Cotton Candy and Veggie Heaven

Today we had our annual carnival at school. The kids love it; there are games, face painting, cotton candy, popcorn, and inflatable jumpy things and slides. Us teachers love being outside for hours while the kids run around on sugar highs. For real--one of my third grade female students had twelve cotton candies!!! TWELVE!!! And then we are supposed to teach them all afternoon long after this insanity?

The carnival was set up right outside my classroom so well before 9:00 this morning, the aroma of popcorn was drifting through my windows. So when I finally was able to go outside today at 10:00, I had my morning snack of fresh popcorn (chock ful of coconut oil!) and cotton candy.

After school, I spent a couple hours in Montclair, a great town. I lived there a few years back so it's always nice to go back. My first stop was The Bread Company, a tiny organic bakery blocks from my old apartment. I had only visited this bakery maybe twice in my six months of living in the neighborhood, but I remembered their yummy breads! Well, the woman from the bakery actually remembered me, even though I hadn't been there in at least four years! So most of their breads and sweets are vegan and many are gluten-free as well. After much deliberation, I chose a chocolate ginger treat to bring home to share with Eric for tomorrow morning's breakfast.

After perusing Montclair's great independent bookstore, I decided to have dinner at Veggie Heaven, an all Vegetarian Chinese restaurant that I'd been wanting to try for a while. It did not disappoint--I had tofu with mushrooms and brown rice with a little extra spice and it was delicious!

The real reason for my being in the area was to take a drive to the next town over to pick up our finished wedding invitations. And they came out perfect! I am so pleased and impressed! If you're looking for some custom invitations, check out Hyland Creative Design. Melissa did a wonderful job.

Well, I'm exhausted after my super-long day. But it was a good one!

(I forgot to mention that I sampled some grapefruit at Whole Foods today. I always thought I hated grapefruit. But it was tangy and I liked it! Yay!)

Saturday in Baltimore

So Saturday started off kind of sucky. I had to go to the doctor's office for some routine bloodwork. It was not fun. I do not like shots. But the nurse did give me a juice box which was nice!

Then back home for some Mario Kart--I heart Mario Kart! And, then on to our Baltimore outing! Eric got me tickets to see The Swell Season. The Swell Season is really Glen Hansard and Marketa Iglova, the musicians who wrote and starred in the movie Once.

So after making the four hour trip to Baltimore, Eric and I had dinner at The Yabba Pot, an international vegan cafe near Johns Hopkins University. The menu features specials, which change daily, sandwiches, salads, and smoothies, etc. We both opted to have the royal platter. Between the two of us we had barbequed tofu, amazing brown rice, cabbage stir fry, queen's greens (which was kale, onions, tomatoes and spices), some other spinach curry and black bean chili. The food was delicious and we saved room to split a vegan snickerdoodle cookie afterwards.

The actual concert was held at The Meyerhoff Symphony Hall, an absolutely gorgeous venue with perfect acoustics. Glen and Marketa were amazing together live. Some of Glen's Frames bandmates performed as the back-up band, too.

Long drive home. Stopped a couple times for gas, caffeine, and to fetch Norton from my parents', where he spent the day. We made it home at 4:30 am.

(The photo was not from last night but was of another live show. Photo by Joel Didriksen for kingpinphoto.com)

Day at the Shore

This morning, Eric and I headed down to the Point Pleasant Boardwalk to play some skeeball, ride the rides--and take our engagement photos! We met our wedding photographer, Josh Lynn, down there--and we had a blast taking the photos! I am so excited because Josh posted a few of them on his blog already! Look here!

While we were down there, we had lunch at Kaya's Kitchen in Belmar. Kaya's is a vegetarian eatery which used to be Veggie Works. I had eaten there often while I was in college and it was a real treat to be back today. We had the most delicious vegan buffalo wings (karma wings)!

Thanks, Eric, for letting me choose vegan restaurants two days in a row!!!!

Three Day Weekend

I love three day weekends. Even if I do have to go to the dentist tomorrow.

Today we're seeing Kayla again so I'll post more photos today or tomorrow!

And speaking of babies, Kayla's not the "baby" of the family any longer!

My cousin, Andrea, and her husband, Frank, became first-time parents this morning! They had a little boy, Vincent. It all just happened so I don't have any other details as of yet but its very exciting!

Yesterday, Eric and I explored the little town of Andover. It's ten minutes from where we live and it's home to tons of antique shops. We had a delicious lunch at a cute little coffee house called the Gristmill Cafe. We spent some time wandering around the shoppes in town and bought a couple cute things.

Then last night, Eric got yet another birthday dinner. We had Ethiopian lentils and Ethiopian green beans and potatoes. The green beans and potatoes were a new recipe and they came out pretty good! All in all, it was a healthy and delicious meal!

After dinner, we watched The Princess Bride. It's a movie that I had never seen before but it's one of Eric's favorites. It was a cute movie.

Welcome to Morocco!

Saturday night, Eric and I, along with Jennifer and her fiance, Matt visited Morocco. Well...sort of! We had dinner at an authentic Moroccan restaurant called Marakesh. It's really a funky place! We all enjoyed the Sultan's Feast! It was an exquisite feast of soup, salad, appetizers, entrees, dessert and yummy mint tea. And, we were treated to some live music and belly dancing!





It was such fun. It was the first time the four of us all got together. Jenn and I were very happy that our fiances got along so well. Apparently they both have a love of telling jokes with Scottish accents.

Sadly enough, they did say no to forming a scooter club.

Football Sunday

The real reason we made the trip to the West Coast was for Sunday's Raiders vs. Lions game. There was a tailgate party first in the parking lot.



The game was fun but the Raiders lost. Here's the post I wrote during half-time.

Its halftime and i am at my first football game ever. The Raiders are down to the Lions. I am sporting a black and silver jersey that Eric got me from the Raider Image here in Oakland. I am trying really hard to get whats going on. Football is so much more complicated than I thought it would be. Its so mathematical. Yards and downs. Baseball is simple. Three strikes, you're out. But I guess you can say football is an exciting sport. I think I just need football for dummies. Maybe if I have a SuperBowl party this year I will actually pay attention To the game. On a side note we attended a fun tailgate party and the stadium has veggie dogs. Yummo!

Turtle Back Zoo

On Friday, Eric and I, along with Dave, Jenn and their four kids made our way to the Turtleback Zoo. We had a great time. It's a small zoo and we probably only spent three hours there. We got some great shots of the kids and Eric got a couple cute ones of me with some of them. Four kids under the age of five. Wow.



That's me with the oldest, Ben (5 1/2) and the youngest, Nate (1).

Here's the four of them.


Charlotte, then Ellie (twins--3) then Nate and Ben.

A Fun Filled Day--Part Four

Friday was a great day--for the most part. Here's what happened...

We woke up bright and early and Eric headed off to the career fair, once again to work for his newspaper. Then I headed off on my adventure.

I made the nearly one hour trek to Homestead, Florida for a series of adventures. First and foremost, I wanted to visit the Everglades. I could have went to the Everglades National Park. But I decided I wanted to go on an airboat ride so I went to the Everglades Alligator Farm instead. I saw some alligators up close!


I even held a baby alligator!




Then I went on an airboat ride which was awesome!



Saw some more gators and sea turtles.





Egrets and lots of fish!

They call the Everglades the River of Grass. It's also the only place where crocodiles and alligators live side by side--in the world!






After the airboat ride, I headed to Robert is Here fruit stand. Not just any fruit stand, but Robert specializes in exotic fruits and he's known for his exotic fruits milkshakes. I had a pineapple milkshake. YUM!

Non Fun Part Disclaimer: I hit a big rock in the road on my way to Robert's. After the fruit stand, I headed to Walmart Tire and Lube Express to make sure my tires were okay. The man said they looked fine. Phew...for the record, I hate Walmart. I only went because it was a necessity.

Next, I hit downtown Homestead where I checked out a few antique shops. Got lots of old postcards for my collection!

Then: the winery! I went to Schnebly Redland's Winery--the southernmost winery in the US! All of their wines are made from tropical fruits! I had a tasting of their five wines--mango, lychee, passionfruit, carombola, and guava. I ended up buying two bottles--carombola and passionfruit. Unfortunately, they don't ship to NJ...

Nope, my day was not over yet. Then a visit to the Fruit and Spice Park, a 35-acre tropical botanical garden growing over 500 varieties of fruits, spices and nuts. I took a tram ride around the park. Our guide, Marie, explained what a lot of the fruits were and what they were used for in different countries. And I got a mango to bring home! Ooh, and I nibbled on a stevia leaf, some Thai garlic and mint. Fun!

Look for another post detailing my evening with Eric!

Not-So-Fun-Filled (Part Tres)

So Eric and I did make it to South Beach Thursday night. I didn't find it particularly appealing, nor did Eric. I found it too touristy, too trendy, and quite expensive! There were a million restaurants all in a row and lots of them had a waiter or staff member pushing the menu on you. If you stopped to look at their menu, they try to sell it to you. Reminded me of Little Italy with palm trees.

"Come on, try it, the food is the best."

"We have a steak special, only $15, so good, usually worth $36."

You get the idea. Annoying as all hell. We ended up going with an Italian restaurant. We sat inside because I couldn't take anymore of the Florida heat. Well the door was open to the outside so it was hotter inside as it turned out. By the time our dinners came out, I was ready to pass out. It was 10pm and I was not only really hungry but sunburnt and suffering heat exhaustion, I think. So we took our food to go and I was feeling better once we got to the room. We had to miss the Salsa party. Oh, well.

Greetings from Miami--Part Deux!

Today its sunny and bright outside in South Florida. This morning, I chose a lovely beach to visit--Bill Baggs State Park on Key Biscayne. Even with a sunblock of SPF 50, I still suffered a burn to my shoulders and back. I was smart to reapply constantly, however, when you're attending the beach on your own, its kind of hard to reapply to your back after splashing around in the clear aqua water. Its a good thing I only stayed on the beach for 2 hours. I saw some new and unusual butterflies and birds. I even saw a pelican!





Don't go in the water if you see a purple flag!



After the beach, I came back to the hotel and chilled for a couple hours. Then, I took the free MetroMovers monorail over to the Bayside Marketplace a few blocks away. It's an open aired mall, complete with a Hard Rock Cafe and because its right on the water, you can take a touristy boat ride right from there! I contemplated the pirate cruise. Oh well. Maybe later on this weekend...


Look! A wet bird!




Tonight, Eric and I are going out to dinner in South Beach and there's a possibility of an AAJA Salsa Party there as well. So we'll see...

Tomorrow's the Everglades and Biscayne National Park. I think.

Once again, pics to follow...

Greetings from Miami!!!

On Tuesday, after a yummy Thai lunch, Eric and I flew out to Miami. Though its vacation time for me--lots of relaxing and exploring, Eric's here for his AAJA Convention. Lucky me. But he's stuck in workshops all day and working the Career Fair for his newspaper.

Yesterday was fun. Florida weather in the summer is simply...awesome. Extremely hot and humid with nearly daily thunderstorms. So yesterday I met up with my friend Bret for the afternoon. He moved to Florida a year and a half ago so it was the first time I've seen him since. We met up in Hollywood, Florida. My first time there. It started pouring when I was nearly there. Pouring cats and dogs.

We had lunch at a place called O'Malley's Ocean Pub. A cool place on the patio with an awning with a Key West atmosphere. But many of the restaurants on Hollywood's "broadwalk" are open air. Even though it was pouring, we stayed dry during lunch and were able to watch the ocean.



Then we walked on the broadwalk. And had ice cream. And fudge.



Then Bret and I parted ways and I had time for a sweet nap in the hotel before Eric got back. Last night, we had an opening reception to go to. Today, I'll hit the beach and tonight we have a free evening.

From the opening reception at the opera house...

A Birthday Celebration

We wrapped up Eric's vacation week with a trip to Skytop Resort on Sunday to spend the day with Eric's parents and family friends as well. Not that we needed a special occasion to get together--but we did have a very special occasion! It was Liz's (Eric's mom) birthday!

The Poconos are a lovely place to spend the day. And a lovely day we had. We had lunch and lazed around on rockers.



Then we acted real goofy playing putt-putt golf. (Eric is goofy 90 % of the time as you can see below.)


Then a rainstorm chased us inside.
So we played a "no holds barred" edition of ping pong.
Luckily the weather cleared up. That made for some nice pictures! See?


We did some walking. Look. Kindred spirits live here.



I like this resort. They even have tea time.

After dinner, it was time to go home.

Thursday at the Jersey Shore

Thursday morning, Norton seemed to be back to his jolly old self, so Eric and I decided to go on our next adventure: to the Jersey Shore! Being that I lived down the shore a few years ago for college, I had some ideas...



First, to the beach! We headed to Deal for some fun in the sun...it was a beautiful warm and breezy day. Unfortunately...my spray-on sunscreen malfunctioned and I've suffered another bad sunburn. Remind me to use the annoying rub on stuff next time. At least it works.



After the beach, we drove to another beach--Point Pleasant Beach for the boardwalk. Eric's first time there! We perused the aquarium, acted like children in the funhouse, ate, ate, and ate, and played mini-golf.



A good time had by all. Until we got home and the pain of my sunburn kicked in.

But its okay. I'm still alive.

Day and Night at the Museum

Eric is on vacation all week so we'll be enjoying a weeks worth of local adventures. Yesterday, we enjoyed Adventure #1. We drove into New York to visit the American Museum of Natural Museum. It's Eric's fourth favorite place and I hadn't been in years. There were a couple of exhibits we were eager to check out: Frogs: A Chorus of Colors and Mythic Creatures: Dragons, Unicorns and Mermaids. Between the two exhibits, we even had time for an Imax movie: Dinosaurs Alive. So we enjoyed a fun and educational few hours at the museum.

Then, we walked through Central Park in the torturous heat to the Upper East Side to head to a vegan restaurant that Eric wanted to take me to. Unfortunately, Candle 79 was closed due to a private party so they sent us to their other location, The Candle Cafe (their original location).

Boy am I glad that somebody told Eric about this restaurant. It was amazing! Here's what we ate : 1) some kind of pina colada-esque smoothie--the fruit in it was so fresh and delicious!
2) a Greek salad with crumbled tofu in lieu of feta cheese--salad dressing was tangy and
freshly yummalicious.
3) Chipotle Grilled Tofu with a quinoa and black bean stuffed avocado--so tasty!
4) Porcini encrusted Seitan (a kind of meat substitute) with mashed potatoes. Crunchy
perfection (well, the seitan was crunchy anyway!).

No, Eric is not a vegetarian but we both loved the food so much that we scarfed it down in record time. Then we bought the cookbook.

Oddly enough, we had the perfect movie waiting for us at home from netflix after our adventure in NY: Night at the Museum with Ben Stiller. Despite what we'd heard about the movie, we both really enjoyed it and found it very funny.

Happy belated July 4th!

Hope everyone enjoyed their Fourth of July! It hardly felt like a holiday to me because it fell during the middle of the week and I'm off all summer anyway (for the most part).

Eric and his dad were going to a Yankees game yesterday and his mom and I had plans to tour Duke Farms. We had three different tours booked, starting with an 11:30 tour of the Japanese Gardens.

At 11:06, after locking the front door and shutting all the windows, I grabbed jackets because it was chilly out, said goodbye to my Norton and locked the back door behind me. It was then that I realized I left my keys hanging on the hook in the kitchen.

Oops. Thanks so much to Liz, Eric's mother, for hightailing it from Duke Farms to Eric's townhouse in record speed. We actually just made it on time for our first tour!!!

Liz and I enjoyed three tours--the Japanese Garden tour, the Country Manor tour and the tour of the 4 mile square property.

Duke Farms was first developed by James Buchanan Duke, a man who made fortunes from the tobacco industry. Duke built himself a "modest" 11 room bachelor pad on the lush farmland. He brought in 2 million shrubs and plants for his property, drained swampland and built 9 lakes! Duke married and added onto his home. Later, Duke Farms was passed onto his daughter, Doris Duke. Doris was an animal lover and had many dogs. They drank out of a beautiful indoor fountain and had an elaborate dog house which contained ramps to a private entranceway to Ms. Duke's bedroom on the second level! Doris even had camels--two of them!

Today, the house contains 55 rooms! It houses indoor tennis courts, a theatre, an indoor pool (and an outdoor one too), and a lounge.

Anyway, its an interesting place to tour if you're ever in the Hillsborough, NJ area.