The first belly shot

Markus took this picture of me on December 17 - there's a little baby belly starting to pop out!



And in the spirit of belly pictures - don't eat too many sweets this weekend or your belly might pop out, too. :-)

Happy holidays!

My favorite things

I love that Mary Poppins song! Since people tend to ask pretty frequently, I figured I'd report on what pregnant Christie likes to eat these days - and what she doesn't. It's a pretty strange list, but not like peanut butter and pickles strange. Strange like I never thought I'd lack a craving for chocolate or wine...Oh well, guess that's better for the baby. :-)

Favorite things, in order of favorite-ness.
1. Tomato juice. Can't get enough of this stuff! I took a break this past week, and I'm dying to go pick up a jug this week. Yum!!!
2. Raw carrots. And not the baby kind. I'm talking full-length, gotta peel 'em carrots full of beta carotene goodness. I've always liked raw carrots even as a child, so this is not a big surprise.
3. Raw veggies of any kind, minus the carrots. The carrots are my favorite. The others I'm enjoying now include cauliflower, broccoli, cucumbers, celery, and peppers.
4. Vitamin Water - this is my most recent discovery. I really like it! It's not too sweet, and it's better than drinking high calorie juice from concentrate. I asked my parents to pick up a couple cases for me at Sam's.
5. Plain yogurt with Trader Joe's Peach sauce. Yum! I picked mango sauce yesterday while I was at TJ's. These add a little sweetness to the plain yogurt and hey, I'm getting protein - and calcium! Woo hoo!
6. Smart Ones Tuna Noodle Casserole. This one surprised me. I have issues with protein and meat most days, but for some reason tuna has been my friend all along. It's weird because tuna has what most consider to be a pretty strong and somewhat offensive odor. Oh well, guess this baby likes its tuna. I don't eat too much canned tuna, though, because I know it has mercury. Anyway, I especially like these frozen meals and considering there aren't many protein sources I'm able to eat right now, I pick these up at the store.
7. Get ready - milk!!! I drink glasses of milk now. Considering I was lactose intolerant as a kid and tend to watch my dairy intake, this one was a surprise. I crave glasses of milk occasionally. Weird.

Guilty pleasures. I don't buy these often, and almost NEVER bought them during regular, non-pregnant shopping trips. I'm giving myself a little leeway now, though.

1. Herr's ridged potato chips with Heluva Good french onion dip. I love, love, love this, which is why I eat so much of this at one sitting that I end up feeling sick. That's why I don't indulge in this guilty pleasure very often. It tastes so good I can't stop. I feel a little sick often enough - I don't need any help!
2. Kraft Mac and Cheese. Comfort food, what can I say?
3. Lipton Chicken Noodles and Sauce. Another comfort food. I'm returning to foods I ate growing up. :-)

The few things I have trouble eating are most meats. I feel bad, because I know protein is important so I'm trying to make sure I eat dairy food and some nuts. Overall, though, I can't complain because I haven't physically gotten sick once. I'll deal with the occasional bouts of nausea no sweat, especially if it means I spare myself from getting physically sick!

I have to do some work now, and then finish up some Xmas shopping, and perhaps even bake. We'll see how energetic I'm feeling as the afternoon wears on. Happy weekend!

It's official!

I think most of you know, but Markus and I are having a baby! I'm due on June 5, 2007, so we're starting to look into the types of things we'll need in order to prepare for a little one in the house. We're both excited about the news and looking forward to meeting our new son or daughter. We're not going to find out the gender of the baby; we have another ultrasound scheduled for January 2 but we just want to make sure baby is healthy. So far, everything looks great. At the first ultrasound, the heartbeat was 156 beats per minute and at my second check-up yesterday, it was 150 beats per minute. The ticker is working just fine! We'll keep you posted on baby progress as we have news to report. For now, my pants are starting to get snug, but I can still go incognito. :-) I don't expect that will last much longer, though. We're going to take photos throughout the pregnancy to track how my body changes, and though I won't release my weight, I might consider occasionally reporting how many pounds I've gained (unless it's an obscene amount!).

In other big news, Markus and I decided to take one final pre-baby trip. I think since more and more people are doing this lately, a new term has been coined: babymoon. So yes, we're taking a babymoon in February over Markus' birthday. We booked a 10-day Southern Caribbean cruise that departs from San Juan. I've always wanted to vacation in that area and take a cruise, so we decided this would be a good time. A 6 hour flight to Europe or the west coast wasn't sounding good to me, especially with the dollar conversion rates in Europe. Who wouldn't want to go somewhere warm in the winter? We'll visit some of the less traveled islands or ones that aren't on a lot of cruise routes that leave from Florida, like Tortola, St. Lucia, Grenada, Curacao, St. Maarten, Aruba and a couple others. We'll be sure to take lots of pictures, and with some luck, we'll be sporting suntans when we return.

We hosted Markus' father for his first visit to the US since he moved to Ireland. It was a wonderful opportunity to spend time with the other siblings, who we don't get to see as often as we like, and with Markus' Aunt Bea and Uncle Jerry. There were lots of family dinners and excursions and good times in general. We're hoping to see Markus' dad again soon, and were so glad that he enjoyed his visit.

Of course, we've also been getting ready for the holidays. Cards were mailed, the tree's been up since Black Friday (since we didn't get to decorate last year because of moving, I'm making up for lost time this year), and all the gifts we have are wrapped. We're not quite finished shopping, but almost. I haven't been into sweets too much lately, so I haven't decided how much Christmas baking I'm going to do. I had intended to try some new recipes, but I might hold off or just make one or two of our favorites. Besides, who needs the extra junk food at this time of year?

Oh, the last thing - today is the one year anniversary of buying our house. Our settlement was on this date last year. It's hard to believe that we've been here a year already. We're glad to be living here, despite the occasional challenges we've faced. Here's to a less challenging year two in our home!

The coolest accessories ever!

So I met this really cool woman, Alice, a few weeks ago and learned that she designs laptop sleeves, messenger bags, iPod holders, and doggie bag holders for leashes. She's also now started designing a holder for Blackberries and cell phones, which is particularly cool because until now, most Blackberry holders have been very masculine.

When you go to Alice's site (http://www.flickabags.com), you can design a laptop sleeve that is custom made to fit the dimensions of your laptop. For any product that you buy from Alice, you get to select the fabric of your choice - she has over 20 on her website and a few others on her Etsy site (http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=46223). There are fabrics that would appeal to anyone, male or female. Her prices are super reasonable, the products are well made, and I like the fact that you're buying a pretty unique product.

For those of you who own dogs, you've got to look at her doggie bag holders. She was ingenious in designing this small bag that holds plastic bags and it attaches to your dog leashes. Now dog owners don't have to stuff plastic bags in their pockets anymore if their puppy has this stylish baggie holder.

If you're in the market for any of these things, please consider checking out either of Alice's sites - you won't be disappointed!

October Skyline

 

GO METRIC

The U.S. Metric Association (USMA), Inc., with headquarters in Northridge CA, is a national non-profit organization, founded in 1916. It advocates U.S. conversion to the International System of Units which is known by the abbreviation SI (ess-eye). SI is also called the modern metric system. The process of changing measurement units to the metric system (SI) is called metric transition or metrication.

Enjoy this link and pass it on to your friends:

http://lamar.colostate.edu/~hillger/

Mary Poppins

Yes, you read right, Mary Poppins is the title of the post. It's been a while since we've written so I figured we were due for an update. Besides painting and working and trying to make it to the gym on a regular basis, we haven't been up to much. Well, I've been baking, but I'll save that for another post.

Anyway, I went to New York yesterday with my mom to see Mary Poppins on Broadway. What a delightful show! When I agreed to go, it was more to spend time with my mom and sister and less about the show (I figured it might be a little juvenile). My sister decided not to go (her big loss) and I've always liked Broadway shows - and my mom - so I knew I'd still have a good time. Well, it was a super show in every way, and it was enjoyed by people of all ages in the theater. The sets were amazing, and the actors did a phenomenal job (Mary is played by the woman who played Belle in the Broadway version of Beauty and the Beast; Bert is played by the man who orignated the role in London), including the two children actors who play Jane and Michael Banks. I think most people know the stories and songs of Mary Poppins, so it was a fun trip down memory lane to hear tunes like Feed the Birds and Chim Chim Cheree and A Spoonful of Sugar.

The show was still in previews, so there were a few minor "whoops" moments, but most people didn't even catch those ever-so-slight mistakes. If you are thinking of this show, or if you love the story, I'd highly recommend making the trip to see it. Tickets aren't cheap, but it was absolutely worth every penny. I loved it, and it re-sparked my desire to see more shows, both in New York and here at home in Philly. There's no excuse for us to miss shows that are in Philly, since they're only a few blocks away from our house!

That's it for now. I head to Indy this week, and Markus leaves for a meeting in Harrisburg the day I get home - it'll be a busy week for both of us. I'll post again when I have something - or bake something - worth writing about. Cheers!

I'm still here

OK, I did some painting today. This is how it turned out. It looks better in daylight... but even with the lousy flash on the olympus camera you can see it's an interesting blue. The furniture is piled in the middle of the room because I still need to paint the trim. Once that is done the room will be put back together and I'll post more pictures.





And while I'm at it, here's a picture of the nook. The color is Mellow Yellow.


Just paint trim and then the 3rd floor is basically done. The floor still needs some work, but it will be a remarkable improvement.

Wheatfields and waterfalls

Well, not wheatfields, but rather Wheatfield. What about Wheatfield, you ask? That's the new color of our bedroom!!! I'm so excited (think of the Pointer Sisters singing, and doing the dancing, too. I've got no rhythm.)! Markus and I went to a Benjamin Moore paint store two weekends ago and picked out paint for the rest of the house. We came home and our first projects were the bedroom and painting the doors in the house. The bedroom is wheatfield, and I just love it. We're taking this opportunity to get some new artwork for our bedroom, and I think I'm going to print a few nice photos from our travels to hang in there, too. One in particular is from our trip to Puerto Rico and is mostly greenery which will complement the walls nicely. We also added a couple of plants to the room, which is a nice touch. We both love plants, but have to be creative in how and where we place them because the cats eat them (and then occasionally get sick...). Oh, we also decided to paint our bedroom trim the same as the doors - Grizzly Bear Brown. Don't you love paint color names?! The other colors we picked are: Marmalade (orange - middle bedroom); Tranquil Blue (third floor); Mellow Yellow (third floor sitting area); and, Capri Coast (hallways). Then our whole house will be full of wonderful colors! We'll post more pictures as we finish more rooms.

Now to the waterfalls. Every night when I head into our bathroom to get ready for bed, Camper jumps in the tub in the hope that I'll turn on the faucet for her. She LOVES to drink from the faucet. I had decided that we should get a water filtration drinking thing for the cats, and found this super neat one that has a small foutain. It was designed by a vet, and believe it or not the logic makes sense - animals in the wild are used to drinking from streams and natural bodies of water that run rather than water that just sits in a bowl. The water contraption arrived while I was in Indy. Markus hooked it up while I was on the phone (yes, the cats and I talk while I'm away, too. Camper actually meows when I say her name - isn't she smart?) and he said Camper sniffed it, stuck her paw in it, and then just stared. After I got home, I was delighted to catch her drinking from this. Even Samba, our more remedial cat who has never taken to drinking from the bathtub faucet, started drinking from this fountain. I was a proud cat mommy that day. Unfortunately, she was too quick for me to get a picture. Here's one of Camper, though. No making fun of the crazy things like this that I buy for our "kids". Markus has already done that. Oh, I also bought the Aqua Garden that attaches to the side of the water bowl - it will grow cat grass for the cats to eat. Aren't they lucky girls? Well, I have some apple date bars baking and boy do they smell good! I have to go check on them and make sure they don't burn. When I have time in the next day or so, I'll post about my beading adventures and post pictures of the necklaces I've made so far.

Vacation Pictures are Posted

I finally uploaded some of our vacation pictures. This is only a small selection, but they'll give you a sense of what we did and what we saw on our trip. Enjoy!

On a photo-related front, Markus' new zoom lens finally came in, after a three month back-order! We're bummed we didn't have it for our trip to Ireland, but are thrilled that we'll have it for our next trip - we're heading to San Diego for a week over Thanksgiving. Sunshine and warm weather, here we come!

Catching up

It's been a month since our last post, so of course lots has happened.

Vacation
Markus and I were in Ireland from August 24 - September 3. Route: Dublin - Belfast - Slieve League - Donegal - Dad's Cottage (a few day trips from there) - Doolin/The Burren - Limerick - Shannon - Home. We had a great vacation, saw several places that we hadn't been to before, and of course, it was wonderful to see and spend time with Markus' dad. I hadn't been to the cottage since 2002, so there were many changes both inside and out (he's done a nice job with his perennial garden). My favorite site was the Slieve League, which is the highest European cliff, if I recall correctly. It's not as much of a tourist site as the Cliffs of Moher, but the scenery is just as picturesque. When we upload our pictures, you'll see it. It's quite amazing.

My favorite vacation story? We arrived in Dublin in the morning, after an overnight flight. We were trying to drive to our hotel, but Dublin's streets are confusing - even with a map. The city certainly wasn't designed on a grid like most of our cities were. I was navigating and kept us going in circles (reminiscent of National Lampoon's European Vacation - look kids, there's Big Ben). At one point, I told Markus to go down this street, which ended up being a pedestrian street meaning it was closed to traffic. Only delivery trucks were permitted. A kind pedestrian came over and told us we shouldn't be there and that the police would ticket us if they saw us driving down the street. We didn't know what to do. Luckily, a delivery truck zoomed in front of us and we took our shot - we followed him very closely and he lead us out of the pedestrian street. I think he knew we were kind of stuck, or he was using that street as a shortcut. Either way, we were grateful that we were able to follow him out! We were so stressed after that...Poor Markus, he was the one driving. We took a picture of the bollard that should have blocked us, but didn't because it was broken.

Markus and Christie - 2 years
The day after our return (September 4), we celebrated our second wedding anniversary and our fifth year together. The second year was better than the first, a little easier, too, and we're both looking forward to our third year of marriage. I can't believe it's been that long already...

Markus Graduates
On September 8, Markus participated on his diploma ceremony. He earned his Master's degree in Management Information Systems; it was a long three years of juggling work and school, but he's finished! Now he has to figure out what to do with his nights and weekends...I'm thinking house projects, but Markus may have other ideas.

House
The house is dry!!! That's our biggest accomplishment. And now that Markus is finished with school, we're both looking at what to do next. We went appliance shopping this past Saturday and were overwhelmed by the number of choices - and the prices. We decided to hold off on appliances until the spring since our current appliances are functional, though old. We're now planning on redoing our master bath and the basement floor this fall (well, hiring someone to redo them), so we're starting to look at floor materials. I found a software program that Markus is going to use to spec out our bathroom design so that we can get bids from contractors. This weekend, we're going to the paint store to pick out paint colors for the rest of the house (our bedroom, and the third floor den, and the doors). We ordered a door handle that we'd like to use throughout the house, just to make sure we like it. It arrived today, and I love it (and think Markus will, too), so we'll be replacing all the handles in the house (after we paint the doors). So, while we'll be using an experienced professional to complete some of our projects, there are plenty (painting, replacing door hinges and 3 doors, installing new handles) that we'll be working on ourselves. Ah, the joys of buying a "project" house, as we affectionately (and sometimes, not so affectionately) call it.

Christie Turns 30
So I turned 30 on Sunday. Woo hoo. Actually, Markus was a great sport and did pretty much everything I wanted to do this weekend (movie, sweet treat at the Naked Chocolate Cafe - divine!!!, brunch, buying wine at my favorite wine store in NJ, appliance shopping). The highlights - Naked Chocolate Cafe (of course, food is always the highlight, and then I wonder why Markus thinks I'm a food addict...). This is a new place that opened a few blocks from us, and it just might beat Capogiro, if that tells you anything. They make chocolates, cupcakes, nudos (kind of like brownies), and serve teas and drinking chocolates. Those drinking chocolates are amazing, it was a tasteful reminder of European cafes. Mmmmm. I'll write about brunch another time, but it, too, was decadent and delicious. Markus bought me a Le Creuset Dutch Oven, which I coveted for about 2-3 years. I'm ready to get started braising meats and making stews!

That's all I have time for at the moment. I also did some serious baking, which I'll report about later, took a beading class the week we got back, and we attended the 5th birthday party of our niece, Emma. (September is a busy birthday month for us - my dad is the 15th, Dennis is the 16th, I'm the 17th, and Emma is the 18th - whew!) I'm looking forward to working on some beading jewelry projects (I made some cute bracelets for the girls at Emma's party), but not tonight - I'll be watching the season premiere of Grey's Anatomy!

It's Time to Go!

Hurrah! Our vacation time has finally arrived. As you can imagine, it's been hectic this week, trying to tie up loose ends at work, clean the house, and pack. I've realized that my mom's obsession with cleaning the house before a vacation has rubbed off on me. I used to laugh (and roll my eyes when I was a teenager and was being told to clean my room) and never quite understood why she would go crazy the day before a vaction, cleaning the house from top to bottom. Well, I completely understand now! I washed our sheets this morning so that we come home to fresh, clean sheets, we spent every night this week vacuuming, straightening up, etc, just so we come back to an organized house.

Luckily, we were able to do some packing over the weekend, so I think we're both in pretty good states of mind. There should be no rushing around or frenzied packing this afternoon, thankfully. I saw some good travel tips on things to pack, since waters/gels/lotions can't be packed. Since we're flying overnight, we typically like to freshen up before landing - brush the teeth, wash the face, etc. Well, since we're not allowed to take toothpaste or a liquid facial cleanser, I saw a great tip that suggested those brush ups, and I found some facial cleansing pads that you add water to (which we CAN do once on the plane) and then you can wash your face. We loaded up the iPod this week so we have lots of music to listen to on the flights and while we drive.

I think the cats suspect something is up. Camper has been laying on top of each of our suitcases this week, while Samba nestled in and laid IN one of the suitcases. Of couse, Samba laid in Markus' suitcase which caused him to freak out. I swear, I think she tries to test his patience. I wouldn't have minded if she laid on my clothing, but she must have some kind of animal intuition that told her that she could lay in his suitcase and get away with it. Smart cat! :-)

We had Markus' team over for a picnic this past weekend. It was fun, and delightful for me because for the first time, we bought most of the food that we served. I usually insist on making most of the food and stressing out about it. I didn't have time though because I didn't get home from Indy until last Friday afternoon. It was like turning over a new leaf for me, and boy did I like it! I had time to bake chocolate raspberry bars and seven layer bars, which was fun for me. But then the rest of the food was already bought and made, so it was a really enjoyable preparation overall! I also made white wine peach sangria. It was so pretty, I had to take a picture.

With that, we're off! We'll post some vacation pictures upon our return. Oh, and the day after we return? Our second wedding anniversary! Do you believe it?!

Markus visits Indianapolis

That's right, Markus had a trip to Chicago and came down to Indy for the weekend so we could both do some sightseeing in this town that has become my second home. I work in an office park/suburban type of area, so it was nice to stay downtown and see what the Indy city life is like.

It's a smaller city than Philly, Markus and I equated it to Reading or Allentown in terms of the size of the downtown district. There are other neat city neighborhoods outside of downtown, but you have to drive to those. It's a spread-out Midwestern city. Downtown Indy was nice, very easy to navigate, and we like whoever has done their city planning. They have a new canal walk that is lovely at night, along with several new museums, a new baseball stadium for their AAA team, and a new Colts stadium is being built. It's a very clean city and the people are friendly. We even found a winery on a side street so we kicked back to a jazz quartet and sipped some Indiana wine before we moved on to a German bar that's been around forever, where Markus had a couple of big beers. We spent time on Saturday checking out the various neighborhoods of the city and love the Arts and Crafts style of the homes. There are vibrant colors, and the design is just plain cool. On Sunday, I dropped Markus off at the airport only to discover that his noon flight was cancelled (those were the three voicemails we received at home from an unknown number...). So, I turned around and we headed to the Speedway for a look around and then we went back downtown to see the Indiana State Museum and have some Bazbeaux Pizza (rated one of the top ten pizzas in the US by USA Today - it was pretty tasty!). Then I dropped him off for his 5:55 flight, which left late, but at least he got home.

I was in Indy for eight days straight, my longest stretch so far - and I only did that so we could spend a weekend there. Anyway, it was a long time to be away, and I was glad to be home last week. I'm enjoying my 10 day stretch at home before heading out west again next Monday. I've been cooking a lot (yup, we're still trying to eat well), this week from my new issue of Cooking Light. So far, the recipes I tried were all good (Grilled Salmon w/veggies, Cucumber Soup, Seared Tofu) but some weren't worth the effort. I know my mom reads Cooking Light but I'm not sure which other blog readers might; anyway, if you're curious about what I made and what I wouldn't make again, send me an email. No baked goods (remember, trying to be healthy) this week, unless I lose my willpower! :-)

Markus has two more classes left before he graduates, for those of you counting down with us. The prospect of no homework is very exciting for both of us, though probably more for Markus since he has to do all of the work!!! And, our vacation is quickly approaching. We'll have to start packing and getting ready after I return from Indy next week.

Oh, I also checked out the new Macy's that opened in the Wanamaker Building (it was Lord and Taylor before that closed in May). The layout is the same as L&T, still a big shoe and handbag department (woo hoo!!!), and some of the same brands. A couple of shoe brands that L&T carried aren't carried by Macy's but I'm sure I'll live. The only disappointment is that there's not a housewares department in this store; it makes me sad because I always liked the housewares department at the K of P store. I guess I'll have to stick to online ordering, Williams-Sonoma, and Fante's in South Philly.

No exciting house news to report. As for my urban garden, it's pretty much dead. We had our roof deck resealed while I was away, and with only joists to walk on, it makes watering seven windowboxes rather difficult. Markus moved the tomato plant to our patio, and two tomatoes are finally getting ripe! And, now that it's not on the roof deck, the squirrel hasn't eaten any more of my tomatoes!! I have a couple of smaller tomatoes growing, so I figure that I should be able to get one or two good tomato and mozzarella salads out of it...(I know, that's it? you're thinking; hey, I'm just glad I have one tomato left after that squirrel ate three of my biggest ones). I'll report back on how my two almost-ripe tomatoes taste after I pick them (they better ripen before I have to leave next Monday is all I have to say about the matter). With that, Markus should be home soon and it'll be time to head to the gym. We'll post some Indy photos, and perhaps some tomato photos if they look good. :-)

Scandinavian Blondies

No, that's not the corps of nannies we will hire when we have kids (though Markus would love that...)! These are some bar cookies I made last week and they're delicious! I tend to bake when I'm stressed out, so on Sunday I was in the mood to bake. I perused my King Arthur's Flour Baking Companion (or it might have been their cookie cookbook) and knew I would find something wonderful. I highly recommend these two cookbooks for anyone who likes to bake. They have the standard cookie recipes (chocolate chip, peanut butter, oatmeal, etc) and then variations on each (do you like yours crunchy or soft and chewy?). The Baking Companion has more varied dessert recipes, so you could find an number of yummy desserts depending on what you're in the mood to bake.

Anyway, the blondies are these plain (just your standard butter, sugar, flour, and eggs) bar cookies with almond extract - they went perfectly with vanilla ice cream. Yes, it was an indulgent weekend (on Saturday, we indulged at my cousin's graduation party), but we did get Edy's Slow Churned Light (1/3 the calories and 1/2 the fat!). I even packed a few of the cookies in a baggie and brought them along to Indianapolis with me! I'm excited to get back home and dive more deeply into these cookbooks; this was the first recipe I made and am inspired, though I will be looking for volunteers to eat my baked goods (I can't eat them all!).

So last week I was at home and made chilled soups (I think my favorite was chilled orange pepper soup with cilantro/pea puree - YUM) and healthy dinners every night of the week except one when we met our old neighbors and friends, Brian and Gretchen, for dinner. Markus had his last midterm on Monday, then I departed for Indy. In just a few hours, I have to pick him up at the bus station - he went to Chicago on business and took a bus here so we could spend a weekend doing fun stuff in Indianapolis. We're staying downtown (thanks to the Marriott points I accrue each time I'm here!) and I'm looking forward to seeing more of the city.

All is pretty quiet on the house front, because we've been trying to enjoy what remains of the summer when Markus doesn't have schoolwork he needs to focus on. I have to say, though, Markus was like a firecracker or super taskmaster last Friday. He has summer hours now and he gets done at lunchtime on Fridays. So, he gets home and in an hour and a half, has hung bike holders on the wall and hung the bikes up, re-hung the blinds on our windows, cleaned the ground floor up, hooked up the dehumidifier drainage hose, and started staining our kitchen windows. I can't wait until he has no school distractions - he'll be doing 18 projects each weekend!!! That's why I love this man! :-)

The other exciting thing is that our courtyard trees were just pruned and the decaying tree on our patio was removed. We get so much more natural light now!! At some point, we'll get the stump removed and we're going to extend our patio so we'll have a little more room. Up on the roof deck, the plants are growing just fine, but the darned critters are eating my tomatoes!!! ARGH! I started with six good-sized tomatoes, then five, then four, and now THREE are left. I think it's the courtyard squirrel that's eating them. I probably won't have any left by the time I get back next Wednesday. One of the other plants in my pot has started blooming, so I have some baby tomatoes just starting out but it'll probably eat those, too. I'll be so happy if I can harvest (he he, I'm such a city farmer, huh?) one lousy tomato. Ah well, at least I'm helping the squirrel survive, right?

And now, I'm signing off from the land of Nascar...two back-to-back episodes of Grey's Anatomy are on!

Oh, by the way, I don't know who this "Anonymous" person who's been adding the comments, but don't click on their links. They're just some crappy online casino type site and they'll spam your email.

Feel the Ocean Breeze

That's what Markus' mom always says when we're in Ocean City, and that's where we were last weekend! And yes, there was a nice ocean breeze. Now that our bathroom is more or less finished, we've finally been able to enjoy our summer weekends (to some extent, though Markus still has homework every weekend.).

Luke and Amanda and Markus and I spent the weekend in the OC, as I like to call it, and Markus and I finally have some color on our skins. We no longer look like scary pale white people! The weather was lovely, and of course the company was wonderful. One funny coincidence was that on Friday night, we headed to the boardwalk and while we were waiting outside a store, we heard someone say "Hey!". I looked over and there were my parents, my uncle and his wife, and grandparents! Seems like everyone was in the OC this weekend. While the weather was nice, the water was COLD!! We were brave enough to go in and enjoy the waves, though.

To catch up on what else has been happening, well, not much. My parents came down last weekend so we could go out to dinner for their anniversary. We tried an Italian place in the heart of the Italian market. The food was good, but we had to wait about an hour for a table. Luckily, we had lots of catching up to do so the time went by pretty quickly (though I was starving by the time we were seated!). I ordered shrimp scampi, and it was the butteriest scampi I've ever had. I was glad I ordered a side of pasta to go under the scampi so the butter could drip off. Now, that's not to say that the scampi was bad, but my belly sure isn't used to so much butter.

Markus and I have been trying to eat a healthier diet lately. Since I finally have a week at home, I've been cooking lots of good meals that are good for us. Something I love in the summertime is chilled soup, so I've been making one or two new recipes for some kind of cold soup each week I'm home. This week is Beet-Fennel-Ginger soup and Yellow Pepper (though I had to buy orange because they were out of yellow at Iovine's at Reading Terminal...) something or other. One of my recent favorites is a cold Zucchini-Avocado soup - it's kinda wild in that it's green, but it tastes much better than it sounds. You cook the zucchini and some onions in broth and then puree it with the avocado - delicious! If you haven't ever tried cold soup, give it a whirl in this hot weather. Others on my list to try: carrot-sage soup and a chilled blueberry soup. The cold fruit soups can be served as an appetizer or dessert - how can you go wrong??

Related to our health kick, I've tried to be more consistent with exercise. I think I mentioned that I enlisted the help of a personal trainer. One of the things she's had me working on is jumping rope. I forgot about it, but boy is it a good cardio workout! It's low impact, and you burn as many calories as you do during a run. Oh, and even better, I can pack it in my suitcase when I travel (now I really have no excuse for not exercising, even if the hotel gym isn't great). I pack my handy dandy heart rate monitor, which keeps me honest and tells me how many calories I really did burn, and my jump rope and I'm all set. I'm not great yet, but I'm getting better (275 revolutions without stumbling is my best so far), and it makes me SWEAT! So, if you're looking for a new kind of exercise that you can do anywhere, don't forget about the jump rope. My trainer went so far as to say I could whip it out in the airport when I have a delay...I think I'll spare the other passengers that sight!

This weekend we get to stay in the area, which will be a nice break. After a few more weekends, we'll post some summer fun pictures since there's not much in the way of house projects going on (which is nice!). I did, however, stop at an appliance store today to get pricing on a new wall oven and microwave, cooktop, and range hood. Decisions, decisions - new appliances or master bath remodel? Our counter microwave appears to be dying, so I'm thinking we may get the appliances first. We have a wall microwave, which doesn't work, so we have to use a regular microwave on our counter. If that dies, though, we might as well move forward with the kitchen first. Stay tuned for that. Right now, we're thinking about Bosch appliances; the previous owners had installed a Bosch dishwasher, which we've been pleased with (and love the German engineering!), and their other appliances have gotten good reviews from what I read. I don't think we'll do anything just yet, but if we decide to do an appliance upgrade, you better believe you'll read all about it here!

The bathroom is done!

That's right, folks. The third floor bathroom is finally finished, with the exception of two small pieces of trim. We finished in a nick of time, too - Markus put the finishing touches on just before we left to pick up our friends Sean and Brook from the airport.

They spent the holiday weekend with us and we had a great time. We did lots of walking, drank wine and beer, ate at a few new restaurants, shopped, and went to the Wyeth exhibit at the art museum. The weather was nice most of the weekend except for Saturday night, which coincidentally was the night we decided to grill our dinner. The guys were good sports, though, and made some awesome steaks despite the pouring down rain outside. Brook and I got tickets to the Wyeth exhibit on Sunday afternoon and both of us agreed that it was an excellent show. It only took us about an hour to walk through, which was good timing for me as I tend to get sensory overload after 1-2 hours in an art museum. The emotion and detail in the paintings affected me, and I wanted to buy a print of one of the two that spoke to me the most, but they were sold out. Oh well...

Markus jumped right back in to summer session two on Wednesday night - the final course in his Master's program! Neither of us can believe that the end is almost here after three years and are trying to figure out what exactly Markus will do when he has all of his evenings free and no homework assignments to complete on the weekends.

In the end, our bathroom project was challenging but we're pleased with the results. While there are some imperfections (we are only amateur home remodelers, after all), it does look nice. For our next two projects, though, I think we're 99.9% sure we're hiring the experts. We want to redo our master bathroom (rip down walls, install a new tub, retile the shower, modify the plumbing) and it's a pretty major project, one that's just too much for us. And, at a minimum we need some new kitchen appliances and might throw in a new countertop, possibly an island, and hey, if we hit the lottery, some new cabinets, too. These would be late fall (or early Christmas gift) projects, but we have to start thinking and budgeting for them now. We have the names of contractors who will do estimates for us, so I'll be curious to see what the costs will be since I really don't know.

Markus and I both commented on how nice it was this weekend and yesterday to just sit down at night and not have to tile or grout or paint. We're both so glad the bathroom is done! I'll load our pictures this weekend into an album so you all can see our progress. Stay tuned...as for us, we're going to enjoy having no projects to work on for the next few weeks!

Marley and Me - great book!

I just finished reading the book, Marley and Me, by Philadelphia Inquirer Pennsylvania columnist John Grogan. It was a funny and heartwarming tale about the author's (and his family's) dog. The dog, a yellow lab, wasn't the brightest dog but he sure was lovable. The book was laugh out loud funny in several parts - I burst out in laughter on the plane several times. People must've thought I was crazy. If you've ever had a pet, I think you'll relate to this book, since you undoubtedly experienced moments of loving, and not loving quite as much, that pet or pets. Of course, the end of the book left me in tears (again on the plane, I swear, the woman next to me must've thought I was really nuts), which any pet owner could also relate to. So if my eating/yoga/searching for pleasure recommendation of Eat, Pray, Love didn't do it for you, maybe this one will capture your interest.

On an animal-related note, I'm very proud to report that Ms. Camper (aka, the fatter of our two cats) has lost an astounding 2 pounds since her month of sicknesses. Samba has lost 1 pound, and it's all a result of switching them to the Whole Foods Whole Paws cat food at our vet's recommendation. Their coats are shinier and softer than ever. And, to our delight and occasional dismay (when they wake us at 5:30 am), they have much more energy. Now if only their mommy would find such success in weight loss...

I've been on a better streak lately, not taking a cookie each night at my hotel, hitting the gym (and working out with a trainer who kicked my butt last week) more regularly, and trying to eat better. With the hectic travel schedule, the sub-par fitness center in my hotel, and eating out for every meal when I travel, it's an uphill battle. This is why I've told Markus that our children must have his long, naturally lean physique instead of my short and stout one (which I try to make less stout). :-)

I have my appointment with the sports medicine doctor tomorrow about my feet. I really think I have plantar fasciitis, since the pain in my arches hasn't gone away and in fact, has gotten worse, and it's been around since April. It seems like all of a sudden, my body started getting creaky. I'm only 29 - this isn't supposed to happen yet! AHHHH! I was completely prepared for falling apart at 40, because my mom had a few rough years around that age, when seemingly all of her major systems failed her in one way or another, but not at 30! My knees are popping, my hamstrings ache, and I haven't even been running because of my feet. I'm not whining, I think I'm just in shock that this is happening (like the Bjork lyrick - "this wasn't supposed to happen". Amen, sister!). Needless to say, I'll be glad to get a verdict tomorrow afternoon. God help me if I have to buy some awful "comfort" shoes...no offense to anyone who wears "comfort" shoes, of course, but I just planned on a few more years of cute, and totally bad for your feet, sandals.

Tonight, I returned from a week in Indy (and can't sleep); I found out today that I have to go back next week, and I'll be back the week after that. I'll be glad to be home the weekend of July 4, and to see our friends Sean and Brooke then. It happens every year, but I'm always amazed at how quickly the summer flies by. Until I have more than 3 days per week to spend in my own home, it'll be July! Then it'll be August and time for our vacation to Ireland! Then it'll be our anniversary, and my birthday. And then it'll be Christmas! All in the blink of an eye.

My friend Becky has returned from her travels in India and will be coming over for breakfast tomorrow (well, later this) morning. Afer my doctor's appointment, it's back to B-town to watch my mom's dance studio's annual recital. I'm looking forward to seeing my sister perform; although she was in school mere blocks from me, I wasn't able to attend any of her practices or performances. Since she spent this past year studying dance intensively, I think she'll knock peoples' socks off. She's a great performer (she got all those genes in the family - nothing was evenly distributed in our family. My brother is a good athlete and is extremely mechanically inclined, we girls are soooo not. My sister can outperform most people, I couldn't if my life depended on it. What did I get? Anal retentiveness, obsessive compulsive tendencies, anxiety...all the glamorous stuff. I still wonder what on earth gave Markus the idea that I was a good pick...every now and then he throws me a bone and gives me a reason or two :-) I'll never forget, the first time I met Markus' mom, he looked over at one point and there we both were, sitting on the couch and picking our fingernails. He should've known then it was a bad sign, but Markus has always liked a good challenge; he got a good one with me!

If you're interested in seeing a fun and entertaining dance recital, it's at the high school and starts at 6:30 pm. Happy Father's Day to all the dads!

Queen of Stain

I've decided that should be my new title, as I've focused my house project efforts on staining our windows recently. I had never stained before, so my first attempt was a bit messy. I took pictures of the splatter marks on the wall and floor as proof (I'll post a new album after the bathroom is done, which means you probably don't have to check back till Fall). Fortunately, we bought a house that basically needs fixing everywhere, so the wall that I splattered (on the third floor) hasn't been painted because we haven't picked a color for that room. And the floor, well, every floor in the house needs to be refinished so I didn't really care about the splatter marks there. My splatter marks blend in with all the other stains! You know, it's kind of nice to be able to be slightly careless about splatters. Now, I was much more diligent when I stained around the windows, since those are NOT being replaced (for the next 20 years, anyway).

We chose Red Mahogany as the color for the windows. Since the window installers used 3-inch trim around all the windows (we're still not sure why they used such wide trim), we decided to pick a strong color for the stain. It looks really nice, and this weekend, I was able to stain all of the 2nd floor windows. I polyurethaned the third floor, and will work on the 2nd floor tomorrow while Markus has class. I spent several hours today researching hotels and B&Bs for our trip to Ireland in August, so it was a nice break from housework.

Markus was no slouch, though. While I stained, he repaired some of the drywall holes in the third floor bathroom that we're remodeling in preparation for painting the walls. Our toilet and tiles arrived last week, so now we just have to finish painting and tiling before we put it all together. I leveled the floor (that sounds so funny to say), but I did have some uneven areas (I'm not a talented mason like my brother, which reminds me, I should've had him come and do that) so after I finish my polyurethaning tomorrow I have to go chisel the floor. I just want that bathroom to be done; we've had the cabinet and vanity since April, we have a new toilet in our front entry, etc. But, it's hard with Markus being in school and me being away half the time, so I just need to be patient, I know. Today while I looked for hotels, Markus spent 6 hours solid working on his next paper. He has to write about a current event involving negotiating, so he was researching and writing about the Iran nuclear arms situation.

I'm home this week, except for a trip to Boston and back on Tuesday, so hopefully we can make some project progress in the evenings. I got these really cool lights that attach to our patio umbrella, so we've been enjoying those in the evenings. We love projects that take 15 minutes instead of 15 hours or 15 days...

Today, Markus and I were reading this article about a one-year accelerated nursing program that Drexel University offers. Markus says he thinks I should consider this, that I'd be a good nurse (what, with my great nurturing skills that he sometimes thinks I lack? I say my cats would disagree..., but maybe I'm better with cats than husbands? ;-), and in light of the nursing shortage, I'd easily earn a respectable salary. Now, remember my post from a few weeks ago, the one where I said I really liked my job? Yeah, I still do, so wasn't really thinking of a career change!

I don't think I want to suddenly decide to do this nursing program (27 hours of class each week, plus 12 hours of clinical rotations, plus studying), but I suppose it is something to keep in mind for the future. Also, it's $26,000 for the one year (which isn't bad, considering many graduates receive $15k signing bonuses and start at salaries of $50k and higher), but that would mean no Christie salary for a year, plus paying $26k. Hmmm, if you have an extra $26k laying around and want to pay for me to go to school, let me know. Otherwise, I'm gonna stick with my current gig, which is pretty good. Oh, and if I can share a nice compliment - I was talking with the person who leads the team of Business Analysts that I'm on, she said I'm one of the best BAs on the team! I was so excited, because I always worry whether I'm doing a good job. She even told me that I'm being put on the team to work on our next software release, which is a project that needed to have the "Dream Team" working on it to get it done, as she said. So, yeah, I'm feeling pretty good - I made the dream team, after all! It's so neat to work at a job you really like, and to find out that your management really likes you back!

In other non-Christie and Markus news...my Dad played in a golf tournament this weekend and won a few prizes. I swear, he should join the Senior PGA when he retires because he could probably win money - and then he could get the boat AND the beach house that he keeps trying to talk my mom into buying. (Keep going Dad, eventually you'll wear her down and she'll give in and say yes. That's always worked for me, Justin, and Lindsay when we wanted something) He's gotten a hole in one and won his flight in the DuPont tournament in Myrtle Beach, he wins prizes in most tournments he enters, and in this tournament, he beat the pro, got closest to the flag, and something else. Keep up the good work, Dad, and if you ever make it big in the golf world and win lots of money, you know where to find us! :-)

My brother also had an exciting week, but not in a great way. So I'm sitting in a meeting in Indy with our president and other important people and get a voice mail from my brother. He almost never calls me, so I immediately think something bad happened, but he said not to worry just to call later. So I did. It turns out he was in a car accident (not his fault) and his new truck that was 2 weeks old, was totaled. Luckily, he was not hurt, but another person involved in the accident had to be flown to the hospital. What I found out today is that my brother was quite courageous that morning - after he was hit, he saw that the person who hit him was unconscious in their car. Justin and his friend couldn't get the other person's door open, so they shattered the window, Justin crawled in and turned the car off (to avoid a fire) and was smart enough to get some of his work shirts out and put pressure on this other person's head wounds. Eventually, this young man regained consciousness and was flown to the hospital for care. The O/R nurse said my brother essentially saved the guy's life. It makes me proud to know that Justin was able to think so clearly in such a crazy situation, and try to help another person who needed it so much. And of course, when my brother recounted the accident to me, he mentioned none of this. He's kind of a humble guy, but Justin, we're glad you're okay, and really proud of you for helping that person out.

I'm going to go read a little more of Eat, Pray, Love now, as I eat my Haagen-Dazs Strawberry Shortcake ice cream, which I will eat AND love!

Eat, Pray, Love

I'd been looking forward to reading this book for several weeks after reading a synopsis in a magazine and hearing a recommendation from a friend. Plus, the author (Elizabeth Gilbert) is a resident of Philadelphia, so I requested it at my local library and have been reading it for the last few days.

The book is broken into three sections, the first of which is about the author's four month stay in Italy. Then she goes to India, followed by Bali; it's a one-year adventure in which she does some serious soul searching after the breakup of her marriage and a serious relationship that followed her marriage.

I knew I was destined to love to love the book in the first section when she mentions - you guessed it, gelato (!!) - and how she ate it after every meal and that Italians think nothing of seeing a person eating gelato at 9:30 am. That's my kind of lady, eating gelato at 9:30 am! I did the same thing when I first discovered gelato during my trip to Italy when I studied abroad. Thankfully, I was only in Italy for four days, but I ate gelato after every meal for those four days. After four months, I'd probably weigh, well, a lot...

Back to the book. The second section recounts her four month stay at an ashram in India (similar to what our friend Becky just did).

I've really enjoyed reading about her time in India (haven't gotten to section three yet). I started taking yoga about two months ago and have come to enjoy it in several aspects. After my first class, I told Markus I didn't think I was a yoga person even though Becky had been telling me how great it was. I had a hard time turning my brain off. I stuck with it, though, and have conquered my mind, so to speak, and have discovered that I can make it through a one hour class thinking only of what my body is doing and counting my breaths.

For anyone who doesn't already know this about me, my brain is an overactive thing (just like my mouth, and my keyboard when I'm typing messages) and I've always found it difficult to relax and think about nothing. I had to work at quieting my thoughts, and to relate back to this book, the author describes her personality as being very similar. It took her a long time to conquer her overactive mind and negative thoughts, but through years of studying yoga and meditation, she was finally able to do it as a result of her years spent studying then her work at the ashram.

Not to seem all new-agey, but it really made me admire her, inspired me to continue taking yoga classes and learn more about meditation, and share that information. I had pre-conceived notions about yoga and the new-ageyness of it, but in addition to the mental benefits I've found, it really is great exercise. My arms are looking pretty toned, and I have done NO weight lifting in months. For those who like low impact exercise, exercise that doesn't require too much coordination or quick movement, or just looking for something new, give it a try. And stick with it for a few classes. I think you'll find at least one benefit of it, whether it helps your mind or your body.

So, check out the book (I can't wait to get to the "Love" part of the title about her four month stay in Bali) if you want a good read. She has a down-to-earth writing style, a great sense of humor, and talks about her spiritual beliefs without being preachy. Enjoy the book, if you do decide to read it.

short posts and white shirts

I refuse to submit a post without at least one picture (or lots of hyperlinks). I just got an earful from Christie about how all of her "bla bla bla bla bla" is important! Oh well, someone out there just googled "gelato obsession" and got my wife's insane post. I'm sorry for you because now you'll feel obliged to view the slideshows and see more pictures of cats than ME!!!!

So, here's what's new: We're going to get Comcast high-speed and dump the speakeasy. After that, GOODBYE VERIZON, after we hook up Vonage VOIP service. I'm motivated by the free calls to Ireland. Maybe now I'll finally talk to my dad - or at least have no excuse to not at least try.

This picture is sort of staged, but also pretty close to how I spent a lot of my days before I had the luxury of call screening. That's me at my desk in what looks like a dry-cleaner prepared shirt. I've been ironing my shirts lately and the result is not the same. Maybe that is one luxury I need to afford myself.

So long America. Good night!

You know you're getting older

When you spend a Friday night ripping apart a bathroom, followed by dinner and posting on the blog. How much more exciting could we be?!

I posted some new pictures in the May photo album. You can access it by clicking on the photo to the right.

We spent some time ripping out the rest of the tile in the third floor bathroom in preparation for our remodel. Our toilet arrived today, and the tiles were shipped today and should arrive soon. I ripped out the tile on the bottom of the walls while Markus got stuck with the stinky (literally and figuratively) job of removing the existing toilet. I was happy to just keep chiseling away at tiles...

Last night we went to the gym and decided that we should go out for dinner. I picked a new vegan restaurant that recently moved from Willow Grove to a location about 3 blocks from us on S. 7th Street. It's called Horizons. Check out their website at www.horizonsphiladelphia.com. It was one of the best restaurant meals I've had in a long time, and I loved the atmosphere. It's one of the few places in the city where the bartender chatted us up and we talked to some of the servers and the people sitting next to us. We had to sit at the bar, even though we walked in at 9 pm for dinner, because the restaurant was reviewed by the Inquirer last week and received 3/4 bells. I had been wanting to go for weeks and knew our best shot to go now was on a weeknight and I'm so glad we did! I had cucumber avocado soup and yucatan salad while Markus had a hearty black bean soup with quinoa and seitan tips, and paella. I tell you, it was simply delicious. They have a cookbook that I'd like to buy because the food they served is exactly the kind of vegetarian food I love and would like to cook at home. We still eat meat, but also like to switch it up every now and again with tofu, seitan, tempeh, and other non-meat products. I also found a beer I love and could drink more than one of - Celis from the Michigan Brewing Company. We're going to search for it this weekend I think.

I have to return to Indy next week; it wasn't a planned trip but I'm glad to be going. Markus is always asking me if I need to spend more time there. I wonder if he's trying to get rid of me? We're working on rolling out a new software application and I am going to train some of the staff that will need to implement and use the product in the future.

I've been reflecting recently on the fact that I really enjoy my job and how lucky I am to be in such a position. For those who don't know, I am a business analyst. What the heck is that (I didn't know what it was til I became one)? Well, at my current job, the executives and senior management determine what our software applications need to do in order to maintain and generate new business (i.e., make money). When new features and functionality need to be developed, I would begin identifying the requirements (what does the software need to do, how should it behave in certain scenarios). Then I'd create detailed functional specifications that outline exactly how the features will work; these documents are then used by a software developer to write the code that makes everything work. I'd also work with a user interface designer to determine how the screens should look to a user of the software. If you think of any website you use, someone had to figure out what the software behind the scenes needs to do in order for the website to work (think Amazon or Expedia and placing an order), and how the website and its different screens should look, based on what information needs to be captured, whether the user can move forward or back when making a purchase, and so forth. I also work directly in our database to add additional records/information, make edits, or delete things that shouldn't be there. Since we're building something new, there are no pretty screens that make it easy, so we have to access the database to make any changes right now. I've learned quite a bit about MS Access, Toad, PL/SQL Developer, and Oracle databases; these are things a Spanish major would never dream of...

But, I have to confess that this type of work really suits me. Anyone who knows me knows that I'm extremely left-brained, anal retentive, detail-oriented, and this job allows me to swim in details all day long. Now that the weekend is here, though, I'll stop talking about work. I figured I'd take a minute and explain what I do, since most people aren't sure, and they wonder what the heck I'm doing when I go to Indy all the time. Now you know!

Markus and I are going to hit the gym tomorrow for Tae Bo, then go to Home Depot or Lowe's to get supplies for the floor and patching the walls so we can paint. I'll take pictures over the weekend and maybe post our progress on Monday night. We're looking forward to a neighborhood block party on Sunday - this will be our first opportunity to meet several neighbors, so it should be fun. Then Markus has to hit the books to read up for his next class. Lucky boy...

Happy Memorial Day, everyone!

Baby correction

After I posted last night's missives, I was laying in bed recounting what I wrote and I realized I didn't explain my mom's feelings on babies. Being the anxious worrywart I am, I worried about it and sure enough saw she was up bright and early posting a comment about it. (She's so productive, she's probably already done 2 loads of laundry) What I meant when I said that she was slowly warming up to the baby idea is this: my mom and dad are quite young, under 50 in fact, and she always joked that she was too young to be a grandmom. I agree that she is young, but I think that'll be a benefit to all of us once a little Christie (God help them) or a little Markus comes along. So Mom, I know you've always liked the idea of grandkids, but had to get used to the idea that you have a child who is old enough to realistically produce a grandchild (meaning, you're old enough to be a Grandma, Mom-Mom, Nana, or whatever we'd call you)! And yes, we would have to pick some names. I'll add this to the list of things Markus and I want to do before any babies (anything to lengthen the list!!! ha ha). Now if only you and Dad and Mom and Dennis would move into the city, we'd resolve that problem of only seeing each other once a month...

Capogiro, how I love thee

I almost forgot about this!

Now, anyone who knows me knows how much I LOVE food. Capogiro is one of my favorite places in the city - they make their own gelato each morning and use many local fruit and herb products in their gelato. The couple who own Capogiro went to Italy to study the art of gelato, bought special gelato-specific equipment, and have done so well in their first location that they opened a second store last year. Their first location is at 13th and Sansom, which is mere blocks from our house. Sometimes I look at this as a good thing, and sometimes, it's too close for comfort...

Some of my favorite flavors, and believe me, I've sampled a lot, are rhubarb, lemon verbena, lemon opal basil, pineapple sage, pineapple mint, and mojito sorbettos; their bittersweet chocolate gelato is simply out of this world. It's chocolate heaven. They make some plain old nut flavors, like black walnut and hazelnut, which are excellent, and a few different coffee flavors. Some of my other favorites are pistachio, Saigon cinnamon, Thai coconut milk, and Fior di Latte. Fior di Latte serves as the base for all the gelato flavors, but it's nice, light, and a little bit milky sweet just by itself. Okay, enough about flavors. Check out their website (http://www.capogirogelato.com) - they update their flavors each day, and each location has its own set of flavors each day.

They use seasonal ingredients, so in the fall you'll see flavors like butternut squash, pumpkin, sweet potato streusel (and yes, they're really good. I should stop saying that. I've never had a bad flavor.). Rhubarb pops up right around now, and later in the summer we'll see blueberry thyme and peach. The fruity flavors are usually sorbettos, which contain no dairy products. That means they're also lower in fat and calories (so you can eat twice as much, as we say).

What I especially like is that they experiment with unusual flavors and flavor combinations - some odd ones I've seen are olive oil (smooth, tastes like olive oil), sassafras (haven't tried it yet), marshmallow (not as sweet as fluff, which is a good thing. I've only seen it twice - I'm dying for them to make it on the same day as they make peanut butter so I can have a fluffer nutter gelato!), and some of the fruit/herb sorbettos. I wouldn't have thought to combine lemon and opal basil, but it is my favorite flavor right now and it'll serve as an inspiration for me to make my own sorbet and see how it turns out.

The only down side is that Capogiro is not cheap, but not many wonderfully delicious things are inexpensive (that's my rationalization, anyway). A small cup runs about $4.50, but it's a true treat, and I appreciate the fact that the owner is up at 4 am making batches and batches of fresh gelato that will be served that very day. It's not an everyday treat, but definitely something to splurge on once in a while. Oh, and they'll give you samples of any flavors you want - take advantage of this! I always try something that I'm considering before I commit to that as one of the flavors in my dish. And if there's a new flavor I've been curious about, I ask to sample that too. It's quite a neat store. If you ever want somebody to go with you to Capogiro, you know where to find me!!!

Now, I'm off to the hotel gym to work off my lemon opal basil from Saturday night...

Mother's Day to now - what have we been doing?

It's been a few weeks since our last post because we've been pretty busy!

Markus, Liz and I ran in the Susan Komen 5k. With his long legs (and even with his bum knee!), Markus raced through the finish line in only 22 minutes. The event was crowded, but it was amazing to see so many people and survivors. They have lots of freebies and food for the runners, too. I was just glad that I finished the race, and I even shaved two minutes off the time I was running the same distance in the gym.

We were back home by 10 am on Mother's Day, and then it was off to see the moms. Poor Markus' mom thought one of her wishes was coming true - she read the note Markus wrote in her card (in essence, she did a great job raising him and now it's his turn to be a good parent) and thought she was finally getting grandbaby #2. Nope, not yet, I was quick to assure her!! After all the teasing that we've done, she probably won't even believe us when we actually are expecting a child! Then we were off for dinner and a pretty tasty strawberry pie with my family. No false grandbaby expectations there, though I think my mom might be warming up to the idea of a new little baby in the family...thanks Miss Loree (one of my mom's dance teachers who graduated with me and Markus had a baby a few weeks ago).

Markus started his first summer session class, something relating to Human Resources and negotiating, on Monday night; it meets twice a week for seven weeks. It's a pretty intense class in terms of homework and reading. He's taking his final Master's course in summer session 2 (insert applause here!), so the summer looks to be full of reading and homework for him. I'm going to brush up on my home improvement skills so that perhaps I can tile a floor, refinish a floor, or install a toilet while he does homework...okay, that's totally unrealistic as a toilet weighs 100 pounds, but I'm hoping to keep the remodeling momentum going to some degree.

On Thursday night, I made my first pork roast which I bought at Esposito's in the Italian Market. Markus commented that it was the best pork he's ever had, and I agreed. I can say that because I really had nothing to do with it - I just roasted it for the right amount of time! It was pre-marinated, so a very easy dish to cook! If you're ever in the vicinity of the Italian Market, you must swing by Esposito's and buy some meat - I promise you won't be disappointed. I bought ground turkey there one day, and they had to go in the back to get it for me because they'd just finished grinding it. That's what I call fresh. They're on South 9th Street at Carpenter or Catharine (can't remember right now).

When the weekend arrived, we spent some time with Luke and Amanda. They were at the beach on Saturday so we went to the Italian Market Festival. Many Italian Market businesses and vendors were selling food, flowers, I'm Italian tee-shirts, and there were a few arts and crafts vendors there. The big highlight was seeing Frankie Avalon on the Sorrento Cheese main stage - the Big Kahuna from Back to the Beach!!!

When Luke and Amanda arrived that evening, we had a Home Movies (cartoon) Season 4 viewing party, along with pizza and mango bellinis. I know, bellinis are a brunch drink, but we were in the mood. After bellinis and two bottles of wine (hey, nobody was driving, just walking), we went to Capogiro. Read my other post from today - I'll post all about Capogiro in that one.

The four of us decided that we're food enablers. As individual couples, we eat healthily. When we're together, Amanda and I sweet talk our guys into getting Capogiro or ice cream or some other naughty dessert, and the boys, well, since they love us they oblige. Nor do they refrain from the treats, either...but we decided to turn a corner this weekend (after our trip to Capogiro, of course) and be healthy food enablers. We'll see how that goes.

On Sunday, I removed the tile floor in the third floor bathroom in preparation for remodeling it. I know, can you believe it? I ripped up a tile floor (I couldn't believe it either)! That night, Markus and I ordered this tile (http://mosaictilesupplies.com/fireside_blend.html) for the floors and this toilet (http://www.performancetoilets.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=31). The walls will be painted Boston Fern (aka, green). The toilet will arrive tomorrow, but we can't install it until the tile arrives next week. We'll get started on removing the fixtures, spackling the walls, painting, and hopefully installing the new cabinet and vanity over the long holiday weekend.

I traveled to Indy on Monday morning - for the first time in at least five weeks, my plane wasn't canceled or delayed!!! Hurrah! Now that Indiana is on daylight savings time, it stays light here until 8:30 or 9 pm, which is nice but confusing and deceiving to the mind. It's always much later than I think it is! The Indy 500 is on Sunday, so the racing fans are here in full force. I'm glad I'm leaving tomorrow before it gets super crazy in the city!

I think that catches us up now. Oh, our one cracked window was replaced (windows are totally done now) and our roofer patched our (hopefully) last leak and replaced the rain spout that we had to cut open in the rain a few weeks ago.

My final note is about Camper. For those of you following her health saga (bladder infection, followed by fever/vomiting), she had another vomiting and slight fever bout early last week. We made another trip to the vet, had x-rays done (which showed nothing abnormal), paid a lot of money, and went home. She slowly rebounded, started eating again, but had an awful hacking/retching bout each time she ate. I was a nervous wreck, convinced she had some chest obstruction, so I pretty much stalked her for a few days. Yes, I even stalked her when she went to use the litter box. She made faces like I've never seen, and upon her exit, I realized that her problem was constipation...almost immediately after that, her energy returned, her appetite improved, and the hacking has all but stopped. We've been brushing her every day in case a hairball was causing her some trouble. I'm just glad she seems to be healthy again. The one good thing to come out of all of this? She's lost 1.5 pounds (just in time for summer and bikinis)! She's starting to look like a fit little kitty again, and she's even taken to perching on our shoulders again (she hadn't done that since her younger, thinner days). We've taken some photos, so we'll post them soon. On that happy note, I bid you all adieu. Have a happy Memorial Day weekend!

I love BBC Radio

So, I've been criticized for my short posts. Some have called them "limited, terse," and maybe even "empty." Ha. In an attempt to appeal to the bookworms and advanced readers of the blogosphere, I have decided to spend a few sentences talking about how much I enjoyed listening to Radio 1's coverage of their free music festival this past weekend. The event, hosted in Dundee, Scotland http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&q=dundee,+scotland&om=1 . But how did we listen to something overseas? http://www.sirius.com/servlet/ContentServer?pagename=Sirius/CachedPage&c=Channel&cid=1121444083985 The beauty of Sirius' broadcast is that they delay by 5 hours, which synchronizes the GMT show with EST. Anyway, I enjoyed it and especially enjoyed Pete Tong's essential selection which he apparently played live from some club called London - http://www.london-nightclub.com/

No I'm not really an anglophile. It's easy to assume that. Honestly, I just like the format of the station, the chatty friendliness of the on-air personalities, and the fact that they do not have bombastic promotional commercial breaks every 10 seconds. Maybe it's the understatedness that I appreciate.

In case you want to check it out and you don't have Sirius, you can listen live or to any show from the past 7 days here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio1/listen/

I recommend:
The Essential Selection
Annie Mac
Colin and Edith
and I guess the Chris Moyles Show

Their little player lets you jump ahead by 5 or 15 minutes, which is nice. Oh, and bitrates go as high as 128k. BBC are on top of the US market and host mirror streaming servers out of NYC which seem to only be a few hops away with average 14ms latency. Amazing!

1 <1 ms <1 ms <1 ms 10.99.99.1
2 20 ms 16 ms 15 ms er1.nyc1.speakeasy.net [66.92.53.1]
3 14 ms 13 ms 13 ms 220.ge-0-1-0.cr2.nyc1.speakeasy.net [69.17.83.201]
4 14 ms 14 ms 13 ms rt0-fe2-1.thny.bbc.co.uk [198.32.160.24]
5 14 ms 15 ms 14 ms rmclip1.thny.bbc.co.uk [212.58.240.195]

OK. I'm done.

Oh, Royksopp are amazing. Trust me.

Saturday 5/13

"Pollen"

"Links"

last weekend 5/6

Important phone call

Special Shirt

Airborn in Rittenhouse Square

I have a garden!

Yes, that's right - I did some planting this weekend. The courtyard gardener told me about a nursery in Cherry Hill, NJ, so we trekked over there early Saturday morning. I spent the next few hours planting the window boxes, and since our roof deck is so private, I decided to wear my bathing suit. What I didn't think about was sunburn, but boy did I get one. I had the chills that night and my back and shoulders were sore for days. Provided I wear some sunscreen, I'm looking forward to working on my tan up on the roof deck while working from home! Markus painted the deck while I worked on the patio garden. The patio garden picture is above, and the newly painted roof deck and window boxes with flowers are below. I'll have to take more close-ups of the window boxes because they look pretty nice!

I took photos on the day of planting, since everything was at its best (meaning I haven't killed anything yet!). If my tomato plant does well this year (and I think it should, since it'll get lots of sun), I'm going to plant lots of veggies next year. I've read that cucumbers do well in pots, and I've had success with peppers, too. I guess I got used to the yummy tomatoes from my parents' garden and want to replicate it.

It's been fairly quiet for us lately, thankfully. The last roof repair will be done next week, and a replacement for our one window that was shattered upon arrival will be replaced next week. It's nice to finally have some peace and quiet and enjoy our surroundings. We went to the Rittenhouse Festival last Saturday and the Equality Forum's OutFest on Sunday. Both were a good time, and the weather couldn't have been better.

This week we're gearing up for the Komen 5k (if you'd like to donate, you can go to www.phillyraceforthecure.org and search for either one of us), which is Sunday, and then we're off to celebrate with our mothers. We're excited to be hosting Liz and her friend, Kira, on Saturday night. They're running in the Komen 5k, too. Wish us luck!

Oh, the one other update is about Camper. Some of you knew that she was in the cat hospital last week. She was vomiting and had a fever; well, she stayed for two days until her fever was gone and they sent her home. Her blood work came back normal, so her diagnosis was "fever of unknown origin"...She's back to her old self, meowing, chirping, eating, and just being lovable! Samba stayed healthy the whole time, fortunately. I'm so glad my kitties are both home and healthy!

Happy Mother's Day to all the moms!

cinco de mayo

Eating turkey burgers and drinking Guinness (boys) and white wine (girls) is the only way we roll on Cinco de Mayo!!!

Have a happy and safe holiday, America! 

Sunday Night

Only a few hours remain till I can say I'm finished the spring semester. This picture by way of its exaggerated blue cast and high contrast best describes how I feel. I'll leave it at that.




And by the way... any similarity to Keifer Sutherland in typical 24 promo clipart was completely unintentional! Wait, maybe he's been working on a graduate school project all day too???

Frankenstein Plumbing - Part 2

Just in case you've been holding your breath for some sort of follow-up to the tirade about the leaking pipes in our frankenplumbing cellar, here's some that tidbit of info.

Above, I'm pictured smoothing out quickcrete on the gaping hole which surrounds the check valve. Of course to make things really fun, I went and bought quickcrete with stones in it!! What was I thinking - was I gonna install a mailbox post??!? But, yes, the whole job was finished nicely: water heater, 4" iron sewer pipe replacement, check valve repair, leaking pipe repair, install of supply lines for laundry tub (to the right) and repair of outside leaky spigot.

Rain, rain, go away!

We were feeling pretty confident last week when we heard about the upcoming weekend's forecast for rain. After all, this would be the first rainfall since we had our entire roof resealed, all of the windows installed, leaky plumbing and a backflow check valve repaired. We also had a termite treatment done last week, since our window installers found termites (just in case you didn't think we were having enough fun with home repair!). So the rains came and our main leak remained dry. We were thrilled at the thought of our house finally being leak free.

I started prepping our dinner. We had plans to see the BodyWorlds exhibit with Luke and Amanda; I was experimenting by making vegetarian sloppy joes, lentil soup, and a wheatberry and ricotta cheese dessert. Markus and I heard dripping in the kitchen...and we saw water dripping down from behind the trim on our BRAND NEW sliding door. We have so many water-damaged spots in this house already; we didn't want another so we took the trim off. This was a whole new leak for us to stress about. We put towels around and after a while, Markus went back up to study (yes, through all this, the poor guy is trying to study for a business continuity final exam!). An hour later he came down and suggested that perhaps our rain spout was clogged. Genius! I got a fiberglass pole that extends to paint in high places; he stuck it down the spout and felt an obstruction about halfway down. We couldn't get it loose, so in the pooring rain he grabbed a ladder and drill. I did an excellent job of watching while getting soaked (I call it moral support). He drilled a hole into the spout and some water started dripping out; I encouraged a few more drilled holes. Then it looked like a fountain, or like a baby peeing without its diaper on. Then, Markus used some kind of plier-like tool to cut the spout in between the drilled holes because there was still about 10 feet of trapped water. He was successful in opening the spout, and his reward was getting splattered with the black "stuff" you see all over him in this picture. It looked like a pipe burst when all the water ran out. Ms. Moral Support here, screamed when all the water burst out. Markus' face was covered in dirt - he wiped it off for the picture. After a few more minutes, he was able to retrieve the object that caused this obstruction. It was the tape measure he's holding in his hand. Two hours later, the leak was dry. Problem solved.

Then, we discovered that Camper has a bladder infection; with cats, you only discover this when they're peeing outside the litterbox. As if we hadn't cleaned enough on Saturday, right? Well, after an hour of trying to find a vet open on Sundays, then relenting and taking her to an animal hospital in Plymouth Meeting and spending 4 hours doing that, I come home and we discover some water in our entry area's closet. We find that a pipe under the shower in our bathroom is leaking!!! So, we ripped that apart and are using a different shower for now.

Now we're at Monday. I get ready to head to the airport, but I see that we have a bit of water leaking in the same spot over the sliding door. Make note to call roofer; rain spout wasn't the whole problem. I get to the airport and as I walk to my gate, they cancel the flight. I get rebooked on a later flight, which they cancel an hour later. They cancelled more Indy flights and were sold out on later ones that hadn't been cancelled, so I came back home. I'll fly out tomorrow. We're back to dreading any rainfall, and hoping that we'll find this last roof/siding leak. We're still trying to figure out what to do about our leaky shower; our best thought right now is not to use it!

On the upside, the windows look and work great and our top floor bathroom should be remodeled in the next few weeks. Let's hope the April showers end this week!

Emma

Just to show that this blog isn't just about Weidners, here's a picture of oh so adorable Emma in full Easter regalia:

And if you could stop and smell the flowers...

Beautiful Day in the Courtyard

I'm not really trying to show off... but really, the light, weather and mood couldn't have been better on Saturday, April 15th. This is a shot of the house from the courtyard. To the right you catch some Cherry Blossoms, center you'll see the Magnolia, and to the left is a tall Birch tree which yields a healthy, daily and extremely copious amount of pollen. And just to tie in to the recent theme of home improvment, if you look at the windows of the house, you'll notice they are Terratone. Yes, Andersen Terratone - the one and only. The best part about new windows is that they still work as intended by the manufacturer.

Frankenstein Plumbing

Last night Christie helped me move the washer and dryer out of the corner where they had sat on a rotten platform of 3/4" plywood. After that ordeal, we lifted the platform to discover... rubble, and a flat iron plate with four bolts. So, I'm no expert, but it looked like the floor had been jackhammered some years ago and (possibly) a check valve had been installed at that time. It's not clear to me whether the intention was that it would be maintained or not. But... it's clear it hasn't been touched recently, since the washing machine was right on top of that spot.

After the discover, we started digging to uncover a fairly large area of the floor had been dug out. Even more exciting was actually getting to see that a section of drain pipe had a hole - which I suspect was from the jackhammering - that had been possibly patched all this time, and definitely leaking slowly. So, of course all it took was the disturbance of us digging to set the septic water free! Yes, it was gross. But, I fashioned a plug by using a wine bottle cork wrapped with duct tape and some silicone cault around the outside. As of this morning, I believe we were pool-free in that area of the basement.

The plumber will be out this week.

Here are the new pictures

As promised, I took some photos of the house to share our progress. Check them out on the right.

The windows are coming, the windows are coming!

Finally, we have an installation date! Our new Andersen Windows (400 series, Terratone on the outside, Metro hardware on the inside, for those who care) are being installed from April 12-14. Never in my life did I think I'd be excited about windows (or cooking or kids for that matter), but I am. We can only open about 3 of the windows in our house when the weather is nice, and we can't open the sliding door because it has no screen. I travel to Indy Monday thru Wednesday of next week, so I'll get to come home to a few new windows...I can't wait.

I promise, we're going to post new pictures of the house really soon. Markus was in Tampa this week so I spent my nights cleaning. The house looks presentable; I never thought two people, well, just me really, could create so much clutter. I sometimes feel like Pigpen from Peanuts - a trail of clutter is always following me. But, the house looks clean so I think we'll be able to snap some pics this weekend. The only white walls from the pre-move pictures that remain are on the third and fourth floors.

We also took the plunge and ordered some new bathroom stuff for our fourth floor bath (that has to be in good working order before we can demolish the one in our bedroom!). Went to Lowe's and did the special order thing, so our new vanity and faux granite (oooohhh, now I just need the real thing in the kitchen...) countertop will arrive on April 24. We need to paint after the windows, but before the 24th. Add it to the list. Like just about everything in the house, we couldn't get a stock vanity and counter - we had to order custom because of the dimensions. Markus calls this the Frankenstein house. Nothing was standard, but I guess neither are we. ;-)

I start my volunteering as a patient escort at Planned Parenthood on Saturday morning. This is done because protesters stand outside and heckle patients. What I learned during my training is that most of the women going into PP are going to receive the ONLY healthcare that they will receive the entire year, not for an abortion as so many people think. I'll get to wear a cool yellow pinnie that says "Patient Escort" and stand outside from 8-10 Saturday morning. Can't wait - seriously, this is an organization I've believed in for a long time because they provide important medical services to women who might not otherwise be able to afford them - so I'm glad to be serving as a volunteer.

Markus and I also decided to run in the Susan Komen 5k race on Mother's Day. I also saw the Philadelphia Distance Run (sponsored by Thomas Jefferson), which is a half-marathon, is scheduled for Sept. 17 - my 30th birthday. I decided this would be a great way to celebrate such a milestone so we're going to run in that, too. After the Komen race, we're going to kick the half-marathon training into high gear. I'm hoping that a side effect of the training will be a slimmer, more toned body - now that's really a gift I'd like for my birthday!

This is a really long post, I'm realizing. Guess we should post shorter messages more frequently. Check back for new pictures of the house, probably this weekend. Lots of good things happened this week, so I'd like to send some shout outs as a close:

1. My cousin Ashley found out she's the recipient of a FULL scholarship to Skidmore University. Awesome job, girl!
2. My very good friend Becky is moving back east from Portland, Oregon - I'm so excited for her to be back in PA after two years. Welcome back, Beck!
3. My sister Lindsay was asked to be a hair model for a Nexxus show next Monday - we all knew she had great hair, though, didn't we?

I'm a celebrity!

Recently I appeared in two publications. I don't want to brag, but I don't know of many Weidners who have had pictures and/or quotes in print!

The first article is from Engineering Inc., an engineering trade magazine. They interviewed me and wrote an article about electronic collaboration in the corporate world. At Pennoni, we are using corporate instant messaging technology, which is hot right now.

http://www.acec.org/publications/mar-apr06/techspeaking.pdf

For the other article, I was asked about how we control internet access in the corporate world. At Pennoni, we use Websense Enterprise.

http://itmanagement.earthweb.com/erp/print.php/3592631

Pictures of the house

So I finally had a minute to search for photos of our new house. As it turns out, we only have pictures from the day we moved in back in December. After you see the pictures, you'll see that the entire house was white. Since we moved in, we've painted every room on the bottom two floors and the office. Then we ran out of painting momentum and moved on to other projects...more expensive projects...Our current windows are originals, the kind of antique you don't want in your house, so we're having new ones installed. We're excited, as installation should occur in the next two weeks. Right now, we're having to take care of more structural issues, like stucco repair and roof maintenance to seal it up and stop a leak we're having. We'd rather be buying furnishings or remodeling our bathroom or the kitchen, but that'll have to wait until we know our house has sound plumbing and electric (we're trying to resolve flickering lights this week) and doesn't leak.

I'm glad I work from home because I meet with at least one or two contractors every week or two these days. You might be wondering why on earth we bought this house, and we do too sometimes. Well, even though we have some things to take care of with the house, it's a great space. It's secure in that we live between two city blocks that require keypad or a key to access the courtyard, and we're in a prime location. I can walk to the Italian Market (or Pat's or Geno's for a cheesesteak) in about 3-5 minutes. Market Street and City Hall are about a 10 minute walk. We're in the middle of everything and we love it. And, once all these house issues are taken care of and we can start on the fun stuff, like ripping out and remodeling our bathroom, I think we'll enjoy it even more.

Maybe tomorrow I'll post about all the things I've been doing since we moved here. Most involve food, but since I'm trying to get back to a disciplined eating and fitness routine I've been limiting my food trips lately. And when Markus gets back from Knoxville maybe he can post about his own topic, or take some new pictures of the house so you can see how different it looks from move-in day!

After that, we intend to use the blog to keep people near and far caught up with what we're doing. Check back for new pictures and posts!