It's the most wonderful time of the year...

Ah fall, my favorite time of year in the Poconos. The trees turn a riot of reds, yellows, and golds, with the occasional evergreen to give some contrast. I love nothing better than driving across the Delaware River in the morning watching the entire mountain in front of me slowly turn color.

I thought we'd have no time to check out the fall bounty, but we lucked out and got to take a little drive today. Here's what we saw:


A flaming tree in Milford


Red maple leaf at Grey Towers. I have a ton of pictures like this--each leaf is a different color.


Trees near our house


It was a gorgeous day here, and the local fauna thought so too. I got some great shots of this butterfly getting lunch.

Pictures to make my dad jealous

I recently mentioned to my mom that I found a small box of heirloom tomatoes at the grocery store. She said, "Oh, your dad loves heirloom tomatoes, and he'd be so jealous that you had some!"

So I thought I'd share what they looked like, and what I did with them.

My bounty. You might notice they're resting on a recipe for roasted tomato salsa, courtesy of allrecipes.com. SO easy. Roast the tomatoes and a couple of peppers under the broiler with some olive oil and garlic until they char. Throw into a blender with lime juice, salt, cilantro, and cumin, and blend until they reach the desired consistency. Note: Don't try and substitute lemon juice for lime--it's just not the same.

Yum!

Oh, and Dad, here's the latest batch of heirlooms I picked up at the farmer's market on Saturday. Jealous?

5 things I love about my husband

1. He knows how to make me smile or laugh, and he does it often.
2. He's probably the most interesting person I know.
3. He keeps an eye on our $, which is especially important these days.
4. He's willing to try new things, as evidenced by our ballroom dancing lessons.
5. He's super smart without being arrogant about it.

Love you!

Happy Birthday + 1!

Dear Baby Brother,

Happy Birthday! I can't believe you're 33. I still remember when Dad came into my 2nd grade classroom (in his uniform, no less), and Sister Betty let him tell me I had a baby brother. I'll be honest--I was excited :)

Love lots and lots,
Your big sister

Dancing with the...Stars?

The husband and I started ballroom dance lessons last night. We figure it's a low-commitment activity, since it's only a 3-week class, and if we like it we can sign up for other dances that strike our fancy.

We're learning the waltz and the foxtrot. I must admit, of the 2 couples in the room, we had the best rhythm. OK, we're still counting in our heads and trying to remember which foot to start on half the time, but we got the steps down pretty well and my husband can even guide me around the floor without us looking like idiots.

I must admit, now I realize why my husband gets nervous when I drive the car (meaning he has no control over things). When dancing backward in a finite space, it's very odd to know that you're quickly approaching a wall or other obstacle and you have to trust your partner not to send you crashing. So far, so good ;)

Happy Anniversary Weekend!

Oh, the food we had.

We decided to save our money this year, and just treat ourselves to a nice dinner Saturday night, along with a champagne brunch Sunday morning. Both delivered beyond expectations.

We visited the Cherry Valley Bistro for dinner Saturday. Our appetizers were awesome--crab cakes for the husband and roasted beets with field greens and bleu cheese for me. We each had steak and for the first time ever, I finished my dinner before my husband did. It was so tender I didn't even need the knife. We shared some of the smoothest merlot I've ever tasted, as well as chocolate cake and a berries n cream martini for the husband. I got tea in the cutest tea pot ever. I've already found it online and it will be mine soon.

Brunch was at the Stroudsmoor Inn, and exceeded expectations. Everything was included--a giant buffet, plus extras if you ordered from the kitchen (I had eggs Benedict), mimosas, champagne, and/or bloody Marys, and dessert. I forgot how good German chocolate cake can be. All for $20 pp. Once again, we will definitely return.

I'm debating ever cooking for myself again. Just kidding ;)

Happy anniversary to us!

To celebrate, here's our proposal story:

To set the stage, we had already been "unofficially" engaged for about 3 months. We had met with a priest, set a date, reserved the major vendors, picked out our rings, the whole shebang. But J had never said the 4 magic words. I didn't care. When your Taoist boyfriend goes with you to chat with a Catholic priest about getting married, and starts plunking down money for non-refundable deposits, you know he's serious. My mom didn't get an engagement ring until her 5th wedding anniversary. I could wait ;)

We were living in different states at the time, and swapping weekends to visit each other, and it was my turn. J took me for an afternoon in this lovely town where we go to a Celtic festival every fall. And every time, we have our picture taken in front of a big stone Celtic cross. On this particularly hot summer day, we had some lunch and J said we should "walk it off". Mind you, it's in the mid 90s with high humidity. I thought he was nuts.

We get to the spot where the cross usually stands. It's gone, and he's crushed. I can't understand what the big deal is. Unbeknownst to me, he's reaching into his pocket for the ring, when I see a landscaping sign on the ground surrounded by weeds. Just before he pulls out the ring, I say, "Nice landscaping! Look at all the weeds!" Totally killed the mood. Oops.

So J suggests we walk down to the river. Next thing I know, he's on a knee with my ring asking me to be his wife. Despite the fact that the wedding was well on its way to happening, I cried like a baby, squealed every time I looked at the stone, and of course said yes.

Now, my dad is an old-fashioned guy, and said no one was marrying his daughter until Dad had met him and given his blessing. My first words after I regained my composure were, "You have to call my Dad." Their conversation was my favorite part of the day.

J: "Hi, your daughter says I have to ask you to marry her."

D: "Yep"

J: "Well, I'm asking."

D: "OK"

Then they got all schmoopy, we filled my mom in on the news, and I promised to take pictures.

112 days later, we were married.

Thanks J, for asking me to be your wife. I've enjoyed all 1096 days of it so far, and can't wait for tomorrow...