Fall Fun

The first month or so of fall has passed quickly. School is going very well. My group right now is my favorite bunch of kids in the 5 years I've been teaching. I am enjoying each rehearsal with them and they are truly a pleasure to be around. Warren has a great new job as well, and is sending out applications for young artist programs. We have spent some fun weekends recently, including a trip to the Big E with Patty and Steve, where we sampled fun foods and got to see lots of cute animals, another visit to Alba vineyard, where we had a wonderful leisurely picnic and bought wine for gifts and to take home with us, and a trip to Sugar Grove to celebrate Frank and Joan's 60th wedding anniversary. This weekend my parents are coming down and we're going to the Whitney art museum to see the work of an artist my dad is fond of, and on Sunday I have Melany's bridal shower to attend. Life has been very eventful. We are also busy working on our Halloween costumes for the annual party...McGonagall and Dumbledore. :) I've been feeling very appreciative of all the good things in our life right now, and have been enjoying a much less stressful school year than usual. Somehow, something has just clicked this year, between my conscious decision to approach certain things differently with teaching, my group of great students, and the fact that the program is becoming increasingly my own, with most of the students being children I've taught since they started band in 4th grade. It feels good to be calm and appreciative of the things around me.

Soaking Up the Last of Summer

On Friday I went to visit Jessica and Peter and we had a great summery day together. We made a giant fruit salad at their house and enjoyed lunch on their porch, and then headed over to Peddler's Village. I keep discovering places that I wish I had known about longer, and that's one of them! It was a really nice area to shop and walk around because all the stores are small and independent and there are nice flowers, goldfish ponds and other fun landscaping all around. Such an aesthetically pleasing place to do your shopping, and there are things for everyone on your list. It feels like a little Hogsmeade. :) I think I'll go back there for one or two of their fall festivals (like the apple festival and scarecrow festival!) and do my Christmas shopping there. I especially enjoyed the coffee and tea shop, where I got some awesome chocolate raspberry tea, the bookstore, and one of the shops filled with home decor and jewelry. It was a great day just to relax, window shop and get some gelato with great friends.

Yesterday Carm and I went over to Abma's to get some eggs and produce and afterward she told me about a small grocery store called Market Basket that is close to Abma's. We decided to go and I'm so glad I know about it now! They had the best meats I think I've ever seen, a great cheese counter, and tons of things imported from Italy. Another place I'll have to visit a lot.

I am off to Connecticut for a few days to teach some sectionals, and then I'll have 3 days at home before summer ends. Looking forward to a beach day with Jess, Pete and Warren on the last day. Time flies when you're having fun!

Visiting Melissa

This past weekend, Warren and I made the trip down to Washington, D.C. to visit Melissa in her new apartment. She now lives in Dupont Circle, which is an even prettier, livelier and friendlier neighborhood than her prior residence. D.C. is so full of flowers, pretty architecture, fun fountains, cool restaurants and most importantly, lots of dogs. :)
We drove down early on Saturday morning and the first thing Melissa wanted to show us was a very lovely park up the street from her apartment building. It had a really cool tiered waterfall and lots of shady spots to sit in. In the fall or spring it would be a great place to read a book with a cup of tea. After taking some photos there we visited the neighborhood dog park to watch the doggies romp and to pet some of them. Their owners or dog sitters were very friendly and willing to chat and let their dogs socialize with new people. My favorites were a puppy Beagle mix, a pair of friendly Scotties and a dog that looked like a yellow Lab but with a longer, almost white coat. After making friends with the doggies, we stopped for lunch at Firehook Bakery in Dupont Circle, where we had yummy sandwiches, salads and a giant smoothie which we shared 3 ways. I forgot how delicious smoothies are- and it was a welcome treat on a very hot day.
We then took the Metro to the Mall and enjoyed walking around seeing some sights that I hadn't seen last time; the Vietnam and Korean war memorials in particular. I was a huge fan of the little fountains spaced along the Mall that you could cool your feet in. In my humble opinion, every city should have numerous foot fountains! Then we walked to the Tidal Basin where we rented a paddleboat and were able to get up pretty close to the Jefferson Memorial. After that we were ready to go take a cool shower and get ready for dinner. I had been greatly anticipating my return to Bangkok Joe's on the Georgetown waterfront! It was as tasty as expected and after dinner we walked along the water and enjoyed the sights. On the way home we stopped at Baked & Wired to pick up a few cupcakes for the next day. It's a new bakery in D.C. that is even more popular now than the bakery from the show DC Cupcakes...I forget what that one is called though. Anyway, I tried the Elvis cupcake- banana cake with peanut butter frosting and a drizzle of chocolate. Yum.
All told we walked 5 miles or more on Saturday and I was about ready to die! On Sunday morning I went for another short walk with Melissa before it was time to head out. We had a blast and can't wait to go back and see some of the Smithsonian museums. There's always something else to go back for!

Nature Therapy

My friend Carmelina and I decided to spend a day kayaking on the D&R Canal in Princeton last week. Warren and I went there last summer and I've been wanting to go back ever since. The water is almost glass-like and on either side of the canal there are big shady trees hanging over the water. Everything is so green and fresh and the only noises come from birds, bugs or other wildlife. We drifted down the river dragging our feet in the water, admiring the scenery and looking at all the little turtles sunning themselves. We got a decent workout on the way back since we were going against a small current. Along the way we suddenly saw a mother doe and her two baby deer right on the edge of the bank, and it seemed like time was suspended as they watched us and we watched them. It was such a cool moment of human-animal interaction. They decided we weren't anything dangerous- they were probably wondering what kind of strange floating animal we were- and grazed and bounded around for quite some time before disappearing into the forest. We had a picnic in a nearby field and before going home we stopped in Princeton for some frozen yogurt & fruit. It was such a serene and carefree day! We should all have more like that.

A Quick Vacation Post

I'm writing from the Inn at Ellis River in Jackson, New Hampshire- we both agree that it's the nicest of the bed & breakfasts we've stayed at. We already know that we definitely want to return here in the future. All told, we've had quite the interesting vacation, full of surprises both good and bad! Luckily, the good outweighs the bad :)

On our first day, we headed up to Vermont to Little River State Park in Waterbury for a bit of camping. It was a beautiful campground, very secluded in the middle of the forest by a reservoir. There were some truly gorgeous views of mountains and lakes from different spots in the campground. We were excited to find that swimming was allowed in the lake, so we got to cool off after setting up our tent and gathering our firewood. It was such a neat feeling swimming there, all alone and surrounded by mountains. It was so silent. Really a place to get closer to nature. We spent the evening sitting by our campfire, which Warren did a great job tending to, and roasting far too many S'mores. Well, can you ever really have too many S'mores? You be the judge. The next morning, we drove into "town" for a suprisingly delicious breakfast at a small cafe and then went back to the campground to do their self-guided nature trail. Next, we packed up and departed for the Ben & Jerry's factory.

The factory was pretty neat, and we got to do a little tour of the facility, check out their "Flavor Graveyard" of retired flavors, take a few fun pictures and sample a bit of Cherry Garcia. :) It wasn't terribly large or so full of information that it knocked our socks off, so it's funny, because I chose the campground because of its proximity to B&J's, but the campground turned out to be the far more interesting of the two.

At some point that morning, we received a message from the Inn that they had been expecting us the day before!! Somehow I had our arrival date messed up in my mind and we were a day late getting to the inn- don't know how I managed that one, as I had everything down in my calendar for months! Guess I'm really on summer mode where you forget what day it is! Anyway, thank goodness the inn was SO hospitable and didn't charge us for that night, and even upgraded us to a nicer room for no extra charge. They are incredibly generous here. So after a quick lunch in Montpelier we were off to the White Mountains.

About halfway to the inn, we pulled away from a gas station and were shocked by a HORRIBLE shuddering/shaking/noisy something going on in the car. It was ok on the highway but barely driveable in the low gears! We were a little worried we'd be stranded in the middle of the mountains, which by the way were SPECTACULAR views going through Crawford Notch. We rolled into the inn by the grace of God and proceeded to call about a thousand area mechanics, who all seemed to be booked through next week. Luckily, the inn is SUCH an incredible place to be stranded, and we did reach a mechanic in the end. We had the car towed there the next morning by AAA, rented a car, and still got to do the activities we wanted. Our car needed a new drive shaft and should be ready today.

The inn is beautiful, as you'll see when I post pictures back home, and has so much to do on a relaxed day. A hot tub inside a lovely atrium overlooking the river, a game room and pub where we can play pool, checkers and chess or borrow a DVD to watch in our room, a pool and sauna, a little gazebo in the garden to sit in, and of course beautiful rooms. Their breakfast is AWESOME and so hearty as compared to some of the other inns we've stayed at, and coffee and tea are available round the clock, which is always something we look forward to. The innkeepers are so kind and even drove to pick us up from dinner one night when it started to rain heavily so we didn't have to walk home in it. Truly a great place where we'll return, and a great value as compared to the inn in Cape Cod (even though we loved that place too).

Yesterday we enjoyed the inn during the day and went on a moose tour at night. It was thrilling to see the moose (we saw about 10, 3 of which were really good long sightings), but it was way too long- about 3.5 hours, so on the way home we were both slap happy and exhausted and giggling like maniacs. Warren called it an anti-moose pill because by the time we got back we were so tired we didn't even want to see another moose!

Today we plan to visit some waterfalls in the area and maybe do a bit of shopping. Sometime tomorrow we'll leave. :( I do miss our furry friend Baxter, though, so it will be great to see him.

What a vacation!! ;)

Catching Up

A lot has happened over the past few weeks but I've been too busy (or lazy?) to write about it. :) Two weeks ago we spent some time in Chadd's Ford, PA for the wedding of our friends Katie and Rob. We really enjoyed seeing the beautiful scenery, celebrating their marriage and then spending a wonderful morning at Longwood Gardens. Such a great place!




Last weekend we enjoyed a day at Rye Playland with Patty & Steve. It's kind of a quaint, funny little amusement park that was built in 1928 and is surrounded by trees on one side and Long Island Sound on the other. We went on some silly rides and had a great time hanging out with the two of them.

This Tuesday my summer vacation began, and Warren's parents came to visit us for a couple days. We spent a day in historic Philadelphia touring Independence Hall, visiting the Liberty Bell, perusing Franklin Court and finishing up with a delicious dinner at City Tavern. I had the best turkey pot pie in the world. :)




Other than that, we've both been busy going for runs in the park, and I've been working my way through a stack of library books. Today we're heading to a friend's house for a BBQ and will view the fireworks in Hoboken, and soon we'll start packing for New Hampshire!

Honoring an Influential Man

This past Saturday was the TCNJ Music Alumni day. This is an annual event that has been going on for the past few years, and it features performances by Eastern Winds, assorted alumni and some current groups at the college. They also give out distinguished alumni awards, and this time, they honored Mr. McKinney as well, in light of his 53 years and counting of teaching at TCNJ. They held a small reception for him after the other performances and we put together a clarinet choir to play for him. He was really touched by that and the statements people made about how influential he was in their lives. It was great to see- he's SUCH an inspiration and he has given us so much. I felt so moved to see everyone say to his face what he means to them. It's so important to thank people for what they give us and not wait until they're gone, having to regret that you never told them.

It's truly amazing how on the ball he is- he seems not to have changed a bit since I graduated. He's playing like crazy, holding his students to the grindstone just the same, and taking on all kinds of interesting new projects. His passion for what he does is overflowing with his every move, and his studio still sounds awesome. It's incredible how everyone he churns out is such a great player.

I get so excited, happy and motivated at each Eastern Winds rehearsal. I love both Mr. Balog and Todd as conductors, the level of musicianship is outstanding, and it's a cool and weird sensation to be back where I went to college with some of the people that actually attended with me. It seems like a lifetime ago and it's fun to reconnect with the whole experience. It was surreal being back in Mr. McKinney's studio "talking shop".

Birthday Weekend

I had a great 28th birthday weekend. On Thursday, my spring break began with a half day, and my parents came by in the afternoon bringing yummy supplies for dinner and a birthday cake. Afterwards, we headed into the city to see Die Zauberflote at the Met. It was fantastic and I loved the set as well as the great music.

The next morning, my parents left after breakfast and I got back on the train for the city to meet Melissa and Lloyd for an afternoon at the Natural History museum. We relaxed at a bar, enjoyed the museum and then met Mitch for dinner at Fusha. We had great veggie dumplings and edamame and I got their pineapple fried rice that I love- yum. We had great conversation and enjoyed each other's company very much.

The next day was supposed to be quite warm so Warren, Melissa and I had planned to sun ourselves on the beach- it turned out to be freezing! We went to a nearby pub and then came home to watch movies for the evening.

This morning Melissa and I went to the park and laid in the sun chatting before I got her back on the train to the city.

It was a fun-filled weekend and I'll definitely look back on my 28th birthday with happiness. :)

Goings On

My Eastern Winds concert featuring Stanley Drucker this past Sunday was really fun. It was great to have an opportunity to meet this legend and an honor to play with him. He was a quiet and gracious person. My parents came down to see it and we enjoyed a very yummy dinner at Mediterra in Princeton afterward. It was nice to have them here for the weekend and watch them play with Baxter. :)

We booked an inn for our summer vacation! We will be staying at a lovely bed & breakfast in New Hampshire and plan to partake in a moose tour, a zip line, horseback riding, hiking and kayaking. Can't wait. Hope our second anniversary trip will be as fun as our first!

Awesome Peanut Butter Cookies

I had a snow day today and felt like baking. I came across this recipe online and it said it was adapted from a Magnolia Bakery recipe. The cool thing is that it uses less butter and sugar than some others that I saw, but the cookies came out AMAZING! I will definitely never use another peanut butter cookie recipe. Slightly crunchy on the outside, tender on the inside. The cookies are done when the top is slightly firm- they will firm up more as they sit on the baking sheet.

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 cup smooth peanut butter at room temperature
Scant 3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup lightly packed light brown sugar
1 large egg
1 tablespoon milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
If you are baking immediately, preheat the oven to 350 degrees. If you are resting dough overnight, preheat oven when you remove dough from the fridge.
In a medium sized bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
In a large bowl (or in an electric mixer) beat the butter and peanut butter together until fluffy. Add the sugars and continue beating until fully combined. Add the egg, milk, and vanilla extract, and beat well. Add the flour mixture in 2 stages and beat just until no white pockets remain. At this point, you can chill the dough overnight. Press plastic wrap on the surface of the dough and refrigerate. Or continue without aging the dough.
Drop small balls of dough onto ungreased cookie sheets, leaving a few inches of space between drops for expansion. Using a fork, lightly indent with a criss-cross pattern, but do not smash the cookie completely flat. Bake for 10 minutes. Do not overbake—cookies may appear underdone when perfectly cooked.
Cool the cookies on the cookie sheets one minute, then remove to a wire rack to cool completely.

Things of Note

I have an audition scheduled for January 24 for Eastern Winds, and the next concert will be featuring Stanley Drucker! Needless to say I am hoping to get in. I will update after the audition. Warren and I are excited for a Jim Gaffigan show in a couple of weeks, and we made a Valentine's Day weekend reservation at Rat's restaurant in Grounds for Sculpture. Lots to look forward to!

A New Year's Resolution

I don't usually make New Year's Resolutions...it just seems like a doomed idea to me, and I prefer to make my resolutions as the inspiration strikes, but this year it coincides with Warren, Mitch and I having watched "Food, Inc" and all feeling as though we'd like to start eating more local foods and supporting small farmers. We are embarking on a project of visiting at least one local farm per month until we find good places to buy an assortment of meat, eggs, milk and produce.

Our first stop was Abma's Farm in Wyckoff, which raises their own chickens and pigs. They have a really nice market with a good selection of chicken, pork and produce. They have some beef that is not their own, but is local. One of the most fun features is their "pick your own" basket of eggs which are fresh every day. You can buy eggs already placed in the carton a bit cheaper, but the pick your own eggs are the freshest and at $2.09 a dozen they are cheaper than the free-range eggs I used to buy at Shop Rite, anyway. You can bring back the cardboard cartons to recycle next time you visit.

I should have taken some pictures but I was too cold and too interested in the market to remember! ...Anyway, our first stop was a definite success!

A Very Merry Christmas

Warren and I got back yesterday after almost a week spent with my family in Connecticut. It was so nice to celebrate Christmas there. Warren sang in his church service on Christmas Eve, so we had a lovely, quiet Christmas Eve at home and departed on Christmas morning. It was a very quick and easy drive since no one was on the road! We spent Friday and Saturday enjoying the company of Rachel and Frank and we visited the Mark Twain house together, ate at Kashmir, our favorite Indian restaurant in Hartford, and visited an ethnic market where Rachel and my mom like to buy spices. We also played some fun board games at home. It was sad to see them go on Sunday! During the rest of our time at home we had dinner with my grandmother before she set off for Hawaii, went showshoeing in the woods, and enjoyed the pool, hot tub and basketball court at the Y. My parents also took us to the Farmington Valley Arts Center to choose an etching from a local artist who has a shop there. They own two pieces of her art and I have been admiring them for quite a while. We chose an etching that reminded us of Cape Cod. All her things are simple and beautiful. On our last evening we went to dinner with several of my high school friends, which was a lovely time. The only thing we didn't get to do that I was hoping for was to spend a day cross-country skiing in Maple Corner, Massachusetts. It is so beautiful there and while we did have some gorgeous snowfalls it wasn't quite enough for cross-country skiing. Perhaps we will have to make a trip back in January or February after a snowstorm! I am thankful for spending such a delightful holiday at home and am looking forward to many new fun experiences in 2010!