just a little something...

happy valentine's day

...to my sweet husband who also happens to be my best friend in the whole wide world.

(Click through for more detail on the photo.)

disney day trip

After our trip to Walt Disney World in Orlando for Madeline's sixth birthday in December, we decided to commit to being Florida annual passholders. The annual passes were not quite as expensive as we had imagined they would be, and because of a Disney promotion, we got an extra three months (fifteen instead of twelve).

Yesterday we did our first day-trip to Disney. Orlando is only a couple of hours away, but with small children, those couple of hours can sometimes seem like twelve. Thankfully, I think Madeline and Oliver have now outgrown that phase. The trip to the Magic Kingdom really was very tolerable - other than one minor meltdown over a dropped shoe as we entered Disney property.

Unlike our prior trip, we felt like we knew what we were doing this time. The kids weren't interested in waiting in lines to take photos with characters, so we saved a lot of time by avoiding those lines.

 

The cars were a huge hit. Both kids wanted to drive, so Madeline drove me and Oliver drove Sam. I'm not sure which of us got the worst driver, but I think it was Sam.

 

Sam insisted on doing the It's A Small World ride, and I think it's going to be impossible to ever go to Disney without riding it. It's just one of those classics that we'll have to do each time. Plus, we get to sit down for a solid ten minutes - quite a deal after waiting in 30 minute lines.

The kids refused to let me or Sam help twirl our teacup in the teacups ride. Both Madeline and Oliver seemed thrilled to watch me turn green.

 

We packed some snacks, but we couldn't avoid a stop for ice cream in the mid-afternoon. It may have been my suggestion, but I'll blame Sam if asked.

 

We seem to always start and end the trip with the carousel. It's the one ride you can pretty much always just walk right on without a wait.

 

I don't have pictures to prove it, but Madeline rode Space Mountain twice - once with me and once with Sam - and she was SO brave. In fact, I wouldn't ride that roller coaster if she didn't make me. She also rode on Thunder Mountain and loved every minute of it.

We left the park after the evening parade, stopped for a quick fast-food dinner before getting on the Turnpike, and the kids were asleep within another ten minutes. It was a great day, and we're already looking forward to our next trip back to Disney.

the year 2009 - let's wrap it up

This has been quite the year for us, and, for the most part, the good parts have outweighed the bad. Our jobs keep us busy during the day - and sometimes at night or on weekends - but we’ve had lots of time for fun, and we’ve made the most of it. If I was creative, I’d have a video highlight reel of the events of 2009. Instead, I’ll give you a list. Because I like lists.

1. We started the year in Miami for the BCS National Championship game where we watched Florida beat Oklahoma.

2. Somewhere during the year, Oliver gave up Froggy and More Froggy, and he adopted Baby as his lovey du jour.

3. Sam and I escaped to Las Vegas for a long Valentine’s Day weekend. Dinner at Michael Mina left us with a large bill and something to talk about (tuna tartare with raw quail egg on top, anyone?). Sam fell in love with Tom Colicchio after eating at Craftsteak.

4. Madeline continued her swim lessons and became an amazing little swimmer. Oliver started swim lessons later in the year, and he’s still trying to warm up to the idea that he has no choice but to swim.

5. We made two beach trips - Crescent Beach for a cold, rainy spring break, and Rosemary Beach for a last fling before summer’s end.

6. The mountains of Dillard, Georgia, were the site of our big family reunion in the middle of the summer. It was great to catch up with everyone and to watch Maddie and Oliver meet and play with their second cousins.

7. Madeline started kindergarten in public school after months of agonizing over the decision between public versus private school. Needless to say, we’re VERY happy with our decision.

8. Oliver turned three in October, and Madeline turned six in December.

9. Sam and I escaped again in October, but this time to New York City for our first real trip there. The 24 hours we spent in New York back when we won a trip to the Dave Letterman Show in the late 1990s hardly counted for much, so we knew we had to go back. We walked a lot, mastered the subway [that may be a bit of an exaggeration], saw our first Broadway show [Wicked], were treated like VIPs at a very hip bar [Little Branch - way too hip for us], and ate our way through the city. My favorite restaurant experience was our dinner at Le Bernardin - the most perfect meal I’ve ever had.

10. Fritz, our fifteen year old Maine Coon, was diagnosed with gastric lymphoblastic lymphoma in the fall. It was the first time we had to face the fact that we’re going to lose our cats eventually. That they will die. He’s done great on chemotherapy, and he’s hanging in there, but we know that the inevitable is right around the corner. And, while we’re enjoying each day we have with Fritz and Mitzi, we’re getting prepared.

11. Because of a promise I made Madeline when she turned five, we made our first family trip to Disney World to celebrate her sixth birthday. We had so much fun that we bought our first set of annual passes. Disney takes your money, but they do it so well that you almost don’t mind. Besides, watching Madeline meet her beloved princesses was worth every cent.

12. And if I may brag a bit, I’m proud of the new foods (or foods I once hated) that I’ve tried and enjoyed over the past year -- rabbit, duck, fois gras, pate, brussels sprouts, and tuna tartare. Okay, I didn’t like the last one very much, but I tried. And I’ll try it again, just to be sure.

13. Somehow I almost forgot! We made our first trip to Napa in 2009. We had an amazing experience with our travel partners - a couple of real wine pros - and made new friends along the way. As a real bonus, Sam caught the wine bug in a really big way.

nyc, one bite at a time

I've posted about our experience at Le Bernardin - the real culinary highlight of the trip for me - but we spent the rest of the weekend trying to see exactly how much we could spend on food. Turns out, it's not difficult to spend a LOT. But, what the heck, right? It's a vacation.

One might think that after the seven course dinner at Le Bernardin, we would not want to eat for the next two days. Wrong. We woke up Saturday morning thinking of breakfast. After getting a slow start, we walked from our hotel in Tribeca to Spring Street in Soho. One of my potential breakfast/brunch spots, Balthazar, was our destination.

On a side note: I did lots (seriously, LOTS) of research on restaurants during the planning of this trip. I researched old New York Times reviews, Chowhound board postings, the Michelin ratings, Zagat reviews and ratings, and recommendations from friends. I had at least three options for each meal, depending where we were physically located in the city at any particular mealtime.

Anyway, we arrived at Balthazar at 10am and there was already a line. After waiting about 45 minutes, we were seated, crammed in between two other tables. We ordered a basket of fresh-baked pastries and breads to start, and I fell in love with their brioche. It was buttery and slightly sweet and melt-in-your-mouth wonderful. Sam had the toasted ham and gruyere sandwich, and I had the scrambled eggs in puff pastry with asparagus and wild mushrooms. We justified the calories by reminding ourselves that this counted as both breakfast AND lunch.

After seeing the Broadway show, Wicked, we walked over to Magnolia Bakery to splurge on a cupcake to tide us over until our 8pm dinner reservations.  Unfortunately, it was raining, and we made the mistake of going to the one located near the Theater District instead of in the West Village. The line was around the corner, and everyone was getting soaked. The red velvet cupcake I ordered was very good, but probably not worth standing in a line for. It's hard to pass judgement on one cupcake, so I won't.

Saturday night we braved the NYC subway system and we headed from Tribeca to the Lincoln Center area and ate dinner at Bar Boulud with some good friends of ours who happened to be in New York the same weekend we were.  According to the reviews I read, Bar Boulud is known for its charcuterie. Two of us decided we wanted to try the pate grand-mere (made with chicken liver and pork); Sam agreed to at least taste it. And, OH my goodness. It was great. We ate it on toast, topped with a bit of grainy mustard. I'm now a pate convert. And because we were eating at a French restaurant, I had the coq au vin - one of the classics. It also was simply delicious.

Because I know people (well, I know one person - a very important mixologist who also happens to be a dear friend from high school), we were able to skip the line at Little Branch and spend an hour or so having drinks in the dark, underground bar. The drinks were good. Very good. And the experience was very New York - or what I imagined an authentic New York experience to be.

Although we had every intention of searching out  the most perfect New York bagel, we slept in on Sunday morning (courtesy of the Little Branch experience). We didn't make it out for breakfast, but did wake up and get moving in time to eat lunch. So, instead of bagels, we sought out pizza. Real New York pizza. We were directed by friends - and by the bellmen at our hotel - that we needed to eat at Lombardi's. 

So, we did. It was pretty darn good pizza. And it should be - they've been doing it for over 100 years. As you can see from the picture, there were mushrooms and sausage on my half; Sam went with just sausage.

Sunday evening we ate at Scarpetta. I debated between Scarpetta and another Italian restaurant, ultimately choosing Scarpetta because of it's location in Chelsea. I had the creamy polenta with fricassee of mushrooms and Sam had the braised short ribs. We could have stopped there, because we were in heaven at that point. For a second course, we shared the tomato basil spaghetti (which lived up to it's reputation). For the last course, I had the duck breast - and I'm now a believer in duck. It was rich and moist and simply wonderful.

 

Except for the cooked carrots. I didn't like those. Yes, I tried them -- still hoping I'll change my mind one day -- but they were just as yucky as any cooked carrot I've ever tried in my life. Sam liked them.

And that was it. Our last meal in the city was a quick bagel near Central Park on Monday morning before our flight. We tried to eat everything in sight, but we didn't succeed. I still have a list of restaurants on my must-eat-at list. At least five or six trips worth of restaurants. I'm already trying to figure out when I can get Sam back up there. I believe the city has us both hooked.

check this one off the list

I keep a running list of things I'd like to do or see one day, a bucket list of sorts. There are some dream vacations on that list -- visit Greece, rent a villa somewhere in the countryside of Italy, sail around the British Virgin Islands -- and there are some dream restaurants on the list, too. I'd love to eat dinner at The French Laundry or Per Se or Alinea, to name a few. In New York last weekend, I was able to check off one of the restaurants on my list -- Le Bernardin, the award winning restaurant led by Chef Eric Ripert. 

We made a reservation as soon as the reservations book opened up, thirty days before the weekend we were planning to go. I did a lot of research before deciding that we'd go there. Sam is a bit picky, as many of you may know, and I had to get his approval on the menu. I showed the menu to him on the Le Bernardin website, he looked at it and didn't say no, so I took that as a yes. 

Our dinner reservation was for 8:15 on Friday, and we were immediately seated on arrival. Unlike our experience at Michael Mina in Las Vegas, when the amuse bouche arrived, I knew I had made the right decision. 

 

I remembered that I'd brought my camera after the second or third course, but unfortunately, the lighting was poor and I didn't want to use my flash and risk disturbing others. We had lots of delicious courses that looked like this one.

In fact, each course of the seven-course tasting menu was simply amazing. The wine that was paired with it was perfect. The service was impeccable - attentive but not overly so, and not stuffy at all. One of the highlights was seeing Chef Ripert walk through the dining room at one point early on in our meal. After speaking with our waiter about him, we were taken back to the kitchen for a quick glimpse of the bustling activity. 

And, I must say, Chef Ripert was so personable. As annoyed as he may have been, you would never have known. I liked him from what I knew of him on Top Chef, and now I like him even more.

Our trip to New York took place the weekend between my birthday and Sam's. The whole trip was a birthday present to ourselves, and the Le Bernardin experience was really all for me. But, Sam had a wonderful time, and I think he has changed his mind about what gourmet dining means. 

 

We walked out of the restaurant over two and a half hours later with a very large tab on the credit card, lots of poorly exposed photographs, an autographed copy of On The Line, an appreciation for seafood done well (really, really well), and huge smiles on our faces. It was a truly spectacular birthday present.

road trip, part 2

After leaving Atlanta last Thursday, we drove the two hours or so north to Dillard, Georgia. Dillard sits right on the North Carolina/Georgia border, right in the Smoky Mountains. 

We stayed in "chalets" at the Dillard House. I think a better term would be "cabin" because of the rough-around-the-edges nature of some of them, but whatever. They were cute and had more than enough space for us to spread out in.

We spent the next few days lounging around with various Georges, young and old. We played in the pool, sat around and caught up with each other, ate, petted farm animals, ate, and then ate some more. It was really wonderful to get together with everyone.

I loved watching the little kids get to know each other. My kids had their moments, of course -- Madeline more than Oliver -- but they actually did pretty well considering they were sleep-deprived the majority of the time.

They don't call them the Smoky Mountains for nothing.

road trip, part 1

We packed the kids up last week and headed on a road trip, the longest one they've been on in their short lives. Prior to this trip, they've been on a 5-hour trip to Seaside in the panhandle, but this was a 7 hour trip. Not being a big fan of torture, we decided to break the trip up into two parts. On Wednesday, we drove to Atlanta and spent the night with my college roommate, Rachel, and her family. 

Let me just say, there is hardly anything better than spending quality time with good friends. Even though we'd not seen each other in close to six years (over six, maybe), it was like no time had passed. Rachel lives in a beautiful house near Atlanta with her wonderful husband and three gorgeous children. We were immediately comfortable in her home, and the kids got along well. Oliver and Madeline even made friends with their family dog. We all stayed up too late, but it was totally worth it. I'm already trying to figure out when we can see them again.

The next day we took the kids to the Georgia Aquarium in downtown Atlanta. I'm not sure who was more excited - me or the kids. We saw some amazing fish and other sea creatures. The kids were slightly on edge (okay, more than slightly), but after having snacks in the aquarium cafeteria and with the promise of a toy on the way out, they did pretty good.

We saw jellyfish. 

The kids (and the parents) were mesmerized by the fish swimming around us in the walk-through aquarium.

Madeline got to touch the sting rays - very slimy, slippery things.

There were grouper with massive lips. The grouper themselves were pretty massive, but the lips...those were some amazing lips.

Madeline was so relaxed watching the fish swim by, she started rocking back and forth. I thought she might fall asleep if we sat there longer. 

After a quick lunch in the aquarium cafeteria - a lunch of pizza, soft drinks, and cupcakes -- we made the stop at the gift shop to purchase the toys we'd promised. Of course the kids both picked out white stuffed animals - Maddie chose a white seal and Oliver chose a white beluga whale. They instinctively know to pick out the animal that will show the most dirt.

And we got back on the road again for part two of our trip.

a recent debate

Sam and I have been debating whether to put in a swimming pool. We went to a couple of homes this past weekend on the biannual Parade of Homes. The two homes we looked at are in our neighborhood and were just gorgeous. Part of what I liked about them was that they each had a screened-in pool area with plenty of space for entertaining outside.

Right now our backyard is simply that. A backyard. Luckily it's fenced, and it's actually somewhat bigger than many of the other backyards in our neighborhood. We have room to add an in-ground pool if we wanted. 

The downsides: Cost. Losing at least half of our backyard. The safety issue (although it's mandatory to have a pool fence and we would definitely have one). Cost. Maintaining the pool. Cost.

The upsides: Instant entertainment for the kids. Instant entertainment for me. Surviving the hot Florida summer would be much, much easier. A place to entertain when we have friends or family over. The screen would keep the bugs out and we can enjoy our back patio even when the mosquitos are out. 

We're still undecided but leaning towards the pool. Any thoughts from those pool-owners out there?

thanksgiving '08 wrap-up

We had a lovely Thanksgiving -- up until Madeline's tantrum that caused us to leave her grandparents' house early. I took last Wednesday off work since Maddie had the day off from school, and also so I could start working on my contributions to the holiday meal.  We had a very nice day, and Madeline was a big helper in the kitchen. She got frustrated when I wouldn't let her do certain things (like chop with the santoku knife), but she waited semi-patiently for her turn to do things.

Her first task was tearing apart cornbread and biscuits for the dressing. 

While she tore the bread into little bits, I cooked the onions and celery.

She beat eggs, mixed the dressing, then beat some more eggs for the pumpkin pies. She mixed all the pie ingredients and then helped me pour them into the piecrusts. I learned that I am not a very thoughtful food blogger, or else I would have remembered to keep taking photos for the blog. Or maybe I'm just bad at multitasking. I do have a pie picture, so that will have to suffice.

This pumpkin pie recipe is the best one I've run across. Sam likes it so much that whenever I suggest altering it, he forbids me. And I'm too much of a culinary chicken to tempt fate and potentially wind up with a lousy pie.

My dad decided a couple of years ago that one turkey just wasn't enough, so he added a fried turkey to complement the roast one. This year he decided to add a third turkey, and he smoked that one. Let's just say we had plenty of turkey. Dad's good friend, Jim, got the honors of carving the (three!) turkeys. As a bonus for doing the carving, he got to take the carcasses home to make stock.

Gathered around the table -- well, two tables, really -- were me and Sam, Madeline and Oliver, my brother Clay, my grandmother, my parents, Sam's parents, and my parents' friends Jim and Mary.  Jim and Mary are part of our adopted Thanksgiving-family. They come every year, and we would miss them if they didn't show up.

The kids did pretty well, especially considering the fact that neither one napped. Madeline had the major breakdown that pushed us into leaving a little earlier than expected, but I couldn't blame her. She'd had a very busy day and she was exhausted. Both kids fell asleep in the car on the way home even though it was only 6:30 or so. 

And now that Thanksgiving is over, we move our thoughts to the next in the December line-up of events. I'm headed to San Francisco for a conference next weekend. I get back just in time for Madeline's birthday and her birthday party. Christmas is after that. In a blink it will be 2009. Amazing.

thanksgiving

Thanksgiving might just be my favorite holiday. I love it even more now that I have an interest in cooking. While I'm typing this, two pumpkin pies are baking in the oven, the dressing has been prepared and is waiting for its turn to cook, and I have a refrigerator full of apples ready to be chopped for the Waldorf salad. Sam is outside with the kids letting them run off some energy before we get ready for the dinnertime-bathtime-bedtime sprint. The house is filled with the smells of sage, pumpkin pie, pear from the candle burning in the living room, and a faint scent of cleanness (the maids came today). Just perfect.

So, since I may not be posting tomorrow - or maybe I will, who knows? - I'm thankful for a lot of things this year. I am so thankful that Sam and I have good jobs that we enjoy going to, health insurance and retirement benefits, a solid roof over our heads, two sweet children, and the best husband in the world. I'm thankful that we're all healthy. I'm thankful that we have wonderful family to spend Thanksgiving with. I'm thankful for good friends.

Have a peaceful and warm Thanksgiving. We sure will.

at home

My photographer friend, Amy Barry, came over one day earlier this month to take our annual family photos. We usually do our pictures in February, mostly because it's tough to coordinate with our crazy schedules. We got lucky (or smart) this year and planned it in advance. This might be the first year we have a professional photo in our Christmas cards. 

Amazingly, the kids wore exactly what I picked out for them, and we actually had our act together when Amy showed up. Madeline got tired by the end of the session, and Oliver acted like a typical two-year old boy, but Amy managed to take some photos of us smiling and looking pretty.

This pboto is being framed and going in a place of honor in our new dining room. 

I may have mentioned this before, but I am IN LOVE with our new house. I feel completely at home in it, like our family is complete, and the house was the missing piece.

venting

The daily grind just gets to be too much sometimes. I admit we're not the over-scheduled parents we could be, but we're pretty darn busy. With Sam and I both working full-time and with us both working in fields that could keep us after 5pm dealing with emergencies, I find it increasingly stressful to manage our lives. Madeline is in swimming lessons twice a week, and Oliver now attends preschool full time. I shouldn't complain, but it's just hard sometimes.

Yesterday we decided we'd try to lighten our load a little bit, just for one day, and we asked Sam's mom to pick Madeline up from school today and take her to swim lessons. I was thrilled because it meant that I might actually get to go to the gym, something I've not been as regular about doing over the past few months. When life gets busy, the first thing to get sacrificed is our own personal health, right? Anyway, I was relieved that today, I'd get to go to the gym, Sam would get to spend some time with Oliver, and Madeline would get to spend the afternoon with Grammy.

The universe decided it would not be so simple.

Sam and I got home at about the same time, changed into our gym clothes, and decided to pick up Oliver together and take him with us to the gym.  There's a really nice nursery there and the girls who watch the kids are great. As Sam was buckling Oliver into the carseat, I started the minivan. And it wouldn't start.

I'm not sure what I was more disappointed about - the fact that the minivan had broken down or the fact that I was (again) not getting to exercise. Luckily, Sam's mom had Madeline and we didn't have to worry about one child. We spent the next hour driving (once my van finally started) to and from the car dealership where we left the minivan to be worked on tomorrow. Oliver was very patient, even though it was past his dinner time and he was exhausted.

It's just been one of those days. Hopefully tomorrow will work out a little better.

Is it awful that I just want to get to the gym? No matter what?

move update

We're all moved in. Not unpacked, but moved in. I'm spending the week unpacking and organizing. It's supposed to be my last week of vacation and I had high hopes of getting pedicures, going to the movies, perhaps one last day trip to the beach or shopping in Orlando. Oh, well. I'm thrilled to be in the new house, and if it means that I spend my week working at home, that's okay.

The kids have adjusted to the move extraordinarily well. Their rooms are upstairs, a new concept for them. Our stairs are wooden, not carpeted. Madeline has fallen on the second step once or twice, mostly because she's clumsy. Oliver is doing fantastic on the stairs. He's being very cautious, both going up and going down. I was nervous about the stairs, but my worry is subsiding.

We all really love the backyard and patio. Unlike our old house, we have a nice shaded sitting area outside. On Sunday, the kids and I spent a lot of time out there. We're anxious to buy some patio furniture and have dinner outside, especially once it gets tad cooler.

Madeline starts swim lessons again today. She's become a very good swimmer over the summer. Her lessons definitely are paying off. And I have gotten into a terrible habit of buying her cute swimsuits whenever I see them. I must stop that. I think I do it because I can't wear cute swimsuits - I'm living vicariously through her.

boxes

As I sit here typing this, I am surrounded by boxes. I have packed almost all of these boxes myself, which is good because when it comes time to unpack, I'll know where everything is. Theoretically.

I packed up the kids' rooms today, and that was a little bittersweet. I remember painting the nursery before Madeline was born. We painted it a shade of blue that was supposed to be pastel but ended up much darker than we had planned. I used a sponge in the shape of a dragonfly to put a border of green dragonflies across the top of the walls. Madeline has spent over four and a half years in that room and it's hard to imagine someone else sleeping in it.

Oliver's room used to be our office. Then it was our guest room slash office. Then I got pregnant with Oliver, and Sam and I lost the last "free" room in the house. But, we got an adorable little boy who makes my heart melt when he looks at me with those blue eyes. Oliver's room was painted a pale green which also did not turn out to be the color I had anticipated. But, I added some blue accents -- blue knobs on his white dresser, a blue and red sailboat hook by the door, a blue shelf -- and the room took shape. Oliver has spent close to two years in that room, and it's hard to imagine anyone else sleeping in it.

I guess a move is always filled with mixed emotions. I'm so thrilled to be getting a new house, a bigger house with room to grow. But a lot has happened in this house and the memories are strong. I started my residency here...we were glued to our TV in this house when September 11th, 2001 occurred...I became pregnant (twice!) here and both of our children have known no other home.

The movers come tomorrow, and tomorrow night is the first night we sleep as a family in our new home. Time to start working on those next memories...

eleven years

We spent this past weekend in Palm Beach, celebrating our 11th wedding anniversary. My parents watched Madeline and Oliver for us so we could have a child-free vacation. Although we lived in Miami for several years, we had never been to Palm Beach, so we thought we'd give it a try.

While I would have loved to stay at the Breakers or the Ritz Carlton, I knew Sam would kill me if I spent that kind of money on a hotel room. Instead, we stayed at a new hotel, the Resort at Singer Island. If I may say so myself, I made a very, very good choice of hotels. It was an amazing place -- incredibly plush, complete with thick bathrobes in the rooms and nightly turndown service with Godiva chocolates left on our pillow.

The hotel is an all-suite hotel, and the kitchen may have been nicer than ours at home.

We had an ocean-front suite with a beautiful view of the Atlantic from our room.

After a gourmet dinner at Cafe Boulud in downtown Palm Beach, we drove back to our hotel and happened to catch a fireworks show over the intracoastal waterway. We pulled over into a waterfront neighborhood, sat by the water, and watched the show. It was a nice way to end a great evening.

I'll put a few more pictures up on Flickr later.

he could use a vacation

Here are a couple of photos from Sam's graduation last Friday.

As it turns out, he received his "Master of Science in Dental Sciences with Endodontics Specialization." Jeez...that's a mouthful. I got that straight out of the graduation program.

Sam is incredibly stressed right now. He's got oral exams coming up in about two weeks, with written exams shortly after. Between now and then, he's working at his dental practice part time, helping out with the kids, and mentally preparing for me being gone for five days next week. We're also working on buying a new house, so there's that, too.

So, if you're reading this, send some peaceful imagery, good thoughts, and prayers Sam's way. He could use it.