Easter

We don't really celebrate Easter but my mom had some time off from teaching so she, my dad, and my aunt Susie roadtripped to IL on Friday; my sister and brother-in-law joined us Saturday. It was really nice to host a family event while we're still within (somewhat reasonable) driving distance. On Friday, we visited for awhile then my dad treated us to dinner. As an afterthought, Austin threw a Chicago-style hotdog onto the order for everyone to try and my dad liked it so much that he got another one for lunch the next day. I took the ladies shopping on Saturday to some cute boutique stores downtown where we could have stayed all day if only we had an unlimited budget. For dinner Saturday, Austin and I made Pad Thai which was the best to date and dinner was so good (and late) that no pics were taken. Today for brunch I made quiche and baked caramel French toast along with some fresh fruit. It was delicious and a good send-off for those who had to drive almost seven hours. We had a really nice time visiting and I'm already looking forward to hosting folks in Kentucky when we get settled into a house.

Cheers!

That's bubbly in the stemless white wine glass but soon all of our items lost in storage, like the champagne flutes, will be coming out when we move! That's right, another big move but for a really good job. Stay tuned...

New Bumper Sticker

I held off bedazzling my car; sometimes I like the anonymity of being a a basic silver coupe. This reading woman, however, was too good to pass up and now she's joining me wherever I go. I may have to think of a name for her, suggestions?

Snow Day!

Here's the view from my front door. I wasn't about to try to find my boots to get a better shot. Just take my word for it, it's snowing a lot here.

Nevertheless, I will be working from the comforts of home where I can distract myself with Austin and Stinky.

February Blur Part II

The second half of February was also very busy for us so here's a quick recap.
We made an AMAZING salad for Valentine's Day. We tweaked this recipe; our version included panko-breaded, baked goat cheese rounds, homemade vinaigrette, dried sour cherries, and butter roasted pecans. It is so delicious that I highly recommend it as a main course.

The salad was so good, it almost stole the show from the king crab legs that we steamed though Stinky had no time for salads and was very interested in the briny sea smell in the air.

We went to a friend's housewarming party where Austin made our favorite crostinis--toasted baguette slices topped with Boursin and roasted red peppers drizzled in balsamic and topped with parsley chiffonade. It was an event where we were going to stay for a bit but ended up staying all night. The event included a dance party of professors and a spontaneous dart game. The next morning, we all went out for breakfast and discovered a fantastic new dive breakfast joint.

Finally, we ended the month celebrating brother Sean's 30th birthday. It was one of those parties that was so crazy, well, gentle readers of this blog,all I can say is that it was "one of those parties" and leave it at that.