We Got Cured

Over the weekend, Wes & I visited Cure, a restaurant and bar located at the Public Market!  If you've ever dined at Good Luck and loved it (who doesn't ?!), then you'll be sure to enjoy Cure, since it's owned by the same crew.   

Every Sunday they feature a specialty Hot Dog (and this ain't no Zweigle).  I honestly don't remember the ingredients that made this past Sunday's dog special, aside from the perfectly cooked hard-boiled egg and the cutest tiny pickles I've ever laid eyes on, but who cares (?!), it was heaven in a bun.
  

Wes had a moment when he bit into their Banh Mi sandwich.  Get a load of these ingredients:  pork sausage, country pate, pickled vegetables & spiced mayo, on a toasted baguette.  I seriously thought I was going to lose out to a sandwich!  

Anyway, 2 thumbs up for Cure.  We'll definitely be going back!

1 Step Closer...

We waited...

We celebrated...

Wes rearranged...

And now we're one step closer to being New Yorkers again!

Hurd Orchard Adventures

This past Saturday morning was one of my favorites!  Wes and I, along with our adventurous parents, headed down 104 to Hurd Orchards to pick some fresh fruit!  Here we are on our way to the peach trees!

The start of our plentiful bounty.

mmmm....mmmmm....mmmm

After the peaches, we headed down the road to pick some raspberries!

Please note:  Bees apparently enjoy raspberry bushes vs. peach trees.

If you've never been to Hurd Orchard, we would highly recommend the trip!

It's actually where we ordered the dried hydrangeas from for our wedding!

There they are in action!

Wes and I were so excited to spend our first full weekend at home and boy was it a beautiful one!

Fresh Friday!

We're having a sibling cookout at our place this evening and it's supposed to be beautiful weather!  I stopped down the street to the fresh produce stand to pick up some things for this evening - one of my most favorite things to do!

Wes and I can't wait until we can grow our own garden some day!

I've been OBSESSED with heirloom tomatoes lately!

Hope your Friday is bright and sunny and if you're in Rochester, enjoy the beautiful weekend weather!

Hugs from Nature: Clouds

For some reason, I've really been noticing the clouds lately.  Here are some for you to enjoy, too!

I see an upside down rabbit.  What do you see?

White Bean Dip with Homemade Pita Chips!

Last week I visited my good friend (and faithful blog reader!) Lindsay and her super-adorable daughter, Lena.  While I was over she served up a delicious white bean dip that I thought I'd share on the blog today!  What made it extra special were the "pita chips" Lindsay made to go with the healthy snack.  She used those medium sized pitas that come 6 or so to a package.  The way they were prepared (see recipe card below) was d.e.l.i.c.i.o.u.s!

p.s. The recipe calls for a food processor, but I used our Ninja (a.k.a. our favorite kitchen appliance) and was happy with the results.  Next time, though, I would let the mixture blend for longer because mine didn't come out as creamy as Lindsay's.  

Thanks Linds! :) 

Kindness

Yesterday while shopping at Wegmans I had an encounter with a woman over cheese and it made my morning.  

One of the biggest differences between the Rochester community and the Northern VA area is the demeanor of the public.  Shortly after moving, Wes and I quickly observed that people were just plain moody, most of the time.  Perhaps it was the maddening traffic, or the...um, traffic.  Either way, we were more likely to encounter random acts of rudeness, than kindness, while living in the NOVA area.  And while were not naive enough to believe that everyday here will be lollipops and butterflies, there does seem to be a CLEAR difference and we've already been reminded that acts of kindness far outweigh those of rudeness in our community. 

Take for example my cheese incident.  I hadn't even been in the store for 10 minutes before random strangers struck up pleasant conversation - the cheese woman was proceeded by a nice elderly man who chatted with me while we shucked our corn.  I typically shopped at the Wegmans in Fairfax every other week, or so.  I never once, I repeat NEVER, had a random conversation with another customer.  We lived there for 2 years!  And boy did I try - I'd make a stupid comment about the aisles needing stop lights, after almost running my cart into someone trying to cross that treacherous gap to the other side, or smile and try to talk about the freakin weather while waiting in the awkward space by the deli.  I would either get ignored entirely (which I preferred), or the miserable person would shoot me a nasty look continuing to go about their important shopping business.  The worst were the times when waiting in line behind a cute little kid in a cart; I'd try to make faces or play with the child and they would reach out and slap me!  Ok, that's a lie, but do you get my point?   

My point is, that life is more pleasant here - for us at least. :) 

Back during graduation season, George Saunders gave the convocation speech at Syracuse University. You may have already encountered this article on the web; it seems to be everywhere, but if not and you have a bit of extra time, it's worth a read.  His advice centers around kindness.  

You can read the full speech here.  

p.s. 

1. Me and the nice cheese lady share a love for Lorraine swiss.
2. Wes and I deemed the rude citizens mentioned above, as "DC Royalty." 

Couch Adventures

 Well, we can officially (for real this time) say that we are home for good!  Wes and I traveled back to VA with my sister and her boyfriend to pick up the remaining items that wouldn't originally fit on the U-Haul - i.e. a couch and floor lamp.  Although the absolute last thing we wanted to do this past weekend was make that drive, we chose to have a "PMA" (positive mental attitude - an acronym invented by one of our friends that we've stolen for our own use) and see the trip as not just an opportunity to get our belongings, but also a chance to make some memories with Karyn and Steve in our old (!!) stomping grounds.  Here's a quick look into our adventures...

Confession alert:  We bought Happy Meals.  

...mainly for the toy Smurfs (seriously)!  

When I was a kid, my parents dressed me up as a Smurf for Halloween - I had a blue face and arms and everything.  So in conclusion, we bought the Happy Meals because I wanted to have a nostalgic moment.  

The End.

After Wes and Steve successfully got the couch through the door and down 4 flights of stairs, we headed out for a DELICIOUS meal at District of Pi, our favorite deep dish pizza place in DC.

Cute.

 One final stop at Four Courts of Ireland before heading back to the apartment for one FINAL night!

 There are so many farmers markets on Route 15 and I always want to stop at them all!  I was able to convince everyone to stop at 1 on this particular trip, but I'll take it. 

mmmmm....so fresh!  I think I'm going to go make a tomato salad now...  

Have a Happy Monday, everyone!

1,000 Islands Adventures

We had a great time visiting my parents in the Islands!  We fit quite a bit into less than 24 hours: DELICIOUS pizza and wings on the waterfront in Alexandria Bay followed by a walk through the town and ice cream (also delicious) ~ apple pies over the campfire (not pictured because it was super dark) ~ a 5 star breakfast made by my parents this morning (believe me, you would have been amazed at what they produced in a kitchen about the size of a large shoe box) ~ a midday trip to the local wineries for some tastings (if you enjoy a good port wine, definitely try the Frontenac XXX) ~ and finally, a boat ride under the sun to conclude our whirlwind mini-vaca.  Aside from the inconsiderate crickets that kept me up for majority of the night, we had a lovely time! :)