my stay-cation with emily

OK, so now that I’ve divulged my senior moment about losing my sunglasses, here are some highlights from my recent trip to Emily’s:

First, I arrived to the cleanest, freshest, calmest, most tranquil house I’ve ever entered, and there were even snacks and tea to welcome me! Soft music was playing, candles were flickering and the lights were dimmed. I mean, I guess bringing work home with you as a massage therapist may not be the worst thing in the world… See it here.

A few shots of the new place (as fate would have it, Emily and her husband bought their first house the same day we bought ours’ here in New York!):

Just like Andrew and I, they’ve done a lot of updating their already move-in ready house. They have plans for a new kitchen, soon. I cannot wait to see what they pick!

After we spent a relaxing evening snacking, drinking wine, catching up and running some errands, we went off to bed WAY TOO LATE, yet woke up refreshed and ready for a workout. I think that is one of my favorite things about Emily–she is as into working out as I am and is so creative with what she does. She can get exercise out of anything, and we often make up our own ‘circuit training’ session at least once. Saturday morning, after a leisurely breakfast with her husband, Dan, we bundled up and set out (extra sunglasses in hand for me) for Sugarcreek Metro Park, which seems to be a favorite location of ours.’ I’ve done 5ks here and we always seem to find ourselves there for a hike.

After our hike–in which I wore my new YakTrax (metal coil-like rope you attack to the bottoms of your shoes to help in snow and ice) and Emily wore her snow boots. The YakTrax one, hands down. I could have run the entire trail no problem, while poor Emily was reduced to slipping and sliding. We even got lapped by some little Asian women armed with both the proper footwear and poles!

Speaking of Asian…we headed out for Thai food for lunch! Thai is definitely my ‘go-to’ food of choice. Thankfully Andrew likes it, too.

Emily was a good sport and agreed to try the green curry with me–it was HOT. And we got a 1 on a scale of 1 to 5. I introduced them to Thai iced tea, which is such a treat for me.

Next, Emily and I split off for some more shopping. We found ourselves at Zebra Girl Boutique, which is owned by a friend of Emily’s, named Natasha. It’s filled with fun accessories like jewelry, purses and scarves. Natasha treated us like queens and I picked up some goodies and gifts. I swear, all I did was walk around the store and say (out loud), “That is so Carolyn” or “That is so Abigail.” My sisters-in-law really like their bling. And Carolyn has a thing for zebra stripes. I may have picked up some goodies for them, too….

That night, we’d arranged to visit our friends, Jen and Dave, and their almost-one-year-old, Aiden. Their house is across the street from our old neighborhood. We packed up our slippers (we like to make ourselves at home there) and some belated Christmas presents.

Aiden may or may not have gotten ahold of my phone…

Emily, the consummate ‘planner’ of the group (she blows me out of the water, folks), got our dinner ordered–and she makes it look so easy. Funny anecdote: While on our hike that morning, we had to institute a no-planning-the-next-workout-until-we-finish-this-one rule! We just can’t help ourselves.

We chose City BBQ–a favorite of mine–and got a small family pack. We all fondly remembered the time we ate this same meal (plus Andrew), in this same living room, around a tablecloth-covered DOOR. (I went and checked for the post–it was back in April–but no photos of door/table. Sad.)

The happy momma and poppa wearing their new gifts 🙂

Remember I told you that Emily and I can come up with a circuit workout at the drop of a hat? Well, we did just that on Sunday morning before church. We drove to a local high school in hope of using their track, but found the gate locked and assumed it would be covered in snow, anyway, so we settled for the parking lot, instead. We did laps around the cleared lot and alternated with calisthenics each time we rounded the car. Thirty minutes later, we were bushed.

We all went to our church, Apex, and it was as if I’d never left. I tell you what–I’ve never loved sermons like the ones I’ve heard here. I’m definitely one of those ‘daydreamers/mind-wanderers’ in church (well, really, is there anywhere I go where I’m not already thinking of the next place/thing/to-do item?), but not at Apex. Why can’t we find a church like that here (insert whiney voice)…:(

We sat with another friend from our Bible study group, Brett, who picked up his two girls after the service. They were a little camera-shy, but I was able to catch a few shots:

Yet again, the girls broke off for some more shopping (we kidnapped Jen!) and the boys went home to take care of the kiddos. At First Watch (a must-do for me while in Ohio) a sweet older lady pointed out we were all wearing scarves….PHOTO!

Lunch of champions: some sort of veggie/egg thing covered in salsa and cheese, along with an english muffin and greens. Sour cream ON THE SIDE.

Back to the mission: YakTrax for Emily and SUNGLASSES for me! Pardon the lack of smile/pose; Emily had the brilliant idea that I should take a picture of myself in the pairs I was trying on so I could compare them quickly. Below is the winner 🙂

While there, sweet Emily gifted Jen with a new–and bigger–purse (the one she’s been carrying around wouldn’t even hold my lipgloss collection). Note the gray/green scarf–A Zebra Girl find and her gift from us. Jen and Dave as new parents without family around don’t get out much, and are so, SO, SO (and I cannot stress this enough), SO low maintenance, I thought it would be nice to get them some things to wear on those rare occasions they DO leave the house. A scarf for Jen (even childless Holly and Emily know necklaces and earrings are just baby playthings) and an athletic jacket for Dave.

After dropping Jen off at home, Emily and I made a mad-dash to Trader Joe’s so I could stock up on our favorites. Good news! We have not one, but TWO TJ’s coming to Buffalo soon! The one that’s led the rumor mill will be located on Niagara Falls Blvd. up in Amherst (read: FAR), but there is talk of another and–dare I hope–to be located in the Southtowns. It cannot get here fast enough.

After a light baked-potato-and-salad dinner at the homestead, Emily and I again ventured out in the cold–this time for ice cream. Just like First Watch and TJ’s, I can’t go to Dayton and NOT stop at a Graeter’s. I had anticipated getting a kid-size scoop of black raspberry chip, but splurged on a sundae. I consider it a personal victory that I didn’t finish it.

Our evening consisted of magazine reading under a blanket with a well-known holiday classic movie on in the background. Who can name it???

Monday morning we did 45 minutes of P90X yoga, which just about killed my arms, and then we showered and got ready to depart (me) and work (Em). I packed up my TJ’s loot–mostly frozen fish, their awesome Orange Chicken and wine, as well as some dry-goods favorites like fig butter, sunflower seed butter and red quinoa tortilla chips–and loaded the car.

Emily and I did a light lunch at Tropical Smoothie–we split their fish tacos and a ‘Health Nut’ smoothie–before I left. It was so nice to have some time to sit and chat and not rush out the door!

After only a couple hours into the trip I needed a comfort/coffee break, and snapped a photo of my new sunglasses in action.

And healthy snacks! Veggies, hummus, TJ’s sweet and salty trail mix and an iced coffee (it was warm that day!).

My last stop: Chick-Fil-A in Erie. Normally we drive home on Sundays, and they are closed. But not this time 🙂 I got my usual: two-strip kid’s meal with lemonade and bbq, polynesian and ranch to dip. I also mix mayo, ketchup and hot sauce for my fries. I learned it while we lived in New Orleans (that, and a ketchup/mustard/mayo/Tony Chachere’s seasoning combo dip) and whip it up every time.

By the time I got home, I was READY to be home. I missed my Andrew, but enjoyed my relaxing-try-not-to-plan-too-much trip to Emily’s. My next one can’t come soon enough.

i miss ‘us’

That phrase was uttered by our good friend, Dave Diercks, this past weekend during our recent trip to Ohio.

And then it was seconded. And thirded. (Is that even a word?)

Anyway… Here are some highlights from the trip! (As usual, I didn’t take enough pictures…so I’ll do my best to describe how we used a door as a table, and my two-scoop ‘small’ sundae.

-We brought cupcakes! I’m a huge fan of Firefly, the new artisan cupcake shop on Main Street here, and we wanted to gift Emily and Dan with goodies. Since Emily and I are trying to be good and watch our calories, we decided we’d save our splurges for Graeter’s and Rita’s. But, Dan and Andrew can indulge! We brought a ‘chocolate-covered strawberry’ for Dan and a Vanilla Bean for Andrew. The picture doesn’t do them justice…they’re packaged in their own little cellophane bags with the cute Firefly card on the front.

-As usual, we stopped at Chick-Fil-A in Erie for a late lunch. I really had been craving CFA…I got a 2-strip kid’s meal with fries….

…and a small cookies and cream milkshake to drink! I love them 🙂 Andrew actually did a decent number on the shake, so I probably ended up having only 3/4 or less of it anyway.

-While I was “setting up” my food in the car (I have a method), I realized it would make a perfect blog post. “On how I eat in the car” coming soon.

-OK, here’s where the pictures begin to fail me…

-We made another stop near Dublin (skipping Jeni’s! A travesty!) for a Starbucks run for me. Using the blessed iPhone, we found not one but TWO in grocery stores just feet away from where we were after taking the wrong exit off the highway… thank you, Jesus! AND, the nice lady behind the counter was offering samples of their vanilla scones. LOVE samples.

-We got into the Wilhelms’ around 8 p.m. and bounded into welcoming arms. Within moments we were perched on the couch, debating the age-old question, “To where will we go for dinner?” Silly us, we thought maybe we could quickly come up with a place with little conversation… One thing we’ve realized is, the six of us (particularly the four Wilhelms and Layers) are PARTICULAR about our food. And not necessarily in a bad way; we just really want to enjoy our meals, especially those together.

-The Wilhelms had been anxiously awaiting our arrival so we could go out for a nice, long, drawn-out dinner, which they’ve dubbed a “Layer dinner,” in honor of yours’ truly. A “Layer dinner” is one in which you order drinks, then appetizers…and then shoo your waiter away and don’t order dinner until you’ve eaten said appetizer, and then you might even stay for dessert or coffee afterward. They are infamous and can last upwards of two hours if you do it right. Truthfully, these dinners started for us on or first trip to Europe, where people have long dinners all the time (in fact, often you have to flag your waiter down to even order your food, and they wouldn’t dream of rushing you out the door). Now, if we have the time, we make it a point to stretch out our meals as often as we can.

-We almost unanimously voted for Thai 9, one of our favorite places to eat downtown, and got as gussied-up as our packed-clothes would allow. We started with drinks (Belgian wheat for me, hard cider for Dan, cocktail for Emily and I can’t remember what Andrew had….) and appetizers. Andrew and Dan split the chicken spring rolls and Emily and I split the crab rangoon–my mouth is watering just recounting the details!

-I LOVE going out to eat with Emily. Our tastes are so similar, so we typical end up splitting one or more dishes. This is something I can RARELY (if ever) do with Andrew, and it makes it so nice for me so I can enjoy multiple things on the menu. I hate having to choose! Emily and I wanted exactly the same things–pad thai and sushi–and that’s exactly what we got.

-Unfortunately, we were all too full by the end of dinner to splurge on Thai 9’s homemade coconut ice cream topped with fried banana pieces and honey (if you live in Dayton, you must order that as soon as possible), but it felt great to say “no, thanks” and leave without being over-stuffed.

-Emily and I are also early birds and exercisers, so we enjoyed a light breakfast the next morning while doing the first DVD session of our Bible study, before hitting up the workout room at their apartment complex. Thirty minutes on the treadmill flies by when you have someone to whom to talk! (Ain’t that the truth, Susy?!)

-The primary reason for the trip to Dayton (although who needs a ‘reason’ to visit friends?), was to meet little Aiden, Dave and Jen’s little boy who was born in January. We arranged to meet them at Panera for brunch. Isn’t he a cutie??

-After we ate (I splurged and got a cinnamon crunch bagel with honey walnut cream cheese–haven’t had one of those in YEARS–and smartly ate the top half and forced the bottom on Dan to prevent myself from eating it), Dave headed to his track meet and Andrew and Dan took Aiden home while Jen joined us for some shopping.

-We MADE OUT at TJMaxx! M philosophy is that a true workout-aholic can never have too many items of workout clothes, and that is the place to go for a bargain. I scored tons of awesome stuff, although the terrible overhead lighting washes everything out. All of those colors are so vibrant–I couldn’t resist any of them!

-After bagging our finds at TJMaxx, us girls headed home to pick up the ‘two men and a baby’ we left behind and raced over to Dave’s track meet at Cedarville University. Dave throws the javelin and is competing for a chance to go to the Olympic trials this summer. He ended up scoring a 68-meter throw at this meet, which is just 10 meters shy of qualifying for a spot at the trials, and the most he’s even thrown in a season-opening meet. Go Dave! Check out his facebook page for more information; he’s also involved with Athletes in Action (a Christian organization geared toward outreach in the field of athletics) and is partially sponsored by PowerBar!

-It was pretty chilly, so we scooted out of there as soon as he was finished and headed back to chez Diercks, or as it’s affectionately called in our circle, ‘the cave.’ Seriously, between their huge comfy couches and lack of natural light in the living room, it’s very ‘cave-like’ in the coziest way possible.

-Yet again, we foolishly thought we could pick our dinner option from a hat…literally. We all threw in names of various local establishments from which we could get take-out, and after turning our nose up at Chinese (what were you thinking, Dan??), a small contingent of us strong-armed the others into City BBQ. Dave did what he does best and placed our order online while I arranged who was going where to pick up food; Emily and me to City BBQ (don’t forget the sweet tea!) and Andrew and Dave to Kroger for a rotisserie chicken and Cadbury mini-eggs.

-Upon arriving back to the Diercks’ lair, we found a door (yes, a DOOR) being placed on their oversized ottoman and topped with a shower curtain/tablecloth. Don’t mind the handle, Emily… If only I’d snapped a photo…

-We were all enjoying our food family-style with Ghostbusters on the in background, when it hit me. These people are FAMILY to me. Like, seriously family. I mean, with whom else can you just sit and do nothing for hours on end, and it be totally fine? (Especially if you’re in the cave.) The six (now seven) of us have formed a bond like I’ve never had with anyone before, in particular in couples. There are others with whom Andrew and I share this relationship (Heather and Silas, for sure) and I think that’s why God brought us to Ohio. To make these lifelong friends. (And to be near Andrew’s grandparents, but that’s another story.)

-By 8 p.m. Emily and I were getting a little stir-crazy and ready to walk around after dinner, so we convinced Jen to join us on another shopping trip–this one to Goodwill! Beavercreek has the best Goodwill…there are NO good Goodwills here in NY…sad. So, we left ‘three men and a baby’ to go stretch our legs. I scored a pair of Gap trouser-jeans!

-We ended our night on a sweet note with a trip to Graeter’s, where I convinced the manager to give me two SMALL scoops (instead of only one) in my small sundae so I could have two different flavors. LOVE. THEIR. WHIPPED. CREAM.

-The next morning, we all met at First Watch (one of my absolute favorite places!) for breakfast before church. Again, Emily and I did our usual and split an omelet with pancakes on the side.

-Upon walking to our cars, Andrew and I realized we’d been fished! I know I’ve blogged about it before, but haven’t the slightest clue as to when or under what title… The short story: Dave and Jen own a giant stuffed fish and they (along with Emily and Dan) once hid it in our bed while we lived in Ohio. It’s been traded back and forth between us three couples ever since. The orange shirt it’s wearing? It says “East Aurora” and was how I dressed it when I shipped it back to the Diercks after we moved here. Gotta brainstorm its next trip to Ohio…this time to surprise the Wilhelms!

-Trader Joe’s is just across from First Watch… $86 later, we were stocked-up on goodies! Favorites? LOVE their chocolate-covered almonds, sunflower seed butter and a new find, chocolate-ship brownie bars with oats.

-Before heading out of town, Andrew and I stopped into the nearest Graeter’s to redeem our ‘Sweet Rewards’ points for a t-shirt. He always lets me choose. What a sweetie. Outside the doors, we met an Easter bunny!

-After meticulously choosing my shirt–I even made the young man behind the counter climb up and check the size of the one tacked to the wall–I settled for a child’s extra large (which was surprisingly big) hoping it would shrink.

-We resisted the urge for more ice cream (well, I had to resist; I think Andrew has willpower of steel!) in favor of a stop at Rita’s on our way out of town. I made the mistake of trying their new chocolate peanut butter flavor… (Back story: I grew up with Rita’s in PA and LOVE IT. Mango is my ultimate favorite. I try different flavors all the time, but mango is where it’s at.) Anyway, I LOVED chocolate peanut butter and all of a sudden couldn’t choose! It’s not like I could get one, knowing I could come back any time for mango. Thankfully, Andrew opted for a large mango, which allowed me to order a chocolate peanut butter gelati–which features their vanilla custard. I was in sugar heaven.

-We got on the road and had an enjoyable trip back to NY, filled with menu-planning and grocery-list making for me, (no Jeni’s AGAIN–we were too full of Rita’s!), a Wendy’s stop (apple slices for me, nuggets for him and a tiny Frosty to share) and then things went downhill. Emily HAD to remind me I’d forgotten to take some of the dark chocolate-covered raisins off her hands…which led to a crazy craving! We stopped at a gas station and ended up stocking up on Doritos, Swedish Fish (my favorite) and Hot Fries and an energy drink for Andrew. And I might have gotten into the cookies Susy sent home with me…

-We drove straight to Wegmans since I knew our house was devoid of food. Well, at least the fridge was. As in, EMPTY. No fruit. No yogurt. No bread. No nothing. If we didn’t shop now, we’d have nothing for breakfast the next morning, and since I had to pick up the dog IN ADDITION to my normal routine, there wasn’t going to be any ‘going out for breakfast’ for us.

-$123 dollars later…

-We’re all settled back in at home now (we should be, it’s THURSDAY) and I can’t believe this post took me so long… Notes to self:

-take more pictures!

-post along the way!

Here’s to next time 🙂

my ‘not-skiing’ ski trip

So, Andrew and I joined a small crowd of his co-workers this past weekend up in the Adirondacks for some skiing and, well, partying. I’ll just say that Andrew and I weren’t quite the party animals that the rest of the crowd was, but we still had some fun.

We arrived Thursday night and socialized until the wee hours of the morning, and when Andrew and I couldn’t keep our eyes open any longer, we ducked into our room to turn in at 2 a.m.

I made breakfast Friday morning for the group–Foster’s Market’s Panama Pancakes and Ina’s Maple-Roasted bacon–before everyone headed out to ski.

I’m not a huge skier, by any stretch–I’ve been before and can ski decently–but it’s been years (like seven) since I’ve tackled the slopes, so I begged-off the ski trip in favor of some R&R in a quiet house. ALONE.

I started my morning off with a six-mile run in the slush, followed by a hot shower and intense stretching (because in real life, who has time for more than a couple quick leg-pulls?) before lugging out my schoolwork. Yes, I brought homework. The crazy part? I was sorta-kinda looking forward to actually DOING my homework without any distractions.

Well, two hours and a not-quite-finished Chem lab report later… I gave up, admitted defeat and took my cooking magazines to bed for a nap. I awoke to voices announcing the group’s return and went out to snack (pretty much the highlight of this trip…) and socialize before dinner.

Andrew skied and said he had a good time, and after finding out how foggy it was (not to mention the advanced skill level of the rest of our group), I’m glad I didn’t go. I would have been left behind on the slopes and not enjoyed myself one bit–all while worrying about the homework I wasn’t doing.

The next day, while everyone else went back to the slopes for day number 2 of skiing, Andrew and I chose to stay back and do our own thing. We googled (thank goodness for wi-fi!) until we found somewhere to go snowshoeing and bundled up. It was a beautiful sunny day, very unlike the day before, and the snow was melting like crazy.

We drove just a few minutes to the Friends Lake Inn, which is an inn and wine-tasting room located at the base of some hilly trails intended for hiking, snowshoeing and cross-country skiing. We had planned to rent snowshoes, but with the degree of melting, we thought we’d be fine without them, and we were.

We hiked up and down and around, sometimes on and sometimes off the trail, for a little more than an hour before we decided it was probably about time to head back. We’d seen “Cardiac Hill” on our map the whole time, but it seemed a little far away from the inn to aim for initially. However, we found ourselves in the general vicinity of the hill (or what we thought was the hill!) at the end and decided to give it a try. After ascending a gently curving incline and finding ourselves near a priory and face-to-face with Route 8, we figured we’d made a wrong turn.

It didn’t take much trudging in the opposite direction and DOWN a very steep hill to realize that we’d approached Cardiac Hill from the opposite direction (which is why we didn’t see it to begin with) and then gone up and around and off the trail. Not to be outdone (and outsmarted!) and in the interest of a good calorie-burn (I wouldn’t say our hike up to that point was really that difficult), we trudged down Cardiac Hill, only to turn around and race up again (hey, why walk when you can run?).

After surmounting the hill, catching our breath and snapping this shot, we decided it really was time to head back. Highlight of the trip: walking hand-in-hand, talking and even praying together the whole way back. We joked that we pulled an “Emily and Dan” by hiking–our adventurous, outdoorsy friends who take-off on awesome weekend trips to places like Colorado and Arizona just to enjoy outdoor activities–and their ‘togetherness’ inspires me.

Another highlight of the trip: ice cream! There is a chain of convenience stores in the Adirondacks called Stewart’s–you can buy their specialty sodas at the grocery store–and Andrew (for once it wasn’t me!) wanted some. After sampling about five different flavors, I chose a sundae and devoured it the entire drive back to the house.

With dinner completely ruined, we returned to find everyone back and prepping snacks and munchies. Why, oh why, am I tempted by bagged, preservative-laden, cheddar chex mix? WWWWHHHHYYYYY?!?!

Our last night was filled with games (Guesstures, anyone?) and eating (I got my cook on and made brownies) before turning in. The next morning Andrew, Bart and I were up and out first in order to arrive in time to pick Hadrian up from puppyy camp.

On the way home, we stopped in Syracuse for Dinosaur BBQ, a local favorite featured on Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives and one Bart knew about.

Andrew and I split a sampler–meat and fries mostly for him, sides mostly for me–and enjoyed every bite! The place is known for their chicken (is was pretty darn good), but their ribs were truly amazing. Definitely rivaled what I had in Texas… Andrew made a good point–in less than three-weeks’ time, I’ve sampled BBQ at three well-known BBQ joints. Am I a lucky girl or what?!

Coming home after a trip is always a rude awakening, filled with laundry and cleaning, and my chem quiz was seriously stressing me out. (Thankfully, all my prep with the practice quizzes paid off–I got a 92!) We ended our night at Wegmans, me filling up at the veggie bar and Andrew with a sub, as well as picking up groceries for the week.

All in all, our trip was fun but I don’t know that we would go again next year (apparently this group goes annually). Andrew and I had a great time together and I enjoyed ‘getting away from it all.’

Speaking of getting away… Spring break is TWO CLASSES away (!) and our next visit to Ohio (to see baby Aiden!) is three weeks away!