mercer museum

when my parents are in town it's always a bit of a challenge to find something to do that's new and exciting...there are just so many things to pick from and so little time to pack them in to a quick weekend visit.  it takes a little extra creativity when the weather's going to be rainy and chilly, but i found a quirky place up in doylestown, pa that was awesome!

now doylestown is a place i'd love to live but i rarely frequent because it's nearly an hour from my house, so it's not one of my go-to places...might need to change that.  there are so many charming houses with historic elements like original gas burning lanterns that are still going strong.  totally different feel from the city or my neighborhood.

and tucked into the town is the Mercer Museum.  it was built to showcase every trade imaginable and the tools associated with the industry.  Henry Mercer was really an astounding guy and the concrete castle that he constructed was amazing.  i think we could've spent the entire weekend exploring it!  next time gotta hit henry's house and the tile factory museum that we only drove by.  here are some of the pictures from inside the museum (click here for more!):

we also walked around town and through the neighborhoods but my fingies were chilly so the camera stayed in my purse!

the night ended with a very tasty meal at Bar Savona...finally got to cross that off of my restaurant wish list!  only about 15 more to go!

reading terminal market food fest

seems like a million years ago that my friend jess suggested going to the reading terminal market and cooking up a storm with our tasty purchases.  just thinking about it makes me want to recreate the day all over again!

we started the trip off right with a delicious cookie and la columbe coffee while we attempted to narrow down the recipes we had poured through all week long in preparation for our food fest.

and now enter a day of food through the eye of my phone and retro camera app...

welcome to the market!! let the games begin!

probably made a mistake only getting coffee from here and not indulging in a cannoli right after our cookies!

making homemade pasta...papardelle, yum!

nutella creme brulee fresh out the oven

must have more pasta!!! 

cake pops from jess's mom and honey stix from the market

fresh chick peas lightly steamed with a little kick of chipotle

attempting to open oysters with a screwdriver and a mechanics glove...actually worked better than trying to find an oyster knife which seem to only exist in fish markets. 

only 3 cheeses?! cheese snobs in the market thought 4 would've been too much 4 people...dopes.  accompanied by grain mustard, honey and turkish figs.

apple, turnip and potato soup - so flippin' fantastic.  think it was a bon appetite recipe.

terribly out of focus picture of brussel sprouts, walnuts and raisins. 

pasta with a cream mushroom sauce...wish i had some of this in the fridge right now!

emma attempting to bring her stick inside.

 

one dessert is never enough so we made mini key lime pies too!

oh my my my, time to head back to the market because i'm STARVING!!

ps...this is what happens when there's extra fruit lying around...

sistema + granola

this year for christmas, i bought mz the weirdest present ever...tupperware.  now granted it was just a small portion of his christmas presents, but i was REALLY excited about this purchase...so much so that i had to buy some for myself too!

can you think of anything nerdier?!

i was passing through macy's on my way out of the mall, with zero intention of even focusing my eyes on any of the stuff they have in there, when a martha stewart display caught my eye.  i had a plan to start bringing lunch in 2012 and martha was giving me just the extra push of motivation i needed!!  she brought this great system (Sistema) from new zealand, slapped her brand on it and i'm sure both companies are making a pretty penny right now.

here are the pieces that i purchased...and have been seriously obsessed with since the very first time i used them.  chances are if you comment on my sistema ware in the cafeteria i'll go into infomercial mode and tell you how phenomenal they are...you've been warned.  they really make me excited to make/eat lunch every day!

sandwich container: this bad boy has a spot for your sandwich and two smaller compartments for treats or other snacks...and there's a divider between both halves to keep everything nice and tidy.

salad container: the fork and knife are in 2 pieces each and they SNAP IN to the bottom of the tray that's in the container!! how great is that!?  there's also a cup for dressing.  i also have found myself using this container on occasion to tote leftover quesadillas...'dillas on the bottom, tomatoes, guac and beans on the top tray and a little sour cream in the dressing cup.

breakfast or soup: again, the spoon snaps in just like the salad container.  my favorite use for this is some outta this world barefoot contessa granola (with better dried fruits than cherries, ick) and either milk or yogurt...the tray ensures that your granola doesn't get soggy before you get a chance to devour it!

okay, who's hungry now!?

return of the blog + aston's 1st birthday

yeah buddy, i'm back in action.  i'm sure my return to blogging is as sensational as the prospect of allen iverson returning to the nba...but the good news is that i'm back and hopefully my brain space won't get too jumbled with non-bloggable things in the next few weeks so i'll have plenty of room to keep the posts flowing!

nearly a month ago, sheesh, such a slacker, we went to celebrate our friends' little guy turning one.  Seems like just yesterday we were stuffing him in a basket for pictures (flashbacks available here & here!):

Aston's still super tiny, I think he just really wants to stay a baby forever! :)  But he has grown some killer hair in the past year...really shiny, auburn and curly!  Too cute!!

I think it took him a while to warm up to the whole birthday party idea, but once that giant cupcake cake was plopped in front of him he didn't seem to have another care in the world...even the party hat was ignored!

All in all, it was a great party with delicious food and lots of chocolate!!

For more party pics, click here.

See ya back here soon...there's more in store...

breaking bad + valentine's day

valentine's day is just around the corner...that day that everyone either loves or dreads.  filled with clashing pinks and reds and all sorts of mushy things that would make people vom on any normal day.  i'm not a huge fan, i think it's kinda ridiculous and overrated...BUT...these valentine's day cards are down right PERFECTION!!  makes me wish it was acceptable for (almost) 30 year olds to hand out valentine's day cards to everyone i see!

if you don't watch breaking bad, you won't understand how wonderful these little cards are.  then again, if you don't watch breaking bad i don't know if we should be friends anymore.

(found here, created by her)

on another note, the website where i found these cards is my new found obsession (thanks K!).  it makes me chuckle just about every single time that i check out the new finds...or maybe it's just the website's name and my love for bacon that makes me smile, either way it makes me happy!