Weekend Shenanigans: Tgives Edition

 {turkey and some counter clutter}

This Turkey Day, D and I made the 12ish-hour drive down to Ohio to spend Thanksgiving with my family. Somehow, after tense negotiations, I found myself in charge of roasting the bird. In years' past, D has taken control of turkey duty, but he opted out this year. For my first turkey-roasting experience, I followed Ina Garten's recipe for "perfect roast turkey," and dare I say, it actually did turn out perfectly. Perfectly browned, perfectly moist, perfectly flavorful. Score one for my team! In addition to the turkey, I also made savory dressing (aka stuffing that is cooked separately from the bird), including one "normal" version and one gluten-free version for Ashley, my sister-in-law. My Dad was in charge of his wonderfully-lumpy mashed potatoes, my brother Chris made a delectable sweet potato dish, and we also had homemade cranberry sauce (recipe later this week), yeast rolls, green beans amandine, a raspberry jelly salad I dubbed "raz-matazz" from Dorothy Lane Market (where our locally-grown free-range turkey also came from), and our entire meal started off with a fresh fruit salad courtesy of my Mom. Whew! Oh, and then for dessert we had a delicious gluten-free pumpkin spice cake that Chrashley baked as well as slices of apple pie from Costco. Yeah, I should definitely find my way to the gym this week ...

{filling up our plates while D carves the turkey in the kitchen}

I'm not one for Black Friday sales (I'd much rather sleep in). But later on Friday afternoon D and I headed out to check out a few local furniture stores (just to get a feel for what's out there; one of these days our home will be fully furnished) as well as a trip to Ikea to grab a few essentials.

{ikea!}

On Friday night we headed out to dinner and then back home to celebrate my brother's birthday, which was on Sunday.

{happy birthday!}

Though D and I originally planned to leave Saturday morning, we ended up staying an extra day, since it is such a rare occasion when we are all together as a family. In the afternoon, my Mom, Ashley, and I hit up a few local craft shops. If you're in the Fairfield, Ohio area, I highly recommend a trip to Art On Symmes -- there you can find room upon room of great handmade items for sale.

In the afternoon, D, Chris, Ashley, and I went out for a little sibling/in-law bonding at the Wise Owl Wine Bar in West Chester. Their extensive wine list, along with a few nibbles (cheese, meats, fruit, and crostini), perfectly complemented our conversation.

Back at home, we all gathered for dinner and a movie -- in our case Tgives leftovers and The Heat.

Following breakfast on Sunday morning, it was officially time to hit the road for the long drive home. Which included a lot of cornfields. Like, a lot a lot. We opted to take the southern Illinois route via Champaign-Urbana and Bloomington to avoid the mayhem of Chicago traffic, and both our drive to Ohio and back were characterized by free-flowing traffic and no back-ups. Yay!

{endless cornfields}

And now, back to the Real World! I hope you had a good Thanksgiving -- did any new dishes make it to your Thanksgiving table this year? 

Weekend Shenanigans: Gone Fishin'

What a packed weekend! The festivities began Friday night, when we headed over to our friends' house for dinner. Laura made pizza dough from scratch, and we (okay, my contribution was spreading out one of the pizza doughs on a pan) cooked them on the grill. I've never made pizza on the grill before, though I've been intrigued with the idea of doing so for quite awhile. Given how tasty the pizzas were, it looks like we may need to give it a whirl on our grill sooner rather than later. The cocktails of the evening were Ginger Pullmans for the ladies (based on this cocktail, called a "Bridesmaid," but renamed in honor of one of Laura's friends) and Old Fashioneds for the gents. I brought over a jar of our homemade maraschino cherries (recipe later this week), and they went over quite well.

Following a dessert of brownies and ice cream, after a bit of an allergy flare-up on D's part, we opted to hit the road and head back home. Once there, D drugged himself up with some Nyquil, and we called it a night. After a bit of a sleep-in on Saturday, we grabbed a quick breakfast, and then got on the road toward Park Falls, Wisconsin, home of the St. Croix Rod factory. Our goal of the day was to pick up two fishing rods. After consulting with one of the salespeople, D and I chose two similar rods -- a 6.5-foot Premier medium-light two-piece spinning rod for him, and the same in a 6-foot version for me. We opted to purchase from the B-stock -- discounted rods which were either returned goods or had slight blemishes. (In the case of mine, the cork handle has a small divot out of it.) We also picked up two reels and some fishing line. Later, back in Rhinelander, we stopped at Mel's where we picked up the starter gear for our tackle box and I got myself a fishing license. (Only $5!)

After enjoying dinner (and dessert) over at D's boss' home, we called it a night, as earlier in the day I had picked up The Hunger Games from the local video store. Having not seen the movie when it was in the theater, I had been dying for it to come out on DVD. (While I am a total hater of the
"Twilight" series, I actually enjoyed reading "The Hunger Games" series of books.) I thought the movie was rather good -- it wasn't exactly like the book, but it didn't diverge too far, either. Perhaps most surprisingly, even D was able to stay up until the very end -- more often than not, he falls asleep during our evening movie-watching fests. So that was a bit of a first. : )

Sunday morning was spent with our realtor checking out a few home listings in the area. I have a feeling this was the first of many such weekends.

Later in the afternoon, I got my Katniss Everdeen on, and D and I did a little bow-shooting in the backyard. We currently have a deer decoy set up on the back lawn, which we've been shooting at from our back deck. Given that my arrows are the ones with the pink fletchings, it looks like I have some practicing to do. (Not that I have any plans to actually shoot anything other than inanimate objects.)

Last night after dinner D and I headed out for our inaugural fishing trip on the lake. (Leroy also came along for the ride, sporting his doggie life jacket.) We tried two different locations on the lake, but didn't get any bites. There's always next time! 

Weekend Shenanigans: Another Trip to Briq's

Whew -- what a weekend! Saturday we had a bit of a sleep-in, then headed into town to run a few errands and grab some groceries. I picked up some of the final ingredients necessary to get my bake on (posts coming later this week!) and I also picked up some much-needed cleaning supplies to get our house into sparkling shape (still a work in progress). Later in the afternoon D and I went for a little paddle in the lake -- D and Leroy went for a little canoe ride, while I tried my hand at kayaking. (Our generous landlords offered us use of their boats while they're out of town.) I could definitely get used to lake living -- although I could do without the late-night firework shows!

After watching the Wimbledon men's final Sunday morning, D and I got Leroy strapped into the car and after a quick stop for coffee and a blueberry muffin at the Crimson Cafe, we headed out of town to explore a few potential properties. We finished the day with an (over)indulgent stop at Briq's, where we each got a Thin Mint flurry. Yikes -- there were a lot of (delicious) cookie bits (and whole cookies) in that treat, pictured above. Long story short, I definitely made sure I hit up the 6a spin class at the Y this morning.

Weekend Shenanigans: New York City Edition

Long story short, my weekend visit to New York City was fantastic. Eating, walking, and (window) shopping were the major themes of the weekend. 

With the help of Yelp, on Friday night, Jenny and I ate dinner at Kashkaval, a cheese market and wine bar (and Mediterranean restaurant) in Hell's Kitchen. The reviewers didn't lie -- the food (and ambiance) here was fantastic. And, apparently the night before, ScarJo had eaten at the booth next to ours. So, there's that. We started our meal with glasses of wine and a Mediterranean tapas sampler, including (from left to right) tzatziki, artichoke dip, spinach with feta, and hummus.

 {Mediterranean tapas}

From there we ordered dinner. I opted for the spinach borek, a "traditional pie of spinach rolled in phyllo dough and served with Greek salad." It was really good -- and quite filling. Though we were both near to bursting, we still ordered dessert -- the small house pastry sampler. We barely made a dent before boxing up the rest, but the pastries (including a particularly delightful baklava) were really tasty.

{lemon and ricotta pancakes}

On Saturday morning, Jenny and I made our way down to Central Park, where we stopped at Sarabeth's for brunch. This restaurant was a suggestion from an acquaintance of mine on Twitter, and it was an excellent choice. The food was a bit pricy (but, hello, the restaurant's Central Park South location meant that the prices weren't that much of a shock), but the food was really good. I opted for the lemon and ricotta pancakes with fresh berries (admittedly in part because I want to try to make them at home), which I washed down with a hot apple cider. (The wind was quite brisk in the city on Saturday!) Following our super-satiating breakfast, we headed downtown (at least, I think the direction would be considered downtown?) to Times Square, where we stopped off at a box office to get tickets to a play we were interested in seeing that night. Tickets in hand, we continued on our merry way to the Flatiron District.

{Manzo menu}

Once there, we wandered into Eataly, which I had visited the last time I was in the city. We bellied up to the bar at Manzo for a little respite from the cold and wind outside. I was too stuffed to even contemplate lunch (which made having to decide between the calf's brain or warm calf's tongue that much easier), so I opted to drink my lunch instead, and ordered a blood orange mimosa. I definitely need to make one of those at home.

{blood orange mimosa}

After our early-afternoon pick-me-up, we headed off to the requisite girls' weekend manicure. Again, with the help of Yelp, we found Enjoy Nail Spa, a highly-rated nail salon in Kips Bay. The place was hopping, so there was a short wait, but you can't really beat a $7 manicure. I may have to go into the city more often just to take advantage of that deal!

{oh, the furniture!}

Following our manis, we headed over to ABC Carpet & Home for a little browsing. I've only ever known of this place through their full-page ads in The NewYork Times, and this six-floor furniture and home furnishings store extravaganza definitely did not disappoint. If only I had the $$ to purchase $10,000 sofas and glistening chandeliers! Maybe some day. (Ha!)

Following our long walk from 53rd Street to 19th Street, we opted to take a cab back to the hotel. Following a short rest, we were back out on the town for a pre-theater dinner at Scarlatto, another Yelp choice that fit the criteria of being located in the theater district and not being too expensive.

{Scarlatto menu}

Though our waitress was nervous that we'd miss our 8p show, our meal was served and we finished eating with plenty of time to spare. 

{ravioli di zucca (pumpkin ravioli}

Following a look through a variety of theater reviews, Jenny and I decided to see Other Desert Cities, which featured the ensemble cast of Stockard Channing, Stacy Keach, Judith Light, Elizabeth Marvel, and Justin Kirk. Given that it was named "The best new play on Broadway!" in a review in The NYT, we had high hopes, and we weren't disappointed. Gotta love family drama!

{shhh, don't tell the usher I took a picture of the set before the show started}

Following the leap forward for Daylight Savings Time, we opted to skip our planned run (vacation decadence!) and headed to brunch instead. Yet another Yelp find, this time we headed back to Hell's Kitchen for brunch at Eatery. We really lucked out with our restaurant choices all weekend long, as we always were seated immediately. Eatery reminded me a lot of Snooze, and the food was quite good, though the music (and thus conversations) were a bit loud. Is this a sign that I'm getting old?

{Eatery menu}

Since it was our last meal in NYC, I opted to start brunch with a standard mimosa.

{mmm....mimosa!}

I was in the mood for something savory to eat, so I ordered the Santa Fe Sweet Potato Hash Brown -- basically a sweet potato latke topped with scrambled egg whites, guacamole, and cilantro, served with a side of whole-wheat toast. Another meal I must recreate here at home!

 {Santa Fe Sweet Potato Hash Brown}

Following breakfast, we headed back to the hotel to finish packing, but of course, I had to pick up one last souvenir before leaving: the requisite black & white cookie, this time from Crumbs Bake Shop. 

{black & white cookie}

At 1p, Jenny and I parted ways, and I headed back to Philly while she returned to DC. All in all, a great weekend with some much-needed girl time. And now, after a day back at work, I am so ready to plan my next trip back to the city! 

Weekend Shenanigans: The Farmers' Cabinet

The highlight of this past weekend was a trip to The Farmers' Cabinet for evening cocktails on Saturday night. Well, cocktails for me and a couple of beers for D, but you get the gist. Though we opted to just sit at the bar and have drinks, The Farmers' Cabinet also offers a full food menu, which features many locally and/or sustainably farmed ingredients.

The ambience is great -- the space is lit with flickering candles and oil lamps, the walls are covered in wood paneling, and it all has a sort-of Victorian-era hunting lodge feel what with a number of animals (or animal bits) mounted on the walls, including a pheasant, bison head, and caribou antlers, along with a bear skin rug strewn atop a piano.

The drink menu is quite a tome. This is not the place to go for a Red Bull and vodka, though if you do order such a thing, the white shirt and black-suspender clad barman will come up with a substitute made from a variety of syrups, juices, and tinctures.

I started my night out with a rum collins. Along with rum, this drink featured lemon, sugar, orange bitters, soda, and an orange twist.

My second drink of the night was my favorite. Called "The Arms of York," this cocktail featured vodka, orange curacao, Meyer lemon curd, narcissus bitters, vanilla tincture, lemon, and sugar. It was so, so good. And now I know exactly what I need to do with my Meyer lemons!

The dessert menu had several tasty-sounding items, and the one that caught both our eyes was the offering of donuts and coffee. So, once we got home, I whipped up a quick batch of baked cinnamon-sugar donuts, and we shared the plateful alongside a mug each of French press coffee. The perfect ending to a fun night out!

The Details:

The Farmers' Cabinet

1113 Walnut Street, Philadelphia

215.923.1113

Hours: M-F 3p - 2a; Sa-Su 11:30a - 2a

Weekend Shenanigans: D Turns the Big 3-0

This past weekend was all about D and his 30th birthday. On Saturday, after a breakfast of egg sandwiches, bacon, and hashbrowns, we packed up the car, and headed north to the Poconos. Our destination? The Mountain Creek Riding Stable in Cresco, Pennsylvania. D had set us up to go on an hour-long group trail ride.

{the stables}

{along the trail}

 {the view from Paco, my pony-sized horse}

The ride was fun, if only to be out in the woods on a horse. I think next time we might opt for the private ride instead, given the rote feeling of a group ride. Following our trail ride, we headed on a scenic drive through the area. We ended up at a diner in Ellendale for lunch, where we each washed down our lunches with a bottle of Miller Lite. (We're nothing if not classy!) Our trip to the Poconos was complete once we found a park to let Leroy run around in and let off some steam. He enjoyed playing in the tiny bit of snow that was on the ground. D and I were both bummed to discover that our favorite whippy dip was still closed for the season. (Of course, we both knew there was little chance of it being open, but one can always dream!)

Once back home, we ordered a pizza for dinner, and I finished making the carrot cake I had baked from scratch the night before. Sifting a pound of powdered sugar is a lot of work! 

 

{action shot}

Sunday was a bit more low-key. We brought Leroy to the dog park in the morning, and I ran some errands at Whole Foods while Leroy got in some play time. In the afternoon, we made our bi-monthly trip to Target for all the fun essentials -- laundry detergent, home organization stuff, and the like. Later in the afternoon, D headed off to the gym and work for a few hours while I put the finishing touches on dinner. Earlier in the day, I had put a pork shoulder in the slow cooker to make pulled pork sandwiches for dinner that evening. While that was cooking away I made a batch of barbecue sauce from scratch and also baked up some homemade mac-n-cheese as well. (All recipes to come later this week!)

{pulled pork sandwich with a side of mac-n-cheese}

The day ended with the viewing of the season finale of Downton Abbey (actually the Christmas special, technically-speaking). I can't wait for the next season to start -- it's such a good show. I do love a good BBC costume drama! Today is theoretically a holiday at work, but given we have about 1,000 deadlines over the next couple of days (a slight exaggeration), I've actually been editing away nearly all day. So much for just putting in an hour! I hope you're enjoying your day, whether at work, or (hopefully) not.

Three-Day Weekend Shenanigans: Where'd The Time Go?

I had such high hopes for this long weekend -- get ahead with some work items, do some baking, and get in a little rest and relaxation. Of those three items, I can for sure check at least one item off, as the whoopie pies are currently cooling on a wire rack next to me as I type this. Fingers crossed they taste good! I have yet to make the marshmallow filling, but I figured I'd let them all cool down first and make dinner in the meantime.

The only other thing I accomplished this weekend was getting in a little bit of rest -- I think we slept in every day of the weekend! I also caught up on some magazine reading on my Kindle (I'm nearly through with the January issue of O Magazine, I think I'm now only about four magazines behind in my reading!).

I love three-day weekends, I just wish they didn't always seem to fly by so fast! Guess I'll have another chance to use my time wisely when Presidents' Day rolls around next month. Now, off to make some marshmallow filling and finish up those whoopie pies!

Weekend Shenanigans: O, Christmas Tree!

{See full pictures on flickr}

The highlight of this past weekend was heading to BeckTree Farms in Berks County, Pennsylvania to find a Christmas tree for our apartment. The last time we cut our own tree was two years ago in Laramie. We bought a permit from the forest service for $10 and then snowshoed around in the Medicine Bow National Forest in the Snowy Mountains until we found our perfect tree. This year's trek wasn't quite as scenic, but fun nonetheless. Leroy was also able to come along, as they allow pets so long as they are on a leash. We picked up our saw and tree cart and headed off into the rows of trees to find the one for us. We were looking for a semi-tall (since we have plenty of ceiling space) and narrow tree. After wandering around for a while, we found the right tree and D set to work sawing it down. I held the tree upright while D wrangled up our cart, and once it was set up on the cart (overkill really for our size of tree, but man, people were cutting down some huge ones!), we were ready to go. The tree we ended up choosing was a canaan fir. After it was shook and bundled up, D set to work putting his Eagle Scout knot-tying skills to work securing it to the roof of our Saturn. We opted to take the scenic route home rather than the highway, just in case our tree decided it didn't want to stay on top of our car, but luckily there was no need to worry.

Once we arrived home, we set up the tree and we've got it halfway covered in lights; unfortunately one of our strings of lights was wonky so we need to pick up another set or two to complete the job. Hopefully tonight we'll finish decorating the tree and I'll set up all the rest of our stuff. (Thus far we have a couple of fake wreaths hanging outside our front windows along with flickering candles in the windows, a set of stockings hanging from our bookshelf, some random holiday doodads hanging here and there, and a real wreath hanging outside our apartment's interior front door.) Even though the temperatures may still be hovering near the 60s in these parts, at least it looks nice and wintry inside our home. 

Holiday Weekend Shenanigans: Thanksgiving Edition

The best part of the Thanksgiving holiday? Spending time with family and eating lots of good food. The downside? Having to return to work Monday morning. The Christmas break (aka, the week of vacation I'm taking between Christmas and New Years) can't come soon enough.

After a filling Thanksgiving dinner and dessert on Thursday, I woke up early Friday morning to meet a few of my friends from high school for breakfast at First Watch. As this was the first holiday in a while where D and I have made it back to my hometown, it was fun catching up with friends whom I hadn't seen in awhile. It's nice to know that we can still easily pick up conversations where we left them, regardless of the time apart.

On Friday afternoon, I took Leroy up to Harbin Park for a nice long walk. He's always a fan of running around in the grass (a rare occurrence in the city) and this was no exception. In general, Leroy was an okay visitor at my parent's house. He was quite standoffish with my parents and Chris and Ashley. My Mom and Dad were able to give him a few pets on our last day there, though Leroy wasn't entirely sure letting them pet him was a good idea. On Saturday, D and I took Leroy to Wiggly Field Dog Park at the Voice of America MetroPark in West Chester. This park was awesome and Leroy had a ball running around with a few greyhounds and chasing after a football. The only downside was that the park was quite muddy due to recent rainstorms. Luckily, Leroy didn't make too much of a mess of himself.

On Saturday night, my parents took D and I out to dinner at Vincenzo's Ristorante Italiano in Sharonville. The restaurant was new to me and I had a great meal of cheese ravioli with a tomato cream sauce and mushrooms. D and I shared a heavenly tiramisu dessert, which I knocked back with a shot of espresso, per usual.

D and I headed back on the road on Sunday morning after a filling breakfast of eggs and hashbrowns made by my father. Though the rainy weather was no fun to drive in, we were making good time until we came to stopped traffic outside the first tunnel going eastbound on the Pennsylvania Turnpike. Traffic was pretty much stop and go after that point (we figure we were stopped outside the tunnel to prevent people from getting stuck inside the tunnel due to the bad traffic). The problems finally cleared up once the I-70 Baltimore/D.C. traffic veered off and we continued on I-76 to Philly. When we left at 9a, our GPS estimated that we'd arrive in Philly around 6:30p; instead, we arrived around 8:15p. Upon our arrival back to the city, we unloaded the car, ordered a pizza from Lazaro's, and soon after called it a night.

Our trip to Ohio was definitely a bit of a whirlwind, but it was great to catch up with both family and friends while we were there. And now that Thanksgiving is past us, I think we can officially start embracing the Christmas season. (I may have made D listen to way-too-many Christmas songs during the drive back home. And also, how have I never heard this song before? Jiggity-jig!) I think this weekend we may trek out somewhere to find an apartment-sized Christmas tree for our place in lieu of setting up my sad fake tree from Meijer circa 1998. Though it has been unseasonably warm around these parts (today temps were in the upper 60s), I am ready for candy canes, twinkling lights, snowflakes, and bucketloads of Christmas cookies. Bring on the holiday season!

Weekend Shenanigans: Fall Frolicking

{pumpkins for sale}

The weather over the weekend was perfect for a foray into the great outdoors for some fun fall activities. On Saturday, D, Leroy, and I piled into the car and headed out to Weaver's Orchard, where we picked up some apple cider, a variety of apples for pie-making, a pumpkin, and a bagful of apple cider donuts. After running a few errands at a few stores in the area, we headed off to French Creek State Park, where we let Leroy run off some steam and paddle a little bit in the lake.

{running down the park trail}

Leroy also did a little frolicking in the leaves, which he enjoyed quite a bit:

{happy dog}

On Sunday we continued our fall adventures by heading to Pemberton, New Jersey for a little canoeing on the Rancocas Creek Canoe Trail. We rented a canoe from Clark's Canoe Rental (which I highly recommend!) and went for a paddle up the creek.

{our little canoe}

We all sported life jackets -- one of our errands on Saturday included a stop at Petsmart to pick up one for Leroy. I figured if we had to wear one, he should, too!

{in the boat}

The weather was perfect for canoeing, the autumn leaves glittered in the gently flowing water, and all in all, we had a delightful paddle up and down the creek. (There were a few dodgy spots due to submerged (and not-so-submerged) trees from the flooding due to Hurricane Irene.)

{our turn-around point, where the creek became impassable}

We canoed upstream for about an hour and a half, and stopped off at a little picnic ground for lunch before heading back to from where we started. During our lunch stop, Leroy worked on his frisbee-catching skills (still a work in progress) and also worked on his swimming skills (he's a little unsure about that).

{picnic lunch}

The return trip down the creek (with the current) took only about an hour, and we were out of the water just after 3p, making our trip a total of about 4 hours, including our lunch break. I think we canoed a total of just over six miles. Fun times, indeed!

{along the creek}

Back at home we had a lazy Sunday night of "watching" football (the game was on; I spent the majority of the game completing(!) the crossword puzzle in the NYT magazine). Now on to another fun week of work! Happy Monday.

Weekend Shenanigans: Ms. Bronson Goes to Washington

On Saturday morning I headed out to the 30th Street Station to pick up a 7:50a megabus to Washington, DC to spend the weekend with Jenny, one of my good friends from graduate school. We've been trying to coordinate plans to visit since I moved to Philly; our schedules finally coincided for this three-day Columbus Day weekend. I've been to DC a few times -- including trips with my family, on a fourth-grade trip, and a few years' back with my friends from graduate school. However, there's always plenty to do (and seemingly always new things to see as well) in DC.

After dropping off my bags at Jenny's apartment, we set off for Eastern Market (an outdoor/indoor farmers and craft/flea market), where we perused the goods for sale and stopped for lunch at Le Pain Quotidien. We spent the afternoon getting manis and pedis at a local nail salon, then headed downtown to catch an evening program at the observatory on the campus of the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum. Unfortunately, 6:45p came and went, and no astronomers were to be seen. We waited about a half-hour before finally giving up and heading on to dinner. Later we found out that the museum had shut down early due to protests against a new exhibit on drone aircrafts in the museum. Too bad, as the closure made us miss International Observe the Moon Night! Boo.

We bussed/walked to dinner at Rosa Mexicano, a fairly chi-chi Mexican restaurant located across the street from the Verizon Center. Jenny and I shared an appetizer of freshly-made guacamole, as well as a pitcher of red sangria. (Oh, so good!) Dinner was great, if not exceptionally filling! I was definitely glad that we took a cab back to Jenny's place; I think otherwise I would have had to be rolled back home.

Sunday morning we headed out for breakfast at Ted's Bulletin, a kitschy diner that takes some of its art deco decor from the now defunct (and since imploded) Philadelphia Convention Hall. (Ah, like a little piece of home!) Since overdoing it the night before, I went for a simple plate of scrambled eggs, hashbrowns, and toast. Just the right amount of carbs and protein to set me straight! The lunch/dinner menu (and long list of "adult" milkshakes) looked awesome -- I think next time I visit we'll definitely have to check out the Bulletin for an afternoon or evening meal.

Following breakfast, we headed out to the National Archives. We walked past the archives the previous night on our way to dinner, where I noticed they were currently showing a special exhibit on "the government's role on the American diet." Given that this topic is near and dear to my heart, of course I had to visit the exhibit! Since the archives also houses the Declaration of Independence, Constitution, and Bill of Rights, there was a short line to get in. But soon enough we were inside and beelined toward the special exhibition. I found it to be quite interesting -- the exhibit covered the government's involvement in the introduction of crop species to the United States, traditional farming, industrial farming, factory food production, nutrition, and eating habits (with a large focus on the years before and just after World War II). I couldn't help but buy a book about the exhibit, so you may hear more about this topic in the future!

After visiting the National Archives, we headed to the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History where we caught the IMAX 3-D movie Grand Canyon Adventure. (The movie was "meh" -- the 3-D effects were kind of cool, but the story itself was kind of lacking.) After the movie we headed back to Jenny's Capitol Hill neighborhood, where we stopped at The Old Siam Thai restaurant for dinner. Gotta love a place that has a daily happy hour!

This morning Jenny and I grabbed lattes at Starbucks and then headed off for a walk down to the Lincoln Memorial and back. (About a five-mile walk in total.) Along the way we stopped off at the Korean War Veterans Memorial

{via}

and the Martin Luther King, Jr. National Memorial, which just opened to the public in late August.

{via} 

Lunch was at sweetgreen, a made-to-order salad place. I opted for the seasonal salad with local apples, mesclun greens, fresh basil, goat cheese, candied walnuts, and champagne vinaigrette. This salad is top on my list to recreate at home. In fact, I think I might already have most of the ingredients on hand!

I hopped back on the bus to Philly at 2:15p and arrived back just before 5:30p. Though a bit of a whirlwind weekend, I had a great time and already have a list of things that I still want to see (and places where I want to eat, too). One thing I noted during my time in DC was how expensive everything was! And I thought Philly prices were bad. Guess I'll need to save up my nickels and dimes before my next trip. Thanks for a great weekend, Jenny!

Weekend Shenanigans: Saturday Evening Road Trip

On Saturday, D spent the majority of the day at a retreat on campus for work. Upon his return home around 4:30p, we decided to leash up the dog and head out on a short evening road trip. Our destination for the evening? New Hope, Pennsylvania.

{via}

Along the way there, we stopped off at Washington Crossing State Park. This state park marks the location where General Washington and the Continental Army crossed the Delaware River the night of December 25, 1776 before marching into a successful battle against the Hessian Army in Trenton, NJ. We decided the stop would allow Leroy the chance to run and work off some energy. (Since the park requires dogs to remain on leash, we kept him on a super-long line that still gave him the chance to run, but kept him under our control.) After running off some energy in the park's fields, we found a trail alongside a levee and walked down it for quite a bit. At one point, Leroy decided to test out the waters and actually walked in! He didn't seem to be too concerned about suddenly finding himself floating in the water, but nonetheless, quickly headed back up to dry land.

{via}

After thoroughly tiring Leroy out, we fed him his dinner then headed back on the road to New Hope. We thought we had been to New Hope earlier in the year, but apparently we never made it out of  Lambertville, NJ. For a Friday night in late September, the town was hopping! I bet it must be pretty crazy during the summertime. The cool evening temperature was delightful, however, and the weather was perfect to explore the town's main drag.

{via}

After walking up and down Main Street, as well as a few of the side streets, we opted to eat dinner at Wildflowers Garden Cafe and Thai Corner. As the restaurant's name suggests, the menu was quite eclectic, and featured American, Italian, Mexican, and Thai cuisine. Though such a global menu would typically make me run the other way, since the cafe was rated number 6 of the town's 42 restaurants on TripAdvisor, we decided it was a safe bet. D and I both had the pad thai with tofu, which was excellent. We sat outside on the back patio beneath the willow trees, where we enjoyed views of the Ingham Creek in the flickering light of the torches that outlined the outside space.

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Following dinner, we were both in the mood for something warm, as the breeze was a bit chilly (finally! a chill in the air!), so we headed down to Ye Olde Starbucks (ha!) where D grabbed a cup of coffee, and I got a salted caramel hot chocolate (oh! heaven!) before returning to our car and heading back to Philly. I definitely want to get back to New Hope this fall -- there are lots of interesting restaurants and plenty of shops to wile away the hours.

Sunday was fairly low-key. In the morning, after eating a batch of flax waffles that I cooked up, we leashed up Leroy, and D took him to the dog park while I did the week's grocery shopping at Whole Foods and SuperFresh. Having just rained, Leroy was a mess of muddy paws after chasing and being chased by other dogs in the mulch-covered dog park. Once we arrived home, Leroy got a much-needed bath. The afternoon was spent making up a batch of Rachael's caramel corn, with a few tweaks. Then it was time for football and dinner and more football. (Exciting, right?) I finished up the evening by reading a few more chapters of Squeezed, a book about the Florida orange juice industry. Once I finally finish the book and digest (ha!) what I read, you can expect a post about it on the blog in the (hopefully) near future.