Little Sister in the Big Apple

My sister left me and I won’t see her until December!  Wait a minute, what?  I didn’t say this was ok.  Who can I speak to about this??  Oh wait, she wants to leave me and have an Australian adventure?  Sigh.

Well, it was wonderfully great to see her.  Scott and I really appreciated her making the trip up so that we could spend time with her before she went off on her grand adventure.

I took off Friday afternoon so we could have sister time.  The best part about spending time with sisters (and good friends. And moms.), is that you can just do lunch, go shopping or goof around, and still have the best time.  So we went to this little restaurant, Hummus Kitchen, which I have been wanting to try.  Megan, who is slightly less adventurous than I am when it comes to all things culinary, hesitantly agreed to try it with me, even though she couldn’t pronounce anything on the menu.

She recently learned that Australia doesn’t have ranch dressing, or… wait for it… peanut butter!  The horror!  So she is a mild pit of despair, but has bravely decided to get used to trying new things.  Good thing too, since we ordered the “hummus kitchen,” which had four different types of hummus – far more than two girls can eat.

Scott had a smorgasbord of hummus to try when he got home that night.

From there we did some shopping.  I realized I am quite the bossy older sister.  When I learned that she was still wearing jeans from high school (she is a rising junior in college! come on now!), I marched her straight into the closest dressing room loaded with things to try on.  And we were quite successful I must say!

For dinner that night we headed to another new (to us) restaurant, this time with Scott in tow.  If you want yummy tacos on the Upper East Side, I would definitely recommend Cascabel Taqueria.

And try the corn!  That is Scott’s fork hovering impatiently for me to take the picture.

Oh, and they serve margaritas in mason jars.  ‘Nuff said.

Later, we went wild and crazy and had a Michael Jackson Dance Experience marathon.

Oh yes, be jealous of our moves.

The next day, we found our way to Katz Deli (of When Harry Met Sally fake-orgasm fame).  I’m sure it’s famous for a million other reasons, judging from the amount of pictures on their walls.

At 2:30 in the afternoon, it was an absolute madhouse.  They had security when you entered!  And signs that you had to pay $50 if you lost the ticket you received upon entry.  All in all a very hospitable experience (note the sarcasm).

In my panic, I ordered the same thing as Scott – the pastrami. I believe that they are known for this, so it seemed like the right choice.

Let’s just say my body is still processing the sodium and I should have gotten the turkey.  I enjoyed the sour pickle though!

We spent the afternoon wandering the city.   I got a messy “gift” on my new dress from a high-flying pigeon.  After a minor meltdown, we headed home to watch When Harry Met Sally and grill out.

The picture of grace 🙂

Scott’s so good at posing for my blog photo shoots.

And here we are!  Meg, I had a great time with you.  Have the BEST time in Australia.  I will miss you, my dear sister.

Love,

Your Bossy Big Sister 🙂

Sisters, Sisters…there were never such devoted sisters

The movie, ‘White Christmas’ anyone?  The Andrews sisters in their head to toe (to fan) all-blue ensembles singing and dancing?  If you haven’t watched it, it’s a Christmas classic.

Anyways!

My sister is visiting us for the weekend.  We are a stop on her “Farewell Tour” as I like to call it.  She will be leaving for Australia (!) for a semester abroad in early July.  It’s weird to fathom not seeing her for 6 months straight.

So we are going to soak her up this weekend.  Lots of eating at yummy restaurants, shopping, nails (?), central park-ing, grilling out, and whatever her little heart desires.

Love you, Megan!

Newport Newport Newport

Part two of our New England adventure included a stealth trip to Newport.  We stopped in to treat ourselves to lunch on our drive home from Scituate.  It was our first trip back since the wedding (!) and we were so happy to be there.  The weather was perfect.  

We got seated outside right away at our first choice restaurant, The Landing.

Not a bad view, huh?

The food was delicious.  My second chowdah of the trip.

Lobstah roll!  Oh my, oh my.  So much goodness.

We budgeted ourselves two hours, so we were able to meander downtown, pick up a few little items for the home, and stare longingly at the pictures in the real estate office windows.

Oh yes, and take a trip down memory lane, just a bit.  Here we are at the spot where we had our very first “real” date, as well as our very last date as a non-married couple.

It’s safe to say that we are still Newport junkies.  It felt good to get our fix and be on our way home…but I can’t wait ’til our next trip (one year anniversary, perhaps??)

Chowdah, Oysters, and the Scituate-tion

Last Friday (on our 8 month anniversary!) we ditched the city to visit Scott’s sister and brother-in-law in their new home in Scituate, Massachusetts.

Scott took Friday off and I worked a half day.  It was glorious.  And we were there in time for dinner and some quality time together that evening.  And what do you eat in New England?  Seafood and chowdah, of course!  Oh my, the chowdah.

Clams in another form.  Equally delicious.

I didn’t get a picture of the main dish, but scallops and shrimp (and garlic) were involved.  Delicious.

The next day was a perfect New England day.  And by that I mean ‘overcast.’  While we waited and hoped for the sun to come out, we sat around in our pjs, drank mimosas, and watched our wedding video.  Which I just happened to bring.  🙂

We spent the afternoon walking around the waterfront area of town.  There were cute, little shops; both new and antique.  But all had a beach/ocean theme going on.

My new love, the Octopus.  (No I didn’t buy the platter, I’m just obsessed with all home-decor items that have octopi on them.  To Scott’s chagrin.)

Our souvenir – a tiny monkey’s fist.  I’ve always wanted a real sized monkey’s fist (they are about 8 inches across, very heavy and can act as a door stop).  But this little guy will be the perfect, nautical addition to our Christmas tree!  And it will make us think of our first visit to Scituate whenever we put him up.

We had lunch on the water and everything was going quite well…

Until Scott got sick incredibly fast.  He was deathly pale, sweating and extremely light-headed.  We had to hightail it out of there.  We believe we have found the culprit.

Luckily no one else got sick, so we think it was an allergic reaction as opposed to bad oysters.  Scott hasn’t had trouble with oysters in years – and the last time he did he was in Massachusetts.  We took note of where these oysters were from so we never order that type again.

And luckily my hubby was feeling better after a nap, but it did make for a very low-key evening.

As low key as you can be with these two during a rousing game of Catch Phrase.  It was an epic battle of Fitzgeralds vs. In Laws (aka me and Dan).

I believe Jess was demonstrating Dan’s choreographed dance moves?

We never would have been able to drive to see Jess and Dan for a weekend when we lived in Virginia.  One of the selling points of moving was that we would be able to see them more often and more easily, so it’s nice to make good on that!

We had a great time, allergic reaction and all.  Their house is beautiful and they have already done a GREAT job decorating and making it their own.  They were gracious hosts and made us feel very comfortable in their home. I see many more years of good times ahead!  Thank you, Jess and Dan, for having us!

Foodie Photos

Life is chugging right along here in the Fitzgerald house.  So there hasn’t been much on which to report.  We had a great weekend, but when I went to look through my pictures to write a post, I only found these.

Donuts from work on Friday (from Peter Pan Bakery…love that!)

My Sunday afternoon snack of mozzarella and little yellow tomatoes.  Oh, and see that basil?  It’s from my garden!

Our pancakes for dinner.  Scott got a craving for chocolate chip pancakes, which in turn made me want to eat nothing but pancakes.  Hence, we feasted on pancakes.

So I guess I enjoy food.  No big surprise there.  And that isn’t even the half of the delicious-ness we had that weekend.  We ate at the Neely’s restaurant, which I had been wanting to try for some time.  I also somehow forgot to take a photo of my successful first attempt at Eggs Benedict.  First time poaching an egg?  Check.  Homemade hollandaise sauce?  Check.  Husband making two trips to the grocery store for ingredients?  Check.

Oh yes, and we capped off the weekend by watching the Tony’s.  At least I did.  I thought Neil Patrick Harris was very funny and did a great job as host.  And I loved that there was a performance every other minute.  Very entertaining.

Not sure what these two thought about it.  I believe that is Scott’s “please don’t take my picture” face.

Love you, honey!  Thank you for letting me watch the Tony’s and always being patient while Prince tries 1,034 ways to climb in your lap (the guy needs a lot of love and reassurance).

Birthday Grillin’ in the Rain

One of my favorite things is having people over to our house so I can cook for them.  It’s nice to not go to restaurants/bars sometimes – because let’s face it, New York is expensive.  And it’s even better having people over now that the weather is letting us use our back yard – sometimes.

This Sunday was our friend Liz’s birthday.  She wanted to go to Central Park for the day and I offered to have dinner at our house after.  Well, it was a great plan.  Right as Scott put on his backpack to walk outside, it started raining.  It was over pretty quickly, but it was just enough to ruin any park plans.

We called an audible and had everyone head over to our house early.  The rain continued on and off, so this happened.

Birthday girl Liz!

It just wasn’t worth packing up and going inside every time it sprinkled.

Lighting the grill in the rain.  I believe this is the second time I’ve seen Ryan sporting a pink umbrella.  (The last time was Scott and my rehearsal dinner, when the boys gallantly walked to dinner in the rain in order to leave enough car seats for the girls.)

I forgot to take pre-dinner food pictures…here’s the remnants of the Greek panzanella salad.  It was a Barefoot Contessa recipe and it was delicious.

Please notice the size of the platter Stu used as a plate.

Birthday cupcakes!  Sorry for the Valentine’s Day candles…work with what you’ve got, right?

I love these guys.

Now if only I could train Prince to take photos, so that I could be in some of them.

Happy Birthday, Liz!  It’s going to be a great year.  You’re having bridal showers, a bachelorette party, GETTING MARRIED (having the best wedding planner available), going on an amazing honeymoon and starting the rest of your life with the man you love.  I’ve met him and he’s pretty great.  So happy for you and that we get to be friends!  Can’t wait to celebrate all of the special moments ahead.

Love,

Rebecca

Meet the Mets

As I was pulling on an orange and blue shirt this weekend, I thought, “This is what love looks like”.  Because all Hokie fans know that you do not willingly wear blue and orange (something about our in rival’s colors for those non-Hokies out there).  But for better or worse, my husband is a Mets baseball fan.  And their colors just so happen to be…orange and blue.  So I am now the owner of an orange t-shirt with a very large, very blue Mets symbol on the front.

So I walked out to the living room and made sure that Scott understood the magnitude of what was happening.  I actually said, “This is what love looks like.”  To which he replied, “Hmm.  It’s very bright,” and continued watching TV.

Sigh.  My sacrifice and love were not fully appreciated.  Luckily, I was able to drown my sorrows in a hot dog and French fries and other fine ballpark foods.

The new CitiField – Shea Stadium no more.

It’s actually not so bad being a Mets fan (or married to one) these days.  They are holding their own in their conference and actually threw their first no-hitter last Friday.  Of course, we went to the game on Saturday and missed history being made.

I can’t complain though.  It was a beautiful day, the Mets won and Scott had a chance to catch up with an old coworker and friend.  We love that people like to visit New York!

All in all, it was a pretty nice little Saturday.  I’d definitely go again.

But my Mets shirt might mysteriously be in the wash.

End of the Rainbow

Reason #4562104 I love living in New York City: a random Wednesday evening with nothing on the agenda but a haircut can turn into an evening seeing a Broadway show in an instant.  I mean, where else does stuff like that just happen?

On Wednesday, I got a text from one of my new favorite people (and coworker), Quincy, that he had a ticket to see End of the Rainbow – the play about Judy Garland’s last performances at Talk of the Town in London.  Faster than you can say “Scott, do you mind making your own dinner tonight?” I was in.  Scott didn’t mind, because it meant he wouldn’t have to see it with me, lucky boy.

I ran to the theater after my hair cut and made it with 15 minutes to spare.  Just enough time for another New York City classic – a dirty water dog.  Street vendor hot dog before an evening of theater, anyone?

Class.  Pure class.

Me and Q sneaking a forbidden shot of our Judy Garland loving selves in front of the stage.  Nerd alert!  The head usher was not pleased.

 

The set was beautiful.  You can’t see it here, but Judy’s luggage was in the first act.  It was so diva-licious and I want it when I’m old (and a diva).

Oh and  the show?  It was phenomenal.  It’s so different from the Broadway blockbusters I’m used to, such as Wicked and Lion King.  This had no more than 4-5 actors (not including the orchestra, of course).  And even so, the musical numbers were still amazing and over the top thanks to Tracie Bennett.

She gives everything on the stage to become Ms. Garland.  And it works.  She was never stilted, never showed if she was tired and never dropped out of character for an instant.  She literally never stops throughout the whole show.  She’s constantly moving, singing, jumping on pianos…and that doesn’t include her actual performances at Talk of the Town.  I almost died when she sang The Trolley Song from Meet Me in St. Louis.

The show ends with a heartbreaking rendition of “Somewhere Over the Rainbow.”  It made me tear up.  After the cast had received a several minute long, much-deserved standing ovation, we got an encore!  Every person in that theater sat right back down and Judy sang us one more song. Color us happy.

After the play we headed to a local bar for a bite and some drinks.  And by bite, I mean tater tots with cheese, bacon and jalapenos baked in.  Quincy and I each had to get our own serving.  Sharing wasn’t an option.

It was a delicious end to a lovely evening.  Can’t wait til my next Broadway adventure!