Bike Ride and Gardening

It's been awhile since I updated my blog because we haven't been up to anything particularly exciting. Plus my phone has been full so I haven't been able to take any pictures (I did finally download my old pics so now I have room again). 

We did have a rough few days last week because Madeline was sick with a little virus. She was sick to her stomach and had a fever. She was pretty miserable and had no appetite. Poor baby...I hate it when she is sick like that. As usual, she bounced back pretty quickly and is her normal, active self again :) 

Some girls from work have been wanting to get together to ride bikes so last weekend, they all headed down to Gilbert (from Scottsdale) for a bike ride and brunch at Postino. It was a lot of fun! Check out the tandem bike...we borrowed that from George's parents. It's awesome! And I'm so sorry to everyone in Rochester for bringing this up, but we were downright HOT on our bike ride. It was in the 80's, but felt like the 90's.

I haven't mentioned anything about our garden lately. Truth be told, the garden has been a struggle. Gardening is no joke...it's such hard work! We had some issues with our drip system that required new lines. The lack of watering made the ground really hard so we decided to get it tilled. Emily and I went in and replaced the drip system after it was tilled and now we are back in business! 

George, Madeline, and I went to pick what did grow before it was tilled last Sunday. We actually ended up having a bunch of spinach, lettuce, and kale and a few carrots. I was able to make several salads and some cooke spinach from our crop :) 

Here are some carrots (left) and me in the garden pre-tilling...

 

Here is our garden post-tilling. The soil is much fluffier and easier to work with. Madeline tried picking some unripe strawberries from a neighboring plot...I stopped her before she did :) 

 It's clearly been a learning process, but hopefully it will be rewarding! 

First Haircut

This past weekend Madeline got her first haircut. I have cut her bangs a couple of times, but this was the first official haircut. She did well! I held her and she just kind of took it all in. She was pretty interested in the hair stylist -- she kept turning to look at her. Now we will just let it grow out and maybe she'll start letting me do a little ponytail or pigtails :)

 George's dad sent me these pictures a week or two ago. He often picks up Madeline from Gwen's house and they stop by the grocery store. He said that on this visit, she started pointing to the "car cart". Apparently she loved it! George said that the picture on the right looks like she's zoning out at a red light. Haha :)  

I am in the middle of working on our taxes....SO BORING! This week is pretty uneventful, which is totally fine by me! Uneventful is nice from time-to-time. The weather has been perfect here lately so we have been trying to take walks in the evening. Madeline and I will sometimes come home after work and then walk to Bashas (the grocery store near us). I hear you East Coasters are getting tons of snow. If you need a break from the cold, come to AZ for a visit! We have a guest room waiting for you!

Travels

I am back from basically three straight weeks of traveling and it feels great to be home and back to "normal life". I love to travel but it is so hard to be away from Madeline and George when I travel for work. Normally I do not travel that much, but two work trips and our previously planned NYC trip happened to all fall back-to-back. Thankfully we have lots of family who are generous with their support/help. My parents, George's parents, and our siblings are the best!! 

I spent one week in Minneapolis and three days in San Francisco for work. Both trips involved lots of delicious food. I enjoyed seafood (even lobster one night) at least 3-4 of the nights during my work travel. I was spared the typical Minnesota winter -- it was actually quite nice (40's) while I was there. SF had gorgeous weather in the 70's the entire time I was there. My hotel was right in the heart of the city in Union Square. Not too shabby for a work trip. I didn't get any pictures from those two trips because I was pretty much working the entire time.  

Last Thursday, I got back from SF at 7PM and George, Terrisa, and I flew out to New York the next morning at 10AM. Brian was coming from LA so he just met us there. I think I've mentioned it before on my blog, but I LOVE NY! I really do. I get so happy when I'm there. I love the action and hustle/bustle. I would absolutely positively LOVE living there if given the chance. George agrees...so you never know! 

It was a lot of fun to travel with Brian and Terrisa. It's not often that we get a chance to hang out with them without the kids. We kept busy the entire time despite the fact that it was FREAKING COLD!! Not only was it cold, it was WINDY! Here are some of the highlights of the trip...

Before I get to one of my favorite parts of the trip, I will tell you about my least favorite. On Monday morning, we had to be up early to make it to Live with Kelly and Michael. We took the subway and had to walk a little bit on each end. Well, on Sunday night it snowed and on Monday morning it started to rain, which resulted in lots and lots of slush. Right before we got to the studio, a snow plow came up alongside of us and sprayed dirty slush ALL OVER US. No joke, it was like a scene from a movie. It was up to our heads and we were soaked...well, except Brian who managed to jump out of the way. After the initial shock, we all thought it was pretty funny... I'm sure the driver of the truck thought it was hilarious. 

Now the good part...

I got tickets to Live with Kelly and Michael for the second time! George and I first went in September 2012 with my parents and Emily on Michael's very first day. That time I wrote in for the tickets. This time I was able to just request them online - it was super easy. One of the guests was Jeff Bridges. He is one of George's favorite actors so he was pretty excited. 

My favorite thing about traveling to NYC is all of the delicious food. We hit up several restaurants. Becco, Bibble and Sip, Totto Ramen, Motorino's, The Stand, Wo Hop, Doughnut Plant, Brooklyn Bagels, Cooper's Craft and Kitchen, Johny's Lunchonette just to name a few. I don't think we had a single bad meal.

Brian and Terrisa at Johnny's Lunchonette for breakfast after Live

Brick oven pizza with sopressata at Motorino's 

Hot Chocolate with a homemade marshmallow, a lavender latte, and two delicious pastries from Bibble and Sip

Two creme brûlée donuts (George's favorite), one wild blueberry, and one chocolate ganache from Doughnut Plant

The travelers...

I was happy that we made it to the 9/11 Memorial Museum this trip. It was a very interesting and well done museum. We spent 3+ hours there and could have spent more. It was amazing to think that just one year before 9/11 my parents took us kids to watch the July 4th, 2000 NYC firework show at the top of the World Trade Center. We spent hours at the viewing deck. 

It's really neat -- you can write a message at the base of the slurry wall (it's virtually projected on the wall). George and I wrote one and took at picture of it when it showed up. 

One World Trade Center

I took this picture as our Uber driver was taking us back to the airport...

It was such a great trip. Typing this post makes me want to go back already!! 

Before I go, I will leave you with a little video I took of Madeline yesterday. I extended my vacation by one day so that I could stay home with her. She was talking away, but of course she wouldn't talk once I hit record. You can see how she struts about though :)