Play Date

I couldn't resist posting pictures from Rocky's recent play date with his cousin Jack. These two little guys are too cute. They had a great time playing together and wore each other out by the end of the night. Rocky can't wait for his next play date to run around and play with Jack!

Spoiled with Love & Then Tired Out Pups!

Bouchon Bakery

After my photography class I was starving and had to eat something before heading back to Jersey. I had been hearing and reading a lot about Bouchon Bakery (I've been spending a lot of time recently looking for places I want to go in the city). And since I was already on the west side I would have to walk right past the Time Warner Center where there is one of the locations. I couldn't resist going in trying it. 

There's two parts to the bakery, a sit down section and also a to-go counter with some limited seating. I walked over to go counter and and picked out their ham and cheese baguette sandwich (which I had read about) and also HAD to try one of their famous macaroons. I placed my order and was given my cookie while I waited for my sandwich (which did take a while especially for to-go). 

While waiting for my sandwich and since I was starving I couldn't resist trying my macaron. Well let me say it was delicious, I could see why this place is so famous. I don't think I've ever had another macaron before so I couldn't compare it to anything else but it was unlike anything I've had before. This is also not to be confused with the coconut macaroon that I also love, this is completely different but boy was it good. I got the pistachio one and it was delicious, it was so soft and I loved the flavor of it. It was well worth the splurge but good thing I walked back to Penn Station after. 

Central Park Photo Safari

This past Saturday I had a chance to take a photography class in Central Park. I had purchased the class for half price as part of a living social deal, when I saw it, it sounded too good to pass up for a 2 1/2 hour photography class in Central Park. I had picked a Saturday afternoon in the July to attend the class, assuming I'd have a nice afternoon in the city for the class, who knew when the day came it'd be the heatwave of the century. 

The day finally came, and I headed into the city on NJ Transit to go in and take my class. After I waited for the subway for what felt like a good 20 minutes and I finally made it uptown, I was already late to my class. I was running (and sweating from the heat) through Central Park to get to the location, let me just say that is one big park and way too easy to get lost in there. I finally made it to my photo safari which started at Belvedere Castle in the park, which I had never even seen before or knew that it existed. We started out there and got some cool tricks about how to take a picture of "our best friend" in front of a landmark, apparently the trick involved getting REALLY close to the person and further away from the landmark. 

Then we moved onto some landscape pictures of the fences and getting the perspective of the curving fence. It was cool because the class was so small, I was only one of 3 others in the group. The instructor would walk around and look at our shots and tell us how we could improve them and then I'd end up getting a much better shot. I really enjoyed the instant personal feedback on my pictures. 

I learned some other cool things about horizon lines. I like these two shots since they were taken in the exact same spot but look completely different. In the first shot the horizon line is at the bottom and there is only a little bit of the road and a lot of the trees. While in the second shot the horizon line is much higher and there a lot more emphasis on the road. I think it's cool how the same location can have two totally different perspectives depending on where the horizon line is. 

I had a great time taking the flower pictures and I'm really happy with the way that they turned out. The instructor had given me a tube which let me get in really close on the flowers. I love these shots!

And finally we got to take a picture of the skyline and another on the perspective of the fence. I really enjoyed the two and half hours I spent in the class even in the ridiculous heat in the park, it was a great learning experience. I can't wait to take my next photography class!

We're Going Cruising Baby

It's official, I booked us a cruise for our first anniversary! I've been begging Mike for months to let me plan a vacation for us for our first anniversary. Mike had been reluctant to my idea and barely acknowledged all my ideas and there were countless I tried to come up with. I almost booked a Royal Caribbean cruise a few months back that they were having a special on but it came out to be a bit more than I expected. I also looked into other cruises or destinations for an all-inclusive, but then I found this cruise and it was just too good of a deal to pass up. It left at the right time, went to some good places and was within the "budget." I made the executive decision to put a deposit on it since it was fully refundable, but Mike didn't seem to mind too much. 

Leaving on our first anniversary we'll be cruising the Western Caribbean on the Norwegian Pearl. It's been years since I've been on an NCL cruise (Royal Caribbean has been my favorite cruise line) but it should def be a good time. The cruise stops at their private island in the Bahamas, Ocho Rios in Jamaica, Grand Cayman (one of my favorites when I was a kid) and also Cozumel, Mexico. The ship looks really nice and it'll be my first time (and Mike's) doing their free style dining which I'm looking forward to trying some of the other restaurants as well. And it'll be our first cruise together! I really can't wait, especially since now it is less than 3 months away, which means that I DEF have to start getting back in shape to be wearing a bathing suit for a week... Let the diet and exercise begin on Monday! 

Summer BBQ

We hosted a little summer BBQ get together at our house recently. It's always nice to have our friends over for the afternoon and catch up. We started the day off with our very good friends Bridget (and pumpkin), Kristin came with little Olivia, and our friends Mel and John also came with their daughter Madison (who Rocky really liked for good reason). We dined on the delicious "big sandwich" that make ordered special for the occasion, his absolute favorite from the Italian deli by our house. 

Me and my future niece or nephew! I'm team girl but we shall see!

Rocky quickly learned who to follow for the day. He may as well have been Madison's shadow. Madison was nice enough to share her food with Rocky. Rocky found everything that Madison dropped on the floor and there was plenty for him. When that wasn't enough he followed her around to get a piece of her chocolate chip cookie. By the looks of it, it looks like he succeed. Rocky can't wait for Madison to come over again!

The party continued well into the night when some of other neighbors and friends also dropped by. We made out new signature, Strawberry Lava Flows, for everyone, kinda improvised the recipe for bulk production and a virgin one for pumpkin's mommy too. There was also absinthe that Mike tried. To quote him, he felt it burning the entire way down, I think I'll pass on that one thank you very much. There was also some other flavored vodka our friends brought over too that was quite delicious. Good thing we had a whole round of BBQ food for everyone after the drinks, it certainly hit the spot. It was a great day and night and a good times had by all, I can't wait for the next one!  

A Family Affair

I'm a bit behind on this one. Mike's cousin Alex got married last month and the whole family was there for the event. It's always great to spend time with my future sister-in-law. Mom treated us to getting our hair done in the morning too, a nice girls morning at the salon. 

Who could forget our adorable flower girl Alexis, looking particularly cute as always

There were almond joy martini's at the pre-reception location. 

Let's just say I was in heaven with those bad boys!

The Bridal Party. The girls looked beautiful in their black dresses and hot pink flowers

Everyone knows how I feel about the mashed potato bar. 

You know I had to get seconds of those. I don't mess around with the potatoes.

The bride and groom dancing to their first dance, "only you can love me this way" by Keith Urban which was just a tab bit familiar :-)

And then there was the photo booth. I had never been to a wedding before that actually had one there. I'd heard of them before but never seen one. Let me tell you we had an absolute blast playing with all the props in the photo booth. Stephanie and I first found it and when and took some pictures. We somehow managed to convince the boys they need to do it too with us, the end result was priceless. One of the most fun things at a wedding I'd ever seen and a fun way for guests to leave a message for the bride and groom. 

Hawaiian Feast

I randomly decided that I was going to make a Hawaiian themed meal for dinner recently.  I'm not quite sure what prompted this other than I had seen a couple good recipes I wanted to try. Ironically enough pineapple was even on sale for the occasion. For the menu I decided to make strawberry lava flow cocktails to start with, tropical salad with pineapple vinaigrette, Hawaiian chicken kabobs, served with pineapple fried rice. It was a fun little menu for a Friday night, something different for a change. I even served the pineapple fried rice IN the hollowed out pineapple for fun.

 The best part of the meal had to be the strawberry lava flow's! Mike asked me to make them again the night after and was asking me about them again last night. These are officially our new favorite cocktails and they were just as good as they were in Hawaii. The only thing we were missing were straws and little umbrellas (which I will be picking up for going forward). I am officially declaring these our Friday afternoon happy hour cocktails!

Strawberry Lava Flow Cocktails
Source: About.Com

Ingredients:
1 oz. light rum
1/4 cup Malibu® coconut rum
1/4 cup fresh or frozen strawberries
1 small banana
1/4 cup unsweetened pineapple juice
1/4 cup coconut cream
(we only used Malibu and doubled it)

Directions:
Blend the 2 rums and the strawberries in a blender to form a smooth paste. Pour this mixture into a tall (Collins or Hurricane) glass. Rinse the blender. Blend the banana, the coconut cream, and the pineapple juice in blender with crushed ice until smooth. Pour this mixture into the glass with the rums very slowly and watch as the strawberry mixture oozes its way to the top along the sides of the glass creating the flowing lava effect. Garnish with a pineapple wedge and paper umbrella and enjoy!

Pesto on the Go

I think I need to get a Rachael Ray cookbook because so far I have not found one of her recipes I don't like and they're so quick and easy to make! Anna and I always talk recipes, the other day she put me in the mood for some pesto sauce but I wanted to add chicken to it. After a quick google search I came across this recipe for Pesto Chicken Grill Packets.

I loved the packet idea since there is no cook work involved just a quick prep job. I turned the recipe into an oven recipe versus the grill since it's easier for me to work with, but I'm sure it'd be just as good cooked on the grill. I loved that there was no pans to clean up after dinner and it was such an easy recipe to make and I also loved the vegetables (zucchini and tomatoes) incorporated into it. I could def see myself making this one again!

Pesto Chicken Grill Packets
Source/Adapted From: Rachael Ray Magazine

Ingredients: 
Olive oil, for drizzling
4 skinless, boneless chicken breast --> I used a pkg of thin sliced chicken breasts
Salt and pepper
Pesto sauce
1 large zucchini thinly sliced
Cherry tomatoes, halved, about a pint and a half
8 scallions, trimmed

Directions: 
Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Make a tin foil "boat" in a baking dish (I used two brownie size pans with a boat in each). Drizzle 1 teaspoon olive oil into the center of each sheet.

Season the chicken with salt and pepper. Lay chicken in the center of tin foil sheet. Mound one-quarter of the zucchini, tomatoes and scallions over each chicken breast. Dollop pesto over each mound. Fold the foil over the chicken and vegetables; pinch the edges to seal.

I just estimated the pesto sauce on the chicken, I didn't over do it, I def did not use 3 tbsp worth on each breast as the recipe called for. I was surprised when I opened the packets and found there was a ton of sauce and oil covering it, they were plenty marinated.

Cover and bake the packets on 425 for for 25 minutes. Remove from the oven and open carefully (watch for steam coming out). Serve with pasta with pesto sauce.  I bought one jar of pesto sauce (classico). It was a small jar but was plenty to cover both the chicken and the pasta.

Not the best pictures since I was really excited to eat it

My tin foil boat and the end product - so yummy!