32 isn't so bad...

When you have a husband like mine :)

He seriously made me feel special this year.  He always goes above and beyond but this year was especially nice.

My birthday was Monday so we started the celebration the Saturday before.

Husband made reservations at an adorably upscale bed and breakfast in a little town in Pennsylvania about 2 1/2 hours south of us.

Introducing Hotel Fauchere.  This place was seriously incredible.  Upon checkin, we were greeted with a glass of wine (for Nick, anyway) and surprised to have our room upgraded to the best room in the house.

We spent a lot of time relaxing on our private balcony.  Nick was in love with the marble covered bathroom.  The hotel dates back to 1852 and the room had some of the original charm intact but was tastefully updated and very comfortable.

Milford, PA, where the hotel was located felt like a town forgotten by time... it was one little main street with quaint shops and restaurants.  We went out for a quick walk before dinner and being 6 months pregnant, I naturally made Nick take me to the old-fashioned candy shoppe for fudge and penny candy.  Had we not had dinner reservations shortly thereafter I'm sure I would've stuffed my face with ice cream as well ;)

That night, we enjoyed a fantastically creative 7 course dinner.

Yes, that is a potted "plant" salad, a rock (with sliced bear) and a log (with foie gras) used as plates and on the bottom left is puffed clay.  Who knew you could eat clay?  It was surprisingly not bad.  For as odd as it looks, this dinner was delicious.

After dinner, we retired to our room to find a placard on the bed stating that if we chose, we could call the front desk for cookies, cold milk and a bed time story delivered to our room.  We were a little leery of the bed time story so we passed.  But cute thought, right?

As if being pampered with an overnight get-away wasn't enough, husband surprised me with the most amazing birthday gift... the DSLR camera I've been lusting after for a year.  I can't wait to learn how to use this thing.  Taking pictures of Bakmi with this will be so much better than with our little point and shoot.  The dogs will probably get tired of being my test subjects over the next few months.

Then on Monday (my actual birthday), I was presented with this gorgeous arrangement at my office.  I love surprise flower deliveries!  They were so fragrant that my office smelled incredible all week.  Now they're sitting on my kitchen table, still as fresh as they were 6 days ago.

The finale of birthday weekend was a dinner at one of our favorite places in Albany, Cafe Capriccio.

So.  No complaints about turning 32.  I had an amazing weekend with my favorite person and still feel like a 25 year old :)

Grandma's Cardinals

This is my grandma (and grandpa) Plue, my mom's mom, and me at 9 months old.

She passed away years ago.  December 9, 1999 to be exact.

I miss her.

My mom, grandma and I were quite close.

I have so many fond memories of going to Grandma's house to sit around the kitchen table for hours of Canasta, Rummy or Rack-O games.  The three of us used to have pretty fierce matches that would last all day.  The conversation and laughs we shared over those cards are priceless to me and one of the reasons I hope to be lucky enough to have a daughter someday (maybe October?).  The bond that the three of us had was so incredible and I hope to have the same with my mother and my daughter.

My grandma loved cardinals.

She had cardinal figurines/pictures/magnets all over her house.  

To this day, anytime I see a cardinal I'm reminded of her.

I've been thinking of her quite a bit throughout this pregnancy.  Her birthday was October 26.  My original due date was October 24 (now the 22nd) but I can't help but hope that my baby will be born on her birthday.  And after nearly a year of trying to get pregnant I can only think that she had some hand in the fact that this was finally my month.  And the fact that I found out on her daughter, my mother's birthday.

I also truly feel like she's become this baby's guardian angel of sorts.  Since becoming pregnant I've seen cardinals everywhere.  Only one at a time, but the sightings have been frequent.  The first happened while I was with a client, standing on her back porch looking at the yard.  My gaze immediately fell upon a cardinal.  

The next sighting, and perhaps the most poignant, happened while Nick and I were at my OB's office for the first time, around 11 weeks pregnant.  We were sitting in the doctor's office, at her desk when we heard a persistent tapping at the window to our left.  After a few minutes, Nick tapped my shoulder and pointed.  I looked over and saw a cardinal sitting on the window ledge just outside the window, tapping on the glass with it's beak.  If that wasn't a sign that my grandma is watching over this child, I don't know what is.

I've seen several more beautiful, red birds since and hope to keep seeing them.  It brings me a peace.  A peace that this baby is looked after.  A peace that my grandma is still a huge part of my life, even after being gone from my physical life for over a decade.  A peace that our bond is still just as strong.  

A peace that she's always with me.

This Thanksgiving I'm thankful for year-old cake.

Much to Bella's joy, my parents drove in from the 'lou for a Thanksgiving-week visit.

Much to Bella's dismay, they were here to see me and the husband.  Not her.  Ok, maybe her too.

And Miles.  Poor, tortured Miles, looking completely dejected in his sweater. 

Being the nice dog parents we are, we let him take it off.  So he could kill it.

Then we started the week off on the right foot with a Pre-Thanksgiving feast.  Italian-style.  'Cause, you know, everyone needs a 3,000 calorie meal four days before a 5,000 calorie Thanksgiving dinner, right?

And then we had cake.  Yes, we are those dorks who adhere to the old "let's keep the top-tier of wedding cake in our freezer for an entire year and eat it at our first anniversary!" tradition.  

Now obviously we missed our anniversary.  But look at the size of that cake people!  There was no way we were going to eat that without some help.  Or without subjecting loved ones to freezer-burned buttercream.

In actuality, the cake wasn't that bad.  The frosting was a bit chalky but the cake and filling tasted just like they did at our wedding.  Or so I'm told.  I didn't get cake at our wedding.  Not sure how that happened. 

The week of my parents visit was, per-usual, jam-packed with fun things to do.  What's a vacation if you actually get to relax, right?

First up was a New York State Restaurant Association dinner honoring my wonderfully-talented father-in-law, Chef Yono, for the Faces of Diversity award he received earlier this year from the National Restaurant Association. 

Here we are looking pretty.

 And here we are in the limo we surprised my parents with.

Remember this?  Because of that, we rode in style for the evening.  For free.  Suck on that, Unnamed Transportation Company.

We look happy, no?  Doesn't mean you're off the hook for last year's debacle.

More highlights of the visit:

Lunch with the Plue-family patriarch, Great Uncle Art.

Lunch with my dad's fourth grade teacher, Shirley, who is now basically a member of the family.

 Mom drinking a Sweet Carolyn at dp.  Named for me, duh.  Mom loves martinis at dp.  I love watching Mom drink martinis at dp.  Tipsy Mom is hilarious.

Aren't we precious?  Please ignore the fact that my shoulders are up to my ears.  I always forget that this is NOT a flattering way be photographed.

 Mom and me, post 5,000 calorie Thanksgiving dinner.  If only I hadn't been so preoccupied with stuffing my face then I would've gotten a shot of the dinner table over-flowing with food so good that I ate leftovers for breakfast, snack, lunch, snack and dinner the next day.

Don't you just love food Thanksgiving?



Happy Birthday Mommy!

Isn't she beautiful? I think I'll keep her :)

Meet Miles and Bella

Ah, my little monkeys. Well, technically they're long-haired dachshunds. And believe it or not, Bella (on top of the chair) is supposed to be of the miniature variety. haha. They are quite possibly the laziest, most spoiled dogs in existence.

But we love 'em... when they're not peeing on things, anyway ;)

How sweet is that little face (and those adorable little paws!)?

Miles has daddy wrapped around his finger (er, claw?)... guess he can't resist those sad puppy eyes.