Going Home

I'm going home at the end of this week and there are a few things I'm looking forward to (besides the first 2 these are in no particular order):

1) Spending time with the family
2) Waterskiing!!
3) Watching the fireflies from our porch swing
4) The scent of the corn fields
5) The sunsets and being able to see the stars
6) Consuming insane amounts of movie theater popcorn with my sisters
7) UDF and Young's Jersey Dairy (despite the recent diagnosis of lactose intolerance, I will be eating ice cream there - if it hasn't killed me the past 24 years, a little now and then won't kill me now, right?!) And there's nothing better than going to Young's for a strawberry milkshake accompanied by the world's best onion rings after a long day of skiing!
8) Sleeping in my own room
9) Going to the pool
10) Large pancake breakfasts
11) Seeing some old friends

It's safe to say I'm ridiculously excited about going home and think I might burst if the next few days don't go by quickly!

If anyone wants any souvenirs from Buckeye territory, speak now or forever hold your peace :)

I Have Never

There are a few things I always used in the game I Have Never:

I have never had a bloody nose

I have never been snow skiing

I have never cracked my own knuckles

I have never had stitches

Well, after last week I’ll be limited to the first three. I have now had stitches! Don’t ask me why I used an exclamation point there because it wasn’t a fun or exciting experience. I was running in Central Park and just as I was coming by the fountain on my way home I totally ate it. And I mean totally. I fell and slid. When I looked back to see what on earth had the audacity to get in my way and trip me I didn’t see a thing! Yup, I’m a klutz. My knee was pretty badly banged up with some cuts, but my arm was a complete disaster! One man came over to me with a napkin and said “I promise it’s clean”. I wouldn’t have cared if it weren’t – I needed something besides my shirt (already covered in blood) to put on it. (And, may I just interject here – as I was walking home, dripping blood – mind you, crying my eyes out, only a couple people asked if I was okay…what’s wrong with people?!!)

I don’t know what I was, or wasn’t, thinking when I decided it was okay to go into work after cleaning the wound. It was bad. But, I went to work. After having to change the gauze for a third time I decided I’d better have it looked at. So I called my insurance company and asked for the location of an urgent care clinic. The first two (yes, that’s right, TWO) turned out NOT to be able to do sutures…as you can imagine I was on the verge of a breakdown when I called for the third time. I didn’t care that I was standing in the middle of the street crying on the phone. I finally found a clinic and they were able to help me – after they made me wait 2 hours, that is. Showing the woman the wound didn’t help. And, don’t worry, I had to change the gauze again while I was there because it was still bleeding. According to the doctor, the cut was down to my bone (I hadn’t really wanted to look at it) and everyone kept saying they couldn’t believe I didn’t come in sooner. I can’t believe I didn’t either – I think I was in denial that I’d need stitches. Or in shock (which the doctor said). Or just plain crazy. Take your pick.

But, I’m stitched up now and healing very well. I didn’t actually feel a thing during the stitching, which I appreciated.

I’ve debated putting the photo up or not, because it’s really kind of gross, but I’ve decided to anyway – Maren & Amber (and any other nursing friends) – I figured you’d enjoy it.

Fireflies!

I love fireflies. I love the magical, whimsical sensation they evoke. Like you've stepped into a world where fairies exist, where wishes come true and where meadows of wildflowers abound.
To me, fireflies are synonymous with summer: With days spent by the pool and experiencing the joy of the hot pavement beneath my feet. With adventures past the fields and into the woods behind our house where we would build forts and tree houses and imagine all sorts of things. With sitting on our porch swing long after the sun had set, listening to the crickets and inhaling deeply to smell the fresh corn scent carried on the soft breeze that danced through the air.
I used to run around barefoot in my yard with a Mason jar and catch them. Not to brag, but I became an expert firefly catcher.
Last night Maria, Liz, Ali and I went for a walk in Riverside Park and I got to see (at catch!) my first firefly of the season! Needless to say, I will be making as many trips to the park as possible to delight in the wonder that fireflies bring!

Bird Watching

So - do you remember what it was like in First Grade? I thought I did...then I went to my sister's first grade class (she's the teacher) to help with a field trip. My goodness! I had a lot of respect for my sister's job prior to visiting her class - but now I think she's an absolute saint/hero/superwoman! Almost 30 kids with just one teacher? I swear, I've never heard the phrase "teacher! teacher! teacher!" more in my life than I did there - and that was just the 10 minutes BEFORE the bell rang for class to start. Every child wanted to be the center of attention. And they were all so adorable! And of course, she assigned me the most interesting ones to look after during the field trip to the aviary. Here are just a few highlights from the day:

- Telling Andrew to stop chasing the poor peacock
- Telling Andrew to stop climbing the fences
- Basically telling Andrew to stop doing whatever he was doing because it would more than likely result in an injury to himself/others/the birds
- Laughing hysterically at anything Brendan said. For example: One of the girls forgot her lunch at home and started crying. Since she lived nearby, she asked if she could run home and get it. Brendan's response to this was: "What's the big deal? Why is every body worried? It's not like there's no food left in the world. Jeez. She can get food here. Would everybody just calm down?" And he has the cutest voice too.
- Trying to find all the kids' shoes after they set them down on the playground and had no recollection of where
- One girl having blisters and crying and then suddenly watching all the girls develop blisters
- Watching the video of their class musical performance
- Remembering what First Grade was like

The next day we built boats in class and made them float in bins of water - I'll let your imagination run with how messy the place become. Chances are, it's not wild enough to picture how messy it really was!

Here are some pictures...the close-up of the little blond boy is Andrew...

Andrew chasing the peacock

I'm Moving to Old Lyme...

I’m obsessed with the city, but every once in a while I need to escape. I need to walk on green grass and breathe fresh air. But when you grow up with this (see image below) being your back yard can you blame me? I’m really a country girl at heart.



This past weekend I went to New Haven (technically Old Lyme), CT to visit some family friends. Mike and Brian came down from Boston as well and we had a fantastic and rejuvenating weekend. We’re already planning a trip back it was so wonderful!!

I took the train up Friday night and got off at the Metro North Old Saybrook stop. I met my friends and the boys there. As I’m sure most of you know, it’s unseasonably chilly – that night was cool with a blanket of misty rain that rested over everything like a deep sleep. This made it the perfect night for comforting food. So, what did we have? Pizza! We started with a delicious, crispy salad of romaine, fresh garden tomatoes and mushrooms, fresh parmesan and a house olive oil, balsamic dressing. I would have been happy with just the salad! But then came the pizza and it was wonderful! We had a chicken cacciatore, a Bacon, broccoli and tomato and a pesto with sautéed mushrooms (which was my favorite). Yum!

My friends’ place is idyllic – a bit of heaven on earth. Seriously…it’s the perfect retreat! We slept in on Saturday and when I woke up in my room upstairs I felt like Anne of Green Gables…they live in one of the oldest houses in Old Saybrook and it’s beyond charming. They’ve done a wonderful job decorating it! I woke up to the sound of birds chirping!! How cliché yet perfect is that?! And, call me ridiculous, but I was so excited about the fact that I looked out my window and saw a lush, vibrantly green tree! SO much better than an apartment building. Their yard is amazing!
Breakfast consisted of homemade oatmeal (no, she didn’t grow the oats, but what I mean is that it wasn’t instant…), fresh, warm bagels with cream cheese tomatoes and onions. The perfect start to the morning!

Then the boys and I did a little touring. We went to the beach!!! I took my shoes off and walked around barefoot. I could have died happy at that point. There’s something so liberating about walking barefoot on a beach. (Brian has all those pictures, so I'll have to wait to post them until he sends them to me...)



We drove through the old towns, went to a charming book place called the Book Barn (where I wanted to buy everything!) and saw a lighthouse where we shot pictures despite the fact that we weren’t supposed to. Oops :)



Lunch consisted of ice cream from the Old Lyme Ice Cream Shop (hey, it’s dairy, right?!) I had black cherry chocolate chunk. So you see - I even had a serving of fruit in there!



We went to the Bee & Thistle Inn (to be re-visited later) and sat down by the water on these three chairs...



Aren't you jealous? :)

Then we went back to my friends’ house and learned how to play Boules (the French version of lawn bowling) and now I’m slightly addicted! The boys were actually very good…I, however, need some practice. But we had a great time playing two rounds before dinner.



Did I mention that my friend is a food critic and an EXCELLENT chef? We have Caesar salad with freshly-grated cheese and homemade croutons, pasta with Bolognese sauce and warm bread straight from the oven.



For dessert we went to the Bee & Thistle Inn (owned by their friends) and let me tell you – this is everything every inn out there should aspire to become!
We were treated to the following:
Lemon custard cake with fresh berries and cream
Chocolate pot de crème with fresh whipped cream
Phyllocinni (Phyllo dough shredded, brushed with butter and sugar then baked) ice cream sandwiches with warm strawberry rhubarb compote and vanilla ice cream.
Um…hello!! It doesn’t get any better than that!

Basically, the weekend was perfect!

The results are in...

(well, half of them anyway...)

That's a "NO" on the avocado and lima beans and a half and half on the alfredo sauce...I don't hate it anymore, but I'm not sure it will ever be my first choice at a restaurant...

I still haven't been able to bring myself to eat cottage cheese...that was by far my least favorite. And I haven't seen any cordial cherries, so maybe I'm off the hook :)

Grown Up Tastes???

So you know how you’re often told when you’re little that your tastes will mature? And how your mom uses that as the reason you need to keep eating things you don’t like – because one day your “tastes will mature and you’ll like them”…I never understood that. Why force yourself to tolerate something? Chances are you never really will enjoy it, but rather just numb yourself to the taste so your gag reflex no longer kicks in. There are a few things I hated as a kid that I bet I’d dislike just as much today, despite my oh-so-mature nature :) haha.

For example:
Lima beans



Avocado




Alfredo sauce



Cottage cheese




and

Cordial Cherries



I'm known in my family for knowing exactly what I do and do not like, and being very specific with my tastes. Just go to a restaurant with me once and you'll probably know what I'm talking about. Sometimes I feel badly for the servers when I ask them how a sauce is prepared or if I can make certain alterations/substitutions (sadly, that doesn't stop me from asking…oops :) …I apologize to those who find this annoying. I promise I'm not really that bad!).
I've decided to see if my tastes really have matured or if I still don't like any of the aforementioned things. So within the next week or two I'm going to try them and return with you the results…

Now, as it’s not the holiday season, does anyone know where I can find cordial cherries? :)