How we Spent our Summer Vacation

We spent a little over a week and a half splitting our time on lakes and in mountains in the Poconos, Pennsylvania and Portland/Oxford, Maine. I think I am one of those people who loves both the mountains and the beach, but this summer's mountain/lake vacations were SO relaxing and peaceful. There sure is something to be said for the beauty and stillness of nature, and it really does the soul good.

Most of our days consisted of sleeping until awoken by the sunshine (we didn't have one day of rain!), sipping 2-3 cups of coffee in the morning, and then changing out of our pajamas and into our swimsuits for a day of soaking in the sun, reading, and swimming/pontooning. We snacked for lunch, and when the sun had set, drank wine and played games while slowly preparing dinner and eating late. Followed by an evening campfire, filled with more games (our family likes to play Trivial Pursuit around the fire), sometimes with marshmallows and s'mores.

My parents joined Rob and I, and Rob's mom, in the Poconos at Rob's family's cabin on Lake Watawga for a long weekend. Other than the activities mentioned above, we got in our exercise by stacking 2 cords of firewood in preparation for the winter (one cord = about 300 logs), went kayaking, peddle boating, and canoeing... and had a delicious meal out at Smuggler's Cove. Oh, and we went to the annual Mt. Pocono carnival on our last night there after our friends Meg and Matt joined us... Meg won a game of BINGO and a fish, which promptly died overnight.  Nice knowing you, Olivia (the name of the fish).

On our first day in Portland, ME, after being picked up from the airport by Rob's aunt and uncle, we headed to see some lighthouses, have a picnic lunch, and hike around for a bit to explore. We did some window shopping in Portland, had dinner (delicious fish & chips & onion rings and blueberry wheat beer at The Porthole), and headed to Jenny and Joe's cabin on Thompson Lake in Oxford, ME.

Here are some shots of our travels:

bark? guess again...

huge stone rocks that looked like wood... amazing

Portland Head Lighthouse, the oldest in the U.S., commissioned by George Washington

Jenny, Joe, and Robin (Rob's mom)

goofy sisters

nothing like the view at the summit...

cousin Lauren and her boyfriend, Ross

cousin Paul, rockin' out!

an attempt at a family photo

It was a vacation I won't soon forget!
How did you spend your lazy days of summer?

Love,
Katie

Kitchen a la Julia

One famous person I wish I could have spent the day with is Julia Child.  After seeing Julia & Julia (many times), purchasing and using her cookbook, and reading her autobiography about her time in France, I just wish I could spend a day in the kitchen with her.

On our recent anniversary getaway, we spent one afternoon in the Nation's capital checking out some of our favorite free museums at The Smithsonian.  The Museum of American History has just been renovated recently, so we decided to check it out, knowing the Julia Child exhibit was also there.  It was so fun! Even Rob enjoyed it.  What a great exhibit - check it out if you're ever in D.C. Here are some pictures!

I love how carefully planned out her kitchen was, and how Julia made the most out of her limited space. Such a homey kitchen!

1st Anniversary Getaway

Time sure flies when you are having fun! It's crazy to think that a year ago, we were returning from our honeymoon in St. Augustine, FL and settling into our first week of life as newlyweds.  Now, a year later, we have moved out of our apartment into the home we purchased in November 2009 - and are happily working away on projects and building our life together!

For nostalgia's sake...

So this past weekend, we celebrated our first anniversary in Alexandria, VA - a city that we know and love - for its historical feel and main street with shopping/antiques and good restaurants. We found a great deal on a four-star hotel on Priceline.com (shout-out to William Shatner!), that was in walking distance of King Street.

One of the highlights of our quick getaway was getting gussied up and going out for a really nice dinner - something we don't do very often, but were able to swing thanks to a generous gift from my grandparents.

VERMILION, owned and operated by Dave Hammond and Executive Chef Anthony Chittum, was an excellent blend of innovation, fresh and seasonal foods that come from local farmers, and deliciousness.  We sat at a cozy table for two right in front of the middle window on the second floor of the restaurant - dimly lit with brick exposed walls, and had a great view overlooking King Street at night.  Rob and I shared Steak Tartare and a Pork Belly Salad for starters, Rob ordered for his entree the grilled berkshire pork loin cajun boudin croquette, spiced rapini & green garlic pomme purée and I ordered the pineland farms beef striploin with “smothered” brussels sprouts, fingerling potato confit & black truffle. The hint of truffle perfectly complemented one of the most tender pieces of beef I have ever eaten.  For dessert, we had a really hard time choosing between the ricotta pound cake with mascarpone and citrus three ways and the chocolate bar (layered dark chocolate cake) with almond brittle, fleur de sel & evoo ice cream. Yeah, vanilla ice cream drizzled with extra virgin olive oil and sea salt. We chose the ricotta pound cake, and were pleasantly surprised when our waiter also brought out the chocolate bar - on the house for our anniversary!  If you're ever in Alexandria, make reservations for Vermilion. SO GOOD!

On Sunday we went to the Museum of American History in Washington, D.C. because we're just cool like that. But that's for another post on another day...

Ranch Meets East

After a very busy weekend of organizing and cleaning and unpacking and getting together for a Christmas dinner celebration with our college friends, one of my dear friends and I, who have recently bonded even closer over our adoration for the PW cookbook spent a VERY rainy Pennsylvania Sunday afternoon at the Chester County Book & Music Company.  We. Met. Ree. Drummond.

I just couldn't wait until later in the post to show you the picture. 

She was just as sweet and down-to-earth as you could imagine.  And she had a fanTAStic singing voice!  The Pioneer Woman in the flesh.  We couldn't contain our excitement. 

Check out Ree's cookbook - The Pioneer Woman Cooks: Recipes from an Accidental Country Girl

We got to Chester County Book & Music Company at 1:30 PM, and Ree was scheduled to address the audience (okay, PW Philadelphia Fan Club) at 2:30 PM.  As number 142, we somehow still got seats for the Q&A session.  In the third to last row, but hey, that was okay with us.  We met a cute baby and her mom sitting in front of us, and a very nice woman who's husband had come early to save her a seat until she could get there.  My friend and I had a chance to get caught up on all things new in our life as we anxiously waited.  And at 2:30, all eyes were glued to Ree, who hilariously addressed the crowd and took many questions from the audience.  Halfway through the Q&A time, my friend and I realized that we were the last book-signing on the tour.  Bittersweet for Ree, I'm sure.  *Note: I just visited her site and realized that more signings have been added.  So if you live in Oklahoma, go to meet her.  It's definitely worth your time and money. 

After the Q&A session was over, Ree began to sign.  And sign, and sign and sign.  You could tell that Chester County Book & Music had hosted a book signing or two before.  They had a system that worked so well.  They called a range of numbers to join the line so that there wasn't a thousand-mile-long line wrapping around their HUGE store.  So my friend and I were able to enjoy a vanilla latte and mocha while leafing through some magazines and doing some more catching up.  It was great!  I had visions of being the last people in a very long line, and we barely had to stand in line at all.

At around 5:00, they called numbers 141-160, and we jumped in line, waited for about 10 minutes, and then the moment of judgment came.  We introduced ourselves, Ree signed our books (which we decided how she should personalize with sticky notes ahead of time) and I gave her a torn piece of paper with a link to our blog, for her to check out in all of her down time.  HA!  We got our picture taken with her, and that was the end of our adventure.

 

Thanks for coming to Pennsylvania, PW! We'd love to see you again for your Black Heels to Tractor Wheels signing... and this time, you will know what you have gotten yourself into.

And a special thanks to our photographer, who was also our chauffeur and was a good sport indulging us for oh, about 5 hours.  Ree even said he was a good sport.

Also, thanks to my friend for bringing an iPhone that was charged, so we had something to use to take our picture.  iPhones are great, but I really need a better camera.  I really hope Santa read my Christmas list!

Gluttony Night

One evening a few weeks ago, our friend Lisa had free tickets to the a Reading Phillies game (a AA-level farm team for the Philadelphia Phillies we love so much). So we went with Lisa and another friend Chip for a warm summer night of baseball. On the way to the game, we got a flat tire, which Rob and Chip changed in record time, while I documented the occasion on film.


Other than the tire, the night was perfect, especially since it was Gluttony Night. What a great name, huh? For $10, you got a wristband that provided you unlimited access to all-you-could-eat hot dogs, cheeseburgers, french fries, pizza, soda, ice cream, and funnel cakes. What a great deal! Usually at a game, Rob and I would spend that much for a sandwich and a drink. So we took part in the festivities (after all, the tickets were free!).


Some of our leftovers...
Rob (pretending) to lose his gluttony goodness...

Pictures from Abroad

From top: rock formations at the Giant's Causeway, a yummy mocha, sheep in Carlingford, gorgeous tile floor of Christchurch Cathedral in Dublin, Dunluce Castle in Northern Ireland, the London Eye, LE & Parliament at night, Parliament & Big Ben, guarding of the crown jewels

August Update

It's been over a month since my last post (probably to the dissatisfaction of my THOUSANDS of followers), so I thought maybe I should update finally. August was a busy month.

We left at the end of July for our big shi-bang honeymoon to England, Ireland and Northern Ireland. I'll be sure to post some of our favorite pictures soon. Our first stop was London, and after a delayed flight and almost not being able to get to the airport due to storms and subsequent flooding in Newark, NJ, we made it across the pond and were surprised that we actually slept on the flight. We spent a whole day trying to fit in as much sightseeing as possible because we bought "The London Pass", which gave us access to over 55 historical sights, but we only bought a one-day pass, and got our money's worth! St. Paul's Cathedral, Tower of London, Westminster Abbey, Cabinet War Rooms/Churchill Museum, and cruise on the River Thames were all included. While in London we also rode the London Eye, which provides a great view of the city, and also watched a couple in the pod next to us get engaged... Rob found that very entertaining. In Ireland, we met up with our friend Kathryn and spent a few days in Dublin, followed by a few days along the Northern Coast of N. Ireland at the Erskine holiday home. The North Coast was beautiful, especially the Giant's Causeway. We toured Belfast on a rainy day, but still had a good time and stayed dry on the tour bus, then did some shopping in Belfast. The last few days, we headed back to the Republic of Ireland to Galway and surrounding towns. We had a great visit with Kathryn, and really enjoyed our first visit to the Emerald Isle.

Once we returned in early August, work was very busy for me getting ready to welcome all of the incoming students at Eastern. All the paperwork came together from Rob's summer class for his official Special Ed certification, and he was offered a permanent position at CAT-Pickering where he worked last year teaching Social Studies and Special Education. Classes started for Rob yesterday, and he has a lot of the same students he had last year, so he is looking forward to his second year of teaching with hopes that like many people say, the first year is the most difficult.

We spent one weekend a few weeks ago in the Poconos at the cabin, and had gorgeous weather, and were able to swim across the lake without freezing. We're going back this weekend for the long weekend, and hope the weather will be just as nice! I've also seen a few good films in the theaters, and would recommend The Time Traveler's Wife and Julie & Julia. I read the TTW, and even though the book was better (like most books made into movies), the movie was well-made and stuck close to the book. And now that I have seen J&J, I have been cooking more and trying recipes out of my Martha Stewart Cooking School cookbook. I have mastered roasted chicken with white wine reduction sauce... and it's delicious!

Transitioning

5 weeks at Sankanac went by so quickly! The weather was wonderful - not too hot, and sunny every day. We will have lots of memories from our time there this summer, and while it will be good to transition back to our more "normal" lifestyle, we will miss our friends and will be looking forwar A few photos of our last few days... the sign, Benji playing ping pong, and Lisa getting her 1/2 mile swimming patch at her very own awards ceremony!

We packed up Saturday morning and were home unpacking the same afternoon, with probably 9 loads of laundry piled around our apartment. On Saturday evening, we met my parents for dinner in Adamstown at Stoudt's Brewery with our friend Kathryn who is here for 2 weeks working at camp, telling her that this was America trying to be German. We had a good time, and some great and pretty authentic German cuisine.

On Sunday afternoon, we visited the Winklers in Easton, and after a cookout at their house, went to see our first Iron Pigs game in Bethlehem. The Iron Pigs are one of the AAA farm teams for the Phillies, and admission was pretty inexpensive - Rob and I both got in for $12. Because of camp, Rob has been missing watching baseball, so we had a great afternoon!

This week, we are busy getting our life at home re-organized, and getting things ready for our big trip!