Hub...

I like when my husband does the grocery shopping. I kinda like when he returns with surprises too...

An uneventful weekend...

We did a whole lot of nothing last weekend, which was rather nice. Here are a few random shots. Kev cooked up this fabulous meal for us on Saturday night...

While Chloe enjoyed some fireplace action...

The Moment of Truth...

Have you seen this show? It's insane. It's a new reality show on Fox where the contestants take a polygraph prior to the airing of the show and are then asked an embarrassing sampling of those questions for all the world to see. Here's an article explaining the show from USA Today, if you haven't seen it.

We've watched the first couple episodes, and despite the unbearably long pauses between the question and answer, it's actually quite entertaining. Last night's episode though was just painful to watch. There's a clip of it above, but that question was one of the lighter ones that was asked. During the hour-long episode, this contestant had to reveal that she has been fired from a job for stealing money, has taken off her wedding ring in public to appear to be single, was in love with another man on her wedding day, is keeping a secret about her Dad from her Mom, has cheated on her husband since they've been married, and that she feels that her ex-boyfriend is the man that she should really be married to. Ouch.

Why would you subject yourself to that? I mean, obviously for the cash but how much money is worth destroying your life over? I'm torn on how I feel about these contestants. Part of me can't help but feel bad for them, having to reveal such intimate details of their lives on national television. But then again, they've heard all the questions beforehand so they should be fully prepared. The real kicker of last nights episode was that after admitting all of the above and reaching the $100,000 mark, she got a question wrong and left with NOTHING. Well, probably not nothing... I'm fairly certain she did win herself a divorce...

Krista's boys...

Krista is always willing to let me come play with my camera at her house... I love it! Here's a couple shots from when I was there last weekend. I'm trying something new with posting photos, so please let me know if they look wonky to you...

Philadelphia...

Finally. Here's some photos from our anniversary weekend in Philadelphia, taken with my Sony Cybershot.
Our hotel...
The view from our hotel room...
My new favorite restaurant. Mmmm, Sangria...
The icerink. I didn't have gloves, or enough wine, to consider attempting to iceskate...
but parked next to the icerink was the most FABULOUS vehicle ever. I so want this thing...
that's right, my friends. It's a real life Peepmobile. I don't know if Peeps are a nationwide thing... I don't think they are as I've mentioned them to some non-local friends that were clueless. I feel bad for those that never get to experience Peeps. They're truly missing out.

The self-portrait...
Just some old houses in Old City...
and lastly, a shot of Penns Landing on Sunday morning. We had to take a walk after indulging in the most delicious breakfast at Cuba Libre...
All in all, a pretty fine weekend.

Just Me.

I never post photos of myself. The reason for this is two-fold; 1) I am way too critical and usually hate photos of myself, and 2) I'm usually the one behind the camera! So here's a quick shot that Kev took of me on one of our lazy Sunday walks...

And one of Kev, being forced to model for me... He's such a tolerant husband!

DNA...

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My Girl...

All our windows are only about a foot off the ground. Just her height...

Blue Steel...

This is what typically happens when I try to get Kev to play along as I practice with my camera. Check out that fierce model gaze. He's a natural...

Recovery....

I'm finally starting to feel human again. I was sick all week... these things are inevitable when you work in an office. Nasty winter germs spread like wildfire. Since I was too sick on Valentine's Day to enjoy much of anything, we went out to dinner tonight to celebrate. Sushi. And a bottle of Spanish wine that we brought back from the trip when we got engaged and were saving. And here's some photos from our walk on the trail yesterday... it was such a beautiful day, though the trail was still muddy enough that Chloe needed a bath from all the nasty weather we've gotten recently.

Anniversary weekend... sans photos...

I intended on posting a recap of our weekend, with photos, but since the photo part isn't going to happen here it is... I brought my little Sony Cybershot with me. I can throw it right in my purse so it's a bit more inconspicuous than the Canon. But upon returning home I realized that I don't have the cord needed to get the photos off the camera onto the computer. Dang. I'm not sure if it's somewhere in the abyss of our basement or if it was left behind during the move. It's lost. So no photos.

We got to the city early on Saturday and they allowed us to check in, even though check-in isn't actually until 4pm. Go Omni Hotel, we're off to a good start. We unloaded our bags. The room was comfortable and clean. And a great view of Olde City and the river in the distance (which looked awesome on Sunday morning as the fog rose). We did a little exploring... we didn't really have anything planned, so it was just wandering and taking in the rare winter sun. Our hotel was in an ideal location... within walking distance to many sites, squares, and restaurants. I have to admit, it made me a little nostalgic of my college years when I went to school in the city. Everything is just so convenient. Except traffic. Traffic in Philly is often a nightmare, made worse by the fact that 1-way streets are the norm. Our search for the hotel's parking garage included 3 circles in order to get back to the street that we needed. I guess it's a trade-off.

After our walk, we got ready for dinner at Amada. For those that don't know, tapas are small portions of food that are served along with drinks at a bar. Here is the tradition of tapas, as written on Amada's website...

According to legend, the roots of tapas goes back to the 13th century Castilian King, Alfonso The Wise, who attributed his recovery from illness to his custom of taking small bites of food with wine between meals. Eager to promote his people's health, he decreed that tabernas in Castile could not serve wine unless accompanied by something to eat.

Because it was as enjoyable as it was healthful, the custom quickly caught on. And today you can still go into a bar in Northern Spain, order a glass of peleon (young, "peasant" wine) or sangria, eat some bites of jamon curado and settle up by telling the bartender how many pieces you had.

With its unique position as between Africa and Europe and its dual Atlantic and Mediterranean coastlines, Spanish tapas dishes incorporated a wealth of flavors, from charcuterie to bean casseroles, vegetables, calamari and other fruits of the sea. This tapestry of flavors along with 800 years of tradition give Chef Garces ample opportunity to create dishes that excite his guests no matter how many times they return.

Oh.My.God. It was beyond my expectations. The chef is a genius. I came across a review site beforehand that persuaded me to try some things that I probably never would have picked on my own.

We both had the Sangria, naturally. We started out with some cheeses that each came with a side to dip them in. Kev's favorite was the fresh queso de cabra, which came with a side of balsalmic strawberries. Mine was the aged manchego with a side of truffled lavendar honey. Who would think that cheese would go so perfectly with honey? Wow. We loved everything that we tried... after the cheeses we had piquillos rellenos (crab stuffed peppers), alcachofas a la paremsan (artichokes covered in a warm parmesan sauce), setas (grilled seasonsal mushrooms), cordero relleno (lamb chops stuffed with goat cheese, herbs, and romesco sauce), and cocido (shortrib ravioli, consomme, braised cabbage and grilled sausage). We ended our meal with Olas de Chocolate, which translates to waves of chocolate. The menu describes it as Godiva liqueur cake, chocolate mousse, milk chocolate ice cream... how could we resist?

We then headed to a brewery down the street... Triumph Brewing Company. Kev made a wise choice with his Honey Wheat Ale. I made a choice that led me to drink the most horrendous beverage ever created. No joke. It looked completely harmless... Jolie Blonde. Sounds like a pale, light, girly kinda beer right? Not so. It tasted like hot peppers. Think about hot peppers mixed with beer. I'm gagging right now. To recover from that fun experience, we went to a wine bar, Positano. I had a fruity drink to clear the hot pepper taste from my palate. And after our drinks we finished the night with a walk around the city...

It was a perfect weekend. Quite the contrast from how we celebrated last year, but still perfect. And after all our reflection on the past year, I'm pretty convinced that we have even more to look forward to...