So, in other news....

A few weeks ago I mentioned that we had some big news on the way... and no, it's not an engagement (ha!), and it's certainly not a baby! (Oh man, could you imagine? No thank you!) Nope, this news is really nothing new around these parts...

In case you're unfamiliar with US city skylines, that's a photo of Philadelphia. We're moving back to Philly! This is all very exciting indeed. We put a deposit down on an apartment last week, and now we can't wait to move in. The first week of July is our official move in 'date'. I'd say July 1st but I'm in someone's wedding on July 2nd so we're waiting until the following weekend to move. And as far as work goes, I'll be going back to the coffee shop I was working at when we lived there prior. Except that this time I'll be baking for two shops, and I'll be in charge of pretty much everything having to do with food. I'm really looking forward to being able to make my own schedule and come up with my own creations again, and of course seeing a lot of familiar faces is a perk too!

This past year has been an amazing learning experience, both at work and at home. I've learned some new tricks of the trade when it comes to baking, and it's been great working in an actual bakery that pumps out way more than I ever did when I worked at the coffee shop before. (Hey, a one-woman team can only do so much!) And as far as taking care of my parents' house goes, well, Shawn and I now have a much better idea of what we're looking for in a home, along with the amount of effort it takes to maintain everything. For now, we're happy to leave the maintenance to the people who are trained and paid to do it - so apartment living, here we come again! It was nice entertaining the idea of having a small yard or patio, but unfortunately places like that are still far out of our price range. We'll get there though- isn't that what your late 20s and early 30s are for? Saving up for the 'real' thing; the American dream? We can't even fathom where we might be ten years from now anyway, so in the mean time we'll just enjoy taking these little steps towards building our own dream.

Philadelphia, here we come (again).

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Fun Finds Friday #24

Today's Fun Finds is different from my usual. I haven't actually been on the internet much these past few days, so no interesting links to share this week. But Shawn found something fun! In the woods behind our house, he came upon a fox hole! There are at least four fox cubs inside, and the mother roams nearby. I never imagined fox cubs could be so stunning.

And a few days before the fox sighting, he spotted a woodpecker!










How is that for some fun finds?

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Brews and Bent Spoons

I've been enjoying some delicious food and beers lately. A few days ago a friend and I had dinner at Delicious Heights; and it was indeed delicious. They had a special that day: $9 for a flight of your choice of 4 drafts (from a list of at least 12). We each ordered a flight (I really enjoyed 2 of the 4 beers I tried: Terrapin's Flux Capacitor & Delirium Tremens) and a sandwich, pulled pork for me. The french fries were amazing!

The other photos are from when Shawn, his friend Fran, and I went to Princeton for an afternoon. It was absolutely frigid that day so we didn't stay very long; just long enough to grab lunch at Triumph Brewing Company: more beers, some scrumptious fried pickles, and an incredibly indulgent macaroni & cheese that I was too excited to eat and forgot to take a photo of... it was awesome. (It was actually our second time eating at one of the Triumph locations; now we just need to go to the one in Philly!) And of course a trip to Princeton isn't complete without stopping at The Bent Spoon for ice cream and hot chocolate!

Yummy!!!

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Snow Day

This is what I woke up to earlier today... lots and lots of snow!

I have the day off since the bakery is closed today. Which is a good thing because there was no way my car could leave the garage this morning. (We spent two hours shoveling! After that, we're pretty much convinced we'd rather have a condo than a house one day... or at least a driveway that's much shorter than this one!) I'm looking forward to an afternoon of reading, snacking, and seeing an old friend from high school.

Enjoy your Saturday, snow or not!

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What we've been up to

Hello! Well, stranger, it sure has been a while...

Lets see - last I left off here we were looking at a bright and brand new October. Well, now that has come and gone and we find ourselves in the midst of blustery November; the day before Thanksgiving, none the less! (Side note: the letter U is located right next to the letter I on the keyboard and I originally typed 'blistery', which isn't a word but it would give a whole new perspective to what I was originally trying to say... so, to clarify, November was not painful and swollen, but has been rather windy and, well, blustery. Man, this was a long side note.)

So, if you don't mind, let me take you back a few weeks.

In October we celebrated two birthdays, my mother's and my own! The tart is what I made for my mom's birthday (It's pear frangipane, if you were wondering). She and my dad came to visit for a week between our birthdays, so we had a joint celebration. I turned 25 this year! A quarter of a century- that's a pretty big milestone, don't you think? When I consider that it has been 7 years since I graduated high school and I've been working with/along-side coffee for over 9 years... it makes me feel a little old. Old, but seasoned. I can't wait to turn 30; people will take me more seriously then! At least, I like to think so.

Oh, the sushi dinner is what I had for my birthday. I share October 22nd with my friend Elyse and I think this was the first year we've been able to celebrate together! She invited a few of her friends to an all-you-can-eat sushi place and we ate-all-that-we-could. Apparently, I can't eat as much as I think I can.








The weekend after my birthday, Shawn and I drove up Villa Roma Resort in the Catskills region of New York. My parents were kind enough to let us use their timeshare points this year so we opted to take a mini-vacation not too far from home. The drive up was creepy - we left at around 6pm Sunday night and with Hurricane Sandy on the way it was super windy that night. Add on the fact that the majority of the dark roads contained spaced-out farm houses with seemingly no one at home, and you've got Walking Dead creepy status right there, minus the zombies of course.

We were easily the youngest people at the resort, except for a few of the staff. But the apartment was great and there was a small bowling alley on site! I expected to do some hiking but the weather ended up being bitterly cold and lightly drizzling the entire time we were there. Instead we stayed indoors watched Food Network and ventured out to the bar in the main area for some drinks on a few occasions. The bartender we met on the second day liked us. If I recall correctly, after a half hour of chatting with us she concluded, "You guys are weird. But in a good way.". She made me a damn good Tom Collins cocktail.

Thankfully, Hurricane Sandy spared us any serious damage at the house. When we drove back that Thursday afternoon we found close to a dozen uprooted trees in our front yard, and one fallen one in the back yard that narrowly missed both the house and the pool. We were left without power for 10 days, but luckily Shawn's mom got power back before us and we were able to stay with her for a few days. It was like an extended vacation, except it was dark and cold for part of it.




With Thanksgiving on the way, we've been exceedingly busy at work. I am now in charge of all things tart related, so I've spent the last 5 days in Tart Land. I think I made close to 400 tart shells of different sizes and all the fillings for them too. Please, if you see me over the next few weeks, don't ask me if I'd like to try any tarts... I'll be doing it all again for Christmas! After the holidays, maybe we can talk.

So that's been it! If you made it all the way down here then high-five! I've been particularly wordy lately, don't mind me.

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New Jersey Farms > Philly Farm Markets

One of the perks of living in the Philadelphia area was the ease of access to locally grown food; within a five mile radius of our apartment there were at least 5 farmer's markets, each sporting different local farms' bounty. I was actually concerned about how much more difficult it would be to find local fruits and vegetables once we moved back to New Jersey, but apparently I didn't have much to worry about.

I was already aware of one farm near us that lets you pick various fruits and vegetables throughout the year. Then I found out about the website LocalHarvest.com, which makes it exceptionally easy to find farms/farmer's markets/CSAs/specialty-food-stores nearby. I found out that there's a farmer's market every Thursday one town over, and there are at least three farms within a 15 mile radius of here that have farm markets open daily, serving their own or other local farms' goods. So whether you're craving vegetables, stone fruit, berries, or even herbs - someone in the area has got you covered.

Besides, all my favorite vendors at the Philly markets were actually representing New Jersey farms. Duh. That's why we're the Garden State. Why on earth would I worry about being able to find local food in the state that grows some of the most on the East Coast?!**

While last year I was fairly diligent about posting each week's farmer's market bounty, this year I completely forgot to take a photo after my first trip of the summer. Oops. Oh well, too late now. So instead, here's what I got the second week I went! (Which was... maybe three weeks ago now? Yes, I am indeed just that bad about posting & taking photos in a timely fashion.)

Here's a secret though... this is what the scene really looked like during my photo shoot:







Curious cats. They can't get enough of food.

I've been getting sweet corn and potatoes every time I go. The greens get switched up each week; usually between zucchini, green beans, and lettuce. If I buy too many things at once, we don't have time to go through them all and they end up sitting unused for too long. The local berries have been good this year, but the peaches (my favorite!), not so much. It's still early in the season though...

** Not a proven fact. At all.

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Scenes From A NJ Road Trip

Last week we took a trip out to New Jersey to visit our families. Despite some bad news that put a slight damper on the day, we had a delicious lunch with my parents and siblings and then visited Shawn's mom at her equally delicious workplace. Our families treat us so well when we visit... sesame chicken salad for lunch, a homemade pear & chocolate tart for dessert, and a bag of locally roasted coffee? How come we don't visit more often?!

I'm pretty sure everyone who reads this blog is either family or friend and already knows this, but just in case I'm wrong, here's a small tidbit of information that I haven't mentioned before... over the next few months my family is gradually moving to Switzerland for a few years (and leaving Shawn and I behind, those bastards!). They're taking the dogs and the cats with them too, and since the dogs are scheduled to fly out next week, this was our last chance to see them for a while. Not that I don't love seeing my family too, but I know they'll be able to travel back to visit more often than the dogs will.

Shawn and the dogs have a special relationship - he used to housesit them when my family would go on vacation - in fact, I think they're usually happier to see him than they are to see me!

Check out that bear face. (It's no wonder we call him a big bear...) Kusko was growling right before these were taken, but don't mistake that for unhappiness - his smile will tell you otherwise. Malamutes make such interesting noises!




Shawn loves Luna, Luna loves Shawn.




I caught a Luna smile on camera! It's nearly impossible!

.....

And, on a completely different note, here's another photo from that day...



Shawn wears a beanie pretty much all the time, so whenever he takes it off his hair tends to be a crazy mess of Kramer hair. After arriving home from our road trip though it looked more like Ace Ventura hair, so he had me snap a photo.


Between the three of them, this turned out to be a very hairy post indeed.

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Garden Style

Last week we drove back to Jersey for a day to visit a few friends and say hello to our families. One of our stops was at this beautiful property that Shawn's friend helps maintain. They have over 30 acres of luscious land, a greenhouse filled with all sorts of orchids, and a pond-like swimming pool with a little bathroom shed at the bottom of a hill. It was a beautiful place to be for a few hours, despite getting caught in a short mid-afternoon downpour. Unfortunately I didn't think to take any pictures inside the greenhouse, but here are a few around the pool area.

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