Remember this?
Last year we took Hannah to this festival, and she slept the entire time.
This year’s festival was the last weekend in April, and she was pretty different.
And she stayed awake the whole time!
She still wasn’t very interested in the sheep, though. Or the giant pig. One of these years.
The Reeve clan headed up to my mom’s neck of the woods a few weeks ago to take in the annual Cherry Blossom Festival in Newark’s Branch Brook Park. This is down the road from where I grew up, and I hadn’t been since I was a kid. We were there on April 13th, and it was still pretty chilly. Most of the blossoms were still closed since it hadn’t really warmed up for the season yet. But it is a lovely walk. Now that I see all the blossoms in our neighborhood finally opening I want to go back and take more pictures.
So I turned 34 on February 10th. Quite a different year from last year. And there was quite a lot of celebrating this year. I had a great one!
My birthday weekend started with a big snow storm on Saturday the 9th. So we had a great time playing in the snow with Hannah and trying out her new baby sled.
Then we spent the rest of the day staying warm inside, and I went ahead and opened my gifts that night since we had a big day planned for my actual birthday.
Some really great birthday goodies this year, my family is just the best!
We went to Adventure Aquarium in Camden on my birthday. Such a great view of Philly.
We went for the special turtle exhibition, but also because Hannah is a HUGE fan of Finding Nemo. We wanted to show her some real Nemo fish.
She liked them.
It was so much fun!
Then we went into Philly to have cheesesteaks at Pat’s. It was gorgeous weather, cold but not too cold. I had a really great day.
Then last weekend 10 of us gathered at the American Museum of Natural History for a Stray Boots scavenger hunt. I was so excited to do this, and it worked out perfectly. We booked a group event with Stray Boots, and all of the clues were through our cell phones. So we divided into 3 teams and took separate routes through the museum, answering questions and doing photo challenges. My team finished second but actually won with a perfect score! Adam, Dan, and I ended up on a team together, and we had a blast. This photo is from one of the challenges, pretending to hold up the giant canoe.
This was another awesome day with the one unfortunate wrinkle of lunch. We went to the 72nd St. Dallas BBQ for lunch after the hunt…and I got food poisoning. I actually went home sick from work Monday because of it, but fortunately I was fine by Tuesday morning. The one blip on an otherwise perfect birthday season, do not go to that restaurant if you value your intestinal health. But, it still didn’t take away from an awesome time. What are you going to do?
I’ve had big-time end-of-the-year blues this week. Hannah’s first Christmas was so amazing, such a perfect end to a wonderful holiday season. And then almost immediately I was left with this sadness that the most momentous year of our lives was coming to an end. I haven’t been able to get excited about any of my usual listmaking, organizing, new year projects that always pepper my winter breaks. I’ve just been cuddling and smooching the baby nonstop. And recovering from a cold and, of all things, a case of pinkeye that set in on Christmas Eve!!
We just put the baby to bed a little while ago, for the last time during the year she was born. And I burst into tears! Just feeling so sentimental, so sad to close the door on the most gratifying year of my life so far. Adam’s been reminding me of all the amazing things 2013 had to offer, and I get it. I really do. But I just needed a little cry, a little emotional outpouring, a little mourning for the year that we did this and this and this and this and this and this and this and this and this. I still have to post pictures of our visit to Santa, but that, too!! Such a year of memories, and I feel like we’re running out of all these firsts.
But I know that’s ridiculous, because there are so many great things ahead of us. So many more adventures to have and memories to make. And Hannah just gets more and more fun as the days go on! And once it was out of my system, I was finally able to look forward to 2013 and start wrapping up my year. Tomorrow, there will be resolutions. But for now, a look back.
My 2012 New Year’s Resolutions, let’s see how I did:
2012 in Craftiness! Here are all the things I’ve made this year, whew!
Quilts
Other Things I’ve Sewn
Other Craftiness
Favorite Recipes
DIY
We had a holiday party this year! We skipped last year because it was just too much with the baby on the way, but last Sunday we had a bunch of great people over for an early evening celebration. I forgot how much I missed this party. I took zero photos once the party started, which I’m horrible about every year. There’s always so much to do, so many people to talk to. Plus Hannah was up entertaining people, so at one point we had to go get her to bed.
Anyway, I did manage to get some photos of most of the spread before folks arrived. I didn’t get any of the hot chocolate bar, which is nowhere near as fancy as it sounds. Just a corner of the kitchen set up with hot chocolate, white and dark chocolate bits, crushed candy canes, caramel, marshmallows, and Baileys to mix in. I loved that, we’re totally doing it again for Christmas. But here are the other goodies.
Delicious, delicious cupcakes from Sugarush. Red Velvet Cheesecake Brownies, a cookie decorating station, and chocolate covered pretzels. We also had the white chocolate peppermint M&Ms, they’re pretty darn good.
I used my Ninjabread Men cookie cutters. The America’s Test Kitchen Family Baking Book (my no-fail book) had a great recipe for thick and chewy gingerbread (as well as thin and crispy), and since I believe there’s no point to a cookie that isn’t chewy I was happy to use it. Maybe I’ll post it one of these days, but there are so many great gingerbead cookie recipes out there. The important thing is that these cookies are NINJAS. They will kick your butt into the festive spirit.
And, of course, supplies to decorate your little warriors. Within my minimalist Scandinavian color scheme, obviously. See what a grownup I was this year? No cartoon reindeer or snowmen or polka dotted tray liners this year.
Red. Velvet. Cheesecake. Brownies. I found this recipe on Pinterest and made them, they were pretty darn good. Fudgey (Fudgy? nothing looks right) and awesome, and even though I got distracted and (very slightly) overbaked them, the cheesecake layer more than made up for it.
The whole shebang.
And from the other side. Fancy.
This was the “savory spread.” Chips, dips, cheese and crackers. I actually just remembered that I also made garlic knots from a Bon Appetit recipe. That one I’ll post here, it was really good and Bon Appetit doesn’t keep all their recipes online forever.
I had a great time this year! I wish I had taken some photos of the actual party, especially Hannah hanging out and entertaining everyone with her baby piano. There were a lot of new faces this year, and it really was such a nice time. It definitely helped get me into the festive spirit, I’d been feeling a little overwhelmed by the holiday To Do list until then.
Garlic Oregano Knots (from the December 2012 issue of Bon Appetit)
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter plus more for baking sheet
1 pound store-bought fresh (or frozen, thawed) pizza dough, at room temperature for 30 minutes
All-purpose flour (for dusting)
3 tablespoons minced garlic
1 1/2 tablespoons dried oregano
Flaky sea salt (such as Maldon)
Lightly butter a baking sheet. Roll out dough on a lightly floured surface into a 12-inch square. Cut dough in half. Cut each half crosswise into 1-inch-thick strips (for 24 strips total). Tie each strip into a knot, gently stretching dough as needed. Place on prepared sheet. Loosely cover with plastic wrap; let rise in a warm place until slightly puffed, 1-1 1/2 hours.
Preheat oven to 375°. Bake knots until cooked through and golden, 25-30 minutes.
Meanwhile, heat 1/2 cup butter with garlic in a small saucepan over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until garlic is fragrant, about 3 minutes. Transfer garlic butter to a large bowl; stir in oregano.
Place warm bread knots in bowl with garlic butter; toss until well coated. Transfer to a platter. Sprinkle with flaky salt.
Read More http://www.bonappetit.com/recipes/2012/12/garlic-oregano-knots#ixzz2FwMGblZ4
