the best night

Last night while Nick was in class I made my FAVORITE dinner, roasted chicken!  I was a little nervous because although we’ve been making this dish for years, Nick is always the one to prepare the bird and get it in the over.  I usually chop the veggies.  :)  It always looks so disgusting when he’s taking out the insides of the bird, but luckily they package it all up for you in a neat little plastic bag.  And then the fun part came – smoothering the chicken with butter, GARLIC (yay!!), salt & pepper, and stuffing it with lemons.  I was unsure of the direction the bird should sit, breats up or down, in the end I put them down.  Apparently there isn’t a wrong way, some people like the breasts down because then they are more tender and juicy, Nick usually does it the other way (& I think this is the way I prefer because then the skin on the breasts is nice and crispy!)  If you can’t tell, I like white meat!  It turned out so YUMMY as always, I think it’s pretty hard to screw up!  I bought a cheap bottle of white wine from Trader Joe’s to enjoy with the meal too.

After dinner we watched the Yankee’s game & the Office!  I was ready to just stay in and relax for the rest of the evening when Nick announced we were going out on an adventure!  I was less than THRILLED…  I gave him a hard time the entire time I was getting ready wanting to know where we were going.  And he refused to tell me, saying things like “I think you will like the place”, “we are going to meet some of your friends” (which I ONLY have one here!), “maybe we’re going to see a person or something you like”.  And I’m supposed to be excited about going out?!?!  Mind you, if I tried to spring this on him it would NOT fly!  He would refuse to get dressed unless he knew exactly where we were going!!  Anyway, we get out the door and on the subway (RELUCTANTLY) to go uptown!  We exit the 6 train at 59th St and head west (I have no clue where we are, and he says (in true Nick fashion) “there’s a 20% chance that we might be lost”!!)  Ugh!!  We are walking down this cute street with sparkling lights and big white balloons tied to all of the storefronts & railings and come upon SERENDIPITY!!  I had sent Nick an email earlier in the week raving about their famous FROZEN hot chocolate.  Let me just say it was AMAZING!!!!  I had the original and Nick had the peanut butter one (my fave, but it was kind of rich), the glasses were huge and we felt like we were going to have to be rolled out the door!  The kitschy interior and the Tiffany-esque  lamps only added to the experience.  Definitely a must see when you are in the city!!  (Thanks Alice!)

 

So, hopefully next time Nick tries to surprise me I will go with the flow a *little* better!  :)   Thanks for the treat Nick!

lucky

wedding “video” from our photographer:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4GqOvBMn474

Unnecessary? hmmm…

Today I was g-chatting with my sister trying to find a good winter coat and got TOTALLY sidetracked…  She turned me onto this indie clothing web-site Mod Cloth!  While I don’t NEED a new dress right at this second, our good friends Scott & Brittney are getting married on New Years Eve in Tempe, AZ & think one of these LOVLIES would be perfect! 

 

Paris at Dusk

 

Precious Dress in Opal

 

Champagne Toast Dress

 

The Bow Must Go On Dress

 

Which would you choose? :)

Nick passed the Bar

Its been 2 1/2 LONG months of waiting, but Friday Nick received word that he passed the Arizona State Bar Exam!!!  Whoo HOO!!  I am so proud of him!  It’s really not surprising that he passed, but with all of the things we have had going on leading up to the Bar and even post exam, it really is a wonder we have survived!  :) 

Here is a re-cap for all of you:  Nick graduated Law School at U of A at the middle of May, he had to be out of his house in Tucson by the end of May.  So he packed up his stuff and put it all in a storage unit in Tucson since that’s where we will be moving in June of next year.  Then he drove up to Phoenix & attended his Bachelor Party (and I my Bachelorette) in Lake Havasu over Memorial Day weekend.  After that he drove up to the Northwest to stay with his parents over the summer to buckle down and study hard for the Bar!  I flew up to visit him for a couple of weeks & Nicks best man, Scott, & his fiancé Brittney came up for a weekend of wine tasting & socializing.  The week after the 4th of July we drove back down the west coast and stopped to stay the night in San Jose with one of Nicks groomsmen, Ed.  When we returned to AZ it was time to start packing up all of my stuff and rent a U-Haul to take it all down to the storage facility in Tucson!  My friend Karla came over to help me start putting my life away in boxes & pack for a honeymoon to a mystery destination!  At the end of July, one week before the wedding!, Nick spent two days in Tucson sitting for the Exam.  (My roommates & I made dinner for Nick and surprised him with party hats, noisemakers, & champagne when he got back from the test!)  And he still had a final section to take THE DAY BEFORE THE WEDDING in Phoenix.  Are you tired yet?  I don’t know how we did it all!  And didn’t kill each other!  :)

 

 

With all of this going on I don’t know if I would have been disciplined enough to study & stay focused, but somehow Nick finds the strength, dedication, & determination to do it!  Truly amazing!  Love you!!!

welcome to fall

The trees are starting to turn here in the city!  Here are a couple of pictures from my walk home from volunteering.  I am so THANKFUL that we live close enough and the weather has been ABSOLUTELY gorgeous & I can walk the mile to volunteer 3 afternoons a week.  I usually weave in and out of our neighborhood by campus and then travel up 5th Avenue which is quite a treat for the eyes & ears, its lined with every MAJOR clothing store & designers shop imaginable!  

  

Office along 5th Ave.

 

across the street from Washington Square Park

 

another shot looking down Waverly across from Washington Sq.

red velvet delight…

Since moving to NYC and NOT having a wedding to plan anymore, I have a lot of free time on my hands now.  I am enjoying cooking more because Nick is in class and doesn’t have as much time to do it.  I also have been baking a LOT!!  So far I have made blueberry muffins, mini drop sugar cookies, and now red velvet cupcakes from SCRATCH!  A few weeks ago Nick asked me to make them and I had planned it for last week, but my mom sent us a package with a bag of kisses in it & we (mostly ME!) ate the whole bag inside of 3 days!  Guess it’s a good thing I’ve been walking EVERYWHERE in the city, huh?!  

 

I looked on-line and in my Joy of Cooking book to find a recipe, I finally settled on this one from Paula Deen because it had more of the ingredients that I already had at home.  The Joy of Cooking one had some specialty things like cake flour, which I am sure would have made them better, but I am trying to conserve money here!  I halved the recipe, so we don’t have as many to eat!  :)  They are frosted with cream cheese frosting & I made a pink sugar to sprinkler on some of them too!  Now all that’s left is for Nick to get home from class & try them out!!