A Lovely List

Here is what I have done or plan to do over my spring break!

1. Visit Melissa in Washington D.C.

2. Go to lunch and a museum in the city with Carm and Lloyd

3. Go to Sally Lunn for tea and scones with Mitch

4. See Don Giovanni at the Met with Julia

5. Spend one day lying on the couch watching tv

6. Enjoy dinner and game night with Jess and Pete

7. Make a trip to the mall

8. Play with the kitty

Now THAT is the kind of week I would like to have more often! However, it would put quite a dent in the bank account. :)

A Trip to Washington DC

As soon as my spring break began on Thursday afternoon, Warren brought me to the airport and I traveled down to Washington to visit my friend Melissa. She has been living there for about a year and has been wanting me to come visit for some time. Last weekend seemed perfect since Warren was very busy anyway with Holy Week rehearsals and opera rehearsals. It was a fantastic trip from beginning to end. I walked out of Reagan airport to find a plethora of cabs waiting and easily got one for the short trip to Melissa's apartment in Glover Park. As our drive began I was immediately struck by the greenery and flowers everywhere. It was so beautiful. We drove by the Mall and I had beautiful views of the Potomac, Jefferson and Lincoln memorials and the Monument. My cabbie pointed out the Vice President's home and the various embassies along the way. It was an exciting glimpse of adventures to come. We spent 3 days walking all over, seeing the sights that we were most interested in- 3 to 5 miles a day! We went to some lovely restaurants and did some relaxing girly things like mani/pedis and a bit of shopping. It was great to have the time to talk and see these beautiful things with Melissa. It is such a gorgeous, clean and friendly city. To see so many reminders of our history and the people who have shaped it is so awe-inspiring. I have a clear idea of some things I want to see again or for the first time when I go back. I plan to bring Warren sometime soon. There are a number of romantic looking inns or (probably cheaper) regular hotels and many activities I already have in mind. While we were there Melissa brought me to a shop she likes where a local man takes photos around the city and I bought one to hang in the apartment of the Jefferson Memorial from across the Tidal Basin framed by a cherry tree. I find myself looking at it frequently and remembering this lovely trip. Thanks, Melissa, for a wonderful weekend!!

Warren's Birthday

Yesterday was Warren's 24th birthday. It was a GORGEOUS day so we got to go for a walk around the neighborhood in the morning and enjoy the beautiful weather. Too warm even for a sweatshirt. It was funny to see patches of snow here and there. Warren requested a German chocolate cake so I spent the morning making that. The recipe was for a three layer cake, which I have never done before, so that was fun. It came out very tasty. The coconut-pecan topping/filling isn't meant to frost the entire thing, so you leave the sides bare. I think that's why last time I made it a few years ago, it turned into a big pile of glop...the topping isn't stiff enough to stay on the sides. After our walk we went out and bought some wine, went out to dinner in Edgewater, and visited Mitch at his new apartment in Rutherford. We are really excited about how close he lives now! Yesterday was also Hoboken St. Patty's day, which we hear is quite the experience, but we decided we'll go next year instead.

the birthday boy

a pretty house on our walk

Warren about to blow out the candles

the birthday gift he picked out: a new tuxedo vest

In other news, we're thinking of going away for a mini vacation this August...we're debating between Long Beach Island, maybe Martha's Vineyard, or Bucks County. Here's a picture of the B&B we were looking at there:

They have sheep! Which you can see out the window of this room :o)

A Night of India

Yesterday evening Warren and I enjoyed a lovely dinner and a movie with Lloyd and his wife Elaine. We went to Udupi Village in Montclair, which is a vegetarian Indian restaurant, and had lots of delicious and just-spicy-enough dishes...notably eggplant and spinach in wonderful sauces. Then we walked across the street to the movie theater and saw Slumdog Millionaire. We all really liked the movie. It had a lot of depressing/disturbing spots involving life in the slums of India but there is a beautiful love story intertwined throughout and the overall tone was very uplifting. The Indian children they cast in it were adorable and did a nice job. I wouldn't mind doing the whole night again. :)

Bouchon and MoMA

My friend Carmelina and I planned a day in the city yesterday to have lunch and visit MoMA. On a recommendation from Jenn we went to the Bouchon bakery in the Time Warner building, which was awesome. Great food. Pretty view from our table as well looking onto a corner of Central Park. MoMA was smaller than I remembered so we actually went through it pretty fast, but we really enjoyed the paintings on the upper floors. It was also fun to see some of the more out-there stuff and speculate as to what could possibly qualify it as art. :) We had a great time and I think we'll plan another day to go to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Maybe we'll work our way around all the cool museums. It was a fun day and over much too quickly.

Gruyere & Fontina Grilled Cheese and Roasted Tomato Soup

Carm

the view from our table

MoMA

Walruses from Brooklyn

Today I met up with two friends, the art teacher at my school and my friend Julia Torrant from high school, and we went to the New York Aquarium in Brooklyn. I had never been before, but saw their baby walrus advertised at the Bronx Zoo and wanted to see him. The subway takes quite a while from Manhattan to Brooklyn but it was fun to sit and chat with Lloyd on the way. When you get off at the aquarium stop, it's a cool change of scenery after the city- the beautiful view of the shore opens up and you can see the old Coney Island roller coaster and ferris wheel. The aquarium was on the smaller side but they had a few cool attractions; of course the walrus and his mother, an absolutely gigantic ray, and a very neat octopus. The baby walrus was 115 pounds when he was born! He apparently gains 2-3 pounds a day...I'm assuming at some point this weight gain stops, but they said his father weighed 3,000 pounds. The mother was pretty huge too. They were sunning themselves on a rock the whole time we were there, at one point blowing gigantic raspberries on each other...it was quite amusing. After we had our fill of aquatic life we found a Starbucks and had some tea and a nice talk, and Julia sent me on my way with a belated wedding gift which turned out to be a set of cute porcelain pasta bowls she brought all the way from Paris. (Her parents bought her a graduation gift of a European trip this past summer). How thoughtful of her- we will enjoy using them very much!

Warren's Masters Recital

Warren had his recital yesterday afternoon in Greenfield Hall at MSM. Both our parents obviously came, as well as his grandparents despite having 5 newborn calves at home. So we had a lot of fun hanging out with the family. Warren did a superb job of driving into the city whilst I held the GPS. Garmin how I love you. Warren sounded excellent- definitely his best recital to date. His voice has smoothed out a lot and everything sounds like it happens with ease. Il Pescatore Canta was definitely the favorite of the day with our family. Mark has really been awesome for him and I am so glad to see him progress so far in two short years. Afterwards we had a great time at an Italian restaurant in Rutherford talking and laughing. The fam is coming over this morning for breakfast before they leave. My pictures at the recital came out either blurry or unflattering so I'm going to wait until my mom puts some of hers on Flickr to post one on here.