Weekend Update: Dinner and a Moving....

As most of you know, we are in the middle of a move. It has been lingering over our heads for a few weeks now & we finally did some REAL packing this weekend. We are stacking things up where our dining table used to be & will be out by Saturday morning!

We are excited about our new place - it is bigger, closer to work, and in a nice quiet neighborhood close to all the fun that Scottsdale offers! I'll be sure to do a post once we've moved in to show you around. 

Saturday night we decided to get out of the house & use a gift card that one of Jay's pilots got him...luckily it was to the Melting Pot - a place that Jay has never wanted to try (why pay a premium to cook your own food??). I was surprised and excited that we got a reservation at the last minute. 

We started with the cheese course. Jay picked the Traditional Swiss Cheese option. Check out his dipping skills....

After our salads, we shared the "Pacific Rim" (included teriyaki-marinated sirloin, white shrimp, marinated pork tenderloin, breast of duck, breast of chicken and potstickers) and "The French Quarter" (included filet mignon, breast of chicken, and shrimp, all seasoned with cajun spices, and Andouille sausage) with the Mojo Style broth (caribbean-seasoned bouillon with garlic & citrus flavors) to cook it in. It was all very good. 

For dessert, I picked the "Cookies 'n Cream Marshmallow Dream" option which was dark chocolate topped with marshmallow cream, flambeed, swirled together and garnished with crushed Oreos. Need I say more?? We also ordered a Ruby Port - one of my favorite after dinner drinks to have with a chocolate dish. Delicious!

It was such a great night and as some people say "Just What the Doctor Ordered"...and Jay did admit that it wasn't too bad of a date night after all. 

xoxox

Weekend Update: A Visit with the Murphys

While Jay was out galivanting in Mexico this past weekend (no photos - that would be evidence!), I was in Williamsburg, VA visiting my sister and brother-in-law. It was such a great trip!! Here is a recap:

Tricia picked me up Friday night and we went right to dinner. I had to get a picture of her and the purse I made her for her birthday :) It was funny because we were both searching in our big bags to find our cameras as we sat down!

After dinner, we went to the house and painted our toenails in preparation for a day of sunning on Saturday. We also made delicious cookie-brownie bars topped with none other than Ben & Jerry! 

Saturday we got up and headed to the beach. Instead of taking an hour-long drive to Virginia Beach, we stayed close and went to Yorktown beach on the York River. It's close enough to the ocean that the water is salty, so to us, it counts as a beach :) We walked through the farmer's market looking for one of Tricia's friends. This darn cooler was so annoying - I had to get a pic of it. Don't worry, I had my turn and pulled it UP the hill on the way back to the car. 

Getting some sun!

Looking north to the Coleman Bridge. 

This beautiful ship was setting sail just as we got there. 

After the beach we picked up some sandwiches and headed home. At this time I gave Tricia & Sean their shower present since I am not going to be able to make it home for the shower next month. This is my fourth quilt I've made and I'm so proud! It has frogs on it for Tricia and orange for Sean.

Saturday night we went to The Marina for dinner. 

And this was a big deal. I had FISH for dinner. I was determined to have fish because I was a) on the coast and b) with Tricia & Sean who love seafood. So I had this delicious blackened catfish. I seriously LOVED it and gobbled it up!

Tricia was a little excited about shrimp with Old Bay. Geez!

So as we were sitting at the marina & just had our food delivered, Mother Nature delivered the storm I had been asking for. The wind picked up real strong and quickly it booted us off our table and under cover by the bar since the marina didn't have an inside area for us to sit. 

We sat at the bar shoving down our food and holding onto everything that was blowing around until the restaurant decided to CLOSE due to the weather. The staff threw a bunch of to-go boxes at us and urged us to finish up quick while they pulled down all the metal "shades" around the bar. 

Does Tricia look pregnant here or WHAT?

Lame. A nice night on the water turned into a fast dinner on the water. But it was worth it to feel that breeze and smell that rain!! :)

We got home & had our brownies & ice cream (of course) and then played a little Wii. Of course I had to document that I won Smarty Pants at one point. My huge brute of a Mii was so proud. (Seriously - for some reason she was HUGE and bow legged...I couldn't fix it)

Sunday morning we got up & headed into Williamsburg to do a little walking around. This is the first place I saw:

Needless to say I did not go inside!!

Colonial Williamsburg was pretty cool. We didn't pay for entry into the buildings but instead just walked around & sweated our butts off! 

This horse just wanted my Dunkin Donuts iced coffee (I don't blame him - it was HOT!):

These steer were HUGE! I think over 2500lbs each!

Belly!

Required Colonial Williamsburg shot outside of the courthouse:

Duke of Gloucester Street:

Pretty brick building with pretty flowers:

The Governor's Palace (Thomas Jefferson lived here!)

It was a nice morning, but man were we HOT. I am just not used to the humidity anymore! We stopped into Baskin Robbins to have some grape/apple Pop Rocks sherbet to cool off. 

On the way home we stopped at the fabric store and got some scraps for Tricia to practice her sewing on. I taught her how to read a pattern, pinning tips, straight stitching, backstitching, turning corners, pleating, and more!  

It was a lot of fun & she did a great job!

We went to Tricia & Sean's favorite restaurant for dinner Sunday night - Bonefish. Of course I had to have fish again & this time I wasn't as lucky. I decided on Arctic Charr (on a cedar plank) after the waitress said it was a mix of salmon & trout. I know I don't like either of those fish, but she did say it wasn't nearly as strong. Plus I thought the chorizo on top would balance out the flavor. Let's just say I didn't love it, but I did eat about 2/3 of it anyway. Not too shabby. The potatoes au gratin were heavenly though!

One quick snapshot of us before we headed out!

Sean & I got up around 4:15 so I could get to the airport (about 1 hour away) by 6am. Tricia even groggily got up to say goodbye. I was sad to go, but thankful for such a great visit! I love you Tricia!!! 

(For her version of the trip, click here.)

Weekend Update: A Few Weekends Real Quick

Let's just say things have been busy these past few weeks so here is a quick recap of a few highlights:

Tori arrived in town on May 27 for a few days. It was a last minute trip, and we're so glad she came! We went out on Friday night and stayed out till the wee hours of the morning!

I made popovers for the first time. My mom got me the special pan for Christmas (or my birthday?) and I finally gave it a shot! Our family friend Sarah gave me this tried & true recipe. 

They were so yummy! I had mine with butter and then maple syrup on one half and apricot jam on the other. Jay had butter & jam on his. They were delicious and pretty easy so I can't wait to try them again with guests!

Last weekend, we had to stop by Jay's work on Sunday to welcome the Brasilia (airplane) to his base. It (and pilots) arrived in the afternoon so I "enjoyed" some time on the ramp at Sky Harbor during a 110 degree afternoon waiting for Jay to finish up welcoming the pilots and showing them around the base. 

I'm guessing it was about 120 on the tarmac that afternoon!

Good thing we had a POOL PARTY to attend! Kiera's birthday party was that afternoon, so we arrived at Krista & Angelo's just in time for mai tais and delicious hawaiian pork, fruit, and even hawaiian pizza! Krista was such a great hostess and the birthday girl had a great time!

Oh and I thought you'd like to see how great Jay and I look. We've been working out, ya know :)