Aquarium Update

The shells are from our trip to Assateague Island. As you can see there are still no fish yet, Brian's still getting the tank set up.

These are the red crabs that killed the snails in these cool shells so they could have them for their own.

This is the newest addition, some kind of little tree. It's closed up in this picture.

And finally the new bubble anemone-it's a little sick right now (it was on sale-and since the tanks still adjusting it seemed like a good idea to try an anemone that is on sale in case there are any problems) but it is still pretty.

Memorial Day Weekend 2009 (including book recommendations)

I thoroughly enjoyed this weekend. We ended up not going camping, and decided to avoid the crowds that are descending upon the East Coast beaches at this moment. We basically stayed around home, and just decided things on the spur of the moment. Nothing was planned.

Friday night we continued our hunt for a good pizza place in DE. We tried Ciao's Trolley Pizza &  Grill based on good reviews I had found. It turned out to be a little more casual restaurant than we were expecting. It reminded us of Slices in Tempe. We ordered slices at the counter (though you can order a whole pizza) and ate outside on the patio in the beautiful weather. It was pretty good pizza to try if you are in the area, which was a quaint beautiful little part of Wilmington. Just be careful what you sprinkle on your pizza. Brian ended up seasoning his with garlic powder that he thought was Parmesan.

We then headed to the nearest theater to see the new Night at the Museum movie. As D.C. and the Smithsonians has quickly became my favorite DE getaway, I enjoyed seeing the familiar sights in the movie. It wasn't quite as entertaining as the first, but definitely worth the time to see.

On Saturday morning we went for a 2 mile walk in the warm weather, during which we tried Fresh Hot Bagel. The bagels were good, and not too big, but the service needed work (they were out of my desired spread and gave Brian a regular bagel when he ordered an everything bagel). We'd rather stick with one of the Main Street places.

Brian made a great lunch for us-Pasta Carbinara from the Rachel Ray Summer 2009 issue (he suggests adding balsamic vinegar).

We also finished off some cupcakes from Sassy Cupcakes in Newark. Though overpriced, the boutique offers different flavors daily and are good enough to merit a return trip. My favorite is the red velvet variety, while Brian has really liked the Baily's and triple chocolate flavors.

The rest of the weekend has been spent napping and reading and enjoying our time off. I've finished the following books:

"Mrs. Kimble" -is a book about a man told through his three wives. Each wife comes from a unique background and time, with very different expectations for their husband/children's father. ****.5

"American Girl" -a book set in the radical times of the 70s-it took a while for me to even understand the main plot of this book, but it ended up being interesting. It prompted me to wonder about the teaching of the Japanese-Americans internment during WWII in the US (CA and AZ mostly). I found out about this while in AZ-and I wonder how many people remember learning this in school-whether it's found it's way into the history books yet? *** Susan Choi's book was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize, and after describing it to my husband he informed me it was loosely based on the Patty Hearst story.

"The Devil in Massachusetts" -this was one of the books I was assigned back in my Human Event class freshman year of college. I finally finished reading through this non-fiction book, and enjoyed the historical understanding I gained. ****

D & H Jamaican

At D & H Jamaican we  had our first experience with "jerk chicken."  D & H is a little bar that was recommended to us for their good food. Though the service was slowish, and they were out of some of their side dishes, their signature dish was nice and spicy, especially good when followed by a Red Stripe. Their cabbage was a nice side dish as well.

We visited their Chestnut Hill location, there is also one in Wilmington.

(Young Adult) Book Recommendation: Princess Academy

I have slipped in the last couple years with keeping up with the Newberry award winning books (and finalists). I picked up this Shannon Hale book this weekend and whipped right through it. It was a touching story, told well by the entertaining author. Many moral lessons and themes are nicely twisted into the plot as well. It is an unpredictable fairy tale story for older, more realistic girls. I highly recommend it!

Movie Recommendation: Slumdog Millionaire

After all the buzz about Slumdog Millionaire, we went ahead and rented it on demand. I would highly recommend it, with the disclaimer that it is not quite as happy-go-lucky, dancing, musical as it looks in some of the commercials, it is a lot deeper and darker than that. *****

Newest Quilt

This quilt isn't done yet, but I went ahead and hung the pieced top until I have time to finish it. I still need to actually sandwich the top, inside padding, and backing, do the actual quilting, and put the final binding around the outside. My inspiration for this was creating a patriotic themed quilt for the summer season.

Our plants (or My Husband is going to be an excellent gardener when he gets some land)

Brian's got a few fresh herbs and vegetables growing.

Red Lettuce

Arugula

Romaine Lettuce

Oregano

Basil

Parsley

Day Trip: Getting out and Around

I wanted to get out of the area for a little bit, so we drove up north and went on a few shopping excursions. As always, I want to chronicle the places we visited.

Before we even got out of town, Brian wanted to stop for coffee, so we stopped in at Newark (Deli and) Bagels. For a Saturday morning in a college town, it was packed! I assumed it would be deserted, but it was quite crowded. I had a very salty "salt bagel" and they slathered on plenty of cream cheese. I would definitely make a return trip.

Next we stopped at that favorite cheese shop of ours in Gap, PA. We got some Spanish cheese, New Amsterdam Gouda, and the mango dessert cheese.

]Next, we went to an antique mall. It was our first time at such a place. Brian found a lot of cool old books, but didn't get any. I brought home a couple old mason jars, buttons, and quilting squares. It was very interesting, almost like a museum-without all the reading. :)

Then, we stopped at a farmer's market in Bird-in-Hand. It was a little more market than farm-and Brian just grabbed some pie and dismissed the rest of the place. He was getting hungry for lunch.

After getting back to Newark, we grabbed lunch at Jake's Hamburgers. This popular place is order-at-the-counter fast food that is pretty good. We haven't tried their milkshakes yet. We will definitely be back to try them.

And that completed our Saturday.

Newark, Delaware Mexican Restaurants

So we have now made it to three of the local Mexican restaurants around here. After being spoiled by the authentic food in Phoenix, nothing can quite live up to our Mexican food tastes, but these are still pretty good restaurants.

El Jefe: Brian went to this little place off of Kirkwood Highway with his co-workers before taking me there. When we went, the service was a little slow in getting to us (and it was actually a slow night for them), but once we were able to get our order in the experience improved greatly. The food was the closest to what you'd get in Phoenix, and the guacamole and salsa were both good. We'll definitely go again.

La Tonalteca: This place is right off Main Street downtown Newark, making it the closest to us. This place has replaced Tres Margaritas (in Tempe) as our spot to get our Mexican food fix on a Friday night. It's a franchised restaurant, with 10 locations in DE and one in PA and NY each, and overall has pretty good food-even though it's just a little overpriced.

Border Cafe: We finally hit up this place after passing it many times. Unfortunately, it is the least favorite of the options so far. It was a packed restaurant, and the round wooden tables were crammed so close together you could barely get through the restaurant. The menu was billed as a Tex-Mex restaurant, but ended up being an odd mix of Mexican, Cajun, Creole, and Soul foods. The food was okay, I didn't really like it but Brian did. I probably wouldn't return for a full dinner, but the chips were good enough that it might be a good place for having just drinks and appetizers. There are three locations in MA, and two in NJ in addition to the DE locations.

Upcoming

I have always been a make-a-calendar and mark off the days kind of person.  So, I'm eagerly looking forward to the following:

• Memorial Day Weekend Camping Trip (May 25)
• End of school (June 11)
• Mariah, Ashley, and Moms weekend (June 11-15)
• Weddings Weekend + Trip to Put-In-Bay (July 3~...)
• Next Harry Potter Movie (July 15)
• Trip to MONTREAL! (Apx. Aug 8)

Assateague Island National Seashore

At the end of my spring break, we headed south for a quick camping trip. I was very excited for the rainy weather to let up, and it ended up being a very warm and sunny weekend.

We headed across the border to Assateague Island. This island is basically a big sand bar on the bottom of the Delaware peninsula. The entire island has a complex arrangement of national parks, one in MD and one in VA, as well as a Maryland state park. We camped in the Maryland section of the National Park, on the ocean side. We were in a "walk-up site," specifically #66. There were more sites further in actually in the sand.

We had a great time together, thoroughly deluding ourselves that it was the middle of summer on the East Coast.

Brian enjoying his coffee on the ocean side beach.

The island has a slightly odd terrain. All of the plants and animals have to be adaptable to the arid conditions and sandy soils. It looked fairly familiar to us:

Prickly Pear Cactus/Adapted Trees

We rented a canoe and explored the bay side of the island.

The most enchanting part of the island were the wild horses. They aren't sure how these horses got to the island, but they have been at home and free at Assateague for hundreds of years. These horses came right up to the trail, and didn't seem to notice us at all.

Other wildlife we saw included: birds, ducks, geese galore, cottontail rabbits, turtles, and deer.

Bay Side

On the way out, we also stopped at Dumser's Dairy Land for an ice cream treat to complete the summer feel. The menu was extensive. Brian enjoyed his brownie ice cream sundae, while I had my favorite, a scoop of butter pecan.

We left with a small collection of seashells, as well as fairly intense sun burns.

We definitely plan to visit again!

Tips for (Next Time) Camping at Assateague National Seashore

• Mini golfing very close to the park
• Catch a movie at the visitors center
• Don't forget sunblock
• Bring bike
• Get firewood (for a beach fire) or charcoal (the only type of fire allowed at the campsites) before crossing over the bridge.
• Bring some hurricane lamps to protect candles from the windy conditions.

Book Recommendation: The Bridges of Madison County

This book has been in my bookshelf for a long time. I acquired it from a give-away pile at school. I finally picked it up during a long car trip recently, and greedily read through most of it in one sitting. It was a very good guilty pleasure kind of read. I highly recommend it.

I'm going to netflix the movie version soon.

A Day of MY Spring Break

Today was a very nice day. Even though it was extremely rainy again, basically a light drizzle for most of the day, I felt pretty happy in this dreary little state. It doesn't take much to make me happy, just getting out and around.

9:00 Woke up as Brian was leaving.

11:00 Found my way to the bank and Target. I only had to turn around twice! I still can't navigate all the roads around here. I really miss having Target right down the street... I got some pink tennis balls and some fun stuff for camping.

12:00 Went to Trader Joe's. It was my first time to the one in Delaware. We find a lot of great stuff in their frozen section. My favorites include:

Our freezer is now officially full, between the TJs trip and bringing home lots of meat from my parents freezer.

12:30 Got potato soup and a sandwich at Panera Bread.

2:00 Repaired five cardigans. I had to put about 15 buttons back on sweaters-I was very impressed that I could find all of the lose buttons in my sewing box except one. I really don't seem to lose anything. I have had this on my to-do list for a while, so I was very happy to get it all done.

Later... having a pretty colorful plate of food that Brian made. Cubed steak, vegetables, strawberries, and pineapple.

However, we did miss seeing Anderson Cooper at the Univ. of Delaware b/c it was sold out. I guessed it would be, but Brian never assumed it would be that popular.

Easter 2009

We headed home this Easter. Since my spring break started on Good Friday, we were able to leave after school on Thursday. It took about 11 hours, give or take. The time there was well spent-we saw lots of family and a few friends. However, we definitely missed the beautiful warm sunrise service that has become our Easter tradition at Alleluia in Tempe. The service there is held outside at Papago park. It was pretty chilly in Indiana.

Brian made some cute eggs. I think he would try to make anything I asked. I went with stripes.

I took a few pictures of my adorable second cousins hunting for eggs:

We headed back on Monday morning, stopping at, "one of the greatest places ever," according to Brian. Grandpa's Cheese Barn was a nice little shop with many, many free samples, as well as a little deli. We bought cheese curds, sage cheese, some mustard, and relish, as well as grabbing subs for lunch. Their black cherry soda was also good! Next time we go we will have to try the ice cream.

Day Trip: Cherry Blossom Festival Part 2

I dragged Brian out of bed early Saturday for the second trip to DC in as many weekends. We had some unfinished business from last weekend. With the promise of Cinna-bun at a rest stop along the way, he was out of the house a little earlier. We went through Baltimore this time, rather than going 896 through Annapolis, and ended up facing an awful lot of traffic due to construction, congestion, and rubber necking.

We parked at a different park and ride this time (Greenbelt-no pay for parking on Sat/Sun), and it was absolutely packed. Luckily we already had our metro cards. We took the green line into L'Enfant Station and started our day at the Air and Space Museum. We picked a few exhibits to view-my favorite was the planets exhibit. I actually know a lot about them through the Mars Educator trainings I attended in Arizona, and could converse pretty well with Brian. I can't really compete with his knowledge, considering he was able to see Saturn through a telescope at one of his own trainings. A very powerful telescope. Could see the rings and everything, said it looked just like the pictures.

We then looked for lunch-an almost impossible task. The plan was to eat at that museum b/c they boasted of having a Boston Market, that was actually only two different meals beside the entire McDonald's menu. Brian didn't want this, and we finally decided to go to the cafeteria in the American History museum. We rested a bit on the lawn while deciding this, and Brian made fun of my Arizona weakness for cold as I huddled in three layers and a hood in while other mall walkers past us in shorts. It wasn't so much cold as windy.

The cafeteria in the American History museum was really quite good, though of course overpriced. We took in a few exhibits there. I really liked the kitchen of Julia Child's. In the bon appetit exhibit they have all of her actual kitchen, with all the gadgets on display. In the Science in American lives, Brian noticed a few scientists he has heard speak. Many of the most popular exhibits were packed, and we were pretty exhausted, so we stopped at the Stars and Stripes cafe for some ice cream. Overlooking a fountain and some beautiful architecture, I loved my butter pecan while Brian enjoyed a root beer float. I was really impressed by the ice cream.

We then made our way back to the cherry trees to see how they had survived the big storm and the windy days. The sun was going down behind the Washington Monument. They were on their last day of peak bloom. Still beautiful.

Bake

I have a new favorite website.

A few weeks ago I got a recipe for supposedly perfect brownies. Not too fudgy (like Brian likes) and not to cakey (more like I like). However it called for "cake flour" and I couldn't find any in the grocery stores around here (don't get me started on how much I don't like the grocery stores here). So, I looked for some online. I found some at the King Arthur website, as well as a few other goodies I just had to have. After getting my first shipment of two huge boxes, I've put the rest of my desires on to a wish list to get at a later date.

And Brian really liked the brownies-my first time not using a box mix. Not sure the cake flour really made the difference though.

MY WISH LIST:

• Cute Shirt

• I need four of these... cake flour, bread flour, wheat flour, all purpose flour. My cannister has too small of a lid to really be able to measure out of.

• Black decorating sugar: I need these for some "pool" cupcakes I am making-for the 8 ball.

For the rest of the pool balls I'm making.

Again for the pool balls, I need the black food coloring.

• Scoop for my new flour container