Fun!

It's that lovely time of year - when it feels good to be in the kitchen again.

I've missed cooking. Between the nausea and exhaustion of my first trimester, I spent little time in the kitchen this summer. But now that the weather has cooled, the evenings are darker, and my second trimester energy is here, I've been happily back, cooking away! We've been eating comfort foods like stuffed shells and lasagna, beef brisket and tacos, quesadillas and baked chicken. It's been lovely! I've also been really missing baking, and managed to produce a couple of apple pies and plenty of chocolate chip cookies.

It's an inspiring time of year to be in the kitchen, and I'm excited for some new recipes! If you have any favorites, feel free to pass them along!

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Oh, and if anyone has a good recipe for butternut squash, I'd love to see it!!

18 Week Baby Bump!

The Weekend that Wasn't

Well, the best laid plans...

Michael and I had a weekend that... well, didn't go quite as we had hoped. The weekend started off well, with a relaxing dinner on Friday night at Michael's and my favorite new pizza place, Spunto. The restaurant is a few blocks from our apartment, filled with warm yellow light and neighborhood charm. We enjoyed a couple of types of pizza and settled into a Friday evening.

We woke on Saturday, excited for a fun day with John, Anna and Naomi. For months, Anna and I have been talking about taking a tour of small, quaint towns nestled in the Hudson Valley during peak foliage season. So John booked us a Zip Car and we picked out 3 towns to check out. The day started with an early alarm and no hot water. Logistical irritations, sure, but the other kicker? Rain. Lots and lots of rain. Because we'd been discussing this trip for months, we made our best effort. We packed up a car with Naomi and all of her goodies, and headed north up the river. Try as we might, we couldn't find quaint New York!! We tried Tarrytown, then Sleepy Hollow, to no avail. We started seeing signs of cute in Ossining, just as Naomi started to tire of her car seat. Finally, we found charm in Croton-on-Hudson. But by that point Naomi was crying unabashedly and we were tired of being wet and in the car. Thankfully John and Anna are the kind of people that find humor in ridiculous situations, so the harder Naomi cried, the harder Anna and I laughed at the absurdity of our travels.

Sunday we hoped for better luck. Once again we woke to an alarm, which was not ideal. We had hot water, which was thrilling, but we didn't have our Sunday paper. Michael headed over to our gym for his first class, and I planned on meeting him there. But unfortunately our gym teacher never showed! So we both attempted to get a good workout in on our own, which was far less successful... Our afternoons were packed, with a lovely dimsum lunch in Chinatown with girlfriends from grad school and then tea with my former roommate and wonderful friend Jordana.

The weekend wasn't a complete loss - we spent some quality time with good friends, took a nice long walk in the fall sunshine, and had a delicious dinner of stuffed shells tonight. But we definitely don't feel as relaxed as we usually do at the end of a Sunday evening.

Thankfully we're off to Miami next weekend! Hooray!

Turning Points

First, if you haven't done so already, please share your most peaceful moments here (ahem Jenny, Dad, Henry, Ruthie). I've been LOVING all your thoughts, and find immediate relaxation while reading them. And you know what's interesting? How many people find peace in moments with warm drinks in their hands. Something I'll have to remember when I'm stressed at work!

Second, Michael and I have started casually looking for new apartments, and it is making me so sad! For the past few months, I've been the excited one, telling Michael how much fun it will be to find and build a new home, one with actual DOORS, and room for a baby. But now that it's becoming more of a reality, it's less thrilling. Michael and I have enjoyed our first three years of marriage in this lovely little apartment. We've made friends with our neighbors, gym teachers, book sellers, laundry folks. We know our neighborhood and can now actually afford to enjoy it a bit more. Anyway, I think this move is going to be very hard for us both.

Sharing

Okay, so I thought I might try something new on this little blog of mine. Something that is sure to garner a little mocking from my husband and my brother, but let's give it a go...

On Sunday, I flipped through this month's Real Simple magazine to find a whole section where people wrote about their most peaceful time of day. I found it very pleasureable to hear what others say! Since I've shared mine (early morning tea just can't be beat), I was wondering if you would be willing to share yours?? I'd love to hear what part of the day calms you the most!!

17 Week Baby Bump!

Success!

Tonight I made one of my mom's greatest hits: beef brisket! It was delicious!!

Yesterday, Michael and I took the plunge and made our first meat purchase from the farmers market. We bought a nice, fatty Angus Beef Brisket from a husband and wife couple whose kids were back at the farm, tending to the animals. We marinated the beef last night and then let it cook at a low heat for 3 hours this afternoon. Our entire apartment smells delicious! Here are some pictures:

Yummy Beef

Beef, String Beans from the market
and my first attempt at Mashed Cauliflower
(also from the market, and not very successful)

Peace

Sitting on our coach, gazing out the window at the crystal blue morning sky. Noises of a neighborhood waking just outside the building - sidewalks being swept, early morning commuters greeting one another. Michael still in bed, enjoying the last few minutes of sleep before another hectic day. Warm tea in hand and a baby boy growing inside, keeping me company. Just peace.

As they say in country music, yeah man, that's the good stuff.

Boy oh boy!

Last week, Michael and I spent 30 minutes watching our little baby swim and squirm. At 15 weeks, our little one looks more human than it had before. So human, in fact, that we learned our baby is a little boy!

Here he is waving to Michael and me:


And him stretching his back:


And him showing off his little foot:


The entire sonogram was a thrilling experience, and Michael and I loved having the chance to see our little boy moving around, kicking his legs and shaking his head.

When the doctor told us we were having a boy, it confirmed what I'd been feeling for a few weeks. Even earlier that day, I sent an email to Michael, telling him that I was confident that our baby was a he, not a she. This will sound silly and ridiculous, but being right about the baby's sex has given me confidence in my connection with him. Right now, the fact that I'm pregnant is still a little abstract - I don't really look pregnant, and I haven't felt the baby move around. But I did have an instinct about the sex - one that was pretty accurate - and that's exciting to me.

My friend Melissa just had a boy, and I'm reassured that we'll be learning about boys together. It's going to be great!

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On an utterly unrelated note, this Sunday's Times magazine was all about food, and it's well worth the read. Just click here.

Robert Frank at the Met

Today, Michael took Kelsey and I to the Met to see Robert Frank's The Americans. It was fabulous - inspiring and gorgeous. Here are some of my favorites from the exhibit:

More SNL Love

Happy

Reasons I'm super happy for today:

1. I made a triumphant return to Thursday morning's gym class!
2. It's super sunny with bright blue skies.
3. I get to leave work at 3 today...
4. ... to see the baby!
5. Then Kelsey (my sister-in-law) is coming into town!
6. And we get to enjoy Thursday night TV together.
   

It's a pretty stacked day, I must admit!

15 Week Baby Bump!

A Lovely New York

There are about a million versions of New York City - the broke New York, the rich New York, the Brooklyn New York, the hipster New York, the yuppie New York, the immigrant New York (and all the permutations implied therein), etc., etc., etc. Perhaps that's the City's appeal - just when you think you've got it figured out, you get invited to a new place, visit a new restaurant, see a new apartment, and yet another city unfolds before you.

I've been thinking a lot about the City this weekend, about what it means to live here and what form of it I want to spend my time in, because one of our closest friends left to move back to DC this weekend. Mona moved to New York at the same time Michael did, and as transient as this place is, she was one of the folks we considered a lifer - or at least someone who would stay as long as Michael and I were here. And yet, now she's gone, Michael and I are still living the City life, and while we talk about leaving, it remains in a very abstract way.

So this weekend, I realized how much I love a version of the City I spend very little time in -- the early weekend morning New York. Michael and I have been attending a gym class on Sunday mornings over by Union Square. It requires us to wake up and head out of our apartments by 9:50 AM - very early by City standards, where Sunday brunch lasts until 4. It's really such a magical time. The sidewalks are empty, the street traffic as light as it ever is. Families are out, but not in so many numbers as to dominate. The drunks are all quiet and at home. It's a peaceful time when you really believe the only people out are true New Yorkers.

It's a very pleasant City - and is a version that keeps me satisfied with life here.

As American As...

Apple Pie!!

Love

A couple of months ago, I saw this picture in the Washington Post. I was immediately struck by the beautiful, suburban scene - sun shinning through lush, green trees with just a woman and her child running together, enjoying what appears to be a gorgeous summer morning. And then I starting asking myself - will I be such an impressively fit mother?

Because, the night before, Michael and I saw this:

Our first positive pregnancy test! (In Michael's utter shock and awe at us getting pregnant, he had me take four tests before he believed a one of them.)

Our family is expanding, and we couldn't be happier about it. The little one will join us sometime this spring. (S)he is due on March 27th, my mom's birthday, perfectly placed between Michael's and mine.


Sharing my life with Michael has been the greatest decision I've made. Being his wife makes me happier than anything I've ever known. And to think that we're now going to raise a child among such love and joy, that we get to shower it with this affection... it's really such an honor.

One night last summer, while watching the sunset from our balcony in a little hut in Thailand, I remember looking out at the ocean and feeling grateful that one day, Michael and I will raise a child who will get to experience moments filled with romance and optimism and love just like those. Now this little one is growing, and I have such hope for its future. I can't wait for this baby to feel, to know the love Michael and I already have for him or her, and for our child to grow and live the joys of life.

Michael, as always, writes more eloquently about this great next adventure here. This little bump is so utterly loved already...