the answer to everything is Pasquale’s

Well, the Elm Street Bakery turned out to be a bust last night. Not through any fault of their own; we didn’t arrive until after 8:15 due to Andrew’s basketball game and they had sold out of all their dinner items. So, in true Layer fashion, Andrew suggested Pasquale’s…

Let me just pause here for a minute. For the Layers, Pasquale’s really is the answer to everything. Get home late from being out of town? Order pizza. Abigail home from college for the weekend? Order pizza and wings. Bored around lunchtime on Saturday? Go to Pasquale’s. Seriously. We had it four times in three days once. Don’t get me wrong, I love their pizza and wings… I just try not to eat it all the time.

Anyway, back to last night. Normally, we don’t even go out to eat for Valentine’s Day because of the crowds; I usually make a nice dinner at home, but with my busy schedule lately, I didn’t plan anything. Elm Street was really only supposed to be dessert, but Andrew wanted real food.

So, we head over to Pasquale’s (after I bought a pink and purple M & M cookie at Elm Street, you know, in case Pasquale’s didn’t have any desserts I wanted.)

We exchanged gifts, and in true V-day tradition, Andrew got me an assortment of Fowler’s chocolates:

I was so incredibly proud of myself; I cut a piece of andrew’s pizza in half and did the same to my dessert and put it in to-go box and out of sight right away. I even had a glass of Lambrusco as well!

BTW, Andrew LOVED his bag of junk food. But you what he said when we got home? That he was glad I got the small bags of chips and things so he wouldn’t eat too much. Awww, music to my ears.

they came, they saw, they ate pt. 2

Emily and Dan visited us this weekend. I couldn’t bring myself to lug around Andrew’s huge camera (sad), so there are very few photos of our weekend (even more sad.) Emily sent me a couple and we had a couple, taken in the room.

Guess I’ll just have to paint very good word pictures for you all…

We were blessed with INCREDIBLY good weather this weekend. Picture blue skies, white fluffy clouds and high temps (high 70s to mid-80s). They couldn’t have come on a better weekend. In fact, our Ohio natives thought we’d been lying to them this whole time about how cool and comfortable it is here in the summer.

We had to start with the best Friday night: Pasquale’s pizza and wings (you can read more about it here). We ate there and the pizza was a little greasy, but both Dan and Emily loved the wings. We walked off some of our meal and then visited Abigail while she was working at Fowler’s. Emily and Dan got to sample sponge candy and we sampled various flavors of ice cream before settling on our choices. We went out for another walk through the village, pointing out cute houses here and there near Hamlin Park.

I awoke bright and early Saturday morning and was surprised that our guests were up at just about the same time–before 7 a.m.! What is it about sleeping in an unfamiliar place that causes one to get up so early??

I went for a quick run, Emily did the elliptical and Dan ran on the treadmill. If you noticed that Andrew was conspicuously absent from the line-up, he was. He could have been found snoozing away in bed!

After our cardio session, Emily and I started up P90X yoga. I’d never done yoga for more than an hour, so I knew this would be a workout. Dan was a lifesaver and took Hadrian for a walk since he (the dog) was pretty much in the way no matter where he plopped himself.

Andrew did (finally!) get up and took Hadrian for a short run before we all got ready for the day. We all, dog included, piled in the car and set off for East Aurora. We left Hadrian in Andrew’s parents’ backyard and proceeded to downtown Buffalo to find a nice place to eat outside.

We chose an upscale (as in NOT your typical gyro place with neon signs in the windows) Greek place on Elmwood Ave. and were able to sit under an awning on their deck. I got the Monsoon Chicken Salad; it was filled with coconut-crusted chicken strips, strawberries, mango slices, dried cranberries, banana chips and walnuts. YUM. Emily got a hummus and white bean platter with rice and grilled veggies that looked awesome. It will definitely be somewhere Andrew and I will go again.

After lunch we headed across the border to Canada to see the falls. We scouted out cheap parking ($4) and walked to Journey Behind the Falls, a tourist attraction that allows you to go down and behind the falls. Andrew has always wanted to give it a try and so we figured now would be a great time. Emily and I weren’t huge fans of the tunnels or crowds, but it was kinda neat to see how powerful the falls are up-close. The worst part? The mist (a.k.a. rain shower) you have to walk through to get in and out of the building that houses Journey Behind the Falls. I DO NOT LIKE GETTING RAINED ON. I don’t even like running in the rain. I think it’s the sensation of cold water on my skin. Here are some of Emily’s shots:

I love how Emily can pull of the “giant sunglasses” look. I so cannot. I will say, thought, that my weight-loss has caused my face to become more and more square (or maybe heart-shaped?) and less round. Does that mean I get to buy new sunglasses to complement my face? (Don’t answer that…)

Dan must have, by far, the longest arms EVER. You can hardly tell they took this themselves (except for his arm in the shot, but you know what I mean). And kudos for getting the rainbow in the background!

We spent a few relaxing minutes in the grass near the falls and bird/squirrel/people-watched. Did you know they have black squirrels in Canada?

To continue taking advantage of the great weather, we ate in downtown Buffalo at the Pearl Street Grill & Brewery and enjoyed some cold beers and great good. I was craving a burger and fries, so that’s exactly what I got. Emily went light (or so she thought) and got the gouda soup, which was essentially drinkable beer cheese, but man, was it good! Dan’s jerk chicken sandwich was a bit on the spicy side, so we promised him a strawberry milkshake to cool things down. I enjoyed their seasonal blueberry beer and know Andrew and I will definitely be going back–the atmosphere and view were fantastic. On a side note: we’ve basically fallen in love with eating outdoors in nice weather, especially if we’re going out to eat. Lately, we aren’t even interested in places without outdoor seating. Does anyone else feel that way too? (I think Europe has ruined us for indoor eating forever…)

About a gazillion calories later, we were on our way to pick Hadrian back up after indulging in sundaes from Antoinette’s. They’re known for their sundaes and I couldn’t resist, even though my tummy told me to.

I went to bed early with a stomach ache and the others started watching our recent Netflix DVD: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 1.

Sunday morning we all got up and exercised again; Emily and I ran to the park (1.5 miles) while Andrew and Dan drove with Hadrian. The three of them walked around the park while I did another two miles, then Dan, Emily and I ran back home. We all jumped in the pool to cool down before getting ready for the day.

We ate blueberry pancakes (the best!) at Charlie’s Diner, toured Vidler’s Five & Dime and got drinks at Taste before we had to say goodbye to Emily and Dan.

We got back to the hotel and Andrew let out a loud gasp! We’d been FISHED!

Long story short: Jen and Dave have this huge fish pillow (above) from goodness knows where. Awhile ago, they, along with Emily and Dan, hid it in our bed at home in Ohio while they were all over watching a movie. Ever since then, we’ve been trading it back and forth unbeknownst to the recipients. Let’s just say I knew it was going to appear sometime this weekend–how could it not??

Guess we’re going to have to make a trip back to Ohio…

Shenanigans, part 6 or 7 or 8…

After the packers left and Andrew and I did some cleaning/rounding up around the house, we settled in at Jen & Dave’s to hang out before Jen came home from work. Translation: Andrew fell asleep and Dave and I watched a movie. Defiance. Daniel Craig is hot. In an older-man sort of way.

Jen was up for some shenanigans when she got home, so we headed down to Rita’s to meet Emily for some water ice.

Andrew wanted to make sure he said goodbye before we leave. Emily introduced me to Mint Oreo Cream Ice–yummy! I’m kind of a Rita’s “purist;” I grew up on Rita’s back when there were no “Blendinis” or “Mistos” or cream ice. Mango has always been my favorite (along with everyone else apparently; it’s there most popular flavor and is available every day) with plain chocolate (something I have yet to find at the Rita’s here) being a close second. Anyway, back to being a purist. I like my water ice plain or a gelati. No mixing for me. I splurged and got a gelati with vanilla custard.

Jen and Dave can be pretty goofy when they want to be. That, and Jen was already up past her bedtime.

I look so pale. And I want Emily’s hair. She’s so beautiful!

And because Rita’s at 9:45 at night wasn’t enough sugar for our bloodstreams, Andrew got a craving for pizza. We threw caution to the wind and headed to Little Caesars. Sadly, they were closed.

Not to fear; we drove to Emily’s where we plopped down on the couch and turned the television on. Has anyone ever heard of “Heartbreakers?” Neither had we. It was weird.

Emily prepped fruit for her early-morning drive and we said hello to Dan via phone:

Hi Dan! We missed you last night!

Then, the inevitable happened: Pizza was ordered.

It may not have been the best, but anything covered in cheese while hanging out with dear friends is just fine with me.

And you better believe my butt was on the treadmill this morning working it all off!

Movers are here loading up the truck and the basement is empty already.