Under the Mistletoe

Like just about everyone, I love when the calendar clicks over to December 1 and it is officially time to start listening to Christmas music.  There are so many wonderful songs that have come to make up that genre over the years and so many takes on each that it is impossible to zero in on a total favorite.  This year I thought I'd share an album that my sister recommended to me and which I have been happily bopping my head to through this holiday season: The Good Lovelies' Christmas album Under the Mistletoe.

I love the mix of songs on this album as well as their fun, swingy take on the Christmas classics, including a few less common ones like Mele Kalikimaka, which is one that I often forget about but always love when I hear it.  There are also a couple of original songs that fit the album quite nicely.  I definitely encourage you to give it a spin on Spotify! I know it will not disappoint.

In other Christmas news, I am sad to report that our little rosemary Christmas tree did not survive our trip to California.  We returned to find a sad shrively little brown plant in its place, which broke my heart a little. However, as the saying goes, necessity is the mother of invention and I quickly devised a replacement that I know can survive minimal watering and thus the Christmas Jade plant was born:

Not bad right?  I still want a real, full-sized tree next year but I am very happy with our little non-traditional one at the moment.  I hope your trees have fared better and that you enjoy some great holiday tunes down the stretch here...6 days until Christmas!

Notes from Northern California

My has it been a busy month, and not just for the typical December reasons!  Can you believe that Christmas is only a week away? I have many updates to share but I'll start with our quick trip out to California at the end of last week.  It was short but totally wonderful.

Leo was very helpful packing me up

My interview at Berkeley was on Friday morning so we flew out early Thursday to get ourselves situated and on schedule. We got in early in the afternoon, picked up our rental car, made the mandatory stop at In-N-Out Burger and then headed to Greg's aunt and uncle's house.  We spent the late afternoon and evening catching up with the family, which was the perfect way to unwind before my big morning.

Mmmmm

The day of my interview we got up very early, which is luckily really easy coming from East to West, got all polished up and headed into the city.  Greg's company has an office in downtown San Francisco, so I dropped him off there for the day before heading over the Bay Bridge to Berkeley.  I arrived more than 2 hours before my interview and found a killer parking space a block away from the Haas School, which kind of felt like destiny in that moment.  After triumphantly parallel parking, I popped down to a little coffee shop right by campus that Greg's dad, who got his master's at Berkeley, had recommended to finish up my interview prep.  It was a gray, drizzly day but sitting on Caffe Strada's heated, covered patio alternating between people watching and preparations was exactly what I needed to calm my nerves before heading to my interview.

California golden bears outside the Haas School of Business

As far as the interview itself, I think it actually went really well.  I connected with my interviewer right away, so any remaining nerves quickly subsided.  Her questions also allowed me to talk about exactly what I wanted to talk about, which is a somewhat rare thing in an interview from my experience.  It is always hard to know exactly where you stand, but I left feeling good and more excited than ever about the idea of going to school there.  Based on a few of my interviewer's recommendations, I spent the next few hours bopping around Berkeley.  I walked through the beautiful center of campus and then headed down Telegraph Ave, which is filled with shops and restaurants and was having a Christmas street fair the day I was there.  That is where I discovered the little beauty pictured below. I kept seeing people walk by with ice cream sandwiches and knew I must have one.  A couple blocks later I found the source: C.R.E.A.M. You get to pick your own cookies (which come out of a warm oven) and flavor of ice cream and it is total bliss.  I went with snickerdoodles and salted caramel ice cream and I'm kind of still thinking about it...

Helloooo there!

A few hours of shopping later, I drove back across the bridge to grab Greg from work and head to dinner.  One of his coworkers recommended Salt House and we were lucky to score two seats at the cozy little bar. The drinks and food were creative and delicious and the atmosphere was bustling and festive - in other words, the perfect place for a low-key Friday date.  It was so fun to share updates from both our days in a brand new city and imagine what it might be like if that dream became a reality.  February 1st can't come soon enough!

Isn't it a lovely little glowing space?

The rest of the weekend was very low key compared with Friday's adventures and consisted primarily of relaxed drinks and quality time with Greg's extended family.  We returned very late on Sunday night to an enthusiastic greeting from Mr. Leonidas and got ready to start the last full business week of 2012.

One final bit of news to close out this post - I got accepted to the University of Maryland's Smith School of Business yesterday so one way or another, this girl is getting an MBA! Fingers are still crossed on Berkeley and UT Austin, but I breathed an enormous sigh of relief when I opened that email yesterday morning.   I hope all your weeks are off to great start as well!

Christmas Tea and Cookies

Just a quick little post about two things we have been enjoying around our apartment this season. One of them is the tea pictured below: Tazo Sweet Cinnamon Spice.  We are big tea drinkers, at least a cup a piece a night and sometimes more, and this tea is perfect for this time of year.  Warmly spicy and slightly sweet, it is a great cup to wind down with at the end of the day.

Cinnamon and star anise - perfectly festive, right?

One other little tidbit I felt I must share is this box of holiday edition Trader Joe's Joe-Joe sandwich cookies, or as they are duly called: The Astounding Multi-Flavor Joe-Joe's.  Indeed they are astounding and dangerously delicious.  The flavors, clockwise from the left are chocolate peppermint, white chocolate ginger, chocolate peanut butter, and double chocolate.  I don't think  I can buy another box because I cannot be trusted around them as I'm a bit of a cookie monster, but if you have access to a Trader Joe's you definitely should - they are not to be missed.

Seriously amazing

Anyone else have seasonal discoveries to share?   I cannot believe it is already December 11th...I feel like the season is just flying by!

Weekend of Parties

The weekend totally delivered and was so packed that I barely took any pictures.  Greg's work party on Friday was blast, and also a bit of a blur. It was really fun to meet the people he's been working with over the last few months and I'm just so happy to see what an amazing company he works for.

On Saturday we went out to his parents' for the Army Navy game, which was wonderful even though Army lost in heart breaking fashion.  This party has become one of my new favorite holiday traditions over the last few years. There are always such interesting people to talk to, not to mention an amazing spread of food and drinks, which of course never hurts.

The best part of Saturday was giving Greg's dad an early Christmas present - an amazingly beautiful needlepoint belt with West Point symbols, his initials and his company number, which was designed and hand-crafted by my incredibly talented sister.  You unfortunately can't appreciate the details here but as you can see, he really liked it:

As I've gotten older, I really do enjoy giving gifts as much or more than receiving them.  There is nothing like giving someone the perfect thing and seeing their joy as they open it.  Definitely keeping that in mind as I sprint to the finish with the rest of my Christmas shopping this week!

Happy Monday everyone!

Festive Friday

Hello and Happy Friday!  I apologize for the major gap in posting this week...it has been a roller coaster (mostly in a good way).  I turned in my third application on Monday night and exhaled a huge sigh of relief.  The next potential application isn't due until January 15th and if I get some good news at the end of this month I may not even need to submit that one...fingers crossed!  The applications were definitely painful but I will admit that producing them was a valuable exercise to go through.  Writing them made me think seriously about what my goals are and how I arrived at them and I am now even more excited about the prospect of graduate school.  Nonprofit management is the plan at this point and it is still kind of crazy to me that it can become a reality through the applications now in process.

Celebratory glass of wine framed by twinkle lights on our balcony

All that positive self-discovery aside, I am more than happy to return to a normal life rhythm and to finally be able to enjoy the holiday season.  Despite a crazy work schedule with a major proposal sent out for delivery this morning, I managed to sneak in two happy hours, a long lunch with Katie and some Christmas decorating.  I'll share a bit more of that next week but for now I'm happy to have this picture of our twinkly little rosemary tree.  I really wanted to do a big tree this year, but with our trip to California and travel during the holidays I had to admit it wasn't practical.  That said, this little one is impossibly fragrant and will tide me over until I reach my parents' enormous tree at home.

Our baby tree

This weekend is full of fun, festive plans and is one I have been looking forward to for over a month.  Tonight is Greg's company Christmas party, so we are getting all spiffed up and heading out on the town.  I'm really looking forward to meeting his new coworkers and I also always enjoy the sight of my dashing man in a suit!  Tomorrow we are headed out to Greg's parents' house for their annual Army-Navy party to watch the big game.  His dad is a West Point grad and his parents have a lot of great friends from both the Army and the Navy, so it is always a really wonderful time.

I hope your weekends are similarly full of fun, seasonal happenings. Back with more on Monday!

Peppermint Patty Surprise Cookies

Before I get into a summary of the weekend and the last several days of application mayhem (the last in this wave is due at midnight tonight - woohoo!) I need to tell you about some cookies I baked this weekend for my brother's holiday housing warming party. Priorities, right?

Perfectly Christmasy - right?

I spotted this recipe nearly year ago when it was mentioned in passing during a Christmas post over on Young House Love, and it had been in my head ever since.  There was probably no need to wait so long to bake these cookies, but with all the chocolate and mint and crushed up candy canes action going on there was something so over the top holiday about them that seemed best saved for the month of December.

And oh yes, they are as wonderful as you would think they'd be and they went very, very fast at the party.  I will admit to being a bit of a cookie stalker and watching out of the corner of my eye as unsuspecting party guests bit into the cookie and found the peppermint patty tucked inside.  It never failed to garner a second look and positive reaction.

The money shot

As always, a few quick notes:

• In my sleep deprived, post-second application haze, I did not read all the way through the recipe before getting started and missed the fact that you have to refrigerate the dough for about an hour before assembling the final product.  Not a huge issue at all, except that I didn't start this little project until nearly 10:00 pm on Friday, so I thought I would point it out to spare you the same issue!
• The recipe says it produces 24 cookies but I was able to get 30 cookies out of it.  I think it depends on how you wrap the peppermint patties and while I certainly wouldn't skimp on the dough-to-patty ratio, I think you may be happy to find yourself with some extra goodness.
• The white chocolate drizzling process was less delicate than I expected it to be and was more of a gloop and smear situation.  Also, in case you find yourself thinking, "oh, I'll just add some water to that melted chocolate to thin it out," do not do it. The result is a grainy mixture that is truly disgusting.  I was lucky to have a little extra white chocolate on hand to save the day after that little mishap so all's well that ends well.

These cookies take a little bit of time to assemble but they really are easy and I know you will find them to be worth the wait.  So excited for that Christmas Cookie season is here. . .Happy December!

Funnier than usual

I don't remember the exact exchange (and it was most definitely inappropriate) but the scene in our apartment circa 1:00 a.m. this morning had the two of us laughing on the couch, taking a break from work.

"My we are punchy," I noted.

"Yes, we are funnier than usual," responded Greg, and his turn of phrase made me laugh all over again.

Archival footage from my old apartment - and again, not exactly sure why we were laughing

So that is where we are at this point in the week - in the throes of my applications and his final project for a class - sleep deprived and funnier than usual. Very glad to have this guy around this week and every week.

Homestretch!

Touches of the season in two cities

This year marks my 6th Christmas season in DC and as my cab pulled into Union Station this morning, I was reminded of one of my favorite pieces of the season here, namely, the beautiful wreaths that hang over the entry to the station at this time of year.  These decorations have been the same for the last six years and yet they always surprise and delight me the first time I see them - a clear sign that the holiday season is here!

I am in Baltimore today and walking down from Penn Station I was similarly enchanted on this gloomy day by the illuminated snowflakes and christmas wreaths hanging from the lamposts on either side of the street.  It is really fun to see glimpses of the seasonal traditions in another city as a weekly visitor.

Little joys like these are helping me to maintain my sanity during another stressful week of application craziness.  I have TWO applications due within the next week, one this Friday and one next Monday.  I have a lot of material to draw and definitely feel that these applications are significantly more manageable than the first, but I know it's still going to be an intense little stretch here.

I hope your Tuesdays are going well and that you are also finding small bits of the season that make your days bright!

Thanksgiving in Pictures

I had such a wonderful long weekend at home, which I think is best captured by some snapshots from the weekend.  We had amazing meals, great conversations, watched movies and lots of college football, drank many glasses of wine and celebrated my parents' anniversary with dear family friends.  I can't wait to be home again in a few short weeks.  For now here is the weekend in pictures:

Pug cuddles during the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade

Perfectly golden turkey fresh from the oven

My adorable parents making gravy

Thanksgiving table - complete with turkey butter sculpture

Canine cleanup crew - this barely needed to be washed

"Baby" brother and a cat who never met a fleece blanket he didn't love

 All 5 of us at the anniversary party

Hokie colored flowers from Greg for the UVA-VT game + touch of Cavalier Pride

Late night glasses of wine on the last night home

It is always hard to leave home but it is also so, so nice to come home to this apartment and to Greg and Leo, which balances things out.  I hope that you all had lovely holidays and that your week is off to a good start!  So excited the holiday season is here!

Home

I realized on the bus ride yesterday that I had somehow not been home since Christmas last year.  I cannot believe it has been that long.  I saw my family at regular intervals between graduations, moving Russ into his apartment and various other trips, which I believe is why the fact that I had not been home to this wonderful house for nearly a year managed to escape my attention until now.

Home.

It is so good to be here.  There were huevos rancheros for breakfast and (of course) a full, hot pot of coffee when I came downstairs this morning to set up my office for the day.  Now I get to work at the table in the sunroom across from my dad, who is definitely my favorite co-worker yet.

Taking care of business

Mom just left to grab Russ from the train station and then the clan will be complete...all seven of us in the same place for the first time since May! I appreciate that fact more and more each year.  Tonight I'm grabbing an early drink with my friend Alix - who I have now known for 22 years (!) - and then settling in to a cozy night at home with the entire family.

One final bit of news - I got invited to interview at Berkeley and Greg and I booked flights this morning for a trip out in mid-December! Still pinching myself on that one and pretty much bursting with thankfulness all around today.  Safe travels to all who are heading home today and Happy Thanksgiving Eve!

Post-application & weekend report

Hello! It feels so good to be back after the craziness of last week.  It was a rather painful and sleep deprived process but I am proud to say that I have submitted my first business school application and feel very happy with the overall package.  I have several more to do over the next couple of months but getting over the hump with this first one was an important step and I think the others will follow much more easily.  For now I'm keeping my fingers crossed about this one.

via

I spent almost the entire weekend in Old Town, Alexandria, which is an area where I always mean to spend more time. It is absolutely charming and was the ideal back drop for two days spent hunting for the perfect wedding dress for my dear Katie.  There were many beautiful options to choose from but I think we finally found the main contender yesterday afternoon.  It was so fun to spend the weekend watching her play dress up and moving one step closer to visualizing that big day coming up in July.

Sadly, the one casualty of the weekend was my phone, which somehow managed to get stolen on Saturday night.  Apart from the general sadness over it being stolen in the first place, it seems that my photo stream was not properly backing up so I may have lost many of my pictures, though I'm working to see if there is something to be done on that front.  A new phone will arrive at my parents' house tomorrow, just a few hours before I do, so it is really not so bad after all.

I hope your weekends were lovely and theft-free! Also, can you believe it is Thanksgiving this week? I can't wait to be on the bus home tomorrow evening.

Quick hello

Hello friends! I hope that everyone had a wonderful weekend (and long one some cases).  I wanted to pop in with a quick note that posting will be light this week because, per usual, I am running up against a deadline.  In this case, it is for my first b-school application, which is due at midnight on Thursday.  EEK!

Hello handsome

Until  I click "submit" on Thursday, there will be a little stretch of radio silence here, so for now I will leave you with this picture of Leo, who always seems to sense when I'm stressed and loyally assumes his post, curled up on the bed in the office, to keep an eye on me.  Bless his sweet little soul.  I hope your weeks are less stressful and your time management is more skilled than mine!

Founding Farmers

On Election Eve, Greg and I treated ourselves to dinner at Founding Farmers to celebrate three years together.  It had been on our list of restaurants to try forever and I'm so glad we finally made it happen.  It may have been a Monday night, but the restaurant was bustling and definitely seemed like the place to be.

Fantastic craft beers & cocktails + chalkboard paint? Love it.

Founding Farmers is all about well-sourced, made from scratch, eco-friendly cooking and the meal was absolutely fantastic. To start, I strongly recommend the "Smears, Dips and Table Breads," which involves fantastic grilled bread, Green Goddess Dip, Romesco Sauce and Pimiento Cheese.  Simple and rustic and yet incredibly elevated in terms of flavor - can you tell I'm still thinking about it?  We followed that up with an enormous chef's salad (Greg), scallops with butternut squash risotto (me), and per our server's recommendation, finished things up with an amazing order of beignets, complete with raspberry, caramel and chocolate dipping sauce.

A little blurry, but had to share . . . seriously, this is not to be missed!

All is all, the experience totally exceeded our expectations.  Beyond the delicious food and drinks, the service was wonderful and personal.  I had mentioned that we were celebrating in the open table reservation and at the end of the meal we learned that the restaurant had bought our first round of drinks as a result! It was such a nice and unexpected gift.  I have heard that brunch is also fantastic, so I think it is safe to say that we will be back soon to investigate . . .

Happy Friday everyone and have a wonderful weekend!

November 6th

As I mentioned yesterday, November 6th held a lot meaning for my family beyond the election.  It also marked my parents' 30th wedding anniversary, which is a pretty incredible milestone. Since November 6, 1982, they moved to Australia and back, bought their first (and forever) home, had 4 amazing (ahem) children plus one adoptive Norwegian daughter, more pets than I can count (including hamsters, birds, fish, gerbils, hermit crabs, etc. beyond the cats and dogs), made many important career moves and supported each other through the loss of too many loved ones. Through it all, they have remained each others' best friends and managed to stay incredibly in love.

My beautiful parents

They got engaged after a year of friendship and just 4 months of dating on July 4, 1982 and were married 4 months later.  As the saying goes, "when you know, you know," and in this case, they truly did. My dad still calls my mom his girlfriend from time to time and I remember correcting him when I was little, reminding him that she was in fact his wife.  Now that I'm older, I understand the sentiment.  Through 30 years of ups and downs, they have never lost that original twinkle and it has been an incredible example for me and all of my siblings of what a loving relationship looks like.  They have set the bar very high but also provided the model for how to clear it, which is really an amazing gift.

Mom and Dad - thank you for loving each other through all of these years and for beginning our family 30 years ago yesterday. Happy Anniversary and cheers to many, many more happy years together!

P.S. - I am SO glad that America gave you the gift you were hoping for!

VOTE!

As I have noted before, I am quite the political nerd so take a breath and brace yourselves for a quick post about the beauty of democracy and the importance of today. . .

We got up very early this morning, coffee in hand, to head across the street to the neighborhood elementary school to cast our ballots.  Voting is such a simple act and yet such an empowering one, particularly every four years in big elections like this. With all the money in politics and all the talking heads it is easy to lose sight sometimes of how amazingly equal we are on this day - no matter where you live, how much money you earn, what race or ethnicity you are or how many years of school have under your belt - each person gets one vote.

Turnout is looking good so far in Arlington, VA!

Certainly you can argue that certain votes "count" more than others in the electoral college system and I definitely understand this having voted in Connecticut and the District of Columbia up until now, but this simple fact of one vote is still pretty amazing in my book.  It is a privilege that many people unfortunately take for granted even as people around the world die every day striving for the chance to get it.  Which is why, though I certainly have strong political leanings, I implore absolutely every person over the age of 18, Democrat, Republican, Independent, Libertarian, Green, or other, to get out and vote today.  I truly mean that. Let your voice be heard and be an active part of the ongoing dialogue in this country!

Very satisfied little voter

We are heading into Dupont this evening to watch the returns at a bar with friends and hopefully celebrate some good news.  However, as corny as it sounds, whether or not your preferred candidate comes out on top, it is important to remember that our country wins no matter what as it celebrates a fair, peaceful election in which as many voices are heard as possible.  It is a very special thing.

On another note, today is also the 30th wedding anniversary of the two people who made me the enthusiastic little politico that am I - my parents.  More on that tomorrow, but I will end this little love letter to democracy with the fact that I love you both so much and thank you for the wonderful example you have set in my life, both in this regard and countless others.

Weekend Report

The weekend was a great mix of fun and productivity.  It was great to get out of the apartment and see so many friends and I also got a real start on my first application and can finally see the pieces coming together.

Frank wore his dapper argyle sweater especially for the occasion

It started off with game night at Katie and Ben's.  It was such a fun group of people, including a couple that I had not seen in forever, and the only thing that could have made it better would have been having Greg there. A very rowdy and competitive game of Cranium followed by Cards Against Humanity started the weekend off with a lot of belly laughs, which is about as good as it gets.

Me & Russ

Saturday-day was filled with essay outlining and resume edits, which happily led up to a fun night with my brother.  We grabbed hot chocolates for a chilly walk across the bridge into Georgetown before heading to campus for the a capella concert.  I have to say that every time I go to a concert like that one I am stunned by the incredible talent. People that you just pass on the street each day have these unbelievable voices tucked away.  A few of them are even Russ' dear friends and people I completely adore!  They made us very proud.  

From the roof of The Brixton

After the concert we headed over to Adams Morgan to grab fries at Amsterdam Falafel and a drink at Jack Rose, which is one of Russ' favorite haunts on that strip.  From there we headed to The Brixton, which I had been hearing about ever since it opened, and which is definitely is worthy of the buzz.  We headed up to the heated rooftop and decided to treat ourselves to one of their fantastic cocktails.  Russ had their delicious take on Pimm's Cup and I had the Riot Sling, which involved gin, Early Grey, lemon, honey and ginger beer.  From there I grabbed a cab home to turn in for a blissful extra hour of sleep.  It was a great night and struck the perfect balance between being out and about and yet still being tame enough to wake up in good shape for application work on Sunday morning.

I spent the first half of the day at a coffee shop working and the second half catching up with Greg and getting a jump on the week ahead.  I had a great weekend on my own but was so happy when he walked through the door at 3:30 with his own weekend report to share. 

I hope your weekends were wonderful that you are all geared up for a great week ahead, including getting out to the polls tomorrow!  I know I am pumped to be a swing state voter for the first time ever and plan to take full advantage of it. Have a great Monday!

November Friday

Happy Friday everyone!  We have finally reached the end of this rather odd week and started a new month, November, which seems both shocking and a long time coming.  We had a few friends over last night and were talking about how we couldn't believe that Election Day is actually next Tuesday but that it also seems like this campaign has gone on foreeeever.  The consensus was that we pretty much all feel like this little girl, who NPR personally apologized to.

Rifle Paper Co. Calendar

Greg is out of town this weekend and I am filling my days with business school essays (yes, this is the third week in a row I have said that - I am serious this time since we are now under the two week mark on the first deadline) and my nights with fun plans.  Tonight is game night at Katie & Ben's, complete with Katie's famous mushroom stuffed baked brie, and tomorrow includes an a capella concert and night on the town with my brother.  I'll definitely miss my main squeeze, but sometimes I enjoy having a couple days apart purely for the fun of catching up and comparing notes afterwards.

I hope you all have a similarly lovely November weekends ahead...enjoy them!

Spicy Peanut Butter Caramel Popcorn

Are you sold yet?  My mouth waters from the description alone!  I discovered this recipe last fall (where else but The Kitchn?) and have made it countless times since.  It is a perfect snack for cold weather, particularly when it is a warm and a little gooey, fresh off the stove.  It is also a cinch to make - about 15 minutes tops.

I whipped it up for the first time this fall to take to Lindsey's party and it definitely won't be the last time I make it this season.  A few quick notes:

• The recipe contains instructions for popping popcorn on the stove top, which you can definitely do if you like, but I have always used microwave popcorn and it works perfectly. I like to get one of the non-buttery natural kinds for this particular recipe, like Orville Redenbacher's Tender White.
• For the peanut butter, definitely get one with no sugar added, like Jif Natural or another type of natural peanut butter (I like Jif because it's smooth)
• The recipe lists Sriracha as a suggested addition and I definitely recommend it.  That slight zing of heat really balances out the flavors.  I still add the vanilla as well because I like the flavor.  I usually end up adding a little more than a teaspoon of Sriracha, but just go with your own taste buds on this one.  The key is that you can always add a bit more, but you can't take it away once it's in there, so add gradually.
• If you want to replicate that fresh-off-the stove gooeyness, you can pop this in the microwave in short bursts to warm it back up a little.

I hope this becomes a new fall/winter favorite for you all as well.  It has become a snacking staple around here when it's chilly!

Happy Halloween

Happy Halloween!  It seems kind of natural that this holiday comes in the middle of such a surreal week.  I have eaten my fair share of candy corn and did manage to carve a pumpkin, but I'll admit that this holiday kind of snuck up on me (despite the huge orange and black displays in CVS and Safeway) and we did not do anything exciting from a costume perspective.  Hopefully we will get our act together next year on that front!

Cutest Halloween card ever from Rifle Paper Co. - Purchased last year, which was similarly disorganized 

DC seems to be getting back to business today, so I hope to see plenty of adorable trick-or-treaters this evening.  Enjoy the last day of October -  no matter how you celebrate it!

Sandy - one day later

By some small miracle, we made it through the night without losing power.  Our parents (in Northern VA and CT) were unfortunately not so lucky in that regard, but everyone is safe this morning, thank goodness.  My thoughts are with all those further up the coast and in NYC that woke up this morning to unbelievable devastation. It must be incredibly surreal.

suddenly brave little cat

The storm was definitely powerful here, and some nearby neighborhoods did lose power.  The only problem we encountered was that our bedroom window (which broke during the July windstorm but had been repaired) was not properly sealed and water was leaking in.  Luckily we had a working dryer, so we were cycling towels between the window sill and the dryer at two-hour intervals throughout the night.  Around 1:30 am, Leo finally emerged from under the guest room bed (where he had been hiding since 10 am) to inspect our set up.  He was rather suspicious, so I can't say I'm sure it met with his approval.

Sending good wishes up north and to everyone continuing to deal with the effects of Sandy.

Hunkering down

The weekend was kind was oddly quiet and mainly spent preparing our apartment for the coming storm.  Saturday was even quite sunny, so it was odd to be running out to buy things like peanut butter, bread, candles (heaven help me, I can't find our flashlights), and pallets of bottled water.  Anticipating days without power, I did load upon load of laundry, ran the dishwasher, and vacuumed the apartment.  I also cleared our balcony of all furniture and plants.  So far it is just very rainy here this morning and the lights are on but it sounds like it will be a different story by this time tomorrow.

view from our bedroom this morning

I did manage to sneak out for a few hours to Lindsey's for a pumpkin carving party.  It was great to get out of the apartment for a brief window before the storm and enjoy fantastic mac & cheese, fun friends and a little seasonal tradition.  As an added bonus, we now have a festive source of light when the power goes out!

happy little pumpkin

Happy Monday and please stay safe in the face of this crazy storm everyone!

Happy hour(s)

I popped over the Key Bridge for an impromptu happy hour at Bandolero with Russ yesterday evening. That easy walk is one of my favorite things about where we live, especially on beautiful nights like last night.

As always, it was wonderful to find a window of time to catch up with Russ.  He had dinner plans at 8, but we managed to squeeze in a good talk, two appetizers and two of Bandolero's signature margaritas a piece in that time.  I've said it before and I'll say it again: I love having him close by (and we miss you Kaur & Chad).

A quick cab ride whisked me back to Arlington to meet up with Greg and a few friends for a longer than expected night out that I was definitely feeling a little bit as I walked to grab coffee this morning. All in all, it was a very fun, unplanned night...happy hour extended.  The main event this weekend is a pumpkin carving party at Lindsey's, so there is yet-to-be determined baking project in my future as well. Other than that, Greg is studying for a midterm and I am writing b-school essays - par-tay!

Have a lovely weekend everyone!

Hot & Sour Soup

As soon as I saw this recipe in a round up of soups on The Kitchn last week it immediately went into my "to-make" queue.  In fact, I only waited 2 days before grabbing the ingredients to whip up a pot and I am so glad that I did. Hot and sour soups from Chinese takeout places certainly have their virtues, but this homemade one definitely changes the game for me.

Hard to capture in a photo, but trust me, you will love this

The spicy, tangy broth, laced with ginger, lime and just the right amount of jalapeño heat, is sublime.  The mushrooms add wonderful earthiness, the cabbage adds a slight crunch, and the rice rounds out the texture and substance of the soup to make it a real meal.  This will definitely be a go-to for clearing sinuses and warming the soul throughout the late fall and coming winter.

It also comes together quite easily, though I do have a few notes to help you on your way:

• I definitely recommend using Shiitake mushrooms if you can find them.  They have them dried in our grocery store, which I had never used before, and ended up being very pleased with.  I don't know why, but I had always been intimidated by dried mushrooms.  However, after seeing how well these rehydrated (just a touch of warm water) and how heavenly they smelled when they hit the warm pan, that fear is a thing of the past.
• Buy rubber gloves for chopping up the jalapeños! Please! Particularly if you are contact lens wearer, but also generally if you don't enjoy having your hands and nail beds burning for days.  Can you tell I have made this mistake before?  More than once? Learn from mine.  Also, I used 2 good sized jalapeños (the recipe says 1-3) and thought it provided just the right kick.
• Rather than buying a head of cabbage as the recipe suggests, I got a bag of pre-shredded cabbage (regular size, not the large one) and just used that and it worked very well as a short cut.
• I definitely recommend going with 3 limes (again the recipe says 1-3).  That zingy flavor is really important and I recommend buying an extra to cut into wedges for serving as well.
• The chili garlic sauce referred to as a garnish is this stuff from the makers of Sriracha, which you can now usually find along side it in the grocery store.  I discovered it last year when I was home for Thanksgiving and it is good enough to deserve a post of its own one of these days.  I will say though that a little goes a loooong way, so keep that in mind.

One final thought is that this makes a lot of soup, but it actually re-heats extremely well, maintaining its great texture, and made for a couple great lunches last week.  I hope you enjoy it too!

The Weepies

I fell in love with The Weepies the same year I fell in love with Greg.  I discovered the band first but the two are nonetheless very tied in my mind.

via

They were one of those happy Pandora discoveries where one song lead to albums of songs just as good and even better.  The song that started things was Hideaway, which is the title song over their third album.  While it will always have a special place in my heart, my favorite of their albums is actually Say I Am You, and more specifically, the song Gotta Have You.

via

I have this very specific memory of listening to that song.  It's funny how that happens, isn't it?  It wasn't the first nor certainly the last time I heard it and yet it was the time that stuck.  I was in my little studio apartment, drinking a cold glass of white wine with my feet up on the sill of an open window watching an early evening rain over my fire escape and the rooftops of Dupont beyond it.  I just remember feeling so happy and hopeful in that moment and it still makes me smile to think of it.  That song really captured how I felt over those first few months that Greg and I were together and still does nearly three years later.

I even love the story behind the band.  The Weepies are a two person band made up  of Deb Talan and Steve Tannen, who first admired each others' music, then started working together, and then fell in love. They have a mellow, quirky, folk-indie pop sound that I just adore and definitely recommend to you. 

Notes from the weekend

The weekend was a very laid back one, so laid back that I barely took any pictures!  As I mentioned on Friday, we had a few friends over for brunch and football, which did give me the excuse to try something that had been in the back of my mind for awhile:


Originally spotted here

I can now attest that taking store-bought Pillsbury crescent rolls and adding Nutella before rolling and baking them up is a really good idea, as if there were any doubt.  They are best when warm, so definitely pop them quickly in the toaster oven if they cool down too much before serving to get them all crunchy and oozy again.

This little guy surprised me with a flower

Sunday was a very relaxed and cozy day.  We read in bed for a few hours, snuggled up under quilts, which is definitely something we need to do more often. I also made a pot of Marcella Hazan's famous tomato sauce, which is spectacular and can be made from ingredients that I normally have around the house.  I was originally introduced to it by Molly, but I know it is rather famous around the web.  Three ingredients (not including the salt) lead to a burbling pot of sauce the perfumes the house with a homey, wonderful smell. The recipe follows below.


Deceptively simple but so delicious - Greg licked his bowl!

Adapted from Orangette
What you need:

• 1 28-oz can of whole, peeled plum tomatoes with their juices (San Marzano if you can find them - no herbs or anything else added.  I used a can of chopped tomatoes since that was all  I had on hand and it worked out great!)
• 5 tbsp. unsalted butter
• 1 small yellow onion, peeled and cut in half
• Salt, to taste

How to make it:
 

Combine the tomatoes, their juices, the butter, and the onion halves in a medium saucepan. Add a pinch or two of salt and bring to a simmer over medium high heat.  Once it comes to a simmer, reduce the heat and continue to cook, uncovered, at a very slow but steady simmer, for about 45 minutes, or until droplets of fat float to the surface. Stir occasionally, breaking up the large pieces of tomato with the back of a wooden spoon as you go. Taste and salt as needed.

 

Remove the onion halves and toss with pasta.  This makes enough for about 1 pound of pasta.  One quick note I want to add is that it always pains me to discard the onion because it is so lovely and stewy after simmering in this sauce, but I have not yet figured out a good use for it after this process.

I hope you all had wonderful weekends and happy Monday!