Ketchup

I have some serious catching up to do. The last month has been pretty crazy- from Boise to New York, Tahoe, Blackfoot, and then Denver- we've been living out of suitcases and Hannah's been crammed into a pac 'n play. So here's an attempt, probably not chronological, to post about what we've been up to:

Ryan and I took a trip to New York sans baby. The main purpose of our visit was to go to really great restaurants. We did manage to squeeze in some of the obligatory tourist destinations as well, but the best part was eating the most delicious food. The picture above is of our favorite restaurant we ate at- Per Se. Thomas Keller (of the French Laundry) owns it and it was outstanding. We had the most amazing food and the experience and service were fantastic. Some examples off the tasting menu we had:

"Sabayon" of Pearl Tapioca with Island Creek Oysters and Sterling White Sturgeon Caviar

Golden Beet "Cannelloni", Heirloom Beets, Watercress Leaves and Juniper Berry "Gastrique"

"Blueberries and Popcorn"

Cornmeal "Financier," Candied Popcorn, Blueberry Parfait, Lemon Verbena Gelee and Popcorn Sorbet

Needless to say, after the 9+ courses and endless chocolates and truffles, we decided to rent bikes and ride around Central Park so that we would have room for the other places we wanted to eat at. We also enjoyed our meals at Jean-Georges, Caracas Arepas Bar, Grimaldi's, and Max Brenner for the most delicous milk chocolate milk shakes. Besides all of the eating, we went to Ellis Island, saw The Lion King, watched the opening night gala at the Metropolitan Opera on huge screens in times square (nothing like opera mixed with the sounds of cars and sirens), and went to the Tenement Museum and MOMA. All in all a great trip.

Ryan on the ferry to Ellis Island

Federal Hall (site where G. Washington was inaugurated)

Ryan semi-annoyed that I'm taking a picture of him eating pizza- too touristy for him!

Posing with David Blaine when he was doing this stunt in Central Park- notice the umbrella girl- what a fun job!

Post trip- at my friend Wendy's wedding in South Lake Tahoe. It was the first time I've ever had my hair styled in a salon and it was fun to be pampered like that. It took 41 bobby-pins to get it to stay!

Hannah hunting for animals in Blackfoot with Grandpa.....

You don't need a permit to hunt for this kind of elk!

Hannah

Lately, Hannah has been saing the cutest and funniest stuff ever! (I may be a little biased....) So I thought I should at least write them down so that I wouldn't forget.

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The other day we were at a furniture store and I had to take her outside due to some really high energy she was exhibiting. So we were outside dancing around and singing the song from Mickey Mouse Clubhouse- the one that goes something like "hot dog, hot dog, hot diggity dog" (she loves it by the way) and after we had finished she kept bouncing around and singing "doggie poop, doggie poop"- this made me start laughing and she looked up at me and said "Mom, that's my special song. It's my very special song for my birthday cake." She was dead serious.

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She was on a roll that night (it must have been the chocolate granola bar that I bribed her with in the store to stay in her stroller) - I was holding her outside and she started reaching for the sky saying "I want to go to the sky. I can't reach it- I need a balloon to go to the sky"

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And a few minutes later she put both of her hands on my cheeks and said "Mom, I'll give you ice cream if you promise to be a good Mommy!" Ok- I promise.

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When I was eating soup the other night Hannah asked if she could try some. When I gave her a spoonful she said "Oh Yummy! Now my tummy feels so happy. " I gave her another bite and she said "My tummy isn't grouchy anymore!"

Vacation Fun

Roasting marshmallows in the backyard firepit

Playing in the fountain at the farmer's market

Here are some funny things that Hannah has said while on vacation:

She got out a little flute and tried to play it. It took her a few tries, but once the sound came out she said "Mom, look....I fluted!"

When she woke up from her nap the other day she started yelling "Mom, whatcha doin'?" until I came and got her.

Scan Toaster

"Sometimes two slices of toast on a plate can look pretty dull and unappetizing, but imagine if you could jazz up this boring breakfast staple with a cool picture or a sweet note to your significant other -- that would be pretty neat, right?
The Scan Toaster makes that possible. The toaster, by designer Sung Bae Chang, uses hot wires that rotate within a 30 degree radius to burn the image or text of your choice onto your toast. Since this thing can print literally anything, the possibilities are endless."- from Serious Eats

Too bad this is still in the design phase. Now that I'm going to have a bigger kitchen, I would have room for this!

crazy month

August has been crazy around here. On top of the usual stuff going on- we're moving. So with all of the logistics involved with that, blogging has taken a back seat. It's not that I really ever posted a lot, but still...... I haven't been taking many pictures lately. So hopefully I can get that going again soon. It's our last week here so we're trying to fit in visits to Disneyland, the beach, going away parties, and saying goodbye to great friends. We've moved around a lot in the past 7 years that we've been married and it never gets any easier. It seems like the last month or so I start wishing that I had seen more things in the area, or spent more time doing this or that. But mostly I think about missing the friends I've made. That's always really hard. Anyway, we'll be staying with family for a few weeks and then flying to Denver to our new apartment. If you come and visit us, then you can see this outside of the airport....

Top Chef

Look who I got to meet on Saturday- Antonia and Richard from Top Chef! It was at the Top Chef Tour- basically a giant semi-truck pulled trailer hitting 20 cities across the country. They do cooking demonstrations and meet the "cheftestants" at each location. Richard was my favorite one on the show so I was really excited when I found out that he would be at the Los Angeles site. These chefs are amazing and really likeable in person. It was fun to watch them cook and answer questions about food or about the show, giving anecdotes and behind the scenes information. Apparently, Richard is going to open up a hamburger restaurant called "Flip" which will have the world's first liquid nitrogen milkshake bar. Sounds interesting.

at the beach

Hannah and her friends at the beach- thanks for the picture Rachel.