September, October, and November Adventures

I still have updating to do from the past several months. I have made this a goal to get all the updating done so that we have some sort of documentation on the last several adventures Bear and I have been on. This process has seemingly taken forever. I sit down to go through pictures only to realize that I have thousands of pictures all un-organized and in separate folders because that's the way they have downloaded to my computer… ridiculous.  But hooray for me, I'm slowly making progress on the photo organizing front and updating our life over the post 6 months. 

To those who still read this crazy blog of mine, the months and months of updating will soon be over and I will get back to posting regular posts.

September.
We were still on the hunt for furniture to fill our empty home. I stopped by every yard sale I found and frequently visited the thrift store.  I was able to find some great things, see below the 1980’s record player hutch. With some sanding and a new coat of paint it looked great.

We enjoyed our favorite Chinese noodle restaurants in New Brunswick. 

The weather was so beautiful in September that every moment we had we got outside and went for runs/walks to our local park.

We celebrated Shento, it was a happy 7^th birthday filled with dog cupcakes and a new stuffed animal.  

I traveled to WA to visit Miss. Milly, Whitney & Joey.  I had such a wonderful time. We packed the 5 days with eating Cronuts, wondering around the unbelievably beautiful Chihuly garden and glass museum, went on a girls date and devoured Mexican food, took lots of walks, and explored a little bit of Seattle.

October. 
Bear and I wanted an adventure, and we had always heard that upstate New York was beautiful during  the fall months, so the weekend after I got back from Washington we hoped in the car and drove to the Catskills.  We camped out in our car for a night and explored the little town of Windham.  

Janice came for a weekend visit. We walked downtown Highland Park stopping at the farmers market and our favorite bagel shop. 

Vicci and Charlie, Bear’s Aunt and Uncle, were visiting Maryland and it’s only a short drive from our house so we went to enjoy the day with them. We ate the absolute best crab cakes ever.

November

Bear rang in another wonderful year of life. He was busy the entire day so we celebrated that evening with a stombolli, cake, and the opening of gifts.  

Ryan took a spontaneous trip from D.C to come visit us. Always fun having him around. 

Bear went to Chicago to present a chapter of his dissertation. This was a big deal and I was a very proud grad student wife. 

We celebrated Thanksgiving by each picking two new recipes and making them together. The top favorites were the spinach sausage tart and the mushroom pilaf.

a couple photos from our week with Ryan

One of the hardest things about moving to Utah has been that we have not been able to see our friends as often. Most of them live in the D.C area, and were easily accessible when we lived in NJ. 

Secretively, we hope that they all take their vacations to Utah. We can offer great skiing! 

When Ryan called us up to inform us that he would be coming to visit,

 both Bear and I counted down the weeks, days, and then hours. 

We were super excited! 

The time went by quickly, but we had a wonderful week with Ryan. 

It was filled with great conversations, good food, amazing skiing (done by Bear and Ryan), 

and nice weather. We could not of asked for better. 

Thank you Ryan for taking the time out of your busy life to come visit us. 

We needed a little time with our best friend. 

awful waffle + a walk

Ryan, one of our best-friends came into town this past week and we had a blast showing him around. Our first stop was Awful Waffle right here in Provo. I had heard mixed reviews about the small walk up belgium waffle house, but I am happy to report that it was delicious. The piled on bananas and homemade whip cream are a must. and I highly recommend the hot chocolate, one of the best cups I have ever had.  

It was such a sunny and warm day that we took advantage of being outside and toured around the campus of BYU. Showing Ryan all of the sites that BYU and Provo have to offer. 

pizza night

On Saturday we had our friends over to enjoy a little pizza making. Each couple got a ball of dough and lots and lots of toppings. Bear and I got creative with the crust and made cheesy garlic stuffed crust. We even started a slight (friendly) competition on who was going to create the best pizza. I think we all won! They all looked so good, and mine was delightful to eat.

a week in D.C : part one

Bear and I spent this past week in D.C hanging out with our closest friends, eating lots of good food, and exploring all that the city has to offer. 

 We arrived Friday evening and immediately headed out to dinner with Ryan and Janice to Nando's peri peri. Basically all they serve is chicken, anyway you would like it with lots of different types of sauces. It was messy but good. We then went and got ourselves some cupcakes across the street.
The rest of the evening was spent at U street listening to other people's conversations, people watching, and doing a little dancing.

We spent the next morning at Jimmy T's, a little old house on Capital Hill that had been turned into a delicious eating establishment. I loved the decor and the cozy feel of this place. They had the red rider bb gun and a similar leg lamp from the Christmas Story... and the coffee mugs were from all different locations around the U.S. Plus, the food was great!

After breakfast, we headed to the Eastern Market. Janice and I strolled along the sidewalks looking at all the different craft vendors and yummy looking food. We left Bear and Ryan in the book store (see picture directly below.. that is looking in the front window of the bookstore. This is how the whole inside looked, wall to wall books.. Bear was in in glory). Later that day, we met Jack at the Congressional Cemetery. Many congressman, senators, and representatives are buried there. It also serves as a dog park in the warmer weather, seeing dogs running about around graves is a little out of place, but all the doggies and their owners were having a good time. Jack brought his adorable 10 month old pup Remi, he stole my heart the minute I saw him. Anyways, he enjoyed the grave-site dog park and met lots of friends.

That night we enjoyed a home cooked meal by Janice. She bought some raviolis from the Eastern Market earlier that day and they were melt in your mouth good. We all hung out chatting and enjoying each other's company.We are so lucky  to have such close (and amazing) friends...we love you guys.

After our dinner at home, we went out and enjoyed the night life of Alexandria.

P.S I want to apologize for the really bad quality of all our D.C photo's. I was too lazy to cary around our nice big camera, and therefore settled for our phone or our crummy point and shoot.