Valentines Weekend

We had a leisurely four day weekend, since Nick doesn’t have classes on Fridays and Monday was Presidents Day.  We spent most of the weekend just hanging out. 

We have been trying to go to the Museum of Natural History since we arrived in August, but every time we set off in that direction we get sidetracked.  On Saturday we attempted again!  We made a pit stop for lunch, tried to stop at the Shake Shack that is famous for their yummy shakes, but the line was too long.  So we walked around the neighborhood & stopped at the Chirping Chicken.  I got a burger which was so-so and Nick the roasted chicken which was delectable!  After lunch we headed over to the Museum and the line was snaking around about 1/4 of the foyer so we decided to postpone the trip once again.  Since we were so close to Central Park we walked through the park.  Wednesday was the big blizzard so the park was covered by a blanket of snow still – it was BEAUTIFUL!!! 

We had about $400 in gift cards at Macy’s, so we stopped there on our way back home from Central Park.  Up until this point every time we have visited the store we have left empty handed!  :(  This time we purposely went in with two things on our list:  1. a winter coat for Nick so he can look like he belongs here (he has been sporting his windbreaker & freezing!!), and 2. an immersion blender.  Since it was a holiday weekend, they were having MAJOR sales, Nick’s jacket was 60% off and the blender was marked down to $50 from $70.  I think we did pretty good!!  Armed with our new kitchen toy, we went home to find a delish soup recipe – creamy broccoli cheese!  We ventured back out into the cold one last time to get some supplies for our Valentine dinner (the next night) & to pick up some wine!  :)  The best of shopping, since we didn’t have to spend our own money! 

On Sunday morning I made crepes with caramelized apples & honey for breakfast.  For lunch we met up with Kim in the East Village at B Bar & Grill.  Nick let me choose what we he made for dinner on Valentines Day – for something different I chose lamb.  He slow roasted lamb shanks in the slow cooker with tomatoes, garlic, and onions and made polenta to go with it.  I made individual molten chocolate lava cakes for dessert.  Everything turned out so tasty!!! 

While we were waiting for the lamb to finish cooking in the crock pot I gave Nick his gift – Mr. Beer home brewing kit.  He loved it!!  We got everything ready while we were waiting for our meal and have our first batch fermenting!!  Now we have to wait 3 weeks until it’s ready, in about a week we can test it and dispense it into bottles but then we need to wait another two weeks for it to carbonate.  Nick has already asked me about 40 times if his beer is ready yet!?  :)  Nick got me some chocolate covered strawberries (MY FAVORITE) and a box of chocolates from Dean & Deluca!  I am trying to savor them, but my sweet tooth is getting the best of me I am afraid!

I bought some brown paper and stamped out my own wrapping paper for Nick’s present.