YUM-O

Last night I invited my dad, cousins and their girlfriends over for a little dinner gathering at my place.  With all this spare time I've had lately on this oh so glorious summer break, I have been cooking and baking all the time, and I wanted someone to cook for!  I was so excited they were going to be coming, and couldn't wait to get into the details of what to make and then of course, actually cooking!

Well, C had Sunday and Monday off, so I went down to stay with him and left to come back home Tuesday, but took a few detours along the way as C's mom wanted to take me shopping! (I can't say no to that...) Soooooo I didn't get home until about 3:00 in the afternoon, to my utter disappointment my internet had still not been fixed when I got home.  OH NO, OH NO...I can't get on Pinterest and find a cool recipe for tonight! Fear Not sweet child!  That's what cook books are for!  I immediately zoned in on a Rachael Ray cook book we had on the shelf and thumbed through till I landed on a great tortellini with home-made pesto recipe, and over the weekend I had also had a delicious caprese salad. DING lightbulb, pasta with caprese salad, GENIUS! ANNNNND then come to find out the Verizon technician was scheduled to come later that day...which meant I would be held hostage at home waiting for him to come...OH NO...I can't even go to the grocery store!!!!  Well after waiting an hour for said technician, I decided to head to the store anyway just praying I wouldn't get the call while I was out...and wouldn't ya know...they called me while I was at the Teets.  "I'm at the grocery store, can you please tell your technician I will be at the house in 20 minutes." (meaning don't leave I will be back soon!)  I come pulling up the street to my house to see a Verizon van leaving, and I stopped in front of him rolled down my window, "Are you going to my house?"  ..."what's your address?"...I give him the address..."yes"...."K great, I'm home now so you can come back." (WHEW talk about the nick of time!)  So...I got my groceries and made it just in time for the Verizon man to come look at our internet.  Internet was fixed in about 20 minutes or so...WOOHOO, and I was already busy preparing for the evening.  Everything was relatively easy to make and tasted delicious.

Dinner is served

Three Cheese Tortellini in home-made pesto, with caprese salad

And for dessert: Pound Cake with strawberries and whipped cream :) Thanks Ben for this!

Left to Right: Ben (cousin), Me, Andrew (cousin), Andrea (Andrew's lady) annnnnd Dad is taking the picture

Dinner turned out to be a smash!  All around good food and good times were had!  Next time you're looking for a good meal!  Come to my little restaurant :)

Bon Appetite!

For Now We Live

This past Sunday I was blessed with a special treat.  Aside from the fact that I got to see the new Transformers movie with my babe (highly recommend), I had the privilege to attend an intimate dress rehearsal for up and coming Fredericksburg based band, For Now We Live, CD release concert!  Hosted in lead singer Ryan French's studio, this show was incredible, and I can't wait to see the full production this coming Friday in Fredericksburg.  The band found its name an roots in scripture, 1 Thessalonians 3:8.

Left to Right: Thomas Johnson, Ryan French, Josh Champ, and Jonathan Wiley

Our music is about pain, loss, regret, happiness, love...it’s about life. It’s about going through life flawed, without knowing what tomorrow will bring, and striving for that better tomorrow in the midst of our failures and imperfections. That’s what we’re about. Live life for today, for that’s what God has given us.-Jon Wiley guitar/vocals

Left to Right: Jason Kahmoreei, David Humphrey

I encourage you to go check the rest of their bio and music at their reverbnation site.  They have an edgy, modern, electric rock sound with lyrics that speak to generations of sinners, searchers, and beautiful hot messes.  These guys are a talented bunch that put on a great show!  If you're in the area and looking for something to do, come check out For Now We Live's CD Release concert at 6:30 The Rubicon Cafe in Fredericksburg, VA tix are $7 in advance and $10 at the door.  C and I will be there, will you?

SHARKFEST! and other assorted adventures...

Aaah, this weekend C and I just decided to pick up and go. OK, so it wasn't actually as simple as I just made it sound...but once we actually figured out where we could and wanted to go, we packed up and hit the road for an easy breezy weekend getaway.  Where did we go?  To non other than my childhood summer vaca stomping grounds, Solomon's Island!

C's dad was able to sponsor us to get us onto the Naval Recreation Center there where we were able to camp at a steal of $40 for two nights!

Friday we grabbed some Chick-fil-A for lunch...and somehow missed the memo that is was Dress Like a Cow Day at the famed establishment...because we weren't dressed like cows we could not receive FREE chicken...but we still purchased out delectable poultry lunches and devoured them!

we did snag these oh so cool cow hats to show our enthusiasm. MOOOOOOOO!!!!!

After lunch we picked up some essentials at the nearby Giant and then proceeded to the island.  First stop, visitor's center.  We quickly discovered two of the town's cute little antique shops.  Yes, C actually enjoys checking out antique shops with me.  One of them used to actually be the town's original post office!  The post office portion of it, a mere set of shelves with cubbies, and a desk is still there and on display.  The woman working there was delightful, and we even got to chatting about her son and my brother both stationed in the middle east right now.  She shared that she makes these cool little neck-cooling wraps to send to her son and the other soldiers, and gladly supplied the directions for me.  Not sure if I'll get one made before my bro's time is up, but still a good idea.  If I actually make one, I'll definitely post it here.

We also discovered that the nearby museum was sponsoring Sharkfest the following day.  SCORE!  We totally knew what we would be doing Saturday.

Later, Corey's dad was finally able to meet up with us and we could check in to our camp site.  After setting up camp, we took the bikes for a whirl around the rec center.  Man oh man, things have really changed since the last time I was there.  The pier and the pool were still there just as I remembered, but the pier's snack stand is no longer operational, and it just wasn't as lively as I recall.  Man, that place used to be hopping with people fishing and crabbing, now, granted there was a storm a brewing and they were getting people off the pier, I still remember there being LOTS more people, and the fact that the snack stand hasn't been operational in years, another bummer.  I ALWAYS got ice cream on the pier!  The pool was just as I remember although they added two water slides and took away one of the diving boards.  I remember the rec. center had more houses you could rent...now it's mostly just campground, boat storage, and RV sites.  I was sure there was more housing than that when I was there.  No matter, we still had a blast.

For dinner we decided to hit up one of the local places, Ruddy Duck.  Unfortunately we were a little disappointed, the food was OK...nothing special, and definitely overpriced.  The live band was the only thing that gave the place character, other than that, it was sub-par.  We wished we had opted for a waterfront restaurant instead and will definitely hit up some place else next time.   That pretty much wrapped up the excitement for that night for us.  We spent the rest of the evening playing cards and just talking in the tent since the storm came in.

Saturday morning, we woke to the cool morning air and the sun shining.  Made some delicious pancakes.

And proceeded to seize the morning with a sunny bike ride around the waterfront section of the island.

After a little whirl around the water, we cycled up to the museum for the much anticipated Sharkfest!!!  The Calvert Marine Museum was actually really neat and they had lots going on with Sharkfest.  We learned that the town in Solomon's Island was originally established as an Oyster town.  There were lots of beautiful boats at the museum, and aquatic animal exhibits as well.

We HAD to take mermaid and pirate themed photos!

 

Fossilized poop anyone?

Sharkfest would not be complete without looking at the innards of a real shark!

These guys came from one of THESE GUYS!

 

We tried to be cute...but then we remembered WE'RE IN A SHARK CAGE!!!!

 

Chesapeake Bay Aquatic life!

WE LOVE OTTERS!!! (Strange but true!)

I want this one...he want's that one...can't we just have both?

 

Gorgeous lighthouse!  We debated about living there...as much as I loved it, I couldn't stand the isolation...C on the other hand was ALL for it!

C is quite the natural lighthouse keeper it appears.

 So after kicking it shark style we loaded up and went back to camp where we enjoyed hot dogs, and lounged at the pool for a bit.  I then proceeded to nap for about an hour or so in the hammock due to a raging headache, meanwhile C packed up most of our stuff so we had less to do the next morning.  C woke me up when he started cooking burgers and corn! Yum!!!  After dinner we got cleaned up and decided to head out for a night on the town.  Things got a little interesting...

Some creepy guy set up camp outside of McDonalds with all these snakes, lizzards, and turtles. Just what I needed right before getting some sweet tea and gelati...

We took our sweet tea and gelati to the river walk for an evening stroll.  Such a perfect night for it.  The rain from the previous evening left us nice and cool.  Found this beautiful little church on the water with pretty stained glass window.

 THEN....we found the TIKI BAR!!!!

Enjoyed one of their signature Mai Tais.  Next time will have to try their famous Orange Crush (made from fresh squeezed orange juice).

All in all, a delightful, easy, and FUN get away that we will surely do again hopefully soon!

 

These are the last words Solomon's Island sends you off with :)

Ciao for now!