And Then They Came to See Us...

A few weeks after our visit to Minnesota Jon and the kids came out to spend some time at our house. They spent half of their time with us and half of their time down at Bob (Jeff's oldest brother) and Noramah's (Sister In-law).

It was so fun watching the kids play with Brie and Brie loved having such willing playmates.

CSA: Box 1...Jeffrey loves his vegetables...

Jeffrey loves his vegetables so much that he signed us up for a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture)

What does that mean? Well it means that every Wednesday we get to pick up a box of fresh vegetables sent from Honey Brook Organic Farm (We pick the box up at a local organic food store). The box will be slightly different from week to week since we get whatever is being harvested.

So, basically we are going to have a little "Chopped" (TV Show) competition in our house this summer since we can potentially get vegetables we don't normally cook with. I think Jeff is excited for the challenge.

This is what we got in our first box. We aren't sure on the names of a few of these so please feel free to leave a comment and correct me.

 Red Lettuce?

Garlic Scapes 

 Hakurei Turnips

 Leeks

Spinach

 Chard

Lettuce? 

(not sure what kind)

I think we are going to be having a lot of salad this first week which Jeff is thrilled about. I'm not sure what we are going to do with the garlic scapes, but we googled what they are used for and I think we have several options.

I'll let you know what we end up making with this first round of vegetables, but if you happen to have a recipe or recommendation that calls for any of these things let me know. We are open for suggestions.

Travels to Minnesota for Easter...

Jeff and I decided to spend Easter with Jon (Jeff's brother) and his family in Minnesota. It was a sound time out there since Jeff and I got married. It was nice spending time with them and getting to know them better. Sharon (Jeff's Sister) and Ben (Brother-Inlaw) also joined us for the weekend)

Jeff's family (well at least Jon and Sharon) are big game players. While I too enjoy a game, I'm not familiar with a lot of the games that the Neu Family plays. I grew up playing games with the Ririe family. We played games like UNO, Phase10, Armpit, Kames and sometimes boards games (Clue or 13 Dead End Drive). Well, Jeff's family enjoys slightly more complicated games that are based heavily in strategy. I love strategy games, but I don't like having to learn a new game every time we play. Also, since his family plays the games so much they are really good at them, so it's not really that fun playing a game that you are already 100% certain you're going to lose. I've learned to accept the face that I just have to play and lose for several years while I learn all of these games....I just hope they stop introducing games because it's getting overwhelming. :)

Jeff really has a great family and I can't wait to get to know them even better.

Simple Things Sunday: Brie is home!

For the last two weeks Brie has been at the breeders. She was suppose to be there for three weeks, but Jeff and I missed her so much we went and picked her up early. I couldn't believe how empty our house felt without her. She is truly part of our family.

 

I'm just so happy for Ashley and Eric

Jeff and I went to Ashley and Eric's wedding on Saturday. It was so lovely. I will follow up with another post with more pictures, but wanted to share a couple from the ring ceremony.

Friday Favorites: Pizza is my favorite!

I've always loved pizza! I don't care what's on it or if it's hot or cold....I will eat it. It's just so good.

While we were staying at Jon and Anne's, Jon made homemade pizza. I couldn't believe how easy and delicious it was! Yeah, it does take time to get the crust perfect (Jon has been making pizza for years), but I think it's totally worth investing my time in perfecting my own crust and making homemade pizza instead of ordering it.

I'm still working on it, but once I get the recipe the way I want it I will share. The above picture is one of my first attempts at it. It was good, but I have to get the baking process down. The center isn't cooking right. I hear it's best to make it on a pizza stone, but I need to figure that out. Cause you need the pizza stone to heat up first and then put the pizza on it and that just seems complicated. If anyone has any tips please let me know.

Atlantic City!

Jeff and I went down to Atlantic City for a conference for the New Jersey State Bar last weekend. I love going with Jeff to these conference because I just hang out in the hotel and meet up with Jeff for meals. This time I had to work, but it was still fun!

View from our room.

View from the suite where the YLD threw their party.

On Wednesday night we went to a little restaurant called Chef Vola's with some of our YLD friends. Both the food and company was amazing! This restaurant is in a basement of a house and they cram people in there. Supposedly you have to make reservations a few months in advance in order to get in. Seriously, the food was amazing and I can't wait to go again next year.

I really do enjoy joining Jeff on his little business trips!

Under construction...kind of

So, I'm making some updates to the look of my blog. I've already done most of the work, but I'm going to be making tweaks over the next week or so until i get it the way I want it. So if you stop on by and things are not looking good....you'll know why.

A Sex and the City Bridal Shower for the Lovely Ashley...

One of my "best, good friends," Ashley (roommate of two years in NYC), got engagement in January of this year. Of course we needed a smashing bridal shower to celebrate her and her upcoming nuptials.

We ended up deciding on a Sex and the City bridal shower since it was an evening shower and Ashley wanted her girls to get all dressed up.

I made the invitations in photoshop and had them printed at Staples. I really wanted to do circles, but I totally regretted it when it came to cutting them out! Luckily my sister gave me a circle cutter for Christmas :) I wanted to put a belt on the invitation, but it looked really boring so I ended up designing a little logo to put on it.

The party went well! We threw the party at the wonderful Kristin's apartment and crammed about 20 of Ashley's NYC favorite people in!

The lovely Karen made adorable quizzes in the shape of Cosmo Magazines! We had the guest guess how Ashley or Eric would respond to the questions. It was so much fun reading Eric (the fiancé) answers. Karen also included some of Ashley's favorite fashion tips and a cute little movie ad for the video I made for the event.

For the favors we did little mini patent leather purses that were mini manicure sets and nail polish.

Food? Yes you always have to have food. We did little mini desserts and bit size savory appetizers. Delicious!


It was such a great party and so wonderful to celebrate the lovely Ashley!

What else have I done this year?

I was just about to write yet another post about Brie, but then realized that all my post for 2012 have been about her. So...to change things up I'm going to spend the next couple days posting about all the other things I've been doing in 2012. Then I will post about Brie :) Until I have kids you're going to be getting a lot of pictures of her :)


 Since we got Brie we have been spending more time at Thompson Park. Jeff more than me, but I have really enjoyed the walks we've taken together. It's such a large park! We use to just walk the same path every time, but now Jeff is showing me different parts of the park. The Picture below was taken on our last walk.

At the end of our walk we crossed a field and found a bunch of deer just chilling. I was surprised that they didn't run away. I've really been enjoying our walks and the beautiful Thompson Park.

4 months of Brie

Our "baby girl" (as I like to call her) is growing up so fast. She hit six months at the end of April and she won't stop growing! :( She was doing really well with sit, down, stand, and come, but has recently decided that she doesn't want to listen anymore. We hear this is common. Jeff and I both love her so much! She's made a great addition to our little family...we're now thinking about getting another one at the end of the year, but we shall see.