New York Vacation - Day Two

(If you missed the post about Day 1, see it HERE.)

Day two of our trip was Thanksgiving Day, which meant the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade!  We didn't care to try to get close to the action, so we took our time getting up and out that morning, and found a decent spot along the parade's path off 6th Avenue. Thankfully there weren't many people standing in front of us, so we had a good view.  Once we claimed a spot, Jesse and I went in hunt for breakfast and hot drinks to keep us warm (temporarily). Soon the parade was marching by, and it was so much fun seeing all of the bands and balloons. We were not in a spot to see any performances, but the marching bands did play as they came by, and several squads of cheerleaders and dance-lines stopped and put on a small show.

 (We had no idea the order of the parade, or even who the performers were. So on many of the floats famous singers rolled by and we had no clue. I'm still not sure who these guys were, but I learned of a few as I looked through our photos.)

(Duck Dynasty)

 (Please ignore my paleness reflecting with the flash here. I was very excited about the Wizard of Oz balloons. However, these balloons go by much faster than they appear to on TV. You only have the gap between the buildings to see them through, so it was challenging to snap a photo with our favorite balloon.)

(Fall Out Boy)

After the parade, we were off to lunch at Kat'z Dinner. You might recognize this as a famous and (..ahem..) arousing scene from When Harry Met Sally. Matt's instructions were to order the hot pastrami or corned beef sandwiches with a cream soda, so that's what we did! The sandwiches were stacked high with your meat of choice, and even with Jesse and me splitting a sandwich it was filling. Of course, not so much that we didn't get dessert. We chose carrot cake to get a little festive and feel like we were eating something that might be at the Thanksgiving table at home.

[Spoiler Alert: Stop here if you plan to see the Rockettes Christmas Spectacular one day and don't want to see anything before hand. It was my favorite, so I'm sharing a good bit about it, and it had a nice surprise, which I'll rave about. (This probably doesn't talk you out of not looking.) I'm not sure how much it changes from year to year.]

After a return to the apartment to rest and warm back up (this was pretty much a daily occurrence that was much needed), it was time to go see the Rockettes Christmas Spectacular at the Radio City Music Hall! I'm so glad Heidi wanted to do this and added it to our list because it wound up being one of my favorite things of the trip! It was amazing how in sync the girls were throughout the entire show. There was also a story line that went along with the show where Santa was helping a mom and daughter decide on what to get the little girl for Christmas. With such a theme of gift-giving it took what I thought was an unexpected turn for such a show, and as Christmas Eve came around the family read the true Christmas story from the Bible. The stage went black and then wise men began crossing the stage. Next the stage opened up into a hillside where the nativity was displayed, and all the Rockettes and extras gathered around in their elaborate and ornate "wise-men" costumes as "Oh Come All Ye Faithful" crescendoed. It was so beautiful, and I loved that they made such a big and magnificent deal about the birth of Jesus. It was unexpected, and the audience roared with applause. (I might have almost cried.) Then the Rockettes and other cast members came out for the grand finale, in their classic line up.

Radio City was gorgeous inside in the lobby area with it's enormous chandelier, in the theater portion which is also grand in size, and even in the bathrooms (or technically the women's lounge).

Many of the restaurants in New York are pizza or deli places, but we found and went to a fancier restaurant for our Thanksgiving dinner that afternoon. It was Trattoria Dopa Teatro, and Italian eatery. Jesse and I had red snapper with a lemon creme mushroom-artichoke sauce with a side of mashed butternut squash. Matt and Heidi stayed with the Italian theme and had lasagna. But the most amazing thing an appetizer of ricotta stuffed eggplant. Sounds simple enough, but it was like nothing any of us had ever had before. I'm not sure if it was just really fresh and good quality ricotta or what, but it was amazing. (So good that it was gone before we thought of taking a picture.) If you're ever in New York, you might want to track this dish down. Matt couldn't resist trying their Tiramisu, as well.

We were so full when we left, we had to show our appreciation of the delicious food we just consumed:

Heidi and I had developed a small long list of bakeries or sweet shops (as you might have already determined), so most of the time we opted to leave the restaurant and find one of the locations on our list for dessert instead. So on this night we headed to Magnolia Bakery. Most of the food bloggers I follow put this cupcake shop on their list of favorites in NYC. We were surprised they had very normal flavors of cake and frosting combos, so Heidi chose a vanilla cake will vanilla frosting and I picked a chocolate cake with chocolate frosting.  The chocolate was delicious. The icing was a little different because it had somewhat of a fudge-like texture and flavor.  They were not super special, but I'm glad we tried them.

During a walk at some point, we stopped at a street artist's stand. He paints cityscapes of New York with spray paint. We've seen videos online of artists like this before, and it's pretty amazing. (Check out a similar artist HERE.) We looked through his stack of paintings and chose one to bring home. :)

That's the end of Day 2. Day 3 coming up soon!

New York Vacation - Day One

Finally I'm sharing our vacation! I've been so anxious to share our trip with y'all, but I'm in my last week of classes for the semester and finals are next week, so I haven't found much time to type. New York was SO much fun! We saw, did, and ate a lot of exciting things! I'm going to do a quick run through of each of the five days we were there, so let's get started:

As you already know, we planned this trip with (and mostly thanks to) Matt & Heidi (aka - it was their original plan and they invited us along). We flew from Atlanta to LaGuardia airport in Queens and drove into Manhattan to find our lodging. Matt had found an apartment to rent for the week, which gave us a glimpse into city life there instead of being in a hotel room. (Plus we got two bathrooms, which was handy for four people getting ready early each morning!)  We dropped off our luggage, then took our hungry tummies out to find lunch.  What's a trip to New York without New York pizza, right? So John's Pizzeria was our first stop. (Note: there are pizza places on every single corner. You can't miss having pizza while you're there.)

We walked around a little and happened on Times Square.

Unfortunately the weather that day was rainy, so we only walked around a little bit after lunch before we realized we needed to return "home" and re-equip our outfits for the weather. We all got Subway passes and headed back out, this time to Grand Central Station Terminal. The architecture was grand and beautiful with massive staircases and the four-faced clock in the center.

(this is when the locals really know you're tourists, when you start taking photos on the Subway)

Next, we went in search of the first of many sweet treats. This stop was Dylan's Candy Bar - known for their delicious chocolate bars.  Don't let the name fool you, this shop was three floors full of candy! Heidi and I picked out several chocolate bars, which we all taste-tested immediately after walking out their door. Flavors include: Dark Chocolate Raspberry,  S'mores, Espresso, Cookies and Cream, and Bacon, among many others.

We passed by the Plaza Hotel, known in the film Home Alone. So we popped into the lobby area and observed it's grand style of chandeliers and bright red exterior carpet.

Then we popped into FAO Schwarz Toy Store, just to see what was inside. We learned everything is on a much larger scale in NYC - from stores to food. Again, three floors of toys and candy!

(this one's for you, Brother!)

By this time it was night and we walked through Times Square again. (We had passed by earlier in our walk.)  It was much more impressive after dark when all the lights and signs really pop.

It was also time to eat again, so we chose Ellen's Stardust Diner.  It's a popular place for tourists, and quite the attraction itself. All the waiters and waitresses are Broadway-hopefuls, and they take turns performing as you eat. They jump up on the stage in the center of the restaurant to sing and dance, and even come out and interact with the customers at times - a great atmosphere!

We weren't sold on their desserts, so we went to the Time Warner Center to Bouchon Bakery for their well-known macarons!  Heidi and I were very excited about this specific sweet, but we got there not too long before closing and they had been picked over down to one small platter of assorted desserts (only one flavor of macaron). We chose a few since we had come all the way there, but it didn't satisfy the two of us girls. We were coming back for more another day!

We took the Subway home to rest up for another day ahead.
Other sightings on Day 1:  The Late Show front, New Year's ball in Times Square, lots of very talented street performers, and a glass Apple Store which you took an elevator or staircase down into to shop.

It sounds like we didn't do all that much on this day, but we didn't have a truly full day because of travel, and there is lots of walking in between each thing you do.  We determined that must be why everyone there was fairly skinny. :)

Follow the rest of our trip: Day Two //  Day Three  //  Day Four  //  Day Five

A different kind of Thanksgiving

This year, as many of you already know, Jesse and I did not go home for Thanksgiving. Instead we decided to go on vacation with Matt and Heidi (so we were still technically with family during the holidays) to New York!  We had this planned far in advance, and I could. not. wait. I was SO very excited about this trip, and now that we've returned I can say the city definitely lived up to my expectations. We had an amazing time.

But before I talk more about that, I'd like to share the Thanksgiving we did have.  Our community group leaders, Mike and Kelsey, decided to host Thanksgiving lunch on the Sunday before Thanksgiving for everyone. They cooked the turkey (and a couple other dishes) and asked that we each bring a side dish. Between all of us we had quite the spread - including dressing, two sweet potato casseroles, Chris's now famous corn dish, and several others.

I was so glad we did this, because we still got to enjoy a Thanksgiving meal, and the best part is that it truly felt like family.  Even with Kelsey's parents in town and helping out, it didn't feel like we were jumping into their Thanksgiving. Sitting around with a table full of friends, some of which we didn't even know a whole year ago still seemed like a close-knit family.  We also went around and told something we were thankful for from the past year. And there is SO much to be thankful for, especially in just the situations and families present at the table that day. (We were still missing several people from the group, though.) And it was a sweet feeling to know that we have all been present in each other's lives to help see each other through sad and happy times this year.  Of course we did miss our real families during the holidays.  I think they've forgiven us for skipping out. ;)

Stay tuned for posts about our trip!  I've been getting pictures ready to share and trying to decide how to go about sharing - there's so much to talk about!

High Five for Friday

1.  We got back from our trip to New York on Sunday night. We had an awesome time there. More to come on that soon!

2.  I was really worried that the time I took to have a vacation over Thanksgiving break would kick me in the butt when I returned, but I survived my Pharmacology test and final skills assessment practical in CEVS. Yay!

3.  We went out with friends last night for pizza at the California Pizza Kitchen, where some of the proceeds helped to support the Alabama Baptist Children's Homes and Family Ministries, which is where one of our other friends works! It was fun to have a night out on the town after a stressful week, and even better that it benefited other families at the same time! Also, our pizzas were delicious. I was able to order a BBQ Chicken pizza, which Jesse usually vetoes. :)

4.  Our Christmas cards got ordered and arrived this week. I was able to take advantage of an awesome Cyber Monday deal through Cardstore.com.  Long story short, their site was slammed and resulted in many people having technical difficulties, where we could not submit our order by midnight. They were a kind enough company to honor the deal on Tuesday for those that had contacted them about the problems with their order on Cyber Monday. So we saved a TON on dollar$ on our cards this year, and they are awesome quality. I would highly recommend Cardstore. (Unfortunately I'm not compensated to say that...) Plus they fill your box up with colorful froo-froo stuff that makes you smile when you open your box!  Of course, you can't see them until they arrive in your very own mailbox!

5.  I stopped by the Goodwill on my way home from school today. They apparently have some kind of connection with Target, which I'm wondered about before. Several months ago they had 5 of the same skirts from Target which seemed odd. But this time, they had all kinds of Target stuff, including Christmas wrapping and decorations. I actually found some simple stocking holders that I eyed last year at Target for half their price! And another skirt for $4 bucks. Not bad, not bad.

Christmas decorating will ensue tonight! After we pick up the house from prior to leaving last week, and all of our stuff we dumped here and there upon return. It's been busy, I promise. But I'm excited to get our few decorations out.  I've been in denial a few days about it already being December. But I have done some (online) Christmas shopping this week, so that helps get the Christmas-juices flowing. :)

Enjoy your weekend, everyone!

New Beauty Favorites

Hello ladies!

Let's have a little beauty chat.  I've added some new products recently to my "arsenal" that I'm kind of in love with.  Most of this stemmed from my recent obsession of watching beauty reviews on Youtube and reading beauty blogs. Along the way I decided to invest in better beauty products than what I was using. I'm not into trying all kinds of new products really, I just want to find the best products for me.  I mentioned in an earlier post that I had replaced my pricier Estee Lauder foundation with Revlon Colorstay, and I also found a great eye liner. Since then I've been in search of a great palette of eye shadow, a primer, and a new moisturizer. Here's what I've found ( + a couple more):

1. Naked Palette (by Urban Decay) - I know, I know. It's all the rage in beauty land to be an owner of this infamous palette. I didn't really care about joining them, but after watching different reviews I realized all the perks this offers. You get such a wide variety of colors here, which I realize are mostly all shades of brown, but that was just what I was looking for. The palette I had prior had 4 neutral/brown shades, and in comparison, the shadows from the Naked palette blend together so much better. I also like that all but two of the colors have shimmer.  And their greatest quality is that they stay in place all day! With other brands I've used I would put it on in the morning and by that night it would nearly be gone. Now, this was definitely a splurge for me (well, really I used a gift card, so it was free-to-me) but it does come with a nice brush and a travel size of Urban Decay's eye primer which works really well.  A little bit goes a LONG way with these shadows because they are so pigmented, so I expect this palette to last a long time.

2. Benefit Primer - Earlier I mentioned my Revlon Colorstay foundation, and while I love it and believe it is one of the best long-wear products out there, by the end of the day it has faded some. It's something to do with my skin, which is not really oily or dry. It just sucks it up or something - but not as bad or as quickly as other foundations I've tried. Not being one to want to keep re-applying makeup throughout the day, I gave this primer a try. People talked about how it's a miracle product and keeps your makeup perfect all day. Not true. Other people say it dries up and makes their makeup look splotchy.  Not true for me. It comes as a stick, and I just draw lines with it all over my freshly-moisturized face and smooth it in with my fingertips. Then I immediately come behind it with foundation on a brush. So if some of the reviews are so bad, why do I like this?  It's a tacky kind of formula, and does grab onto the foundation and keep it on and looking fresh for longer. I definitely notice a difference when I do where it versus days that I don't. I would be willing to try a different primer in the future, but I think I will keep a primer in my makeup bag.

3. CND Vinylux Nail Polish - This polish makes me excited. Apparently it's supposed to be a salon only product, BUT you can buy them on Amazon (and probably other sites).  They come in a large variety of colors, and they are supposed to last for a week.  The key is to use the color and the top coat together, and it will cure in natural lighting, similar to gel-polish. I hate when I paint my nails and the next day they are so chipped it's time to take it off.  With this polish I notice the tips of my nails wear down a little, and occasionally there has been a chip, but overall it's the best polish I've ever used.

4. Simple Daily Moisturizer w/ SPF 15 - Time for a confession. Until recently I've been using the same acne-preventing moisturizer that I've used since... probably high school.  It's cheap, smells good, and I get overwhelmed at all the other options on the aisle, so I would just always buy the same ole same.  But I finally realized that I don't have such a big battle with acne anymore, and this moisturizer wasn't doing much for me. Again, overwhelmed by all of the choices, I spotted the Simple brand.  I've received samples in the mail from them as they were up and coming and liked all of their products so far. I chose their moisturizer with SPF15 for my skin, especially since my foundation doesn't have much sun protection.  This is a big bottle of moisturizer and a little goes a long way!  It has a hint of a sunscreen smell right when you apply it, but that goes away quickly.  It feels smooth and clean, but not greasy or oily. I put it on immediately before primer and foundation, and it doesn't feel thick or heavy under those. Definitely a good choice!  I'm considering getting one of their other options for using at night, since I don't need SPF then.

5. Revlon Colorstay Ultimate Suede LipStick - I picked this up a while back, with a coupon and some kind of deal I'm sure. I love this stuff. The color shown above is the color I have (Backstage), and it's quite bold but a pretty fall color. What makes this great is that it goes on like a normal lipstick or lip butter, but seconds after it kind of dries up into a stain. So you have to make sure it's in all the places you want it to be, but none you don't want it to be, and then you're good to go! The color stays on for hours and doesn't transfer much to napkins (or husbands. ;)  ).  I usually like to keep some chapstick around, or another lipstick, to apply over it after an hour or so because it can feel a little dry (like you can't rub your lips together smoothly) and to give it some shine.

If you have any questions for me about these products, please comment below.  You can also share your favorites!  Have you found any tried and true beauty products that you love?

High Five for Friday

Happy Friday!

It's been a while since I've done a high five,... or posted much of anything else, really. It's been a little busy around here. Let's link up with Lauren and recap this week:

1.  Last weekend we went home to celebrate Gene's birthday. We brought home some clays to shoot with him and had fun outside with those.  Marilyn and I gave it a try. It was the first time I had shot a shotgun, and while the act of shooting it went well, I didn't hit any targets.  Well, I hit one they put on the ground for me, but none in the air.  So I let the men finish off the rest.  We spent some time with both our parents while there, but it always seems too short.

2.  While home for the weekend we also went to McClelland's Critters, which is a small zoo in Banks. I vaguely remember going there with a church group as a kid, but it was a great experience even as an adult. You get to feed lots of animals, and Mike (the owner) gives a tour, which is very interactive. This is what makes this place so great and different from a larger zoo. You get to meet each animal and see their personalities.  You can tell that Mike loves each one of them.  If you live nearby, go check it out and help support this local attraction! Clicker HERE to see more from our visit.

3.  After the ride to and from home, Jesse's car reached its 200,000 mile mark! It's had a few problems here and there, and has had to be doctored up after encountering a few animals as well, but it's held up quite well.  It will probably be with us until its end.

4.  On Wednesday night, Jesse went to see our friend Mike's comedy show.  Mike works with 321 Improv, which travels all over the US doing shows at churches and events, providing clean yet hilarious comedy with a great message.  I think it's an amazing and somewhat rare opportunity that these guys have, to get up on stage and share their talent.  Growing up as a Christian, you always hear that God gives everyone talents and you should use them to glorify Him. Most would disregard "being funny" as a real talent and search out something else. But Mike's passion really shines through and he gets to share laughter and happiness with everyone he meets through his career.  I think it's awesome.  Anyway, they rarely have shows scheduled in Alabama (which is a shame, so those of you with input for events like this, give them a call - I promise they didn't put me up to this plug!), but this week it was at least within a 2.5 hour drive and Jesse was able to go.  This show happened to be paired with Harris III's magic show, which they sometimes get to tour along side. Jesse had a great time!

5.  Today my classmates and I got to pick up our second order of optometry equipment. Above you see my BIO, which is kind of like a fancy (read: expensive) head lamp, and the lenses I will use with it to see all of your retina! This time I even got to personalize a little bit of it. :)

Hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

From Our Kitchen - Apple Pie, Y'all!

Remember all those apples from this day?  What I forgot to tell you then was that we picked a total of 75 apples! Then we divided that up between the 3 couples.  So what did I do with 25 apples?  Made apple pie!.... twice.  Once was for the Pumpkin Carving party.  Then I was begged into making another to share with my friend Erika.  (How dare she!)  But that meant Jesse and I got to eat a couple more slices two.

Here's what I did. And I promise it was delicious.  Some said it was the best apple pie of their life.  Now, it could have been due to the fresh-from-the-farm apples, but I'll take the flattery. ;)

But first, let's have a chat about apple pie.  It's quite an important topic, or at least has been in our relationship. Apple pie is Jesse's favorite dessert. But not just any ole apple pie. Not one from the deli of the grocery store. And definitely not those in the little sleeves from McDonald's (do they still have those?!). It takes a homemade, made-from-scratch apple pie to please this man. I learned this early on in our relationship and slaved away over a few of them while trying to woo him.  My step-dad thought I was going to lose fingers over sliced apples once.
After preparing my very first pie, and bringing it to him with a huge smile on my face, I'm sure he said it was delicious, but he had to tell me that the next time I made one I should slice the apples really thin, just like.... his mom does it!  Ladies, when your mother-in-law is a good cook, you gotta step up your game!  Lesson learned: always consult the mama.  So I did, and she told me about this thing known as a mandolin slicer.  It really does make all the difference for the pie. Thinly sliced apples lay flatter against each other and make it easier to cut with your fork and eat. It also lets you pack in lots of apples, and we like more apples and less "sauce". And now you know our secret!

This is not Marilyn's actual recipe, but for this pie I combined a crust and filling recipe, mostly adapted for my pantry.  There is also method to this madness, which I learn the first go-round.
Click HERE for the recipe I used (and to print it).

Anything that begins with two sticks of butter is likely to be tasty, so go ahead and cube those two sticks, then put it back into the refrigerator. (This was the moment that my beloved camera died a sad and sudden death. I think I had a couple of pictures of...butter... but I've been too lazy to get them off the card. I grabbed my phone to take the rest of the pictures, so excuse the quality. These events will not effect the taste of your pie.)

Measure out your flour, sugar, and salt for your pie crust.  This time I made a revelation: I threw all of this into my stand mixer, turned it on "stir," and added the butter several pieces at a time. Just like when you use a pastry blender (which I don't have, which is why I was improvising) you want the dough to go from powdery to tiny, little pea-sized clumps. Once the butter is all cut into the flour mixture, add a couple of tablespoons of ice water, one at a time until the dough starts to stick together.  Be careful not to over-do it here, especially with the mixer which works fast. The less you mix it, the flakier your crust will be. Once it just begins to hold, stop mixing, and dump it onto your work surface. (I like using this silicone mat. It's like a Silpat, but from Aldi. Aka - cheaper. You're supposed to be able to bake on them, but that seems a little weird to me. Moving on...)

Divide your dough into two, and pat into rounds. Wrap them in plastic-wrap and pop them in the fridge to keep chilled.

Now work on your apples. Use a mandolin slicer, or just a knife and more patience than I have, and cut up your apples. It will probably take about 8 mid to large-sized apples to fill out your pie.  I didn't have any lemon juice to toss mine with, so I tried to work extra fast. This is also the time you add all of your sugar and spices to the apples, tossing to coat each slice.  Some recipes call for letting the apples sit in this sugar mixture for some time to let more juices flow. I prefer to keep on going without this step, mostly because by this point I can't wait to get the thing into the oven, because the sooner it's in, the sooner it's out and I can eat a slice. Plus it turns out just right with plenty of juice/moisture.

Next up, roll out your bottom crust. You may need to let it sit out a bit to warm up if you've made it ahead of time and it's really cold.  I like to smush the edges to keep the shape round as I roll, like this:

Once you've roll to size, flour the top surface and roll it up on your rolling pin (dusting the bottom of the crust with flour as you pull it off the counter).  Then drape it into your pie dish.

Dump in your apples. Smile because you're almost done, and this is going to be amazing.

Roll out your top crust, and roll it up onto your rolling pin, like before.

Top your pie with crust, and trim any excessive edges.  Leave about an inch all the way around so you can tuck the top crust under the bottom crust, and pinch them together. Make the edge as pretty as you want. I used a fork to press and seal all the way around.  At this point I realized that I did not add the additional tabs of butter on top of the apples that was in the recipe I was following.  After a slight moment of panic I decided that the two stick of butter in the crust would suffice, and it was true! No butter was missed, and we saved a few calories, right?

Brush the top with egg wash, cut a few small slits, sprinkle with a little sugar, and pop it in the oven.

And there you have it!  Glorious apple pie. Deliciousness that taste like Fall.  And your house smells all cinnamony (unless your pie dripped into the bottom of the stove and burned.... yep. Prevent that by putting an aluminum foil lined cookie sheet on the rack below - next time, next time). And enjoy! With a scoop of vanilla ice cream, of course. Can't forget that!

What's your favorite pie to make?  Or your favorite pie to eat during the Fall?