Thursday, December 20, 2012

Season's Greetings


Season's Greetings from New Jersey!


We hope everyone has a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! 

Tuesday, December 11, 2012

Queen for a Week

It has been a tradition that Scott, my brother and I make a trip over to Europe every other year the first weekend in December for a Christmas market.  This year being that year, we had talked about plans earlier in the year until Scott got the news that he had been waiting a year for which was that he was offered the job that he has wanted in the same firm and that he would start August 1st (while we were on vacation in Wisconsin).  During Scott's first month on the new job, we were in Wisconsin, had the Sanger's up for a trip to the shore and went to St. Marteen for my birthday!  Scott was running out of days quickly so the three of us decided to scrap the trip over to Europe this year and go next year instead.  That meant I had vacation time to use so why not use it. 

I had personally met Suze for the first time when she was in NYC for a long weekend with a friend and then again when I was over in England in May.  After telling Suze the news that we weren't going to a European Christmas market, we talked about meeting somewhere since she had a few vacation days to use too.  With events going on in her life it seemed best to just head over to see her and tour all that Northern England has to offer.

The trip began with about an hour to an hour and a half sleep on the flight (I never sleep well on flights).  I was greeted by Suze at Manchester Airport where there were like a whole 5 people at the airport so definitely not hard to find each other.  We loaded up the Benz with my luggage and off to meet Phil and Master Rocky.  After freshening up we hit the Trafford Mall for some holiday shopping and got to see first hand the wonderful array of outfits, hair and scouse brows.  Oh my!!!  I hung in pretty well that day and managed to rally for a night at the pub with a pub quiz where team "Everything but the dog" place 4th (there were more than 5 teams). 

The next day Suze and I took Rocky for a walk in the fields which was beautiful. Nice clear blue skies, rolling English countryside and one very happy dog. We headed off to Chester where we had an Indulgent Champagne Afternoon Tea at the Chester Grosvenor Hotel. My first ever afternoon tea and it was fabulous! 


 It was time to hit the streets to see the Victorian style buildings and do a little Christmas Shopping.





We went to see Ben Folds Five that night at the Apollo who was spectacular.  A good mix of his new album and some old favorites!  The opening act was nothing to talk about.  A good laugh and I will leave it at that. 

Friday was a day of relaxation! We had a lovely lunch in Congleton, massages and manicures in Alderley Edge followed by pre-dinner drinks and then dinner at The Botanist.  While we were getting our nails done, a few 16 year old girls came upstairs after getting whatever they were getting done and to what would our eyes see, but this absolute perfect match of cultures before our very eyes.  I mean who would even imagine this (blonde hair and all) 



with a pair of these on



It happened people.  It really happened.  First we were laughing at the onesie becuase we had seen a few at the mall the other day and were thinking to ourselves who would really wear this.  Then the clash of the cultures happened and it was over.  Unfortunetly as our nails were being painted in shades of teal and blue we couldn't snap a photo of the actual outfit together, but I am sure you get the idea!





It was a wonderful relaxing day!

Saturday, we met up with a few of Suze's friends in Manchester for the Christmas markets.  They were PACKED.  I mean it was December 1st so everyone was loaded with cash in their bank accounts and were in full force out and about in the city.  We enjoyed a few warm ciders, before heading to a warmer indoor facility which serves drinks.  We had a few more with Suze's friends and we headed off to meet Phil at Brew Dog.  We enjoyed a pint there and then headed to dinner before seeing The Lancashire Hotpots!  They were a riot and truly a fun time.  Suze had warned me that a conga line would potentially be happening at the event but I think her and Phil were a little surprised to see me in the conga line!

Sunday was my last full day in England and we went for a hack where Suze goes riding.  It was a bit icy that morning but it was beautiful day to get up and enjoy the scenery.  I was given Bounty and Suze was given Itchy to ride that morning.  Bounty was more interested in having a morning snack than heading out to the fields for a ride but she managed to rally and get going.  Itchy on the other hand obviously enjoyed breakfast earlier and was letting it out during the hack.  Unfortunately I was down wind from Itchy during the hack and got a few full wafts of Itchy's breakfast.   Not Pleasant.  Needless to say, Itchy is not called Itchy and Gassy.  Nice Suze! 


We got back from the hack and quick changed and headed to meet their friends John and Laura for a hike.  We did a 10k hike where we met a French speaking man and English speaking man man walking his dog who starting speaking in French when he approached us and then Phil jumps in with his French and then the man starts speaking English.  WTF?  We were all stumped by this but had some good laughs and finished off the hike before dusk and headed to the local pub for a early dinner.  It was a great day to be out for a hike and clear the head! 



 We made it back to where Phil and Suze live and got Rocky in the house and then headed to see the Village Christmas lighting and market.  Not too much going on in in the village market but Suze and I went for a piece of cake which was so good at the little teashop in town.  We met Phil at the pub for a few last pints before the band came on and forced us to leave (due to their lack of singing abilities). 

I had a wonderful trip with and amazing Host, Hostess and greeter!  

Friday, November 2, 2012

Sandy

As we sit here in Day 5 of no power, we are thankful for a lot of things.  We are lucky that our house was not hit by trees, we have running water and a hot water heater that works, a generator to keep our sump pump and fridge working but more importantly we are all safe and no one in my family was hurt. 

I will share a few photos of some homes in our town:






Back in August, Scott and I introduced the Sanger's to the Jersey Shore.  The Jersey Shore is devastated from the hurricane and I wanted to show a few pictures from Spring Lake, NJ where we were with the Sanger's riding our bikes along these roads. 

 Picture of the remaining boardwalk in Spring Lake, NJ
 Piece of the boardwalk that ended up 4 blocks away from the ocean.



 The boardwalk with none of the "boards" on anymore. 

Jersey is keeping Jersey Strong!  We will recover!

Wednesday, October 24, 2012

Cookie Exchange

The holidays are quickly approaching, some stores already think Christmas is here, and a few girlfriends and I are doing a Cookie Exchange for the first time this year. 

We are doing it a little different in that we are each choosing 2 recipes and meeting at my house and baking all of the cookies that day.  At the end of the bake-a-thon we will be walking home with cookie tins full of all varieties of cookies!  Here is the question to you all:  What type of cookies should be my 2?  What are your favorite type of Christmas Cookies?

I was thinking of this little gem as a possibility:  Spritz

And maybe these as my 2nd option. - Linzer Cookies


Here is the problem, I love dessert and love so many types of cookies (mainly those without chocolate in them) that it is hard to choose just two.  I also feel they should be "different" from the norm to add some character.  What do you all think?

Monday, October 8, 2012

Iron and Candy

A day late with this post but we were busy yesterday so that is a good excuse! 

Yesterday, we celebrated our 6th Wedding Anniversary!  Everyone always says time flies.  It is so true since it doesn't seem like it was seriously 6 years ago that I was walking down the aisle and getting married.  Needless to say, it has been a wonderful 6 years and I look forward to many more!


Friday, October 5, 2012

Before and After 40

I am still at 40lbs down and holding!  I have been working out with a personal trainer once a week since March and although the scale hasn't moved I have dropped another pant size due to "trimming the fat".  I am not complaining there! 

When I started to loose the weight a  lot of people kept saying "Wow you lost a lot of weight in your face.  I didn't think your face was that big."  I think these pictures below of the before and after truly show that.




I officially went from a size 12 (probably should have been a 14 but I refused to buy a 14) and now I am a 6!  It took me from May 17, 2011 till a little before March 15, 2012 to reach my goal of 40lbs. 

It amazes me how much I let myself go considering how hard you have to work to take it off.  During the 10 months it took me to loose the weight, I had set milestones up so that I would push myself to get to a certain weight lost by that certain date.  Most of the dates dealt with vacations.  Heather helped me to the first one because we were headed on vacation with each other to the OBX and we both wanted to loose 15lbs by then.  Although I missed each of my milestones by a few pounds and ultimately didn't reach my goal by Christmas which was our trip to Hawaii I was damn close and ultimately felt good about me and who I was then. 

How did I do it?  Running lots of miles.  It started with barely going out for 2 miles and then slowly adding on and on until I hit my max mileage of 8 miles in August 2011 and it felt great!  I did watch my portion sizes but not once would I not have dessert or that something special because in my mind you need to enjoy life and I refuse to "give up" the things that I truly enjoy.   

Today I still set goals which help me going.  I recently completed my first ever half-marathon, I still work out with the personal trainer once a week at my house, I still go out running, I still watch my portions although I don't eat nearly as much because now my stomach gets full quicker as it is used to smaller portions and I still eat and drink that things that I enjoy.  It is the balance that I keep to enjoy life and keep healthy. 

What is the next milestone?  Scott and I are talking about running the NYC half marathon in March as long as it falls before our trip to Hawaii. 

Sunday, September 23, 2012

My Sunday

My sunday went a little like this.

Mile 8
Mile 9

 Mile 11


Finish Line:  2:26



The reward for running 13.1 miles- Banana Foster French Toast!

Thursday, September 6, 2012

Welcome to Jersey


New Jersey or as some may say "Joisey" has a lot to offer other than reality TV shows such as Jerseylicious, Jersey Shore, Housewives of New Jersey, The Sopranos, Cake Boss and many more.  After our last trip down to Raleigh to see the Sanger's a plan was put in motion for them to come see all that the Jersey has to offer.  The details were all worked out and we were ready to greet them upon their arrival to Casa de Tune.

The day was here and the room was all set with some new attire for the Sanger's trip to the shore. 
It is hard to read what the hat says that Heather is sporting here but it is a bright yellow hat that reads "Jersey Girl" in fluorescent colors.

We headed to Sea Girt (aka Secret beach to Jason) and checked in to The Beacon House which is a block off the beach.  We had a few days of the beach which was good weather on all but one day. 



We enjoyed some blood orange vodka and soda cocktails before a few dinners (compliments of the Sanger's from their trip to the Dog Fish Head Brewery) . 


Had some good meals including the Lobster mac and cheese below

Watched the fist pumper's start lining up during dinner to get into the Parker House


Skipped a few lines and went VIP style into the Parker House


Enjoyed the $1 beers at the bar




Then headed back to our place for a serious game of Monopoly Deal. 


The loser of the game had to run a lap around the block which lead to a little road block with a guy getting pulled over for drinking. 


Enjoyed some fine local Jersey shore treats after a bike ride.

It was now time to settle the score of the BLT's.  We headed back to Casa de Tune on Saturday just in time to turn it around and make a trip over the George Washington Bridge and down the Major Deegan to exit 5:  Yankee Stadium.  With bleacher seat tickets in hand and the sun shining we watching the Yankees take on the Red Sox.  Let's just say that the Bad Luck Tune's (BLT's) have officially lost their name with the Red Sox winning on our home turf.  Needless to say, we all had a good time at the game besides the sun being a little too warm and never wanting to go under cloud cover.







We headed back to Casa de Tune for one last Jersey style meal and introduced the Sanger's to a thinny thin pizza.  It is the bomb.  Just imagine a very thin pizza with a burnt cheese crust. 


The Sanger's left on Sunday morning to make the drive back to Raleigh but Jersey will always have a home in the Sanger's house!