New York City (Part Two)

Saturday morning (Day Two) started out pretty early with breakfast at George's, which is a wonderful restaurant down in the Financial District.  The restaurant, which has been open since 1950, was actually destroyed during the 9/11 attacks, because of its close proximity, but was thankfully rebuilt in the years after the attack.  After homemade french toast and home fries, we went to stand in line to wait for the opening of the 9/11 Memorial.

We had tickets for the earliest time slot and its a good thing, because the place fills up quickly.  I think the 9/11 Memorial was by far my favorite stop on our trip and I have to commend the person who designed the memorial, because it is one of the most beautiful tributes that I could have ever imagined.  The flowing water into the black marble pits looks like diamonds reflecting in the sun.  The continual flow of water reminds us that while the lives of those men and women were lost on that fateful day, their impact and legacy will live on forever.

After spending some time in the 9/11 Memorial park, we took a walk around downtown and saw sights such as Trinity Church, the New York Stock Exchange, and of course the Wall Street Bull!  We decided not to take the trek out to see the Statue of Liberty on this trip, mainly because it is very time consuming, but very worth it if you have the time (we went to the top of the crown in 2009 and it was amazing!).  In order to see the SOL and a good view of the island as a whole we hopped on to the Stanton Island Ferry for a 25 minute trip across the harbor.  I have to recommend that you all try this if you are in  NYC- its free, has the best views of the city, and did I mention it was free?  A little tip that I learned this trip (thanks to a certain awesome tour guide/aunt) is to head to the back of the ship as soon as you get on the boat.  This is where you will be able to see the best views of the city, Ellis Island, and the Statue of Liberty.  Another note is once you are at the port in Staten Island, you do have to disembark, but you can go right around and get back on for the return trip.  Do not make a bathroom pit stop or you might be left in Staten Island!

We left the New York Port Authority terminal and took a walk along New York's stockyards and seaport.  Around the late 1800's and early 1900's, this area of the country was the biggest area of trade in the world due to the opening of the Erie Canal.  This is what created the boom in population in New York City, because immigrants came to America looking jobs and found them here! Excuse the history lesson- that's what you get when you read a history teacher's blog.  From there we walked to the Brooklyn Bridge.  I was so excited to check this off of my bucket list! I will have to admit that this bridge is huge in person and the walk is no joke!  We made it maybe halfway across the bridge and decided that we had seen enough and there was no way we were going to make it to Brooklyn and then walk all the way back!  If you have some free time and like to bike, I suggest renting bicycles for the day and trying to make the trip across the bridge.  However, beware of the professionals who bike it regularly, because they do not take kindly to pedestrians or amateur bikers getting in their way!

One thing I should probably mention at this point in my recap of the trip is that this was a very walk intensive trip.  This means that breaks are necessary!  So being typical Americans and frankly delirious from thirst we took a pit stop at McDonald's for sweet tea and french fries.  They were amazing.  After refueling we began our trek to the Flatiron District to see the infamous 112 year old Flatiron Building.  This was another thing on my must see in New York list.  The triangular shape building was so controversial when opened in 1902, because many believed its odd shape would cause it to fall over easily.  It was built at the cross section of three roads (which is another oddity) and many business owners complained that it redirected heavy winds towards their buildings.  In the end the iconic landmark stayed and you should definitely see it if your in the area.  

We had a wide open afternoon, so I decided to channel Audrey Hepburn's character Holly Golightly from Breakfast at Tiffany's and spend the afternoon in the gorgeous New York Public Library.  It only took about 2 seconds of standing in that foyer to realize that if the Mr. and I could get married again this would be the spot!  I mean everything about this building is to die for.  Large marble staircases, classic lantern chandeliers, thousands of books, decadently decorated study rooms, the list goes on and on.  I even registered for a library card- which was a temporary one, but hey it was exciting! We spent the remainder of the afternoon lounging in the courtyard area in front of the library, much in need of a rest after a long day on our feet. 

When I traveled to New York in 2009 we found this amazing little Italian restaurant and we knew if we returned we would have to go again.  So we set out to find Fagiolini later that evening.  The problem was that there are actually two restaurants with the same name and we did not remember which one we had visited before, so we picked one and it turned out to be the one we had not been to before.  No worries though, it turned out to be just as amazing as I remembered the other one being.  I opted for one of their specials that evening and while I cannot remember the name of it, it was basically a Philly cheesesteak and lasagna wrapped into one.  It was amazing! Everything was homemade and the pasta melted in your mouth.  

An evening in New York would not be complete without a walk through Times Square, so after dinner we decided to walk off all the pasta we had consumed.  Our destination: Juniors Cheesecake in Times Square.  Juniors is one of my top picks in New York and while the wait for dinner is often long, they have a separate area for take out where you can choose from among their many flavors of fresh homemade cheesecakes.  We grabbed slices of red velvet and chocolate swirl, headed back to the hotel, and chatted late into the night over our decadent desserts.  There might have even been some popcorn to offset all the sweetness, but who cares about calories on vacation- they don't count, right?

See you guys later this week with the final installment of my NYC trip. Coming up: Central Park, Serendipity3, and Dylan's Candy Store just to name a few!  Have a great Wednesday!

New York City (Part One)

Happy Friday everyone!  Summer vacation has me dreaming of all kinds of amazing vacations I would like to take.  It occurred to me that back in October 2013, I went on a wonderful long weekend trip to the Big Apple with my mom, mother-in-law, and aunt-in-law and I forgot to share.  The four of us girls ate, laughed, and walked our way through the City That Never Sleeps.  The best part of this trip was that we coined it the "trip of firsts."  All four of us had been to the City before, so we wanted to make sure that we set out to do things that we had never done before.

My mom's first flight! So a selfie was a must!

Due to a very delayed flight we finally arrived in NYC after midnight on a Thursday.  After swooning over our lovely hotel we quickly jumped into our beds in order to get as much sleep as possible before hitting the ground running on Friday morning.

The next morning we were up bright and early ready to explore.  We started out the day at the world famous Carnegie Deli, with walls lined with the portraits and signatures of its famous customers throughout the years.  The rest of the day was relaxed and we strolled around the City.  Both my brother and my husband's cousins are firemen so we naturally had to take the moms to see some of the famous fire stations throughout NYC.  We stopped at the NY Fire Museum, where they have a wonderful 9/11 tribute and also the infamous Rescue 1, which is the elite of FDNY.  Hunky firemen... not too bad, but I'll take Mr. P any day!

We spent the afternoon strolling through Chelsea Market (an indoor marketplace with anything you can image including the offices of the Food Network and MLB.com) and down the Highline (an outdoor park/greenway).  The Highline is magnificent and it allows you to see the city from a different vantage point.  Once completed it will be over a mile and a half of outdoor space made from repurposed materials such as old railroad tracks.  All that walking makes you a little hungry so next on the agenda was Grand Central Station and the Magnolia Bakery kiosk.

You CANNOT goto NYC without a stop at one of Magnolia Bakery's shops.  Without a doubt they are hands down the best red velvet cupcakes I have EVER had!  Red velvet and an old fashion bottle Coke, I think I will!

An early dinner was on the books for our first night, because we had big plans later in the evening. After a lot of researching, we found what we think might be the best pizza in New York! Located in the infamous Hell's Kitchen district, Capizzi, had the most amazing pizza I have ever tasted.  Cooked on a real brick oven, their pizza has a gourmet touch to them without being so fancy that your questioning what you are eating.  We opted for a pepperoni, sausage, pepper, and onion pizza to share with a cannoli for dessert. The staff was incredibly attentive and gave all of us chef hats to wear while we took a photo in front of the brick oven.  Honorary pizza chefs!

We wrapped up our first real evening in New York in true Broadway fashion with the show Annie.  Absolutely precious!  I am amazed by the star power of those young little actors.  On a previous trip to NYC I saw Mamma Mia and I highly recommend that as well!  If your a North Carolinian, check out the DPAC for tons of amazing Broadway shows!

What is your favorite thing to see in New York City?

My personal favorite changes each time.  This time it was a tie (for very different reasons) between the 9/11 Memorial which is breathtaking and Central Park (specifically the Central Park carousel which is so much fun).  Details on both will be coming next week!  Have a great weekend and thanks for reading!

One-Pan Roasted Pork Chops

Who doesn't love a one pan recipe? I know I do... dishes are for the birds! I found this recipe a few years ago here and it is one of those recipes that quickly became a favorite in our household for its flavor and simplicity.  It is a versatile dish as well, because you could easily replace the pork with chicken.  Also, don't be afraid of the fact that this recipe uses Catalina dressing, it is an odd ingredient, but gives the sweet potatoes an amazing flavor! I hope you enjoy!

what you need

4 boneless pork chops
1 very large or 2 medium sweet potato, cubed
1 medium or 1/2 large red onion, thinly sliced
1 box stuffing mix (use any flavor you like)
1/4 cup Catalina dressing
salt and pepper (to taste)

how to make it

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Mix sweet potatoes, red onion, and Catalina dressing together and place in greased baking dish.
Bake for 10 minutes.  Remove from oven and stir.  Then move to the edges of the baking dish.
Make stuffing mixture according to package and create a mound in the middle of the potatoes.
Salt and pepper pork chops to taste and place on top of stuffing.
Place in oven and bake for 40-45 minutes (Cooking time will vary based on size of pork chops).

Enjoy!

ESPANA!

I cannot believe I am typing these words, but I am off to Europe again!  In just one month I will be on a plane, headed to the amazing country of Spain!  Bull fights, world famous jamon, and flamenco dancing are all awaiting me on the other side of the Pond.  Our tour will begin in Madrid and travel through the northern area of Spain called the Basque Country and finally ending in Barcelona.  I have very little travel knowledge of Spain, so this is going to be a completely different experience from last years trip to the United Kingdom and Ireland.  You can find recaps from that trip on the blog, and in the next few days I will be finishing up that series.  (I was a slacker and stopped posting after day 6... I promise I will do better this time around!)  Stay tuned for lots and lots of travel related stuff... I see a change in the focus of my blog in the near future!

12 Days in Espana!

Halloween is Here!

With only a couple of days left to get your costume in order I thought I would talk about some of my favorite Halloween costumes this year.  Luckily, we like to keep the celebration going on for a couple of days so I actually have a couple of costumes this year.  In the last few years we have been Charlie Brown and Lucy, Cinderella and Prince Charming, and Tinkerbell and a Jedi just to name a few.

I won't revel my actual costume until Friday, but I will throw out some inspiration outfits I considered this year.  There are so many choices that it is so hard to narrow it down to just one!  Also, Daniel and I have a hard time deciding on couples costumes so we like to exercise our individuality and just go as whatever we want!  

What will you be this Halloween?

1. Despicable Me Minion

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2. Audrey Hepburn

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3. Guess Who?

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4. Scarecrow

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One Year of Dates!

I am sure you have seen this idea floating all over Pinterest, but I decided to put my own spin on it and create something wonderful for our two-year wedding anniversary back in August.  First of all, I cannot believe its been over two years since we said I Do.  Secondly, since it has only been two years you would think I would have a million gift ideas, but man it is tough (especially since we have been together for a total of 8 years)!  Thankfully, Pinterest to the rescue again!

My One Year of Dates gift is 12 pre-planned dates outlined in sealed envelops.  Daniel gets to open an envelop at the beginning of each month and we pick when we are going to take our date that month.  Over the course of this year I will share our monthly outings.  Sorry, I can't reveal all of them at once or Daniel would miss out on all the fun!  The best thing about this gift is that it is totally customizable to the individual couple.  Do you like hiking?  Go on a hike!  Do you like baking?  Then make cupcakes!  The key to this is to plan ahead and try not to pick dates that require specific timelines, it is not impossible, but you do not want to stress out about trying to fit it in on a specific day.  I like to add variety to our dates as well.  Some are more elaborate away from home dates, some are around town, and others are simply in our home.  The most important thing is HAVE FUN!

We have already gone on our September and October dates so I have included all the details below!

SEPTEMBER

Date: Putt-Putt and Dinner

Cost: $7 per person for putt-putt and your choice for dinner

Supplies: Putt-putt tickets, dinner reservations

To kick off our One Year of Dates we headed out to our local putting green.  Before going to putt-putt we hit up a local restaurant called The Laughing Owl.  The Laughing Owl is a great restaurant that mixes American favorites with Asian cuisine from the owners previous restaurant.  I opted for my favorite Beef and Szechwan String Beans over Lo Mien.  The food is delicious and a nice, fresh change from traditional chain restaurants.  After dinner, we headed over to Larry Bill's Fun Time Golf for 18 holes of fun!  It was perfect, hardly anyone was around so it made for a romantic yet fun setting.  I must confess, much to Daniel's displeasure, that I came out the winner that night, but I'm not sure either of our scores were much to brag about.  We called it an early night and came home to watch Love Actually on Netflix. 

OCTOBER

Date: State Fair

Cost: $18 for fair entry and spending money for fair food and games!

Supplies: fair tickets, cash for food and games

Daniel and I have always loved going to the fair and since we have not been to our State Fair in about 6 years I decided to make that our agenda for October.  One of my suggestions in date planning was not to choose something that had to be done on a schedule.  However, the fair was in town for almost two weeks so that gave us plenty of time to pick our date.  Unfortunately, because of my busy schedule the only day we could go was the last day of the fair which meant it was very crowded.  We had a blast anyway!  We arrived around lunch time and were immediately thinking "what should we eat first?"  My tip for places with lots of food options is SHARE!  We split almost everything we got at the fair and it made it a lot easier to try all kinds of foods.  We always like to try the local booths so we hit up two places for country ham biscuits and fresh cut fries.  They were amazing.  After cruising through the midway, winning a stuffed minion (stay tune he will be very useful come Halloween), and almost losing our appetite in the livestock buildings it was time for round two!  I opted for the fried mac and cheese bites while Daniel got his favorite fried Snickers.  We spent the rest of the fair combing through the crafts and hobby section and the Village of Yesteryear and then finished the afternoon off with a blooming onion.  We had some friends at the fair too and one of them got a Krispy Kream burger.  That was by far the most unique creation of the fair this year, a cheeseburger with all the fixing between two Krispy Kream doughnuts instead of buns.  She said it was amazing and I can't wait to try it next year!

Question: How do you and your significant other make plans for dates?  Preplanned or spur of the moment?  Take turns choosing or always let one person decide? Weekly, Monthly, Bi-monthly?

Homemade Ice Cream Cake

Now that Summer is here in all of its glory, I find myself looking for anything to cool me down.  In my family pretty much all of our birthdays fall from the end of May through the beginning of August, so that equals a lot of birthday cake.  My parents both celebrated their birthdays recently and since I was on cake duty I wanted to do something different and "cool."  Enter the ice cream cake.  Its the best of both worlds... cake, but in ice cream form.  I browsed around for a few ideas from different recipes and then I put together what would work best for my family.  The great thing about ice cream cake is that they are totally customizable to what you like.  For my dad's birthday I went with a Reese's Pieces Ice Cream Cake and for my mom's we had a Strawberry Cheesecake Ice Cream Cake.


Reese's Pieces Ice Cream Cake

what you need

1 carton Vanilla Bean ice cream (I used Breyer's)
1 container Cool Whip (I used fat free)
1 oreo pie crust
Assorted Candy (Reese's Pieces, Mini Chocolate Chips, Oreo crumbles, Mini Reese's Cups)
Chocolate Syrup

how to make it

Crumble Oreo pie crust into bottom of a spring form pan and press it down firmly to make the crust of the cake.  If you have difficulty getting it to hold together add some melted butter.

Mix softened ice cream and cool whip together until throughly incorporated.  

Layer half of the ice cream, cool whip mixture on top of the Oreo crust.

Top ice cream with assorted candies (I left out the Reese's Cups and used them only on top) and drizzle with chocolate syrup.  I will use melted chocolate next time, but use whatever you like best.

Layer the remaining ice cream mixture on top of the candies and cover with remaining candy pieces, this time adding Reese's Cups.  

Place in the freezer for a minimum of 4 hours, but overnight works much better.  I covered the top and bottom of my spring form pan with aluminum foil to fight off freezer burn. 

Strawberry Cheesecake Ice Cream Cake

what you need

1 carton Strawberry Cheesecake ice cream (I used the Food Lion brand)
1 container Cool Whip (Fat Free)
1 graham cracker pie crust
1/2 quart fresh strawberries

how to make it

You follow the same basic process for this cake.  The only difference is that instead of placing candy between the two ice cream layers you will layer fresh strawberries.  I also sprinkled some extra graham cracker crumbles on the top for decoration.  The final result was pretty amazing!

Europe 2013: Day Six

Day Six: Crossing the Irish Sea

Day Six started out EXTREMELY EARLY!  We had to leave The Generator by 5:45am to get down to the docks and prepare to load onto the "ferry" boat to cross over into the United Kingdom.  Thankfully, we decided to skip the morning shower that day since it was such as early departure and when we got onto the bus we were very happy we did.  Apparently in hostels the warm water is not turned on until after 6am in order to reduce energy cost and keep the hostel cost efficient.  Great plan, not so great for 30 or so people in our group who tried to get showers at 5am!  I still completely recommend the Generator and look at those rooms, they were so cute!  

We arrived down by the docks around 7am and quickly went through baggage check and goto comfortable on board.  I really wish I had snapped some pictures on board, because this was no ordinary "ferry" boat rather a miniature cruise ship.  I travelled on one very similar to this the last time I was in Europe and they have areas for short journey passengers and private rooms with beds and showers for those who will be on the ship for a little longer.  I was so sleepy and still feeling very nauseated, so I grabbed some chairs, stretched out and took a solid two hour nap.  When I awoke, I bought Sea Bands (designed to help with motion sickness) and perched myself next to the window just in time to see out arrival into Wales.  We had to go through customs and get our passport checked, load the coach, and we were off to the Lake District of England with an overnight stop planned for Manchester.   

We had a long drive that day, but we did take the time to stop at Beaumaris Castle, built by Edward I (aka Edward Longshanks) in the 13th Century.  This was the largest of a series of castles built by the king throughout Wales in an effort to conquer the area.  Beaumaris is not used today as a residency of the royal family, because of its Medieval structure which is not fit for people to live in.  However, it is a historical site and museum that is worth a visit.  It was honestly one of my favorite places that we visited, because I think it really captures the feeling of Medieval Europe and the mind set that so many of the monarchs had during this time period.  Luxury was not a concern when constructing castles like they were much later in history, rather they were fort like structures designed to protect the king from invasion.  The castle is very open and you can explore for hours on end and there is a good amount of wildlife and livestock in the area to admire such as swans and sheep.  I even got to wear my Hunter boots that day, because it was one of the few days with "rain like conditions even though it never rained (thankfully!).

After exploring the castle we headed into the town of Beaumaris, located on the Isle of Anglesey (the same area William and Kate lived after their wedding).  It was a quaint town with small shops and restaurants.  It was a good chance to hit an ATM for some Pounds now that we were out of Euro territory and we also grabbed some lunch.  We ate lunch at the Triple 8 Coffee Shop which was a small used bookstore with some seating for customers to have lunch as well.  I decided on the ham, cheese, and pineapple panini and it was amazing!  We had a good laugh at lunch, because the menu said that crisps (chips) came with the panini and when our plates arrived we had 3 whole Pringles on the plate!  Not exactly what we expected, but the sandwich and hot chocolate that I had was a great choice.  After strolling through the town and grabbing a Beaumaris Castle magnet it was time to hit the road again.  Next stop: Manchester, England.

We arrived in Manchester late in the afternoon and checked into our hotel, the Britannia.  If you follow me on Instagram you may have seen the picture below which had a capture that read "Best. Hotel. Ever!"  It was an extremely nice hotel and I will be staying there again!  We had two large and luxurious beds and were bummed when we realized that we were only staying one night.  They had a lounge singer, in-house pizzeria, full service buffet, and numerous other amenities.

After an early dinner we hung out in the lobby of the hotel, enjoying free Wi-Fi and pizza.  I think the amount of Americana that was oozing out of us at the end of each day was ridiculous.  Pizza and Wi-Fi were like gold in our minds.  That was one of the things that made travelling abroad for two-weeks without my family bearable though.  Being able to spend time with the group each evening and relax took our minds off of home and having Wi-Fi and my IPad made it so that I talked to and saw my husband and family almost everyday of the trip.  My travel advice is do not waste hundreds of dollars (trust me I have done it) on international cell phones.  The vast majority of hotels have Wi-Fi (mostly for free) and if you have any type of electronic device you can FaceTime or Skype for free.  

So fellow travelers, what is your favorite travel tip?  

{Currently Craving}

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The temperatures are finally warming up and I am loving it!  Along with the spring temperatures, I am loving the spring colors and light and airy fabrics.  It is a birth month as of today, so maybe I will soon see a fews of my favorites in my closet.  Follow me on Pinterest for more of my favorites.