a (welcome home) list

1. Andrew and I spent this past weekend–Easter–in NYC. It was lovely. Tons of pictures were taken. Lots of good food eaten. Memories made. Blog post/posts coming this week, I hope.

2. Why is it that going on ‘vacation’ never seems like a vacation once you get home? Between spending all my Spring Break before NYC doing homework/studying/getting ahead, and then being gone for the rest, I need a vacation FROM my vacation!

3. It was snowing this morning here, and now it’s sunny. Pick one, Buffalo! I’ve been waiting a week to wash my car!

4. It’s kind-of tradition for us to order pizza when we get home from a road trip. There isn’t anything in the house, and we use it as an excuse to relax in front of the TV and savor the last moments of a trip before returning to ‘real’ life. Well, there was no pizza for us last night. Pasquale’s was closed yesterday, along with just about every other eatery in East Aurora. Kudos to all the local businesses for actually OBSERVING Easter! (It was greasy cheesesteaks for us from one of three open places.) I’m thinking of writing an Op-Ed piece for the paper…

5. Is it bad that I’m already anxious to get back to the pantry project? (Rather, for Andrew to get back to the pantry project.) I can’t help that I’m so goal-oriented.

Off to school for me! Lots to do, lots to do!

cinnamon roll joy

Ok, so I might have had two of these for breakfast this morning:

Every Saturday, Andrew and I do a special breakfast together, and I usually keep what I’m going to make a surprise. This morning, it was cinnamon rolls from Joy the Baker’s cookbook. Susy gifted the book to me last year and every time I open it I want to bake my way through it, a la ‘Julie and Julia.’ Seriously, everything in the book is mouthwatering.

Let’s just say these were a hit, filled with a cinnamon, sugar, maple syrup mixture with chopped pecans and golden raisins. The gooey liquid was bubbling away as I pulled them out of the oven. The picture above was taken before they were iced; I actually incorporated Pioneer Woman’s addition of maple flavor into the milk and powdered sugar icing.

*Note: I’ve been using PW’s cinnamon roll recipe since I got her cookbook awhile ago. They are amazing and wonderful and to die for. Her recipe also makes about 50, but she offers helpful freezing directions, so it’s all good.

The best part: the other half of the cinnamon rolls are in the freezer, just waiting to be devoured another day 🙂

reason number 5,937 I love my husband

He takes me to foreign countries and does 100% of the planning.

Yes, that is our schedule. All seventeen days are planned down to the minute.

I realize that it appears overwhelming and a bit much, but in truth, the overly planned schedule allows us to have the most flexibility possible. Basically, we have all the information at our fingertips, like bus and train schedules, as well as the locations and hours of all the places on our itinerary, which means we can decide to stick to the schedule, or fly by the seat of our pants, should we change our minds, need a coffee break or encounter a rainstorm. And plus, when you’re in these amazing places, it seems like such a waste NOT to make sure you see as much as you can. Andrew has planned all our trips this way and we get the best of both worlds; we see tons of stuff, but if we’re tired and need a change of pace in the middle of the afternoon, he’s prepared with the information we need to take a different train or go see something else instead.

I tell you what; for a girl who lives 365 days a year in constant ‘plan-every-moment-of-her-day-and-waste-no-time’ mode, a 17-day break in which Andrew takes over is absolute heaven.

Oh, and did I mention he’s working on his Italian?

Yeah, I got a keeper. In college, I thought I knew what I was in for, marrying Andrew. Just barely! I think his passion for travel makes up for the clothes he leaves on the floor…