Tag Archives: friends

Hunter’s in Brooklyn

I’m not (and in a way, I am) one of those people who refuses to leave Manhattan. There are specific situations I will willingly leave the island of Manhattan for another borough or NY location, they are: when I am going to the airport, when I am going to a baseball game, when I am visiting my friends Ken & Blaz (and their adorable pup, Little Bear), as well as visiting other special friends and when I head to Long Island to get to Fire Island. Yeah that’s just about the only time I leave Manhattan. But, if you have a good restaurant recommendation for me in a different borough, I will be adventurous enough to check it out.

Going to Cobble Hill isn’t really an “adventure” for me. I have been several times to visit my dearest friends and I really have grown to love the Brooklyn neighborhood. But how easy could this be — I jumped on the F train at 23rd Street, rode the subway for a short time and jumped off at the Bergen Street stop. After climbing out of the subway you’re on Smith Street and only a few steps away you’ll find the restaurant, Hunter’s.

Hunter’s is a gorgeous new restaurant on a popular Cobble Hill street — the interior is brand new and has beautiful furnishings. I met up with my friend Ken for a drink and of course I was hungry too… I kind of had to make sure I came hungry since he had been raving about the burger for so long.

Hunter's Brooklyn

So here I am, ordering the Angus Beef Burger… waiting, impatiently. But at the same time I was enjoying catching up with Ken, he’s getting married in the fall of 2013 in Colorado and I was so excited to hear all about the planning and details!!! Us catching up was lovely, but I did wish that our friend Kelly was going to be there — he works at Hunter’s and is a person that just makes me feel so special in life. Kelly is such a positive person, who wouldn’t want a friend like that? His positivity makes me want to be more like him. Anyways, so, no Kelly. But next time I am coordinating to make sure he is there when I go back for my next Hunter’s Burger.

So here it is — THE BURGER! Made with pickled onions, Vermont cheddar all on a cilantro-jalapeno aioli brioche. In my opinion, brioche = the best bread for a burger. And I’m sure you just read “pickled onions” and said, “say what? pickled onions?” I have to say they are the perfect touch, who would have thought to put pickled onions on top of a savory burger? This ingredient added the most perfect tang and in a way, sweetness, to the condiments of the burger. The chef made my burger EXACTLY how I ordered it — he even came out to the bar where I was eating long enough for me to rave about the burger and chat his ear off on how delish his herb fries are. The french fries were perfectly seasoned but they were nice and potato-ey — meaning they weren’t the crispy type of fries. The best part about these fries was the food-flashback that I had to when I spent time in Amsterdam. The Dutch put mayo on their fries and when I dipped these babies into a dish of creamy mayo — I was in heaven! (Not in the mood for a burger? check out their menu for other dishes that will hit the spot!)

So, I guess I owe my friend Ken a HUGE thank-you for not only getting me out of Manhattan but also for introducing me to the best burger! (Shake Shack, you have some MAJOR competition!!!)

And Friends — follow me on Pinterest and Instagram for some more fun foodie ideas, recipes, and restaurant spottings!

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Penn State Football Tailgating

There have been 3 football seasons since I have graduated from Penn State — and I have only gone back for two games. State College is a tough place to get to, it really is. From New York City you either have to rent a car and drive the whole way (that includes rental expense, gas, tolls, junk food for the car, and a driving buddy to help you stay awake), or you can take the train 3.5 hours from Penn Station to Harrisburg, Pennsylvania and from there you can rent a car or if you’re lucky like me, ask to borrow a car from mom and dad. But once you have a car, the drive up to State College is about an hour and forty five minutes — but that’s without intense football traffic. With that being said, that’s why I have only gone to 2 games since graduation!

This year, I went up for the big PSU vs OSU game. Lots of my friends went up as well so it was a fun reunion (minus Alexandra and Bill though, that was a disappointment) — but overall we all had a great time. My friend Renny and I seemed to have a million tailgating invitations so we paired up and jumped around to all of them. Two tailgates specifically, I think we’d agree, were the best: our friend Marcus’s tailgate, and my former Penn State academic advisor Jamey’s tailgate.

Jamey has had the most outrageous tailgates since the beginning of time. He is a Penn State man (he was a PSU student, and a cheerleader back in the day!). Honestly, if it wasn’t for him, I may have transferred universities after my freshman year — this man changed my academic life, he helped me make sure I took all of the best classes in my major with all of the best professors. This helped me in so many ways — it lifts your spirit when you are taught by passionate professors, but it also helps you learn about what it is you want to spend the rest of your life working in. There are those people in your life that you feel so grateful to have — in my life it’s my family, a few of my closest friends, and of course there is Jamey!

Jamey and his buddies bought one of the Penn State buses that used to transport the players to Beaver Stadium in. Now it’s a party bus (with a bathroom for the girls!) Outside of the bus is where everyone is — the grills are set up, people are cooking away, everyone at the party is really hosting the party… “You don’t have a beer? Let me get you one!” …



At Jamey’s tailgate, I couldn’t help but eat — meatball hoagies and a cheesesteak! Oh, so yummy! I was telling Renny how delicious my cheesesteak was, I whispered that it was obvious that whoever made the meat had it slow cooking for hours — the meaty juice kept all of the ingredients so flavorful! Luckily, the right person overheard me say that — the chef of the dish said she slow cooked it for “manyyyyy” hours! (Yes, folks, Penn Staters take pride in their tailgating food.)

After putting some food in our stomachs, it was “communion time”. This is a tradition at Jamey’s tailgate where everyone gathers around with a shot of Jagermeister; Jamey leads several Penn State chants, everyone joins him, and at the end everyone takes their shot of Jager. Lets just say I cringe every time (then I gag).

(Please note: Jamey does not serve underage people at his tailgate)

After Jamey’s tailgate we headed over to spend time with Marcus and the rest of the crew. It was fun to see everyone, although I wish we were all able to have more weekends like it! Everyone lives scattered across the States — I guess that’s just what happens after graduation.


But Penn State tailgaters are always so friendly — everyone is always welcome, there’s always food, beer, (wine drinkers, sorry, go home), games, and everything Penn State-themed! People customize their RVs to have Penn State designs on them, then there’s the beer pong tables that dub PSU or PENN STATE across them, everything at this University’s tailgating is themed to a T.


This year, a student painted his outfit and himself GOLD and posed in the same position Joe Paterno was in in his famous sculpture — everyone lined up to take a picture next to this guy. Obviously I did the same thing!

Into the game we went where I bought (of course) my Penn State hot chocolate collectors mug — yup, I’m a dork!

Being inside of Beaver Stadium before kick-off — your heart races, you join in on all of the chants and cheers. Now I know what it specifically feels like to be there and be an alumnae — you look at the student section and remember a few things: that joy of being there and being a “Penn State student”, the energy of all of the students around you, and then there’s that horrible feeling in your feet you experience towards the end of the second quarter.  Every game, whether you’re a student or an old-fart, you are high-fiving everyone around you when there’s a touchdown, you’re screaming in disappointment when someone fumbles or a ref makes a bad call, and you are always yelling at the top of your lungs “WE ARE … PENN STATE!”

The outcome of the game. We lost.

All I have to say is… we better win next year!

LETS GO STATE!

ROAR, LIONS ROAR!

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Buschenschank, German Restaurant in Brooklyn

Over the past 2 weeks I have gone to Brooklyn more over those 14 days than I have over the 2 years I have lived in New York City. My friends Ken and Blaz have been letting me take their new addition, Little Bear, out for walks around their neighborhood while they are at work. Little Bear is an adorable Boston Terrier and I have fallen in love with her! The boys have trained her so well, she has mastered the basic commands but she can also follow commands based on “sign language”… Pretty smart, I know!

When I went to Brooklyn to meet with Ken and Blaz to learn about how to take care of Little Bear, the three of us ended up going out for dinner at a new restaurant in their ‘hood. We wound up at a spot called Buschenschank (located in Carroll Garden) — what a tongue twister that name is, good thing I only have to spell it for you guys and I don’t have to pronounce it!

We weren’t too sure what to expect, but while we were waiting for our table we ended up ordering a few brewskies and spent some time catching up. We were shocked at how CHEAP the large selection of beer was. The beer on tap was offered in three different sizes! Not only did we love the sizes of beer options, the selection of beer to pick from, and the prices — but we also loved all of the different types of beer glasses the booze was served in. Who wouldn’t love a chic beer mug? Do those even exist? Yes they do!

When we ordered we knew we had to order one of the pretzels. Even more specifically, we had to order the specialty pretzel with “bier cheese.” My expectations on soft pretzels is now very high after experiencing this restaurant’s pretzel… I have never experienced “bier cheese” before this evening and now I don’t think I could ever eat a pretzel without it. The flavor explodes in your mouth, it’s texture is creamy and when paired with the salt from the pretzel all of the flavors come together beautifully!

goat cheese sauce

I ended up ordering a pizza — very basic, but wow it was delish! I signed up for the “Adige” pizza, aka the “white pizza” that was topped with mushrooms, arugula, and a goat cheese sauce. The smokiness of the arugula went fantastic with the goat cheese sauce. Although, if I was to change anything about this pizza, I would add goat cheese chunks to the top of the pizza in addition to the goat cheese sauce below all of the other toppings. Otherwise the crust was perfectly crisp and all of the tastes on the pizza went together great. If you don’t enjoy a salty dish, be sure to skip out on this pizza!

My friend Ken ordered the traditional cheese pizza and I was expecting it to taste very basic but it was such a different experience than all of the other ordinary “cheese pizzas” out there. Every ingredient was bold and flavorful and unbelievably fresh. I think after our experience at this restaurant all three of us would love to return! The service was impeccable (even our hostess was beyond fabulous!). It’s always nice to have great service on top of delicious food!

Locanda Verde in TriBeCa

The other weekend when my friend Brittany was in town, we ventured to some fabulous foodie hot-spots. I love when Brittany visits because she doesn’t feel like the typical visitor like everyone else — she’s ready to explore, she’ll walk from the financial district of Manhattan all the way back to my apartment in Chelsea just so she can explore the city. It’s always exciting for us to galavant around town while searching for hidden jewelry markets and tasty restaurants.

Last winter I had eaten at Locanda Verde in TriBeCa but I sadly haven’t been back since. For those who don’t know, TriBeCa stands for “Triangle Below Canal” and this neighborhood is known for some fabulous restaurants and luxurious lofts that will blow your mind away (if you need specific examples, tune in on Bravo for Million Dollar Listing New York). Well, I had such a great experience at Locanda Verde, I had to take Brittany here.

I was so sad to discover that the ravioli I devoured the first time I was at the restaurant was taken off the menu (I don’t remember exactly what it was, but it was in a brown butter and possibly sage sauce). I understand that restaurants need to change up a menu… but why on earth would you take off such a popular dish that everyone loves? Take off something shitty (like something with pork in it). Speaking of pork, I became overwhelmed when I discovered that about three-fourths of the menu had some sort of pork in it (remember, I don’t eat pork). So we had to be picky — and I hate being picky.

locanda verde food

We settled on some Sheep’s Milk Ricotta crostini for our appetizer. Perfectly fluffy and flavorful ricotta cheese seasoned to perfection with just the simple basics of salt, pepper and a few herbs served with a fantastic rustic bread — yummm. I feel like the majority of ricotta cheese in the United States is fairly bland; but with the perfect seasoning from Locanda Verde I will now bite my tongue before judging ricotta because it was the complete opposite of what my perception of the cheese used to be. When in Italy this past September, my Italian family had us over for a family dinner one evening while we visited Rome. I think my parents and sister would agree with me on this — the home-cooked dinner our family prepared for us was probably the best meal while we were in Italy. My cousin had bought the most flavorful ricotta cheese for us to shred over top of our pasta. It didn’t taste like any other ricotta I have had before and she even told us that it wasn’t the typical ricotta cheese that you usually purchase. If only we could live in Italy and eat like the Italians every single day…

food from locanda verde

I think Brittany would agree with me on this, our favorite entree was the Spice-Glazed Duck served with cavolo nero, faro piccolo, and pomegranate. Every bite we took we made sure to scoop up the faro piccolo and the pomegranate because it added extra flavoring that complimented the juices that came out of the duck meat. Both sweet and savory — it was the best duck I have ever eaten. Quack Quack.

locanda verde food in tribeca

We also ordered a ravioli dish that is no longer on the menu this week — thank goodness! Instead it has been replaced with something called “Fonduta Agnolotti” with figs, walnuts, brown butter and sage — which I think we would have ordered if it was on the menu! The ravioli we got was supposed to be a shrimp scampi ravioli and when our plate arrived we were shocked to find some other types of fish in it that Brittany doesn’t eat. (The menu does a horrible job specifying what food is in each dish. For example, the Lamb Meatball sliders on the appetizer menu sounds fantastic and last second the waiter told us that there was pork in it! Why would a lamb meatball slider have pork in it!?! The same thing with the ravioli and other dishes that shouldn’t have specific ingredients in them unless noted on the menu. That is my biggest complaint about the restaurant.)

locanda verde food

We had a side order of the most delicious potatoes. They were were perfectly seasoned and cooked beautifully. The skin was crunchy and the inside was creamy as if mashed potatoes was what stuffed these large bites of potato. The garlic and parmigiano-reggiano cream sauce on top was impeccable. Thank goodness we ordered this side dish!

Overall the food was great but we were insanely disappointed at how the menu is very deceiving. The ravioli was horrible and I am so happy that they took it off the menu! But, the duck was such a success and I recommend that to be your entree if you venture to this restaurant in TriBeCa!

Today’s the big day…

I am so excited for my friend, Stefanie! Today’s the big day where she’ll head off to school. I feel like we all go through so many first days of school — there’s the first day of school for 12 years straight (elementary, middle, and high school), then there’s your first day of school for 4 years in college (hopefully it’s just four years), and some people go on to grad school and some take their education on even further. But there are just so many first days it seems like; but on this very day my good friend Stef is heading off to culinary school. And when I say heading off, she’s not even leaving the island of Manhattan (thank goodness, I don’t know what I would do without her)!!!

Yesterday I semi-begged Stef to take a photo of herself in her culinary school uniform. In a nut shell, Stef didn’t sound too thrilled to do this. But when I opened my email this morning I discovered in my inbox a photo of her all dressed up in her hat, white jacket and checkered black and white pants. The text of the email said “not to be posted on the internet hahahaha.” I’m totally respecting Stef’s wish, but I have to tell you all how fabulous she looked in the picture!

I had to post a photo of us though! I love this picture, it brings back so many fabulous memories of the summer we met when we were interns at the Food Network Magazine.

Stef, good luck on your first day! You’re going to be fabulous! (**and I can’t wait for you to cook for me some day soon!)

A Birthday Dinner in NYC

This week was my good friend’s (Kelly) birthday. Kelly and I were introduced through one of my best friends over a year ago right before Kelly officially moved to NYC. My friend Ken introduced us — Ken and I met when I was still in undergrad at Penn State. We met the summer we lived in NYU housing while we worked our summer internships (this specific summer was when I was an editorial intern at Food Network Magazine). It was the night before I started my internship and I was trying to put together my first day of work outfit and I realized there was no floor length mirror in the room! I then went knocking on doors asking if anyone had a mirror — when I got to Ken’s room I was shocked when he said he had a floor length mirror I could borrow! And that’s when our friendship began. It’s funny, you never know how you are going to meet someone in the great city of New York!

Ken and I the summer we met.

Well, Monday was Kelly’s first birthday in the city and of course that means we needed to celebrate! Kelly wanted to do dinner and an off-broadway show with his closest friends. Unfortunately, I could only do one or the other and I picked dinner because I’m an old lady and can’t be out too late on a work night (plus, shows some times can get rather pricey).

Kelly/The Birthday Boy at dinner.

This week also happens to be winter Restaurant Week! So, Kelly picked a restaurant (Thalia) with a Restaurant Week menu (you pick an appetizer, main course, and dessert for a flat rate of $35). I was originally going to order off of that menu, then I took a look at the regular menu and discovered a dish that called my name — Mushroom Duxelle Ravioli with asparagus, grana padano cheese, in a porcini truffle sauce.

Ravioli in a porcini sauce w/ truffle and asparagus.

I have to admit, I often stick my nose up to restaurants in Midtown Manhattan but every once in a while I am delighted when I experience a delicious dish in the heart of that neighborhood. And that’s exactly what happened at Kelly’s birthday dinner — boy oh boy did I order an unbelievable dish! The porcini truffle sauce was delectable! The creamy sauce wasn’t too heavy and the shaved truffle on top made the dish even better. You know that truffle is on someone’s plate when you can smell it the moment the dish is set in front of you. My friend Ken was sitting to my right (and the birthday boy to the left) and Ken immediately asked me if truffle was an ingredient in the ravioli dish I ordered. I also love asparagus, and the small slices of my favorite vegetable added a nice crisp texture that actually complimented the cheesy ravioli!

restaurant week NYC

Kelly's main course of tuna.

The birthday boy ordered for his main course a tuna dish. Even though I didn’t taste the tuna myself (I know, what a shocker, there was tuna on the table and I didn’t even eat a bite!) I had to show you all a photo of this gorgeous plate! Check out all the fantastic colors! It not only looks fantastic, but Kelly said it tasted great!

Again, it’s such a shock to me when I eat at a great midtown restaurant. But it’s great to know of a delicious spot to take friends to when they are in town for a Broadway show. The location is perfect for those who want to walk from their restaurant to the theatre. And not only was the food delicious, but the service was immaculate! They understand completely when a theatre-goer tells them they need dessert and the check asap because they have a show to run off to.

Beauty & Essex

The LES has become such a trendy place to wine and dine, and of course party. It’s also turned into a “hip” place to live, although if you venture to the neighborhood during the day you’ll see that it’s still in pretty rough shape and needs some cleaning up. I know way too many people that used to live in the Lower East Side that experienced bedbugs. So, I would rather just go there for a drink and/or dinner every once in a while. I’m way too happy living in Chelsea.

My boyfriend and I ventured to Beauty & Essex this past Saturday night for a birthday party. Just take a guess what street this restaurant/bar/lounge is located on… that’s right, Essex! When you enter, you have to walk through a pawn shop before being greeted at the actual door to the restaurant. “Are we in the right place?” my boyfriend asked me when we first arrived. And if I hadn’t googled this joint before heading downtown I probably would have been confused myself.

pawn shop outside beauty and essex

The pawn shop that you must go through to get into Beauty & Essex

Once the bouncer opened the door for us, we stepped into a place completely different than the pawn shop. (This is one reason why I love living in New York City, you never know what you’re going to find.) Immediately when you step inside you see a luxurious curved staircase that takes you up to the second floor — this is where we were seated with friends. Beauty & Essex is a fabulous combination of a bar, lounge, and restaurant. If you can’t get a table to eat at, then the next best thing is to order some appetizers at the lounge-section. I actually enjoyed sitting in this seat because it felt more cozy (perfect on a cold winter night) and it allowed more people in the group to move around and chat with everyone.

beauty and essex menu

Instead of ordering dinner, we ordered a ton of appetizers and snacked on those until we were filled. The plates we ordered were primarily fish dishes, something I would never complain about. Some orders included: the tuna poke wonton tacos, lobster pizzetta, lobster tacos, wok fried mushrooms, classic pan con tomate with fresh burrata, creamy parsnip ravioli, and oven braised chicken meatballs.

The tuna tacos were so tasty! The fish was fresh and the tacos added fantastic texture to each bite. Lime wedges were provided to squeeze on top, and usually I consider this a have-to-do but this time there was so much flavor in the dish already it wasn’t a necessity. We ordered the lobster pizzetta without bacon, and I loved the flavors on this plate too! Loaded with tasty chunks of lobster, and lots of cheese on top, you’ll never want your pizza made any other way. I was also surprised with the creamy parsnip ravioli — it was a vegetarian ravioli and I swear I thought there was meat in it! Those vegetarians sure can trick you!

Overall I really enjoyed myself here. The night started with some music playing in the background and as it got later the music was turned up for more of a “club” feel. The energy at this place was also so much fun — I can’t wait to go back!

(photos courtesy of Yelp)

Perbacco, East Village Italian Cuisine

I’ve mentioned this restaurant many times in other posts. I’m in love with the food here and if there was a Perbacco in Chelsea… well, I’d be in major trouble!

My good friend Alexandra introduced me to Perbacco’s sister restaurant, Gnocco when I first moved to the city. Her father is friends with the owner and we got an amazing education on the food at his restaurants. (See my post on Gnocco for more details!) I’ve been to Perbacco many times — with my boyfriend, with my mother, with family, and this past weekend I took some friends from out of town to experience the most delectable Italian food that they will ever experience outside of Italy. (Actually, I think it was better than the majority of meals I had on my recent trip to Italy.) And my friends agreed, the food is outstanding! They are from Boston and they mentioned how much business a restaurant like Perbacco would get if they opened in the Boston area.

My friend Amanda & I outside of Perbacco.

My friend, Amanda, and I reconnected after several years apart. We used to play together as kids when I lived in New Hampshire. Now, as adults we’re keeping in touch once again! At dinner one of her birthday parties from when she was a kid came up. I chuckled and asked if it was the one when she had a magician perform. Her mom laughed and we all remembered that Amanda ruined the magic for all of the kids because she knew the trick involving a hidden rabbit in a hat. Oops! (But also very funny!)

The fluffiest gnocchi I have ever had!

While laughing about the past and catching up on all of the most recent happenings in our lives, we devoured our appetizers, side dishes and entrees. Honestly, I could have kept eating and eating all night long. I strongly believe that if the food is outstanding you will eat it all, even if you aren’t that hungry. There has never been a time I have ever left any of my food on my plate at Perbacco. And some times I wish that I could have leftovers so I could keep enjoying the food the next day. Nope, it never happens. And I never eat pork, but when I am eating at this Italian restaurant I forget about my no pork rule and I pig out.

I went with a safe dish, the gnocchi, and my mother ordered the Ravioli di Zucca con Salsiccia which is kabocha squash ravioli sauteed in brown butter sauce and italian sausage served with amaretto foam on the side. Which in other words means a taste of heaven. My poor mother couldn’t keep my fork away from her plate. Even though the gnocchi was insanely fluffy and full of flavor, I couldn’t help but move over to the sweet ravioli on my mother’s plate. Lesson learned, mom… eat faster next time!

Sweet and filling ravioli from Perbacco.

I always order something different when I come here because the menu often has seasonal dishes. I love that I can expect some of the classics to always be there, but I also look forward to some new surprises. Last winter I had probably the most delicious risotto I have ever tasted — maybe it will return to the menu this winter, or maybe another unexpected dish will be created!

Celebrating The Holidays

This year, I traveled home to Hershey, Pa. to visit with my mom, dad and sister for Christmas. It was such a short trip, but then again Christmas did fall on a weekend — so the holiday didn’t feel like a special day, rather it felt like any other Sunday.

When I got home on Friday night, I hurried over to a restaurant in downtown Hershey to see my friend, Stevie, she just recently got engaged! I’ve been waiting… for years … for her to get engaged! Her future hubby and her have been dating since High School! I’ll never forget the first time I met him — he was sitting on my friend’s bedroom floor watching tv. (It’s strange, the things you remember…) I am looking forward to their wedding day and I can’t wait to hear all about the wedding planning details over the course of the next several months!

The next day, it was already Christmas Eve Day! Both me and my mom were very excited when my friend Jesse stopped by the house to visit for a few hours. What I love most about my friends is we can keep in touch but not see each other for several months — but when we finally get together we pick up literally right where we left off. Jesse is a swim coach down at William & Mary… I’m so proud of him, he’s super smart and has already received his masters from Drexel and this past summer he had an internship with the United States Olympic swim coach! Jesse makes my resume look wimpy!


Jesse is a vegetarian, not a pescatarian. I clarified that because sometimes people say “I don’t eat meat, I’m a vegetarian… but I eat fish,” but what they are really meaning to say is that they are a pescatarian — meaning they eat fish but no red meat. But Jesse is a full blown vegetarian, and since we were cooking our fish dinner when he was visiting, I put out some tasty kalamata olives for him to snack on. This past September when my family and I went to Italy, I bought my dad an adorable hand painted olive dish in Capri — the dish spirals around, creating the perfect little plate to serve your olives on.

Speaking of fish dinner… We didn’t exactly have every single type of fish, but rather we made fish that would be perfect to snack on — calamari and shrimp. My parents love to shop for their meat and fish at a small neighborhood grocery store called Pronios located in downtown Hershey. The quality of their food is unbelievable, but I also think that my dad enjoys shopping there because it reminds him of the corner grocery store his father owned. My dad used to work out in “the store” helping my grandpa while he was growing up.


My mom prepared the fish by cleaning then soaking the fish in milk. A trick I never knew until this past weekend is to soak your calamari in milk to get rid of the fishy stench. It actually works! My mom covered the fish in a seasoned breadcrumb mix before lightly frying.


While we were cooking up the fish, the doorbell rang. A gorgeous bouquet of flowers was delivered to the house. Once unwrapped and admired, we opened the card to discover that the fantastic “Holiday Bouquet” was from my boyfriend! Sadly, he wasn’t able to join me and my family for the holiday, he was back in NYC hard at work! The flowers he sent us though were magnificent, and they were also a gorgeous addition to our dinner table… then to our living room table… then to the island in the kitchen. The flowers were loved by everyone, they managed to make their way to practically every table on the first floor of the house!

My mom also had decorated the house beautifully — which she does every year. I love going home to Hershey to see the house decorated for the Christmas holiday. The tree is covered in delicate ornaments my mother has collected over the years, the garlands are strung over every banister in the house, and every where you turn there are elegant and festive decor that spreads throughout the house.

Unfortunately, my dad wasn’t feeling well on Christmas Eve, so we decided to not attend Christmas Eve service so he could rest. We also chose to open up our holiday gifts in the evening since I needed to leave Christmas Day to go home to New York.

For months now, I have been itching to give my mom her Christmas present — two tickets to the Westminster Dog Show! I was so happy to see her smile when she opened the envelope that held the tickets. The show will be here in New York City in February 2012! So, I am very excited to be taking her to the show! It’s a two-day event, but I only got her tickets for one day, but it’s an all day event and we will be going on the second day so we’ll be there when they announce the winners!

I was shocked when my parents gave me my big gift… Just take a guess at what I got… Hint: it was on my Christmas Lust List a few weeks ago…

My mom and dad gave me a KitchenAid mixer! The moment I unwrapped it I couldn’t help but think, “what’s the first thing I am going to mix in my new KitchenAid?” And I have yet to decide! The mixer is so heavy I unfortunately couldn’t carry it home with me on the train… so my parents will be sending it to me some time over the next few weeks.

When I got home to New York City, I couldn’t help but look around at my kitchen. I probably had a silly expression on my face when I realized that I have no place to put my new monster of a mixer. With the holiday money my extended family gave me this year — I have decided to finally get an entry table that also has storage underneath. That way, I can store my Breville juicer and keep my mixer on my counter. All that’s left to do is purchase the entry table and put it together. I’ll be buying the table from Ikea, which means I will be spending hours assembling since Ikea furniture seems to be so difficult to put together.

How was everyone’s holiday!? I can’t believe how quickly Christmas came and went this year! I wish that the holiday could be in February, that way we could play holiday music over the course of several winter months!

An Important Date In History…

Today is December 7th. This date is known as the day the United States was bombed at Pearl Harbor, as well as the time the United States entered WWII. My grandfather fought in WWII (see photograph, that’s him… my handsome grandpa in his uniform!), and I’m sure just about everyone knows someone who fought in the war, or perhaps you know someone currently in the military. Take a moment to thank those people today. Just because it isn’t Veterans Day, doesn’t mean we shouldn’t forget to thank those who either fought or are fighting for our country. I plan to email my cousin today who is currently abroad fighting. I hope that he is safe and hopefully warm with stomach full of food. Also, I will be sure to email, text message, tweet and call my good friend Derek! Derek is such an incredible guy — he went to the Naval Academy, he’s training for the 2016 Olympics, and he works so hard out in San Diego. I’m so proud of all of my friends and family for how hard they work! Can you tell?