. Multiple sources said this was the funky, hip area with culture and life, and that Valencia Street, in particular, was a happening spot. We descended the hill into the Mission and the temperature felt like it rose 10-15 degrees. We don't get what the fuss is about - Valencia Street to us was just like any other San Francisco side street (if not a bit seedier) and Mission Street itself was pretty much a dump. Filthy, smelly. Blah. Bogdan kept asking me, "where did you take me?"

We wrapped it up quickly and when we arrived back at the MUNI station our exhaustion strongly advised us against exploring Hayes Valley and Haight-Ashbury. We listened. We took the F line street car back to Union Square, and as it was already evening and the time for a people-watching-sit-in-the-cafe-with-a-pastry had long passed, we decided to do dinner. Bogdan is not a fan of Italian restaurants (he says it's pasta and tomatoes, what's the big deal?) but he had a craving for spaghetti and meatballs that night. Where do you find that in San Francisco? Well, in North Beach.

We walked to Columbus Avenue and made our way up the street while hearing the pleas from waiters in the doorways of basically empty restaurants trying to cajole us into dining there. On our first trip to North Beach we had a coffee at the Cigar Store (which is not a cigar store) and loved its ambiance. When we found out they actually served dinner entrees, we quickly snatched up a table by the big windows overlooking Washington Square. We lingered. The food took a while, which was fine, then we finished our glasses of Italian wine slowly. Then we ordered dessert. I got some prosecco. And we just sat and talked and watched the busy Fourth of July world fly by the window. When we finally finished the meal (2, maybe 2.5 hours later) we were full, happy, and tired.

The topic of fireworks came up - my position was that I've seen my fair share of fireworks and I'm not the biggest fan (especially when surrounded by drunken pyrotechnics who decide the city's fireworks show is just not cool enough so let's haphazardly shoot off our own in the middle of the crowd). I told Bogdan that I'd happily go see the San Francisco fireworks with him, but that I'd also be happy going back to the hotel (old folks, remember?). We chose the hotel. And when we had to wake up early the next morning, pack and check out, so we could drive back to Pleasanton for Bogdan's workday, we both agreed the decision had been a good one.

We were on a boat, and...

2011-07-22T12:59:00.000-04:00

The one thing we most looked forward to on this trip was our whale watching tour, which we scheduled for Monday morning on July 4. Before we knew about Bogdan's project in San Francisco, and before he had received his citizenship, we assumed our trip this year had to be domestic and we decided we would most likely go to Massachusetts and do a whale watching tour. Obviously our plans changed, but when we found out you could see whales year round right out of San Francisco bay in the Gulf of Farralones, we signed up.

I read the reviews of this particular trip and saw that they fell in either one of these two categories: absolutely loved it and best time ever; or hated it because I got sea sick. I think it's very unfair to rate a tour company poorly based on that fact alone, but that's a whole separate conversation. I read on their site and in the reviews that if you want to enjoy the trip, take a Dramamine pill before, just in case. I went back and forth on this - on one hand I've been on my fair share of boats and never got sick, however I've never really been in the Pacific Ocean (or any ocean) on a boat, and I also sometimes experience mild discomfort on curvy mountain roads (like Highway 1) when I'm not driving. So I made up my mind to take a pill before and I convinced Bogdan to do the same (does that make me a pill pusher?).

We arrived at Pier 39 promptly at 7:30 a.m. and met our naturalist, Reece, who told us about the whales they had seen yesterday, about growing up in North Carolina, and how he just loves living in San Francisco. At 8 we boarded the boat and had a safety talk from our captain. We learned that we'd be riding about 2 hours out to his personal "whale hot spots" and that meanwhile we should just enjoy the ride. We pulled out into the bay toward the Golden Gate Bridge and the views were astounding. Once we got farther away, the ocean was choppy and the swells large. They had told us before that the best way to combat sea sickness is to be out of the cabin, standing, and staring at the horizon. Bogdan and I were fine - a few others on the boat were not. Probably not even an hour in we already had some sick people.

The bright shining sun disappeared, the boat sped up, and the ride got wet and cold. Finally the boat slowed and the captain said that he noticed bird activity (can I just say how cool and strange it was to see a bunch of birds so far away from the coast), which is usually a good sign that whales are nearby because they eat similar fish. I'm standing at the rail, holding on despite the fact that my cold exposed hand would much rather be in my pocket, and just looking, staring. Nothing.

Every once in a while someone nearby would gasp. point. I'd look. And nothing. The captain had spotted a few whales so he stopped the boat and let us up front (it was blocked during the trip so he could navigate). They told us to always hold onto a rail. It was obvious why when a wave 10 feet tall and breaking would rise us up, up, up, and then - plop! - drop us down. I still hadn't seen one whale. Bogdan had the camera and was standing near Reece and told me to come stand by them. I slowly and carefully made my way over.

That's when I first saw the glassy black skin and fin skim the top of the water. Reece told us they were humpback whales, and our captain said they were surrounding the boat. And about a dozen or so did. They swam up to us, under the boat, showed us their tails, played in the huge waves. And it felt like they were more curious about us than we them. It was surreal. Right before we had to head back to the bay, Reece came out of the cabin and told Bogdan and me that he was so glad to see people smiling - that's when we realized that about 15 sick people were completely missing this.

We turned around and started the ride to the bay. This was when I got uncomfortable. I knew the Dramamine lasted 4-6 hours, so I had Bogdan get me another pill. I went to the side of the boat - just in case - and stood looking at the horizon repeating in my head, "it's not inevitable that you will get sick. You are fine." The pill must have kicked in because relief just came all over me and I joined Bogdan by the cabin door for the remainder of the ride.

Arriving in the bay was like night and day - the waters calmed down, the clouds disappeared, and the bright sun welcomed us back to San Francisco.

If you're interested, our tour group was the San Francisco Whale Tours.

It was only the 2nd day, but we needed a rest

2011-07-21T14:41:00.000-04:00

Because we had walked up a ridiculous amount of hills by this point in the trip, I suggested we spend Sunday morning at the Exploratorium. With free parking, we decided to drive and although their lot was already full (shocking), we found plenty of free spots on the street. The Exploratorium was just what we needed - we played with each exhibit and learned about sound waves, magnets, engines, and so much more.

We took our time and just had fun. When the valet brought us our car earlier that morning before we left the hotel, he told us that we should go to the free jazz festival on Filmore Street. We smiled and thought, "avoid Filmore Street at all costs," which probably stems from years of living in Louisiana and knowing "avoid parade routes" and "avoid Tiger Stadium."

It's perhaps funny, if you like irony, that the place I suggested we get a to-go lunch from ended up being on Filmore Street. Let me explain: before we left for the trip, I had read David Lebovitz's recommendations for San Francisco (since he didn't let us down in Paris) and marked the locations of his suggested restaurants, coffee shops, and bars on a printed map. The lunch idea was Citizen Cake, and on my map it appeared to be on Sacramento Street near Filmore Street, not on Filmore Street.

Obviously we did laps trying to find a parking spot until Bogdan finally pulled into a no parking zone, stopped the car and said, "just go and meet me back here." Like a good NOLA girl, I elbowed my way through the crowds masterfully and quickly. With lunch in hand (and a cupcake and a macaron, it was Citizen Cake after all) we drove to Golden Gate Park to have a picnic.

We ended up eating lunch (and dessert) while watching old men in white outfits play a rousing game (match?) of lawn bowling. We later drove through the Presidio with the idea of checking out the Golden Gate Bridge, Crissy Field, and the waterfront, but when we asked for directions from a cop on a horse he told us, "good luck finding a parking spot." We were so done with the car and the crowds, so we just went back to the hotel to unwind and have a quiet evening.

Conquering hills and markets and crowds

2011-07-20T16:09:00.000-04:00

I'm a long time fan of farmer's markets. Back in Louisiana, every weekend I'd go to our farmer's market, buy veggies, fruit, and sausage. I still remember the faces of the little old women selling grape tomatoes, the family that sold arugula, and the couple who made the best (and freshest) Italian sausage. The best part was that in the deep South, Farmer's markets are open year round and are fully stocked. When we moved to Maryland, I was a bit surprised to learn that our markets were open June to October. What are we supposed to do the rest of the year? It was also a bummer that the biggest farmer's market in town was not a walkable distance from downtown. Let's just say that I quickly got out of my weekly market habit.

California's year round mild climate and abundance of farms would seem to make for an incredible farmer's market, so on Saturday morning we walked down to the Ferry Building to check it out. Not too surprisingly, the farmer's market was large and bustling. It was way crowded too. The coffee shop in the Ferry Building had a line that curved on to what felt like forever. Our idea of having coffee and breakfast at the market suddenly seemed like a bad one. We navigated through the crowds, glancing at the bright California bounty being sold, and found another coffee shop with a much more manageable line. We bought a couple of scones from a woman we named the "Scone Lady" and ate our makeshift breakfast on a bench on the pier looking at the Bay Bridge.

Honestly, we were pretty bummed (or rather I was bummed) that Rick Steves doesn't "do the West Coast" and so we had to sift through several tour books to discover the city's gems and learn about what was a "must see" in town. First on the list was North Beach (which is not on or near a beach) and as we walked up Columbus Avenue, which is supposed to be the heart of San Francisco's Little Italy, we weren't too impressed. First of all, I don't think we actually saw any Italians, but it was also a pretty dirty and touristy area. Baltimore's Little Italy wins this one by a landslide.

Next on the list was Russian Hill (and, yes, it's on top of a tall and steep hill). We climbed to the top, working off those morning scones, and immediately fell in love with the area. Spectacular views, beautiful homes, well tended gardens, almost empty streets and sidewalks - it was just what we wanted. We sat down and rested in Coolbrith Park and just soaked it in. We walked through the pedestrian-only path, Macondray Lane, that is basically a glorified alley between residences, and got ideas and inspirations for our garden back home.

Later, when we arrived at Lombard Street (the crooked street), we returned to the hordes of tourists that permeated our trip. And so they followed us (or we them) to the cafe where we ate lunch, to Telegraph Hill, to Coit Tower, and we only escaped when we opted to take the Greenwich steps down from Coit Tower and had a moment to ourselves.

That afternoon, as we sat in traffic on Golden Gate Bridge on our way to Muir Beach, which we'd soon learn had no parking spots available, we realized that this area is just filled to capacity (and the fact that it was prime tourism season was not helping). We drove farther to Stinson Beach and braved the crowds (but not the cold waters!). I have to say we were not surprised when, on the way back to S.F., we arrived at Fish in Sausalito to find a line out the door to order dinner.

But, we had a fabulous first full day in San Francisco - although it was not without its inconveniences.

Is it worth the lines?

2011-07-19T11:13:00.000-04:00

Bogdan had to work all day on Friday. We knew this would be the case, but I guess we had just hoped the "you're-on-vacation-take-the-afternoon-off" fairy would show up. No go.

When he finally finished working, just before 7 p.m., we walked to Powell Street because I wanted to ride a cable car. We had "insider" information (ala a tour book) that you should wait for the cable cars about 4 to 5 blocks up Powell Street, away from the turnaround with all of the other tourists, and hop on when it stops.

This is nice in theory - no lines! - however when every cable car that goes by is packed to capacity, you wonder how good of advice this really was... When we finally crammed in, we were way in the back with 0% views, not cool. I have to say, for $6 one way for one ticket, the ride on a cable car really isn't worth it unless you're in a spot with some visibility.. I'll probably be banned from San Francisco for saying that (that's if they don't catch me not composting first or trying to sell goldfish on the black market), but it's the honest truth.

We rode the car to the end of the Powell Hyde Line to the "famed" Fisherman's Wharf and Pier 39 area. Every single thing I read about this area described it in two words: tourist trap. This, also, is the honest truth. We walked through it quickly, stopping only to look at the sea lions and snap pictures of the bay, and then we took a long, leisurely walk back to the hotel in Union Square. With the ridiculously touristy things out of the way, we were ready to conquer the long weekend and San Francisco.

We may be old souls, but we still have fun

2011-07-18T16:17:00.000-04:00

I've probably mentioned it before, but Bogdan and I are pretty much old folks. We prefer nights in and we rarely stay up late. Naturally this means we pretty much avoid nighttime social events altogether. However, when I read about Nightlife at the California Academy of the Sciences in my tour book, I knew we should shed our granny exteriors and go have some fun with penguins. (And no, I don't mean guys in tuxedos).

This is actually from Friday, but I didn't have any pics from Thursday.

On Thursday night we boarded the MUNI and headed to the Golden Gate Park. From 6 to 10 p.m. on Thursday, the Academy opens its doors to a DJ, cash bars, and lots of hip young people. The tour book (conveniently?) failed to mention the $12 entrance fee, but we paid willingly and started our dork-tastic night.

The lights inside are turned down low, the music pumps through the speakers, and tipsy kids in skinny jeans flirt, dance, and enjoy themselves (and the penguins). The best part of the night was in the "aquarium" section downstairs where we got to touch sea urchins and feel them "grab" onto our fingers. We also saw huge snakes, wired looking lizards, gigantic moths, a goofy looking turtle in the "swamp exhibit" and stuffed animals galore ala Night at the Museum. We had fun, but we were exhausted after. Still it was a good time, even for grannies like us.

Finally getting some rest

2011-07-18T09:30:00.000-04:00

We spent Sunday night in the B&B again and after a huge and delicious breakfast (my favorite"B" in B&B), we started our drive out of the mountains, back west to Pleasanton, CA where Bogdan had to be at work later that morning. The next few days (and nights!) Bogdan worked and I explored the area.

I checked out the Pleasanton Downtown, went swimming in the hotel pool, stocked up on some items at the local Target (essentials, like a new shirt), and spent two whole hours at the mall - something I have not done in years. It was nice to finally get some rest and relaxation on this vacation (for me, at least).

Wednesday night, Bogdan's coworkers invited me to join their team for dinner "in the city" at a cute little French restaurant near Union Square that had great food and good wine. We left Pleasanton on Thursday afternoon and checked into our hotel in San Francisco (everyone works from home on Friday), and so began the second installment of our Nor Cal vacation...

Yosemite, we need to talk

2011-07-16T09:53:00.000-04:00

That night we reviewed our lessons learned: 1) If there's a place with food, and we're hungry, we eat. Period. 2) Throwing a newspaper at your spouse solves nothing. 3) Avoid the Yosemite Valley at all costs.

Armed with the new found knowledge, we drove to Bridalveil Falls in the park and into yet another situation of too many cars, not enough parking, and too many people. We found a spot easily and walked (another very short hike) to the base of the falls, which was a, surprisingly to us, really wet experience (I don't know why we thought otherwise, you're at the base of a waterfall for goodness sake).

I decided we should drive to Glacier Point after the falls (we were searching for quieter areas). We really shouldn't have been that surprised that it, too, was packed with cars and people. The thing about Yosemite is that what you see is really quite spectacular (and also very easy to get to), and the crowds are really just a nuisance, not a deterrent. I doubt we'll ever return to the park, but neither of us would ever regret that we went.

Looking down from Glacier Point at the Yosemite Valley, Vernal and Nevada Falls, and Half Dome was well worth the aforementioned inconveniences, and when Bogdan found a secluded spot on the rocks away from crowds and with the same (if not better) view, we were in heaven. We sat there for at least an hour, just gazing and soaking it in. We grabbed a bite to eat at Glacier Point's cafe (see Lesson #1), and drove back down.

And so the debate began again - go to the Valley hoping there's no traffic and go for a hike then have a beer on the patio of a restaurant, or skip the Valley and do Tioga Pass Road. We quickly reminded one another of Lesson #3, and headed to Tioga.

Much like Trail Ridge Road in the Rocky Mountain National Park, this road takes you up and over the mountains and is only open in the summer months, and that's only after snow plows remove the snow from the road, in June. We drove to Tenaya Lake, made a picnic/patio drink experience of our own, and enjoyed a spot - finally - away from the crowds.

Long exhausting drives aren't good for us

2011-07-15T09:31:00.000-04:00

The rest of the drive was rather unmemorable, although we did marvel at how quickly the landscape changed from tall mountains and blue ocean, to a desert landscape with almost no greenery, to flat flat and dry land all the way back to the tall green mountains of the Sierra Nevada.

We finally arrived at the south entrance of Yosemite and were pulling up to the Mariposa Grove at about 5 p.m. We were exhausted, sick of the car, and then we see the sequoias towering ahead of us. The parking lot was pretty much full and visitors were everywhere—big tour groups, families with young kids, and just people, people, people.

It's only a short walk from the parking lot to the Grizzly Giant (estimated to be more than 1,800 years old!), so we, along with everyone else, headed down the paved path. The grove was fascinating, with trees so big it's hard to imagine. At one spot a fallen sequoia lies next to the path and standing next to the base of the tree, and seeing that it's still several feet taller than you, it becomes clear that the trees are not only tall, but also very wide. When we reached the Grizzly Giant, we quickly realized that a photograph would never show the immensity of these trees. Truthfully we were a little put off by the amount of people on the trails, and hoped it wouldn't be case throughout the park.

We got back in the car and headed to Yosemite Valley. We were 30 miles away, but it was another mountainous route. The whole way we were debating what we should do for dinner—go to Yosemite Village in the Valley and eat at one of the restaurants, skip the valley altogether and go to our B&B and find someplace to eat near there, or look for food on the way to the B&B. We decided to go to the Yosemite Valley (we were in Yosemite National Park, after all), and we pulled up to a line of stopped cars, about 4 miles from Yosemite Village.

A traffic jam in a National Park.

At 7 p.m.

It was unreal.

We creeped our way down the road, tired, hungry, and unhappy. Finally an hour later, we parked at Yosemite Village and explored our dining options, which were sparse and ridiculously crowded. We made the decision to just keep on driving to our B&B (about 35 miles away) and hope (and pray) that we'd find a restaurant that was open on the way.

Let me just say that this whole drive from the Grove to the Vally to the B&B, did not comprise of of our finest moments. In fact, at one point we were so tired and annoyed at random traffic jams and didn't know which way to turn when we finally started moving again that we threw our Yosemite newspaper at each other. Yes. We resorted to throwing sheets of paper at one another. It was oddly therapeutic.

After that incidence, the delirium set in and when we finally found a restaurant open (it was about 9 p.m. by then) we ran in and ordered food.

Finishing up the coastal highway

2011-07-14T11:55:00.000-04:00

When we travel we usually go with the bite off more than you can chew strategy. The way we see it is that you can go somewhere and relax and see a few things and go home well rested—or you can attempt to see everything and go home needing a vacation from your vacation. We normally plan for the latter but then tend to normalize somewhere between the two by the time we kick off the trip. For example, when planning this trip we wanted to see Big Sur, Highway 1, Death Valley, Sequoia National Forest, Mammoth Lake, and Yosemite National Park—in 2 days. After considering the logistics of all that we settled on Big Sur, Highway 1, and Yosemite. To be honest, even that felt like too much.

After our waterfall on the beach (sounds like a cocktail name, no?) we checked out of the lodge and headed south on Highway 1 to the road that would take us through Paso Robles and then on to Yosemite. Bogdan really wanted to see an actual sequoia tree, so when we learned that the Mariposa Grove on the south entrance of Yosemite has some of the largest in the world, we added it to Saturday's itinerary.

For some reason, our GPS Mandy has been really over estimating how long it will take us to reach our destinations, but when we plugged in the Mariposa Grove from our lodge and she said it would take five hours to drive 150 miles we kind of freaked out. We looked at the route on the map and decided she was probably over estimating by about 1.5 hours. Still, it gave us pause that our journey that day be a long one.

This did not deter us, however, from finding and spending a couple of hours on a sandy beach—Sand dollar Beach to be exact. Because really, how could we pass up a sandy beach? The water was c.o.l.d. so we didn't swim, but we played in the sand and rocks and got our feet wet. It was fun and a good way to kick off the long drive.

Later that day we're traveling down Highway 1 and the GPS is slowly ticking off the miles until we can turn off the coastal highway. The mountains flatten out and the road straightens a bit, but as we round one of the last stretch of curves, Bogdan notices something on the beach ahead—all over the beach, in fact. We get a little farther and find a huge group of elephant seals bathing in the sun. We pull into a nearby parking lot, joining the many other curious drivers standing on a boardwalk watching the absolutely goofy and humongous creatures right in front of us.

A ranger of some sort is there answering questions about the elephant seals and we learn that this group of males (bulls) are about 16 feet long, weigh 6,600 pounds, and are "molting" their fur/skin on the beach. I'd say "chill-axing" is a better verb to describe what they were doing.

They lay in the sand and barely move until one flips the sand sending it spraying over his back. Then another will lift his heavy head and cry out while the others around him make a disapproving sound as if telling him to keep it down. Further off in the water a group of seals play (or fight?), jumping up and down, splashing water to and fro. One seal is done with the water and makes his slow exit from the waves back to the sand—scoot, scoot, now rest. Scoot, scoot, scoot, now long rest.

Amazingly, they all look different—the shape, face, size, eyes, color, etc.—each elephant seal has an individual look and personality, it seems. We spent a lot of time observing the elephant seals, until we realized (remembered) that we had a long drive ahead of us.

A scene from Lost

2011-07-13T08:52:00.000-04:00

You know how sometimes you watch a show or movie and you see this ridiculous scene like a waterfall on a beach with ocean waves crashing beside it? And all you can think is darn you Hawaii!!! (and Hollywood!!!). You may imagine yourself as Kate (even though you kind of despised her on Lost) standing under the waterfall with Sawyer, digging your toes in the sand as you partake in one of the most romantic scenes ever.

Well that Saturday morning we experienced one of those scenes. No, Sawyer was not there, nor Kate, nor Smokey. Instead, Bogdan and I arrived at Julia Pfieffer Burns State Park, parked and paid the entrance fee, and began the short hike to the beach. Except that you don't get to go on the actual beach, but instead you walk the steep cliffs that surround it. So we're walking and we see this:

Beautiful right?

Only we keep walking and that's when we see this:

Yes. A waterfall on a beach. Ri-donk-ulous.

And awesome.

The lodge was no disappointment

2011-07-12T09:58:00.000-04:00

The view from the lodge

All of the worrying was for naught - we pulled up to the lodge, which appeared suddenly and was basically dangling off a cliff on the ocean side of the road. There's nothing around for miles - except beaches and a few state parks - so the woman checking us in told us our nearby dining options (their restaurant, which closed at 9 p.m. and their general store that closed at 8).

Closing times were still a couple of hours away so we headed to a beach. I don't know if this happens to everyone, but when I see an ocean or a sea or a waterfall (or really a creek) I have this urge to just jump in the water - no matter how harsh the conditions may be.

So despite the fact that it was barely 60 degrees, we slipped into swim suits and went searching for a beach. What we found was really not suitable for swimming (or sun bathing for that matter) but it was a beach. We walked around, found a spot on the rocks and listened to and watched the waves crashing all around us. The sun was setting over the Pacific and the warm dusk light made for beautiful photographs.

Once we confirmed that the nearest restaurant was indeed 20 miles away in Big Sur, we decided to grab a spot on the balcony of the lodge's restaurant and attempt to dine al fresco until it was just too cold to be enjoyable and our waiter helped us move inside to a table next to a space heater where we finished our meal while watching the sun dip below the horizon.

It all made for a memorable meal.

Driving down Highway 1

2011-07-11T10:10:00.001-04:00

Our first destination was Big Sur (Lucia, actually) and the road that would wind, rise, and drop us there was the coastal highway. I had seen pictures of the views and vistas from Highway 1, I had heard the stories from my mom who got a mild case of motion sickness riding in the backseat of a van without a clear view, and I read the reports of rock slides, mud slides, and road closures. In sum, I expected an adventure.

Immediately out of San Francisco the unobstructed views of the Pacific were vast and the road was only minimally curvy. We saw dramatic cliffs, waves crashing on the rocks, and kite surfers braving the cold harsh waters. We would pull over, snap photos, drive on. We had planned on taking our time, so we did.

Right before Santa Cruz, Hwy 1 flattens out, fields replace the ocean views, and traffic builds up. From Santa Cruz to just past Carmel is a very boring drive. In fact, disappointment set in and I worried that our hotel for the night would be in a flat, uninteresting section of the highway.

The moment we passed Carmel, however, the climb begins and the road winds you up the cliffs and mountains. This is where people get car sick, where the road closes for rock slides, and where those breathtaking panoramas of cliffs and ocean begin. We stopped frequently (and often abruptly) because right after that bend you'd look up and see this majestic scene suddenly before you.

Bogdan and I have this running joke about superlatives (how they've overused and often exaggerated), but here the superlatives and adjectives were flowing - actually it was more like the "wow,"s "oooh,"s and "oh!my!"s were flowing. The road and surrounding areas are very wild and uninhabited with sparse exceptions of private driveways that dip down steeply to probably a fabulous home with literally million dollar views. You don't see gas stations, or restaurants, a few lodges and hotels, but it's mainly the road and the coast. (And you and your camera, of course).

Our first stop after Carmel was Garrapata State Park, which we had read before means "tick" in Spanish, so we tread carefully to the rocky coast. Bogdan climbed the rocks and I took pictures of the vibrant plants and flowers and the bright blue shining sea. We left, without a tick bite, and headed down the road toward the "very often photographed" Big Sur bridge. The bridge itself is nothing spectacular, but the mountains behind it, the rocky cliffs, the waves crashing against the rocks, makes it one photogenic spot.

As we weaved in and out of the mountains and past Big Sur, we saw that our lodge was still 20 miles away. Although you may mistakenly believe "ah, 30 more minutes," on this stretch of Hwy 1 you'd be lucky to get there in an hour - winding switchback roads, 15 mile per hour turns, the possibility of getting stuck behind a timid driver, and the numerous pull out opportunities for photos all make for an extremely leisurely pace.

We also both worried that by the time we got the 20 miles from this magnificent stretch of highway, the road would flatten out and get boring and sad just like it was back near Monterrey. Of course, we had seen the lodge's photos, which promised just as spectacular views, but a small shadow of doubt passed over us. And so we tried to enjoy the views while we still could.

Where we've been lately

2011-07-10T14:20:00.000-04:00

For the past 2 months, Bogdan's been waking up early Monday morning, driving to the airport, and flying 6 long hours to San Francisco. I haven't mentioned it before (safety reasons), but that has been our life since May. He gets home really late on Thursday (or Friday morning for that matter) spends a few nights home, and it starts all over again. When we found out his project would be in the bay area, we immediately knew we'd be doing a weekend (or a few) in San Francisco. And that is where we've been for the past 2+ weeks.

A couple of Thursdays ago, my cousin drove me to the airport (Thanks, Sean!) and I boarded a nonstop flight to SFO where Bogdan was waiting for me as close as security allows among a group of people with "We heart Kyle" signs. The flight itself was really really long (think flying to London long) and all I could think was, how has he been doing this?! That night we stayed in a hotel near Union Square - but we wouldn't be staying in San Francisco long, we had big plans for the first weekend. Plans that Bogdan's coworkers aptly called "ambitious." So after checking out and Bogdan doing some work and conference calls on Friday (it was a work day after all), we got in the car and headed west and when the ocean stopped us, we turned due south down Highway 1.

Stay tuned...

7 Quick(ish) Youtube Videos

2011-07-08T10:50:00.000-04:00

Sorry I haven't been posting much lately, but I promise a ton of content is coming your way. In the meantime, to hold you over, I'm sharing 7 very funny Youtube videos in honor of Friday's 7 Quick Takes. (And, yes, a lot of these videos are ones you guys actually shared with me, so thanks!).

1) On a Boat: Not really a youtube video, per se, but just a classic funny video.

2) The Dentist: No one likes the dentist (or do they?) but this kid had one heck of an experience. I will let slide the Florida Gators shirt... Also, when I first saw this video, someone mentioned it was "Michael Phelps the early years."

3) Germans are funny: This has to be one of the funniest commercials ever made. EVER.

4) That poor dog: This one has had me (and Bogdan) cracking up for weeks now. Every time we answer, "yes?" we think of this video.

5) Making minivans cool: My sister sent me this video, and it's just too clever. Also, totally marketed to people like me and my sister.

6) We all know that feeling: This kid gets an A+ for drama. Love it.

7) Literal music videos: We definitely give musicians huge creative licences when they create music videos --- but that doesn't mean we won't make fun of them. I love this really well done "literal version" of a music video.

Ok, I'm always looking for more Youtube gold, so please comment with your favorite links.

Read all of the Quick Takes posts here.

May/June 2011: Cookbook Club Review

2011-06-29T13:27:00.003-04:00

May/June 2011 - Flying Pans - Potato Rosemary Crusted Halibut

I'm the worst Cookbook Club host ever. Still haven't made this month's recipe (aka last month's recipe), but I plan to do so soon.

Meanwhile, this is a place holder for that post when it comes and if you are a much better member of the Cookbook Club than I am, please post a link to your recipe review on the linky link below or leave a comment about the dish.

Can't wait to read what everyone thought about this one.

Copy and paste the code below into your review blog post for a totally awesome Cookbook Club image.

<a href="http://stephandbogdan.blogspot.com"><img alt="Cookbook Club at Moving to Maryland" height="105" width="200" border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-sO1f7BBi1MA/Tl1oAWt9lQI/AAAAAAAAedI/CqnByj2UAKQ/s800/cookbookclubllogosm.jpg" /></a>

Sharing Frederick

2011-06-27T19:07:00.000-04:00

I recently changed our "About" section of the blog to say that we moved to Maryland 3 years ago. It's pretty easy to keep track of because I started this blog pretty much the moment I found out we'd be moving.

Perhaps these numbers mean very little to anyone else, but I still find it fascinating how we were basically swept up one summer, twirled around, and just plopped into this great city of Frederick. Luck. Fate. God's will. No matter what you call it, we really lucked out.

I was thinking about all of these things because last week my mom came in town for a visit and we spent several days just hanging out and she explored Frederick every day while I was at work. I'd come home and she'd tell me all about the people she saw, the places she visited, and how there are just so many banks in this city (there really are a lot). Back in 2008, she helped us move to Frederick and spent a couple of days in town helping us unpack and get settled in, but she never really got the chance to explore.

I love sharing our city to visitors and family and friends. I like hearing about what other people think about this place that we've really come to love so much. It made me want to go back and read the posts about our first impressions of Frederick. If you're interested, you can read this post about our trip to find an apartment. And this post about our first weekend living in Frederick.

A special birthday

2011-06-22T10:41:00.000-04:00

I had a very special birthday this year.

We weren't in a foreign country this year...or even traveling.

We just had a really special and memorable day. In the morning, I opened my present from Bogdan and was excited to see he got me the camera backpack that I had asked for. As I was exploring the many compartments, I found another wrapped gift inside.

I was a very happy girl to discover that he had also got me the flash bulb that I've been dreaming about owning every time I upload my pictures to find blurry shots from low light settings. I'm officially very giddy about our California trip and the pictures I will surely take there.

Then in the afternoon we drove to the airport to pick up my mom and grandma, who came to visit us and my aunt this week. It's been a while since I've spent my birthday with my mom, definitely not since we moved in 2008. The four of us had dinner—while sharing the restaurant with the Father's day crowd—and it was so nice to catch up and visit. We dropped off my mom and grandma at my aunt's house and when got home Bogdan sent me off on some random little errand upstairs. When I came downstairs I saw this cake burning on the table.

He had picked out an ice cream cake (without me knowing)—and we all know how I feel about those—and it was HUGE and deliciously rich.

The next day my mom came over and she's been staying with us all week. Like I said, it was a very special birthday.

We Finally Volt-ed It

2011-06-17T11:51:00.002-04:00

I can't remember if we ever specifically had impressions of Frederick's Volt restaurant before Top Chef. I do remember that we thought it was in a beautiful historic building on Market Street. I'm pretty sure we looked at the menu and thought, "woah! expensive!"

Then there was the 2009 season of Top Chef. The area was abuzz with one of Frederick's native (and current) residents (Bryan Voltaggio) on a national television cooking show (which is nothing like when my small hometown of Mandeville had a kid on MTV's Road Rules... because you only have to be annoying to get on that show). I decided that I would watch the show, and saw every episode until the very end when Bryan went head to head with his brother, who ultimately won the show.

The Voltaggio brothers have gone on to make quite the brand of themselves, and Bryan's Volt has been ridiculously successful ever since (not to mention that he's reached 'celebrity' status in this city). I've wanted to eat at Volt for a while now, curious what all the hubbub was about and wanting to form my own impressions of his cooking and the restaurant. But Bogdan and I are both very frugal when it comes to food and dining out (seriously, we probably go out and have a sit down dinner once every few months if not less) so it was very low priority on our to-do list. We did pop in to Volt's courtyard during last year's In the Streets Festival and tried a few dishes from the outdoor food tents, but I didn't really count that as "experiencing" Volt.

We heard from other locals that the best time to enjoy a meal at Volt was at lunch because 1) it is very easy to get a lunch reservation, 2) the fixed price 3 course menu is reasonably priced, 3) with the common complaint of small dishes—being in a country used to Olive Garden-sized portions—going home hungry from lunch was not nearly as bad as going home hungry from dinner.

With my birthday this weekend, I decided to ask Bogdan if he thought it would be a good idea to go to lunch at Volt to celebrate. He was on board, so we made reservations for yesterday (I work from home on Thursdays). Let me just say that it was the fanciest lunch I've ever had. Overall our impressions of Volt were favorable. Although we did enjoy poking fun (to ourselves of course) of the seriousness of the waitstaff (and the sheer number of servers for our table - at least 5 that I can remember), we really did enjoy our lunch.

Bogdan definitely "won" on the ordering side of things (I promise, we're both ridiculously competitive about everything) by choosing the best first and second course. He had the goat cheese ravioli first, which were little black (the black dough really threw Bogdan off) goat-cheese filled drops of heaven. I had the cavatelli, which the flavor combos were a bit of a let down. And, yes, he shared.

For our second course we had the choice of two different fish dishes, a steak dish and a roast chicken. I went with the chicken because I've read that Julia Child said the best way to find out if a chef is worth his (or her) salt is try their roast chicken as it's one of the most difficult and time-consuming dishes to do really well and only the best and most attentive chefs can pull it off. Bogdan ordered the halibut, but was served the mahi mahi (something we didn't realize until I just looked at the menu again right now and figured that out) and it was freaking incredible. The soy air on top was strange (although it did actually taste like soy), but the fish was perfectly cooked and had this odd but intriguing floral flavor to it and the forbidden rice and carrots were simply made for one another. The roast chicken was good—very moist and I loved the crunch on top—and the cheese grits were so tasty I would have eaten a huge bowl of just those. At about 2/3 through on the second course, we switched plates and got to enjoy both dishes.

Now the clear winner of the third course was your's truly. I ordered the goat cheese cake (Bryan seems to have an affinity with goat cheese and I'm not complaining!), which came with vanilla ice cream and a vanilla bean sauce drizzled on the side of the plate. It was like a cheesecake, but with the distinct goat cheese flavor and a nice fluffiness. Bogdan had the honeycrisp apple with mascarpone gelato, which was definitely tasty but to be honest, had nothing on my goat cheese cake.

When the check came to the table, our server (one of them) also brought us each a small baggy with a "treat" for home. We were so stuffed from lunch (small plates?! psh!) that we didn't eat dinner until 9 p.m. The experience was worth every cent (and dollar). Will we go again? Probably not, at least not anytime soon (or maybe we'd go if there's an option to just have dessert!). It's really hard for us to justify spending so much on food (especially when I love cooking at home). But as a birthday treat? It was perfect!

Side note: sorry there were no photos, I was too shy to take my camera and take pics.

Colorado calling... California answering?

2011-06-14T09:38:00.001-04:00

I'm reading The Way West right now, which is a Pulitzer-winning book about the Oregon Trail (not the game), and I've found myself in this little Western mode. (Side note: I had no idea that my library had a Western fiction section, but it does, and that's where this book was residing).

Winter, 2004

All of these Western thoughts had me thinking, and I realized it had been 3 years since we've traipsed through the mountains of Colorado. Three years since we sipped on a Mt. Meeker smoothie at Kind Coffee in Estes Park, CO. Three years since we hiked the trails of the Rockies being astounded by the beauty and majesty.

Summer, 2006

I realize, now, that since my blog is exactly 3 years old, there are probably many of you who are unaware of our Colorado obsession... and simultaneously wondering, 'so what? it's been 3 years?'

It all started in 2004. Bogdan and I (a fairly new couple at that point) packed my little black car with jackets, ski pants, and gloves and drove 24 hours from Louisiana to Estes Park, CO. We immediately fell in love with the area, the state. With only a few exceptions, Bogdan and I went on to travel to Colorado twice a year (one summer trip and one winter trip) until 2008.

Winter, 2006 (wedding)

This included a trip with a marriage proposal, a trip with our whole family for our wedding, and lots of little trips in between. We loved the mountains of Colorado so much that we decided it was very likely that we'd move there one day... and then we moved to Maryland.

There's no specific reason why we haven't been back to Colorado in 3 years—we took some overseas trips, we visited our homes, we faced the reality of full time jobs and no more grad school Christmas breaks. We definitely did not fall out of love with the state.

Summer, 2007

I think the one thing we miss most are the mountains. Sure, we have the Blue Ridge in our backyard, but we're talking about mountains with elevation in the tens of thousands of feet. Craggy, cold, snow topped mountains.

Perhaps this is why I'm so excited about our trip this summer.

No, we're not going to Colorado.

In fact, we're traveling to San Francisco and we're going to spend one of our weekends in Yosemite National Park... along with 4.2 million other people this year.

Summer, 2008

Yes, millions.

We, as well as the other millions, will see some of the most turbulent Yosemite waterfalls in years thanks to a ridiculous amount of melting snow. Hopefully, we won't feel like sheep or cattle in the crowds, but instead will be able to sneak off and hike on some less-traversed trails.

If you're wondering whether I will take my camera and notebook and a pen for blogging, the answer is of course. So stay tuned this summer for pictures and probably a few posts.

7 Quick Tchotchkes

2011-06-10T07:35:00.004-04:00

Now that our house is pretty much furnished (there are a few small items we're still considering), I've enjoyed being able to focus more on accessories and making a room look more lived in with pictures on the wall, mirrors, throws, pillows, and tchotchkes. The first time I used that word Bogdan was amazed - he had never heard it before. And now every time we walk by or go to a store he asks, "are you going to buy more tchotchkes?" Lately, that answer has been yes! Below are my 7 favorite tchotchkes in our house right now.

1) Pulls on the night stand: This one has been a long time coming. Bogdan stripped and repainted these night stands more than a year ago and has been wanting to replace the hardware on them ever since. We've never been able to commit, until we found these pulls on sale at Anthropologie. Love the personality.

2) Our shepherd: We seem to inadvertently have a sheep thing going on in our front room. The picture behind the couch is the one I took in Scotland of two sheep, and now we have this guy to go along with it sitting on our coffee table/bench.

3) The random knot: Last year we saw a photo of a house with this rope knot in one of the vignettes and we loved it. Not wanting to spend $30 on rope tied in a knot, we found a tutorial and Bogdan made this in less than 30 minutes.

4) Accessible coffee: On one of our trips to Ikea, I was lured into buying one of their ridiculously inexpensive kitchen accessories without really thinking through where it would go. We had this rack in a cabinet for a long time, until we found the perfect spot for it over the butcher block in the kitchen.

5) The night light: For a while now, I've really been hoping someone would knock at our door when it's dark, and I'd open it with this in my hand.

6) A toast! Bogdan's mom has been bringing us these beautiful goblets each time she comes (or at least it seems like that!). We have them sitting on our bar, and I think they bring a certain regal character to the table.

7) Not for the birds: When we were in Rochester, I stopped in a cute store and was browsing their home decor section. I just happened to pick up this bird house and when I saw that it was $8, I quickly scooped it up. Right now it's on the mantle, but maybe one day we'll hang it outdoors.

Read all of the Quick Takes posts here.